He looked up at the mountains, 2,000 feet above him, and sighed:-- "O Red Sea!" I replied, "The children of Israel had faith and went through, and all you need is faith.

This is not the first Red Sea we have met with and will not be the last!" What Corporal Matthijsen thought I do not know, for he kept silence.

But he pulled a long face, as if saying to himself:-- "Neither you, nor anybody else with us, is a Moses!" We climbed up unobserved to a bit of bush which, to continue the metaphor of the Red Sea, was a "Pillar of Cloud" to hide us from the English.
We then reached a kloof[68] running in a south-westerly direction, and ascended by it, still out of sight of the English, till we reached a point nearly half-way up the mountain.

There we had to leave the kloof, and, turning to the south, continue our ascent in full view of the enemy.
It was now so precipitous that there was no possibility of proceeding any further on horseback.

The burghers had therefore to lead their horses, and had great difficulty even in keeping their own footing.