Alas! it could not any more be called a town.

Every house was burnt down; not even the church and parsonage were spared.
We found the veldt in very good condition; the early spring rains and the downpours of the previous day had quite revived the grass.

And so I decided to remain at Lindley as long as possible, to give our horses a chance of recovering their condition.

It was impossible to provide them with forage, for the amount the English had left behind was entirely insufficient as a supply for the large number of horses we had with us.
For ten or twelve days we remained at Lindley, and so the horses had a short breathing time, but not long enough to give the poor animals time fully to regain their strength.

In addition to being overworked, some of our horses were suffering from a skin disease which we were quite unable to cure.