that I was myself the object of this honourable welcome.  I will not chronicle the details of what followed.  It is sufficient to say that many hundreds of the people of Durban took occasion to express their joy at my tiny pinch of triumph over the Boers, and that their enthusiasm was another sincere demonstration of their devotion to the Imperial cause, and their resolve to carry the war to an indisputable conclusion.  After an hour of turmoil, which I frankly admit I enjoyed extremely, I escaped to the train, and the journey to Pietermaritzburg passed very quickly in the absorbing occupation of devouring a month’s newpapers and clearing my palate from the evil taste of the exaggerations of Pretoria by a liberal antidote of our own versions.  I rested a day at Government House, and enjoyed long conversations with Sir Walter Hely-Hutchinson—­the Governor under whose wise administration Natal has become the most patriotic province of the Empire.  Moreover, I was fortunate in meeting Colonel Hime, the Prime Minister of the Colony, a tall, grey, keen-eyed man, who talked only of the importance of fighting this quarrel out to the end, and of the obstinate determination of the people he represented to stand by the Queen’s Government through all the changing moods of fortune.  I received then and have since been receiving a great number of telegrams and messages from all kinds of people and from all countries of the earth.  One gentleman invited me to shoot with him in Central Asia.  Another favoured me with a poem which he had written in my honour, and desired me to have it set to music and published.  A third—­an American—­wanted me to plan a raid into Transvaal territory along the Delagoa Bay line to arm the prisoners and seize the President.  Five Liberal Electors of the borough of Oldham wrote to say that they would give me their votes on a future occasion ‘irrespective of politics.’  Young ladies sent me woollen comforters.  Old ladies forwarded their photographs; and hundreds of people wrote kind letters, many of which in the stir of events I have not yet been able to answer.

[Illustration:  Map of THE THEATRE OF THE OPERATIONS IN NATAL]

The correspondence varied vastly in tone as well as in character, and I cannot help quoting a couple of telegrams as specimens.  The first was from a worthy gentleman who, besides being a substantial farmer, is also a member of the Natal Parliament.  He wrote:  ’My heartiest congratulations on your wonderful and glorious deeds, which will send such a thrill of pride and enthusiasm through Great Britain and the United States of America, that the Anglo-Saxon race will be irresistible.’

The intention of the other, although his message was shorter, was equally plain.

’London, December 30th.—­Best friends here hope you won’t go making further ass of yourself.—­M’NEILL.’

This shows, I think, how widely human judgment may differ even in regard to ascertained facts.