Item 8 - To his parents

Pretoria. They arrived in Pretoria on 30 June. A 'rare good time' in Kroonstadt, living off wet and dry rations. Water was scarce, but the railway engines supplied hot water from the boilers. Picnics on the Valoch River: 'we even had a pine apple' (sic). His failure to return the keys of the river boats to the Military District Commissioner - and its consequences, including an interview with the General. A flirty nursing sister. First impressions of Pretoria: 'a curious incongruous mixture of fine houses and buildings and tin shanties'. The Palace of Justice and a girls' school will be their hospitals. Staying at the Grand Hotel, waiting for the hospital equipment to arrive.