X Here is a good story that I am going to send forprinting in the next fed mag.On 8th January 1891 Thomas Delahay at the age of21, came to Warrington from Peterchurch and joinedthe Warrington Borough Police as PC19 , On 13thDecember 1900 he resigned to take up a new jobwith the police in Rhodesia. 29 days of travellingby ship and train. On arrival he wrote this letterto Inspector Alfred Taylor at Warrington. An Interesting description of a long journey.Detective Officer Delahay, Rhodesian Police, toInspector Taylor, Warrington ;-From Rhodesia Municipal Police, Bulawayo Station.February 13th, 1901..Dear Friend,-Now that I have reached mydestination and am practically settled down I takevery great pleasure in writing you a fewparticulars of my journey. From dear old Englandto Bulawayo is, I believe, I some thing well overseven thousand miles; the exact distances; I aminformed being 5939 by sea and 1360 by rail. Wesailed from Southampton at 2pm on Wednesday,January 2nd, in the " Pembroke Castle" anintermediate boat. We had on board 55 men of theRhodesian Police and about 30 other passengers,with, in addition a very heavy general cargo. Wehad only four first class passengers. We had avery pleasant run down the Channel during theafternoon and after having a last look at thevanishing shores of the old land we retired to ourberths at a late hour. We had a very happy voyageto Las Palmas, which we reached at four o'clock inthe afternoon on Monday, January7th. We onlystopped about six hours and did not leave theship, but the natives were allowed aboard sellingfruit, tobacco, and so on. 'The weather waslovely, with the warmth of summer, and it was abeautiful place. It was strange to find how soonwe had left our bitter English winter behind us. Ilearned there were a great many visitors fromEngland staying at Las Palmas. We left at aboutnine the same evening and bade good-bye to land,till we should reach Cape Town. The weather nowbecame very warm and we turned out in our summerdress. On Tuesday, the 8th; we had a generalmeeting to elect a committee to arrange concerts,sports, etc, for our amusement on board. On thefollowing, evening we had a beautiful concert ondeck, and on succeeding days we had cricket,quoits, boxing, cards, draughts, &c.We had then got amongst such fish as sharks andthat kind of thing. On the Sunday after leavingLas Palmas it blew a regular gale and allpassengers had to stay below nearly everyone wassick, but I am glad to say I did not experiencethe sickness myself. It was a terrible day and, Ishall never forget it. The weather continuedrather rough until the Wednesday. We were thennear the equator and the heat was intense. OnThursday we commenced to arrange for athleticsports and prepared a very good programme. Eachperson paid half a crown, which entitled him orher to compete in all or any event. It was decidedto begin the sports on the following Tuesday. Onthe evening of that day we had a splendid concerton deck and the prizes were distributed to thesuccessful competitors. We had four teamscompeting in tug-of-war. I was in that which wonfirst prize £1. All went on all right, with theusual amusements and the very best of weather,until we sighted Robbin's Island at nine o'clockon the evening of Wednesday, the 23rd, and at halfpast one the following morning we found ourselveslying-under the great Table Mountain with CapeTown at its foot. That ended our voyage of 22days. It was on the whole a very delightful one,only two and a half days being wet and rough. At10 a.m. We disembarked with our luggage by tenderThe first news which greeted us on stepping ashorethe death of our beloved Queen. I think Cape Townis a lovely place; I understand its population isabout 15,000. We spent all day on the 24th theremaking preparations for our onward journey upcountry. We obtained necessary provisions, etc.,for our trip:We boarded the train at 7.45.p.m. And a quarter ofan hour later steamed out of Cape Town on our longride of over 1,300 miles over a single trackrailway. We had only got about 60 miles when welearned the Boers had been at work, but wetravelled right on through that night, the trainsbeing fitted with sleeping berths. Next morningwhen we opened our eyes we were fairly among theSouth African mountains, and kopjes, which aresimply great masses of big boulder stones. As wetravelled on I could not but think it miraculousfor our brave British soldiers to have driven theBoers before them over such a terrible country andfrom such splendid positions as it must haveafforded. At one point15 miles from Towes River,the line is said to be 3,000 feet above sea level.We rattled on all that day passing native kraalsand bodies of military guarding the line. At fiveo'clock on Saturday evening we arrived at De Aar.We learned that the Boers had been at work only afew miles ahead; they captured a train, torn upthe line and done lot of damage, so we had to restourselves content in the train there for thatnight. We had a look around and finished up at theofficers' mess at 11-15 p.m., after which weretried to our temporary home on wheels. At fourin the morning we left and arrived at Kimberley athalf past four same afternoon. We passed thebattle fields of Belmont; Graspan, Modder River,etc. Scores of soldiers' graves were to be seen,some close by the line on some were crosses, andon some heaps of stones. I saw several smallcemeteries filled with graves. I noticed one gravein particular near Madder River, that of a PrivateReynolds "Killed in action" his helmet and waterbottle lay on the top of it. An armoured trainpreceded us into Kimberley. We had to remain thenight at the town, as there was again "dangerahead", the Boers having early that morningcaptured a yeomanry picket 2l miles out, wreckedand fired a train and seized supplies. I thoughtwe were going to be in for a warm 'time, and beinga lot of unarmed civilians the outlook was not apleasant one. We had a look around the town andsaw the scaffold on the head gearings of a mine,from which Colonel Kekewich took his observationsduring the siege. In Kimberley, on our firstSunday in South Africa, my comrades and I attend amemorial service for the Queen. We retired thatnight at half-past ten and left next morning atnine. Several Boers were seen but they did notinterfere with us. On arrival at a place calledBrussels Siding we found a company of about 50soldiers standing to arms and ready for action, Itappeared that about three hours previous the Boershad captured a scout stripped him and sent himback to tell his officer that his men must clearout in two hours time as they (the Boars) werecoming down to the siding at dusk. It was thendusk. I saw and had some conversation with theunfortunate scout who appeared to be rather upset.He said the worst part of the business was thebeing captured by an old mate of his own. Itseemed that a former comrade of his had gone overto the Boers and thus they had met. Asked why hehad changed flags, the turncoat had replied he wasbetter off fighting with the Boers than theBritish. On hearing a whistle from the engine welooked from our carriage and saw a party of Boers,perhaps about 250 on a hill half a mile away. Wedid not rest much that evening, as the trainbefore us had been captured and fired we onlyheard one shot, however, and were highly pleasedto arrive in safety at Vryburg though it took ustwo hours to do the last twelve miles as thedriver dared not go at any speed on account ofwhat might lie in front of him. We remained thatnight at Vryburg, and left at three o'clock thefollowing day (Tuesday 29th). The next place ofimportance was Mafeking, the town Baden-Powelldefended so well, which we reached at 11-25 p.m.and left again at 11.50; so we did not have timeto see an thing of it, and moreover it was dark.There are no Boers about that part. We proceedthrough thousands of acres of bush and onWednesday morning arrived at Gaberones, whereColonel Plumer had his camp. There are only abouta dozen houses, but it is a lovely spot. We nowcame along 1st rate and arrived here at 4.30 p.m.on Thursday, January 31st: All the way fromKimberley to Bulawayo the country is mostbeautiful, in fact no words of mine could conveyto you any idea of how lovely it is. Xaffir kraalswere to be seen on the way, but few white people.Now about Bulawayo it's self. It is a pretty townabout 3,000 feet above sea level and havingpicturesque surroundings, it is also most healthyand I am beginning to like it. It is very quiet,quite dead and alive and we have nothing to do andscarcely know to pass time away. The only drawbackis that everything is so dear. My comrade and Iare paying £4 per month for a small bedroom notbig enough to whip a cat around in then food andthe services of a native costs from £5 per month.A glass of beer costs a shilling and it is notgood at that. Everything else is in proportion,but I dare say I shall get used to it. I am gladto be able to say that I am in perfect health, andI trust that you and all my old friends arekeeping well and that everything goes onswimmingly in good old Warrington. I close withvery best wishes to all, and remainVery sincerely yours, Thomas Delahey