London to Ladysmith via Pretoria | Page 7

ran out from
Kimberley, and its Maxim guns killed five Boers without any loss to
the troops. The magnifying process was also applied to this incident
with equal though opposite results. Then came the news of the battle of
Glencoe. The first accounts, which were very properly controlled--for
we are at war with the pen as well as the sword--told only of the
bravery of the troops, of the storming of the Boer position, and of the
capture of prisoners. That the troops had suffered the heavier loss, that
the Boers had retired to further positions in rear of the first, drawing
their artillery with them, and that General Yule had retreated by forced

marches to Ladysmith after the victory--for tactical victory it
undoubtedly was--leaked into Cape Colony very gradually; nor was it
until a week later that it was known that the wounded had been left
behind, and that the camp with all stores and baggage, except
ammunition, had fallen into the enemy's hands. Before that happened
the news of Elandslaagte had arrived, and this brilliant action, which
reflects no less credit on Generals French and Hamilton who fought it
than on Sir George White who ordered it, dazzled all eyes, so that the
sequel to Glencoe was unnoticed, or at any rate produced little effect on
public opinion.
The Natal Field Force is now concentrated at Ladysmith, and confronts
in daily opposition the bulk of the Boer Army. Though the numbers of
the enemy are superior and their courage claims the respect of their
professional antagonists, it is difficult to believe that any serious
reverse can take place in that quarter, and meanwhile many thousand
soldiers are on the seas. But the fact is now abundantly plain to those
who are acquainted with the local conditions and with the Boer
character, that a fierce, certainly bloody, possibly prolonged struggle
lies before the army of South Africa. The telegrams, however, which
we receive from Great Britain of the national feeling, of the
bye-election, of Lord Rosebery's speech, are full of encouragement and
confidence. 'At last,' says the British colonist, as he shoulders his rifle
and marches out to fight, no less bravely than any soldier (witness the
casualty lists), for the ties which bind South Africa to the Empire--'at
last they have made up their minds at home.'
CHAPTER III
ALONG THE SOUTHERN FRONTIER
East London: November 5, 1899.
We have left Headquarters busy with matters that as yet concern no one
but themselves in the Mount Nelson Hotel at Cape Town--a most
excellent and well-appointed establishment, which may be thoroughly
appreciated after a sea voyage, and which, since many of the leading

Uitlanders have taken up their abode there during the war, is
nicknamed 'The Helot's Rest.' Last night I started by rail for East
London, whence a small ship carries the weekly English mail to Natal,
and so by this circuitous route I hope to reach Ladysmith on Sunday
morning. We have thus gained three days on our friends who proceed
by the 'Dunottar Castle,' and who were mightily concerned when they
heard--too late to follow--of our intentions. But though it is true in this
case that the longest way round is the shortest way, there were
possibilities of our journey being interrupted, because the line from De
Aar Junction to Naauwpoort runs parallel to the southern frontier of the
Free State, and though hostile enterprises have not yet been attempted
against this section of the railways they must always be expected.
Railway travelling in South Africa is more expensive but just as
comfortable as in India. Lying-down accommodation is provided for all,
and meals can be obtained at convenient stopping places. The train,
which is built on the corridor system, runs smoothly over the rails--so
smoothly, indeed, that I found no difficulty in writing. The sun is warm,
and the air keen and delicious. But the scenery would depress the most
buoyant spirits. We climbed up the mountains during the night, and
with the daylight the train was in the middle of the Great Karroo.
Wherefore was this miserable land of stone and scrub created? Huge
mounds of crumbling rock, fashioned by the rains into the most curious
and unexpected shapes, rise from the gloomy desert of the plain. Yet,
though the Karroo looks a hopeless wilderness, flocks of sheep at
distant intervals--one sheep requires six hundred acres of this scrappy
pasture for nourishment--manage to subsist; and in consequence, now
and again the traveller sees some far-off farm.
We look about eagerly for signs of war. Little is as yet to be seen, and
the Karroo remains unsympathetic. But all along the southern frontier
of the Free State the expectation of early collision grows. The first sign
after leaving Cape Town is the Proclamation against treason published
by