With the Boer Forces | Page 4

THE FIGHT AT DUNDEE (_Photograph by
Reginald Sheppard, Pretoria._)
ELECTING A FIELD-CORNET (_Photograph by the Author._)

KRIJGSRAAD, NEAR THABA N'CHU (_Photograph by the
Author._)
BOER COMMANDANTS READING MESSAGE FROM BRITISH
OFFICERS AFTER THE BATTLE OF DUNDEE (_Photograph by
Reginald Sheppard._)
GENERAL GROBLER (_Photograph by the Author._)
SPION KOP, WHERE BOERS CHARGED UP THE HILLSIDE
(_Photograph by Reginald Sheppard._)
PLAN OF BATTLEFIELD OF SANNASPOST (_Drawn by the
Author under supervision of General Christian De Wet._)
VILLAGE AND MOUNTAIN OF THABA N'CHU (_Photograph by
the Author._)
THE AUTHOR, AND A BASUTO PONY WHICH ASSISTED IN
THE FIGHT AT SANNASPOST (_Photograph by T.F. Millard, New
York._)
CALLING FOR VOLUNTEERS TO MAN CAPTURED CANNON
AFTER SANNASPOST (_Photograph by the Author._)
COMMANDANT-GENERAL CHRISTIAN H. DE WET (_With
Facsimile of his Signature._)
GENERAL PETER DE WET (_Photograph by the Author._)
GENERAL JOHN DE LA REY (_Photograph by the Author._)
PRESIDENT KRUGER ADDRESSING AMERICAN VOLUNTEERS
(_Photograph by R. Steger._)
BATTLEFIELD OF ELANDSLAAGTE (_Photograph by Van
Hoepen._)
COLONEL JOHN E. BLAKE, OF THE IRISH BRIGADE

(_Photograph by Leo Weinthal._)
MRS. GENERAL LUCAS J. MEYER (_Photograph by Leo
Weinthal._)
MRS. OTTO KRANTZ, A BOER AMAZON (_Photograph by R.
Steger._)
MRS. COMMANDANT-GENERAL LOUIS BOTHA (_Photograph
by Leo Weinthal, Pretoria._)
GENERAL HENDRIK SNYMAN
FIRST BRITISH PRISONERS OF WAR CAPTURED NEAR
DUNDEE (_Photograph by Reginald Sheppard._)
CHAPTER I
THE WAY TO THE BOER COUNTRY
Immediately after war was declared between Great Britain and the
Boers of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State, the two South
African republics became ostracised, in a great measure, from the rest
of the civilised world. The cables and the great ocean steamship lines,
which connected South Africa with Europe and America, were owned
by British companies, and naturally they were employed by the British
Government for its own purposes. Nothing which might in any way
benefit the Boers was allowed to pass over these lines and, so far as it
was possible, the British Government attempted to isolate the republics
so that the outside world could have no communication of any sort with
them. With the exception of a small strip of coast-land on the Indian
ocean, the two republics were completely surrounded by British
territory, and consequently it was not a difficult matter for the great
Empire to curtail the liberties of the Boers to as great an extent as it
was pleasing to the men who conducted the campaign. The small strip
of coast-land, however, was the property of a neutral nation, and,
therefore, could not be used for British purposes of stifling the Boer
countries, but the nation which "rules the waves" exhausted every

means to make the Boers' air-hole as small as possible by placing a
number of warships outside the entrance of Delagoa Bay, and by
establishing a blockade of the port of Lorenzo Marques.
Lorenzo Marques, in itself, was valueless to the Boers, for it had
always been nothing more than a vampire feeding upon the Transvaal,
but as an outlet to the sea and as a haven for foreign ships bearing men,
arms, and encouragement it was invaluable. In the hands of the Boers
Delagoa Bay would have been worse than useless, for the warships
could have taken possession of it and sealed it tightly on the first day of
the war, but as a Portuguese possession it was the only friend that the
Boers were able to find during their long period of need. Without it, the
Boers would have been unable to hold any intercourse with foreign
countries, no envoys could have been despatched, no volunteers could
have entered the country, and they would have been ignorant of the
opinion of the world--a factor in the brave resistance against their
enemy which was by no means infinitesimal. Delagoa Bay was the
Boers' one window through which they could look at the world, and
through which the world could watch the brave struggle of the
farmer-citizens of the veld-republics.
The Portuguese authorities at Delagoa Bay long ago established a
reputation for adroitness in extracting revenues whenever and wherever
it was possible to find a stranger within their gates, but the war afforded
them such excellent opportunities as they had never enjoyed before.
Being the gate of the Boer country was a humanitarian privilege, but it
also was a remunerative business, and never since Vasco de Gama
discovered the port were so many choice facilities afforded for
increasing the revenue of the colony. Nor was the Latin's mind wanting
in concocting schemes for filling the Portuguese coffers when the laws
were lax on the subject, for it was the simplest arrangement to frame a
regulation suitable for every new condition that arose. The Portuguese
were willing to be the medium between the Boers and the people of
other parts of the earth, but they asked for and received a large
percentage of