Lord Roberts's further despatches show that the credit of the
successful but severe engagement near Bothaville, briefly mentioned in our last issue, was chiefly due to that " gallant and capable cavalry leader," Colonel Le Gallais, who un- happily was among the killed. Eight guns were captured, the prisoners including ex-President Steyn's secretary, and among the dead was "the Boer doctor with a Red Cross on his arm, rifle in hand, and bandolier half emptied." General Smith-Dorrien's operations between Belfast and the Komati River were remarkable for the splendid work done by the Canadian Mounted Rifles, Dragoons, and artillery. Daring one engagement, in which the Boers charged the rearguard to within seventy yards of it, the following curious incident occurred. Sixteen Canadians fell into the hands of the Boers, who treated them kindly, and released them after removing their own dead and wounded, "during which operation the Canadians were made to lie on their faces in order that they might not see how heavily the Boers had suffered." It appears that two of the Boer generals were killed on this occasion. A successful engagement has also been fought by General F. Kitchener in the Lydenburg district, and Lord Methuen has captured a pom-pom. Mean- time Mr. Kruger has arrived at Suez in good health, and the preparations for his reception in France continue, the less violent amongst his admirers suggesting as a compromise that while there should be as much " Long live Kruger" as possible, there should be no cries of "Down with England."
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