The passages from a diary found on a dead Boer
near Thabanchu, published in Thursday's papers, are full of interest. There is a good picture of De Wet, as a man of medium height, with a reddish beard, and little fiery eyes. 'When you hear him speak, you know him to be a man from head to foot,—no talker, but what he says you feel. One could go through thick and thin with him." For the other leaders, however, the writer entertains widely different sentiments:—" Our motto is 'Unity makes strong,' but in reality there are constant dissensions instead of brotherly love." The writer speaks bitterly of the circulation of false news, regards the continual trekking as useless, and asserts that all the best men are being killed or taken prisoners while only the cowards are left. "The whole object of our cause is lost sight -of. No one talks of it. There is nothing but eating and drinking." He mentions a curious point in De Wet's speech. The Boer general, addressing the laager, said he believed the British would not be killed by the Manser, but would be slain by lice,—doubtless a view sug- gested by his recollection of the plagues of Egypt.
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