The news from the Transvaal is at once uncertain and
dis- agreeable. Colonel Winslow, in command at Potchefstroom, surrendered that post, under stress of famine, on the 21st of March, before the relief trains could arrive. The garrison were allowed all the honours of war, but were compelled to pledge themselves not to fight during the campaign. As the armistice was still in force and the waggons only a .day's journey distant, the Boers, it is asserted, must have known that hostilities were suspended, and had no right to demand any terms at all. 1t seems clear that if they broke faith, the restoration of Potchefstroom must be de- manded and enforced ; but Sir rvelyn Wood telegraphs that judgment should be suspended until he knows the
facts, and there is one conceivable explanation. The besiegers must have heard of the armistice, but may not have heard of its extension. Public feeling in Natal is so excited, that any accusation against the Boers is eagerly seized ; but the Cape Parliament will, it is believed, vote an address thanking her Majesty for the peace. The anger of Natal is not unnatural, but it must not be forgotten that the Colony likes the presence of an army, and an expenditure of half a million a month, very much indeed.
