The news from Mesopotamia continues to be deeply disappointing. As
Mr. Winston Churchill might say, we are only a few miles from victory, but, alas ! as in the case of the Dardanelles, those few miles may prove as hard to pass over as the gulf that lay between Dives and Lazarus. But though our force at Kut is very hard pressed, and will, we fear, soon be in serious straits for food, we must remem- ber that Ladysmith was "very hard pressed" in February, 1900, that its food supply ran down to the lowest depths, and that mules and horses had to be eaten. Yet those who controlled that food supply managed to keep things going for at least six weeks beyond what seemed possible, and finally the city was relieved and not taken. That is a good omen. We, at any rate, mean to remember Luclatow, Ladysmith, and Mafeking. British troops never fight better than when they am called upon to keep the flag flying under impossible conditions.
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