The war news from South Africa shows a slight improve-
ment this week, though a "regrettable incident" has occurred at Vlakfontein, in the Orange River Colony, where two guns and upwards of a hundred officers and men were captured ; while Lovat's Scouts have suffered severely on the Orange River, where in repelling Kruitzinger's attempt to rush the passage they lost their gallant commander, Colonel Andrew Murray, and his Adjutant, Captain Murray. On the other hand, Lord Kitchener reports a number of minor British successes, including the capture of two small commandos with all their transport; whilst his weekly summary of results from the columns shows a total of twenty-nine Boers killed and three hundred and fifty prisoners. Further details of the action at Tarkastad prove that the 17th Lancers fought with splendid resolution, not a single man surrendering when the Boers rushed the camp. General Botha's threatened invasion of Natal has so far come to nothing, and his commando is heading north again, while in the Colony " Scheepers and Theron evade our columns with great assiduity." Amongst mis- cellaneous items of news we may note the banishment of ten Boer leaders captured since the 15th, and the reported decision of Lord Milner to make Johannesburg the official centre of the High Commissionership. It is interesting to learn from Friday's papers that the Government farms established near all the principal garrisons in the Transvaal, under the management of an Australian and a Cambridgeshire farmer, already supply more than sufficient green forage and vegetables for the local forces.
Previous page
