To the Editor of the Saturday Review.
Croendile Pools, 18th October, 1899.
Sir,—The Boer ultimatum came as a surprise to. Rhodesia and falsified the propheey of those gentlemen. wh the phrase: "Oom Paul will climb dawn," became symbolical of the conjugation of the verb to climb down. On Thursday (12th) we heard that war was declared, and, Friday morning, all railway trafic from the North was suspended, the mails and passengers being sent back Bulawayo.
Running from the North, the Cape Government railway passes through the British Protectorate of Bee! sanaland and itts the Transvaal border for some three Taking advantage of the fact that, through the dilatoriness of the Imperial Government, the Western border had been left quite' unprotected except by small bodies of volunteers anda few of the local police force, the B ters commenced the Fine between Lobatsi 3 the liidges were blown up, the railg torn away, and the telegraph line ent. Five word has been received from Mafeking 1 the sound of continuous fi n to fear that the town is in sore its. At Lohatsi the local volunteers were seized with di before long the enemy. ie had made s the stores and hart work buildings andr is rumoured that. two bodies, stretched upon the platform, are the first grim victims of the campaign." On Sun (15th) the situation appeared xo grave, in spite of a rumour that, after thirty hours' hard fighting, the Mafeking garrison had succeeded in beating off the attack, that the officer in command decided to send down armoured train" from to. Mate On Monday, a with sun nder my charge ixpatched to re force the Sunday train. Accustomed as the C.G. R, trains must be to the humdrum speed of twenty miles an hour, the clatter, bang, dash, w the ironclads have ing the last four days uiust have been a revelation, At Palapye and Mochudi anxious inquiries for arms and ammunition were evidence of the bitter feclinus towards the authorities for leaving the Western boi at the same time, the manner in which stationmasters and those in charge of small sidings remained at their posts duvi nes of extreme danger speaks for the good spirit in which ti cllicials col the situation, As an instance, at Ootsie, a siding forty miles from Mafe and within ten miles of Lobatsi, a small station where the Boers: committed depredations, the telegraph clerk has continually retired to the. sur rounding kopjes_on the approach of the Boers, taking with him his instrament, only to return directly the office was evacuated and continue his work.
Arrived at Crocwlile Pools, Captain Llewellyn, in. charge of the' armoured train, reported that we had but just got through Gaberones in time, as strong tries of Boers were in the neigib ure ind. Indeed, at the present moment we rma sivall party right on the horder of the Transvaal, menaced from all sid feel that, with four armoured trucks, we can hold one own, though our men ate a very' raw lot except a few of the Bechuat land and B.S. Africa police, Capt Llewellyn and Corporal" Murray appear able to do without sleep, One of our trucks, turned into a telegraph office, forms our one link with the outer world anxiety at not hearing from the South and, as time goes on, and we hear of Imperial assistance, our feeling of disappointment increases, A feeling of respect for the Buers, hav.
rd to thole brilliant work ini most puny defence has been offered, Yesterday one of the peculiar incid of war took place; the train up_on the line the only one who remained at Lobatsi during the attack the time he was in his bath and was by some extraordinary piece of good fortune overlooked. On the 18th we fought a brilliant action; the train supported from camp by skirmishers enunyed the Boers; though we had no casualties the armoured trucks were spattered all over with bullets; the Boers' shooting must be excellent, for in several places we found six or seven' splash marks within a radius of less than a foot: they evidently consider the water tanks on the train their mark, but their soft nosed ballets make no im: pression on the boiler plates.
I am forwarding this by the engines which return to Bulawayo on the morning of the 19th. Altogether the rear impression one carries sway is the extraordinary cheek in here, There is no doubt that our small and illcganise force gould be out up by adeter-mined party of Boers, or a field gun
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.