ho know the country, because their parole cannot be
accepted. I must ask you to warn your wounded not to shoot our officers. I
must warn you not to use Dum-Dum bullets, or use the flag of truce
treacherously. Such action is cowardly in the extreme, and I cannot
countenance it."

[Illustration: PLAN OF THE BATTLE OF BELMONT.]

The Boer losses were reported as very small, but no credence can be
placed on their statements, for the very good reason that it has been
President Kruger's policy to conceal from outsiders, and even from his
own country, the extent of his losses. Whenever the Boer dies in battle,
his body is weighted and cast into a river, or into a trench as quickly
as possible. His family are left in ignorance as to his fate, and their
only conclusion is to assume that he is dead. But Mr. Kruger's methods
and his ruthless military oligarchy were disapproved even by his own
countrymen, and more especially by his own countrywomen, who now began
to mistrust the continual story of Boer victory, and asked pitifully for
permission themselves to seek for fathers, sons, and brothers from whom
they never heard. In some cases many of these were lying not an inch
below their feet, for a British search party came upon a portion of the
veldt that was literally mosaicked with dead Dutchmen whose bodies were
scarcely more than peppered with earth!

Mr. Knight, the correspondent of the _Morning Post_, who was a general
favourite, was wounded in a singularly treacherous manner. He was in the
firing line of the Northamptons, who were then attacking the Boers. Some
of the enemy suddenly emerged from behind rocks and displayed a
handkerchief attached to a rifle. On this sign Mr. Knight with two
others rose, and all three were instantly shot with Dum-Dum bullets. Mr.
Knight's sufferings were great, and the arm was amputated. The use of
Dum-Dum bullets had been proscribed, as, after hitting the mark, they
expand and cause wounds as large as a five-shilling piece. The Boers,
besides using them on occasion, so manoeuvred the Mauser bullets that
they could act in identical fashion. Another treacherous Boer device was
the wearing of the red cross upon their sleeves--an action on a par with
the display of the white flag--for convenience' sake. However, it must
always be remembered that the Boer armies were commandeered and
cosmopolitan armies, and not disciplined troops.

[Illustration: THE BATTLE OF BELMONT, 23rd November 1899--BAYONE