parently had the means
of conveying to some central organisation early intelligence of the
movement of every British column. This may appear to the casual
observer as an enormous undertaking, but in reality it was nothing of
the kind. It was absolutely essential to the Boer cause that a
considerable portion of their less valuable fighting material should
thus be distributed over the length and breadth of the guerilla area.
Owing to the great distances to be traversed in South Africa, every
Dutchman had a local knowledge of his own district which could never
be acquired in a country of rapid communication such as England. To
local men were apportioned the network of observation-hills in which
the country abounds. They lived upon the hill-tops all day, and
returned either to farms or other places of security during the night.
Their method of inter-communication was either by Kaffirs or mounted
messengers, and in this way news could travel by relay as easily and
rapidly as it is carried by a similar system amongst the natives of
India. Any Kaffir will dog-trot ten miles in two hours; consequently
without much effort Boer information would travel a hundred and twenty
miles in twenty-four hours. Added to this, every woman remaining upon
a farm was of the nature of an intelligence agent, and after the women
had been removed, for the most part to the concentration camps, the
majority of Kaffir kraals served the same purpose. It was this means
of information which made the Boer resistance possible: it was to this
system of espionage that De Wet owed the success of his meteor-like
career.

The Intelligence centre at De Aar being unable to furnish the
requisite maps, took upon itself to supply "the best local guide
procurable." It is mainly to the services rendered by this local guide
that De Wet owes his escape on this particular occasion. The brigadier
was fully alive to the existence of the Boer local espionage; but it
must be said with truth that he had not realised to what extent De
Wet's _clientele_ included the men who possessed the confidence of
the De Wet expert and the intelligence faculty at De Aar. If he had
realised this he would have been content to have made his dash,
trusting to the almost supernatural instinct of the Tiger. As it was,
to the general regret, the Tiger was allowed to sever his connection
with the column, to be replaced by one of the many "sitters upon the
fence" who have for months conduced to the