ws of the battle of
Glencoe. The first accounts, which were very properly controlled--for we
are at war with the pen as well as the sword--told only of the bravery
of the troops, of the storming of the Boer position, and of the capture
of prisoners. That the troops had suffered the heavier loss, that the
Boers had retired to further positions in rear of the first, drawing
their artillery with them, and that General Yule had retreated by forced
marches to Ladysmith after the victory--for tactical victory it
undoubtedly was--leaked into Cape Colony very gradually; nor was it
until a week later that it was known that the wounded had been left
behind, and that the camp with all stores and baggage, except
ammunition, had fallen into the enemy's hands. Before that happened the
news of Elandslaagte had arrived, and this brilliant action, which
reflects no less credit on Generals French and Hamilton who fought it
than on Sir George White who ordered it, dazzled all eyes, so that the
sequel to Glencoe was unnoticed, or at any rate produced little effect
on public opinion.

The Natal Field Force is now concentrated at Ladysmith, and confronts
in daily opposition the bulk of the Boer Army. Though the numbers of the
enemy are superior and their courage claims the respect of their
professional antagonists, it is difficult to believe that any serious
reverse can take place in that quarter, and meanwhile many thousand
soldiers are on the seas. But the fact is now abundantly plain to those
who are acquainted with the local conditions and with the Boer
character, that a fierce, certainly bloody, possibly prolonged struggle
lies before the army of South Africa. The telegrams, however, which we
receive from Great Britain of the national feeling, of the bye-election,
of Lord Rosebery's speech, are full of encouragement and confidence. 'At
last,' says the British colonist, as he shoulders his rifle and marches
out to fight, no less bravely than any soldier (witness the casualty
lists), for the ties which bind South Africa to the Empire--'at last
they have made up their minds at home.'

CHAPTER III

ALONG THE SOUTHERN FRONTIER

East London: November 5, 1899.

We have left Headquarters busy with matters that as yet concern no one
but themselves in the Mount Nelson Hotel at Cape Town--a most excellent
and well-appointed establishment, which may be thoroughly appreciated
after a sea voyage, and which, since many of the leading Uit