gacity on the part of that General. It was not due to any want of
bravery on the part of his troops. The General is worthy of his rank, and
worthy of the confidence of the nation, and his troops are as good as the
men who, under the same flag, taught the Russians to respect the power of
Britain. The cause of the failure lay mainly in the want of knowledge on
our part concerning the strength of the country the Boers held, and the
strength of the country they had to fall back upon when hard pressed.

That information the "Intelligence" Department ought to have been able to
place in the hands of General Buller before he moved forward to the relief
of the beleaguered garrison in Ladysmith. But they could not give what they
had never possessed.

Right up to the present moment, when the Boers have been forced to meet our
troops at close quarters, they have been found to possess no other arms
than the rifle. This has given truth to the belief that the enemy as an
attacking force is next door to useless, as no men, no matter how brave and
determined, could do very much damage to first-class troops armed with the
bayonet.

However, there is a whisper in the air that the Boers are not deficient in
side-arms; it is rumoured that the President of the Boer Republic has
immense supplies of offensive as well as defensive weapons safely placed
away until they may be required Right up to date his war policy has been to
remain passive, excepting in a few isolated positions, allowing the British
to attack his generals in almost impregnable positions, and by so doing put
heart into the burghers, and dishearten our forces. But should the tide of
war continue to roll onward in his favour he may attempt to put in force
the oft-told Boer threat, and try to sweep the British into the sea. Should
that day dawn, it is rumoured that the enemy will be found well supplied
with side-arms and with mercenaries trained to their use in one of the best
schools that modern times have known. Where do these rumours come from?
Well, a Boer prisoner, taunted perhaps by a guard, loses his temper and
drops a hint, or a Boer farmer, exultant over the latest news of his
countrymen's success, lifts the veil a little, and a jealously-guarded
secret drops out; or, again, a Boer's wife or daughter, flinging a taunt at
a cursed "Rooinek," allows her temper to run away with her discretion.
There are a hundred ways in which such things get about; only straws,
perhaps, b