ut a straw can point the way windward. A talkative Kaffir who has
been reared on a Dutch farm will at times give things away that would cost
him his life if the length of his tongue was known to his master;
especially will the nigger talk if his mouth be judiciously moistened with
Cape smoke brandy.

Information that comes to a war correspondent's hand is of many colours,
shapes, and sizes, but if he is born to the business he pieces the whole
together and picks out what seemeth good to his own soul at the finish.
Sometimes, at the end of a week's hard work, he finds himself possessed of
a patchwork of information like unto Joseph's coat of many colours, but it
is hard fortune indeed if he cannot find something in the lot to repay him
for his earnest endeavours.

SLINGERSFONTEIN.

RENSBURG.

Scarcely had I returned from posting my last letter when the camp was in a
commotion, caused by the news that the West Australians were in action at
Slingersfontein, distant about twelve miles from Rensburg. To saddle up and
get out as fast as horseflesh would carry a man was but the work of a very
short period of time, for the gallop across the open veldt was not a very
laborious undertaking. I soon found that the stalwart sons of the great
gold colony were in it, and enjoying it.

Slingersfontein is an important position on the right flank of French's
column. It is not only an important but a very hard position to hold on
account of the nature of the country. Here there is but very little open
veldt; mile after mile is covered by small kopjes that rise in countless
numbers, until the whole country looks as if it were covered with a
veritable forest of hills. Once inside that labyrinth of rocky
excrescences, an army might easily be lost, unless every individual man and
officer knew the place thoroughly. The Boers know the lay of the land, and,
consequently, shift from post to post by paths that are unknown to anyone
else with marvellous dexterity and incredible swiftness. Our forces hold a
small plain, which is like the palm of a giant's hand, with the surrounding
kopjes representing the digits. We hold those kopjes also. The shape of the
camp is in the form of a horseshoe, all around the little basin great hills
rise, and from those hills England's watch-dogs keep a sharp look-out on
the movements of the foe; and well they need