way for the food supply,
guns, ammunition, horses, transport animals, and hospital
equipment, in fact, all the requirements of an army in the
field, and that, along these lines, bridges and culverts had
been destroyed in many places, and rails were being constantly
torn up."

And of the Cape Colony he wrote:[196]

[Footnote 196: February 6th, 1900. Capetown.]

"The difficulties of carrying on war in South Africa do not
appear to be sufficiently appreciated by the British public. In
an enemy's country we should know exactly how we stood; but out
here we have not only to defeat the enemy on the northern
frontier, but to maintain law and order within the colonial
limits. Ostensibly, the Dependency is loyal, and no doubt a large
number of its inhabitants are sincerely attached to the British
rule and strongly opposed to Boer domination. On the other hand,
a considerable section would prefer a republican form of
government, and, influenced by ties of blood and association,
side with the Orange Free State and the Transvaal. Even the
public service at the Cape is not free from men whose sympathies
with the enemy may lead them to divulge secrets and give valuable
assistance to the Boer leaders in other ways."

[Sidenote: The offensive campaign.]

Bearing in mind that the offensive campaign dates, not from the expiry
of the Boer ultimatum on October 11th, 1899, but from Lord Roberts's
advance from Modder River Station on February 11th, 1900, the mere
record of dates and events is sufficiently impressive. On February
12th the Free State border was crossed; on the 15th Kimberley was
relieved, on the 27th Cronje's force surrendered at Paardeberg, on the
28th Ladysmith was relieved, and on March 13th Bloemfontein, the
capital of the Free State, was occupied. The army again advanced
early in May; Kroonstad was entered on the 12th; on May 24th, the
Queen's birthday, the Free State was annexed; the Vaal was crossed on
the 27th, Johannesburg was occupied on the 31st, and on June 5th the
British flag was hoisted on the Raadzaal at Pretoria. In the meantime
Mafeking had been relieved with absolute punctuality on May 17th.[197]
On June 11th the Boers evacuated Laing's Nek and Majuba, and the Natal
Field Force, under Buller, entered the Transvaal from the south-east.
The next day Roberts defeated the Boers under Louis Botha at Diamo