hat the war
was drawing to a close, and it was too late to repeat the attempt.

When one thinks that but for one man's indifference to duty the report
of the Consuls would have been published in London at a time when all
England was shaken with the revelations made by Miss Hobhouse and the
agitation of the pro-Boers was at its height, then one cannot help
realising the futility of fighting against Fate.

Not yet had the time of salvation arrived for the victims of the
Concentration Camps--not yet--not until the toll of life had been paid
to the uttermost.

Other schemes for supplying that section of the British public,
desirous of being acquainted with _the truth_, with trustworthy
information from South Africa, met with greater success, and I relate
the following instance for the sake of the interesting circumstances
connected with it, not for its own sake, for obvious reasons.

Many of my readers will remember the case of Mr. Spoelstra, a
Hollander, which caused such a commotion in the Transvaal during the
war.

He wrote a long letter for publication in Holland on the hardships and
ill-treatment to which the Boer women were subjected in transit from
their farms to the Concentration Camps, by the soldiers (chiefly, I
may mention here, the Canadian Scouts and Australian Bushrangers, who
were, however, all regarded as British soldiers, these distinctions
not being sufficiently clear to the average South African).

This lengthy document Spoelstra confided to the care of a man who was
about to leave for Holland.

On the borders of Natal, the man, on being cross-questioned by the
inspector of goods, became so confused and agitated that he brought
suspicion on himself, with the result that he was detained while his
luggage was thoroughly overhauled.

The unfortunate letter was found, Spoelstra was arrested and
immediately imprisoned in the Pretoria Jail.

The Dutch Consul, Mr. Domela Nieuwenhuis, on being appealed to,
insisted on a public trial, which was granted after some delay,
Spoelstra being allowed three days in which to procure his witnesses,
_in Pretoria_ and in the small Camp in one of the suburbs, _not_ in
Irene.

Notwithstanding the shortness of the time and the restrictions placed
upon him, he succeeded in getting nearly thirty women to give evidence
on his behalf, and at his trial, which was publicly held, revelations
of a very startling nature were made.

The greatest indignation was felt and fre