it was
stipulated that the border should be widened to admit Kimberley back to
the fold. These were extravagant terms; they were amusing, as amusement
goes--or might go in the ordinary trend of things. But when coupled with
other symptoms--the misfortunes of the army, the reticence of the
authorities, the uncanny demureness of the fourth estate--they were not
conducive to peace of mind. Had there been aught that was good to tell
it would have been proclaimed with glowing candour; the "new diplomacy"
would have exercised its sway in riotous triumph. The Military, it was
conceded, knew everything. Unanimity obtained on that point. But it
stopped there. On the question of the Colonel's reticence, its cause,
effect, wisdom, or unwisdom, discord was rife. Acute ones had hit the
nail on the head, but they could not drive it home. Every man, or set of
men, had his or their own peculiar theory to expound. The army, some
said, was marching on Bloemfontein with a view to expediting our relief
by forcing the Boer back to defend his own State. Against this it was
maintained that Kimberley was outside the _ambit_ of the army's high and
mighty consideration. Others argued that the Colonel's policy of "mum"
was mainly intended as a protest against the traffic in "Specials." We
were all weary; the strain was weakening our mental faculties; the most
sensible and philosophic cherished the queerest thoughts. As a cynic
observed, one night at _souchong_, it took a siege to test one's
intelligence--and it tried the cynics as much as the non-intellectual.
All honour to those gentlemen--lay and clerical--who by dint of hard
work and in doing good preserved their equilibrium. We had, on Thursday,
an instance of their worth in the establishment of a cook-house to
supply the native population with _cooked_ rations. This was a
praiseworthy innovation, for wood and such fuel as _Mars_ permitted to
be combustible were extremely scarce. The native had been cured of his
weakness for the dismemberment of mahogany; indirectly the cooking-depot
warded off a "relapse," and was altogether an Institution creditable to
its founders.

Friday came and went unmarked by incident of note; but no; we were
told--it was something new to be told anything--that a Cape _dorp_
called Kuruman had thrown up the sponge. The place had been poorly
garrisoned, and the end was not unexpected--in Official quarters. We
protested against the military habit of publishing things