siderable
concentration of the Transvaal Boers into that large triangle which is
bounded by the Delagoa railway line upon the north, the Natal railway
line upon the south, and the Swazi and Zulu frontiers upon the east. The
bushveld is at this season of the year unhealthy both for man and beast,
so that for the sake of their herds, their families, and themselves the
burghers were constrained to descend into the open veld. There seemed
the less objection to their doing so since this tract of country,
though traversed once both by Buller and by French, had still remained a
stronghold of the Boers and a storehouse of supplies. Within its borders
are to be found Carolina, Ermelo, Vryheid, and other storm centres.
Its possession offers peculiar strategical advantages, as a force lying
there can always attack either railway, and might even make, as was
indeed intended, a descent into Natal. For these mingled reasons of
health and of strategy a considerable number of burghers united in this
district under the command of the Bothas and of Smuts.

Their concentration had not escaped the notice of the British military
authorities, who welcomed any movement which might bring to a focus that
resistance which had been so nebulous and elusive. Lord Kitchener having
once seen the enemy fairly gathered into this huge cover, undertook
the difficult task of driving it from end to end. For this enterprise
General French was given the chief command, and had under his orders
no fewer than seven columns, which started from different points of the
Delagoa and of the Natal railway lines, keeping in touch with each
other and all trending south and east. A glance at the map would show,
however, that it was a very large field for seven guns, and that it
would need all their alertness to prevent the driven game from
breaking back. Three columns started from the Delagoa line, namely,
Smith-Dorrien's from Wonderfontein (the most easterly), Campbell's from
Middelburg, and Alderson's from Eerstefabrieken, close to Pretoria.
Four columns came from the western railway line: General Knox's from
Kaalfontein, Major Allenby's from Zuurfontein (both stations between
Pretoria and Johannesburg), General Dartnell's from Springs, close to
Johannesburg, and finally General Colville (not to be confused with
Colvile) from Greylingstad in the south. The whole movement resembled a
huge drag net, of which Wonderfontein and Greylingstad formed the ends,
exactly one hun