dred miles apart. On January 27th the net began to be
drawn. Some thousands of Boers with a considerable number of guns were
known to be within the enclosure, and it was hoped that even if their
own extreme mobility enabled them to escape it would be impossible for
them to save their transport and their cannon.

Each of the British columns was about 2000 strong, making a total of
14,000 men with about fifty guns engaged in the operations. A front of
not less than ten miles was to be maintained by each force. The first
decided move was on the part of the extreme left wing, Smith-Dorrien's
column, which moved south on Carolina, and thence on Bothwell near Lake
Chrissie. The arduous duty of passing supplies down from the line
fell mainly upon him, and his force was in consequence larger than the
others, consisting of 8500 men with thirteen guns. On the arrival of
Smith-Dorrien at Carolina the other columns started, their centre of
advance being Ermelo. Over seventy miles of veld the gleam of the helio
by day and the flash of the signal lamps at night marked the steady flow
of the British tide. Here and there the columns came in touch with the
enemy and swept him before them. French had a skirmish at Wilge River at
the end of January, and Campbell another south of Middelburg, in which
he had twenty casualties. On February 4th Smith-Dorrien was at Lake
Chrissie; French had passed through Bethel and the enemy was retiring on
Amsterdam. The hundred-mile ends of the drag net were already contracted
to a third of that distance, and the game was still known to be within
it. On the 5th Ermelo was occupied, and the fresh deep ruts upon the
veld told the British horsemen of the huge Boer convoy that was ahead of
them. For days enormous herds, endless flocks, and lines of wagons which
stretched from horizon to horizon had been trekking eastward. Cavalry
and mounted infantry were all hot upon the scent.

Botha, however, was a leader of spirit, not to be hustled with impunity.
Having several thousand burghers with him, it was evident that if he
threw himself suddenly upon any part of the British line he might hope
for a time to make an equal fight, and possibly to overwhelm it. Were
Smith-Dorrien out of the way there would be a clear road of escape
for his whole convoy to the north, while a defeat of any of the other
columns would not help him much. It was on Smith-Dorrien, therefore,
that he threw himself with great impetuosity. That