inding the Boers very numerous all round him,
and being hampered by his wounded, fell back upon Naauwpoort, which he
reached on June 1st.

In May, Sir Bindon Blood, having returned to the line to refit, made yet
another cast through that thrice-harried belt of country which contains
Ermelo, Bethel, and Carolina, in which Botha, Viljoen, and the fighting
Boers had now concentrated. Working over the blackened veld he swung
round in the Barberton direction, and afterwards made a westerly
drive in conjunction with small columns commanded by Walter Kitchener,
Douglas, and Campbell of the Rifles, while Colville, Garnett, and
Bullock co-operated from the Natal line. Again the results were
disappointing when compared with the power of the instrument employed.
On July 5th he reached Springs, near Johannesburg, with a considerable
amount of stock, but with no great number of prisoners. The elusive
Botha had slipped away to the south and was reported upon the Zululand
border, while Viljoen had succeeded in crossing the Delagoa line and
winning back to his old lair in the district north of Middelburg,
from which he had been evicted in April. The commandos were like those
pertinacious flies which buzz upwards when a hand approaches them, but
only to settle again in the same place. One could but try to make the
place less attractive than before.

Before Viljoen's force made its way over the line it had its revenge for
the long harrying it had undergone by a well-managed night attack, in
which it surprised and defeated a portion of Colonel Beatson's column
at a place called Wilmansrust, due south of Middelburg, and between
that town and Bethel. Beatson had divided his force, and this section
consisted of 850 of the 5th Victorian Mounted Rifles, with thirty
gunners and two pom-poms, the whole under the command of Major
Morris. Viljoen's force trekking north towards the line came upon this
detachment upon June 12th. The British were aware of the presence of the
enemy, but do not appear to have posted any extra outposts or taken any
special precautions. Long months of commando chasing had imbued them too
much with the idea that these were fugitive sheep, and not fierce and
wily wolves, whom they were endeavouring to catch. It is said that 700
yards separated the four pickets. With that fine eye for detail which
the Boer leaders possess, they had started a veld fire upon the west of
the camp and then attacked from the east, so that they