of the kraal, and the forty-five had not escaped from the
bulldog grip which held them. There seems for some reason to have been
no effective pursuit of the Boers, and the British column held on its
way to Kroonstad.

The second incident which stands out amid the dreary chronicle of
hustlings and snipings is the surprise visit paid by Broadwood with a
small British column to the town of Reitz upon July 11th, which resulted
in the capture of nearly every member of the late government of the Free
State, save only the one man whom they particularly wanted. The column
consisted of 200 yeomen, 200 of the 7th Dragoon Guards, and two guns.
Starting at 11 P.M., the raiders rode hard all night and broke with
the dawn upon the sleeping village. Racing into the main street, they
secured the startled Boers as they rushed from the houses. It is easy
to criticise such an operation from a distance, and to overlook the
practical difficulties in the way, but on the face of it it seems a pity
that the holes had not been stopped before the ferret was sent in.
A picket at the farther end of the street would have barred Steyn's
escape. As it was, he flung himself upon his horse and galloped
half-clad out of the town. Sergeant Cobb of the Dragoons snapped a rifle
at close quarters upon him, but the cold of the night had frozen the oil
on the striker and the cartridge hung fire. On such trifles do the large
events of history turn! Two Boer generals, two commandants, Steyn's
brother, his secretary, and several other officials were among the
nine-and-twenty prisoners. The treasury was also captured, but it is
feared that the Yeomen and Dragoons will not be much the richer from
their share of the contents.

Save these two incidents, the fight at Reitz and the capture of a
portion of Steyn's government at the same place, the winter's campaign
furnished little which was of importance, though a great deal of very
hard and very useful work was done by the various columns under the
direction of the governors of the four military districts. In the south
General Bruce Hamilton made two sweeps, one from the railway line to
the western frontier, and the second from the south and east in the
direction of Petrusburg. The result of the two operations was about 300
prisoners. At the same time Monro and Hickman re-cleared the already
twice-cleared districts of Rouxville and Smithfield. The country in the
east of the Colony was verging now upon the state whic