commando
of Van der Merve, which was an offshoot of that of Scheepers. The action
was fought near Laingsburg, which is on the main line, just north of
Matjesfontein, and it ended in the scattering of the Boer band, the
death of their boy leader (he was only eighteen years of age), and the
capture of thirty-seven prisoners. Seventy of the Beers escaped by a
hidden road. To Colonials and Yeomanry belongs the honour of the action,
which cost the British force seven casualties. Colonel Crabbe pushed
on after the success, and on September 14th he was in touch with
Scheepers's commando near Ladismith (not to be confused with the
historical town of Natal), and endured and inflicted some losses. On
the 17th a patrol of Grenadier Guards was captured in the north of the
Colony, Rebow, the young lieutenant in charge of them, meeting with a
soldier's death.

On the same day a more serious engagement occurred near Tarkastad,
a place which lies to the east of Cradock, a notorious centre of
disaffection in the midland district. Smuts's commando, some hundreds
strong, was marked down in this part, and several forces converged upon
it. One of the outlets, Elands River Poort, was guarded by a single
squadron of the 17th Lancers. Upon this the Boers made a sudden and very
fierce attack, their approach being facilitated partly by the mist and
partly by the use of khaki, a trick which seems never to have grown too
stale for successful use. The result was that they were able to ride
up to the British camp before any preparations had been made for
resistance, and to shoot down a number of the Lancers before they could
reach their horses. So terrible was the fire that the single squadron
lost thirty-four killed and thirty-six wounded. But the regiment may
console itself for the disaster by the fact that the sorely stricken
detachment remained true to the spirited motto of the corps, and that no
prisoners appear to have been lost.

After this one sharp engagement there ensued several weeks during
which the absence of historical events, or the presence of the military
censor, caused a singular lull in the account of the operations. With
so many small commandos and so many pursuing columns it is extraordinary
that there should not have been a constant succession of actions.
That there was not must indicate a sluggishness upon the part of the
pursuers, and this sluggishness can only be explained by the condition
of their horses. Every train of