ble to carry the frail works which
guarded the town. Once more, at the end of the war as at the beginning
of it, there was shown the impotence of the Dutch riflemen against a
British defence. A relief column, under Colonel Cooper, was quickly
organised at Port Nolloth, and advanced along the railway line,
forcing Smuts to raise the siege in the first week of May. Immediately
afterwards came the news of the negotiations for peace, and the Boer
general presented himself at Port Nolloth, whence he was conveyed by
ship to Cape Town, and so north again to take part in the deliberations
of his fellow-countrymen. Throughout the war he had played a manly
and honourable part. It may be hoped that with youth and remarkable
experience, both of diplomacy and of war, he may now find a long and
brilliant career awaiting him in a wider arena than that for which he
strove.

CHAPTER 36. THE SPRING CAMPAIGN (SEPTEMBER TO DECEMBER, 1901).

The history of the war during the African winter of 1901 has now
been sketched, and some account given of the course of events in the
Transvaal, the Orange River Colony, and the Cape Colony. The hope of
the British that they might stamp out resistance before the grass
should restore mobility to the larger bodies of Boers was destined to be
disappointed. By the middle of September the veld had turned from
drab to green, and the great drama was fated to last for one more act,
however anxious all the British and the majority of the Boers might be
to ring down the curtain. Exasperating as this senseless prolongation
of a hopeless struggle might be, there was still some consolation in the
reflection that those who drank this bitter cup to the very lees would
be less likely to thirst for it again.

September 15th was the date which brought into force the British
Proclamation announcing the banishment of those Boer leaders who
continued in arms. It must be confessed that this step may appear harsh
and unchivalrous to the impartial observer, so long as those leaders
were guilty of no practices which are foreign to the laws of civilised
warfare. The imposition of personal penalties upon the officers of an
opposing army is a step for which it is difficult to quote a precedent,
nor is it wise to officially rule your enemy outside the pale of
ordinary warfare, since it is equally open to him to take the same
step against you. The only justification for such a course would be its
complete success, as this wou