n the attack. Finding
that the place was impregnable, and that the enemy outnumbered him,
Colonel Perceval gave the order to retire, a movement which was only
successfully carried out because the greater part of the Boer horses
had been shot. By morning the small British force had extricated itself,
from its perilous position with a total loss of six killed, nineteen
wounded, and six missing. The whole affair was undoubtedly a cleverly
planned Boer ambush, and the small force was most fortunate in escaping
destruction.

One other isolated incident may be mentioned here, though it occurred
far away in the Vryheid district of the Transvaal. This was the
unfortunate encounter between Zulus and Boers by which the latter lost
over fifty of their numbers under deplorable circumstances. This portion
of the Transvaal has only recently been annexed, and is inhabited by
warlike Zulus, who are very different from the debased Kaffirs of the
rest of the country. These men had a blood-feud against the Boers,
which was embittered by the fact that they had lost heavily through Boer
depredations. Knowing that a party of fifty-nine men were sleeping in
a farmhouse, the Zulus crept on to it and slaughtered every man of the
inmates. Such an incident is much to be regretted, and yet, looking back
upon the long course of the war, and remembering the turbulent tribes
who surrounded the combatants--Swazis, Basutos, and Zulus--we may well
congratulate ourselves that we have been able to restrain those black
warriors, and to escape the brutalities and the bitter memories of a
barbarian invasion.

CHAPTER 38. DE LA REY'S CAMPAIGN OF 1902.

IT will be remembered that at the close of 1901 Lord Methuen and Colonel
Kekewich had both come across to the eastern side of their district and
made their base at the railway line in the Klerksdorp section. Their
position was strengthened by the fact that a blockhouse cordon now ran
from Klerksdorp to Ventersdorp, and from Ventersdorp to Potchefstroom,
so that this triangle could be effectively controlled. There remained,
however, a huge tract of difficult country which was practically in the
occupation of the enemy. Several thousand stalwarts were known to be
riding with De la Rey and his energetic lieutenant Kemp. The strenuous
operations of the British in the Eastern Transvaal and in the Orange
River Colony had caused this district to be comparatively neglected,
and so everything was in favour of an