One was the advance of a considerable body under
the formidable Cronje to attack Mafeking, an enterprise which demands a
chapter of its own. The other was the investment of Kimberley by a force
which consisted principally of Freestaters under the command of Wessels
and Botha. The place was defended by Colonel Kekewich, aided by the
advice and help of Mr. Cecil Rhodes, who had gallantly thrown himself
into the town by one of the last trains which reached it. As the founder
and director of the great De Beers diamond mines he desired to be with
his people in the hour of their need, and it was through his initiative
that the town had been provided with the rifles and cannon with which to
sustain the siege.

The troops which Colonel Kekewich had at his disposal consisted of four
companies of the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment (his own regiment),
with some Royal Engineers, a mountain battery, and two machine guns. In
addition there were the extremely spirited and capable local forces, a
hundred and twenty men of the Cape Police, two thousand Volunteers,
a body of Kimberley Light Horse, and a battery of light seven-pounder
guns. There were also eight Maxims which were mounted upon the huge
mounds of debris which surrounded the mines and formed most efficient
fortresses.

A small reinforcement of police had, under tragic circumstances, reached
the town. Vryburg, the capital of British Bechuanaland, lies 145 miles
to the north of Kimberley. The town has strong Dutch sympathies, and on
the news of the approach of a Boer force with artillery it was evident
that it could not be held. Scott, the commandant of police, made some
attempt to organise a defence, but having no artillery and finding
little sympathy, he was compelled to abandon his charge to the invaders.
The gallant Scott rode south with his troopers, and in his humiliation
and grief at his inability to preserve his post he blew out his brains
upon the journey. Vryburg was immediately occupied by the Boers, and
British Bechuanaland was formally annexed to the South African Republic.
This policy of the instant annexation of all territories invaded was
habitually carried out by the enemy, with the idea that British subjects
who joined them would in this way be shielded from the consequences of
treason. Meanwhile several thousand Freestaters and Transvaalers with
artillery had assembled round Kimberley, and all news of the town was
cut off. Its relief was one of the first t