ers, and
the advance swept onwards. On all sides the pressure was becoming
unendurable. The burghers in the valley below could see all day the
twinkle of British heliographs from every hill, while at night the
constant flash of signals told of the sleepless vigilance which hemmed
them in. Upon July 29th, Prinsloo sent in a request for an armistice,
which was refused. Later in the day he despatched a messenger with
the white flag to Hunter, with an announcement of his unconditional
surrender.

On July 30th the motley army which had held the British off so long
emerged from among the mountains. But it soon became evident that in
speaking for all Prinsloo had gone beyond his powers. Discipline was low
and individualism high in the Boer army. Every man might repudiate the
decision of his commandant, as every man might repudiate the white flag
of his comrade. On the first day no more than eleven hundred men of the
Ficksburg and Ladybrand commandos, with fifteen hundred horses and two
guns, were surrendered. Next day seven hundred and fifty more men
came in with eight hundred horses, and by August 6th the total of the
prisoners had mounted to four thousand one hundred and fifty with three
guns, two of which were our own. But Olivier, with fifteen hundred men
and several guns, broke away from the captured force and escaped through
the hills. Of this incident General Hunter, an honourable soldier,
remarks in his official report: 'I regard it as a dishonourable
breach of faith upon the part of General Olivier, for which I hold him
personally responsible. He admitted that he knew that General Prinsloo
had included him in the unconditional surrender.' It is strange that,
on Olivier's capture shortly afterwards, he was not court-martialled
for this breach of the rules of war, but that good-natured giant, the
Empire, is quick--too quick, perhaps--to let byegones be byegones. On
August 4th Harrismith surrendered to Macdonald, and thus was secured
the opening of the Van Reenen's Pass and the end of the Natal system
of railways. This was of the very first importance, as the utmost
difficulty had been found in supplying so large a body of troops so far
from the Cape base. In a day the base was shifted to Durban, and the
distance shortened by two-thirds, while the army came to be on the
railway instead of a hundred miles from it. This great success assured
Lord Roberts's communications from serious attack, and was of the utmost
importan