ry R.H.A.,
the Elswick battery, two 5-inch and two 4.7 guns, with the Berkshires,
the Border Regiment, the Argyle and Sutherlands, and the Scottish
Borderers, put in as much hard work in marching and in fighting as any
body of troops in the whole campaign.

The renewal of the war in the west had begun some weeks before, but was
much accelerated by the transference of De la Rey and his burghers to
that side. There is no district in the Transvaal which is better worth
fighting for, for it is a fair country side, studded with farmhouses and
green with orange-groves, with many clear streams running through it.
The first sign of activity appears to have been on July 7th, when a
commando with guns appeared upon the hills above Rustenburg. Hanbury
Tracy, commandant of Rustenburg, was suddenly confronted with a summons
to surrender. He had only 120 men and one gun, but he showed a bold
front. Colonel Houldsworth, at the first whisper of danger, had started
from Zeerust with a small force of Australian bushmen, and arrived at
Rustenburg in time to drive the enemy away in a very spirited action. On
the evening of July 8th Baden-Powell took over the command, the garrison
being reinforced by Plumer's command.

The Boer commando was still in existence, however, and it was reinforced
and reinvigorated by De la Rey's success at Uitval's Nek. On July 18th
they began to close in upon Rustenburg again, and a small skirmish took
place between them and the Australians. Methuen's division, which had
been doing very arduous service in the north of the Free State during
the last six weeks, now received orders to proceed into the Transvaal
and to pass northwards through the disturbed districts en route for
Rustenburg, which appeared to be the storm centre. The division was
transported by train from Kroonstad to Krugersdorp, and advanced on the
evening of July 18th upon its mission, through a bare and fire-blackened
country. On the 19th Lord Methuen manoeuvred the Boers out of a strong
position, with little loss to either side. On the 21st he forced his
way through Olifant's Nek, in the Magaliesberg range, and so established
communication with Baden-Powell, whose valiant bushmen, under Colonel
Airey, had held their own in a severe conflict near Magato Pass, in
which they lost six killed, nineteen wounded, and nearly two hundred
horses. The fortunate arrival of Captain FitzClarence with the
Protectorate Regiment helped on this occasion to avert