ady for the storm which burst over them. Lippert was unhappily killed,
and his ten men all hit or taken, but young Theobald held his own
under a heavy fire for twelve hours. Mangles also, the gallant son of
a gallant father, held his post all day with the utmost tenacity. The
troops in the trenches behind were never seriously pressed, thanks
to the desperate resistance of the outposts, but Colonel Gawne of the
Lancasters was unfortunately killed. Towards evening the Boers abandoned
the attack, leaving fourteen of their number dead upon the ground, from
which it may be guessed that their total casualties were not less than
a hundred. The British losses were three officers and five men killed,
twenty-two men wounded, and thirty men with one officer missing--the
latter being the survivors of those outposts which were overwhelmed by
the Boer advance.

A few incidents stand out among the daily bulletins of snipings,
skirmishes, and endless marchings which make the dull chronicle of
these, the last months of the year 1900. These must be enumerated
without any attempt at connecting them. The first is the long-drawn-out
siege or investment of Schweizer-Renecke. This small village stands upon
the Harts River, on the western border of the Transvaal. It is not easy
to understand why the one party should desire to hold, or the other to
attack, a position so insignificant. From August 19th onwards it was
defended by a garrison of 250 men, under the very capable command of
Colonel Chamier, who handled a small business in a way which marks him
as a leader. The Boer force, which varied in numbers from five hundred
to a thousand, never ventured to push home an attack, for Chamier, fresh
from the experience of Kimberley, had taken such precautions that
his defences were formidable, if not impregnable. Late in September a
relieving force under Colonel Settle threw fresh supplies into the town,
but when he passed on upon his endless march the enemy closed in once
more, and the siege was renewed. It lasted for several months, until a
column withdrew the garrison and abandoned the position.

Of all the British detachments, the two which worked hardest and
marched furthest during this period of the war was the 21st Brigade
(Derbysbires, Sussex, and Camerons) under General Bruce Hamilton, and
the column under Settle, which operated down the western border of the
Orange River Colony, and worked round and round with such pertinacity
that it was