e Boers cut the railway south of Ladysmith at Pieters,
shelled the small garrison out of Colenso, shut and locked the gate on
the Ladysmith force, and established themselves in the almost
impregnable positions north of the Tugela. Still there was no
realisation of the meaning of the investment. It would last a week, they
said, and all the clever correspondents laughed at the veteran Bennet
Burleigh for his hurry to get south before the door was shut. Only a
week of isolation! Two months have passed. But all the time we have
said: 'Never mind; wait till our army comes. We will soon put a stop to
the siege--for it soon became more than a blockade--of Ladysmith.'

Then the army began to come. Its commander, knowing the disadvantageous
nature of the country, would have preferred to strike northwards through
the Free State and relieve Ladysmith at Bloemfontein. But the pressure
from home was strong. First two brigades, then four, the artillery of
two divisions, and a large mounted force were diverted from the Cape
Colony and drawn into Natal. Finally, Sir Redvers Buller had to follow
the bulk of his army. Then the action of Colenso was fought, and in
that unsatisfactory engagement the British leaders learned that the
blockade of Ladysmith was no unstable curtain that could be brushed
aside, but a solid wall. Another division is hurried to the mountains,
battery follows battery, until at the present moment the South Natal
Field Force numbers two cavalry and six infantry brigades, and nearly
sixty guns. It is with this force that we hope to break through the
lines of Boers who surround Ladysmith. The army is numerous, powerful,
and high-spirited. But the task before it is one which no man can regard
without serious misgivings.

Whoever selected Ladysmith as a military centre must sleep uneasily at
nights. I remember hearing the question of a possible war with the Boers
discussed by several officers of high rank. The general impression was
that Ladysmith was a tremendous strategic position, which dominated the
lines of approach both into the Transvaal and the Orange Free State,
whereas of course it does nothing of the sort. The fact that it stands
at the junction of the railways may have encouraged the belief, but
both lines of advance are barred by a broken and tangled country
abounding in positions of extraordinary strength. Tactically Ladysmith
may be strongly defensible, politically it has become invested with much
importa