orty-eight hours
remain. Yet, as I write, they have done nothing. Why? To some extent I
think they have been influenced by the fear of the Tugela River rising
behind their raiding parties, and cutting their line of retreat; to some
extent by the serene and confident way in which General Wolfe Murray,
placed in a most trying position, has handled his force and maintained
by frequent reconnaissance and a determined attitude the appearance of
actual strength; but when all has been said on these grounds, the fact
will remain that the enemy have not destroyed the railway because they
do not fear the reinforcements that are coming, because they do not
believe that many will come, and because they are sure that, however
many may come, they will defeat them. To this end they preserve the
line, and watch the bridges as carefully as we do. It is by the railway
that they are to be supplied in their march through Natal to the sea.
After what they have accomplished it would be foolish to laugh at any of
their ambitions, however wicked and extravagant these may be; but it
appears to most military critics at this moment that they have committed
a serious strategic error, and have thrown away the chance they had
almost won. How much that error will cost them will depend on the
operations of the relieving force, which I shall hope to chronicle as
fully as possible in future letters.

CHAPTER VII

THE FATE OF THE ARMOURED TRAIN

Pretoria: November 20, 1899.

Now I perceive that I was foolish to choose in advance a definite title
for these letters and to think that it could continue to be appropriate
for any length of time. In the strong stream of war the swimmer is
swirled helplessly about hither and thither by the waves, and he can by
no means tell where he will come to land, or, indeed, that he may not be
overwhelmed in the flood. A week ago I described to you a reconnoitring
expedition in the Estcourt armoured train, and I pointed out the many
defects in the construction and the great dangers in the employment of
that forlorn military machine. So patent were these to all who concerned
themselves in the matter that the train was nicknamed in the camp
'Wilson's death trap.'

On Tuesday, the 14th, the mounted infantry patrols reported that the
Boers in small parties were approaching Estcourt from the directions of
Weenen and Colenso, and Colonel Long made a reconnaissance in force to
ascertain what strength lay behind the a