mounted infantry, and have now advanced within a
short day's march of the two main British positions which protect the
whole colony. It will be seen on a map that North Natal forms a fairly
regular isoceles triangle, having Charlestown, Majuba, and Laing's Nek
at the apex, the Drakensberg range separating it from the Free State on
the one side, and the Buffalo River with its lower hills separating it
from the Transvaal on the other. A base may be drawn a few miles below
Ladysmith--say, from Oliver's Hoek Pass in the Drakensberg to the union
of the Tugela River with the Buffalo. Newcastle will then lie about
thirty miles from the apex of the triangle, nearly equi-distant from
both sides. Dundee is about twelve miles from the middle point of the
right side, and Ladysmith about the same distance from the middle point
of the base. Evidently a "tight place" for a comparatively small force
when the frontiers to right and left are openly hostile and can pour
large bodies of men through all the passes in the sides and apex at
will. That is exactly what the Boers have spent the week in doing, and
they have shown considerable skill in the process. They have occupied
Charlestown, Newcastle, and all the north of Natal almost to within
reach of the guns at Dundee on the west and Ladysmith on the east and
centre. Yet as far as I can judge they have hardly lost a man, whereas
they have gained an immense amount of stores, food and forage, which
were exactly the things they wanted. "Slim Piet" is the universal
nickname for old Joubert among friends and enemies alike, and so far he
has well deserved it. For the Dutch "slim" stands half way between the
German "schlimm" and our description of young girls, and it means
exactly what the Cockney means by "artful." Artful Piet has managed
well. He has given the Boers an appearance of triumph. Their flag waves
where the English flag waved before. The effect on the native mind, and
on the spirits of his men is greater than people in England probably
think. Before the war the young Boers said they would be in Durban in a
month, and the Kaffirs half believed it. Well, they have got nearly a
third of the way in a week.

But to-day they are brought within touch of British arms, and the
question is whether they will get any further. So far they have been
unopposed. Their triumphs have been the bloodless capture of a passenger
train, the capture of a few police, and the driving in of patrols who
had