1st Border regiment, which arrived from Malta on the 22nd, was
despatched immediately to De Aar, but subsequently, at the urgent
request of Sir George White, was sent by train to East London and
re-embarked for Natal. Steps were taken to make the Orange River
railway bridge passable by artillery and cavalry, by planking the
space between the rails. Meanwhile, on the advice of the local
magistrate, Colonel Money, who was in command at Orange River,
destroyed Hopetown road bridge, eleven miles to the westward, as it
was feared the enemy's guns might cross the river at that point.
Raiding parties of the Boers had overrun Bechuanaland and Griqualand
West and spread proclamations annexing the former district to the
Transvaal and the latter to the Free State. On the eastern side of the
colony the enemy made no move, but still hung back on the north bank
of the Orange River. The British garrison of Stormberg was reinforced
by two naval 12-pr. 8-cwt. guns, accompanied by 357 officers and men
of the Royal Navy and Marines, lent from Simon's Town by the Naval
commander-in-chief. In the opinion of General Forestier-Walker, this
reinforcement made this important railway junction, for the moment,
reasonably secure. Three months' supplies had been stored at all the
advanced posts.

[Sidenote: Cape volunteers called out.]

Two thousand of the Cape volunteer forces[60] were called out by the
Governor on the 16th October and placed at the disposal of the General
Officer Commanding the regular troops, on the understanding that they
were to be paid and rationed from Imperial funds. These corps were at
first employed as garrisons for Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, East
London, Queenstown, and King William's Town; detachments of the
Kaffrarian Rifles being also stationed at Barkly East, Cathcart,
Molteno, and Indwe; but by the end of October the Colonial volunteers
were drawn upon to furnish military posts on the three lines of
railway from the coast, viz.: Touw's River, Fraserburg Road, and
Beaufort West, on the western system; at Cookhouse and Witmoss on the
central, and at Molteno and Sterkstroom, on the eastern. Arrangements
were made for patrolling the line between these posts by railway
employes. Having regard, however, to the great length of these lines,
it was obvious that protection of this description, although useful in
checking individual attempts to obstruct trains, or destroy bridges
and culverts, would be of no value against an