The National tribune., 1899-09-28
NATIONAL TRIBUNE: THURSDAY SEPTEMBER

closer. it viii, be tnlnd that it is none toe
easy for an attaYaias force to enter. the
Tfansvaal. First of all, the Matabeles
have to be reckoned with; they have been
favorable ,,5 5opHortunIty to rise up in az arms as
check by a strong force; and there are Other
native tribessMl,o' also need watching.
should say the most favorable, and in fact
the only season fof n successful attack, il
it has to come 10 that, would be after the
rains have fallen, and all the dams and dry
river beds in the country as well as the so,
| called "vleyS and pans" (natural de-
pressions of the soA which form for months
after the rainy season small lakes and large
pools) are filled with stagnant water.
The TranSvaal, like the rest of South
Africa, is a country where there is great
scarcity of water; there are few running
rivers and springs, the farmers have mostly
to rely on wells and dams, which latter. ii
large enough, hold water from one rainy
season to another. But most of these dams
hold out for two or three months only.
In this fact of the scarcity of water lies the
great difficulty for the operations of large
body of troops. The Beers on falling back
would naturally let the dams run out and
fill up the wells, if they do not otherwise
render them useless. Therefore. as before
stated, an expedition would only be pos
sible after some heavy rains have fallen;
but the rains cannot always be relied on.
There are many years in which the dams
and 'vleys" and pans" never get filled.
There is only one great danger to be
feared in operations during the rainy sea-
son, and that is the horsesckness, which
yearly carries away number of horses and
against which there is no remedy or pre-
ventive. and although both forces would
suffer by it. 1T is certain that horses freshly
brought into the Transvaal will. have less
chances than those reared in the country.
Food for the army viii have to be brought
along, and that is no very easy matter, for
the Beers on retreating will certainly de-
stroy the only line of railway leading into
the country; nor will they keep near to it if
they are wise, for destroyed railway lines
can nowadays be quickly reconstructed.
They will endeavor TO fight out the decisive
battles in parts where there are natural
Notifications, where it is difficult for the
attacking party to get up their supplies, and
where there will be little water for a large
force.
Nor will the Beers leave any live stock
or food of any kind behind them. AS for
the large towns like Johannesburg and
Pretoria, they can take care of themselves
for a time, if well garrisOned and defended.
That the Beers are deadShotS and Injured
TO every hardship to be encountered in such
a campaign are well-known facts. 1t may
be less wellknown that they are most stub
born and will fight till they drop. They
have the further advantage of knowing the
country thoroughly, and what is still more
to the point, they are no more an unframed
peasant mob, armed with all kinds OF out-Of-
date rifles, but their main body are well
disciplined and well-armed soldiers, who
have been trained by capable officers.
They possess a very efficient artillery,
which they entirely lacked in 1880, and
what is chiefly 10 be considered, they have
the sympathy of the Beers in the Cape
Colony. In fact the Beers throughout the
whole of South Africa are all more or less
related to each other, and remember it in
time Of danger, even if they are only SD
cousins. -
The specter' that has been raised by
some papers that the Basutos would rise
against the B8ers Is not a likely one to take
shape. 1t was not the Beers who first
levied hut tax on the Basutos and sent
fused to pay il, and annihilated them and
put a mounted police and magistrates in
their country, but the British Colonial
Government. irI'he Dfact is that a lot of
Basutos emigrated Into the Transvaal and
worked there peacefully amongst the Beers.
native rising against the Colonial Govern
ment. than against the Beers, if things
should go somewhat contrary to the British
arms at the beginning of b0stilities.
Let Englahd not underestimate the
danger of war with the Transvaal, for it
is great one" She may put her hand into
a hornets nest. The Beers are a very
phlegmatic people, but when once aroused,
they are unrelenting, dangerous enemies,
who will fight TO the bitter end, and they
are! we'll prepared, too, this time. Ever
since the Jameson raid they have been lay
ing in arms and ammunition, and for that
matter ordnance too, and they have gen
orally improved their little but very efficient
army. 1t would be far more desirable to
settle the difference in a peaceable manner.
for it will be a bloody and terrible war, if it
has to be fought out, and the end cannot be
fo~eseen with certainty, as complications in
other paris of South Africa are, as hinted
before, also likely to arise. C. n. d.