New-York tribune., 1908-11-08

virtually encl-cled Us
i don't see Just how We are going to
get out Of this, l remarked to Pretor1us.
% but I think we had better Try 70 get be
tween their lines at about an hour before
sunrise. L We STAY here on the open
veldt they VIII eat Us up tomorrow
The Major agreed with me. and We or
6e7ed the men 10 be ready TO move at
three II The morning. At the appointed
time. ercompassed IN the oppressive
darkness Of The diving night, silently, II
single file. We began our march.
The BOe-s. OF course knew the country
well. and those who were acting as our
guides led US when we nea-ed the English
camps. a-1ug the sloping bank OF sprult,
OF dried creek bed. which IN the rainy sea |
son conducted a torrent OF water through
he hills toward the west. Under the shell
-e- OF the bank We followed this course
s-ealthlly. passing within Two hundred
Yards Of sleepy senrrles- When, II the
early morning. We mounted high kOpJe
bev0nd the lines, we saw that The enemy
were swa--nIng over our camping place oil
The niuht before
Stopping only long enough TO give our
horses q brief rest. We pushed on and
came IN q couple Of hours upon a wagon
train Of Boe- women and children and old
men. There were about q hundred big trek
carts drawn by oxen which were driven by
the women. Who walked beside them The
children were very EDung and the men very
old. because al were fighting who were be
tween the ages Of ten and seventy. The
homes of these people had been burned.
They were wanderers on The veIdt. obtain
51g-he necessities Of life where they could. !
and travelling II any direction that seemed
most likely 10 keep them out of the
clutches of the English. This long pro /
cessi0n Of the homeless moving slowly
over the great reaches Of the barren Veldt
10 nowhere impressed me as q mournful
sDectacle.-a sad symbol Of the cruelty
OF war, and Of this war IN particular.
For a long time We rode with the wagon
train. telling the calm ard capable woman
and the eager old men news Of those they
knew. and II some cases Of those they
loved But early II the afternoon the /
inevitable troopers appeared on the ho-
mon. We knew they were looking f0T
US and that Il vas high time 10 strike a
faster gait s. We said gOodby TO our
friends and forged ahead. We could still
see the creeping line Of wagons when the
English. dashing up with great spirit,
now that there were no men to fight, took
possession OF the train
They detached a strong force 70 con
duct the captives into Pretoria, and then,
not beng able 10 -edCn Us, retired toward
q tort several miles away. The wagons.
with the cavaIcade of guards between
them and Us. toiled on. From an eleva-
ton about two miles 70 the east We
watched them syupathetically, knowing
thai these people would be taken 10 one
OF The big detention camps, where great
numbers OF the wives and mothers and
children Of the Boer fighting men were
Derned up. and where the food provided
bv the English was so poor, and the con
5I-io-s IN general 50 ulhealthiul, that the
HELPLESS victims If the war were dying
bv thousands.
L was indeed this heart wrlnglng state
Of things that finally ended the resistance
IF -he Beers. When the delegates from
The c0umandos met 1T EereenlnglIg, on
The Taal River. 70 discuss the question
of the continuance Of hostIltles, they
were all pledged 10 independence OF war;
but when word was brought 10 the con
E-eu-ion that twenty-eight thousand Boer
women and children had died IN the ing
lish detention camps, the situation was
completely changed. There IS nothing
II the world that the BOer loves 80 nuch
AS his family and his home. The attack
II rsI.f