To Hunt Down These Numerous And Active Bodies The British
Were Compelled To Put Many Similar Detachments Into The Field,
Known As The Columns Of Gorringe, Crabbe, Henniker, Scobell, Doran,
Kavanagh, Alexander, And Others.
These two sets of miniature armies
performed an intricate devil's dance over the Colony, the main
lines of which are indicated by the red lines upon the map.
The
Zuurberg mountains to the north of Steynsburg, the Sneeuwberg range
to the south of Middelburg, the Oudtshoorn Mountains in the south,
the Cradock district, the Murraysburg district, and the
Graaf-Reinet district - these were the chief centres of Boer
activity.
In April Kritzinger made his way north to the Orange River Colony,
for the purpose of consulting with De Wet, but he returned with a
following of 200 men about the end of May. Continual brushes
occurred during this month between the various columns, and much
hard marching was done upon either side, but there was nothing
which could be claimed as a positive success.
Early in May two passengers sailed for Europe, the journey of each
being in its way historical. The first was the weary and overworked
Pro-Consul who had the foresight to distinguish the danger and the
courage to meet it. Milner's worn face and prematurely grizzled
hair told of the crushing weight which had rested upon him during
three eventful years. A gentle scholar, he might have seemed more
fitted for a life of academic calm than for the stormy part which
the discernment of Mr. Chamberlain had assigned to him. The fine
flower of an English university, low-voiced and urbane, it was
difficult to imagine what impression he would produce upon those
rugged types of which South Africa is so peculiarly prolific. But
behind the reserve of a gentleman there lay within him a lofty
sense of duty, a singular clearness of vision, and a moral courage
which would brace him to follow whither his reason pointed. His
visit to England for three months' rest was the occasion for a
striking manifestation of loyalty and regard from his
fellow-countrymen. He returned in August as Lord Milner to the
scene of his labours, with the construction of a united and loyal
commonwealth of South Africa as the task of his life.
The second traveller who sailed within a few days of the Governor
was Mrs. Botha, the wife of the Boer General, who visited Europe
for private as well as political reasons. She bore to Kruger an
exact account of the state of the country and of the desperate
condition of the burghers. Her mission had no immediate or visible
effect, and the weary war, exhausting for the British but fatal for
the Boers, went steadily on.
To continue the survey of the operations in the Cape, the first
point scored was by the invaders, for Malan's commando succeeded
upon May 13th in overwhelming a strong patrol of the Midland
Mounted Rifles, the local colonial corps, to the south of
Maraisburg.
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