The Transvaal.

Manawatu Herald, 30 November 1899, Page 2

The Transvaal.

REMONSTRANCES. Lord Methuen, in his remonstrance to the Boer Commandant, made reference to the fact that there are now twelve British soldiers who have been wounded by Dum-Dum bullets. The General further added, " The surmounting of a rifle with a white handkerchief, in order to take advantage of your enemy is a cowardly action which neither of us can countenance." FIGHT AT DRASPAN, Lieut.-General Methuen's column was attacked again by the enemy a little to the northward of Belmont, at a place called Draspan. The British replied with shrapnel to the Boers' guns, and then an attempt was made to dislodge the Transvaalers from their position by the bayonet. This was accomplished after four hours' furious fighting by the Naval Brigade, the 22nd West Yorkshire Regiment, and the Lancashire Regiment, who drove the enemy from the surrounding hills. A squadron of the 9th Lancers intercepted the retreating burghers, but the result of their operations is not known. Early in the fight the Boers made an attack on the British rearguard and baggage train. This manoeuvre was, however, repulsed by the Grenadier Guards, who also protected the infantry engaged from flank attack. The Naval Brigade displayed great gallantry during the encounter but suffered heavily under the enemy's fire. It is known that 51 Boers have been killed and 48 wounded. In addition many prisoners have been taken. General Methuen has succeeded in establishing heliographic communication with the garrison at Kimberley, to whose relief he is advancing. Additional details have beeu received of the second battle fought near Belmont, at Draspan, when the Boers attacked Lieut.-General Lord Methuen's Kimberley relief column. During the engagement, which was a very stubborn one. and remarkable for the determination displayed by the opposing forces, 81 Boers were killed. Full particulars of the British losses have not yet come to hand, but they were apparently severe. The 3rd Grenadier Guards, who engaged the enemy at the rear, had 24 of their number killed, while 93 were wounded and five are missing. On the naval Brigade, who bore a conspicuous part in the battle, there were, in addition to a number of officers, 14 seament killed and 15 wounded. The marines had 76 of their number wounded. Among the officers killed were Commander Alfred P. Ethelston, of the warship Powerful, Major John H. Plumbe, of the Royal Marines, and Lieutenant Senior, of the Royal Marine Artillery. Midshipman Hunt, of the flagship Doris, was amongst the killed. This return accounts for 230 killed and wounded in these two regiments. Sixty-four waggons with 50,000 rounds of ammunition and 750 shells ] were destroyed. An ex-officer of the Austrian Army named Albrecht commanded the enemy's artillery during the night. '

After the engagement at Draspan the Boers' retreat t&wards Kimberley was sought to be checked by the fy-itish cavalry, the 9th Lancers being despatched to operate against the enemy. The result oi. their operations is not yet known, and their prolonged ab- , sence from the main army has given ] rise to anxiety for thfeir safety. DISLOYALTY. Four hundred of the Dutch settlers at Barkley East, in the north-east part of Cape Colony, liavS joined the invading fioers. Amongst their number is a magistrate. The disloyal party assisted in the seizure for the Bo*, s of the town of Lady (irey, which is within thirty miles of Barkley East. There is a general movement in the district in favour of the invaders. Commandant Gr robber, one of the chief officers of the Boers now in the northern part of Cape Colony, has Seized ten leading British residents in Colesberg. A threat has been sent to MajorGeneral Sir W. F. Gatacre that if Nauransburg, the ante-British Colesberger whom he has arrested for treason, be shot, the lives of these Britishers will be taken in revenge. Seventy well-known Barkly East farmers have seized a magazine with 300 Martinis and 4000 pounds of ammunition and have joined the Free State troops. The Boers have occupied Stormberg, on the main line, south of Aliwal North. FIGHTING AT WILLOW GRANGE. ! The reconnaissance made by MajorGeneral Hildyard's brigade to the south-cart of Estcourt has resulted in discovery that two strong commandoes of the enemy, with guns, are established at Highlands, fifteen miles from Estcourt, but none south of the Mooi river, the next station, where the railway and telegraph lines were torn, up last week, and where a British camp was for a time bombarded. In the course of this reconnaissance, the British expedition surprised a force of Boers at Willow Grange, eight miles from Estcourt, and some warm fighting ensued. Here, as in the late western frontier battle, the bayonet was used by the British troops with great execution, eighty of the enemy losing their lives by this means. On the British side three men were killed and forty-four wounded — chiefly owing to the Boers' quick-firing guns having longer ranges than those ot the attacking force. GENERAL BULLER. General Sir Red vers H. Buller, the Commander-in-Chief of the British army in South Africa, arrived at Durban on Saturday, and was welcomed by the townspeople. He at once started inland, en route for Estcourt. PRESIDENT KRUGER. President Kruger is suffering from Bright's disease, and is said to be in a serious condition. THE AUSTRALIAN CONTINGENTS. The troopship Kent, with the New South Wales contingent aboard, and the Medic, with the Victorian, Tasmanian, South Australian and West Australian troops aboard, have arrived at Capetown. Only one horse died aboard the Medic. COLESBERG. In order to guard against the Boers who are around Colesberg passing on to attack General Methuen's army from the rear, they are being kept engaged by Major-General Sir W. Gatacre, who has been reinforced at Naauwpoort and who is restoring the Naauwpoort- Colesberg railway. LADYSMITH. The column now advancing northwards from Estcourt to the relief of Ladysmith under Major-General Hilyard is ten thousand strong. In order to impede the advance the Boers have destroyed a railway bridge over a small branch of the Tugela river at Frere. . The Tugela river — which the Boers have to cross in their return to the vicinity of Ladysmith, and the bridge across which at Colenso they say they have destroyed, and which also has to be negotiated by General Hilyard's relief column — is in a flooded state General Sir Redvers Buller has arrived at Pietermaritzburg. He has praised the recent operation carried out by General Hilyard to the southward from Estcourt which resulted in the enemy being dislodged from Willow Grange and the district cleared. General Hilyard, with 10,000 men under his command, is now at Frere. and hopes to intercept the commandoes returning from the south on their retreat to the north via Weenan. The Boers who had posted themselves around Estcourt remained practically inactive as they found the position . too strong. The latest news from Ladysmith reporty that the besieged, British troops are " quite cheery." BECHUANALAND. Some five hundred Boers have lately been ravaging the Kuruman district, in the southern portion of British Bechuanaland, situated about 100 miles to the west ofthe main trunk railway — abrest of Taungs, which is eighty-four miles north of Kimberley. Reports have been received showing that the enemy have been driven out of the district after six days of continuous fighting, leaving behind them thirty men killed and twenty-eight wounded. The losses on the British side were small. In retreating, the Boers went in the direction of Warrenton, a railway station forty-four miles north of Kimberley. MISCELLANEOUS. Mr R. C. Tooth, of the well known Sydney brewing firm has given £10,---000 to the war relief fund. It is considered probable that this is the recently-announced donation by an annonymous Australian. The war fund has now reached £336,000. Sir Thomas Lipton has

given £10.000 to the Princes? of Wales to spend at her discretion. The Nizar of Hyderabad has donated £15,000 in aid of the British wounded. Mr H. W. Massingham has resigned the editorship of the London " Daily Chronicle," owing to the differences with the proprietors, regarding the South Afric. n policy of the fJapefi The Australian troops, which are now encamped near Capetown, are all well and eager for the fray.