The Transvaal.

Manawatu Herald, 29 May 1900, Page 2

The Transvaal.

RETRATJNG OVER THE VAAL.

The Boers are now in headlong flight northwards towards their own territory.

The Boers report that Lord Methuen is at Greyling's Drift, on the Vaal river, north of Hoopstad, while Lieutenant-General French, with three thousand men and ten guns, has reached Vredefbrt, forty-one miles northwest of Heilbron. No official communication has reached the War Office as to Lord Roberts's movements. KRUGER ANXIOUS FOR PEACE. The Delagoa Bay correspondent of j "The Times" says that Presidents Krnger favours surrendering, alleging that a continuance of the war will imperil property and inflict great hardship on the burghers. It is further stated that the President throws on the military commands the onus of making the final decision. LORD ROBERTS. Lieut-General French's cavalry column has reached Prospect, a town about fifteen miles north-west of Heilbron. / The 'correspondent of the " Daily Chronicle*' reports that MajorGeneral Hutton, with his Mounted Infantry Brigade of Australians, _ New Zealanders and Canadians, is operat- j ing in the country to the east of the . railway line. Lieutenant-General Tucker, with the Seventh Division, is marching upon N Leen Vlei, twenty miles north- 1 west of Heilbron,

Lord Roberts is still taking an active personal part in directing the operations at the front.

The Field-Marshal's exertions are considered wonderful for a man of his age. His health is splendid. PLOTTING THIRTEEN YEARS AGO. The representative of " The Times " at Bloemfontein has obtained access to and examined the hitherto secret minutes of two conferences held in I 1887 between President Kruger and ' President Brand, then head of the Orange Free State. These records clearly show that Mr Kruger at that early date urged an alliance between the two'' Republics j expressed with the hope of securing their independence of Great Britain. ' EASTERN BORDER. A Boer commando two thousand strong is reported to have appeared near Ficksburg, on the Basutoland border of the Free State, and are advancing southward along the Ladybrand road towards Clocolan. RAILWAY COMMUNICATION. The repair of the section of the main trunk railway from Kimberley to Mafeking is being pushed forward by the Royal Engineers with all possible speed. It is expected that all breaks in line and bridges will have been made food and the line put into full working rder within a fortnight. Thirty trains* to and from Pretoria and Pietersburg, about a hundred and sixty miles north, the terminus of the Transvaal system, are reported to be running daily. I INVASION OF THE TRANSVAAL. The Boer forces retreating from the Orange Fr^fe St^e have now retired beyond the .ysal%ver, the southern boundary of sthV4Transvaah ; v It has been officially announced by the War Office that the vanguard of Lord Roberta's army crossed the Vaal on* Thursday near Pary's, , about twenty tniles west of the main line of railway."'*; „" v V British scouts have reached Viljoen's Drift, where the main line of railway crosses the Vaal into the Transvaal.

Major-General lan Hamilton's troops are at Bosohbank, aear Hindleque's Drift. Twelve hundred Free Staters, who were posted on the Rhenoster river, westward of Pary's, deserted their defences, which extended for eleven miles, and were covered by thirty guns. FINE MARCHING. News come to hand that the British troops are marching wonderfully well. On a recent occasion Lieut.-General Sir Archibald Hunter covered fortyfive miles in thirty-four hours. The Highland Brigade did thirty - eight miles in eighteen hours. NEAR MAFEKING. General Snyman,^ who was in command of the Boer forces investing Mafeking, is now entrenching his troops at Bullfontein, ten miles east of Marking. 1 THE VRYHEID*' AMBUSH. Colonel Bethune, commander of the Zululand scouting party, portion of which, under Captain Goff, was ambushed by the Boers near Vryheid, j attributes the disaster to Captain Goff having attacked ao-entrenched commando without awaiting the arrival of reinforcements. . .. - ■.■■,' >■. - . BORDER; .... Lieut. General Rundle, whose troops are in occupation of the eastern part of the Free State, is freely commandeering horses, carts and . stock from the settlers in the Ladybrand district, south of Clocolan, and is keeping all who have surrendered under strick surveillance. MISCELLANEOUS. The Mafeking Relief Committee has decided to present Major-General Baden- Powell with a laurel wreath of silver raised from the Barrier mine. Thirty thousahd Veterans have applied for enrolment in the Royal Reserve. On account . of its insubordination, the Italian commando has been disbanded by General Louis Botha. Lieut.-General Hunter's engineers will have the railway line riorth of Kimberley open as far as Mafekmg^ within a week. Trains are already running on the northern part of the main line, between Mafeking and Bulawayo. - « The New South Wales contingent of Imperial Bushmen has arrived, at Beira all well. ,•••''.. : Major Tunbndge,' a Queenslander, is in command of the second regiment of Imperial" ©qshmeo at .MaaendeJJ^i:, in Rhodesia, twenty miles from Fort Salisbury*. Tfie^fopbeis composed of Qneenslanders, vTaSmanians South Australians. . Enteric fever is raging at Yryburg, on the Kimbertey-MafeJring railway* and many deaths have occurred. A servant accidentally shot Lieu.tenant Roberts, a nephew of Lord j Roberts,- the result being a severe ! wound on one of the knees. The lieutenant was at the Modder river at ( the time...