The Transvaal.

Manawatu Herald, 2 August 1900, Page 2

The Transvaal.

P. DE WET CAPTURED.

Sir Archibald Hunter's force has occupied Fouriesburg, where Mrs Steyn, wife of the ex- President, was found. Commandant P. De Wet, a brother of General Christian De Wet surrendered. EVACUATION OF MIDDLEBURG. It is officially announced that the Boers have evacuated Middleburg, on the Delagoa Bay railway, sixty-five miles east of Pretoria. The retreat is described as having been a disorderly trek, the roads being blocked with fugitives. Torrents of rain prevented the British troops from pursuing. ••• The weather on the night of the evacuation was terrible. One officer i died ot exposure.

The British troops have occupied Middleburg.

BOER MOVEMENTS.

A thousand, Boers, are trying to surround Potchefstroom, upon which Lord Methuen is advancing.

The British have evacuated Klerksdorp, where some troops have been captured. TROOPS IN GOOD SPIRITS.

Lord Roberts reports that, despite the hardships of the campaign, the troops are in famous spirits.

AFTER THE WAR. Speaking in the House. of Commons the Hon George Wyndham (Parliamentary Secretary to the War Office) said that Lord Roberts had estimated that a permanent garrison of 30,000 men would be required in South Africa, besides 15,000 colonials and reserves, who would remain to settle in the country. LIBERATED BRITISHERS. On taking Fouriesburg, near the Basutoland border in Orange River Colony, Sir Archibald Hunter liberated one hundred British soldiers who had been imprisoned there. News has been received that six hundred Boers, with waggons and stores, are hemmed in on the neighbouring mountain passes. FIVE THOUSAND MEN TAKEN. General Prinsloo, with five thousand men, has surrendered unconditionally to Sir Archibald Hunter at Fouriesburg. General Hunter has captured Commandant Pier De Wet (a brother of the famous Christian De Wet), but enemy escaped with their guns and waggons through the hilly country. A TRAITOR PUNISHED. . The Magistrate at Vredefort— Le Rarix— who was reinstated in his position by the British, has been sentenced to five years' imprisonment for facilitating General De Wet's raids.

AFFAIRS AT FICKSBURG. Two hundred Boers . have surrendered at Ficksburg, near the northwest corner of Basutoland, and about twenty miles south-west of Fouriesburg. PROVISION FOR WIDOWS AND ORPHANS. The British Government proposes to ask Parliament to vote small pensions to all widows and orphans of soldiers who are killed in action in South Africa, or die of their wounds, or perish from disease resulting from evposure. The South African vote, provides for the return to their homes of 135,---000 British troops and the Indian and colonial contingents. LOUIS BOTHA'S RETREAT. General Botha, the Commander-in-Chief of the Boer forces, has arrived at Machadodorp, on the Delagoa Bay railway, some 140 mile 3 east of Pretoria, with 100 men. His followers, starving, ragged, and. without boots, are scattered over the veldt and are hurrying northwards.

BOERS AROUND RUSTENBURG

Lieutenant-General Baded- Powell's troops are still besieged at Rustenburg sixty miles west of Pretoria. A .large force of Boers under General dela Rey is surrounding the town. Major-General Hickman was despatched from Pretoria with a relief column and reconnoitred the southern approach of the town, but then returned, finding Dela Ray's position too strong to be forced by the troops available.

THE SUPPLY TRAIN INCIDENT.

With reference to the recent raid upon the railway line in the districts

of Orange River Colony, north of Kroonstad, in the course of De Wet's retreat to the north-west, Lord Roberts explains that only one train was captured, and this contained 100 men of the Welsh Fusiliers, not Highlanders as previously reported.