Another result of this restricted area was the release of all prisoners-of-war taken by us.  Thousands were captured, disarmed, and released to take up arms the next day.  The same soldier has been captured two, three, and four times over.  In this way it was impossible to reduce the forces of the enemy to any appreciable extent.  The Boers certainly would have taken greater pains and dared more to capture the enemy’s forces if they too had had a place of confinement; but no Ceylon or Bermudas were at their disposal.  If they had had any such place, the Imperial Yeomanry and others would not have surrendered perhaps quite so readily.  It certainly was a great misfortune to the late Republics that they could not retain their prisoners-of-war, while every Boer prisoner was either deported or guarded so securely, that, when once captured, he was entirely lost for the Boer cause.  Under such unfavourable circumstances we had to fight our battle.  It was against the stream all along.  If ever there was an unequal contest, surely ours was one.

To show that we have by no means exaggerated the conditions in which we fought, we shall record here the resolution passed on the 31st of May, 1902, by the Volks Congress held at Vereeniging on the Vaal River, which reads as follows:—­

“This meeting of Representatives of the people of the South African Republic and Orange Free State, held at Vereeniging, has learnt with regret of the proposal made by his Majesty’s Government in regard to the cessation of existing hostilities, and of the intimation that this proposal must be accepted or rejected in an unaltered form.

“The meeting regrets that his Majesty’s Government has absolutely refused to negotiate with the Governments of the Republics upon the basis of our Independence, or to permit our Governments to enter into communication with our Deputation.

“Our Peoples have, indeed, always thought that not only on the ground of Right, but also on the ground of the great material and personal sacrifices that they have made for their Independence, they have a just claim to such Independence.

     “This meeting has earnestly taken into consideration the condition
     of land and people, and has more especially taken into account the
     following facts:—­

“(1.) That the military tactics pursued by the British military authorities has led to the entire ruin of the territory of both Republics, with burning of farms and towns, destruction of all means of subsistence, and exhaustion of all sources necessary for the support of our families, for the maintenance of our forces in the field, and for the continuation of the war.

“(2.) That the placing of our captured families in the concentration camps has led to an unprecedented condition of suffering and disease, so that within a comparatively short time about 20,000 of those dear to us have perished