Such was the battle of Diamond Hill, as it was called from the name of the ridge which was opposite to Hamilton’s attack.  The prolonged two days’ struggle showed that there was still plenty of fight in the burghers.  Lord Roberts had not routed them, nor had he captured their guns; but he had cleared the vicinity of the capital, he had inflicted a loss upon them which was certainly as great as his own, and he had again proved to them that it was vain for them to attempt to stand.  A long pause followed at Pretoria, broken by occasional small alarms and excursions, which served no end save to keep the army from ennui.  In spite of occasional breaks in his line of communications, horses and supplies were coming up rapidly, and, by the middle of July, Roberts was ready for the field again.  At the same time Hunter had come up from Potchefstroom, and Hamilton had taken Heidelberg, and his force was about to join hands with Buller at Standerton.  Sporadic warfare broke out here and there in the west, and in the course of it Snyman of Mafeking had reappeared, with two guns, which were promptly taken from him by the Canadian Mounted Rifles.  On all sides it was felt that if the redoubtable De Wet could be captured there was every hope that the burghers might discontinue a struggle which was disagreeable to the British and fatal to themselves.  As a point of honour it was impossible for Botha to give in while his ally held out.  We will turn, therefore, to this famous guerilla chief, and give some account of his exploits.  To understand them some description must be given of the general military situation in the Free State.

When Lord Roberts had swept past to the north he had brushed aside the flower of the Orange Free State army, who occupied the considerable quadrilateral which is formed by the north-east of that State.  The function of Rundle’s 8th Division and of Brabant’s Colonial Division was to separate the sheep from the goats by preventing the fighting burghers from coming south and disturbing those districts which had been settled.  For this purpose Rundle formed a long line which should serve as a cordon.  Moving up through Trommel and Clocolan, Ficksburg was occupied on May 25th by the Colonial Division, while Rundle seized Senekal, forty miles to the north-west.  A small force of forty Yeomanry, who entered the town some time in advance of the main body, was suddenly attacked by the Boers, and the gallant Dalbiac, famous rider and sportsman, was killed, with four of his men.  He was a victim, as so many have been in this campaign, to his own proud disregard of danger.