LETTERS FROM THE FRONT.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXXIV, Issue 248, 20 October 1900, Page 4

LETTERS FROM THE FRONT.

FKOM TKOOfEU KODKKICK UULiIiM-AN. The appended letters ha 76 been received by ins j/iu'euib Irow. Lrouper it. Uuleman; toituriu, zytli dug 1, DuU. ... We httft) beun uojug sumo heavy wuik Utely, big matches. Sjuiuliaius we mart-U M uigtil us well us '" tlie dM.v-urutj, bu us^o s^uat uii Iho JJuur and 6U.158 uiru out ui uis bunk and mute him g«t while wu collar Lii suiu. » " drove them out vt u. la-gur •* ivuuk ugu and got. a,Biick. ot bitaa uuu lueir olnukeib aud everything. L can L*U yuulUey did toy it oui. Tney wouaded tune ot ou men tuouijli J u»l a tew days ago they let ub M yards of them, ot course we didnt kwU.aal.ey »ero there. Ihuy were onuliutoruMyliiUcalleU a k, W e and they oyauud oa uj and kuockea u good few horses out uud kiUod iwo men and wounded three. Wb cleared out and put onr hutsas behind a house and «unt back ondgaveittuem. DiUn'ovney gol,tlijugu.' They shot aaoiher mivn wutn wo were doing ic thuugu, bttc Uo will soon bo all light. 1 calculate wo will 6oon bo coming borne again, but woaon't know anytluug foe certain. Tlibre are luts of reports about, you know, and we don't tvUuw ■what to believe. Ihe thick of the ti^ut is oper aotv right enough, but near.y every day we go out the boera ure&mp ";; at uu off the kopjes. They shgot a tioraa or two or a man it tiiey can ami then (jut. How are they ull a I homo ? 1 wui be coming home fora month or iwo after we get back. How ars the 6 raspberne3 and cream t I'll make tuem Uy wheu Ign back, you can bt-t. It ie very colu at nights nere and hut in the day time. l told you ininy last letter about Jimmy Dwyer Uti"g captured, didn't Vi tiavd luck isu't it? Lam very shorf of paper, etc. 1 borrowed ibis oh' a nelson bluke named b'luckey. How are the oy_jU;is and cid's bike uowV I must cloao-now. We have travelled about the couuecy ever since I wrote last. Beea/sereral hundred miles ail round a place called Kuetenburg. We capture about a dozen Boers every day lately.

Middleburg, 3rd Sept, 101)0. We aro atMiddleburg now, about 00 or 80 miles from I'retjria. It isn't much of a place, just a dry village, with no ■ thing decent except empty houses aud women and children. All the Boers have cleared out of hero, you see, now that the British troops are here. _ We* are goin^ on our journey again at 3 o'clock. We have only halted fora rest for the horses. We haven't had any fighting for a good while now. They are too quick in getting away from us, but I guess we will catch up again with them before long. IMlei and French have been giving them a pretty lively time la ely, I believe. This is a great place for niggers. The Canadians are a rough crowd; they never take a Boer prisoner, but shoot them and hayo done with it. The other day I hear that the Canadians captured 7 Boers and strung Uieui up to a tree, all except one, and they were just tix.ug him up when an oih'cer came along and said, " Why, men, what the dickens are you , doing?" They said, " You got out of this quick and lively, or else you'll make eight." So he went aud got reinforcements and came aud and at rested them, and they are to be court-martialled I believe. lt'» a bit rough of the Canadians, but you can 'hardly blame them when you know how the Boers have treated some of the Canadian prisoners. I heard the other day that Jimmy Dwyer had escaped from the Boeis, but I don't know if it is true. I hope it is though, you can bet. Major Ciaddock, of the 2nd Contingent, has been made a Colonel, and we are all jolly glad of it too, because he ia a jolly good tellow. Wo had our names taken for a trip to London a week or so ago, but I don't know whether it was just to keep our spirits up or not. I tliinV. everybody is about sick of the marching and night work aud being ordered about, but thtsre are good points in it as well as bad. The war can't last much longet I bkould think. It is reported that M"rs ruuger is dying, \\ : 3 have captured a gooit tow pnsyne.s at one timo and auother. A good many of them are using explosive.bulleta and Diun Until bullets. One of the ord contingent boys was shot with their, and it made a mess of him. You see they explode as soon as they strike anything, aud make, a very bad wound. Mr Boer is getting' very tired of this game, according to the yams of thu prisoners we bring in. They say they get hardly anything lo eat except ground Indian corn. there was a crowd oi lioers leading a crowd of llriUsli prisutiers away, and they were so sick of it that they handed over their riilesto the British and let themselves be biought iu to our camp, they were so tired ot lighting. They reckoned they would be sn.ro of iliree feeds a day anyhow in the British camp. The only thing about the British is tliat they treat their prisoners too well. AVe were camped at some hot springs hko those in the North Island the other day. We stayed one day, aud had a good wash tor a wonder. • i. will bring homo some lransvaal money and show you what it is like. The summer is coming on now, and it ] is getting very iot in the day time, but it is still very cold at night, 'the rainy sea- ' son will soon be starting now, but I hope we will be out of the couutry before then. They aro pretty well all colonial troops in our Brigade now. VHp don't care much about Tommy iVtkins. They're not much class. We got no iv horses in i'retoria a few days ago, and had the good luck to get New Zealand horses.- They are the best out here except Boer pomes. You see Boer ponies aro used to Uie climate and can nat anything, but f reckon New Zealand horses are second on the list. There are some horses out here called Argentines, and I never saiv such cows. They are a sort sf wild pony from South America, no good for anything. Most of the work is done by mules and donkeys in this couutry. You hardly ever see a draught hovse ; I don't know why. Old Cassidy is still ivith us. 1 can't write much more now, because 1 havo to saddle up, but 1 reckon L have done pretty wull, don't you ? 1 would like tu be home auu tare a good ieeu. We haven't seen bredu for goodness knows ho >v long, We lire on biscuits (just like those biscuits that father made at Hope that time for the dogs}, anil iviiat wo can steal from farm houses and the transport waggous. lain in splendid heatlh though. I'll soon be home again if I have any luck. I'd like to go oysteriug with father. We'll havo soino sport when 1 get back I hope. I romaui, etc., KODKIUOK CoLEMAX.