NORTHERN FRONTIER.

Otago Witness, Issue 2398, 15 February 1900, Page 23

NORTHERN FRONTIER.

CAPETOWN,- February 6. General French has been shelling the Boers with lyddite from a strong position between Slingersfontein and Colesberg. Colonel Brabant assured the colonial division on the eve of their starting for the front that Lord Roberts was likely to afford the greatest glutton enough fighting. February 7. General Gatacre's mounted forces are in touch with those of General Kelly-Kenny at Thebus. February 8. Field Marshal Lord Roberts is concentrating 30,000 Ivoop.s at the front, with a viewto striking a hard blow at the enemy's extremities, and preventing the arrival of reinforcements at their weak points. Field Marshal Lord Roberts has arrivecj at Sterk^troom. Six hundred Australians, under Colonel Hoad, have been transformed into mounted infantry. They are shaping well, and have been distributed amongst the important and responsible positions around Colesberg. The Westralians have been under fare One man was slightly wounded. February 9. Lord Roberts has issued a proclamation wherein he invites the enemy to desert the Republican army, promising them generous treatment. Lord Roberts has authorised the enrol* ment of yeomanry throughout the Capa for the protection of loyal farmers

The Boers have taken up an aggressive position between Rendsburg and Colesberg. General French is harassing them east and Jwest. During the engagement at Potlsberg .Captain Moor gave up his horse to a wounded man. The Boers tried to intercept Captain Moor, Mhen Lieutenant H. F. Darling, a We«tralian, rode bark, under a heavy lire, and brought Captain Moor safely back. The Boers shelled the New South Wales troops with a Vickers Maxim gun at Coieskop. No casualties. February 11. A good dose of lyddite silenced the 'Boers' Vickers-Maxim gun which was aninoying the British near Coleskop. The explosive produced great effects on the rocks. One tremendous boulder was lifted 50ft in the air and deposited 300fc away. February 12. On Friday 50 Australians and Tasmanians, under Major Cameron, made a reconnaissance near Colesberg, and drew fire from a large force of Boers. The colonials retreated, stubbornly fighting from kopje after kopje. - .The Boers twice worked to the .rear, and once nearly* captured the horses, but the •Australians remounted amid a hail of bullets. Peers, a Tasmanian, was slightly -wounded. He declares that he shot three Boers. •Major Reay took him to the camp of the New South Wales Lancers. Mr Lambie, the war correspondent of the Melbourne Age, is missing. ' ~ A troop of Inniskillings, with 50 Victorian Mounted Rifles, under Lieutenant Salmon, supported Colonel Cameron's advance party. The latter were hotly pursued to within two miles of the British outposts. It is believed the missing war correspondents have been captured. The supporting party returned safely. Fifty New South Wales Mounted Infantry, under Lieutenants Holmes and Logan, assisted the Inniskillings and the artillery in clearing the Boers from the hills near Slingersfontein, enabling a large convoy to proceed. Twenty Westralians discovered the Boers placing a gun near Slingersfontein. The colonials were shelled from the hill. The ' 'Boers attempted to block their retreat, and approached within two hundred yards, and demanded their surrender. The Australians fixed bayonets, and shouted defiance. Sergeant Edwards and Troopers Hutchison' and White galloped under a hot fire past the enemy, and reported the serious position to the commander of the camp. They expressed themselves confident that their comrades would repel the Boers. The West •Australians subsequently returned with three of their number wounded. It is believed the Boers suffered considerably, one being shot at a distance of nine yards. Mr Hales, the Daily News correspondent, was captured during the reconnaissance near Colesberg. The Australians have been warmly commended. During Colonel Cameron's advance, Colonel Cameron's coolness and courage were very, conspicuous. Corporal Whitelaw rescued a dismounted comrade under a heavy fire. There were many narrow escapes, bullets penetrating the clothing, helmets, and< water bottles. (Received Febreuary 13, at 0.55 a.m.) The Westralians returned when it was • dark. One was killed. He was shot through the head while binding a comrade's wound. LONDON, February 8. ' News has been received that the Boers have attacked General Gatacre atPenHoek, near Bird River siding. The fighting was continued throughout yesterday, but no details are to hand. The attack made by the Boers was only a feints their real objective being Molteno. They retreated when General Gatacre was reinforced. February 9. The London Daily News correspondent reports that on Tuesday the Westralians, under Captain H. G. Moor, had an engagement at Pottsberg, near Slingersfontein. They attacked the enemy's position, then feigning a retreat they drew many of the Boers on to the veldt. When the latter had advanced into the open the- artillery effectively shelled them, and the Boers fled back to their cover. February 11. The Boers at Colesberg are not surrounded. They hold the whole of the Northern Colesberg district, which extends in a .semi-circle east and west. They present a strong 30-mile front, with a full line" of communication into the Free State. February 12. The Daily Mail's version of the Tasmaftian reconnaissance states that the Tasmanians on Friday repulsed the Boers, disabling' twenty of them. Six Tasmanians are missing. The Victorians wlio sup ported hotly engaged the enemy, but retired under a severe fire without loss, the Boers losing fourteen.

A Reuter's despatch says that Mr Lambie, the Melbourne Age correspondent, was killed.