THE NATAL FRONTIER. LONDON, February 19.

Otago Witness, Issue 2400, 1 March 1900, Page 23

THE NATAL FRONTIER. LONDON, February 19.

After the capture of Cingolo Hill (whichi is to the east of the well-known Inhlawe Hill) General Buller on Sunday (the 18th) ' drove the Boers from their strong position ' at Monte Christo and across the Tugela . after a very hard fight. The British captured several camps and a large number of wa.ggons containing stores and ammunition. The British casualties were not heavy. February 20. ' General Buller continued his attack upon the Boer position at Inhlawe Hill. He soured a heavy shraunel' a&d lyddite

fii'e into their trenches on the Inhlawe and Green Hill, doing splendid work and raking them thoroughly. The Scots Fusiliers on the 19th gained a kopje, separating Monte \ Christo from Green Hill. The Irish Fusiliers, following up, began the ascent of the latter. At the foot they gave utterance to a rousing British cheer, then, with their- bayonets fixed and flashing in the sun, they charged in magnificent form, drove the enemy before them, and gained the hill. An eye-witness reports that up to this point General Buller had taken 100 prisoners. His movement imperils the Boer communications to the north, and threatens Isimbulwana. The general's cavalry guard the Tugela . Drift opposite the- captured hill. j The Daily News correspondent confirms^ the report that the Boers fled at the sight of the bayonet. j General Buller is said to have occupied the trenches abandoned by the Boers on Inhlawe Hill. Hlangwane has been evacuated' by tha Boers. General Buller has occupied all the hills to the south of the Tugela, and shelled the ' enemy's -trenches at Colenso. The extensive tiers of formidable-roofed shell-proof trenches at Inhlawe Hill and Hlanwane were constructed so as to re.p<;l a frontal attack, and prevented a concentration of fire on their flank. Details of the capture of Monte Ohristo show that General Buller assaulted the position with a heavy artillery fire both from the front and the flank, whilst at tho same time he made a vigorous attack upon , the enemy's rear. The General praises the '' dash and energy of the irregular cavalry, j Special mention is also made of the West Surreys, the Scots Fusiliers, and the King's Royal Rifles. The steadiness of the artillerymen and the Naval contingent under the occasionally very accurate fire of the enemy's guns is also commended. The Boer guns were withdrawn as the engagement proceeded, so that then' final resistance to our advance was slight. February 21. General Buller telegraphed that the enemy practically abandoned Colenso. Major-general _ Hart occupied the town j after a slight resistance. The enemy were seen in full retreat to the northward,, only . a weak rearguard holding the position across the Ladysmith railway. General Hart's advance guard is now crossing the Tugela at Oblenso. The rearguard of the Boers from Colenso is half-way to Pieter's station. General Buller reports that the casualties from the 15th to the 18th inst. were one ' officer and 13 men killed, eight officers and 1 50 men wounded. February 22. General Buller on Wednesday crossed the ' Tugela River. by a pontoon bridge. He drove the enemy's rear-guard forward, the j Naval Brigade's 12-pounders silencing the Boer guns. The British on taking possession of the abandoned laagers found many evidences of panic. The enemy in their 'hurried retreat left quantities of stores, ammunition, Han- ' kets, Bibles, different varieties of expanding bullets. They also abandoned their dead , and wounded: The British advance is now ' visible from Ladysmith. | The Boer big guns " Long Tom " has vanished from Umbulwana Hill, a position commanding Ladysmith. Two hundred Boer waggons, with large escort, departed from Colenso on Monday, j Dr Leyds declares that General Joubert, ' finding the position untenable, ordered the Boers in Natal fro concentrate in the Free " State, thus raising the siege of Ladysmith.

Boer correspondence found by General Buller at Green Hill showed that the besiegers of Ladysmith were shorthanded and uaafele' to reinforce Coknso..

General Buller has now got his heavy guns across the Tugela. The Naval Brigade occupy tho hills towards Ladysmith. February 24. General Buller reports that he had 12 killed and 102 wounded during Tuesday's and Wednesday's fighting. He has now occupied Fort Wylie, commanding Colenso, and is conducting the fighting cautiously. The Boers still have their big guns and considerable forces of men on the hills. Fighting took place in the vicinity of Pieter's station on Thursday. General White's cannonading from Ladysmith was also heard on Thursday. Febz-uary 25. The Boers opposing General Buller's advance to the relief of Lady&mith are tenaciously defending an extremely strong position at Grobler'a Kloof. After a- tremendous cannonade by the British, the sth Brigade, under General Hart, on Friday, slowly fougblt to within 200 yards of the first entrenchments, where they bivouacked for the night. A letter from C4eneral Joubert, found at Inhlangwarii Hill states that 3000 Bosrs were disabled at Spion Kop. Although the Dundee road is covered for miles with Boer waggons trekking northward from Ladysmith, there has not been up to the present any general retirement of- the besiegers from the town, and the place is still closely invested by the enemy. General Buller rejjorts that it is simply impossible, owing to the continuous fighting, to give a detailed list of the casualties sustained by the rank and file. Three of the General's officers were killed ait Pieters on Thursday, including Lieutenant Reginald Cathcart, fourth son of Earl Cathcart. Major-general A." S. Wynne and' 13 other officers were wounded. [The Hon. Reginald Cathcart, born November 9, 1870; lieutenant- in King's Eoyal Rifle Corps January 9, 1895. No previous "war services.] The Boers claim that the Ermelo- and Middleburg commandos repulsed the attacking force under General Buller on Thursday last, the 22nd, the British suffering heavy loss. February 26. Every hill around Ladysniith is. strongly entrenched by the enemy. The country being" splendidly adapted to Boer tactics, every foot of ground- is being contested by the Boers. General Buller on Saturday go;b within two miles of General White's outposts. The, Somerset Regiment on Wednesday seized and held until nightfall a kopje commanded by the Boer guns on Grobler's Kloof, sustaining 100 casualties. The Laneasters, in repelling two fierce Boer asaults, lost a similar number. Many British were wounded by softnosed bullets dipped in chemicals, which caused serious injuries. The Irish Brigade lost heavily on Friday in assaulting Grobler's Kloof.