In the Colony things were more than lively. General George Brand had captured a column and frightened two or three others half to death. General Kritsinger by his dash had made the English believe that there must be no less than 50,000 Boers in Cape Colony. Commandants Fouche, Scheepers, Malan and others were daily fighting in the different districts and captured several convoys. In fact, Cape Colony was truly in a state of war, and the Boers were in possession of the country. Lord Roberts was in possession of his $500,000 and his earldom, so he was not worrying, but General French was walking the floor day and night, for he realized that affairs in Cape Colony were very dark, and the position of the English in great jeopardy. Not a day passed without fighting during the month, and it was certain that fighting would continue for many months to come, for the Boer officers were superior to the English commanders and could lead them a song-and-dance wherever they pleased. In the Western Transvaal the English had made several attempts to corner General de la Rey, but he was not to be cornered. Near Klerksdorp there was some fighting when a large force of English pounced on General Smuts and deprived him of one cannon. The English reported this as a great victory, and I will tell you why. They think far more of losing one cannon than they do of losing 10,000 Tommies, for they consider Tommies as cheaply made in England as the Germans could manufacture them, while cannon are expensive in all countries. Throughout the month troops were constantly shifting about in the Western Transvaal, but nothing really occurred worthy of note, as no change had taken place at Zeerust, where the English were still penned in. Far away in the north General Plumer at Pietersburg, and the English force in the East at Komati Poort by a combined action tried to clear the whole country between them of Boers. Their task was easy, because there were no Boers in those parts, except some women and children. Their homes and their possessions were burnt and destroyed and they themselves were sent to concentration camps. The English spent considerable time in arming the Kaffirs and giving them the necessary instructions for their murderous work. Chief Secockuni and his strong force, the worst Kaffirs in the country, had already been armed by the English and were near Lydenburg on the one side and Rosenekal on the other. These very Kaffirs murdered many men, women, and children with those English guns and ammunition, but further on I will go into the details of this dirtiest and most barbarous work of the English army.