After all, General Baden-Powell, there were worse specimens than you in the English army during the war, and there are still many worse specimens in that same army to-day, many of whom hold higher rank than you. When I say that you have two screws loose in your head, I may be doing you a good service in the eyes of humanity, for you know that you armed several hundred Kaffirs and had them with you in Mafeking, and that several hundred of the British-armed Kaffirs outside of Mafeking murdered many old Boer men, women and children in their homes, who took no part in the war. No sane man, no honorable man, no true soldier would resort to such beastly methods to outdo his ten-fold weaker foe. In fact nobody but a Britisher would be guilty of such infamous conduct. Colonel Plumer with his mixed command of regulars and volunteers north of Mafeking and on the northern boundary of the Transvaal came so near doing nothing, that I will pass him by and give some of the reasons why the Boers laid siege to Ladysmith, Kimberley and Mafeking. I admit that I cannot give a good one, for I don't believe there is one. However, the Boer officers generally thought it the best thing to do. Commandant-General Joubert told me that he thought that by holding Ladysmith closely invested, General White would soon consent to a surrender, and thereby save much bloodshed. The idea of killing people was repulsive to him, and, furthermore, he could see no reason for it. We could easily have gone to Maritzburg and then to Durban before Buller arrived, and at the same time held General White's line of communication. This would actually have put General White in a worse predicament than he was in at Ladysmith. He could have done nothing, for all bridges and the railway behind would be destroyed and our total force was as large as his by the fifth of November. Once the Boers had seized Maritzburg, General White could have done nothing. It was all in our hands, and besides we would have received several thousand recruits from the Natal Boers. For no other reason except to save life was Ladysmith besieged.