It was about this time that Colonel Rowlands, V.C., came upon the scene. This excellent officer, of whose services in 1878-79 so little mention has been made, was sent out on “special service,” and was for a short time attached to the staff of Lord Chelmsford (then General Thesiger) during the Kaffrarian war. He was subsequently sent by the High Commissioner to Pretoria, which he reached on May 6th. He employed the two following months in an inspection of the northern and eastern frontiers of the Transvaal,[159] and by dint of considerable personal exertion was enabled to supply valuable information to head-quarters. Towards the end of July, Colonel Rowlands was appointed Commandant of the Transvaal. At this time the regular forces in the Transvaal consisted only of the 13th Light Infantry, a few engineers, and departmental staff—quite inadequate for the work required of them; but the Commander-in-Chief, in signifying his approval of the manner in which Colonel Rowlands proposed to distribute the troops already under his command, informed him that he was about to reinforce the Transvaal with the 80th Regiment and Frontier Light Horse, with a view to active operations against Sikukuni. The promised reinforcements arrived by degrees from Natal, and meanwhile there were Pretoria, Middleburg, Lydenburg, and Standerton, where considerable stores of ammunition, etc. were collected, to be garrisoned, as well as the cordon of forts, already mentioned, along the Leolu Mountains, which left no large proportion of the troops—about 800 of the 13th, and under 300 volunteers and Zulu police—for service in the field. However, by the 29th August Colonel Rowlands found himself in a position to leave Pretoria for the confines of the Transvaal, and reached Fort Weber on the 13th September. From thence to Fort Burgers was a long and tedious march through a difficult and trackless country. The column was forced to make its own road as it went, and had several skirmishes with Sikukuni’s people _en route_. Reinforced by the Frontier Light Horse under Major Buller, and a party under Major Russell from Pretoria, Colonel Rowlands at last reached Fort Burgers, and, after a few days’ halt for repairs, patrolling, and scouting the country, recommenced his march towards “Sikukuni’s Town,” distant about twenty-five miles. On the 3rd October he advanced with 338 mounted men (Mounted Infantry, Frontier Light Horse, and Transvaal Volunteers), 130 infantry, and 2 7-pounder mountain guns; his intention being to establish himself before Sikukuni’s town, thoroughly reconnoitre it, and, should he find that there was a chance of success, and that the position could be afterwards held, to attack it when he had brought up reinforcements. The position was one of extreme difficulty, greatly increased by the singular drought which was experienced at the time, both in the Transvaal and Natal.