On the 5th De Wet made an audacious attempt upon Cape Colony, which, in spite of his marvellous acuteness and activity, proved a failure. He crossed the Caledon and moved towards Odendaal, which was held by the 1st Coldstreams. (It must here be noted that the Guards after their march to Komati Poort, and a brief rest in the Transvaal, were moved to their old hunting grounds on the Orange River, all the drifts of which they assiduously guarded.) At Commassie Bridge he was completely worsted by our troops and forced to trek to the north-east, and back over the Caledon, leaving behind him 500 horses, many Cape carts, and a long stream of dying and dead cattle. He was continually pursued and harassed by General C. Knox, who captured a Krupp gun and a waggon-load of ammunition, and kept up a running fight in the direction of Reddersburg; which was said to be one of the most exciting episodes in the whole war. On the 8th a Boer gang near Barberton made a violent and indeed valiant lunge at the troops guarding the place. Though once repulsed by the Mounted Infantry they again returned to the attack, and succeeded in getting to very close quarters. The British lost three and had five wounded and thirteen taken prisoners. These, as too troublesome to feed, were afterwards released. On 13th of December a grievous affair took place at Nooitgedacht on the Magaliesberg, where General Clements with his force of 500 mounted men and 400 Northumberland Fusiliers, while holding the tops of some kopjes was attacked by 2500 kharki-clad Boers under Delarey. The foe crept up without being recognised and seized vantage-points on the ridges, first overpowering the Northumberland Fusiliers (who fought for hours till ammunition was exhausted), and thereby rendering the position of the camp untenable. Under a heavy fire guns and transport were moved, and a second position one mile and a half to south-east taken, where till afternoon the troops remained. Then they retired on Rietfontein, sixty of the 12th Brigade of Mounted Infantry keeping the Boers at bay while the movement was accomplished. The fighting was very severe, and five officers and nine men were killed; eighteen officers and 555 men, most of them Northumberland Fusiliers, were missing. As the natives bolted, a considerable amount of transport was lost, though the Army Service Corps vigorously defended the waggons. A most popular officer, Colonel Legge, 20th Hussars, was hit by three bullets, but was seen to shoot five Boers with his revolver before he dropped. The other officers killed were Captain Macbean, Dublin Fusiliers; Captain Murdoch, Cameron Highlanders; and Captain Atkins, Wiltshire Regiment.