A second band of marauders had now got across by Zandsdrift, the object of the Boer leaders being to run all over Cape Colony and there gather around them as many Dutch sympathisers as they could manage to stimulate with a belief in their ultimate success, and, if possible, to get access to the sea coast. A Gazette Extraordinary was therefore issued on the 20th proclaiming martial law in twelve additional districts of Cape Colony, and warning all persons of the risks incurred by those who had previously assisted the enemy and had been released. It was subsequently arranged that owing to the state of affairs the loyal inhabitants should be called upon to form a Colonial Defence Force in order to resist the invasion, protect communications, and preserve order in the disturbed districts. The term of service named was three months. The operations in the Colony were to be conducted by Generals Little, Jones, and MacDonald. On the 19th and 20th General Clements, in conjunction with General French, fought a continuous series of engagements with Delarey's men, and eventually drove them from the Magaliesberg region. But these took their revenge on the 29th by capturing Helvetia, on the Machadodorp-Lydenburg Railway. This position, a very strong one, was held by a detachment of the Liverpool Regiment, who were surprised by the enemy at 2.30 A.M., the Dutchmen having first "rushed" the 4.7 gun. The officer commanding the post at Swarzkopjes sent out a post, shelled away the enemy, and forced them to temporarily abandon their prize; but the Boers eventually secured the trophy by knowingly forming an ægis of British prisoners around it. Major Cotton was severely wounded, and four other officers; eleven men were killed and twenty-two wounded, and two hundred taken prisoners. It was a sorry finale for the year, yet those who could appreciate the complexities of the work of subjugation now engaging Lord Kitchener, possessed their souls in patience, and looked to 1901 for the dawn of better things. LONDON, _December 1900_. [Illustration: THE INSPECTION OF COLONIAL SOLDIERS AT WINDSOR CASTLE BY QUEEN VICTORIA, NOV. 16, 1900 Drawing by R. Caton Woodville] FOOTNOTES: [15] See vol. i. p. 186.