Meanwhile Sir Redvers Buller had arrived in Pretoria, looking remarkably well in spite of the tremendous strain of the work of the relief of Ladysmith and the more brilliant achievements that had secured the whole of Natal. Report came in from Ladysmith that some 800 prisoners--Yeomanry and Derbyshire Militia--without officers, had been put over the Natal border from Reitz, and were making their way towards Acton Homes. The plight of these unhappy fellows, without food, tattered, torn, and limping, with only a poor acquaintanceship with the country through which they plodded, was deplorable. Waggons and food were sent out by the O.C. of the Drakensberg Defence Force, and the wretched men were encountered and brought in. Having been marched about for over a month with De Wet, they were so footsore and exhausted that some could barely crawl. The Boers had treated them well, but they had too many mouths of their own to feed, and had been forced by the pressure of circumstance to turn them adrift. [Illustration: NITRAL'S NEK.] On the 11th Botha decided there should be fighting all along the line, and so cleverly were things managed that the British suffered considerably. At dawn the Boers under Delarey, having failed in getting round the right rear of the British, collected on the hills surrounding Nitral's Nek with a view to attacking the left flank. Nitral's Nek, a position some eighteen miles west of Pretoria, near where the road crosses the Crocodile River, was held in order to maintain telegraphic and road communication with Rustenburg. Garrisoning this place were one squadron of Scots Greys, two guns of O Battery Royal Horse Artillery, and five companies of the Lincolnshire Regiment. The Dutchmen were in great force, and admirably disposed, evidently by a preconcerted arrangement, and succeeded in directing a converging fire on the small garrison and on the various portions of it occupying the plain some distance off. As early as possible the news of the attack was sent to Pretoria, whereupon the King's Own Scottish Borderers, under Colonel Godfrey, were despatched to the rescue. It took some hours to reach the scene of the fray, and by the time the reinforcements arrived the small garrison, who had been fighting all day, and had expended their ammunition, were overpowered. It appeared that about this time the Scots Greys had been ordered to proceed to Crocodile Bridge to relieve General Baden-Powell. They followed the same route they had taken when marching to relieve the prisoners at Watervall, a route with only one attraction--it passed through one of the most golden orange groves of the Transvaal, and jaded and depressed as they were, they felt thankful that their ways were cast among the refreshing fruit. A squadron was left at Tulikat's or Nitral's Nek, while the rest of the party, cold, worn, and famishing, reached camp at 10 P.M. on the 7th. On Sunday, the 8th, the force still further divided, one