Beyond Pienaars River repairs to the line had to be effected, which caused delay, then the troops advanced from Warmbad, Nylstroom, to Piet Potgietersrust over a clear line. Here the enemy meant mischief, for they had blown up one of the smaller railway bridges, but this was soon repaired, and on the 8th of April the advanced troops reached Pietersburg, the average distance covered being fifteen miles a day. The town had been evacuated in the night. Here provisions, supplies, and remounts had to be collected, in order that the attack, once begun, might be carried on without a hitch, and that the Boers, chased from one quarter, might not be sent trekking into Rhodesia, but be enveloped and swept up _en masse_ as they had been at Paardeberg and at Fouriesburg. The projected advance was full of difficulties and the preliminaries were endless. It was impossible to begin till men, horses, and supplies had been deposited at Pietersburg by rail from Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Durban, or Delagoa Bay. It must be remembered that the columns were preparing to march some 150 miles across the veldt, where the greatest of all enemies, the tsetze fly, harassed every inch of the road. In addition to this deadly foe to horses, there were now the wintry nights, following grilling days, to be encountered, and chilly shocks which bring enteric and other diseases in their train. At Pietersburg forty-six Boers voluntarily surrendered, and the following captures were made:--one Krupp gun, thirty rifles, 1000 rounds 7-pounder ammunition, 210,000 small-arm ammunition, 8300 lbs. gunpowder, 480 lbs. dynamite. Two truck-loads of ammunition had been blown up by the Boers on their departure. The occupation of the place now made the scheme for the opening of railway communication from the Cape to Cairo (hitherto thought to be a visionary's dream) perfectly feasible. The line from Warmbaths to Pietersburg was now placed in charge of Colonel Hall, the posts being occupied by the Northamptonshire and Wiltshire Regiments, together with the 12th Battalion Mounted Infantry. This left General Plumer's mounted troops free to hold the line of the Olifant's River. Having established an adequate garrison at Pietersburg, General Plumer proceeded to post Major Colvin's column to secure the drift at Bathfontein, while to Colonel Jeffreys was assigned the task of occupying a lower drift at Blaauwbloemje's Kloof. General Plumer himself was at Commissie Drift. Schalk Burger at this time was said to have deposited himself at Tolesburg, west of Middelburg, where he still endeavoured to carry on the parody of government.