It is gratifying to note how the horrible charges of barbarity, brought by persons ignorant of the real state of affairs in South Africa at the time of the war, are disposed of by this one sentence from the mouth of General Botha, "One is only too thankful nowadays to know that our wives are under English protection." We owe General De Wet some gratitude for his book, bitter as it is, since he makes evident that a main reason for the surrender of May 31 was to ensure the safety of the women who were not in the concentration camps, and whom they feared could not be placed in those positions of security. It is plain that if the Boers could have charged the British Government with the protection of those women they would have held out for some time longer. In discussing the question of the destruction done, we have only again to turn to General De Wet's history to discover how necessary was the burning of certain farms which, worked by Kaffirs under the direction of the women, were provision bases of the Boers; and how imperative too was the shooting of horses, since, to quote the General himself, the Boer is only half a man without his horse. Indeed, though De Wet complains of the methods of the British in carrying on the war, his own narration of his exploits--the wrecking of trains, the destruction of railways, the burnings of the veldt, and the stripping of prisoners--offers the "best explanation yet published of the necessity for the measures of which he complains." To return to General Botha. In reply to Mr. Chamberlain he wrote from Horrex's Hotel, Norfolk Street, Strand, on the 12th of November, stating:-- "... That there were some misunderstandings as to the reasons which led to the appeal to the world on behalf of their fellow-countrymen, which he wished to try to remove. In the first place, however, he sincerely shared Mr. Chamberlain's desire to avoid controversy, the more so as there were some assurances in the Colonial Secretary's recent speech--which he (General Botha) was privileged to hear--of a kind to gratify all who had the fortunes of his destitute fellow-countrymen at heart. He wished also to say that he and his colleagues welcomed Mr. Chamberlain's decision to visit South Africa, and his determination to see the condition of their country with his own eyes, and form a first-hand judgment on its needs." Dealing then with the "misunderstandings" which he wished to remove, General Botha wrote:--