"Colonel Somerset has returned from his expedition across the Keiskama, having captured three thousand head of cattle. But for the heavy rains, more might have been taken. The troops were in a deluge, and we hear of many suffering from rheumatism, the effects of being obliged to lie down actually in the mud, while a flood descended from the heavens. One passage in Colonel Somerset's dispatch reminds one of Lord Hill's surprise of Girard. `Making a night march with seven hundred and fifty men, to the Gakoon river, I established myself at midnight in the midst of Umhala's tribe, without their having the slightest intimation of my move. Lying _perdu_ till day-dawn, I dispersed the troops in various directions, and, although the enemy drove off their cattle and abandoned their kraals, I pursued them to the Gonube River, and by mid-day had secured three thousand head of very superior cattle, with a few horses,' etc. In this affair twenty-two of the enemy were killed. "Now, although no one is going to compare the Kaffir foe to our brave but inveterate enemies in the Peninsula, a great deal more exertion is necessary to get at them--as well as indomitable patience and considerable skill. The idea of upwards of seven hundred men making stealthy way into the midst of a savage tribe, in spite of spies and watch-dogs, is wonderful, when we consider the difficulties attending a march at any time in such a country; and the capture of cattle for starving troops was a matter of more importance than a more glittering conquest. Goethe, in describing a disastrous march in 1792, consoles himself and his friends by affirming that they had been vanquished `not by the enemy but by the elements.' Since the war began, the British cause in South Africa has had to contend with every element. "September 20th.--The Lieutenant-Governor, Colonel Hare, has arrived in Graham's Town. Every one is acquainted with Colonel Hare's character as a brave soldier. Of his abilities as a diplomatist he can scarcely be a fair judge himself. "October 14th.--Graham's Town is crowded with troops. The Drostdy Square presents a very different appearance to what it did six months ago, when the enemy was hovering round us. The second division of the 45th have commenced their march to the Fish River mouth. The 73rd have just marched in; they have been indeed unfortunate on their way hither, both by sea and land, and were nearly lost at Waterloo Bay, and driven back some hundred miles for chains and anchors. They have been detained between Algoa Bay and Graham's Town by the floods that deluged Colonel Somerset's path. It is said the 73rd are to proceed eventually to the Buffalo mouth, where a steamer will probably be sent with supplies. The anchorage there will be surveyed: it is supposed to be superior to Waterloo Bay.