Seeing that Louis Botha, with all the main body of Boers, had retired eastward, Lord Roberts realised the importance of making his line of communications secure in that direction, and he therefore paid a high compliment to the troops under Colonel Ross in selecting them for that duty. A few days after taking up the positions assigned to him, Colonel Lumsden wrote from Irene a letter in which he expressed his opinion of the work that had been done by all ranks in the corps under his command: We have been told off to hold the line of communications from Pretoria to Johannesburg, A Company and Headquarters taking the first ten miles, B Company the second, and the remainder of the 8th Corps in detachments all down the line. We are here for an indefinite time, awaiting events. Our Maxim gun under Captain Holmes has rejoined us here, having been with General French’s columns. This is a much needed rest for all, and especially for our horses, as they are utterly unfit to do more than a couple of days’ hard marching, and I can only put ninety mounted men, including officers, into the field. This, considering the corps landed with a full complement of 250 horses and has since received nearly 150 remounts, will give you an idea of what we have gone through, and the wear and tear our horses have had through hard marching and short feeding. Taking it as a whole, officers and men have kept excellent health, the only prevalent disease being dysentery. The days are bright and sunny, without being hot; at times it is even cold. The nights, however, are always bitterly cold, and it is quite a usual occurrence, on awaking, to find the grass covered with frost and the water in the hand-basin frozen over. This will give you some idea of the pleasure of sleeping out with only the sky for a roof. Our total casualties have amounted to twenty-five—just ten per cent. of the force we landed with, and a very large proportion of our ordinary fighting strength, considering that the most we have ever put in the field was 186, and we are now reduced to under a hundred mounted men. We have heard of the release of our prisoners, and expect them to join us in a few days. Our only casualties in this shape were the seven taken on April 30 at Ospruit. I cannot say too much in praise of the conduct of my officers and men from first to last, under many hardships and in very trying circumstances, and I feel sure they have gained a name for themselves which their many friends both in England and in India have just cause to be proud of. I am confident that my meed of praise will be fully endorsed by those under whom I and my corps have had the honour to serve. It is considered that the war is virtually over, and, at any rate, I fancy all Volunteer corps will be disbanded within a short time.