BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF PIETERMARITZBURG, LOOKING EAST.
Pietermaritzburg, called after two Boer leaders, Pieter Retief and Gert Maritz, is the seat of Government in Natal, and since the beginning of the war has served as the official military base for the operations in that colony. The town has normally a population of about 20,000, of whom half are whites. It is beautifully situated amid sloping hills and fertile pastures, and is 70 miles distant from Durban. It is a metropolis in miniature, and the churches, hotels, banks, clubs, town hall, legislative council buildings, museum, and library are worthy of the capital of the "Garden Colony."
Jan. 6, 1900.] Ladysmith in Peril.
Storm ends a desultory movement.
The attack on Colenso was not pressed. Ladysmith was fighting for its life; thousands of British soldiers were burning to give Sir George White the best aid that could be given, by a vigorous assault upon Colenso, which by all appearances was not strongly held, and from which we now know that the Boers had withdrawn 7,000 men, and yet there was nothing more than a long-range interchange of fire. General Clery in command—for General Buller was seemingly not present—rode out well in advance of his men, but even this daring and calculated exposure of himself and his staff did not draw the Boers. It was a melancholy day, unsatisfactory in every sense, and, had the enemy's assault on Ladysmith succeeded, would have provoked bitter outcry at home, where the difficulties which faced the relief column were, perhaps, not fully appreciated. As the afternoon closed upon the desultory and ineffective demonstration, the storm broke over the country with appalling violence. Thunder and lightning, hail and rain, raged over the frowning heights before the British soldiery, and intense darkness put a stop to the one-sided engagement. Dripping and depressed, the men marched back to camp, uncertain as to the fate of Ladysmith.
Rain and gloom continued all next day, broken only by a flash of sunlight, which brought yet more disquieting news. The fresh message from Sir George White was this:—
"January 6, 3·15 p.m. Attack renewed. Very hard pressed."
THE UNION JACK AT LADYSMITH: