THE ADVANCE ON BULUWAYO. 737 on local volunteers, and then on the men who had ridden in Jameson's Raid, and who after being deported toEngland were nowat liberty to return to Africa. These supplied about 280 excellent recruits before the column started. The white contingent of Plumer's force was eventually raised to 750. To these wereadded a small native force and four Maxim guns. His orders were first to escort to Buluwayo asupply of arms, ammunition,and provisions, and then to operate against therebels in the district.

The problem he had to solve was not aneasy one. Little food or forage was to be found in the 500milesof countrythat had to betraversed. The cattle plaguehad swept the country, so that the eastern part of the MatoppoHills,ending at Fig TreeHill,about thirty miles from Buluway*o, where there was a small fort and telegraph station. Plumer decided topush on toFig Tree with the 150 men he had with him. There he wouldbe in touch with the Buluwayo garrison, and there he meant to concentrate his column, ready,if need be, to strike at a Matabele force whichit wasrumoured wasmarchingsouthwards on the flank of the coach road.

"We left Mangwe," writes Colonel Plumer, "at 5.20 a.m. on the 14th, the road almost immediately entering the pass through the Matoppo Hills. We took every possible precaution against surprise,but there were no signs to form a bullock train wa« outof thequestion, andmules had to be obtained to draw the waggons. Water was so scarce along the route that only small parties could be moved up at a time, and the march was made in a successionofdetachmentsthat were toclose on each otheras they entered the area where fighting might be expected. The route had to be prepared in advancebyestablishingdepots of provisions and forage at intervals along the southern portionof it. Mafeking was the base of operations, and thefirst detachment marched off on April 12th, so that of any of the rebels. As we rode through the tortuous defile, where position after position might have been takenup to bar our progress, and held successfully by a few good rifle shots against very large odds, we all felt that whatever might have been the reason, we could never be sufficiently thankful to our opponents for not having, as soon as they determined to rise, seized and held theMangwePass. Any attempt to turn it necessitateda long detour, and was renderedvery difficult owing to the scarcity of water." LordGrey had hurriedon to COLONEL PLUMER.

{Photo:Tyran Bros.,Jersey.)

very little time was lost in making a start. Earl Grey had just arrived from England to take up the post of Administrator of Rhodesia. The insurrection had begun while he was at sea, andhe had only heard of it on landing at Cape Town. Sir Richard Martin had also arrived to act as Imperial Commissioner and Commandant General inRhodesia. At the endofApril,when it was realised inEngland that the suppression of the insurrection would mean serious operations, General SirFrederick Carrington was sent out to take the chief command, and a staff of special service officers with a force of regular cavalry, mounted infantry, and artillery were placed at his disposal.

After a difficult march, Plumer, accompanied by Lord Grey, reached the fort of Mangwe, sixty-three miles south of Buluwayo, with his leading squadron, on May nth. At Mangwe begins along passor succession of passes through Buluwayobycoach. ColonelPlumerfollowedhim, accompaniedby Sir R.Martin,so that the situation might be discussed in the centre of the disturbance. The forts established at intervals of about ten miles from the pass to the town rendered these rapid journeyspossible. Matters were found to be in a fairly satisfactory condition, and the garrison had felt strong enough to send away a flying column under Colonel Napier on May nth to march northwards towards Gwelo and join hands with the Salisbury relief force andMr. Rhodes. Theenemy wasreported to be camped north-west of the town on the Umguza and Khami Rivers inconsiderable numbers.

On May 24th a sufficient force had reached Fig TreeHill camp topermit of activeoperations beingbegunagainst the Matabele nearBuluwayo. In the morning 278 officers and men of Colonel Plumer's force, 184 ofhis native contingent, and twoMaxims were brought into the town. These 47