The battles of Dundee, Elandslaagte and Rictfontein and Lady- ' smitth, finishing up at Nicholson's Nek, were fought with tlus end in view, but General White's dstemined stead at Ladysmith for a time sto{>pbd the fulfilment of the Boes < dream of an easy conquest in. Natal. On the other side, to the west of the Drakensbergs, General Cronja advanced with an army, fully convinced that he could cap tura Mo&king anjd Kiinberiey, and then move south, and seize the Cape and Bula wayo railway afr or near Murraysburg road, about thirty miles south of Victoria West in the- southern passes of the Drakensbergs, and another force was despatclied to seize the other three railway systems in the same chain of mountains, almost due east at or near Graff Rekset, Fish. River, and Sterk stroonv thereby giving them control of the railways for transport with- interior lines that they intended to defend, and giving them tihe advantage of holding all the passes in thei. mountains. - ' * Fortunately, their plans did not prosper. On tito West, Cronje found Mafeking and Kimberley too ably defended to capture as easily as ih& supposed, and in consequence, before his forces were iready, General Bulkr's Army Corps commenced to pour into Cape town and'move north, thereby stopping the Boers from completing their plans by seiz ing tho Drakeaisberg passes in Cape Colony. We ore ef opiadon that if General Bulier had continued to send bis troops up over this route that the enemy would have been compelled to withdraw from around Lady sraitti in order to endeavour to stop the Bri tish from getting possession of the capital ■of the Free State, and then moving north, j seizing the railways running from Laing's Nek to Elandfontein and Pretoria, the Boer base of supplies. Whatever may have been the General Bulier changed his plans , for the time being at least, and decided to attempt to relieve General White by-direct I attack on the enemy's position in Natal in stead of by indirect attack from the-rear through the Free 'State and Transvaal. And it is here that the first serious error of tha campaign commenced. 