Mafeking is not relieved, nor is there any improvement in
the prospect of relief. Colonel Plumer, it seems clear, has been repulsed, and Commandant Snyman on his return an- nounced his success by a terrible bombardment. Of any un- reported advance from the South there is no visible trace, and the force reported advancing from Kimberley has to fight its way step by step, and is only at Warrenton. On the other hand, the garrison is said to have captured a supply of meat, and up to March 14th showed no symptom of diminished hopefulness, while the Boers, as at Kimberley and Ladysmith, seem to lack either the nerve or the knowledge to take the place by storm. An intense feeling has been excited in England by Colonel Baden-Powell's daring and resourceful- ness, and the fall of Mafeking, though of little military im- portance, would be regarded as a national misfortune.
