The renewal of the war in the west had begun some weeks before, but
was much accelerated by the transference of De la Rey and his
burghers to that side. There is no district in the Transvaal which
is better worth fighting for, for it is a fair country side,
studded with farmhouses and green with orange-groves, with many
clear streams running through it. The first sign of activity
appears to have been on July 7th, when a commando with guns
appeared upon the hills above Rustenburg. Hanbury Tracy, commandant
of Rustenburg, was suddenly confronted with a summons to surrender.
He had only 120 men and one gun, but he showed a bold front.
Colonel Houldsworth, at the first whisper of danger, had started
from Zeerust with a small force of Australian bushmen, and arrived
at Rustenburg in time to drive the enemy away in a very spirited
action. On the evening of July 8th Baden-Powell took over the
command, the garrison being reinforced by Plumer's command.
The Boer commando was still in existence, however, and it was
reinforced and reinvigorated by De la Rey's success at Uitval's
Nek.
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