and we were entirely within our rights in obstructing the enemy's lines
of communication in this manner.

Owing to this, the English were obliged to place many more thousands of
soldiers along the railway line, in order to keep the track clear. Even
then, the trains, for a considerable time, could not run by night. The
English soon discovered how we arranged these explosions, and the guards
carefully inspected the lines each day to find out if one of these
machines had been placed beneath the rails. We knew that one had been
found and removed, whenever we saw a train pass over the spot without
being blown up. This, however, only made us more careful. We went to the
spot which we had fixed upon for the explosion, hollowed out the gravel,
placed the machine under the sleeper, and covered it up again, throwing
the gravel that was left to a good distance from the line. After this,
the guards could not discover where the machine was placed. They trebled
the troops on the line in consequence.

The month of July had passed, and we wondered what August held in store
for us. The customary fights of the different commandos still went on;
here five, here ten, here thirty of the English were killed, wounded or
made prisoners. If these numbers had been put down they would have
mounted up to a considerable total; but the war was not of such a nature
that an office could be opened to record them. Reports of battles were
sent to me, and after I had allowed them to accumulate for three or four
weeks, they were sent to the different Vice-Commandants-in-Chief for
their general information, and then torn up.

Many reports and much correspondence concerning the beginning of the war
have been preserved. I gave them to a trustworthy friend with
instructions to bury them, but do not know where he placed them, as he