Show HARD BESET surrounded by a wily and persistent foe PLANS PREPARED WITH SKILL I 1 the defenders of the town choit of arms and ammunition tor for the great struggle g to that la is expected to come soon and the food supply Is running low provision tr traina at ab nb on the way but checked and be 40 league leaCu red ered liy by the enemy boers still preparing for war Capo capetown town april IS 18 copyright ISM by associated press military tary men scouts dutchmen and englishmen civilians civilian all classes of veteran troops and government officials concur in tho the statement that the governor of cope cape colony sir hercules IIer cules robinson has not told the truth it if he notified the home borne government that Bulu bulawa yo was jn in no damoor it Is evident to everybody here hem that Bulu Is in a most critical position the chief point of weakness la is in the smallness of tho the number of the people and the immens immensity I 1 of the hordes of Mat abeles gathering for attack then again large numbers of presumed pre umed to be friendly have havo by some excuse or another succeeded in entering tho the town arid and it J Is 11 well known they have planned to rise and strike tho the british as soon oa as the Mat abeles are heard outside the line of defense 6 most of the in Bulu pot cot thero there by pretending to bo be seeking tho the protection of the whites and the latter fell into the trap distribution or OF FORCES it has been stated that Bulu waya la is held by 1000 men this Is not correct the number of lighting fighting men at bulu Is under and of tilts this small email number compared with mata bales in tho the vicinity are reported to have hary been dispatched to hold man gwa awa pass a sleep deale with angular turnings which can bo be rendered impregnable other dispatches announce that a strong force of the rem remaining a ining whites intended to leave Bulu Bula yesterday to attack the Ya matabele ampt composed of Loben gulas crack imbeau regiment from which the native police who lie have been shown to have started the rebellion were recruited his cimpl la IS looked upon as a the most moat formidable ira in or about Matabe leland in numbers and efficiency nobody here can understand why euch curb a sortie Is permitted it Is feared the awful mistake ot of Iu lo andula may be repeated the british may be enticed into tho the bush and while hile there engaged with overwhelming numbers the main body of the matabele army may be hurled against pulu and sweep over it in spite of raold faring gurs in addition to the imbeau cimpl it Is known that two other formidable matabele regiments are in close proximity to Bulu waya and it would seen that a 11 new calef carefully ully prepared plan of attack has been drawn up and la Is being carried out with skill day by day which gives additional color to the report that the doers boers aro are bell behind ind tile the whole uprising ARMA ARMAMENT the battery of Bulu according 0 a advises advices rec received recel eLved yesterday Is five seven ceven oni twelve three maxim gun s one gardner and one Vord enfelt rapid fire gun in addition to these are several old field guns gung of little till uso except to con rume fume larg largo quantities quan titles of powder and there aro are about lee lec med medford ford rifles rl lle aval available lable besides tho rifles rin of the scouts volunteers etc alit which ch tire are of at all makes though tho the majority are and martini henrys for the latter the supply of ammu ammunition Is fair but there aro are only about rounds ot at cartridges at Bulu and those who have sn seen tho the maxims maxima and other rapid firing runs guns vomiting fire at the rate of hundreds of shots to a minute know that a million cartridges will not suffice to enable Bulu to be held for any length of time against the repeated attacks of a 11 fierce erce per iw sislene enemy then to make matters worse it IS 1 whispered that the million coundi of CA cartridges ea have alre already ady been drawn upon and it Is 1 hinted t that hat supplies roust reach Bulu thornly ly or the worst may be apprehended it if there IS 1 much further expenditure of ammunition til tion it to 1 known however that pounds of rifles and ammunition left on I 1 march under a strong escort awl and tilts supply ought to reach Bulu shortly FOOD SUPPLY DEFICIENT then another difficulty arises it Is known that the food supply of bulu Is slowly giving out mainly owing to the ahr number of natives the town haa bas to teed feed in addition to its white inhabitants the refugees the garrison find and the forces occupying the outlying posts it li ia true eighteen wagons loaded 4 d with provisions are reported to have reached a spot about sixty MI miles lea from Bulu where they are laag laAger ered cd av awaiting alting a favorable opportunity to kt get in ta town rn the garrison has haa been communicated with and the escort of the provision train Is to ho he strengthened then the wagons will bo be pushed on to Bulu Dulu steps have been taken to relieve Bulu provisions an and d SOO volunteers tire arc being luts tily equipped and sent tit to the front delay in spite ot of everything must occur arid and it Is possible that the kambeles Mat Mam abeles beles may capture the provisions and ammunition in which bleh case casa the situation in Bulu Dulu would he be desperate indeed it in stated on tho the other land that the chiefs ot or the native tribes of uc be chun elch the iho relief relict forces must traverse have been peaceable in their demeanor df meaner up to the present and are helping the government in consequence it Is expected that numbers of 0 wavering ahle chiefs is ifs who remember blundi will join the british when they hear that troops are arc going to tho the front T orns BOERS STILL ARMING there Is no change tit in the situation so 0 o far as the boers are concerned con cerneil they are continuing their preparations apparently parent ly for a great ruggle kt ta and it Is feared hero here that the fact that the secretary ot of state tor for the chloi colonies 1 les mr chamberlain thought it n necessary ee essely to notify president krueger that the die patch of reinforcements to the cape old did not imply a change in the filet fl loudly idly policy of 0 great britain towards tile the tran transvaal I 1 raid will encourage the boers in thelreg their idea dea that great britain Is 13 afraid ot of them and that it will only require 0 a combined effort on the part of fit tho the transvaal orange free state and cape colony to drive the british a out ut ot of this pirt of the world tho boers boast boadt of neing being able to muster about lighting men mild and they claim this th force can defy tho the v hole british army ABELES ATTACKED london arril april 28 KA A dispatch from Matabe leland dated april estil says nays the rebels are increasing in umbers in close praxi proximity mity to the forces of tile the patrol established by tho the english t forty two men attacked the vanguard Led of the Mat abeles at dawn and drove thorn then back to tile the main body two ot of tho the horses belonging to tho the british attacking Lacking at force were killed b her 0 ever according accord to reports report rec elvel e over lifty of the natives were killed at noon neon the scouts again encountered the MaLab elca in the neighborhood of 0 the house again in the afternoon a panic was caused I 1 in n town n causa ac by tile the dincov discovery 1 ry of c of r the natives at hiding in tho tha bush back of 0 the hoppl ta ia where they were detained by the forces forcen or of tho the british advices advises so tar far as aa received do not indicate NN hether any of 01 1 tho h or Wat matabele abeles N apte pre k killed id or 1 injured duranjr i ing these later con II 11 cie th the a a situation Is ho heowener weNer growing dioro 0 serious hourly and a hot time I 1 Is expected soon |