"The women and children brought in by the columns are lodged in concentration camps where every care is taken of them... The ration scale has been fixed with a view to the requirements of persons of the class to be dealt with, and is considered by the medical authorities to be sufficient to maintain health. The inevitable disorganisation attendant upon the sudden influx of large numbers of persons and the difficulty of obtaining the necessary supplies have caused temporary inconvenience, but the camps are now in a satisfactory state. The mortality is no higher than might be expected under such conditions, and the women are, as a rule, contented and well-cared-for."

Field Marshal Lord Kitchener, military despatch to the Secretary of State for War, London, 1901. Kitchener was Commander-in-Chief of British forces in South Africa from November 1900, having replaced Lord Roberts.