ay, a foot from the
ground. They were not laid in line, but dotted about in every direction,
and, in anything like a dim light, would infallibly trip an advancing
enemy up in all directions. The single trench is about five feet deep,
the back of it undercut so as to allow the defenders to sleep in good
shelter, and the number of old blankets and shawls lying here showed it
had been used for this. It followed closely the contour of the hill,
about twenty yards from its base. Eastward it was continued across the
flat to the river.

The "disappearing guns," in the same way, were not disappearing at all.
They simply had strong redoubts of sandbags built round them, the
opening in front being partly concealed by bushes. On each side of the
gun, inside the redoubt, was a pit, with a little side passage or
tunnel, where two or three gunners could lie in perfect security, and
yet be ready at an instant's notice to serve their gun. As for the
kopjes themselves, every rock and stone there was split with shell and
starred with bullet marks. The reverse side of the slopes were steepened
with stone walls here and there, as a protection against shrapnel, and
sangars and lookout places were built at points of vantage. Altogether,
though not so elaborate as one had been led to believe, the defences
struck one as extremely practical and business-like.

I stayed there for two interesting hours. You can guess with what
feelings I looked down on the plain from Long Tom's redoubt, poor old
Joey's rival, and traced the long line of the river, with its fringe of
willows, and marked, up and down, a score of places where we had
skirmished or hidden, distinguishing the positions of our guns and
pickets, and all the movements and manoeuvres of our army. For the
first time one realised what a bird's-eye view the Boers had of it all,
and how our whole position and camp lay unrolled like a map almost at
their very feet.

I must add a word to tell you that the boxes have arrived! I only wish
you could have been here to see the contents distributed. First (this
was about a week ago) came a huge box full of good things to eat,
raisins, figs, a great many tins of cocoa and milk, chocolate, and other
things. We spread them all out on sheets in the verandah of the farm in
little heaps, and very pretty and tempting they looked, the white sheets
down the shady verandah, and little piles of sweetmeats and things
dotted all over them. Each man drew a ticke