of November the roaring of cannon came to
our ears. The sound came from the extreme end of our position, where the
Transvaalers were stationed. No sooner did we hear it than the order to
off-saddle was given. I myself asked Commandant Steenekamp, who had
arrived the previous day from Bezuidenhoutspas, to go to General Croup's
laager, about two miles distant, and to request him to advance to where
the firing was taking place. To this request General Croup acceded, and
Commandant Steenekamp went there with three hundred men, of whom I was
one. Our way led past the kop to the south of Nicholson's Nek. What a
sight met our gaze on our arrival there!

The kop was occupied by the English.

This must be ascribed to the negligence of Commandant Nel, who had
orders to guard the kop. He excused himself by assuring us that he had
been under the impression that one of his Veldtcornets and a number of
burghers were occupying the hill.

What could we do now?

Commandant Steenekamp and I decided that we must storm the hill with the
three hundred men whom we had at our disposal. And this we did, and were
sufficiently fortunate to capture the northern point of the kop.

On reaching the summit we discovered that the British troops occupied
positions extending from the southern point to the middle of the
mountain.

The enemy, the moment we appeared on the ridge, opened a heavy rifle
fire upon us. We answered with as severe a fusillade as theirs. Whilst
we were shooting, twenty of Commandant Nel's men joined us and helped us
to hold our ground. When we had been engaged in this way for some time
we saw that the only possible course was to fight our way from position
to position towards the English lines.

I now observed that the mountain top was of an oblong shape, extending
from north to south for about a thousand paces. At the northern end,
where we were, the surface was smooth, but somewhat further south it
became rough and stony, affording very good cover. In our present
situation we were thus almost completely exposed to the enemy's fire.
The English, on the other hand, had excellent positions. There were a
number of ruined Kaffir kraals scattered about from the middle of the
mountain to its southern end, and these the enemy had occupied, thus
securing a great advantage.

Our bullets hailed on the English, and very shortly they retreated to
the southernmost point of the mountain. This gave us the chance for
which we had been