ne
hundred and fifty more burghers and two guns might be placed at my
disposal. This request, however, was refused, and so I had to proceed
without them.

When we arrived at Koedoesberg that afternoon, we found that the English
had already taken possession of the hill. They were stationed at its
southern end, and had nearly completed a stone wall across the hill from
east to west. Their camp was situated on the Riet River, which flows
beside the southern slopes of the _berg_. The enemy also held strong
positions on hillocks to the east of the mountain, whilst on the west
they occupied a ravine, which descended from the mountain to the river.

Commandant Froneman and I determined to storm the _berg_ without a
moment's delay. We reached the foot of the mountain in safety, and here
we were out of sight of the English. But it was impossible to remain in
this situation, and I gave orders that my men should climb the mountain.
We succeeded in reaching the summit, but were unable to get within seven
hundred paces of the enemy, owing to the severity of their fire from
behind the stone wall. And so we remained where we were until it became
quite dark, and then very quietly went back to the spot where we had
left our horses.

As General French was in possession of the river, we had to ride about
four miles before we could obtain any water.

Early the following morning we again occupied the positions we had held
on the previous evening. Although under a severe rifle fire, we then
rushed from position to position, and at last were only three hundred
paces from the enemy. And now I was forced to rest content with the
ground we had gained, for with only three hundred and fifty men I dare
not risk a further advance, owing to the strength of the enemy's
position.

The previous day I had asked General Cronje to send me reinforcements,
and I had to delay the advance until their arrival. In a very short time
a small party of burghers made their appearance. They had two
field-pieces with them, and were under the command of Major Albrecht. We
placed the guns in position and trained them on the English.

With the second shot we had found our range, while the third found its
mark in the wall, so that it was not long before the enemy had to
abandon that shelter. To find safe cover they were forced to retreat
some hundred paces. But we gained little by this, for the new positions
of the English were quite as good as those from which we h