lies about four miles up Bell's Spruit, a donga
due north of Ladysmith. The men blundered along in the
darkness, the Irish Fusiliers leading, the battery in the
centre, the rear being brought up by the Gloucestershire
Regiment. There seems no doubt upon one point, and that is, the
enemy were aware of this part of the movement from the
beginning. Probably they were aware of the whole of the plans
for Monday, for in Ladysmith it was impossible to say who was a
Boer agent and who not. However that may be, it is certain that
the enemy were on the flanks of the column all night, one of
the survivors positively stating that he constantly heard the
snapping of breeches, and once the peculiar noise which a rifle
makes at night when it is dropped.

"Two hours before daybreak, while the column was in enclosed
country, either a shot was fired or a boulder rolled into the
battery in column of route. The mules stampeded, and easily
broke away from their half-asleep drivers. They came back upon
the Gloucestershire Regiment, the advance party of whom fired
into the mass, believing in the darkness that it was an attack.
This added to the chaos; the ranks were broken by the frenzied
animals, and they dashed through the ranks of the rearguard,
carrying the first and second reserve ammunition animals with
them. It became a hopeless panic; the animals, wild with the
shouting and the turmoil, tore down the nullah into the
darkness, and the last that was heard of them was the sound of
ammunition-boxes and panniers as they were splintered against
the boulders. The hubbub of those few minutes was sufficient to
have alarmed the enemy. By a strenuous effort the officers
succeeded in getting the men again under control, and when
daylight came they seized the first position which presented
itself, and which was about two miles short of the original
goal. They were forced to take advantage of the first kopje, as
Boer scouts were all round them, and the day was ushered in
with desultory firing. It was a sorry position which they had
chosen, and the men were in a sorrier plight. All their reserve
ammunition was gone, and though they had saved pieces of the
screw-guns, they were not able with these pieces to patch up a
single mounting.

"The position itself was