ld have ached to see the lot that came down
to Ladysmith from Dundee. They were not strong enough for the Boers, so
they made a forced march of it, and they had terribly bad weather. It
was raining all the time, and when they came into Ladysmith they were
mud all over and in rags. Some of them were carrying their boots in
their hands and could hardly crawl. Mrs. V. and myself made some buckets
of coffee and let them have a pull at it; and were not they thankful for
it? A word about how we are going on here. I don't know whether you are
getting any news at home about the war, but we can't get to know
anything here, as the whole country is under martial law, and they won't
let the papers publish any news concerning the war.... Now the Boers are
all round Ladysmith, and our troops can only defend the town. I don't
think for a moment that the Boers will take Ladysmith unless they get
strongly reinforced, and I don't think that will happen. However, the
sooner that troops arrive for the relief of the garrisons that are here
and hemmed in by the Boers the better it will be for Britain. There is
no doubt about it that the Boers have got our troops in a tight corner,
and Britain is a bit slow, not having her troops here before now. I hear
that troops are likely to land next week, and I hope that it is true. I
had to leave Ladysmith on November 2; the military authorities would not
grant me a permit to stay, so they gave me my free pass to Durban, where
I intend to stop until the trouble is over. You would have laughed to
see some of the men running out into the street with no clothes on when
the Boers sent their first shell into Ladysmith. It came into the town
at 5.15 A.M. I was up and partly dressed, as I had heard the firing, and
was going to have a look at the battle, when in came the shell right
over the house I was staying in and dropped on the road. I was sure that
it was going to hit the house. The shell makes a terrific whistling as
it travels through the air.... The Bluejackets did some very good work.
They arrived by train about eleven o'clock, and by twelve o'clock they
had off-loaded their guns and got them into action, and their third shot
silenced the Boers' 40-pounder."

[Illustration: SCENE ON THE TUGELA.]

Our cavalry while reconnoitring discovered a large force of the Boers
which was manoeuvring to the south of the town. The troopers charged,
and succeeded in cutting their way through the enemy. Meanwhile at