al Light Horse was superb, and Major Edwards was the first man
in the embrasure. The following is an account of the destruction of the
guns given by the war correspondent of the _Standard_:--

"In order to give the rest of the force time to complete its
work, Major Edwards, who was the first man to set foot on the
summit, led his men of the Imperial Light Horse to the far side
of the hill, and poured volleys in the direction of the Boer
retreat. Some of their vedettes could be seen hovering about,
but they were evidently too demoralised to approach us closely.

"Meanwhile, the Volunteers and Sappers were making a hurried
search for the big guns. For a moment the horrible thought
seized us that there might be no guns at all--that the enemy,
as has so often been the case of late, had somehow got wind of
the projected attack, and had removed the cannon to a safe
distance. But at last, to the delight of everybody, 'Long Tom'
itself was discovered, snugly ensconced behind a parapet of
sand-bags no less than 31 feet thick. A 4.7-inch howitzer was
found in an emplacement hardly less strong, with a Maxim gun
between the two--posted there, apparently, for the purpose of
repelling any such assault as the one we had actually
delivered.

"Lieutenant Turner, with a party of two sappers and six
artillerymen, at once took charge of 'Long Tom,' and, getting
to work with crowbars and hammers, smashed the breach and
elevating gear. Two charges of gun-cotton were then placed in
the breech and muzzle and connected with fuses. While 'Long
Tom' was thus being provided for, similar attentions were
bestowed on the howitzer by Captain Fowke and the other sappers
and gunners.

"The preparations being complete, General Hunter ordered the
men to make their way back down the hill, and the fuses were
set light to with the burning ends of the officers' cigars.
Everybody fell back, with the exception of Captain Fowke, who
remained midway between the big guns, and, after a couple of
minutes' suspense, a loud report showed that our object had
been accomplished. Captain Fowke hastened to examine the
_debris_, and found that the 6-inch gun had two gaping holes in
its muzzle, which was badly bulged, and that the breech and
rifling had been destroyed beyond all chance of repa