and the
ambuscade in which the Boers excelled. And yet the column still plodded
aimlessly on in its dense formation, and if there were any attempt at
scouting ahead and on the flanks the result showed how ineffectively it
was carried out. It was at a quarter past four in the clear light of a
South African morning that a shot, and then another, and then a rolling
crash of musketry, told that we were to have one more rough lesson of
the result of neglecting the usual precautions of warfare. High up on
the face of a steep line of hill the Boer riflemen lay hid, and from
a short range their fire scourged our exposed flank. The men appear to
have been chiefly colonial rebels, and not Boers of the backveld, and to
that happy chance it may be that the comparative harmlessness of their
fire was due. Even now, in spite of the surprise, the situation might
have been saved had the bewildered troops and their harried officers
known exactly what to do. It is easy to be wise after the event, but it
appears now that the only course that could commend itself would be to
extricate the troops from their position, and then, if thought feasible,
to plan an attack. Instead of this a rush was made at the hillside, and
the infantry made their way some distance up it only to find that there
were positive ledges in front of them which could not be climbed. The
advance was at a dead stop, and the men lay down under the boulders
for cover from the hot fire which came from inaccessible marksmen above
them. Meanwhile the artillery had opened behind them, and their fire
(not for the first time in this campaign) was more deadly to their
friends than to their foes. At least one prominent officer fell among
his men, torn by British shrapnel bullets. Talana Hill and Modder River
have shown also, though perhaps in a less tragic degree, that what with
the long range of modern artillery fire, and what with the difficulty of
locating infantry who are using smokeless powder, it is necessary that
officers commanding batteries should be provided with the coolest
heads and the most powerful glasses of any men in the service, for a
responsibility which will become more and more terrific rests upon their
judgment.

The question now, since the assault had failed, was how to extricate
the men from their position. Many withdrew down the hill, running the
gauntlet of the enemy's fire as they emerged from the boulders on to
the open ground, while others clung to thei