so precipitous that it is no small task for an unhampered
man to climb it. From the summit a fire, which for some days could not
be localised by the Boers, was opened upon their laagers, which had to
be shifted in consequence. This energetic action upon the part of our
gunners may be set off against those other examples where commanders
of batteries have shown that they had not yet appreciated what strong
tackle and stout arms can accomplish. The guns upon Coleskop not
only dominated all the smaller kopjes for a range of 9000 yards, but
completely commanded the town of Colesberg, which could not however, for
humanitarian and political reasons, be shelled.

By gradual reinforcements the force under French had by the end of
January attained the respectable figure of ten thousand men, strung over
a large extent of country. His infantry consisted of the 2nd Berkshires,
1st Royal Irish, 2nd Wiltshires, 2nd Worcesters, 1st Essex, and 1st
Yorkshires; his cavalry, of the 10th Hussars, the 6th Dragoon Guards,
the Inniskillings, the New Zealanders, the N.S. W. Lancers, some
Rimington Guides, and the composite Household Regiment; his artillery,
the R and O batteries of R.H.A., the 4th R.F.A., and a section of the
37th Howitzer Battery. At the risk of tedium I have repeated the units
of this force, because there are no operations during the war, with the
exception perhaps of those of the Rhodesian Column, concerning which it
is so difficult to get a clear impression. The fluctuating forces, the
vast range of country covered, and the petty farms which give their
names to positions, all tend to make the issue vague and the narrative
obscure. The British still lay in a semicircle extending from
Slingersfontein upon the right to Kloof Camp upon the left, and the
general scheme of operations continued to be an enveloping movement upon
the right. General Clements commanded this section of the forces, while
the energetic Porter carried out the successive advances. The lines had
gradually stretched until they were nearly fifty miles in length, and
something of the obscurity in which the operations have been left is due
to the impossibility of any single correspondent having a clear idea of
what was occurring over so extended a front.

On January 25th French sent Stephenson and Brabazon to push a
reconnaissance to the north of Colesberg, and found that the Boers were
making a fresh position at Rietfontein, nine miles nearer their own
bord