retort in view of the openly
expressed threat of the enemy that in case of his capture they would
carry him in a cage to Pretoria.

The Boers, though held off for a time by this unexpected piece of
ordnance, prepared a terrible answer to it. On February 7th an enormous
gun, throwing a 96 lb. shell, opened from Kamfersdam, which is four
miles from the centre of the town. The shells, following the evil
precedent of the Germans in 1870, were fired not at the forts, but into
the thickly populated city. Day and night these huge missiles exploded,
shattering the houses and occasionally killing or maiming the occupants.
Some thousands of the women and children were conveyed down the mines,
where, in the electric-lighted tunnels, they lay in comfort and safety.
One surprising revenge the Boers had, for by an extraordinary chance
one of the few men killed by their gun was the ingenious Labram who had
constructed the 28-pounder. By an even more singular chance, Leon, who
was responsible for bringing the big Boer gun, was struck immediately
afterwards by a long-range rifle-shot from the garrison.

The historian must be content to give a tame account of the siege of
Kimberley, for the thing itself was tame. Indeed 'siege' is a misnomer,
for it was rather an investment or a blockade. Such as it was, however,
the inhabitants became very restless under it, and though there were
never any prospects of surrender the utmost impatience began to be
manifested at the protracted delay on the part of the relief force. It
was not till later that it was understood how cunningly Kimberley had
been used as a bait to hold the enemy until final preparations had been
made for his destruction.

And at last the great day came. It is on record how dramatic was the
meeting between the mounted outposts of the defenders and the advance
guard of the relievers, whose advent seems to have been equally
unexpected by friend and foe. A skirmish was in progress on February
15th between a party of the Kimberley Light Horse and of the Boers, when
a new body of horsemen, unrecognised by either side, appeared upon the
plain and opened fire upon the enemy. One of the strangers rode up to
the patrol. 'What the dickens does K.L. H. mean on your shoulder-strap?'
he asked. 'It means Kimberley Light Horse. Who are you?' 'I am one of
the New Zealanders.' Macaulay in his wildest dream of the future of the
much-quoted New Zealander never pictured him as heading a rescue fo