ty-six in the Black Watch, thirty-one in
the Oxfordshires, fifty-six in the Cornwalls, forty-six in the
Shropshires--shows how universal was the gallantry, and especially how
well the Highland Brigade carried itself. It is to be feared that they
had to face, not only the fire of the enemy, but also that of their own
comrades on the further side of the river. A great military authority
has stated that it takes many years for a regiment to recover its spirit
and steadiness if it has been heavily punished, and yet within two
months of Magersfontein we find the indomitable Highlanders taking
without flinching the very bloodiest share of this bloody day--and this
after a march of thirty miles with no pause before going into action.
A repulse it may have been, but they hear no name of which they may be
more proud upon the victory scroll of their colours.

What had we got in return for our eleven hundred casualties? We had
contracted the Boer position from about three miles to less than two.
So much was to the good, as the closer they lay the more effective our
artillery fire might be expected to be. But it is probable that our
shrapnel alone, without any loss of life, might have effected the same
thing. It is easy to be wise after the event, but it does certainly
appear that with our present knowledge the action at Paardeberg was as
unnecessary as it was expensive. The sun descended on Sunday, February
18th, upon a bloody field and crowded field hospitals, but also upon an
unbroken circle of British troops still hemming in the desperate men who
lurked among the willows and mimosas which drape the brown steep banks
of the Modder.

There was evidence during the action of the presence of an active
Boer force to the south of us, probably the same well-handled and
enterprising body which had captured our convoy at Waterval. A small
party of Kitchener's Horse was surprised by this body, and thirty men
with four officers were taken prisoners. Much has been said of the
superiority of South African scouting to that of the British regulars,
but it must be confessed that a good many instances might be quoted
in which the colonials, though second to none in gallantry, have been
defective in that very quality in which they were expected to excel.

This surprise of our cavalry post had more serious consequences than can
be measured by the loss of men, for by it the Boers obtained possession
of a strong kopje called Kitchener's Hill, lyin