skirmishers, for whom there was ample cover.
Instead, we manned the edge of a shallow depression which formed the
summit of the hill, and every man of ours was sharply defined against
the sky. Below, seated behind the rocks, the Boers picked them off one
by one, and soon the whole hill was surrounded. Foot by foot they
pushed upwards, and at last with one final rush carried the position.

"That was a bad day for all the poor Englishmen out there, and ever
since it has been an evil day for all our countrymen. It is a smudge,
my lads, upon a slate which has seldom known one before. Our poor
fellows behaved nobly, but they were helpless; the position which, if
entrenched and manned by a sufficient force, should have been
impregnable, was untenable, and those of the troops who survived the
last onslaught ran for their lives as Englishmen have seldom been known
to do.

"But there! The mention of it sickens me. We were beaten after a
gallant fight, so I will make an end of the matter.

"By this time General Sir Evelyn Wood, who had conducted a share of the
operations in Zululand with such great distinction, had reached
Newcastle with a relieving force, and hoped to have it substantially
increased in the course of a few days. Meanwhile an armistice was
agreed upon for eight days.

"At the termination of that period there is little doubt that this able
leader would have outflanked the Boers and gained a signal success, but
he never had the opportunity.

"All the Dutchmen in Africa were hotly incensed at England's action in
attacking this small state, and in Holland there was the same feeling.
The Orange Free Staters, too, were ready to join with their brothers,
and indeed had already helped to a large extent with men and money.
After a short extension of the armistice, a peace was made, one of the
terms being that England should hold suzerain power over the Transvaal
and control its foreign affairs, and another, that Boers and British
should have equal rights.

"Meanwhile I must tell you that our garrisons in the Transvaal had been
invested by the enemy and had gallantly resisted. And it was at these
attacks that the most outrageous use of the white flag was made. Our
men were lured on by its demonstration, and shot down mercilessly when
they showed themselves.

"When the war was over, our troops were withdrawn, leaving the Boer and
British settlers face to face, distrustful of one another, and holding
themse