of less than two hundred men killed and
wounded, and surely no army more than the Army of Natal deserves a
cheaply bought triumph.

CHAPTER XXIII

THE PASSAGE OF THE TUGELA

Hospital Ship 'Maine': March 4, 1900.

Since I finished my last letter, on February the 21st, I have found no
time to sit down to write until now, because we have passed through a
period of ceaseless struggle and emotion, and I have been seeing so many
things that I could not pause to record anything. It has been as if a
painter prepared himself to paint some portrait, but was so fascinated
by the beauty of his model that he could not turn his eyes from her face
to the canvas; only that the spectacles which have held me have not
always been beautiful. Now the great event is over, the long and bloody
conflict around Ladysmith has been gloriously decided, and I take a few
days' leisure on the good ship _Maine_, where everyone is busy getting
well, to think about it all and set down some things on paper.

First and foremost there was the Monte Cristo ridge, that we had
captured on the 18th, which gave us the Green Hill, Hlangwani Hill, and,
when we chose to take it, the whole of the Hlangwani plateau. The Monte
Cristo ridge is the centrepiece to the whole of this battle. As soon as
we had won it I telegraphed to the _Morning Post_ that now at last
success was a distinct possibility. With this important feature in our
possession it was certain that we held the key to Ladysmith, and though
we might fumble a little with the lock, sooner or later, barring the
accidents of war, we should open the door.

As Monte Cristo had given Sir Redvers Buller Hlangwani, so Hlangwani
rendered the whole of the western section (the eastern section was
already in our hands) of the Colenso position untenable by the enemy,
and they, finding themselves commanded and enfiladed, forthwith
evacuated it. On the 19th General Buller made good his position on Green
Hill, occupied Hlangwani with Barton's Brigade, built or improved his
roads and communications from Hussar Hill across the Gomba Valley, and
brought up his heavy guns. The Boers, who were mostly on the other side
of the river, resisted stubbornly with artillery, with their
Vickers-Maxim guns and the fire of skirmishers, so that we suffered some
slight loss, but could not be said to have wasted the day. On the 20th
the south side of the Tugela was entirely cleared of the enemy, who
retired across the bridge