by firing a small volley from
three or four rifles at each flash on the hill-side. So the night
passed without much incident.

During the dark we had taken the opportunity cunningly to place some
new white sandbags (which I had found among the stores) in full view
at some little distance from our actual trenches and pits. Some men
had even gone further, and added a helmet here and a coat there
peeping over the top. This ruse had been postponed until our position
was discovered, so as not to betray our presence, but after the
fighting had begun no harm was done by it. Next morning it was quite a
pleasure to see the very accurate shooting made by "Brother" at these
sandbags, as betokened by the little spurts of dust.

During this day the veldt to the north and south was deserted by the
enemy except at out-of-range distance, but a continuous sniping fire
was kept up along the river-banks on each side. The Boer guns were
shifted--one to the top of Incidentamba and one to the east and west
in order to enfilade the river bank--but, owing to our good cover, we
escaped with two killed and three wounded. The enemy did not shell
quite such a length of river this time. I confidently expected an
attack along the river bank that night, and slightly strengthened my
flanks, even at the risk of dangerously denuding the north bank. I was
not disappointed.

Under cover of the dark, the enemy came up to within, perhaps, 600
yards on the open veldt on the north and round the edges of Waschout
Hill, on the south, and kept up a furious fire, probably to distract
our attention, whilst the guns shelled us for about an hour. As soon
as the gun-fire ceased they tried to rush us along the river-bed east
and west, but owing to the _abatis_ and the holes in the ground, and
the fact that it was not a very dark night, they were unsuccessful.
However, it was touch and go, and a few of the Boers did succeed in
getting into our position only to be bayoneted. Luckily the enemy did
not know our strength, or rather our weakness, or they would have
persisted in their attempt and succeeded; as it was, they must have
lost 20 or 30 men killed and wounded.

Next morning, with so many men out of my original 40 out of action
(not to include Waschout Hill, whose losses I did not know), matters
seemed to be serious, and I was greatly afraid that another night
would be the end of us. I was pleased to see that the detachment on
Waschout Hill had still got its t