ched our camp. The 6"
gun looked a regular monster on its field carriage, and fired several
times at Grobler's Hill, at 15,000 yards; I was struck by its smart
crew of bluejackets and stokers, but the gun is much too far off the
enemy. An English mail came in to-day.

_Saturday, 24th February._--General Buller is shelling hard the kopjes
at Pieters beyond Colenso, but our Infantry do not seem to be gaining
an inch. As my guns were in reserve, I went up by train to Colenso,
with Captain Patch, R.A. We were much interested, as we saw all the
now famous spots where we had shelled the place out in December and
January--the village and hotel being in ruins, and everything wantonly
sacked and destroyed. I never saw such a scene in my life; pianos
pulled to pieces and furniture smashed up. I went on to the pont where
Lieutenant Chiazzari was in charge, and met many wounded being carried
across to the ambulance train; among others were General Wynne, and a
poor officer of the Lancashire Brigade just dying with a bullet in his
chest, also young Hodson of the _Terrible_ ill with fever. We crossed
the Tugela on planks over the ruins of the fallen railway bridge with
a swirling torrent about a foot below us, as the river was now in
flood. It was sad to see this magnificent bridge with all its spans
blown up and fallen across the river, and one buttress demolished.
Patch and I climbed up the kopjes beyond, saw the Boer system of
trenches, and inspected the places where they had blasted the reverse
slopes of the kopje, perpendicularly cut behind, and had got under
safe cover from shell. The panorama of battle which spread out in
front of us was most impressive with shells bursting close to us; our
firing line was some two miles on, resting on small kopjes near
Pieters that were taken during the night; our guns, great and small,
were massed in or beyond Colenso behind small kopjes which gave a
certain amount of cover; on the left were the 4.7 guns and four
12-pounders, then the 4.5 guns; and two miles to the right were other
field batteries and Ogilvy's four 12-pounders across the river on
Hlangwane, making some eighty guns in all. Behind the kopjes were
massed our men in reserve, besides all the Horse Artillery and Cavalry
and wagons. There was now very heavy Boer shelling over Colenso,
giving our men a bad time of it; for instance the whole of our 5" crew
of garrison gunners were killed and wounded by a shrapnel, and many of
the 4.