evening. As a rule the Boers
cease fire about half-past six, and some twenty of us then settled down
to dinner at the hotel--one or two officers, some doctors, and most of
the correspondents. We had hardly begun to-night when a shell from
"Silent Susan" whistled just over the roof and burst in the yard. Within
five minutes came the louder scream of another. It crashed over us,
breaking its way through the hotel from roof to floor. We all got up and
crowded to the main entrance on the street. The shell had struck a
sidewall in the bar, and glanced off through the doorway without
exploding. Dr. Stark, of Torquay, was standing at the door, waiting for
a place at dinner, and talking to Mr. Machugh, of the _Daily Telegraph_.
The shell struck him full in the thigh, leaving his left leg hanging
only by a piece of flesh, and shattering the right just at the knee.
"Hold me up," he said, and did not lose consciousness. We moved him to
the hospital, but he died within an hour. I have little doubt that the
shells were aimed at the hotel, because the Boers know that Dr. Jameson
and Colonel Rhodes are in the town. But the man killed was Dr. Stark, a
strong opponent of the Chamberlain policy, and a vigorous denouncer of
the war's injustice.

The havoc of the siege is gradually increasing, and the prospect of
relief grows more and more distant. Just after midnight the Boers again
aroused us by discharging all their guns into the forts or the town, and
again the people hurried away to their caves and culverts for
protection. The long Naval guns replied, and then all was quiet.

_Sunday, November 19, 1899._

Another day of rest, for which we thank the Fourth Commandment. After
the Sabbath wash, I went up to Caesar's Camp for the view. On the way I
called in upon the balloon, which now dwells in a sheltered leafy glade
at the foot of the Gordons' hill, when it is not in the sky, surrounded
by astonished vultures. The weak points of ballooning appear to be that
it is hard to be sure of detail as distinguished from mass, and even on
a clear day the light is often insufficient or puzzling. It is seldom,
for instance, that the balloonist gets a definite view towards Colenso,
which to us is the point of greatest interest. I found that the second
balloon was only used as a blind to the enemy, like a paper kite flown
over birds to keep them quiet. Going up to the Manchesters' position on
the top of Caesar's Camp, I had a view of the who