enteric germs. The Irishman drinks
the rinsings of his old whisky bottles. One man gave L5 yesterday for a
bottle of whisky, but then he was a contractor, and our necessity is his
opportunity. Of our necessity the Colonial storekeepers and dealers of
all kinds are making their utmost. Having spent their lives hitherto in
"besting" every one on a small scale, they are now besting the British
nation on the large. Happily their profit is not so easily made now as
in the old days of the Zulu war, when a waggon-load of food would be
sold three times over on the way to the front and never reached the
troops at all in the end. A few days ago one contractor thought the Army
would have to raise its price for mealies (maize) to 30s. a sack. He at
once bought up all the mealies in the town at 28s., only to discover
that the army price was 25s. So, under the beneficent influence of
martial law he was compelled to sell at that price, and made a fine
loss. The troops received this morning's heavy news with cheerful
stoicism; not a single complaint, only tender regrets about the whisky
and Christmas pudding we shall have to do without.

_December 18, 1899._

How is one to treat an indeterminate situation? The siege is already too
long for modern literature. It was all very well when we thought it must
end by Christmas at the furthest. But since last Sunday we are thrown
back into the infinite, and can fix no limit on which hope can build
even a rainbow. So now the only way to make this account of our queer
position readable will be to dwell entirely in the glaring events of
adventure or bloodshed, and let the flat days slide, though the sadness
and absurdity of any one of them would fill a paper.

We have had such luck in escaping shells that we grow careless. The
Bulwan gun began his random fire, as usual, before breakfast. He threw
about fifteen shells, but most of us are quite indifferent to the 96lb.
explosive thunder-bolts dropping around us. Indeed, fourteen of them did
little harm. But just one happened to drop in the Natal Carbineer lines
while the horses were being groomed. Two men were killed outright and
three mortally wounded. A sapper was killed 200 yards away. Three others
were wounded. Eleven horses were either killed or hopelessly disabled.
All from one chance shell, while fourteen hit nobody! One man had both
legs cut clean off, and for a time continued conscious and happy. Five
separate human legs lay on the