ne, and has done eleven
years' service. During the attack on the 6th he was sitting beside his
gun waiting for Major Abdy's word to fire in his turn, when a 96lb.
shell from "Bulwan" struck him in its flight, and shattered his left arm
and leg. He says he was knocked silly, and felt a bit fluttered, but had
no pain till they lifted him into the dhoolie. He broke the record, I
believe, by surviving a double amputation on the same side, which left
him only about 6 in. of thigh and 4 in. of arm. For every movement he is
helpless as a log. Four of us hoisted him into the cart, and then we
drove round to see his old battery, where the greetings of his mates
were brief, emphatic, and devoid of all romance. We then went up to the
tin camp, and round the main positions, which he regarded with silent
equanimity. I thought he was bored by the familiar scene, but at the end
he told me he had enjoyed it immensely, never having seen Ladysmith by
daylight before! The man is now in magnificent health, rosy as a rose,
and no doubt has a great career before him as a wonder from the war.

_February 5, 1900._

The noise of guns boomed all day from the Tugela. It sounded as though a
battle was raging along miles of its banks, from Colenso right away west
to Potgieter's Drift. I could see big shells bursting again on Taba
Nyama and the low nek above the ford. Further to the left they were
bursting around Monger's Hill, nearly half-way along the bank to
Colenso. From early morning the fire increased in intensity, reaching
its height between 3 and 4 p.m. At half-past four the firing suddenly
slackened and stopped. That seems like victory, but we can only hope.

_February 6, 1900._

Firing was again continuous nearly all day along the Tugela, except that
there appeared to be a pause of some hours before and after midday. The
distance was hazy, and light was bad. The heliograph below refused to
take or send messages, and we had no definite news. But at night it was
confidently believed that relief was some miles nearer than in the
morning. For myself, the sun and fever had hold of me, and I could only
stand on Observation Hill and watch the far-off bursting of shells and
the flash of a great gun which the Boers have placed in a mountain
niche upon the horizon to our left of Monger's Hill, overlooking the
Tugela. Sickness brought despondency, and I seemed only to see our
countrymen throwing away their lives in vain against the d