see the line
of crouching figures that passed him like ghosts in the darkness with
stealthy steps that must have sounded weird across the night stillness.
In a voice huskily vibrant, he challenged, "Wie kom dar?" Getting no
reply, he called again twice in louder tones, and then fired his rifle
at nothing in particular. Then, the whole picket waking, or beginning to
realise that danger was near, let off a volley, and voices were heard
shouting to comrades on the ridge. "The English are on us, Hans, Carl.
Shoot! shoot!" A few shots came from so close to one flank of the
Imperial Light Horse that Boers must have been lying there almost under
the feet of our men, if they did not actually join the ranks for a time
to escape detection. But a sound greeted their ears at that moment, and
knowing what it meant, they scampered downhill without waiting to hear
more. It was a ringing British cheer followed by strident commands to
"Fix bayonets and give the devils cold steel." Begun by Major Karri
Davis, the order ran along from Imperial Light Horse to Carbineers, who
had not a bayonet amongst them, for irregular mounted infantry in this
country do not carry such weapons. But they struck the butts of their
rifles on rocks, and made a great clatter as if preparing for a bayonet
charge, and cheered again and again for a good deal more than their
actual numbers, while crags on each hand tossed the shouts to and fro in
a mighty tumult. This was apparently too much for the small number of
Boers who held the crest. Letting off bullets in rapid succession, until
the magazines were exhausted, they turned and bolted, having hit only
ten of our men, one of whom, the tallest trooper in the Imperial Light
Horse, was badly wounded. In proportion to their numbers the guides
suffered most, having four out of fourteen hit, though none very
severely. The worst wound of all was from an explosive bullet similar to
those used in Express rifles for big-game shooting, and many missiles of
the same kind were seen to burst with a flash like shells as they
struck on stones round about, thus proving that the use of explosive
bullets by Boers is not quite so rare as most of us have believed
hitherto. Major Henderson received three wounds from buck-shot or
"loupalin," one of which penetrated deeply, but caused so little shock
at the time that he was able to keep pace with the best uphill.
Nevertheless, "scatter guns" are not weapons proper to be used in
warfar