ed
Hlangwane Hill, the real key of the enemy's position, and on the
following day the whole of Warren's Division crossed the Tugela by
a pontoon bridge thrown across by the Royal Engineers. The
significance of the fact was at once recognised at Ladysmith, and
that day saw the last of the hated horse-flesh ration. Events were
now moving fast. The Boers were preparing for flight, hope began to
beat high in the town, and already the memory of past sufferings
and the irk of those still being borne seemed little in the light
of oncoming deliverance. Mr. Pearse's notes at this last stage in
the long stand for the Empire are interesting reading:--

_February 22._--Trivialities are supreme after all. Yesterday we were
all more jubilant at the announcement that horse-flesh would not be
issued as rations again than on the score of General Buller's signal
telling us he had driven the Boers from all their positions across the
Tugela. To-day soldiers greeted each other with a cheery "'Ave you 'eard
the noos? They say there'll be full rations to-day." An extra half-pound
of meat, five biscuits instead of one and a quarter, and a few
additional ounces of mealie meal, were more to them at that moment than
a British victory.

_February 23._--For several days past the naval 12-pounder on Caesar's
Camp has shelled Boers at work on the dam below Intombi Camp, causing
much consternation. One result of this is that Bulwaan tries to keep
down the 12-pounder's fire and leaves the town in comparative quiet.
This afternoon there was another surprise for the Boers. "Lady Anne,"
one of the big twin sisters of the naval armament to which we owe so
much, had not fired for just a month until she astonished the gunners on
Bulwaan by planting a shell in their works to-day. They ran in all
directions, not knowing where to hide, and at the second shot bolted
back across the hill. Their tents have disappeared from Bulwaan now.
To-day a Boer, or rather a German fighting for the Boers, was caught by
our patrols. He had a rifle, a bandolier, pockets full of cartridges,
and a red-cross badge, concealed, but ready for use when fighting might
be inconvenient.

_February 26._--Yesterday numbers of Boers were seen retiring from
Pieter's Station across the ridges towards Bester's Valley, but no sign
of a general retreat yet beyond the report of scouts, who say that
several guns have been seen going back at a ga