to ruins by persistent shelling. When
the Boers thought they had sufficiently demoralised our defensive forces
by artillery "preparation," a brisk attack by riflemen began to develop
against Maiden's Castle, Caesar's Camp, and Waggon Hill, a continuous
range forming the southern key to our position, and held by the
Manchester Regiment. Brigadier-General Hamilton and his staff were there
from the outset, ready, if need be, to call up the Gordons in support.
This necessity, however, never arose, though the attack, as I can
testify from personal observation on the spot, was pushed for some time
with great persistence, the Boers trying again and again to creep up by
the western slopes of Waggon Hill, while shells raked the whole face of
Caesar's Camp to Maiden's Castle, and burst repeatedly among the tents of
the Manchester battalion, without doing serious harm.

A colour-sergeant with only fourteen men defended the crest of Waggon
Hill until nightfall, when the Boers retired sullenly. To repeated
offers of reinforcements the sergeant warmly replied that he had men
enough for the job, and proved it by repelling every attack, the Boers
declining to face the steady fire that was poured upon them whenever
they showed themselves. Colonel Hamilton, however, had a firm conviction
that the Boer movement against that flank was only a feeler for more
determined enterprises to follow, and he accordingly stiffened the
defensive lines there by mounting half a field battery in strong
earthworks during the night, and sending up bodies of mounted infantry
to support the Manchesters.

As the sun was setting in clouded splendour behind Mount Tinwa's noble
crags and peaks, throwing their dark shadows across the lower hills near
us, a flash so quick, that it could hardly be seen, darted from out the
gloom there, and with the crashing report that followed came a shell
plump into one of our most crowded camps. This was evidently from a gun
newly mounted on Blaauwbank. Two other shells burst in quick succession
about the same place, but fortunately nobody was hit. Then, satisfied
with having got the range to a nicety, our enemy left us in undisturbed
quiet for the night, but with an uncomfortable consciousness that fresh
links were being forged in the chain of artillery fire by which
Ladysmith is now completely girdled, for two batteries that cannot be
exactly located have been shelling steadily all day from each end of
Bulwaan, with accurate