ar Spion Kop
could rake the line of sangars, thus necessitating numerous
traverses. When not in the firing line, we lay behind the slope in
column, each company being protected by a parapet of earth or stone.
Immediately below the amphitheatre the ground fell steeply, forming a
ravine in which the cooks set up their field kitchens in comparative
security. It was characteristic of the British soldier that whereas
during the greater part of the day he crouched behind his cover, the
sight of a fatigue party with the kettles made him forget the shells
and bullets, and he dashed off for his food regardless of danger.

On Tuesday night (January 22nd) the proposed assault on Spion Kop was
announced, and every one hoped that a general advance would be the
result.

The morning of January 23rd dawned with a thick white mist, which hid
everything from view. It was our turn to occupy the ridge, and the
companies lay there for nearly an hour before the usual exchange of
rifle-fire began. No news of the capture of Spion Kop had reached the
amphitheatre, but the fact could be guessed from the absence of the
Boer guns in that direction. Only the artillery in front of the
battalion's position fired in the morning, and even that ceased during
the afternoon. The enemy was evidently concentrating the greater part
of his forces against Spion Kop, and parties of mounted burghers could
be seen moving from their extreme right. On Spion Kop hung the white
clouds of bursting shrapnel, and the stuttering sound of the pompom
scarcely ceased for a moment, but the 5th Brigade made no advance. The
companies behind the sangars fired hundreds of rounds at the Boer
trenches, while their comrades below ate and slept.

At dawn of the 25th, glasses and telescopes were turned on to the
summit of the mountain, and it was a bitter blow when the moving
figures there were seen to be Boers. It was not until late in the
forenoon, however, that the evacuation of Spion Kop was officially
communicated. But the renewal of the Boer artillery fire against the
crest-line had been a sufficiently eloquent announcement of the fact.

As there seemed no reason why the regiment should remain in the
amphitheatre when it was not required to man the sangars, Colonel
Cooper obtained permission that afternoon to move down the valley
below Bastion Hill. The new bivouac was more sheltered, although an
occasional Boer shell still fell near.

It was now evident that the second a