orting 'all correct' to the Railway Staff
Officer (Captain Young, R.E.), the train was allowed to proceed into
the station, and the little play was over till the next day. This was
undoubtedly the most comfortable job we had, as the men lived in a
shed, whilst Higginson and I had a railway carriage.

On the afternoon of February 28th we heard the joyful tidings of
General Buller's victory at Pieter's Hill, and in the evening descried
Lord Dundonald and his men crossing the plain; our wild excitement may
be left to the imagination. I'm sure we all put on about seven pounds
of our lost weight at the mere thought of our being at last relieved.
Our troubles were not over yet, however, as the next morning we were
ordered back to Tunnel Hill, a spot we had learned to loathe with a
truly deep loathing. This move was due to our flying column going out
to hurry the enemy's retreat, most of the troops in our section taking
part in it. For some unknown reason we were kept four or five days in
that smelly fort, and it was not till March 7th that we received
orders to rejoin the battalion, which was encamped about two miles out
of Ladysmith. We all felt as though we had begun a new life; but it
was heartbreaking to see the havoc in our regiment; one had to look
about to find faces that one recognised.

Our rations were pretty well reduced towards the end of the siege: one
biscuit, one pound of horseflesh, two teaspoonfuls of sugar, and a
pinch of tea is not much to keep body and soul together, and we were
all pretty feeble and pulled down. I think we must have done the
record piquet duty of any men in any service, as we were never
relieved throughout the whole siege; I suppose this was on account of
being left as a separate unit all through, but we certainly thought it
rather hard work. It is a wonder that our little detachment stuck out
four months' constant exposure with so little sickness, whilst our
luck in sitting under that constant shelling without a man being hit
was nothing short of providential.

I have merely chronicled the chief moves and duties of the detachment
throughout the siege: it would take a small book to set down all our
little experiences, details, and troubles.

CHAPTER X.

ALIWAL NORTH AND FOURTEEN STREAMS.

'But thus much is certain: that he that commands the
sea is at great liberty, and may take as much,
and as little of the war, as he wish.'

_Bacon