up to our advanced dressing station at the
Zigzag, and found some unknown persons had dumped there, during the
night, a body in an advanced state of decomposition. I managed to
unearth his recent history. He had been killed on the 7th, being
wounded by the Turks, and when crawling back to our lines, along with
some others in the same condition, he shouted in the dark, "Don't
fire, we are English". Thinking this was a ruse so often practised by
the Turks an officer ordered his men to fire, and this poor fellow was
killed.

In the afternoon a well-known lion hunter looked in and had a shrapnel
bullet removed from his shoulder. He was a most interesting man, and
gave us all his views about the conduct of the war. Every mistake that
it is possible to make has been made, he thinks. Once more we are hung
up for want of ammunition. He is no optimist with regard to the
duration of the war. Unless the new landing pushes on and keeps
hitting he fails to see how they will do much. Even though Austria and
Turkey are knocked out, Germany is one vast fort, with everything
within herself, and will hold out for long. He condemns our statesmen
for even now not initiating conscription, and making every unmarried
man serve. He severely criticises the quality of our shells, half per
cent. of which burst prematurely. The fuses of all those available,
where this has happened, have been picked up and examined and all have
been correctly set. A French battery of 75's is stationed behind this
man's battery, firing its shells just 8 feet above his head, and since
it took up its position it has only had two premature bursts, and one
of these was caused by the shell striking the branch of a tree. We
have been buying shells everywhere, and he says those supplied by
America are far and away the worst.

_August 11th._--While we were at tea this afternoon de Boer rushed
into our mess in Aberdeen Gully to say that he had brought down, by
our bearers at the Zigzag, Captain O'Hara, whom I have spoken about
before as the only officer of the 86th Brigade left alive and
unwounded. He had lately been sent to Egypt to look after prisoners,
and I was unaware that he had again joined the firing line, but I
fancy he had found the other job much too slow. He was full of pluck,
it was not from attempts to save his skin that O'Hara had escaped so
long. To-day he and a Turk were sniping each other, and after a time
O'Hara had such a poor opinion of his opponent'