bravely held the hill till fully half
their number were killed. There was no hoisting of the white flag,
however, our men at that time generally preferring almost certain death
to surrender. This instance was no exception. Every man got out as best
he could, Commandant Viljoen himself racing out with the gun.

Our cannon now shelled the hill furiously. The British ambulance tried
to reach our wounded, but the fire was too hot. This bombardment kept on
for two days, when the enemy retired, whereupon we again took possession
of the hill. Two or three of our wounded were found to be still alive,
but with their wounds in a terrible state of putrefaction. Imagine their
sufferings during those two awful days of heat, thirst, and exposure, to
say nothing of the shells continually exploding around them. They were
brought into camp and ultimately recovered. For all I know, they may be
fighting still. This little affair is known to the British as the battle
of Vaalkrantz.

When they heard that their son had gone safely through the battle of
Spion Kop an old Free State farmer and his wife came down to pay him a
visit The son then accompanied his mother home, the old man taking his
place for a few days. One day some artillerists were engaged in their
favourite pastime of burning out unexploded lyddite shells, when one of
the shells burst, killing three men. As fate would have it, the old
father in question was one of the three.

Another peculiar accident happened on Spion Kop, whilst the rifles of
the killed and wounded soldiers were being collected. One of the rifles
lay under a corpse. Seizing the weapon by the muzzle, a young Boer
attempted to draw it toward him. The charge went off and lodged in his
stomach, inflicting a fatal wound. The soldier had been killed in the
act of taking aim, and his finger had stiffened round the trigger. The
young fellow thus killed by a dead man was the only son of his widowed
mother.

PIETERS' HEIGHTS

When the British retreated from Spion Kop it was to move down to Colenso
once more. Taking the Boschrand, after a feeble defence, they were
enabled to command our positions on the other side, and succeeded in
crossing the Tugela unhindered.

Why we surrendered the river so easily and then defended Pieters'
Heights so obstinately is explained by the fact that, owing to the
British advance on Kimberley, the idea had become general that we should
have to give up Ladysmith in any case,