y tragedians and comedians made a striking spectacle, and were quite
as entertaining as the performances of the highly rated Harrys, Irving
and Lauder. There was a moral in the orgies--though we did not draw it.
The natives were happy; short commons did not trouble them or mar their
enjoyment in the slightest. With us it was far otherwise; _we_ had
anticipated a different Yuletide; the natives had not. The natives made
the most of theirs; we the least of ours. Some of us had dreamt of
dining in Europe. Others of us had visions of beer drinking at the
coast. A great many would fain have taken the waters of Modder River.
But all were disappointed, dour, and sorrowful--all save our true
philosopher, the native.

The twenty-sixth of December is proverbially a sad day. It was so with
us, but not sadder than the day before. A few shells were sent out among
the Boers to ascertain how they got Christmas over them; and they by way
of reply made some good practice on the Premier Mine. A water-pipe was
mutilated, and a man standing near had the pipe knocked out of his mouth
by a piece of shell. A good deal of desultory firing went on for
several hours. The enemy's guns were obviously handled by men who knew
what they were about, and we soon afterwards definitely learned (what we
had long suspected) that there were French and German experts behind
them. The remainder of the day was dusty, stormy, and uninteresting.

Lord Methuen's guns made a noise on Wednesday. Their booming, with
intervals of silence, went on all day; from Kimberley shell after shell
could be seen bursting in all directions. Our confidence began to
revive; indeed it had never waned so far as the capabilities of the
Column were concerned; and we were satisfied that a second assault on
Magersfontein would be crowned with success. The excuses advanced on
behalf of those most responsible for the failure of the first attack
were legion. That they had not been given half enough men for the job
was a favourite plea; and Buller (who had his hands full in Natal) was
reviled for not supplying more. The indications of a renewal of active
hostilities, however, which Wednesday brought, enkindled hope again and
promised a happy New Year. It was still a sore point with us to see the
exchange of signals going on night after night; to think that we--the
people!--should be kept in ignorance of their meaning. But it was in
harmony with the Military methods in general; and some peop