ver,
several very severe fights, notably one on Canon Kopje, where two very
able officers and many men had been killed. In such a small garrison
this loss was a serious one, and the death-roll was growing apace, for,
besides the frequent attacks, the rifle fire in the streets was becoming
very unpleasant. Intelligence was also to hand of the Boers bringing up
one of the Pretoria siege guns, capable of firing a 94-pound shell. This
was to be dragged across the Transvaal at a snail's pace by a team of
twenty oxen, so secure were they against any interruption from the
South. Against these depressing items, he gave intelligence of an
incident that had greatly alarmed the Boers. It seemed that, to get rid
of two trucks of dynamite standing in the railway-station, which were
considered a danger, the same had been sent off to a siding some eight
miles north. The engine-driver unhitched them and made good his escape.
The Boers, thinking the trucks full of soldiers, immediately commenced
bombarding them, till they exploded with terrific force. This chance
affair gave the Boers the idea that Mafeking was full of dynamite, and
later, when I was in the laager, they told me one of the reasons why
they had never pressed an attack home was that they knew the whole town
was mined. Mr. Keeley also told us of a tragedy that had greatly
disturbed the little circle of defenders. The very evening that the
victims of the Canon Kopje fight were laid to rest, Lieutenant
Murchison,[29] of the Protectorate Regiment, had, in consequence of a
dispute, shot dead with his revolver at Dixon's Hotel the
war-correspondent of the London _Daily Chronicle_, a Mr. Parslow. I
afterwards learnt that the court-martial which sat on the former had
fourteen sessions in consequence of its only being able to deliberate
for half an hour at a time in the evening, when the firing was
practically over. The prisoner was ably defended by a Dutch lawyer named
De Koch, and, owing to his having done good service during the siege,
was strongly recommended to mercy, although sentenced to be shot. The
most satisfactory points we gleaned were the splendid behaviour of the
townspeople, and the fine stand made by the natives when the Boers
attacked their stadt, adjacent to the town. The number of Boer
field-guns Mr. Keeley stated to be nine, of the newest type, besides the
monster expected from Pretoria. He also said more expert gunners and
better ammunition had arrived. As to hi