above weapons and a few others, please, all
firing, not so much to make themselves heard at the same time (they did
that), but to destroy, kill and maim, and you can guess it was hard for
a poor tired beggar to sleep. I was fagged out, and when we rested while
our gunner friends had their innings, laid down in the blazing noon-day
sun, and, with a stone for a pillow, half-dozed for an hour or so. I was
roused by a comrade to look in front of me, it was a wonderful sight.
About a mile-and-a-half of the Boer position was a blackened line
fringed with flame and smoke, but they were still determinedly trying to
stop our infantry from occupying a long kopje in front of them, and
answering our guns with theirs. That night was almost a sleepless one,
for though dead fagged, we all had to do pickets on the ground we had
won. The next morning Delarey had disappeared, but we know we shall meet
him again.

It is a fine sight to see British infantry advance. With rolled
blanket, and mess-tin a-top, filled haversack, the accursed
"hundred-and-fifty"[5] pulling at his stomach, pipe in mouth, and
rifle sloped (butt up as a rule), Mr. Thomas Atkins of the Line goes
leisurely forward. I do not know yet what the casualties were. Of
the Worcesters who passed us, one poor fellow was shot through the
head, and about ten wounded; we had none, save a nag shot by
Roberts' Horse in mistake.

[Footnote 5: The hundred-and-fifty rounds of ammunition which
always have to be carried by Thomas Atkins.]

BURNT TO DEATH.

HEKPOORT.
_Thursday, Sept. 13th, 1900._

We returned to this, our old camp, yesterday, and are resting here for a
day or more, one never knows for certain how long these rests will last
when out on the war path. Yesterday (the 12th) we had a fairly late
_reveille_, and then, acting as advance guard, returned hither by way of
a valley running parallel with this, and through which Ridley advanced
when we had our little scrap with Delarey at Boschfontein, on Monday
last. By-the-bye, I was yarning, while washing at a stream near here
this morning, with some Worcesters, who told me they had five killed and
fifteen wounded on that day. Two poor fellows were found burned out of
all recognition on the charred veldt the next day. They had been left
wounded and had been unable to crawl away from the blazing grass. The
valley we passed thro