s steaming on its return to Mafeking after having done great
execution among the enemy.

Travelling in an armoured train, even when you are not wounded, is
scarcely an enjoyable experience; indeed, it may be described as one of
the most superb tests of warrior qualities. The machine itself resembles
a species of tank-truck, boxed round with seven-feet high walls of iron
or steel, without doors or windows, and with no covering for the
occupants save the dome of heaven. You climb in and you climb out as you
would into a bath, by hanging on to the loopholes made for the rifles,
and planting your feet on the exterior ridges that act as steps for the
nimble toe. Once in, there is comparative safety. From all sides there
is shelter from rifle-fire save when going down-hill below the enemy,
who can then with ease pour cascades of bullets upon the heads of the
travellers. The machine is painted kharki colour to make it less
observable to the enemy, and has the distinction of being quite the
ugliest of the many ugly inventions of modern science. Occasionally the
exterior is of varied hue--particularly in green country, when it is
made to look verdant and covered with boughs to give it an arboreal
aspect, and render its shape less observable. But the ugliness and
inconvenience of the train are nothing to the dangers it may have to
encounter. The occupant may find himself surrounded by a party of the
enemy before he has been a mile out from his base; he may find the rail
cut behind him; he may steam straight into an ambush at any moment, or
be blown up before he can wink. It has rightly been called a "death
trap," for it provides chances of dissolution many and varied.

But notwithstanding these risks, the machine was at this time
continually in use, and the pluck of the defenders of Mafeking rose
superior to all tests. The engagement of the 14th, with all its
thrilling and painful experience, bore good fruit; for all felt that the
encounter had been beneficial in many ways, more especially in
strengthening the sense of security that everywhere began to prevail. To
show how much courage and determination was the order of the course, it
must be noted, in somewhat Irish phrase, that the manning of the town
was assisted by women, some of whom refused to go into laager, but
elected to handle their Lee-Metfords for the protection of themselves
and their companions.

In the engagement of this day, Lord Charles Cavendish-Bentinck and