to remove
themselves to a second position still better intrenched, from whence
they could fire on the British as they gained the top. At this time the
British guns were forced to be almost inactive, as the storming line was
now so near the crest that the shrapnel could only be directed on the
enemy by enfilading the position from the ridge of the kopje on the
left, and it was during the lull that Lieutenant Taylor, Yorkshire Light
Infantry, and Lieutenant Jones, of the Marines, scaled the sangar.

The next instant there was a roar and a rush, and all were leaping
forward to clear the second position. This was only accomplished after
some desperately hard work and a quarter of an hour's hand-to-hand
fighting--an eternity it seemed to those engaged--for the kopje was
stubbornly held. But even Boer pluck, of which in this case there was no
lack, could not resist the impetuous advance of the British infantry,
and at last, when the hill-top was one crimson crown of blood and half
the gallant number were struck down, the Boers bolted one after another
down the back of the hill, pursued by our artillery fire, and made for
their horses. Finally, as they were retreating in hot haste across the
plain, the 9th Lancers charged them, and succeeded in catching up their
rear close to a kopje where they were sheltering. But here the place
literally swarmed with Dutchmen, and the Lancers, whose numbers were
small, and whose horses were exhausted, were forced to retire.

Still the object of the fight was magnificently accomplished. The rout
of the enemy was complete. The gallant Naval Brigade, Yorkshire Light
Infantry, and Loyal North Lancashires remained masters of the situation.
A party of Boers who had rushed from their sheltering kopje were
intercepted by the detachment of the New South Wales Lancers, who,
charging, forced them back to their hiding-place.

The amazing gallantry of the Marines, who bore the brunt of the
desperate fight, was the subject of general eulogy. Many of these
splendid fellows had three wounds, while some had four. Sixty per cent.
of the officers and sergeants were hit. Nothing could have been more
heroic than the conduct of poor Huddart, who so gloriously fell in doing
his duty.

Captain Le Marchant, Royal Marine Light Infantry, who was left in
command of the Naval Brigade with Lord Methuen's force after the action
at Graspan, reported as follows: "It is with deep regret that I have to
report the death of