the Boer commando 8000
strong, two large guns, Krupp guns, &c. The Scots Guards on the extreme
right marched through the old reservoir, and directly they emerged from
cover a shower of bullets greeted them. Soon after their Maxim gun was
disabled by the Hotchkiss gun of the enemy, and presently their whole
detachment was completely wiped out. First the sergeant in charge was
killed, then an officer was wounded, then Colonel Stopford of the
Coldstream Guards was hit in the neck and killed, and the horse ridden
by Colonel Paget was shot in five places and dropped dead. Meanwhile the
75th Battery in return launched some magnificent shots in the direction
of the Dutchmen. The third of these struck a farmhouse in which the
Boers and a gun were posted, and set the whole place in a blaze. Not
till the roof was burnt about their ears, however, did the Boers budge.
They clung with ferocious tenacity to every position, and the fight at
all times of the day was one of great stubbornness. The 1st Battalion of
the Coldstream Guards had extended, and, swinging their right round, had
prolonged the line of the Scots Guards to the right. Farther advance was
checked by the Riet River. The troops then lay down, being fairly under
cover in that position. The heat was scorching, and in the plain
occupied by our troops Mauser bullets swept the field in thousands.
There was absolutely no cover save the shelving bank of the river, which
served no purpose directly they rose on elbow from the ground. For hours
our men lay on their faces unable to show a head without inviting a
shower of lead--lay on the blistering sand with the hot African sun
grilling them, some of the Highlanders having their legs veritably
toasted, their mouths parched and full of sand, while bullets were
fluting a death-song in the air, and the thunderous detonations of the
big guns seemed to be raking the very bowels of the earth. Still the
Boers stuck to their posts. For hours they plied their guns without sign
of exhaustion. A terrific fire was kept up on both sides for a long--a
seemingly interminable--time, but without any appreciable advance in the
state of affairs. It was felt that nothing could be done on the right
flank till the guns had cleared the position. The 18th Battery, however,
came vigorously into play, and so brilliantly acquitted itself that
finally the enemy was forced to evacuate their ferociously-contested
positions among the houses. But so ably had they