hile guns were being adjusted in more convenient
positions. Nor was this all. A wounded Boer accepted water with one hand
from a British soldier, while he shot him with the other, and numberless
accounts of dastardly deeds of a similar nature were reported and
authenticated.

On November 2 the Boers began to occupy the points of vantage around
Ladysmith, and telegraphic communication with the south was cut. They
energetically commenced the building of emplacements for their guns of
position, which were fast being forwarded from the Transvaal.
Reinforcements from the Free State were also pouring in, and a Boer
commando was creeping towards Colenso. In spite of threatened serious
inconveniences, hopes were high and spirits cheery, especially among the
newspaper correspondents, who, regardless of danger, drove four-in-hand
round the camp and fortifications, and helped to maintain a
devil-may-care attitude that was certainly reassuring. Ammunition was
plentiful, but water--Klip water--was somewhat inclined to cause colic,
and, in consequence, to be generally suspected. It was no uncommon sight
to see at the Royal Hotel ladies heating their kettles prior to drinking
their doubtful contents. Flies were so numerous as to make another
persistent inconvenience. They destroyed such repose as the inhabitants
might otherwise have enjoyed. Added to these petty discomforts were
night-alarms of various kinds, and curious and disconcerting
discoveries. For example, one young man--an immaculate young man--well
turned out and apparently plentifully endowed with ready money, was
discovered to be a Boer spy, and was promptly arrested. An account of
the last days of a British sojourner in Ladysmith serves to give an
example of the trials and anxieties through which hundreds had to
pass:--

"Since my last note to you we have had some lively times of it at
Ladysmith. I always had a liking to see a real battle, but never thought
that it would be my luck. However, I have now seen four battles, and I
think that I am satisfied. I can assure you that it is anything but
pleasant to go on the field after battle. The sights of the wounded and
dead are horrible, and yet the soldiers are always laughing and joking
when they are going out to fight, and the poor fellows are getting very
little rest. They never have a chance to get their boots off. They have
to be always ready to move at a moment's notice, and they do it with
light heart. Your heart wou