gh the shell fire
and rifle fire never ceased for an instant--the magnificent infantry
maintained the defence, and night closed in with the British still in
possession of the hill.

I find it convenient, and perhaps the reader will allow me, to break
into a more personal account of what followed. It drove us all mad to
watch idly in camp the horrible shelling that was directed on the
captured position, and at about four o'clock I rode with Captain R.
Brooke, 7th Hussars, to Spion Kop, to find out what the true situation
was. We passed through the ambulance village, and leaving our horses
climbed up the spur. Streams of wounded met us and obstructed the path.
Men were staggering along alone, or supported by comrades, or crawling
on hands and knees, or carried on stretchers. Corpses lay here and
there. Many of the wounds were of a horrible nature. The splinters and
fragments of the shell had torn and mutilated in the most ghastly
manner. I passed about two hundred while I was climbing up. There was,
moreover, a small but steady leakage of unwounded men of all corps. Some
of these cursed and swore. Others were utterly exhausted and fell on the
hillside in stupor. Others again seemed drunk, though they had had no
liquor. Scores were sleeping heavily. Fighting was still proceeding, and
stray bullets struck all over the ground, while the Maxim shell guns
scourged the flanks of the hill and the sheltering infantry at regular
intervals of a minute. The 3rd King's Royal Rifles were out of reach.
The Dorset Regiment was the only battalion not thrown into the fight,
and intact as an effective unit.

I had seen some service and Captain Brooke has been through more
fighting than any other officer of late years. We were so profoundly
impressed by the spectacle and situation that we resolved to go and tell
Sir Charles Warren what we had seen. The fight had been so close that no
proper reports had been sent to the General, so he listened with great
patience and attention. One thing was quite clear--unless good and
efficient cover could be made during the night, and unless guns could be
dragged to the summit of the hill to match the Boer artillery, the
infantry could not, perhaps would not, endure another day. The human
machine will not stand certain strains for long.

The questions were, could guns be brought up the hill; and, if so, could
the troops maintain themselves? The artillery officers had examined the
track. They said 'No,'