hers much too long, caused (I am talking of the
12-pounders) these guns, instead of forming a level shooting battery,
to be each one a study in itself as regarded its shooting powers; and
we constantly found one gun shooting, say, three or four hundred yards
harder or further than the one next to it although laid to the same
range on the sights. This at first sight was rather mystifying, but
all these small but important matters above mentioned were not long in
being put to rights. On any future occasion such defects will, of
course, be avoided from the start by the guns being altogether more
strongly mounted on broad-tyred wheels and broad axles of similar
height, size and pattern, and, above all, with a strong and uniform
system for checking the recoil of the carriage, of which the
drag-shoe, as it was fitted and sent up to us, was certainly not
capable.

[Illustration: _Photo by Symonds, Portsmouth._

Captain Percy Scott, C.B., R.N.]

I am rather keen on this question of the best means of checking the
recoil of a field carriage. A very strongly made drag-shoe fitted with
chains to the centre of gun trail will do very well; and these were,
later on in the campaign, fitted by the Ordnance authorities at
Maritzburg to new "Percy Scott" carriages, which they sent up to us to
replace the original "Percy Scott" carriages, which, as I remarked
before, were not strongly enough built, particularly as regards the
wheels, to stand any very bad country or a lengthened campaign, in
both of which we found ourselves involved. In these remarks, please
let no one think that I am running down the 12-pounder carriage for a
purpose; not so. I simply wish to point out details that, if more time
had been available, would certainly have been avoided in them by their
very clever designer, Captain Percy Scott, R.N., to whom the
service in general (and I personally) owe a debt of gratitude; for
assuredly not a Q.-F. gun, or a single one of us with the batteries,
would ever have been landed unless it had been for him and his brains
and his determination to have the Royal Navy represented in the
campaign, as was their due--being on the spot with what was most
wanted, namely, heavy guns.

Here I wish to distinctly state my own opinion, and that also of the
many officials and gunners, Naval and Military, with whom I have
talked over the matter, _i.e._, that not only did the Naval guns save
Ladysmith, but they also in a great measure helped t