. In the intervals of their fire we could
distinctly hear big guns far away near Colenso and the Tugela River.
They were chiefly English guns, for the explosion followed directly on
the report, proving they were fired towards us. The firing stopped about
10 a.m.

All morning our two howitzers, which have been brought down from Waggon
Hill, pounded away at their old enemy, the 6 in. gun now placed on
Telegraph Hill as I described. They are close down by the Klip River,
west of the old camp. Their object is to drive the gun away as they
drove him before, and certainly they gave him little rest. He had hardly
a chance of returning the fire; but when he had his shot was terribly
effective, coming right into the top of our earthworks. Equally
interesting was the behaviour of two Boers who crept down from
Thornhill's farm among the rocks and began firing into our right rear. I
detected them by the little puffs of white smoke, for both had
Martini's. But no one took the trouble to shoot them, though they
harassed our gunners. If there had been 50 instead of two they might
have driven out our handful of men and tumbled the guns into the river.
For we had no support nearer than the steep top of King's Post. Happily
Boers do not do such things.

A Kaffir brought in a newspaper only two days old. It said Gatacre had
suffered a reverse on the Free State frontier. There was nothing about
the German Emperor, and no football news.

In the late afternoon I rode up to the Manchesters' lines on Caesar's
Camp, our nearest point to Colenso. But they knew no more than the rest
of us, except that an officer had counted the full tale of guns fired in
the morning--137. The view on all sides was as varied and full of
growing association as usual, but had no special interest to-day, and I
hurried back to inquire again after Mr. George Steevens, who is down
with fever, to every one's regret.

_December 14, 1899._

After the high hopes of the last few days we seem to be falling back,
and to get no nearer to the end. Very little firing was heard from
Colenso. The Bulwan gun gave us his morning salute of ten big shells in
various parts of the town. They made some troublesome pits in the roads,
and one destroyed a house, but nobody was killed.

The howitzers and the Telegraph Hill Gun pounded away at each other
without much effect. Sickness is now our worst enemy. Next to sickness
comes want of forage for the horses. The sick still aver