slaught of his whole forces. For some
days it had been clear to me what the enemy intended to do, but I
wired in vain to the Commander-in-Chief to send me reinforcements, and
I was left to defend a front, one and a half miles in length, with
about 400 men. After many requests I at last moved General Joubert to
send me one of the guns known as "Long Toms," which was placed at the
rear of our position, and enabled us to command the Vaalkrantz, or, as
we called it, "Pontdrift" kopjes. But instead of the required
reinforcements, the Commander sent a telegram to General Meyer to
Colenso, telling him to come and speak to me, and to put some heart
into me, for it seemed, he said, "as if I had lost faith."

General Meyer came, and I explained to him how matters stood, and that
I should not be able to check the enormous attacking force with my
commando alone. The British were at this time only 7,000 paces away
from us. The required assistance, however, never came, although I told
the General that a faith strong enough to move Majuba Hill would be of
no avail without a sufficient number of men.

Early in the morning of the 5th February, 1900, my position was
heavily bombarded, and before the sun had risen four of my burghers
had been put _hors de combat_. The enemy had placed their naval guns
on the outskirts of the wood known as "Zwartkop" so as to be able to
command our position from an elevation of about 400 feet. I happened
to be on the right flank with ninety-five burghers and a pom-pom; my
assistant, Commandant Jaapie du Preez, commanding the left flank.

The assailants threw two pontoon bridges across the river and troops
kept pouring over from 10 o'clock in the morning. The whole of the
guns' fire was now concentrated on my position; and although we
answered with a well-directed fire, they charged time after time.

The number of my fighting men was rapidly diminishing. I may say this
was the heaviest bombardment I witnessed during the whole of the
campaign. It seemed to me as if all the guns of the British army were
being fired at us.

Their big lyddite guns sent over huge shells, which mowed down all the
trees on the kopje, while about fifty field pieces were incessantly
barking away from a shorter range. Conan Doyle, in his book, "The
Great Boer War," states that the British had concentrated no less than
seventy-three guns on that kopje. In vain I implored the nearest
Generals for reinforcements and requested our a