rtillery in Heaven's
name to aim at the enemy's guns. At last, however, "Long Tom"
commenced operations, but the artillerymen in charge had omitted to
put the powder in a safe place and it was soon struck by a lyddite
shell which set the whole of it on fire. This compelled us to send to
the head laager near Ladysmith for a fresh supply of powder.

On looking about me to see how my burghers were getting on I found
that many around me had been killed and others were wounded. The
clothes of the latter were burnt and they cried out for help in great
agony.

Our pom-pom had long since been silenced by the enemy, and thirty of
my burghers had been put out of the fight. The enemy's infantry was
advancing nearer and nearer and there was not much time left to think.
I knelt down behind a kopje, along with some of the men, and we kept
firing away at 400 paces, but although we sent a good many to eternal
rest, the fire of the few burghers who were left was too weak to stem
the onslaught of those overwhelming numbers.

A lyddite shell suddenly burst over our very heads. Four burghers with
me were blown to pieces and my rifle was smashed. It seemed to me as
if a huge cauldron of boiling fat had burst over us and for some
minutes I must have lost consciousness. A mouthful of brandy and water
(which I always carried with me) was given me and restored me
somewhat, and when I opened my eyes I saw the enemy climbing the kopje
on three sides of us, some of them only a hundred paces away from me.

I ordered my men to fall back and took charge of the pom-pom, and we
then retired under a heavy rifle and gun fire. Some English writers
have made much ado about the way in which our pom-pom was saved, but
it was nothing out of the ordinary. Of the 95 burghers with me 29 had
been killed, 24 wounded.

When I had a few minutes rest I felt a piercing pain in my head, and
the blood began to pour from my nose and ears.

We had taken up another position at 1,700 paces, and fired our pom-pom
at the enemy, who now occupied our position of a few minutes before.
Our other guns were being fired as well, which gave the British an
exciting quarter of an hour. On the right and left of the positions
taken by them our burghers were still in possession of the "randten";
to the right Jaapie du Preez, with the loss of only four wounded, kept
his ground with the rest of my commando.

The next morning the fight was renewed, and our "Long Tom" now took
the le