e Cape, and supplemented
on the 28th by six additional guns of the same type, intended to
replace any naval guns which might be showing signs of deterioration.
On the 3rd of February another batch of eight 5-in. B.L. guns,
accompanied by two companies R.G.A., left Southampton in order to
relieve some of the naval contingents; on the previous day a battery
of four 9.45-in. B.L. howitzers had been embarked with the necessary
personnel. The only further additions made during the war to the heavy
armament were four 6-in. howitzers sent out at Lord Roberts' request
on 27th April, 1900, and two 5-in. B.L. guns despatched at the end of
the same year to replace two which had become unserviceable. With the
exception of the howitzers the whole of these guns were taken from
forts. Carriages for them were improvised by the Ordnance department.
The use by the Boers of the 37 m/m Vickers-Maxim Q.F. guns,[305]
nick-named "pom-poms" by the men, was met by the despatch of
forty-nine of these weapons from England. Another important change was
the introduction of a longer time-fuse for use with field guns. The
regulation time-fuse at the outbreak of the war burnt in flight for
twelve seconds only, suited to a range of 4,100 yards for the 15-pr.
B.L. guns and 3,700 yards for the 12-pr. B.L. Experiments had been
already made by the Ordnance Committee to obtain a satisfactory
time-fuse effective for longer ranges, and on receipt of reports of
the extreme distance at which the Boers were using their field
artillery, these were rapidly pushed on, with the result that by the
middle of January fuses capable of burning twenty-one seconds,
corresponding to a range of 6,400 yards, were sent to South Africa.

[Footnote 304: As will be seen in the account of the siege of
Ladysmith (Vol. II.), these howitzers arrived in time and
proved most useful.]

[Footnote 305: It was known before the war that the Boers had
purchased a considerable number of "pom-poms." The artillery
authorities of the army did not at that time attach much
importance to them, but, as their fire was found to produce
great moral effect, guns of this type were sent out at Sir R.
Buller's request.]

[Sidenote: Railway system.]

At no time was a heavier call made on the personnel and material of
the Cape Government railways than during the concentration for Lord
Roberts' advance into the Free State. A