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diff --git a/13777-0.txt b/13777-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2d58a57 --- /dev/null +++ b/13777-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6319 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13777 *** + +THE SIEGE OF KIMBERLEY + +Its Humorous and Social Side + +ANGLO-BOER WAR (1899-1902) + +_EIGHTEEN WEEKS IN EIGHTEEN CHAPTERS_ + +BY +T. PHELAN + +DUBLIN M.H. GILL & SON, LTD. + +1913 + +_All Rights Reserved_ + + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTER I +Week ending 21st October, 1899 + +CHAPTER II +Week ending 28th October, 1899 + +CHAPTER III +Week ending 4th November, 1899 + +CHAPTER IV +Week ending 11th November, 1899 + +CHAPTER V +Week ending 18th November, 1899 + +CHAPTER VI +Week ending 25th November, 1899 + +CHAPTER VII +Week ending 2nd December, 1899 + +CHAPTER VIII +Week ending 9th December, 1899 + +CHAPTER IX +Week ending 16th December, 1899 + +CHAPTER X +Week ending 23rd December, 1899 + +CHAPTER XI +Week ending 30th December, 1899 + +CHAPTER XII +Week ending 6th January, 1900 + +CHAPTER XIII +Week ending 13th January, 1900 + +CHAPTER XIV +Week ending 20th January, 1900 + +CHAPTER XV +Week ending 27th January, 1900 + +CHAPTER XVI +Week ending 3rd February, 1900 + +CHAPTER XVII +Week ending 10th February, 1900 + +CHAPTER XVIII +Week ending 17th February, 1900 + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +The famous Ultimatum had gone forth to the world. War had come at last. +We, in Kimberley, were in for it--though happily unconscious of our +destiny until it was revealed by the gradations of time. Nothing awful +was anticipated. The future was veiled. The knowledge of what was to +come was brought home to us by a gradual process that kept us +permanently sane. Dull Kimberley was to be enlivened in a manner that +made us wish it were dull again. We felt it from the first--the sense of +imprisonment--the deprivation of liberty. But that was all, we +thought--all that we should be called to endure. Nobody could leave +Kimberley for a little while; it was awkward, certainly; but nothing +more. How long would the Siege last? "About a week" was a favoured +illusion; until reflective minds put our period of probation at a +fortnight. But the higher critics shook their heads, and added--another +seven days. Three weeks was made the maximum by general, dogmatic +consent. Nobody ventured beyond it; in fact, nobody dared to. Suspicion +would be apt to fall upon the man who suggested a month. Feeling ran +high, and as we all felt the limits of our confinement narrow enough +already, we entertained no wish to have them made narrower still, by +knocking our heads against the stone walls of the gaol. Not then. There +came a time, alas! when we reflected with a sigh upon the probability of +our rations being more regular and assured if we broke a window, or the +law in some way, and gave ourselves up. For the nonce, however, three +weeks would pass, and with them all our woes. The idea of eighteen weeks +occurred to nobody; it would have been too farcical, too puerile. That +starvation must have killed us long ere the period had fled, would have +been our axiom, if it were pertinent to the issue, when the 'pros' and +'cons' of the situation were being eagerly discussed on the opening days +of a Siege that was to send the fame of the Diamond City farther than +ever did its diamonds. A few weeks would terminate the trouble; and if, +in the interim, we ran short of trifles, like salt or pepper, well--we +would bear it for sake of the Flag. Kimberley is a British stronghold, +with a loyal population imbued with a fine sense of the invincibility of +the British army. Many people were surprised to find that they could +descant sincerely and patriotically upon the might and glories of the +Empire. Even the Irish Nationalist seemed to feel that it took a nation +upon whose territory the sun itself could not set to subjugate his +native land; and he was moved to remind his Anglo-Saxon mates that the +absent-minded beggars of the Emerald Isle had contributed to the +promotion of daytime all night. + +The Diamond City was in certain respects well adapted to withstand a +siege. The old residents delighted to call it a city. Newcomers, who had +Continental ideas on the subject, inclined to think the term a misnomer, +and a reflection upon Europe and America. But although its buildings +were not high, nor its houses very majestic, Kimberley was a rich place, +and a large place, with a good white population and a better coloured +one. It had its theatre, and it had its Mayor. Arrogant greenhorns were +soon made to cease winking when we talked of the "city"; for Kimberley +_was_ a city (after a fashion), and the most important centre in the +Cape Colony. The young Uitlander (just out) who described it as "a funny +place, dear mother; all the houses are made of tin, and all the dogs are +called '_voet sak_,'" was more cynical than truthful. + +The numerous debris heaps surrounding the city made excellent +fortifications, and it was not surprising that the Boers put, and kept, +on view the _better_ part of their valour only, when from their own +well-chosen positions they looked across at our clay Kopjes. To have +attacked or taken Kimberley, they would have been obliged to traverse a +flat, open country; and they have an intelligent antipathy to rash +tactics of that sort, when fighting a foe numerically stronger than +themselves. They were reputed to believe that Providence was on their +side; it was even stated that their ardour to "rush" Kimberley knew no +bounds, until it was cooled by the restraining influence of General +Cronje. That astute leader, though fully cognisant of the virtues of his +people, had a respect for "big battalions," and thought that the virtue +designated patience would best meet the necessities of the situation. +Accordingly, he and his army, well primed with coffee, lay entrenched +around Kimberley, in the fond hope of starving us into submission. +Artillery of heavy calibre was utilised to enliven the process--with +what result the world knows. + +And how were we prepared to meet the attentions of this well-equipped +and watchful enemy? We had a few seven-pound guns capable of hurling +walnuts that cracked thousands of yards short of the Boer positions; and +a Maxim or two, respected by the enemy, but easily steered clear of. Of +what avail were these against the potent engines of destruction on the +other side? And as for men; with great difficulty, and by dint of much +pressure, the authorities had been persuaded to send us five hundred (of +the North Lancashire Regiment, and Royal Engineers) under command of +Colonel Kekewich (who constituted himself Czar, in the name of the +Queen)--a small total with which to defend a city--"a large, straggling +city, thirteen miles in circumference," as Lord Roberts subsequently +observed, that he could hardly have thought it possible to defend so +long and so successfully with the forces at our command, that is to +say, with five thousand men; for such was the strength of the garrison +when the shop boys, the clerks, the merchants, and the artisans had +stepped into the gap with their rifles. + +In anticipation of trouble, a Town Guard had already been formed when +the Federal forces invaded the Cape. The noisy and discordant hooters of +the mines were to signal the approach of the foe, and to intimate to the +members of the Guard that they were to proceed to the redoubts of their +respective Sections to prepare a greeting. Over at the Sanatorium, +facing the suburb of Beaconsfield, the movements of the enemy were being +closely watched. A conning tower soared high above the De Beers mine, +from which coign of vantage a keen eye swept the horizon for signs of +their advance. At the Reservoir, a look-out was on the _qui vive_. The +Infantry were encamped in a central position, ready for instant despatch +to wherever their services might be needed most. The Kimberley Regiment +of Volunteers had turned out--to a man--for Active Service. War was +certain; its dogs, indeed, were already loosed. The Boers, by way of +preliminary, had been cutting telegraph wires, tearing up rails, blowing +up culverts, and had taken possession of an armoured train at Kraaipan. +Our defences were being strengthened on all sides. The enemy appeared to +be massing in the vicinity of Scholtz's Nek. Such was the condition of +things on the fourteenth of October (1899). Next day (Sunday) the siege +of Kimberley had begun. + + + + +THE SIEGE OF KIMBERLEY + +ITS HUMOROUS AND SOCIAL SIDE + + + + +CHAPTER I + +_Week ending 21st October, 1899_ + + +The news relative to the tearing up of the railway line, and the cutting +of the telegraph wires at Spytfontein, spread fast and freely on Sunday +morning. Rather by good luck than good management there happened to be +an armoured train lying at the railway station, and into it, with a +promptitude that augured well for his popularity, the Colonel ordered a +number of his men. The train had not proceeded far when it was +discovered that the rails had been displaced at points nearer home than +Spytfontein. They were soon relaid, however, by the Royal Engineers, and +the train in due course reached its destination. A number of residents +in the neighbourhood were taken on board for conveyance to the +beleagured city. These included the local stationmaster, whose services +were not likely to be in demand for some weeks,--three as we conceived +it. It shortly became evident that there were Boers in the vicinity who +had been watching the progress of operations, and had deemed it prudent +to sing dumb until the train made a move for Tiome. They then opened +fire and hurled several shells at it; but though a carriage was struck +by the fragments, no serious damage resulted. In appreciation of the +compliment, the invisible soldiers sent back a disconcerting volley, +which led, as excess of gratitude often does, to some confusion. It +proved, indeed, to be a kindness that killed one burgher and wounded +half-a-dozen. The armoured train steamed back to Kimberley in triumph. + +Meanwhile the excitement in town was great. The situation, in all its +bearings, was being eagerly discussed by gesticulating groups of men and +women. Intelligence arrived that the enemy had cut off our water supply; +and the public were commanded to use what remained in the reservoir with +circumspection, and for domestic purposes only. The public became duly +alarmed, and just retained sufficient presence of mind to take a drought +by the forelock, by filling their buckets, crocks, and cooking utensils +with water. It was one of many little contingencies that had not been +bargained for; the idea of water evaporating while there was yet tea to +brew with it was both ridiculous and appalling. But there was not much +danger of such a calamity; the reservoir was yet half full, and when it +was empty, ways and means could be devised--with the permission of De +Beers--to fill the tea-pots. The ladies were reassured. + +Huge posters, proclaiming Martial Law, adorned the dead walls, and were +being eagerly scanned by the populace. The publicans of the town had +been noting events with the composure of men who had already made their +"piles"; but they were, nevertheless, smitten with sudden fury when they +read that all bars and canteens were to be shuttered each evening at +nine o'clock. They showered anathema upon the Colonel, and gave +expression to opinions of his administrative capacity which were at +variance with the views of people outside the "trade." Pedestrians were +warned against walking out _before_ six in the morning, or _after_ nine +in the evening--under pain of a heavy penalty. All persons not enrolled +in the defence forces, the proclamation went on to say, were to deliver +up whatever arms and ammunition they possessed. This was an article of +much significance and importance. We had in our midst a number of +people, enjoying the rights and privileges of British subjects, whose +"loyalty," in the minds of the authorities, was an uncertain quantity. +Their sympathy with the Boers was natural enough; but it was at the same +time too deep--in the eyes of Martial Lawyers--to be compatible with the +duty due to the Queen. A house to house visit was inaugurated by the +police--the sequel to which was the lodgment of some twenty persons +within the solid masonry of the gaol. The most prominent of the +prisoners was one employed as a guard in the mines. De Beers had always +been credited with a desire to observe strict impartiality in their +choice of servants, and the prisoner had hit upon a curious way of +demonstrating his appreciation of such a policy. Ever since they had +learned to handle an assegai the pugnacious natives shut up in the +compounds had been spoiling for a fight; and, having heard of the +Ultimatum, they were just then particularly restless, and keen on +expediting a Waterloo. The obliging guard had thrown open the gates to +gratify the "niggers"--on condition that British heads _only_ were to be +hit! The natives itched to hit somebody, and could not afford to let +slip so good a chance by dilly-dallying over details. They agreed to the +terms; but were fortunately herded together again before they could +strike a blow. It may have been only a slip of the tongue on the guard's +part; but the canons of martial law held such "slips" to be +unpardonable. The one in question lost a man his liberty for two years, +and his billet for ever. + +The public were enjoined to hold no communication with the enemy, and to +give them no direct nor indirect assistance. Finally, the proclamation +informed us, a Court of Summary Jurisdiction had been established, armed +with power and authority to hang traitors until they were dead; to +confiscate their property; to lash them (when they escaped death); and +even to deal severely with Imperial persons who failed to comply with +the various regulations set forth in the plain English of one who had +the advantage of being only a _Martial_ lawyer. + +It was not until eleven o'clock--during the hours of Divine +Service--that the hundred thousand ears adorning the anatomy of the +human population were first shocked by the horrisonous banshee wail of +the hooters. The music was awe-inspiring, and ineffably weird. It seemed +to portend the cries of the dying; and it was small wonder that the +people subsequently endeavoured--as they did successfully--to have a +more tuneful instrument employed. The immediate effect of the alarm was +to send members of the Town Guard running from their respective homes +and churches to the Town Hall, and thence, in orderly squads of four, +with grim and stern faces, to the redoubts. Non-combatants, in +compliance with the proclamation, went reluctantly to their houses. +Tram-loads of scared women and nonchalant babies were hurried in from +Beaconsfield. The streets were soon deserted. There was no panic; but +many a poor woman felt that the life of a husband, a father, a lover, or +a brother was in jeopardy, and many a fervent prayer went up to heaven. + +The battle, however, did not begin. Large commandoes of Boers had been +seen hovering about, and by boastful display had given us the impression +that they purposed attacking the city. It was merely display; the wily +Boer did not yet mean business. He eventually betook himself to coffee +as a more profitable way of spending the afternoon. Late in the evening +the Town Guard entertained some similar ideas with respect to tea, and +were permitted to go home and drink it there. + +Next morning, the armoured train was out early; but the Boers discreetly +connived at its effrontery--having, doubtless, still in their minds +unpleasant recollections of its volley-firing. At Modder river, twenty +miles away, the enemy, it was said, were making prisoners of inoffensive +persons, and blowing up the bridge. Bridges seem to have been their pet +aversions everywhere. At Slipklip one was blown sky-high; and artistic +skill was displayed in the picturesque wreck that was made of Windsorton +Road Station. + +The town, preparing for anything that might happen, presented a scene of +bustle and confusion. What with strengthening and extending the defence +works, levelling native locations (which might possibly prove +advantageous to the Boers as a cover), and finding new homes for the +evicted, Kimberley looked a stirring place--though train and telegraph +services were suspended. + +The ranks of the Town Guard were being augmented daily; fresh men were +coming up in batches to be "sworn in." There was no medical examination, +nor any such bother. Anybody in trousers was eligible for a hat, a +bandolier, and a rifle; and lads in their teens affected one-and-twenty +with the _sang froid_ of one-and-forty. Camp life, and, mayhap, a little +fighting, would be a novelty--for three weeks. Certain employers were at +first disposed to keep their employees exclusively to the work they +engaged them to perform; but the most obtuse among the captains of +industry were soon made to realise that such an attitude, if persisted +in, would scarcely pay. This truth was brought home to them so forcibly +that they forthwith developed the fighting spirit, and became the most +blood-thirsty entities in, the service of the Queen. All were needed, +and When afterwards a merchant found himself "officered" by his +_factotum_, he enjoyed (after a fleeting spasm); the humour of the +revolution as much as anybody. + +The manner in which the drills were muddled through at the beginning was +primitive and amusing. The agony depicted on the faces of the "raw"; the +_hauteur_ of the seasoned campaigner; the blunders of the clerks; the +leggings of the lieutenants: made spectators risk martial law and laugh +in the face of it. Ever and anon, the butt of a rifle would come in +contact with some head other than that of him who carried the gun, and +the victim--not the assailant--would be sharply reprimanded for omitting +to "stand at ease." The marching and the turning movements were comical, +too; but practice did much to make perfect the amateur soldiers in +mufti. They, naturally, desired a little target practice. With many of +them experience in the use of arms had been limited to a snowball, a +pop-gun, or a bird-sling; and they were not only dubious of their +marksmanship, but fearful that their rifles in the rough and tumble of +war's realities would "kick" to pieces their 'prentice shoulders. The +authorities, however, could not allow ammunition to be wasted; it might +all be needed for actual warfare. This only tended to make the men +anxious to try conclusions with the Boers--or, better still, the foreign +officers who, it was supposed, directed operations "from behind, when +there was any fighting," like the Duke of Plaza Tora in the play. + +The De Beers Corporation continued with untiring energy to do what in +them lay for the further protection of the town, and on Monday offered +to provide the military with a thousand horses. The offer was gladly +accepted. It was decided to form a mounted corps of men who could ride +well and shoot straight. We had a good few denizens of the Rand in our +midst, and there was no difficulty in finding men proficient in both +accomplishments to place on the backs of the horses. There came into +being, accordingly, the famous Kimberley Light Horse--a corps destined +to play an heroic, a tragic part in defence of the Diamond City. To the +refugee the pay was convenient, the work bracing and congenial, and the +prospect of "potting a Boer" not at all bad. With the Light Horse were +soon to be associated some hundreds of the Cape Police (who came in from +Fourteen Streams); and the combined forces inflicted considerable +damage, and were a perennial source of irritation to the enemy all +through. De Beers came out strong in another direction by heading the +list of subscriptions to a Refugee fund which had been opened. The +amount subscribed ran up to four figures. Much distress prevailed, and +the Refugee committee set about distributing the fund to the best +advantage. The ladies came out strong here, and gave yeomen +service--scooping out flour, meal, tea, and sugar to the needy, and in +sifting and rejecting, with rare acumen, the bogus claims of the "Heaps" +who affected humble poverty. + +The Summary Commission sat for the first time, and with a courageous +disregard for the despotism of red tape, proceeded to business. The +first case called was that of one, Pretorious, whose open and vehement +condemnation of the war, and the policy that led to it, had rendered him +an object of suspicion. A search of his house had resulted in the +discovery of a revolver and two rifles, with ammunition to suit all +three. The Proclamation had been very clear as to the seriousness; of +this offence, and the penalty it entailed. The Court pronounced the +accused guilty, and sentenced him to six months' imprisonment. The cases +of minor offenders were postponed, and some of the prisoners awaiting +trial were released on bail. The fate of Pretorious was paraded by +mischief-makers as something which had produced a salutary effect in the +Dutch element at large. It induced them to cultivate a remarkable +reticence; but reticence is not essentially a product of good +government. + +On Wednesday, the Boers--in so far as their demeanour could be gauged +from a distance--betrayed a tendency to wax indignant with us and our +determination to fight. Large numbers of them perambulated to and fro, +keeping nicely out of rifle range. A section of the Town Guard went out +to the Intermediate Pumping Station, and sought to entice them into +battle; but they were not to be drawn. The Beaconsfield Town Guard was +afterwards deputed to try its powers of persuasion--to no purpose. The +armoured train was finally resorted to as a decoy; but beyond eyeing it +from a distance--and if looks could smash, it would have been reduced to +small pieces--the Boers made no attempt to catch it. So far from being +lured or wheedled by us, they rather conveyed by their wariness that +green had no place in their eyes. + +A copy of a Boer proclamation, which had been wafted into Kimberley by a +cynical breeze, gave rise to much astonishment and criticism. In +substance, it presented the Transvaalers with all territory north of the +Vaal river; the Free Staters with the Cape Colony; and the British +with--the sea! The Colonel read and appreciated the excellence of the +joke, but thought it politic to give people who lacked a sense of humour +a little illumination. He, accordingly, issued a counter-proclamation +which made the "point" of the other clear: it was not to be taken +seriously. The British element, which largely predominated, found scope +for their humour in the Boer proclamation; that the enemy should limit +his pretensions to portions of a single continent was surprising. +_Punch_ subsequently published a cartoon which represented President +Steyn artistically painting all territory south of the Equator a +pleasing Orange hue. Oom Paul, looking on in dismay, enquires: "Where +do I come in?" "Oh," Steyn replies airily, "there is the rest of the +British Empire." + +But to return to the proclamations. Colonel Kekewich had yet another to +draft; the conduct of the natives compelled it. Many of the aborigines +were addicted to drinking more than was good for them of a species of +brandy--a fiery concoction, with a "body" in it, called Cape Smoke. They +staggered through the streets, rolled their eyes, flourished big sticks, +and sang songs of Kafirland in a key that did not make for harmony. So +the Colonel reasoned that he might as well write out another +proclamation while he was about it, and had pen and ink convenient. He +restricted the sale of "smoke," and decreed that all Kafir bars and +canteens were to remain open between the hours of ten and four o'clock +only. He also provided for the imposition of heavy penalties upon all +and sundry who dared to disobey. + +The bar-keepers, it need hardly be said, were angry; it was going rather +too far, they thought. Was it the province of a military man to +advocate, still less to enforce, temperance? Had not the "black" an +"equal right" to quench his thirst? The canteen-men thought so; some of +them, indeed, were sure of it, and went so far as to defy "despot sway," +by ignoring it. They continued ministering to the needs of the +horny-handed sons of toil. But the police--miserable +time-servers--_would_ do their duty; they were forced to uphold the +Colonel's law, and to requisition the services of the celebrated local +"trappers." The rebel Bonifaces were thus duly indicted, arraigned +before the Summary Court, and heavily fined or deprived of their +licenses. + +The death of a sergeant of the Diamond Fields' Artillery threw a gloom +over the city. He was mourned for as one who, indirectly, had sacrificed +his life in defence of Kimberley. It was our first casualty; and made us +wonder how many more there were to be--or rather, if there were to be +any more. + +Friday came, and with it came two English prisoners who had made good +their escape from the Boers. Their story was interesting. They carried +Martini-Henry rifles, but (as they explained) given a choice in the +selection, would have chosen Mausers. Their friends, the enemy, had +presented them with the weapons--conditionally; all they had asked in +return was that the recipients should join the Republican ranks. The +Englishmen scratched their heads, hesitated about striking a bargain, +and were promptly commandeered. They determined, however, to get the +best of the bargain at last; they escaped; and here they were in our +midst, easing their consciences with expressions of their intention to +restore the rifles to their rightful owners when the war was over, and +as much of the ammunition as possible, on the instalment plan, while it +lasted. + +They had heard pitiful tales of the straits to which we had been +reduced. Imaginative natives had assured them that there was "no more +Kimberley"; the "fall" of Mafeking, forsooth, had staggered us so much +that we did not want to fight. We were in our last gasps for a drop of +water. Terrible guns were being wheeled to the diamond fields, to +scatter it to the four winds of heaven. The diamonds were first to be +blown out of the mines, and with them the local "imaginative" +shareholders; while the _Verkleur_ was to be unfurled Over the City +Hall. All the perishable property was to be confiscated, and consumed as +a sort of foretaste of what was due to the proud invaders' valour. Such +was the romance dinned into the ears of our visitors. Happily, they made +allowances for Bantu palsy, and did not hesitate to ignore it. + +Saturday proved altogether uneventful, and prolific in nothing but +outrageous lies. One item of news, however, was but too true: the good +folk of Windsorton had surrendered to the Boers. Intelligence of a more +agreeable nature followed soon after. Cronje's repulse at Mafeking, and +the British victory at Glencoe, made us hopeful at the end of a week, +the beginning of which had looked so ominous; and nearly all things were +to our satisfaction on Saturday night when the third part of our "time" +had formally expired. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +_Week ending 28th October, 1899_ + + +After a hard and anxious week, Sunday was indeed a day of rest. We +enjoyed it because we felt instinctively that an enemy who sincerely +believed that Providence was necessarily on his side, would leave us +unmolested on the Sabbath. We were therefore justified in feeling a +sense of immunity from stray shells and bullets. We enjoyed the day, +too, because it gave us time and opportunity to look about us; to make a +general inspection; and to pronounce the arrangements for the city's +defence satisfactory. The volunteer forces had assumed gratifying +proportions, and their eyes were all "right." Walls and buildings on the +outskirts of the town, which might serve as a cover for the invader--in +the improbable event of his drawing so near--or that might stand within +the zone of our gun-fire, had been ruthlessly levelled to the ground. A +high barbed wire fence surrounded the various camps, and the vigilant +piquet had orders to shoot down anybody who attempted to cross it. Every +imaginable precaution had been taken to hold the fort at all costs. The +rumour-monger had formally made his _debut_, and was busy drawing upon +the reservoirs of his excellent imagination, and disseminating +information gathered from a mystic source known only to himself. He knew +the exact day and hour of the entrance into Kimberley of the British +troops; he could detail their plans to the letter, and a lot more than +anybody else (including the British troops) concerning them. The +rumour-monger became a character, a siege character, an adventitious +celebrity, destined to receive attention from a facetious press and the +tongues of men. So the day passed, with plenty to encourage, plenty to +talk and laugh about, plenty to predict about, plenty to see and hear, +and as yet, thank goodness, plenty to eat and drink. + +Early on Monday morning, a mounted detachment, accompanied by the +armoured train and two hundred men of the Lancashire Regiment, went +forth to reconnoitre. The procession was an imposing one; at least the +Boers encamped at Scholtz's Nek appeared to think so; they made no +attempt to interfere with it, and thus debarred the procession from +interfering with them. + +But meanwhile domestic concerns were getting serious, and absorbing the +minds of the people. The grocers of Kimberley are a respectable and, in +the aggregate, a public-spirited body of citizens; they are men of +substance; most honourable; most humane, too; and, as events were to +show, most human. With fine foresight they detected in the conflagration +of patriotism which consumed the consumer, a chance of bettering +themselves. Having a constitutional right to do it, they took this tide +in their affairs at what they (rather hastily) conceived to be its +flood. Actuated by motives of the new ("enlightened") self-interest, +they had proceeded to run up the prices of their goods by nice and easy +gradations of from ten to twenty, thence to fifty, and were well on +their way to a hundred, per cent., when a thunderbolt, an unexpected +projectile, smashed the ring. It was a pity, in a way, for the process +of welding the ring, so to speak, had been carried out with admirable +skill. Rich folk, whose balances at the bank ran into six, and seven, +figures, had commenced operations; they were buying up supplies of all +and sundry, and hanging the expense. People with a thousand or two were +nowhere in the aristocratic rush, and they waxed indignant; they could +buy a quantity of provisions, to be sure; but semi-millionaires could +buy so much more--a shop or two, perchance. Thus it was that the +"comfortable classes" deemed it their duty to protest. And right royally +did the common people, who had only the sweat of their brows, join in +the protest. The public, in fine, were thoroughly roused, and denounced +in unmeasured terms the conduct and the "enterprise" of the grocers. The +women were much alarmed; they collected together in wrathful groups to +enquire where the matter was to end, and with peculiar unanimity, not to +say satisfaction, to prophesy a revolution. This bound in the cost of +living brought us nearer to a state of panic than ever did the sharp +practice of the Boer artillery. The Colonel heard of it--what did he not +hear? Deputations waited on him; his intervention was solicited; he +agreed to intervene. And then came a splendid exhibition of the +autocracy of Martial Law. We had not yet seen all that it could do (far +from it!), and it was a pleasure, in the circumstances, to see the +Colonel put his foot down, since the step was highly approved and +ratified by the people. + +Forth from Lennox Street, accordingly, another popular proclamation was +launched, A whole page of our local newspaper was commandeered for its +insertion. By virtue of the powers reposed in him, Colonel Kekewich +fixed the prices to be charged for "necessaries," such as tea, sugar, +coffee, meat (the butchers also had been brushing up their Shakespeare). +Goods were to be sold practically at ordinary rates; and if any +storekeeper charged more, or affected to be "sold out" of this, that, or +the other, the Colonel was to be told, and he would talk to the +storekeeper. There followed, of course, a grand slump. The combination +of the "upper" and "lower" middle-classes was irresistible. The +Commanding-Officer's prompt action was highly esteemed, and even those +who afterwards inveighed against him most severely (for other actions) +never denied him credit for it. + +Paraffin oil is worthy of special mention. Coal not being much in +evidence in the diamond fields--where the sun is ever shining with all +its might--paraffin was an important factor in the culinary sphere. +When, therefore, a few gentlemen formed a syndicate, to vaunt their +loyalty in a crisis by cornering all the kerosene in town, another +outcry followed. They bought all they could lay hands on at market price +(sixteen and six per case), and next day imperturbably continued buying +at twenty-five shillings. On Tuesday the wide-awake vendors asked fifty +shillings, and were paid it cheerfully. Another sovereign was added to +each case of what remained on Wednesday, and the seventy shillings was +put down without a murmur. How much farther the bidding would have gone +will never be known, for a vicious little bird must needs tell the +Colonel all about it. That gentleman happened to be engaged in his +favourite (proclaiming) pastime; he sat ruminating on the high price of +coal, and evolving schemes to bring wood back to its proper level. The +latter article was what the poorer classes used as fuel. The Colonel had +no scruples about dotting down a reasonable figure for coal; but wood +was new to him; he sympathised with the woodman, yet could not spare the +tree. Water (sold in casks) had evinced propensities to bubble over, and +to prevent consequent waste it was necessary to make it simmer down to +its normal tepidity. Having settled these little difficulties, the +worried autocrat was about to affix his signature to the magic +manuscript, when the little feathered informer alighted on his shoulder +and warbled "_wacht-een-beitje_, what price oil?" The Colonel had no +hesitation in pouring it on troubled waters, by making eighteen +shillings the maximum charge per case. + +What the feelings of the syndicate were is not recorded. There was only +one thing certain, the deal was not a profitable thing--for the +_buyers_. Rumour had it that one gentleman, "with a pigtail," had paid +fifty shillings each for two hundred cases. The story was false--rumour +is never quite right; the man wore no pigtail. A Celestial speculator +indeed he was, but he had long since discarded, if he had ever sported, +his national plait. + +The afternoon brought a fight--a fight at last. Nothing less sensational +could explain the wave of excitement that set men, women, and children +struggling in a wild scramble for the debris heaps, which commanded a +view of the match. Yes; a battle at last, was the cry on all +sides,--varied with divers witticisms _apropos_ of the "beans" the +Boers were sure to be given. The military critic, perched high above +everybody else, held his glass to his eye, giving expression the while +to a paradoxical longing to be "blind," etc. He criticised, candidly, +the tactics displayed by both sides--but this chapter would never be +finished if I reproduced, in their entirety, the banalities of the +military critic. + +The railway line had been torn up again, and a patrol of mounted men +under the command of Colonel Scott-Turner had been out since early +morning to superintend repairs. The repairs were soon effected, and +after the patrol had rested at Macfarlane's Farm it meandered in the +direction of Riverton. A large body of the enemy shortly became visible +to the right of Riverton, and after a little seductive manoeuvring on +the part of Turner's men, they were drawn within range of Turner's +rifles. The rifles went off; a few Boers toppled from their horses, +while the rest drew rein and rode back at a goodly speed. +Reinforcements, however, were galloping to their assistance, and soon a +lively duel was in full swing. Colonel Kekewich, who was an interested +spectator away back on the conning tower, thought he detected a movement +on the enemy's part to surround Turner; and to frustrate this design, he +forthwith despatched a "loaded" armoured train. The maxims (in the +armoured train) came into play, and spread confusion in the Boer ranks. +Their Commandant was killed and left behind on the field. The rifle duel +was maintained with dogged perseverance on both sides for some time +afterwards. We were not without losses--three men having been killed and +nineteen wounded. The enemy's casualties were estimated to be thirty. +Our men had conducted themselves throughout with conspicuous courage and +coolness, though many of them were quite new to the game of war. To the +Boer, too, a meed of praise is due; for, contrary to popular tradition, +he could--and did--fight a good fight on the open veld. Turner's force +returned to the city, well satisfied with their first brush with the +enemy. The news which appeared in a special edition of the _Diamond +Fields' Advertiser_, relative to the successful dash of Atkins at +Elandslaagte (Natal), added to the enthusiasm that prevailed during the +evening; and made optimists--there were no pessimists--more sanguine +than ever in regard to the speedy capitulation of the Boers. + +Our men, on Thursday, patrolled in different directions--alert for a +second encounter, if the fates were propitious. But the foe declined to +oblige; he lay low all day, presumably imbibing coffee. In the +afternoon, heavy rains, which made piquet duty none too pleasant, came +down in torrents. Tents had just been pitched at our redoubts in the +nick of time. The three men killed on Tuesday were buried with military +honours. The funeral was large--the Colonel, his staff, and several +sections of the Town Guard marching in processional order. + +Meanwhile a detachment of the Cape Police were endeavouring, with all +due prudence, to lure the Boers into battle. But they did not succeed. +It was advanced as an explanation of this singular inactivity that the +nerves of the enemy were shattered--since Tuesday. It was rumoured, too, +that a number of our "friends" had gone off on a recuperating pilgrimage +to Windsorton and Klipdam--two villages which had been taken without +the waste of a cartridge and placed under the _Verkleur_. Looting +operations, it was said, were being carried out on an extensive scale, +and property was being destroyed. Such was the local estimate of Boer +shortcomings--based on flimsy data, or no data at all. In Kimberley, we +only laughed at looting, and if the Boers effected an entrance we had no +objection to the exercise of their talent for vandalism. We _said_ so; +because we were profoundly confident of our collective capacity to keep +them _out_. Cynicism was the fashion. There was so much to say on the +great topic, and so little to read about it. The evenings seemed so +long; at half-past five, when the shops were closed, it appeared to be +much later. Nice people exchanged visits as usual, albeit they had to be +home at the disgustingly rural hour of nine o'clock, sharp. It was +amusing sometimes to watch the abnormal strides of fat men and women, +and to see them dodging the night patrol when they had to do a ten +minutes' walk in five. The patrol was not a policeman. Oh, dear, no; he +was far more stern, and had banished his politeness for three weeks. If +at nine-fifteen you wished to be directed to Jones Street, you would be +shown the way to the gaol instead. No explanations would be accepted, no +protests heeded, no excuses listened to; no consideration for persons, +no bank-balance however huge, would soften the inflexible patrol. "I did +not read the proclamation," would not do; you must have heard of it. You +might swear you had not, or _at_ the insulting sceptic, but he would +neither yield nor apologise. He was always armed with a rifle, and +accompanied by three or four men with ammunition. It was a common +experience with us to wake up during the night and list to the same old +hackneyed dialogue. "Halt!" in a voice of thunder, "who goes there?" "A +friend," would be the invariable response, the tone, pitch, and temper +of which would be regulated by the "pass" the friend had or had _not_ in +his pocket. "Advance, friend, and give the countersign," Excited +families would by this time have their heads thrust through the windows +to watch the _denouement_. Satisfactory explanations would generally +follow the final command; but occasionally a babel of recrimination +would ensue, and become gradually indistinct as the poor law-breaker was +hustled off to prison. + +The people, for the most part, sat on their steps, discussing the events +of the day, the paucity of news, the doings of the army, the destruction +of the Republics and the probability of its easy accomplishment by +Christmas (1899). They would break off now and then with a reference to +the activity of the searchlight. The searchlight was of powerful calibre +and shed a brilliant radiance which, revolving, illuminated the +surrounding country. Needless to say, it shone all night; a surprise +visit from the Boers was out of the question. We felt light-hearted on +Saturday, and profoundly satisfied, that we were too intrepid for the +enemy. Our patrols kept vainly seeking to provoke a quarrel. At the +camps the "Death of Nelson," and "comic" melodies not less doleful, were +rendered with much feeling. At the hospital, the wounded were doing +well, and one man was quite himself again. They were extremely well +tended, and thanks to public solicitude, were the recipients of +countless delicacies, including _bottled_ cheer. + +Thus two weeks were over--well over, it was affirmed. Alas! we had +another sixteen to put behind us; but no; nonsense! what am I saying? +Even the wags, and everyone was inclined to be waggish in the first +great fortnight of faith, never put the number higher than eight, lest +their jokes should lose point or their wit its subtlety. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +_Week ending 4th November, 1899_ + + +The day of opportunity for reflection was with us again, and since so +little occasion for action presented itself we talked about war in +peace. The man in the street--omniscient being!--discussed it threadbare +on the pavement. A man who knew the Boers was the man in the street. He +knew the British army, too, though; and was sanguine of its ability to +go one better--the shrewdness of which view was loudly applauded. And he +really did much to make morbid people easy, and to lighten the burden of +weak minds. The man in the street was respected. It was deemed a +privilege to chat on the situation with this exalted personage, whom it +took a rare and great occasion to make. + +On the Stoep, after dinner, the history of the 'eighty-one struggle was +reviewed and punctuated with commentaries on the character of Mr. +Gladstone. The probable date of the relief column's arrival was settled, +and the consequent discomfiture of the enemy laughed at. The talk was +all of war. The children on their way from Sunday school halted the +passer-by to enquire "who goes there"; they formed fours, stood at ease, +and shouldered sticks enthusiastically. The natives shut up in the +compounds eulogised the sword in their own jargon; they were filled with +ambition to lend an assegai in the fray, and to have a cut at the +people who treated them as children--with the sjambok! + +It was remarkable the unanimity of opinion which obtained among +Kimberley men at the beginning of the campaign with reference to the +attitude of the Free State. They were in the first place convinced that +war was certain, inevitable, unavoidable; Great Britain would enforce +her demands, and the Boers would "never" give way to them. So much was +agreed. But the idea of the Free State joining hands with the +Transvaal--to stand or fall with it--was ridiculed as a monstrous +proposition. England had no quarrel with the Free Staters, and they were +not such "thundering fools" as to pick one with England, or to be +influenced by shibboleths bearing on the relative thicknesses of blood +and water. When, however, we learned how very much mistaken folks may +be, the "villainy" of President Steyn was--rather overstated, and the +continued independence of his country pronounced an impossibility. + +This was all very well; but it involved some inconsistency, in that we +had veered round to the belief that the Transvaal would never have faced +the music _alone_, and without the aid of the neighbouring State! That +is to say: war was certain from the beginning; the Free Staters were +equally certain to be neutral; but since they were not neutral, +responsibility for the war was theirs, and theirs _only_. Perhaps it +was; but how was the view to be reconciled with our previous +positiveness to the contrary? As a fact, few were conscious of any +weakness in their way of laying down the law, and _they_ (tacitly) +admitted their fallibility. + +On Monday the enemy betrayed signs of activity in the building of a +redoubt opposite the Premier Mine. This was disappointing; it looked as +if the purpose was to place a gun in the redoubt--to shy shells at the +Premier. A special edition of the _Diamond Fields' Advertiser_ lent +colour to the assumption. The Boers, the special stated, had a gun fixed +up at Mafeking, and had actually trained it on that town. The shells, we +were assured, had not burst; but (flying) they could hit a man in the +head, we thought. Whence they (the Boers) got the gun was a puzzle to +not a few; and how they managed to make it "speak" was beyond the +comprehension of others. "They might have another gun," these people +exclaimed in horror! They might indeed; the question soon ceased to be +one of speculation, for when a body of the Light Horse attempted to +cross the Free State border, the boom of "another gun" was unmistakably +real. Shell after shell was burled at the Light Horse; none of them were +hit, and not having bothered bringing artillery with them, they were +unable to retaliate. + +Later in the day an express rider made his way through the Boer lines. +The most interesting news he was able to impart was summed up in the +Proclamation he carried in his pocket. It bore reference to the +prohibition by the Governor of the sale of arms and ammunition +throughout the Cape Colony. It was feared that the Africanders might buy +the goods and throw them across the border; it had been done. But +information in disproof of this was forthcoming when the story reached +us that a number of the Cape Dutch had risen in rebellion and needed the +weapons for themselves! Kimberley's voice at once favoured the extreme +penalty--death for high treason! Even moderate men, who allowed for +racial sympathies, held that neutrality was in the circumstances the +proper attitude to assume. But the local extremist--and he was the man +of the hour--argued that the object of the rebels was to sweep the +English into the sea, and to make Africa the exclusive privilege of the +Africander. In the evening, a terrific explosion was heard; a dynamite +magazine had been blown up at Dronfield. It was stated that some people +went up along with it; but that part of the story has yet to be +verified. + +All this made Wednesday an interesting day, but the gallant Colonel had +yet to crown it with his quota. Having previously omitted to fix a +charge for meal and flour, he now brought back to their normal modesty +the prices of the two commodities. The two hardly provided sufficient +material for a proclamation, but with some stretching they were made to +do so. It was easy to discover a disparity in the relative quantities of +the two foodstuffs in Kimberley; we had a great deal of the one, and +comparatively little of the other. Thus when Kekewich in his wisdom +deemed it prudent to take precautions, the populace did not object. We +knew in _our_ wisdom that precautions were superfluous, but we approved, +in a general way, the principle of prudence. The proclamation +accordingly ordained that every loaf baked in future should be three +parts meal and one part flour. The bakers were given the recipé gratis, +with instructions to sell it (the bread, not the recipé) cheaply, +namely, at three pence per loaf. Theoretically, the new loaf was to +prove a palatable change; practically, the wry expression of +countenance it evoked in the process of mastication demonstrated the +contrary. The bread was light "khaki" in colour, and only in this +respect was it fashionable;--not too fashionable, because "Boer meal" +was its chief ingredient, and racial prejudice was strong. The sweetness +of the old-fashioned white loaf was wanting, and we soon clamoured for +its restoration. But the brazen baker would talk of colour-blindness, +and insist that yellow was white. And when we hit upon the plan of +demanding brown bread, the fellow would argue that yellow was brown! +When black was asked for--well, we did not ask for that. But there was +no option in the matter; the Colonel's prescription had to be accepted. +The sensible course was to try to acquire a taste for it; and we did; we +succeeded--too well!--until at last we could not get _enough_ of the +dough. The unkindest cut of all, however, did not come until pies, +pastry, and sweet cakes of all kinds were pronounced indigestible. The +refined cruelty of this revolutionary decree was bitterly resented; not +only by the confectioners, whose shop windows were works of art, but +also by the public, who loved art. Even gouty subjects and folk with +livers protested. As for the ladies, the war on sponge cakes almost +broke their hearts. Pastry was to many of them a staple sustenance, and +conducive--besides being nice--to a, wan complexion. Five o'clock teas +lost prestige; the tarts were gone. It was a case of Hamlet without the +Prince of Denmark. The propriety of a deputation to the Colonel, to test +his gallantry, was mooted; but the proposal, strange to say, found no +seconder. Meanwhile, he (the Colonel) was on the trail of the butcher +again. Prior to the promulgation of the eight-penny regulation the +butcher had been in his element, charging what he liked, and liking +generally a shilling. The small people in the trade had sold their +cattle to their richer brethren who now made hay in the "ample sunshine" +with great ardour. Their prices, it is true, had been limited by +proclamation; but they still catered for the wealthy classes, and the +"greater number" suffered much in consequence. Some people could get no +meat, and when the Colonel awoke to the situation he suddenly limited +the allowance of each adult to half-a-pound _per diem_. A howl of +indignation followed, and Kekewich was denounced as a "high-handed +vegetarian." To be limited to less meat in a day than a man was +accustomed to "shift" at one meal, was at once "too much" and "too +little." Even this restriction worked badly. Coaches and fours were +driven through the proclamation; the well-to-do got good weight, and the +toiler--shinbone! The system of meat distribution was a source of +trouble to the end. + +Friday morning was one to live in our memories, it brought the execrable +hooters again. No pen-picture can be drawn of their effect on the +nerves; their unearthly melody must be heard. It sounded incidental to +carnage, and wailed forth that the enemy was at last about to grapple +with us. The shops were promptly closed; employers and employees rushed +off in carts, on bicycles, or on foot to their respective redoubts. It +was admirable: the readiness, the despatch with which every man hurried +to his place. Women and children--liable to arrest--hastened to their +homes. Soon the streets were completely deserted, save by the alert +constable who walked his 'beat'--ready wherever he saw a head (outside a +door) to crack it. All ears were strained to hear the first shot; and +the suspense was probably more poignant than in later times when we had +grown accustomed to the cry of wolf. + +But there was no first shot; the cautious Boer had not made up his mind +to beat us just yet. By a series of elaborate movements he had affected +to gird his loins for a swoop that nothing could withstand, and adroitly +managed the while to capture some oxen and horses--the property of our +local Sanitary Conductors. When this was discovered, a batch of mounted +men were deputed to ride out and question the legality of the +proceedings. The enemy, nothing loth, opened the arguments themselves +with a pungent volley, and when our side proceeded to reply, through a +similar medium, the other would not listen. Later in the afternoon the +Light Horse went out again, and got near enough to unlimber their guns +and to plant a few shells among the Boers who guarded the route to the +Reservoir. In this skirmish one of the Cape Police was killed--a +regrettable circumstance which brought our list of deaths up to five. + +The enemy still kept showing signs of activity, and of resolution to +make it not only impossible to get out of Kimberley, but also unpleasant +to live in it. They brought a gun as close as they dared to the De Beers +Mine, and impudently endeavoured to shell it. They seized a second +position at Kamfers Dam, and placed a second gun there. We had good +people in Kimberley who asserted that the gentle Boer knew not how to +use a gun; that he considered it so much lumber, an incumbrance. These +were apart from the school given to postulate that the farmers had _no +guns_ to use. No need to say that both theories were dispelled, by sight +as well as by hearing. Much attention was devoted to Otto's Kopje--our +most exposed position--and many missiles dropped dangerously close to +it. They burst, too, though nobody was hit. But they burst; and that was +a visible fact that astounded a host of knowing people. There was a +story in circulation about a respectable refugee from Johannesburg who, +irritated by the fallacies that passed for facts in regard to Boer +armaments and resources, always made it a point to speak the truth on +the subject. He was an Englishman, quite loyal, and stimulated by a +glass of beer was one evening in his boarding house unfolding the facts +of the case. He discoursed fluently on the calibre and the accumulation +of modern instruments of warfare he had beheld in Pretoria with his own +eyes. His candour nettled his listeners, and on going outside he was +threatened by one with pains and penalties if he did not curb his tongue +and be careful. Another gentleman indulged in some vigorous criticism of +spies and traitors in the abstract; while a third produced a pocket-book +and took down the name of the frank offender, with a view to having him +arrested. They went on in this strain until quite eight or ten muscular +men had formed a cordon round the transgressor. "What did I say?" he +enquired, plaintively. "You said a lot too much," was the crushing +retort. One Ajax finally removed his coat and invited the Radical to a +fistic encounter in the garden--if he felt aggrieved. The challenge was +declined, more in sorrow than in anger, and the clamour subsided. + +Contempt for the Boers, their methods of warfare, and their resources, +was so marked that facts--traitorous things--were best left unspoken. + +We had been informed that the ranks of the enemy had been largely +augmented by commandoes from the north. Thus when on Saturday morning an +alarm was raised we expected a tug-of-war for sure. The Boers were +apparently massing for a concentrated attack on Wesselton, which was +situated a couple of miles from the city proper. The day was +particularly ugly; a dust storm blew with blinding fury. The portion of +the Town Guard on duty the previous night had just settled down to +slumber when they were obliged to jump out of "bed" and betake +themselves in hot haste to their posts. But the Boers were only joking; +they retired after an out-of-range demonstration of pugnacity. The +citizen soldiers went back to "bed," but ere their winks had totalled +forty they were again roused by the sacred goose-cackie of the hooters +and again running to their trenches. The scenes in the streets were +pretty similar to the pictures of the day before. We waited six hours, +in expectation that "the hope which shone through them would blossom at +last." It was all in vain; the Boers--incorrigible humourists--would not +be serious, or draw close enough to be shot at. It was suggested that +the hooters told them a march was not to be stolen on us; hence so many +postponements of the "fall" of Kimberley. The sound, the weirdness of +the hooters in itself, would keep back a braver foe. We wanted them +silenced, however, and were beginning actually to desire a fight. All +the hardships of active service, _minus_ its real excitement, were ours; +and the cadets of the Town Guard--who cared not whether they lived to be +one-and-twenty--were dying to fire and definitely to learn from the +"kick" of a gun whether there was really "nothing like leather." + +Other things contributed to the eventfulness of Saturday; the Boers +continued to display the same ominous energy, digging trenches, erecting +forts, and making themselves generally comfortable--pending our +submission to the inevitable like practical men. To emphasise the wisdom +of surrender on our part, it was freely stated that the town was to be +bombarded from Kamfers Dam. There was a feeling--it was in the air--that +mischief was brewing. In obedience to a sudden order, the women and +children of Otto's Kopje and the West End were hurried into the city for +better protection. Finally, a letter from the Boer Commandant was +received by the Colonel, the contents of which went far to justify the +feeling of anxiety which was abroad. + +The Commandant was a Mr. Wessels--and a very courteous gentleman his +note proclaimed him. After some conventional preliminaries, he commenced +by suggesting how natural it would be if the Dutch families living in +Kimberley desired to betake themselves to more congenial surroundings. +The Colonel thought it would be natural. Mr. Wessels would take it as a +favour if said families were permitted to trek. Mr. Kekewich would +gladly grant the favour; but the people concerned could not take a +natural view of the matter at all; they decided to remain where they +were. Mr. Wessels next graciously proposed that _all_ women and +children, irrespective of race, should be expatriated. The Colonel was +still anxious to oblige, but the women, unfortunately, were not. They +scouted the proposition. Its impertinence had attractions, but they +declined to leave. It was _too_ ridiculous; living in a desert as they +were, with railway communication cut off on every side. They never heard +the like! The surrender of the entire city was the final little favour +solicited by the Commandant; and lower down it was hinted that the +bombardment of Kimberley would be the painful alternative to a refusal. +Here all courtesy was brushed aside, and Wessels was challenged to "take +it--if he could." + +In the evening a "special" was published which contained a few vague +assurances of the satisfactory progress of the war in Natal; also some +items concerning Mafeking, and the philosophic pluck of Baden-Powell. +"The British troops," the special protested, "were rapidly arriving." At +the redoubts the news was enthusiastically digested to the strains of +"Rule Britannia," "Tommy Atkins," and kindred national ballads. The +troops were arriving, but had not yet reached Kimberley. The prophets +were false; the three weeks were over; but not so the siege. One, two, +aye, three weeks more of it distinctly stared us in the face. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +_Week ending 11th November, 1899_ + + +The three weeks were over, and there was nothing to show that our +inspirations in regard to the duration of the siege might yet prove to +be substantially true. No immediate prospect of relief was observable, +and our thoughts mechanically took a gloomy turn. How sanguine we had +been, to be sure. Hardened sinners there were, of course, to sing that +fine old chorus, "I told you so!" They never did! Nobody had ventured to +tell us anything so inexplicit. The three weeks dogma had never been +questioned. It was not, however, the detraction from our repute as +prophets that saddened us, so much as the wearing off of what was novel +in our beleagured state. It was beginning to pall a little. The day was +beautiful, and notable for an absence of dust. In the morning, the +Colonel sent out a patrol to have a look around. He also issued some +stringent regulations, affecting the privileges and liberties of persons +residing outside the town's barriers. These good people were +thenceforward obliged to submit to the indignity of being searched, as a +condition precedent to permission to come or go like ordinary mortals. +The right to read their newspaper across the breakfast cup was also +denied them; the duty had to be performed In town, lest the wind should +blow the local journal into the hands of the enemy and reveal--nothing +at all. The position of the barrier guard ceased to be--if it ever +were--a sinecure, and he was kept busy picking pockets, examining bills, +perusing love-letters, written in all sorts of prose, and in verse which +was homely, if not exactly Homeric. + +As already pointed out, the day was fine, and the Boers were silent; so +that, recent disappointments notwithstanding, there was little credit in +being jolly on such a Sunday. The Tapleys of the city had accordingly no +great trouble in inducing us to amuse ourselves. The united bands of the +Kimberley and Lancashire Regiments were to give a concert in the Public +Gardens; and at four o'clock some thousands of people, arrayed in their +best, had gathered there. The Gardens were crowded; cares were +forgotten; the Boers were chaffed; while the strains of the melodists +were awaited with pleasurable anticipation. At the psychological moment +the music began. The tune was not unfamiliar; we had heard it +before--and prayed that we might not hear it again! It was not from the +bandstand the discord was wafted; when I say, in a word, it was the hoot +of the hooters, sounding the alarm, it will be understood how far from +soothing was its spell. The exodus from the grounds was a treat to +watch; the ladies in their finery made a dash for home, while the +gentlemen rushed for their rifles with equal despatch. The bandsmen laid +aside their lutes for more deadly instruments, and prepared themselves +to give the Boer as much music as he cared to face. It was altogether a +magnificent dissolution, rapidly accomplished. And, of course, it was as +usual, all for nothing. Wessels was a wag. + +Monday morning revealed the Boer clans foregathering in force on the +south side of the city. The citizen soldiers were quietly directed to +get behind their sandbags, while a mounted body was ordered out to +anticipate events, and, if practicable, to knock over a few of the +clansmen. But it was only bluff again. Our women folk, although they +dreaded a _fracas_, were particularly impatient of this time-honoured +game. During the day, a good many shells were expended on the Premier +Mine. The mines, it may be said, were the objectives of special +bombardments until the end; but, so far, we were not inclined to think +highly of the enemy's marksmanship. The shells fell a long way short, +albeit not so short as at first; the aim was improving. Given time, the +Boer would yet hit his target; but of course he would not get time. + +Practice was resumed next morning at an hour sufficiently preternatural +to deprive us of a portion of our legitimate sleep. We rose early in +Kimberley--long before the lark--to our credit be it sung; but four +o'clock was too far removed from breakfast time, and four was commonly +the hour chosen by the churlish Boers to commence operations throughout +the tedious months of our investment. The whiz and the explosion were +not invariably audible, but the boom was always heard. Our "friends" +rarely missed making a noise, and, to secure proper rest, this +break-of-day _penchant_ sent people early to bed. A big gun had been +placed by the enemy on the top of Wimbleton Ridge, wherefrom--as our +Garrison Orders grandiloquently stated--"the strength of the fortress of +Kimberley was tested." The shells landed safely on the bare veld, and +even when the dissatisfied gunners brought their gun closer, no harm +was done. Wimbleton was three or four miles away, and we were not +therefore in a position to reciprocate the attentions we received from +it. Another assault was subsequently made on the Premier fort. Our +seven-pounders were this time able to do a bit of bowling, and a ball +was hurled at the enemy's wickets that stopped play for the day. + +There was considerable elation in town at the non-success of the Boer as +an artillerist, and the belief was entertained that his stock of +ammunition would soon be blown to the winds. Nearly a hundred shells had +been thrown at us, without angering or damaging anyone or anything +save--a cook and his cooking-pot! The cook resided in a redoubt; his pot +had had the lid broken, and worse still, the stew it covered driven +through the bottom of the utensil, to be incinerated in the blaze +beneath; and he vowed--well, the profanity entwined in his vow of +vengeance will not admit of its publication. The whole bombardment was a +grand joke. In the Law Courts, where the Criminal Sessions were being +conducted in the ordinary way, the lawyers waxed witty. The witnesses +responded. Even the prisoners laughed sorrowfully as each abortive boom +rang out. It was a superb joke. The judge let fall some funny things and +the jury smiled--without prejudice. His lordship said it was a novel +experience for him, as indeed it was for all of us, who were to live and +learn that--the last laugher laughs best. + +The results of the Colonel's mild and forbearing efforts to keep the +natives in check were not satisfactory. The exuberance of the Kafirs +knew no bounds; they continued to glory in intoxication, and to "do" the +_breadth_ of the streets, like the gay Bohemians of more advanced +civilisations. They did more; they defied authority, and varied their +pleasures with occasional bouts of house-breaking and burglary. They +appropriated such property as they could lay hands on in the sequestered +houses of the West End, and played tug-of-war with mahogany that lacked +the merit of being portable. An epidemic of looting prevailed--and fine +sport it seemed to offer. + +But Colonel Kekewich did not think it a time for sport, and lost no time +in ventilating his thoughts on the subject. Drastic measures were +adopted to suppress the fun. Another proclamation adorned the dead +walls--decreeing that native bars and canteens were to be closed +altogether. To deal effectively with the hooligan school stern methods +were necessary, and total prohibition was the initial step--a step +highly lauded by the public in general, and by the _white_ topers of the +city in particular. The coloured bibbers were thus suddenly reduced to +water, and some twenty of them--caught red-handed in crime--were lashed +and sent to prison for two years. One or two got off with a caution, and +with instructions to preach to the locations on the heinousness of +hooliganism, and of the power of Martial Law to hang "boys" for less +than murder--as the next roost-robber would learn to his cost. No +remarkable curiosity to be learned in the "Law" was afterwards +manifested for some time. + +As for the aggrieved liquor people, the Colonel's proclamation well-nigh +broke their backs. Their feelings must be left to the sympathetic +imagination of the reader. That thirty thousand of her Majesty's +subjects should be "by law forbid" to quench their thirst was +incredible. That men in the "trade" should by consequence suffer +financial loss, and have the sweat of their brows, as it were, +confiscated, was an evasion of the Constitution (superseded though it +was by Martial Law) which outraged the name of liberty. It was a bitter +pill to swallow; but it had to be swallowed under pain of penalty for +even a grimace. Some of the patients could not let the purgative down; +they deliberately let nature take its course--the sequel to which was +the mobilisation of the Trapper Reserves for active service. And still +the slimness of the native contrived to dodge the wiles of civilisation. +With the assistance of some Coolie shop-keepers (who acted as middlemen) +he yet managed to drink a fair share. But the middlemen, too, were +hauled over the coals. A few Indians went so far as to establish without +license little canteens of their own, thereby outraging all law, civil +and military. In such cases the canteens were confiscated. The Summary +Court had altogether a busy time, and the Official Interpreters, Dutch, +Kafir, and Indian, were "sweated" at last. + +Wednesday was quiet; so also was Thursday, our peace being marred by +neither shells nor hooters. The hooters, indeed, were never to do it +again--a graceful concession, for which we gave thanks; their cat-calls +had been so nerve-shaking. The monotony was relieved on Friday by some +shells which came right into the city--as far as the Post Office. They +omitted to burst. The boom of a gun, which had been wont to play havoc +with the nervous, had come to be regarded as of no consequence, a mere +tap on a drum, eliciting a _nonchalant_ "Ah, there she goes," and +nothing more. Everybody was alive for fragments of the dead missiles; +curio-hunting was a craze, and hundreds of people were ever ready to +pounce upon the projectiles that wasted their sweetness on the desert +air. The tiniest crumb of metal was treasured as a valuable memento. The +shells fell and broke as would a tea-pot, a brick, or an egg of the +Stone Age. No explosion followed; no fragments flew to hurt one's ribs, +or to play the dentist with one's teeth. The missiles declined to burst. + +It was natural that much speculation should arise as to the cause of +this anomalous state of things; and there were people to doubt its being +so much due to obstinacy on the part of the shells as to inexperience on +the part of the Boers. One wiseacre held that the missiles were antique +and obsolete relics of the 'eighty-one struggle. Others questioned +whether "the Boer" then knew that shells were invented. A lot more +contended that "the Boer" was unacquainted with the mysteries of a fuse, +and knew as little about "timing" a shell as he did about discipline. +One or two suggested, tentatively, as a solution of the puzzle, that "he +had forgotten to put the powder in." Another argued that he did not know +how; while there were a few who doubted whether "the Boer" considered +powder in any sense explosive. There was a garrulous "bore" (from +somewhere over-sea, not Holland) who advanced a still clearer +elucidation of the mystery. "What was Rhodes doing in Germany for twelve +months," he cried, "tell me that?" The relevancy of this rather +startling query was a little obscure, but somebody replied: "He was +visiting the Kaiser." This was too much for our interlocutor; he pitied +our ignorance of the world, lamented our neglected education, and, as if +our weakness in arithmetic was peculiarly discreditable, deplored our +inability to put "two and two together." + +Alarms were now nightmares of the past, and the people could pursue +their avocations undisturbed and undistracted. There was little firing +in the afternoon--nothing more deafening than a rifle-shot. A Boer, on +sniping bent, was hit by one of our sharpshooters; three men approached, +and two only were observed to rush back _with_ their shields. Of what +the British troops were doing we knew nothing. Thousands of them, it was +said, were congregated at Orange River (seventy miles away), and we were +curious to know when they were to "move on"; only curious--not +impatient. The summer was yet in its infancy (as also was the siege) and +our patience was destined to be lost soon enough. Meanwhile, we had not +much cause for complaint in the matter of food. Meat, some said, they +found it hard to procure; one young lady asserted positively that her +family had had no meat for dinner on Sunday, and that she herself had to +dine off "tea." She was the daughter of a public house, too! Just fancy +the daughter of a public house having to do with "tea" for dinner! Hers, +however, would have been a case of exceptional hardship; there was the +"half pound" for everyone who went shopping in time. + +We were startled from our slumbers at an early hour on Saturday morning +by the booming of artillery and a succession of very distinct +explosions. The shells fell broadcast, and whistled--while we sought +vainly to see them--with a disconcerting whiz above our heads. Their +contact with mother earth resulted in a loud crash; it was hard to +believe that the theorist who opined that the Boers had "forgotten the +powder" (before) was a clever fellow. They had remembered it this time; +its odour was everywhere. It was our first real taste of a bombardment, +and a nauseating taste it proved. Men and women had a vague belief that +hundreds must be dead. Consternation reigned; and when it was reported +that a woman had been killed in Dutoitspan Road, the excitement was at +its height. The fatality sent a thrill of horror through the people, who +awaited in dread anticipation the news of further massacres. The victim +was a poor washerwoman, and the possibilities it conjured up before the +mind's eye made her death doubly unfortunate. But, happily, no further +damage to life or limb was to be recorded. A good many houses were hit, +though not injured materially. A shell entered the Gresham Bar, and it +was surprising that so few glasses should have been smashed; more +marvellous still that the fair bar-tender should have remained fair; she +was merely frightened. As for the proprietor, he held up fairly well. +There was a hole in his roof (I don't mean his head), but he made the +price of a decent patch in ten minutes. The men about town flocked in to +have a laugh at the mess, and were amazed to find a bottle intact, or a +bigger utensil to drink from than a "thimble" indeed. + +Feeling against the Boers grew strong. Enquiries about the British +troops, their movements, their dilatoriness, were sternly renewed; it +was reckoned time to "clear the border." That Colonel Kekewich was +angry goes without saying; he despatched two mounted forces in opposite +directions to record a general protest. One of these, led by Colonel +Scott-Turner, rode towards Otto's Kopje. The enemy, however, were +apparently prepared for Turner; they opened fire with a gun, and +endeavoured to cut him off. In this they failed; they drew rather too +near, and so far from intimidating the fighting Colonel, enabled him to +register his protest very forcibly. Nine Boers were shot down; three on +the British side were injured. Meanwhile the force under Major Peakman +was protesting at Carter's Farm. The enemy there made a bold effort to +silence Peakman. But a Maxim gun has a remarkable gift of the gab; the +Major had one with him, and he let it do all the talking--with results +that quickly drove the Boers beyond the range of its Phillipics. + +Notwithstanding these castigations, or perhaps because of them, the +bombardment was resumed in the afternoon. Wesselton was assailed; a few +shells also fell into Kimberley, with no serious consequences. Silence +reigned at six o'clock. It was an exciting _finalé_ to the week. The +morrow would be Sunday, and glad we were to hear it. And still relief +was deferred; but the troops _were_ at Orange River, and seventy miles, +they told us, was a trifle in darkest Africa. That they (the troops) +would soon arrive did not admit of a doubt. And then?--and then the Boer +would run away or die. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +_Week ending 18th November, 1899_ + + +Sunday again! the most popular day of the seven; pre-eminently so since +the war began. The peace that marked an occasional week-day was the +certain accompaniment of the Sunday. The conditions of life were normal +on Sunday; its advent made us happy. Following upon the unpleasant +experiences of the previous day it was peculiarly welcome, albeit, +mayhap, the herald of troublous times. The death of the poor washerwoman +had opened up a world of possibilities; morbid forebodings were conjured +up by morbid people, and nobody dreamt of measuring future fatalities by +so low an average as one per day. But yesterday, we were as safe as if +we were "in Piccadilly." A great man had said so--a great man and +millionaire. His name was Rhodes, Mr. Cecil Rhodes, Chairman of the De +Beers Corporation, and "no mean judge of a situation," our newspaper +stated in substantiation of his Piccadilly peccadillo. He had come up +specially for the siege, it was said by some who, had they but half his +foresight, would have "specially" gone away for it. Well, Mr. Rhodes, +felt safe and we, too, had felt safe until the sad event of Saturday +rather neutralised the confidence inspired by the shrewd, but human, +millionaire. There was a minority, indeed, who could not logically look +for aught but ruin and disaster as a sequence to the shock of Saturday. +"Look at the narrow escapes so many had," the minority argued. There +were plenty of stories. Legends of hairbreadth escapes were legion. They +were well told by fluent liars, by such raconteurs as _talk_ of +prodigious things in fishing, and _catch_ nothing but colds. The narrow +escapes were yet to come. Our wounded in the hospital were doing well; +some of them had already been discharged. _Their_ escapes had been +narrow enough, in all conscience; but they were not romantic; they +occurred on the field of battle. + +The enemy apparently "slept it out" on Monday. There was no firing until +eight o'clock when a beginning was made with Wesselton. A number of +shells fell in the vicinity of the mine; but, as a lady afterwards +reported: "they did not hit even a dog." Some missiles fell also on the +Bulfontein side, and were buried in the debris heaps. A more serious +assault was subsequently opened on the town itself; for several hours +shells came pouring in from Kamfers Dam and the Lazaretto Ridge. The +firing did not cease until upwards of seventy missiles had burst in the +streets. In the market square a horse was killed--one of two attached to +a Cape cart. The other animal remained alive, very much alive, as its +kicking testified. The driver of the vehicle, a Dutchman, received a +wound in the arm. Another Dutchman, curiously enough, was injured +slightly while injudiciously exposing himself on top of a debris heap. +Happily, no more serious casualities occurred. The Municipal Compound +and the Fire Brigade Station had to bear the brunt of the bombardment, +but the damage done was small. + +Despite the real element of danger now attending the mania, the thirst +for souvenirs was unquenchable yet, and the masses of struggling +humanity that seemed to drop from the clouds simultaneously with every +missile to be in at its dismemberment, were as fierce as and _more_ +reckless than before in the fight for fragments. When the shells had +been wont to crumble accommodatingly, as would a clay pipe, the winning +of a curio had--I mix the metaphor advisedly--merely involved +participation in a football scrimmage. But since the ball had, as it +were, begun to turn "rusty" the popularity of the game, so far from +diminishing, increased. All day long its devotees "scrummed" and +"shoved" for the coveted trophies. Quite a brisk trade was done in +souvenirs, the smallest scrap of iron fetching a tickey (threepence), +and so on in proportion to weight and size as far as half a sovereign. +These souvenirs included sundry nuts and bolts which had been kicked +about the neighbourhood of De Beers workshops for a quarter of a +century. Whole shells, intact, were sold for a couple of pounds each, +and the hundred or so received up to date circulated a good bit of +money. One of the funny spectacles of the bombardment was a local +entomologist, who had a sense of humour, endeavouring to catch the +missiles with his butterfly net; the "buzzing," he said, attracted him. +This humourist is still alive--he caught nothing. + +Healthy folk who lived to eat were at this stage beginning to complain +of hunger, and to assert--not quite truthfully--that they got but "one +meal a day." Eight ounces of meat was not enough for them; they could +devour it all at a single sitting; they were slowly starving. Little +sympathy was felt with these uneasy gourmands. Our sources of supply +were by no means inexhaustible, and the Colonel's restriction was +intelligible to all reasonable men. The Boers, on the other hand, +appeared to possess more live stock than they needed, and it was upon +this hypothesis that the plan of confiscating a portion of the one to +equalise the other was conceived by the artful and gallant Colonel. No +sooner thought of than done. From among the coloured fraternity whose +love of looting had occasioned trouble in the past he selected the most +expert, and commissioned them to resume their bad ways. On the Monday +night operations were commenced, and carried out successfully. By dint +of much patience and caution, the trusty looters were enabled +(unperceived) silently to segregate some seventy oxen and drive them +into Kimberley. Splendid animals they were, too, and an addition to our +depleted flocks and herds which gave us solid satisfaction. + +Whether it was that the enemy was engrossed in a vain search for the +missing cattle--if they were missed at all--he gave no expression to his +indignation next morning. Not until lunch time had we any indications of +annoyance. The vials of Boer wrath were then let loose in earnest, and +from the Lazaretto Ridge we were peppered furiously. The shells fell +thickly in the principal thoroughfares--eighty or ninety of them--one +for every bullock "pinched." Fortunately again, the assault was +unattended by loss of life. The tin walls of Saint Cyprian's Church were +perforated by pieces of shell. Another hissing monster dropped in +Dutoitspan Road in front of a tobacco-shop, but thanks to the +picturesque array of pipes and pouches in the window the missile, as if +it had an eye for art, refrained from bursting; instead it made a little +grave to the depth of several feet and buried itself with honour. Three +or four buildings were struck, and a funny man spread an alarming rumour +relative to the loss of _eighteen_ lives in the Queen's Hotel! On +enquiry it transpired that _two_ cats had met their doom. The victims +had been serenading in an out-house when the fatal missile (very +properly) slit their throats. The dear people of the neighbourhood +affected little sympathy for the slain whose orgies had kept them awake +at night. Indeed a wish was expressed that a few more of the cult might +get hissed off the world's stage. And curiously enough a second shell +_did_ fall at the hotel; but the feline minstrels were out of the +way--and their well-wishers so much _in_ it that they made peace with +the cats at once. + +The night had been dark, with vivid flashes of lightning to brighten it +now and then, and nature's artillery had rolled until the Boers on +Wednesday morning took Up the refrain with theirs. One poor old man was +wounded in the arm as he lay sleeping in his bed. Houses here and there +up Newton way were damaged, the occupiers escaping injury. The firing +went on for several hours until heavy rains came down and put a stop to +it. + +A further note was received from Mr. Wessels. The Dutch folk in our +midst were fairly numerous and not only as liable to laceration as the +British, but, judging by our records so far, rather more so. They had +experienced rank bad luck altogether, and a little bird may have +whispered it to Wessels. However that may be, the Commandant reiterated +his former request in their regard. Now, Colonel Kekewich was only too +willing to accede to the request, in proof of which he wrote up a +special proclamation on the subject. But the Dutch adhered to their +first determination; there is no place like home; leave it they would +not. Mr. Wessels, they insinuated, would not find them new houses and +gardens; nor too much to eat--not even half a pound of meat (perhaps). +There were only three or four families prepared to pack up and with more +reluctance than exultation take their departure. + +The possibility of springing something in the nature of a surprise upon +the enemy was a thought which had long exercised the mind of Colonel +Kekewich. The idea culminated in a stiff fight on Thursday. Three or +four hundred of our mounted men had remained up all night, and two guns +of the _Diamond Fields' Artillery_ had no sleep either. It was still +dark when the cavalcade fell into line and proceeded noiselessly along a +ridge leading to Carter's Farm (occupied by the Boers). Daylight had not +yet broken when the men in khaki reached their destination--reached it, +because owing to the recent rains a thick mist obscured the landscape, +and the invaders found themselves in closer proximity to the Farm than +they desired to be--in fact they were right among the "Grabbers." The +surprise was complete--far too complete, for the attackers were as much +astonished as were the yawning Boers. Both sides, however, retained +sufficient presence of mind to shoot at each other; and they did. The +enemy roused from their slumbers had their vision clarified +effectively, an operation which had the drawback of enabling them the +better to see their visitors. The battle waxed fierce, and when +re-inforcements came galloping to the assistance of the Boers it looked +as if the Light Horse must be worsted. But the artillery was behind +them, and from it was belched forth a hail of shrapnel which compelled +the re-inforcements to draw rein and "pant to the place from whence at +first they flew." Our guns away back at the Reservoir also contributed +to this result. Thus it was that the task of evicting the Boers was in +the end a comparatively easy one. Thirteen of their number lay dead or +wounded on the Farm. We had one killed and three severely wounded, seven +others, including Major Peakman, getting slightly hurt. + +That a bombardment would follow these events was to be expected: nor +were we disappointed. The town, its thoroughfares and houses were left +alone for the nonce, while the guns were trained on the redoubts. This +was a precedent we could have wished to see followed oftener; but it was +mainly the heart of Kimberley that was assailed at all times. The new +departure did not prove successful; no great harm was done, for the +shells lighting on the soft veld were kinder than the shellers, and +generally failed to burst. As for the citizen soldiers, they received +these attentions with a _nonchalance_ that would reflect credit on older +campaigners. They did not get enough of them; there was money in the +missiles; and the local army had a way of appreciating a good cigar, +with a puff of "Cape Smoke." A barter in souvenirs would admit of these +things, and their indulgence would not be the less sweet because +payment of the damage would really fall upon the _producer_ (President +Kruger). + +It was at this stage in the vicissitudes of our siege existence that the +authorities and the public were confronted with a fresh difficulty and +made to feel the presence of a new danger. The outbreak of hostilities +had sent a large number of natives from the adjoining districts into +Kimberley, and these added to the permanent coloured population +increased our responsibilities. There was not sufficient work for so +many. This idle host was a menace to the maintenance of law and order, +and unless something was done for it internal trouble of a serious kind +was sure to arise. These men had no money wherewith to buy food, and +although they could not get liquor to drive them to deeds of +desperation, hunger would soon supply an impetus. And so it came to pass +that the philanthropic spirit was awakened in the breasts of +philanthropists and simulated by others who loved themselves only. That +work must be found for the coloured horde was the unanimous verdict of +the Upper Ten. It was a problem, peculiarly complex at a time when the +"first law of nature" (in a restricted sense) was so stern in its +exactions. But it was a problem which had to be solved and which puzzled +everybody until--Mr. Rhodes entered the breach with a solution. He had +been relieving distress in a quiet, unostentatious way, and he now +settled the native question with characteristic celerity. He held a +short conference with the Mayor; evolved a scheme of road-making; had +some thousands of men employed next day; and, in fine, completed +arrangements to pay away two thousand pounds per week with as little +fuss as another man--or millionaire--would make about a collar lost in +the wash. Indigent "whites," also, were provided for; Mr. Rhodes made +himself responsible for the formation of an auxiliary Fire Brigade for +the behoof of refugees more accustomed to a pen than a pick. The +Colossus had some enemies in Kimberley; but they were less severe--less +numerous, perhaps--from that day onward. + +Our defences were by this time in thorough ship-shape, and the +connection of the several redoubts by telephone had just been completed. +From the reservoir another brand new searchlight beamed down upon the +Boers. The Town Guard had taken up permanent residence in the camps. Its +members were supplied with soldiers' rations; also with professional +cooks--who knew better hotels--to cook them. The camp cook was quite a +character, much deferred to and patronised, and was ever eager to drop +his ladle in favour of the refrigerator which he kept ready to make cold +meat of the cool Boer who ventured within range of it. The _chef_ whose +cooking-pot had been scuttled was particularly thirsty for "the +vengeance blood alone could quell." + +On Friday a party of the enemy approached the reservoir, presumably to +see if there were water in it. But when our gunners metaphorically +advised them that there was danger of falling in, the party took the +hint and retired. Later on, the Boers advised us with numerous tokens of +their good-will. While this was being done a large force of the enemy +were massing at Alexandersfontein, as if they had finally decided to +take Kimberley without more ado. They deployed in battle array, +preparatory to sweeping all before them. The hooters had been relegated +to oblivion and already, swan-like, sung their sad, sweet song. Whether +the silence of these atrocious mimics induced the Boer to fancy that he +might surprise us, is not known. Certain it was that we did see him, and +were awaiting his coming with composure. It was a long wait. The mounted +men got tired sitting in their saddles, and were ordered out to query +the delay. They broke up into skirmishing parties and shook their fists +at the foe. But it was all to no purpose; the foe declined to be caught +with chaff, and decided "to fight another day." + +The townspeople expected a sensational sequel to the affair and +assembled in thousands to greet the returning horsemen. Mr. Cecil +Rhodes, attired in duck pants, a slouch hat, and a necktie, happened to +be passing in a cart at the same moment, and to his profound disgust was +greeted with cheers. He raised his hat, however, and smiled, with a +sigh. + +Saturday, contrary to expectation, was quiet. There was the capture of a +lot of cattle to avenge. A good haul had been made on the Friday +night--of fine corpulent cows, worth a deal of money, dealers said. They +were worth a deal of beef, and that was the feature about them of most +immediate interest. We had had no news from anywhere for a long while; +despatch riders, we conjectured, must have fallen at or into the hands +of the enemy. No matter; the British Army, colloquially speaking, knew +its way about. Thus when the shades of night were falling, the general +disposition was one of willingness to wait. The food, to be sure, +lacked something of its wonted excellence; but it served (in the +summer), and we did not grumble. The shelling, too, had fallen somewhat +flat. Mafeking was more out of the way and in a worse plight than +Kimberley. Reflections of this kind begot condescension and a noble +willingness to wait. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +_Week ending 25th November, 1899_ + + +The commandeering of cattle was an industry now well established. It was +a pleasing spectacle, on Sunday morning, to behold the results of the +preceding night's operations as they were driven through the streets, +and to witness the unconcern with which the languid quadrupeds suffered +the loss of their independence. Nor was the calm indifference with which +their drovers received the compliments shouted at them by passing +Imperialists one whit less admirable. The sight of the enemy's preserves +excited a degree of interest which might be equalled--not surpassed--by +the phenomenon (in pre-war days) of a procession of white elephants. And +in the general chorus of favourable criticism--favourable because they +were cheap, probably, if not exactly "gift" animals--nobody looked the +cattle in the mouth. Very popular were these confiscations; and in view +of so many augmentations of the stock at Kenilworth, it was not too much +to hope that the ravenousness of the public appetite would be allowed +its wonted scope. No longer was there meat for breakfast, not even on +Sunday morning when we had leisure to masticate it. To tell anybody, to +hint the heresy that eight ounces of meat sufficed to preserve health, +would be indiscreet. To suggest that an extra plate of porridge with a +few sardines thrown in (that is, to follow) might make up the +deficiency, would be rude. Tinned sardines, salmon, crawfish, brawn, and +such eatables were not reckoned fish at all; they were eaten--to stave +off starvation--but they did not appease. As for butter; we had none for +our bread! Fresh butter was unprocurable. Even the salted unguent sold +in tins was hard to get, and only a very good customer could buy a tin, +at a huge price, from his grocer. The hens stood the test of the times +better, and laid their eggs generously as if nothing had happened. But +their numbers were small, and not sufficient to provide for local +consumption at any time--still less so since chops had been proscribed. +The owners of the birds, sad to say, were in many cases small, +too--mentally; they ate more eggs, in lieu of butter, on toast than was +necessary. The price of eggs kept daily moving up by sixpences and +shillings, and they were yet comparatively cheap at elevenpence each +(each egg!). But it was some comfort, however cold, that money _could_ +buy eggs. They were indubitably fresh, but beyond the reach, too "high" +(at elevenpence) for the average man, or even for men of substance +opposed on principle to eating money. Ham and bacon, also, were +expensive. The local pork had never been highly prized. The African pig +is more noted for his _speed_ than for the rashers he offers when his +race is run; he is tough, and grunts vapidly; his tail corrugates rather +than curls; he eschews jewellery--his nose is free; and the land also +being free, he pays no rent. But the ox was "off" (in large measure), +and the pig, hitherto despised, had come to be looked up to as an asset +and a "gentleman." + +In the afternoon a heavy hailstorm passed over the town; the clatter of +hailstones--of enormous size--was unprecedented. It furnished a new and +refreshing topic of conversation, and the war was dropped for full five +minutes--while the shower lasted. Rumours Of a meditated attack on the +enemy's fortifications were the subject of much speculation; that the +morrow would be a big day was the general feeling at bedtime. + +The big day came round in due course; we had a big thunderstorm, but in +no other respect was Monday large. The Boers signalised the occasion by +the inauguration of a new plan of campaign, which, if the gods were +kind, would soon compel the surrender of the Diamond City. The +plan--like all great plans--was simple; a dozen guns were trained on +Kenilworth, where browsed the precious bullocks upon whose safety hung +the fate of Kimberley. To kill them all was the end in view. Inspirited +by the thought of the hunger and the "fall" that would follow, the enemy +poured forth a liberal fusillade upon Kenilworth. The cattle-guards, +exposed to grave danger, never shirked their duty. It was not until the +Boers had well warmed to their work that we managed by the play of a +Maxim to cool their ardour. The new departure was a failure. A most +incomprehensible bombardment was subsequently opened on an isolated +place, called "the Brickfields," where no animate thing above the bite +of a mosquito lived, moved, or had its being. + +The exigencies of our position necessitated the cultivation of early +rising; but the Boers had, so far, invariably set the ball rolling; they +had acquired a knack of irritating us in their choice of unexpected +moments for starting operations day by day. On Tuesday the +practicability of reversing this order of things was tested by our +gunners. The effect was not clearly apparent, but our shell excited +commotion--it wakened somebody, for the Boers could be seen moving +about. Retaliation soon followed; on the Brickfields again, a choice of +objective which was quite inexplicable. There was nothing there to hit +but bricks. The enemy--perhaps obsessed by the thought that he had +filled us with terror--may have assumed that the place was being used as +a refuge. Some believed that the Town Hall was _aimed_ at, for our +confidence in the skill of the Boer gunners had yet to ripen fully. The +firing was continued for some hours until the venue was changed to +Kenilworth, with no better success than before. + +We had a fair supply of ammunition for such guns as we possessed, and in +order to make it last as long as possible, economy was rigorously +observed. One day, however, De Beers astonished the Colonel by offering +to _manufacture_ shells, _ad lib_. The Colonel smiled; he was inclined +to regard the proposal as a joke of the Company's Chairman. But he was +persuaded to permit the test of a few samples made in the workshops, and +lo!--to his infinite astonishment the results were all that could be +desired. The missiles conducted themselves properly, and--contrary to +"expert" opinion--burst at the right moments. There being plenty of the +requisite raw material, a hundred shells were made in a day. This was a +great advantage and was appreciated to the full. Mr. Rhodes knew the +Boers loved him, and, by way of reciprocity, he had engraved on the base +of each shell: "With compliments from C.J.R." His initials sufficed; +the Boers knew him well. The conceit excited much mirth in town, as it +doubtless did among the enemy. + +Another letter in the afternoon; from the Boer General to Colonel +Kekewich. It concerned the Dutch again. The Colonel--patient +man--intimated in reply that the families in question had already twice +refused to leave him, and that he could not force nor drive them. The +Boers, we gathered from their envoy, were sick with typhoid fever, sick +with dysentry, sick of the war altogether--so sick, indeed, that part of +our visitor's mission was to borrow medicines and a doctor. That we +should have proven so obstinate in our resistance had not been +anticipated. Well, the Colonel could not refuse the medicines; he +sympathised with the sufferers; but in view of the fact that the +borrowers had already commandeered a doctor, he could not see his way to +lend another. + +We had set the ball rolling with such success in the morning that it was +determined to give it the last kick in the evening as well. To make +certain of this, a gun was charged and "sighted" while there was yet +light; and at nine o'clock a shell was sent hurtling through the shades +of night. Its effect, of course, was not observable; but if it were to +startle the enemy as much as the gun's boom did the whole of us, C. J. +R. and his unseasonable "compliments" must have fallen foul of some +"remarks." + +Next morning the gift was not at all gracefully acknowledged. The +unfortunate brickfields were pelted again; it was enigmatical; that Mr. +Rhodes should be reckoned "a brick," by Boers, was improbable; rumour +had it that his blood was hungered for. Some shells were hurled also at +the grand stand of the race-course. Finally, the enemy appeared to +suspect that the cattle might have had a hand in the despatch of the +nine o'clock missile, and he bombarded Kenilworth with great gusto. + +The houses of a number of our citizens were built immediately outside +the city boundary; and a strong feeling existed not only against +permitting these dwellings to be occupied, but also against allowing +some of their occupiers (who were Dutch) to remain outside the gaol. A +section of these people made no secret of their sympathy with their +kindred across the Vaal, nor of their belief that the war was being +waged on false issues. They were thus tempted to lend the Boers a little +practical assistance. Nor were they long in finding ways and means to +negotiate the loan; they arranged a code of signals which enabled them +to communicate with their friends. They had precious little of +importance to tell--unless the siege value of eggs could be so classed. +Anyhow they were caught signalling one night, and on the following +morning were arraigned before the Summary Court. + +This was the popular version of the story. How far it was true, I am not +in a position to say; but the charge was not sustained by the evidence. +The prisoners were acquitted, and ordered to find accommodation _within_ +the city. The Court took advantage of the occasion to throw out a +general hint about the inadvisability of permitting anybody to reside +near the borders of a beleagured town. + +We had held a grand review of our forces on the opening days of the +siege. The Regulars, the Light Horse, the Town Guard, etc., had filed +past the Colonel and the Mayor, amid the plaudits of the people and the +music of the band. The afternoon brought recollections of the +demonstration. The Boers appeared to be holding a pageant of their +own--for _our_ edification, no doubt. For several hours they were +marshalled on the veld with a demonstrativeness that seemed to say: "You +might as well give in at once; look at the size of us!" Their size was +certainly impressive; more so than their proficiency in drill. We beat +them hollow at drill; so hollow that we laughed arrogantly and loud. The +Boers could shoot well; but what was that--without drill! + +On Thursday morning we were still laughing when the guns of Wimbleton +proceeded to query our hilarity. Wimbleton Ridge, unfortunately, was +rather far away; we were unable to respond. Whether it was that the +revels of our risible faculties were ultimately attributed to the +cattle-stealing of Wednesday night, an energetic assault was suddenly +opened on Kenilworth. It is true, we had affected a tidy confiscation; +but that joke was now old--too old to laugh at. We had some "snipers" +all day endeavouring to worry the Boers. A mounted patrol, also, worried +them. In the afternoon the rain came down to complete their misery, and +the imperturbable oxen were let browse in peace. + +And from another quarter there was coming worry, to shatter the dreams, +the hopes, the "castles in the air" of Kimberley. The Relief Column was +approaching; this time for certain. We had heard like legends before, +but they were _only_ legends (before). The Column was really coming. A +native had come in with the news. Now, of a white man's reliability a +doubt would not be tolerated; but the native!--well, the native had +acquired a reputation for bad, bold mendacity that was altogether too +unscientific to be appreciated by a close and subtle aristocracy. Still, +the story was nice; we liked to believe it. There are natives and +natives--there is even a _Booker_ Washington--all men are not liars. The +Press, too, attached credence to the tale, and that went far to convince +us of its truth. A glance at the paper next morning established the +veracity of the Bantu. + +"We are authorised to state that a strong force has left Orange River, +and is moving forward to the relief of Kimberley." + +Such was the message. The joy was universal. In a few days the column +would be with us. Kimberley would be free. The siege was over! Hurrah, +the people shouted with an enthusiasm only transcended in degree by the +resolute contempt with which the reported approach of French was greeted +in the following year. The Queen was sung of with rare earnestness and +lung power. The Colonel was toasted and praised at the bars. +Baden-Powell was promised help; the Mayor was patronised. The column was +drunk to, not wisely, but too well; while Tommy Atkins' glories as a +soldier and a man were chorussed in unmeasured terms--and time. For the +rest--we were generous--the Boers we could forgive. But they must all be +captured; in the interests of the campaign it was not expedient that one +should escape. Where should they be housed? The gaol was not large +enough. The Town Hall was suggested. But the mines were finally +selected--with exquisite irony; for we little dreamt that the thousands +destined eventually to be driven there should be--our friends, indeed, +but not our friend the enemy! + +Friday was quiet, and a very jovial day in town. The Boers--in blissful +ignorance of their approaching doom--occupied themselves in disfiguring +the railway line still more. It was not easy to do; but it was done. In +the afternoon two tremendous explosions were heard. "There go the +culverts," was the expression in every mouth. And so it was; the +culverts were blown to pieces. + +The Colonel and his officers were getting weary of the cautious methods +of warfare of which the enemy never seemed to tire; and the opportunity +of inflicting a good and stunning blow was a consummation devoutly +wished for in military circles. The Column was coming, and nothing in +the way of a telling stroke had yet been struck--nothing worthy the +vaulting ambition of a soldier accomplished. Fighting is a soldier's +profession, and the peculiar opportunities afforded by a siege, for the +acquirement of fame and distinction, were too rare to be let pass +unseized. How much the Commander and his staff may have been influenced +by considerations of this kind, is not easy to say. But signs were not +wanting that a serious endeavour was to be made to induce Mahomet to +meet, as it were, the Mountain half way. The Regulars were looking to +their bayonets; the Light Horse were being equipped with brand new +steel; and--to make a long story short--at break of day on Saturday +morning a large body of infantry (composed of Regulars and Irregulars) +under the command of Colonel Chamier set out in a southerly direction, +towards Carter's Farm, with general instructions to make things hot for +trespassers. The enemy in possession of the Farm were thus to be +debarred from assisting their _confreres_ at a point where another +British force was to operate with more serious intent. To ensure the +success of this ruse, the services of a section of the Town Guard were +requisitioned for out-flanking purposes on the one side; while the +geographical position of the railway line permitted the utilisation of +the armoured train for similar service on the other. The infantry kept +steadily advancing until they secured a position which enabled them to +rattle with their rifles to some purpose--the artillery behind them also +helping. Their object was soon achieved; the Boers were forced to devote +their energies exclusively to their own defence. They sat +tight--obedient to the number one law of nature--engrossed in blazing at +the foe before them, which was precisely what the foe before them +wanted. + +In the meantime the real game was being played on the western border. +All our available mounted men, led by Colonel Scott-Turner, had crossed +the Lazaretto Ridge, and actually drawn close to a Boer +camp--unobserved. When the sentry _did_ open his eyes and had challenged +our advance agents no verbal response was made; but a rifle went off, +and the sentry fell. The Boers were of course instantly aroused by the +report; they rushed to their trenches, and a fierce rifle-duel ensued. +From the muzzles of the Mausers a withering volley came. Some of +Turner's men fell from their saddles, but the rest, nothing daunted, +pressed their advantage and charged pell-mell upon the foe. The Boers +fought gallantly, but were unable to resist the fury of the onslaught; +some of them threw down their arms; others made a dash for liberty; +while not a few fell fighting to the last. Thirty prisoners were taken; +also a large quantity of rifles. Seven Light Horse men were killed; +twelve were seriously, and fifteen slightly, wounded. Colonel +Scott-Turner, who was hit in the shoulder, had his horse shot under him. +Thus ended the most serious sortie of the siege--so far. + +The townspeople had assembled in concourse to welcome the warriors home. +Cheer after cheer rent the air as they passed, intermingled now and then +with a murmur of pity, suggested by the sight of a riderless horse. +Scott-Turner was the recipient of a special salvo, which nearly +unsaddled him again; and the other officers were bored to death bowing +their acknowledgments along the route. Privates with bandaged eyes or +arms were also singled out for vociferous greeting, only they passed the +bowing, and were not a bit bored. The Mayor himself, smoking a cigar, +came along in his own goods van! There was no mistaking his identity; it +_was_ the Mayor--the Mayor of the Diamond City in a wooden chariot! not +indeed in his robes of State, but--in the flesh! A flaming Red Cross +waved above the Mayoral van, and a long string of vehicles, adorned with +like emblems, followed. It was to the credit of the merchants generally +that they had voluntarily placed their horses and wagons at the disposal +of the military. Had all the combatants been stricken _hors-de-combat_ +there were facilities on the spot for their immediate conveyance to +hospital. + +The prisoners, who followed in the wake of their conquerors, were the +great objects of curiosity and interest. One or two spectators started +groaning; but a nudge, or failing that, a kick sufficed to correct their +bad taste. A weary, travel-stained group the captives looked--with their +unkempt locks and unshaven faces. No need to throw mud at them. The +universal feeling was rather one of sympathy, even of admiration, for +brave men whom fortune had omitted to favour. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +_Week ending 2nd December, 1899_ + + +Three and three make six weeks. We were not yet free--not quite. Our +period was doubled. The wary seers who "told us so" had triumphed; and +they exploited their intuition for what it was worth, or rather for a +great deal more, since clearly it was not worth much. They had triumphed +(by a short head, so to speak), or said they had. What matter. They were +minor prophets; and the nearness of Methuen and his Column enabled us to +bear the trumpet-blowing with equanimity and good humour. The monster +head-lines of the _Advertiser_--delightful paper!--proclaimed it "the +last week of the siege!" It was placarded on the walls. The newsboys +shrieked it abroad. The man in the street confirmed it. The populace +believed it. The grocer beamed, and the haberdasher made bold definitely +to state the date on which a particular reel of cotton could be +purchased. It even stimulated the hotel-keepers to discover hidden +spirits. The last week of the siege! how comforting it sounded; and what +potent influence it possessed to soothe temperaments unadaptable to +siege life. + +The funerals of the brave men who had fought their last fight on +Saturday took place in the afternoon. A funeral is a mournful thing +always; but here were six young men, cut down in the heyday of their +lives, being conveyed to their last resting-place. Most of them had +been esteemed citizens of the town in defence of which they died. It was +this, the circumstances under which they fell, the feeling that it was +for the preservation of the homes of the people they had given up their +lives, that evoked so much sympathy and sorrow. Thousands of mourners +attended to pay the fast tribute of respect to the dead. The various +sections of the Town Guard in processional order followed the coffins to +the cemetery. + +Many things occurred in the course of the day to enhance our +satisfaction with the prospect of emancipation. At eleven o'clock an +alarm was sounded, and the services in the churches were in consequence +cut short. The half of the Town Guard enjoying their day off had their +relaxation cut short, too--unnecessarily, as it turned out. Fifty or +sixty Boers were prowling about, a powerful glass enabled the zealous +look-out to explain. It was a mere storm in a teacup, not by any means +the first that had raged in that fragile utensil. This capped all past +tempests, and made the men who had been off duty exceedingly angry, and +the men who were on, exceedingly gay. Mafeking, however, was fighting on +still; and many Boers had been killed in Natal. The +_piece-de-resistance_ was the last to come. It concerned our own Relief +Column, whose progress the enemy had had the temerity to impede at +Belmont. How their hardihood had been rewarded with "cold steel"; how +they had quailed before it; how they had fled before the conquering +Methuen: these and other details, in all their charming vagueness, were +received with rapture. It was fine news; and wounded men in the +hospital, about to die, changed their minds and lived when they heard +it. + +We had a visitor--an emissary from the Boers--on Sunday. And though he +turned out to be a Scotchman!--so brimful of hope and good humour were +we that the circumstance detracted little from the cordiality of his +reception. He was a doctor, the doctor whose services had been +commandeered by the practical Boer. Some of us felt disposed to doubt +his nationality; but the gentleman talked Scotch--that is, +English--dialectically and broad; and when he shook hands familiarly +with a few local members of his profession, the sceptics were silenced. +Show me your company, etc., did not apply. The main point, however, was, +his business. What did he want? He wanted medicines, surgical +instruments, and things--a request which occasioned much +shoulder-shrugging _apropos_ of the medico's "nerve." That he served the +Boers in his professional capacity _only_, was evidenced by the candour +with which he opened his heart when queried as to the fortunes of the +family who had taken a loan of him. He admitted a loss of one hundred +killed and wounded Boers in the recent fight. This was rather higher +than our own estimate--and we were not given to minimise on the _wrong_ +side. It was wonderful. Whether the learned doctor exaggerated--but why +should he (a Scot) in such a case?--unless indeed the canny one desired +to please and make sure of his medicines. Anyhow he got his medicines +(including a personal prescription, from his "ain country"), and with a +bow of gratitude departed. + +The _Diamond Fields' Advertiser_ was quite readable on Monday. It +contained news, and less of the fiction (culled from old magazines) +with which it had been regaling us for weeks. On Monday we read of +modern London, and of transports, fights, etc. (in the present war). We +were engrossed in the news when the Boer guns began to play. Three shots +were fired, and we had to admire the impudence of an enemy who acted as +if the coming Column gave him no concern. The missiles hit nobody, +although one was facetiously alleged to have winged a locust. These +insects swarmed the land--it was difficult to avoid hitting them--and +one was not missed. We got more shells in the afternoon, but they did no +harm whatsoever. + +The predominant and all-absorbing subject of discussion was the Column, +its coming, its movements generally. We felt a little disappointed at +the delays which the opposition it had encountered rendered unavoidable. +But we were not despondent, nor hyper-critical--not yet. The +bombardments might be written down a fiasco, and what after all did it +matter whether relief came to-morrow, or not till the day following. +Still, these delays upset plans and calculations. They upset bets and +wagers, and the "bad losers" who villified both Briton and Boer with +delightful impartiality. They upset diary-writers--prospective meteors +in the firmaments of literature--and they upset the magnates of the De +Beers Corporation, whose annual meeting had been fixed for that day. The +meeting had to be postponed until Thursday, in order that the dividend +declared might immediately be cabled, in accordance with custom, to the +shareholders throughout the world. The wires were bound to be in +flashing order by Thursday. It was re-assuring to find oneself in +agreement on that head with a rock of common sense like Mr. Cecil +Rhodes. + +Ten more shells were pitched at us on Tuesday, only one of which reached +its destination; the other nine went off at a tangent somewhere else, to +the chagrin of curio company promoters. It would have been more tactful +of the Boers, we thought, to have reserved their ammunition for a more +aggressive foe. No great attention, however, was paid to their +extravagances, and from anything in the nature of repartee we refrained. +There was more serious work in hand; preparations were going on apace to +open up an avenue for the Relief Column. The Town Guard were ready; the +Light Horse, the Imperial troops, and the armoured train were also to +the fore. This formidable combination was soon on its way to the +Schmidt's Drift Road, where it found shelter behind some friendly +ridges. The Boers occupied Spitzkop and were looking across at us with +curiosity--not unmingled with uneasiness, we felt sure. They maintained +a rigid silence, and made no attempt to interfere with our arrangements +until the armoured train came into view. The ridges we occupied were +afterwards shelled, and the _Diamond Fields' Artillery_ responded. While +this not too bloody duel was in progress, a body of mounted men had +received instructions to take up a position away to the right of +Spitzkop. + +It grew dark eventually, and we decided, or rather got orders, to remain +where we were for the night. Given a choice we would have done nothing +of the sort; it was chilly weather outside canvas; we had not come +prepared for a bivouac, and we had no great coats nor blankets. But they +were subsequently sent out to us. To satisfy the pangs of hunger, which +were asserting themselves with increasing importunity, we tried +(advisedly) the pockets of the coats, and there found the goods +required. There were belated "Guards" who got blankets _only_. How they +fared is not recorded, but I believe they asked for more! The firing had +by this time ceased on both sides; but the impression was that it would +be resumed early next morning; that a battle was imminent, and a sleep +desirable but not at all imminent. Our "beds" were too strange and cold +for sleep--as in the case of peaceful people when travel necessitates a +departure from feathers to planks of straw. We watched the play of the +searchlight, and were interested observers of a responsive gleam from +Modder River. The Column was there for a certainty. We had been +listening all day to the booming of guns, but had yet no idea that it +was connected with the battle of Modder River. Ultimately we ceased +chattering, and charmed _Morpheus_ at last--all unconscious of the sad +morrow. + +For a sad morrow it was. The most tragic day of the siege! A rumour ran +riot that Scott-Turner had been killed; but the people _would not_ +believe it. Colonel Scott-Turner dead! It was hard to convince the +populace of the fate of the gallant Colonel; harder still to inculcate +that over with him to the great majority had passed twenty-four of his +followers. But so it was. Of the survivors thirty were wounded! + +Some seventy or eighty mounted men had attacked the Boers in possession +of Carter's Farm (which had been re-taken), and had carried the Farm in +the face of a withering fire from the enemy--who fell back upon a +stronger position. Nothing daunted, our men brought up their guns and +prepared to repeat their success. The Boers resisted fiercely, but were +eventually driven back to a third line of defence. Night was rapidly +descending, but this notwithstanding, the Light Horse were ordered to +complete their victory. It was in this last rush that their daring +leader was struck down. The third position was actually taken; but the +disappearance of the light rather handicapped the gunners. The enemy was +re-inforced, and the remnants of the Light Horse were obliged to +evacuate the ground that had cost them so much. + +These are the bare facts of the affair--the facts which came to light. +Contradictory opinions as to whether there had been a blunder were +freely expressed. On the conflicting theories advanced I refrain from +commenting. It did not, for the moment, concern the people at large upon +whose shoulders the blame rested. Twenty-four dead! and Scott-Turner one +of them. Seventeen of the number had been well-known and respected +citizens. The _Diamond Fields' Advertiser_ commented on the fight as a +"triumph" for British arms. This point was, to put it mildly, debatable. +The feeling uppermost in the mind of the plain man was that nothing had +been accomplished that could compensate for the loss of so many brave +men. The consoler who argued that the losses on the other side exceeded +ours did not console. Nor did the vapourings of him who prated of what +we, acting in conjunction with the Column, would presently give the +Boers. The disaster enkindled a distrust of the military which remained +inextinguishable to the end. Wherefore the need of risking so many +lives, at such a moment, with a Column outside, on its way to set us +free? That the critics--and they were legion--should search for motives +was inevitable; and the tactics of the military were promptly attributed +to a desire for glory (here below). This may have been an erroneous, a +wild conclusion; but it was jumped to with great satisfaction. +Theoretically, the idea of getting in touch with the approaching troops +was good; but it was a premature effort--how awfully premature we knew +at last. Our defenders were few enough to defend the perimiter of the +city. How were we to hold the positions we had sought to get possession +of? To this and much more (_after_ the event) the public demanded an +answer. They asked in vain; for under the "Resolute Government" of +Martial Law, public opinion is an Irishism. + +The funerals made a most impressive spectacle. The troops and Volunteers +with the bands of their respective regiments headed the cortege. There +was profound sadness in the faces of the vast assemblage that crowded +the streets. The twenty-four coffins were lowered into the graves, amid +a solemn silence broken now and then by the Ministers of religion who +read the burial services. It was an awe-inspiring scene, that will be +long remembered in the Diamond City. + +The signalling went on as usual in the evening. Heavy fighting, we were +told, had taken place at Modder River, with considerable loss on both +sides. That was all; it was enough; news of that nature was not +satisfying. The De Beers Directors assembled to hold their adjourned +meeting, and to adjourn it again. Mr. Rhodes acknowledged that he had +been wrong in his calculations. Everybody was wrong, but nobody except +Cecil played the candid friend. + +Friday was peaceful; an opportune occasion for reviewing our losses. All +told, forty lives had been lost. The recent disaster brought down upon +the military authorities a chorus of adverse criticism. It had been +discovered, too, that it was not the _first_ disaster; and for the +losses sustained in the earlier sorties the Colonel and his advisers +were also condemned. This was hard on the military, whose conduct of +previous operations had been extolled by the men in the street who now +inveighed against it. There were, of course, fair-minded people who were +too honest not to remember this; but they could not _forget_ their meat +allowances; and they wrathfully connived at the hard sayings without +going so far as to join in their dissemination. But, indeed, what with +regrets, tragedies, dry bread, and indifferent dinners--their combined +effect was not to lift us high above ourselves (later on, the altitude +was better). Down at the railway station extensive preparations were +being made for the revivial of traffic. Hundreds of men were employed +laying down new rails, and widening the _terminus_--to provide space for +the miles of trams in the wake of the Column. The Royal Engineers, +accompanying the troops, were repairing the line as they advanced. Other +people, who knew better, had it that a new railroad through a circuitous +route was being made. This was asserted with a positiveness, a +clearness, as it were, of second sight that cowed all promptings of +common sense. But it was not of supreme importance by what route the +train came, if it only came soon. Not a few were indifferent as to +whether it ever came (in); they would be satisfied with a seat in a +truck going _out_. We were anxious to know what was going on in the +world. An intense longing for a glimpse of Stock Exchange quotations +existed in some quarters; others were dying to "back" horses; and there +were guileless people whose sorrows were epitomised in a sigh for a +letter, or two, (or a dozen) from home, and corresponding assurances +that all was well there. We speculated a good deal on the probable depth +of the piles of correspondence accumulating for each of us. The +letter-sorters were not enjoying their holidays; we hoped--we knew they +would soon end. Had we dreamt that they were to lengthen into another +seventy days, the dream would assuredly have killed us. But, thank +goodness, in the watches of the night our sleep was not haunted by the +spectral truth. Seventy _hours_ assimilated better with--our dreams. +There was the Column busy signalling and settling it all with the +Colonel. The Colonel was certainly a reticent man; he gave us precious +little _data_, to supplement our faith. But the _nearness_ of Methuen +was _data_ enough for us. It did not do, it was foolish when it was +useless, to be too curious. It was puzzling, to be sure, to watch the +movements of the Boers, or rather their lack of movement. That they saw +the signals and knew what to expect went without saying. And yet they +perversely showed no signs of running away. On the contrary, they kept +improving their defences and generally indicating that they had come to +stay. We liked the _hardihood_ of this attitude; but were on the whole +inclined to pity the poor beggars. Defiance, in the circumstances, could +only mean annihilation for them. Kimberley reasoned thusly: Kimberley +reasoned well. + +Saturday made it still clearer that the ineffable enemy, so far from +being frightened, was obdurate yet. Large commandoes of Boers had joined +the besiegers during the night. All day long they toiled like Trojans, +digging trenches. At Oliphantsfontein they erected a new camp and made +their fortifications unassailable. We could only conclude that they +purposed making a stand. The fatuousness of such a course was clear to +us; for with the aid of the Relief Column we would presently be in a +position to attack the Boers from many sides; to hem them in; to cut off +retreat; and to kill or make prisoners of them all. It was a bold +conviction; we still viewed things through Napoleonic glasses. + +It was stated that President Steyn was outside, to stimulate the +burghers with his presence and eloquence. The news was interesting, and +the hope was fairly general that no worse fate would be his than that of +a prisoner of war. There were also some particulars of the Modder River +fight; the Boers had been driven from their kopjes; hundreds had been +shot; thousands made prisoners; and whips of guns captured. This was not +quite a proper version of what happened at the Modder (it is +questionable whether we were ever made acquainted with the actual +facts); but we believed it all; it sounded well. One of the funny +features of the siege in its earlier stages was the readiness on the one +hand with which a practical community swallowed good news, however +false; and the stern disinclination evinced on the other to be "taken +in" by the truth when it chanced to leak out and happened to be +disagreeable. + +Such was the condition of affairs when forty-nine long days had crept +by. As to the brightness of the immediate future no misgivings existed. +The days would soon shorten to their normal duration, and be all the +happier for the antecedent gloom. Relief could not in the nature of +things be very far away. Ah, no; it never was; that was the pity of +it--the irritant destined to deepen our disgust--to nourish our +discontent. At Mafeking they were spared at least the galling +consciousness of relief so near, and yet so far. The irritation, +however, was not to be felt yet. We looked confidently to an early +release--so confidently that the decadence of dinners did not distress +us. We considered it of relatively little consequence that provisions +were becoming scarce; they would last another fortnight "in a pinch," we +thought. As for luxuries, we talked of them, and promised shortly to +make up for lost time. The anticipated reunion between bread and butter +was a sustaining thought. The Column might be trusted to carry with it a +sufficiency of firkins to achieve that glorious end; and we were +meanwhile content to be fastidious in our choice of jams, and to be the +bane of our grocer's existence. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +_Week ending 9th December, 1899_ + + +For such comfort as preserved fruit could shed over the soul was still +ours. It was not classed as a "necessary," and the retailers being free +to charge freely for it could sell it at a price too "long" for the +purses of the many. Dry bread is an unpalatable thing, and the new +"Law's" loaf was superlative in that respect. The grocer was beginning +to discriminate, so far as he dared, between his friends (his customers) +and the casual purchaser, whose affected cordiality did not deceive the +shrewd old wretch. Butter had ceased to be practical politics; fruit and +vegetables were sorely missed. When existence is rendered trying by the +scorching rays of a Kimberley sun, fruit and vegetables are essential to +the preservation of health; but there was none preserved in the summer +of the siege. Grapes grew in corrugated green-houses outside the doors +of the houses, but there were no vineyards to speak of. The quality of +the fruit, too, was poor; and though it was yet far from being ripe, it +was guarded with a vigilance that made robbing a garden a suicidal +proceeding. The indefatigable coolies--our not too green +green-grocers--did contrive to get hold of a species of wild grape, no +bigger nor sweeter than haws, and to sell them for two shillings a +pound! Two _pence_ could in normal times procure the best product of the +vine; but these of course were siege grapes, and siege prices were +charged for them, as in the matter of siege eggs, siege drinks, siege +potatoes, siege everything--that the "Law" allowed. Morning lemons were +never so badly needed; oranges would hardly suit the purpose--but they, +too, were gone. Apples were out of the question; water-melon parties had +ceased to be. The absence of the "Java" (guava) broke the Bantu heart. +"'Ave a banana" was (happily) not yet composed, and gooseberries--Cape +gooseberries do not grow on bushes. Small green things which lured one +to colic were offered by the cool coolies for twopence each--a sum that +would have been exorbitant for a gross had they not borne the hall-mark +of siege peaches. + +For vegetables, too, our livers waxed torpid, and our blood boiled in +vain. The potato was gone; the benefits conferred on posterity by Sir +Walter Raleigh were at length realised in a negative way. Miniature +"Murphies" fetched four pence halfpenny _each_, while an adult member of +the _genus_ at ninepence was worth two of the little ones. Mr. Rhodes +may have luxuriated on potatoes (_cum grano salis_!) but few others were +so very Irish. The De Beers Company owned a large garden, and that this +should have been given over to the hospital was a delicate consideration +of which even the dyspeptic could not complain. Cabbages were a dream. +Of cauliflowers a memory lingered. Soft words buttered no parsnips. +Onions were "off"--so we went on weeping. Everything in the garden but +some wizened carrots had withered away. Such carrots! small, cadaverous, +brick-coloured things, no bigger than a cork, as dry, as masticable, +and, still like a cork, with little save a _smell_ to commend their +indulgence. But like the donkeys that we were, we ate them every time! + +Talking of corks reminds me of bottles, and the precious little that was +in _them_. We had no whiskey; think of that, ye Banks and Braes! There +were nice crystal brands in the hotel windows, but--I shall be dealing +later with _oils_. Sceptical tipplers, whose every feature spelled +whiskey, were reduced to the painful necessity of diluting their sodas +with lime juice; and so strongly did the "claret" taste of timber that +the beverage was adjudged a non-intoxicant with _extraordinary +unanimity_! Port and sherry, being beyond our reach, were despised, like +our neighbour's sour grapes. The publican, however, had good spirits +still; Cape brandy (or "Smoke," as it was called) found a market at +last, and swelled heads enormously. But if the signs and portents of a +drought in beer and stout were to be trusted, the unkindest cut of all +was yet to come. And it did come. In the thirsty clime of Kimberley the +consumption of the brewer's goods was large; and in the restaurants, +with bars attached, good meals were sold cheaply to facilitate the sale +of the beer which "washed" the food down. When the drought came the +proprietors of these delectable taverns promptly raised their charges by +fifty per cent., albeit the value and the variety of the victuals had +lessened. Men in receipt of good wages loved beer and indulged the +passion freely. The addition of the Imperial allowances to their incomes +had intensified their thirst. Then there were the unusual conditions +under which they lived, the paucity of provisions, the great heat--all +these things tended to damage temperance and to exalt the flowing bowl. +A multitude suffered when beer and stout gave out. The tipplers grew +pale and visibly thinner; nature made her exactions with unwonted +abruptness. A certain degree of sympathy was felt for the Bacchanals, by +none more sincerely than by the druggist--artful old quack! It was to +him the sufferers had to turn, to such straits were they reduced. Drugs +were booming, and the druggist, not satisfied with the normal hugeness +of his profits, slipped into the fashion and fleeced all round with +unprecedented flagrancy. A purgative proclamation--classing pills as +"necessaries"--was called for, but it never came. Obese folk, fearful +that their flesh was falling off in lumps, drank freely of cod liver +oil. On the other hand, fragile creatures of delicate mould thought +black tea not only cheaper but ever so much nicer. Of course, the poor +chemist was not responsible for tastes. He had much to answer for; but +he was really sorry for the nerves and the penury of the poor. + +With Monday came three despatch-riders who reported that heavy fighting +had taken place--somewhere; the authorities declined to tell us where. +The Boers remained docile all day; the heat was oppressive, but their +silence was more generally attributed to a tardy realisation of their +position. The military were unusually alert and watchful. The public +graciously approved of this watchfulness, but pooh-poohed the danger of +invasion. We were tired hearing day after day that an attack on the town +was to be made "to-night"; it was to be "taken" six nights out of every +seven, the last being, if I mistake not, the one on which General +French was feted at the Kimberley Club. + +Elaborate arrangements were made on Tuesday for the better protection of +our cattle. The quadrupeds, Dutch and English, were on the best of +terms--a happy augury, surely, for the amity which would unite the +bipeds of the land when the war was done. We had a batch of natives +employed digging trenches for the cattle-guards. A patrol was at hand to +nip in the bud any interference with the work which might be +contemplated. If the Boers did interfere, so much the better; +interference would involve a fight, and from a friendly tussle in the +sun the patrol was not averse. On the south and west sides the enemy +still laboured at their fortifications. We knew not what to make of +this; it nonplussed us. We had ceased ascribing it to want of knowledge: +for we had, reluctantly, let it down on us that the Boers knew as much +of the Column's movements as we did ourselves. But of course we also +knew that the Boer was a child in such matters as generalship and +tactics. + +Every afternoon, at this period, the "child" delighted in trying to hit +the head-gear of the Premier Mine. Whether it was the red flag that +floated at the top or the thing itself he sought to tatter is uncertain. +At any rate, it was no easy matter to hit the head-gear, as the gunner +had long since discovered, nor, could he hit it, to smash it. Hundreds +of shells were thrown at it, but it was never struck, and to damage it +materially it would be necessary to strike it more than once. Its +substance was tough--what Bismarck would have called iron painted to +look like wood. Another object of Boer wrath was the searchlight. Night +attacks were supposed to be the enemy's _forte_, and it was only the +difficulty of extinguishing the candle that delayed _our_ extinction. +And so perhaps it was; we never knew for certain, for the difficulty of +applying the snuffers remained insuperable to the end. Numberless +missiles were shot at the searchlight, but its radiance was never dimmed +for a moment. + +The most important of the thousand and one rumours circulated on Tuesday +was that a place called Jacobsdal had been taken by Methuen. We were not +pleased to hear it. Being anxious to give Kimberley away to his lordship +for nothing, we were at a loss to know why he should go out of his way +to lay hold of a town when a city offered. There were, however, +extenuating circumstances, in that a vast quantity of provisions had +been seized at Jacobsdal. Provisions were now in our eyes of greater +value than diamonds even! On Wednesday the _Advertiser_ corroborated the +rumour (_re_ Jacobsdal); it gave details of the whole brilliant +achievement, and sundry absorbing items anent the digestiveness of the +confiscated supplies. All this was highly interesting; but unfortunately +it was all untrue; it was discovered to be fiction. It was not the first +lie (not quite), but none other had been so quickly, so frankly exposed. +Our newspaper had been misinformed, and candidly told us so. + +The De Beers directors, looking a little emaciated from anxiety rather +than want of nourishment, assembled in Stockdale Street to hold their +adjourned meeting. But the Column had not yet come in, the Chairman +announced. The public, who were growing sarcastic, opined that the +Kafirs imprisoned in the compounds knew it! Mr. Rhodes suitably +explained how sorry he was to disappoint again; the fault was not his; +he was not (he confided) in the confidence of Lord Methuen. A further +postponement was unavoidable, and the meeting dispersed for a week. The +period was significantly long. + +The happiest section of the community was the composite collection of +human units that constituted the Town Guard, and lived in the camps. +There were to be found representatives of all nationalities--English, +Dutch, Irish, Scotch, German, Norwegian, French, etc. With the local +(Kimberley) variety there intermingled all sorts and conditions of +refugees. Men of wealth, of high social standing and education were +there, sleeping in the same "bed," playing cards and competing in +"anecdotage" with the sons of toil. From the very beginning of the siege +the Town Guard had had to "rough it" in rations. It was black tea or +blacker coffee for breakfast; sorry soup and meat (the osseous joints +that made the soup) for dinner; the breakfast again for tea--that made +up from day to day the dreary _menu_. The Mayor, indeed, had for a +little while managed to administer currant buns (it was not easy always +to find the currant) for supper; but even prior to the official +proclamation of their indigestibility they had gone the way of all +luxuries. The generosity of the public, however--the female portion of +it especially--must not be forgotten. Substantial presents, which were +always acknowledged through the columns of the Press, came frequently to +the camps. The cynics detected astuteness in this rush into print; but +while they mourned the frailty of human nature, as instanced by the +vanity competitions in the papers, they humbled themselves to the Greeks +so far as to partake of such gifts as were offered. Tobacco, cigarettes, +and other dainties were received, and consumed with rude rapidity. Every +man was supposed to be responsible for the safety of a tin pannikin, out +of which to scald himself drinking hot tea (for it had the merit of +being hot--if a black draught has any). But there were soldiers who +denied having been supplied with "cups"; whose appeals for pannikins +were persistently flouted by the military utensil-keeper-in-chief. The +"tape" of the Service could not tie up mendacity! The lives of honest +martyrs were thus spent in an eternal borrowing quest, and the petty +larceny of pannikins was a common and popular crime. Many a heated, yet +amusing, quarrel, many a storm in a porringer relieved the monotony of +camp life. + +Concerts did it, too, at frequent intervals; and fine concerts they +were. At the Reservoir camp they were particularly excellent, not the +least interesting "turns" being the sanguinary "sword speeches" of the +Officer Commanding. Comic and melodious songs were rendered with equal +gusto; the Royal Artillery rivalled the D.F. Artillery, and Tommy +Atkins, the merchants, shopboys, clerks, and "civies" generally. The +services of an Irishman--_born_ great, by virtue of the brogue with +which he kicked Off to Philadelphia--were in great demand at all the +halls. One night the Chair was occupied by the Senior Officer, +surrounded by his staff, in a halo of cigarette smoke. He (the Chairman) +had a box in front of him, doing duty as a table; a rough programme lay +before him, and two candles, with long beer bottles serving as +_candelabra_, threw sufficient light on the "table," and lit the +cigarettes. The president had bottles in front of him, containing +something still more illuminating than tallow (judging by the hue of the +faces privileged to sample it), from which the ring round the "table" +from time to time regaled itself. Many an envious glance was shot at the +ring; and by-the-by it was wonderful the celerity with which the +diffidence so marked at the outset disappeared when it was observed that +vocal contributors (soloists) were by courtesy entitled to a "pull" from +the bottles. Everybody wanted to sing, and dismal howlers who, +ordinarily, would die first, were driven, tempted, lured, impelled to +howl for drink. The liquor, _generously_ diluted with minerals, was +served out in pannikins; and when the concert ended the National Anthem +was taken by storm, as also were the empty bottles to squeeze, lick, and +drain to the dregs. + +The Boer guns continued to sing inexplicably dumb; Wednesday was dull. +The ladies, who had been pretty free in their criticisms of the Boers, +were saying hard things of people nearer home. They had a grievance +against the butcher and his manipulation of the meat. The clamour at the +shambles of the butcher despot was growing in volume. Hungry masses +crowded the shops, and that some should emerge meatless from the melee +was inevitable. Nepotism was reputed to be much in vogue. The Colonel +had curbed the meat vendors in the matter of price; a strictly limited +number of oxen were slaughtered daily, but the number was sufficient to +provide everyone with his or her half-pound of flesh. This arrangement, +however, was to some extent rendered nugatory by cute people who had +what was pithily termed "a leg" of the butcher. Thus a "friend," or a +monied acquaintance, could get as much meat as he could eat (a good +deal!)--which amounted to the legitimate share of perhaps half a dozen +starving creatures who had cash in the bank! In practice the system of +distribution did not work well; the State interference was no doubt a +blessing; but it was a mixed blessing. + +On Thursday a mounted force re-visited Carter's Farm to entice the Boers +into battle. In pursuance of this purpose some shells were expended; but +the Boers disregarded the challenge. The rumour-monger, who had an +explanation for everything, interpreted their silence to mean that the +guns had been requisitioned to oppose the advance of Methuen, who did +not seem to be making great headway. One of the sights of Thursday was a +_khaki_ horse! We were in this connection accustomed to such diversity +of shades as black, grey, white, and brown; but a painted quadruped had +never before been seen in Kimberley. The authorities were responsible +for the painter's assault on the lily. It would appear that a high +percentage of white and grey horses had been shot in the several +sorties; hence the necessity of varnishing the survivors. The white +animals were more discernible to the eye behind a Mauser. Condy's Fluid +was the "varnish" utilised; and curious to relate, one noble steed was, +not khaki, but _green_ after treatment. Perhaps he wanted to be shot. + +A fund for the benefit of the families whose bread-winners had fallen in +the defence of Kimberley was opened on Friday. The right man put the +collection in motion; Mr. Rhodes, on behalf of De Beers, headed the list +of subscriptions with ten thousand pounds. The Diamond Syndicate +followed with two thousand. The Mayor, with the sanction of the Town +Council, gave two hundred; and the citizens' "mites" were very decent +indeed. It was also decided to erect a memorial in honour of the dead; +for this object seven hundred pounds was subscribed. The Refugee +Committee continued to perform their duties with unabated energy. It was +creditable to all concerned that nothing was left undone to lighten the +burden of the poor; and the deftness--not to speak of the charity--of +the ladies in the scooping out of meal and sugar was admirable. + +Saturday was heralded in by the music of the Column's cannon, which +verily had charms to soothe our savage breasts. It was lyddite melody; +the lyddite shells were singing. It was a siege article of faith, a +siege truism, that the Boers could not long stand up to a British +bombardment; and it was an accepted dogma that lyddite was the article +utilised to knock them down. We had read and heard (and magnified) much +of what lyddite could do; our ideas of its decimating powers were +elephantine--and _white_ at that. Sometimes we pitied the Boers; but +were not cognisant, of course, in such weak moments, of the disinfecting +qualities of bottled vinegar; we did not then know that a portable cruet +formed part and parcel of each burgher's kit. It did not need a protest +from General Joubert against the use of lyddite to confirm our +impressions of what it could do. The local Press was alarmingly eloquent +on lyddite; we read not only of what it _could_ do, but consistent +accounts of what it had actually _done_. At a certain battle, for +example, a lyddite shell fell among seventy Boers; and when the smoke +cleared away only eight remained alive, seven of whom were asphyxiated +by the fumes! We were glad that one escaped. Many similar tales were +printed for our delectation, and our credulity--being of the siege +order--was pathetically fine. + +In the afternoon we opened fire with our big gun. The Boers retaliated +with unusual fury, and, I am sorry to add, with unusual effect, for in +the duet, which lasted several hours, a missile killed Sergeant-Major +Moss and wounded six men. The death of Mr. Moss caused very general +regret; like many who had gone before him, he was a well-known townsman; +like others, too, he left a wife to mourn him. The body of a white lad +who had disappeared some weeks before was discovered on Saturday; and +these two additions brought up our total of deaths to forty-four. It may +be well to explain that the list included three or four natives. The +natives are human beings; but some people cannot see it. + +So closed the fifty-sixth day of the siege. Two months had rolled by, at +traction engine speed. Some impatience manifested itself; the food was +all wrong. But we looked forward, and were sustained by the ultra-jolly +Christmas that would be ours. The few who had promised themselves an +Antipodean Yuletide in the frost--or slush--of merry England could not +keep their words. The most would have to be made of the coast towns. +What an exodus it would be! To sniff the salt air; to fight our battles +over again; to fondle the missing (gastric) links that would litter the +Christmas table! The "greater number" could not of course go far from +the Diamond City. But Modder River was near. There were the +time-honoured annual excursions to that modest watering-place and now +famous battlefield to excite the imagination, where "shells" could be +gathered of more historic value than the "common" ones by the sea. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +_Week ending 16th December, 1899_ + + +The pleasures of Sunday were on the wane. The outbreak of war had +detracted little from its peace; but its dinners were--oh, so different! +Sunday had formerly been in the main an occasion of abandonment to the +joy of eating. The propriety of such a custom may be open to question; +but we had turned over a new leaf--until the perusal of the old one +would be feasible again. Our bad habits were compulsorily in abeyance: +the "good tables" were gone. The Simple Life is a splendid thing, but +unless _voluntarily_ adopted it sheds all its splendour. Delicacies had +long been falling victims to galloping consumption, and at this date had +totally succumbed to the disease. Worse still, the "necessaries" were +more or less infected, and disposed to go the way of the dainties. Meat +troubles maddened everybody. The beef was _all_ neck. Everybody said so. +Not one in ten, it seems, ever managed to secure a more tender morsel +from the flesh of these remarkable bovine _phenomena_ (for they _were_ +oxen, not giraffes!) The meat was indiscriminately chopped up in the +shambles, and the odd one (in ten) who had not his legal complement of +"neck" alloted him was just as likely to be given for his share--to take +or leave--a nose, his due weight of tail, a teat or two, or a slab of +suet, as any more esteemed ration from the rib. It was laid down that +favouritism had no place in Martial Law; but we were not _all_ Medes and +Persians in Kimberley. The rush for meat between six and eight o'clock +in the morning was one of the sights of the siege: It sometimes happened +that people, after a long wait, would throw up the sponge in despair and +go home meatless; the odds were that they had not missed much, but their +grievance was not the less real, nor their "language" the more correct, +on that account. There were persons who never _tried_ to get meat; and +they were probably the wisest--'the world knows nothing of its greatest +men.' In the scramble for precedence a fight occasionally ensued. The +special constable did his best to keep order; but he had only a +truncheon; he had no other weapon, not even a helmet--that awe-inspiring +utensil!--to cow the multitude. Numbers of people deliberately +transgressed the "Law" by turning out at _five_ in the morning to make +sure of their meat; and the Summary Court was kept busy fining these +miscreants ten shillings each, with the usual "oakum" alternative. One +lady (in a letter to the Editor) drew a vivid picture of the rush for +meat. She had travelled a good deal, she told us, and had "roughed it" +on Boxing nights; she had been (unaffectionately) squeezed to +suffocation in London. But nowhere outside the Diamond Fields had she +encountered the rudeness that springs from ten thousand empty stomachs! +Who now shall say that hunger is good sauce? + +There were, besides meat troubles, minor grievances increasing every +day. A plate of porridge was a thing of the past; and milk of course was +an _antediluvian_ quantity! All the tinned milk had been commandeered +for the hospital. Nobody objected to the priority of that institution's +claims; but it was complained that the quantity commandeered was +excessive, unnecessarily large. Eggs were one and a penny _each_ (each +egg!), which sum few could afford to pay, and a number, whose economic +souls revolted at it, declined to pay, through sheer respect for +proportion. There was nothing to fall back on but "mealie-pap," an +imitation porridge, made of fine white mealie meal; the very colour of +if tired one; white stirabout, connoisseurs opined, was not a natural +thing. There were scores who would not touch "mealie-pap" with a +forty-foot spoon. But they changed in time; "I am an acquired taste," +cries Katisha; so is "mealie-pap." We acquired the taste for it, just as +people do for tomatoes (where were they!) or a glass of vinegar and +water. This hew porridge was not new to the natives; they dissipated on +it three times a day, and were satisfied so long as they had sugar to +make it doubly fattening. It was all so unlike the piping times of +peace! Sunday was now a bore, productive chiefly of _ennui_. On Monday +one could at least scour the town in search of something to eat; and +many a coolie shop was invaded by bluffers, dressed in the "little brief +authority" of a Town Guard's hat, who endeavoured to bully the coolie +into unearthing hidden stores. But to no avail; the coolie was not to be +frightened, nor even excited, by hat or pugaree. His stock of good +things had indeed been reduced to lozenges, sugar-sticks, and other +dental troubles. + +Nothing startling was expected on Monday; but we were disappointed. The +noise sounded like the roar of thunder; we had heard similar sounds +emanate from Modder River; but these were undoubtedly louder and nearer. +It soon became evident that they could not be thunder-claps; they were +too continuous and unceasing. We listened for six hours to the incessant +booming of British artillery--the finest in the world! What else could +it be! Would there be a Boer left, we asked ourselves, would one survive +to depict the carnage around him. The guns in action must have numbered +forty or fifty. Soon a great rush was made for the debris heaps on the +Reservoir side--whence, through a glass, the shells could be seen +bursting in rapid succession at Spytfontein. Strong though the position +admittedly was, its defenders could never resist a cannonade so awful. +It was the famous, disastrous battle of Magersfontein that was in +progress. But of that we then knew nothing. We knew not that hundreds of +the Highland Brigade lay dead, nor that while Kimberley was brimming +over with enthusiasm at the prospect of immediate freedom, dismay was +rampant everywhere else. There we were, twenty miles from the scene of +slaughter, looking on, not only ignorant of the truth, but entirely +mistaken in our assumption that it was what we wished it to be. + +The sight of what appeared to be a balloon (and we soon discovered that +it was nothing else) excited tremendous interest. It ascended and +descended repeatedly during the battle, apparently for the purpose of +locating the enemy and directing the fire of Methuen's guns. We had been +inundated with narratives of the extraordinary strength of the positions +into which Boer ingenuity had converted the kopjes of Magersfontein. No +further attention was paid to these tales, for lyddite was a terrible +thing--that could move kopjes. It was but a matter of hours until the +Column would be with us, unless, indeed, it paused for rest. The next +day, we felt, would end the Siege of Kimberley, and bring again into +vogue good dinners, buttered bread, and--something to drink. + +When firing ceased at length, the Beaconsfield Town Guard determined to +make a noise on their own account. The easiest way to do it was to sound +the alarm; and they did sound it, with right good will. They had +observed a large party of the enemy clearing out of Alexandersfontein, +and were possessed of an hallucination that it portended an attack on +Beaconsfield. These wolf-cries, however, were venial faults; they +denoted watchfulness; we were not disposed to take umbrage at small +things; it was a day of victory. No suspicion of the truth flashed +through our minds to upset our comfortable conclusions. Our ignorance +was bliss; the folly of wisdom was to manifest itself all too soon. + +The _Advertiser_ had news at last--authentic news and fresh; and forth +from Stockdale Street was launched a three-penny "Special," to tell of +the balloon "we" had seen and of the cannon "we" had heard. That was +all. We put down our tickeys without a murmur. In the fulness of our +hearts we said the paper had to live. The revenue from its advertising +columns was a cypher, since there was so little to advertise about, and +so little need to advertise anything that _was_ about. The "ads." had +fallen off only in the sense that they were no longer paid for. They +were still printed (to fill up space); and very annoying reading they +made. Before, there was _some_ truth in them; now, there was none. How +we sighed for the times of extreme individualism. + +In the afternoon a football match was played. The gate-money was handed +over to the Widows' and Orphans' Fund. Our happy speculations on what +happened at Magersfontein served a good purpose here in stimulating the +generosity of the spectators. A team of our visitors (the Lancashire +Regiment) lined up against the pick of the Citizen Soldiers. The game +was well contested, but the superior discipline of the Colonel's lot +told, and they won. + +At break of day on Tuesday the Column's guns were at it again. This was +disappointing, inasmuch as it led us to infer that some Boers were yet +alive at Magersfontein. And our ardour was further damped by the De +Beers directors who instead of formally dispersing until the next day, +once more adjourned their meeting--_sine die_. What did it mean? A +Special was shortly forthcoming and was bought up eagerly, while many +eyes were being strained to catch a glimpse of Lord Methuen's legions in +the distance. The Special gave us news of a fight, indeed; but not of +_the_ fight; it was Modder River over again. In fine, we were sold +again, for the Modder River fight was--if not quite ancient history--as +remote from our thoughts as the "famous victory" at Blenheim in ages +past. Despatch riders had been coming and going, we knew all about the +River battle, and after an interval of fifteen days an ambiguous "slip" +was slipped upon a too confiding _clientele_! It was sharp practice; and +its employment at a moment when suspense had thrown us off our guard +was superb. We bristled with indignation, but the _coup_ (as such) was +splendid. We, the victims, were not entirely blameless; we had had ample +experience of the risk attached to speculation in Specials. It was ever +thus. An ancient number of the _Cape Times_ would drop from the clouds, +and for weeks the news it contained would be administered in homeopathic +doses to the public at three pence per dose. It was good business. +"Slip" was the appropriate appellation bestowed upon the Special. +Sometimes two or three "Slips" would be issued on the same day. One +would come out early, after which a huge blackboard, intimating in +chalked capitals that "important news" was to appear in a later edition, +would be carried round the town by two black boys. And though the news +was never important, the enterprise was a success. To the smart sets the +limited reading matter the "half sheet of notepaper" contained was a +positive recommendation; and at afternoon (Natal) teas there was many a +"Slip" between the cup and the lip. + +Time passed; and still the Column came not. We felt disgusted rather +than distressed; we were yet confident of the Column's invincibility. +Various tit-bits of secondary interest were served out to humour us, and +a startling rumour was put in circulation--a rumour round which clung no +element of justification to soften the wrath it aroused. + +A meeting composed of the Military authorities and a few leading +civilians had been held some days before, and the subject of its +deliberations had at length come to light. It was proposed and debated +at this meeting that--when railway communication had been restored--all +women, children, and non-combatants should be sent away to the coast! +This would mean some twenty-seven thousand whites, together with +natives, coolies, etc.--about forty thousand people. The idea behind all +this was to make Kimberley a garrison town, to stock it well with +provisions, and afterwards to allow the Boers--if they were so +disposed--to re-mutilate the line to their hearts' content. The +"Military Situation" would not admit of the employment of a host of men +to guard it. + +The scheme was immediately howled down. The ladies, it need hardly be +said, were well in the van of opposition. They foregathered in the +streets, and with arms fixed resolutely akimbo denounced the +contemplated outrage as a monstrous tyranny--enough to make them "turn +Boer," indeed, as one lady luridly put it. Whither would they go? Would +the "Military Situation" answer whither? There were women of mature +years who, given a choice between hanging and a whirl day and night +through the Karoo, would almost favour the suspension of the +constitution! But apart from physical inconvenience, the idea of +forsaking their homes and husbands was too ridiculous. The notion of +living in tents on potted beef and adamantine biscuits was shuddered at. +The whole project was voted a wild-cat scheme (and Mr. Rhodes agreed). +After the spartan bravery they had displayed for two months, the ladies +regarded this new and wanton strain on their loyalty as inhuman. Their +protest was loud and dignified; and when the women are concerned in a +public protest the men are--oh, so mere! And the men in khaki were no +exception to the rule; they were cowed, with all their munitions of +war. They had decided on no definite course of action; or said they had +not--to save their face. Their plans were essentially tentative; and, +besides, the railway train--an important factor--was not just yet able +to carry far a scheme of compulsory migration. + +Thursday came; but not so Methuen. It was allowed that the Noble Lord +could hardly be expected to gauge accurately the violence of our hurry; +nor to conceive, however noble his imagination, that our hens laid eggs +at eighteen pence apiece. We got another glimpse of the balloon to cheer +us, and were also edified in the course of the day with news of the +_Belmont_ battle. The Belmont battle was a stale story when the Modder +River fight was fresh, and the latter was now in all conscience stale +enough. Of Magersfontein, not a word. This reticence in regard to +Magersfontein intensified our curiosity; it was the parent of a +pessimism that was to thrive. Common sense and the dictates of reason +_would_ clamour for recognition. Between the struggle at Modder River +and the publication of its result there had been no interval to speak +of. The fight of Belmont had occasioned no departure from the exercise +of the "new diplomacy." We had heard of the collision and of the victory +at Graspan almost simultaneously. But we were not yet acquainted with +the sequel to the clash at Magersfontein; it was a solemn secret. There +was news that Cronje had decamped from Mafeking and was at Modder River +with an augmented force; but this did not for the moment interest us. In +his (Cronje's) alleged quarrels with the Free Staters we had no +immediate concern. What they told us of his inglorious retreat from the +north was not to the point; it was enough that he had been wafted south +by an ill wind that might blow us no good luck. All these tit-bits made +news in the abstract, but were foreign to the mystery surrounding what +happened at Magersfontein. Something was wrong; but the policy of +prolonging the suspense was not right. Every nook and cranny in the +hospital were being held in readiness for the sick and wounded +(presumably accompanying the Column), and a vague fear was entertained +that all the nooks and crannies might be needed. Who could tell? + +More news in the afternoon--the wrong sort again. A faded (pink) copy of +the _Cape Argus_ was mysteriously smuggled through. Not a line of it +alluded to Magersfontein. A screw was loose somewhere; our distrust of +the Military increased. Could it be, was it conceivable that Methuen had +been worsted at Magersfontein? That indeed was a reasonable conclusion +to draw from the reticence of our Rulers. But it was not _strictly_ +logical, and besides--we liked it not. We preferred to attribute the +silence to a way they have in the army; to the Colonel, who did not take +tea with our Editor (it was said)--for Special reasons. We sympathised +with the boycott; but the conduct of the "sojers" tended to cause a +reaction in the Editor's favour. Our paper would tell the truth and +shame the devil if the Censor, who was also a "sojer," did not +unblushingly forbid it. We were oddly ingenious at times when the +monotony clamoured for variation. + +But to return to the _Argus_. It was affecting in its puffery of the +beefsteak pudding that ninepence purchased in Cape Town; and poignantly +prolix in its conception of how Horatius held the bridge of Modder River +some five-and-twenty years ago (_sic_). The Boers, we gathered, had been +knocked about at Ladysmith, and Mr. Morley had sympathised with them in +London. All this would have been entertaining, even exciting, _before_ +Magersfontein; but after? it annoyed us. + +On Saturday a sort of "boiling oil" turn was given by the rumour-monger. +We heard wild stories concerning the annihilation of the British army. +The air was red with blood. No importance was attached to these ghastly +theories--they were nothing more--but their effects were depressing; +they threw an atmosphere of gloom over the city, which was reflected in +a thousand faces. What was once a "frigid falsehood" had been modified +to mean a "gross exaggeration." This connoted a slight departure from +sentiment, a tendency to reason, to think more dispassionately. Anxious +as we were to get again in touch with the world and what it could offer +to eat, we could no longer evade the sorrowful conclusion that siege +figures, like every other, make four of two and two. + +In the distance the cannon kept booming intermittently; nothing but +boom. Our besiegers' guns were being used to check the advance of +Methuen. There remained only one piece of ordnance, nicknamed "Old +Susannah," to keep Kimberley in order. The Premier Mine was the +recipient of some lumps of love from this amorous gipsy; but nobody was +smitten by her charms. + +The death of the Mayor of Beaconsfield was announced in the afternoon. +In him the Town Guard lost a capable captain, and Kimberley a worthy +citizen. Saturday was Dingaan's day--a sad reminder of the rejoicings +associated with the anniversary, and which had to be skipped for once. +Despite the prevailing glumness, however, the populace turned out to +patronise a gymkhana entertainment at the Light Horse camp. The bands of +the two regiments contributed musical selections; admission was free +(which accounted for a packed "house"); but when the hat was artfully +passed round for our charity we winced, and were only partially +satisfied that it was at our discretion surreptitiously to put in it +what we would from a button to a shilling. + +Amid such _gala_ surroundings the week ended. We were still in the dark, +the doings of the Column were yet enveloped in mystery. The thunder of +its artillery had lost its charm, and indeed a great deal of its noise. +Dame Rumour, the lying jade, was saying nasty things, but +downhearted--what! not much! The last flash on Saturday night was from a +_manufactured_ gem. The Boer Army was in Cape Town, if you please!--with +their guns on Table Mountain--and all the Britons in the sea--swimming +home to dear old England! Well, no matter; Kimberley would fight on, +constitute a "new Capital," perhaps, or fall, if fate ordained it, with +its face to the foe. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +_Week ending 23d December, 1899_ + + +Everything was going from bad to worse, and though the tropical weather +was not conducive to heartiness of appetite the dishes on our tables +were distressing. To attempt to compute the countless creature comforts +missing at this stage of our sorrows would be ridiculous; nor do I +propose inflicting on the reader a reiteration of what remained to keep +body and soul together. Discussion on the Column and its catering +potentialities had come to be proscribed, and lamentations over the +sufferings of the inner man were as bitter as if all hope of alleviation +had vanished for ever and hunger was to be our portion for all time. +Indeed, when matters became worse a better spirit of resignation was +manifested. To the seasoned campaigner roughing it on the Karoo our +fare, plenty of it, might seem good, luxurious even; but to us, with +very little of it, surrounded by the civilising influences of knives and +forks, serviettes, plates, teapots, no end of pepper and _insufficient_ +salt--it wore a different aspect and seemed anything but luxurious. Yet +that was our position day after day, Sunday after Sunday, and the irony +growing grimmer all along with unfailing regularity. At the camps the +_menu_ was practically the same, but the graces of civilisation were +happily less in evidence there. There were fortunate possessors of +aviaries, and people who owned hens that produced no protoplasmic +fruit, who could have a bird for dinner occasionally. A brisk business +in fowls was done in the streets. The birds fetched enormous prices. +Very young ones of sparrow proportions, not long out of the shell, were +slaughtered wholesale, to pander to the palate of--perchance a member of +the Society for the prevention of cruelty to animals. And here a tribute +is due to him or her who, rising above the selfishness--the siege +selfishness--of the majority, invited a friend now and then to share +their good fortune. There were such noble souls; their numbers were +few--not ten per cent, of those in a position to be hospitable--but all +the more precious for their rarity. It was a sight to fill one with envy +to see the cherished chickens being carried through the streets as +carefully as if they were worth their weight in gold--as indeed they +nearly were. Ever and anon the bearer of a bird would be saluted by a +passer-by who would desire to know its price. On hearing it he would +enjoy a good laugh, or relieve his feelings with a good oath in +deprecation of avarice so naked. Another would pause and say nothing, +but with a baleful gleam in his eye would set himself to measure the +proportions--not of the chicken, but of him who carried it, while he +mentally calculated his chances of success in a tussle, and shaped in +his mind a desperate resolve to enjoy one good meal and then die, or +perish, anyhow, in the attempt. All the provision shops were still open, +but there was nothing for sale in half them. Tinned meats had given out; +this was considered the last straw, even by the fastidiously clean, and +the toxicologist who liked his salmon fresh. Five, ten, twenty +shillings, any sum would be given for a tin of anything, and such bribes +(despite Martial Law) were frequently placed in the hollow of a +merchant's hand, the while he was beseeched in a whisper to slip a +friend a can of something carnal. But the grocer was adamant every time; +he could not do it; and a display of principle is easy when it springs +as much from necessity as from good emotions. The Military Authorities +had been commandeering goods of all sorts--"bully beef" among the +rest--and storing them away in the catacombs of Kimberley. Now, the +public were anxious to know the meaning of the corner in "bully beef"; +but nobody could explain it. A vast quantity of cigarettes had been +commandeered, too; but nobody could explain that either. Most of the +"paper," it may be said, was not smoked; it was handed back to the +tobacconists when the siege was raised, and possibly some canned things +were surrendered as well. The hospital was certainly pretty full; care +was taken that the invalids were not neglected, and many things were +being preserved for their exclusive use. This was only as it should be. +But "bully beef" was not reckoned just the ideal food for invalids; and +wicked people accordingly found solace in suggesting that the military +looked suspiciously well-fed. It got abroad, too, that there were tons +of provisions (consigned to Mafeking) lying at the railway station, and +the populace wanted to know why _they_ were not commandeered, and sold +at a profit that would go far towards covering the _then_ estimated cost +of the war. The possibility of forwarding them to their destination was +out of the question; how were they to be sent out of Kimberley? Or how +_into_ Mafeking? The military had the power to let us eat these things, +but they would not exercise it. They preferred to allow the +butter--think of it!--to melt and ooze through the chinks of the boxes; +the cheese--great gorgonzola!--to wax almost too high; and the +potatoes--O Raleigh!--to rot ere they decided to annex them. When these +facts were made known the indignation aroused was very general. Our +prejudice against the khaki grew stronger than ever. Who was Gorle? The +Army Service Corps had come into prominence, and much of its bad +management was rightly or wrongly attributed to a Major Gorle. But the +Military did not put their feet in it firmly until they reduced the +cattle-looting wage from a pound to half a sovereign. The natives +engaged in this hazardous occupation had been hitherto in receipt of +twenty shillings for every animal captured; and they not unnaturally +resented the curtailment of their commission. They declined to +jeopardise their lives on half pay, and went out on strike. From that +day onward the cow-catching industry languished; and though some of us +held that the Colonel personally was in matters monetary above +suspicion, like Cæsar's wife, we did not forget that he was also an +Absolute Monarch, like Cæesar himself. + +It was reported in the afternoon that news of Magersfontein had been +gleaned at last, but that owing to the presence of spies in our midst +efforts were being made to keep it secret. We gathered, however, that +the Highland Brigade had been sufferers in a sanguinary struggle. That +was all--except the usual accompaniment--the essential corollary to +every recorded battle--that the Boer losses had been numerically +frightful. Definite official reports were not forthcoming; nor +confirmation of rumour. But we were satisfied that Methuen had been +checked; we were constrained to confess, we consented to believe that he +had at least been checked. + +Next day we were more fully convinced; the terrible truth was revealed +at last. All our sympathies went out to the brave men who had tried to +fell the barrier that blocked the way to Kimberley. Their failure was a +blow to our hopes; but personal considerations were for the moment +taboo. And, curiously enough, although the world was ringing with +criticism of Methuen we in Kimberley blamed nobody. Even the "Military +Critic" was dumb. Lord Methuen rose in our estimation to the level of a +hero, who had driven the enemy before him from Orange River, to fail +only in the last lap. Even now, perhaps, the people of Kimberley, +looking back at the events of the past, would be reluctant to join in +the criticism his name evokes. The facts, of course, speak for +themselves; and it did seem strange to see soldiers like Buller and +Warren being arraigned, and Gatacre getting recalled, while others +passed through the fire officially unscathed. Speaking of Gatacre, +we--having just been made acquainted with the Stormberg affair--were +saying nasty things of him. Monday was altogether a miserable day, with +the outlook far less bright than our fancy had painted it. + +On Tuesday the muffled booming of the British guns at Modder River was +heard again. It was hard to credit the evidence of our senses, that +Methuen had retreated. Still, we were not to be entirely disheartened +while there remained the possibility of a drive to the sea for +Christmas. At a meeting of the Town Council a new Mayor (Mr. Oliver) was +chosen for the year 1900. General Clery, we were informed, was getting +towards Ladysmith; the news was vague, but we were glad to hear it. Any +news not bad was good. The old proverb is wrong; for who would dare +after all the suspense we had endured to put "no news" in the "good" +category. + +The shopkeepers--wise men--had found comfort in hard work, and were +making elaborate preparations for Christmas. The jewellers cut a fair +show, and the drapers, too, But the grocer took, or rather would have +taken, the cake if the "Law" allowed it to be baked. His enterprise knew +no limits; his display of holly (and indeed of everything else) was +unprecedented. The collection of odds and ends exhibited was picturesque +to a degree (no more can be said for it). There were no jellies, no +tempting hams, no imported puddings nor nude poultry, none of the solid, +savoury things associated with the festive season. There were none of +these; but holly, mistletoe, and Chinese lanterns made a fine +phantasmagoria. There were neat and compact packets of starch, +interspersed with tins of mustard, to tickle the palate of the hungry +passer-by; while scented soaps, in lovely little wrappers, intermingled +in malodorous profusion. Bottles of sauces never heard of by the present +generation, and which yet bore traces of the solidified cobweb of half a +century, were much in evidence. So, too, was Berwick's baking powder, as +a sort of satire on the absence of such essential constituents as eggs, +milk, flour, whiskey, raisins, etc. (we had plenty of suet). Reckitt's +blue was there in abundance--a finger-post, as it were, to the shade of +the entire exposition. Condy's Fluid was not the least appetible thing +on show. Bottled parsley and kindred mummied souvenirs of pre-historic +horticulture, half buried in heaps of shrapnel bullets (ticketed sweet +peas!) and other ammunition of a like digestive kind, were also to the +fore to sustain the fame of Christmas. But starch was the all-pervading +feature of every shop-front. In one window a solid blank wall of starch +was erected, with a row of sweet-bottles on top. One would think that +our linen at least should have been irreproachable; but it was not; +because the Town Council happened to be experimenting on the +practicability of establishing Municipal Wash Houses, with a view to +economising water--_not_, as the actual results suggested, to the saving +of _starch_. + +Lieutenant-Colonel Peakman had succeeded the lamented Scott-Turner, and +on Wednesday long before daybreak he led a picked force towards +Webster's Farm, to steal a march on the napping enemy. The napping +enemy, however, was alive to the propriety of utilising but one eye in +the lap of "Nature's soft nurse." He could not see much with the open +optic, but he could hear with the one ear he had taken the precaution of +keeping open also. Of the good sense of this precaution Mr. Peakman was +somewhat abruptly apprised by the crack and blaze of a hundred Mausers. +Nothing daunted he returned the salute right gallantly, and with a +doggedness that obliged the Boers to retreat, firing as they went. The +enemy's gun at Oliphantsfontein soon chimed in with some well-directed +shells, one of which failed to burst and was secured intact as a +valuable trophy. Nobody was hurt, and the force got back to town without +further molestation. + +A concert was given in the evening at the Reservoir camp, the takings +(£20) going to the Widows' and Orphans' Committee. There was no lack of +entertainment at all the camps, although the men did not feel so +cheerful as their comic singing was intended to denote. Numerous +presents continued to find their way to the redoubts. Cigars and +tobacco, fruits from the De Beers horticultural department, and an odd +pint of wine from the casks of the Colussus were periodically received +to brighten the lives of the citizen soldiers. An odd bottle, or rather +an odd dozen, of "Cape Smoke" found entry at times. Impure though the +commodity was--there is no smoke without fire--a little of it on a raw +morning was not amiss. Some erred, unfortunately, in not confining +themselves to a _little_ of the lava. Eruptions often ensued. One +gentleman, on a certain occasion, was so inflamed with martial ardour +after a too copious indulgence in the "brandy" that it resulted in his +discharge from the Town Guard--for over-doing his duty. He was one night +on sentry duty and challenged an officer, one officer, whom he failed to +identify, or compute--"in the dark," as he explained. Having courteously +yelled out to the intruder to halt, and on being quietly assured that "a +friend" went there, the alert sentry presented arms and called in +solemn, stentorian accents upon his friend to "advance within six inches +of the muzzle of this rifle and give the countersign!" It was due to a +lucky accident that the officer knew the countersign, and was not +buried next day. Another genial tippler disported himself during +business hours in less serious fashion. He was not so fastidiously exact +about killing his man by inches. On the contrary, when his "friend" had +proclaimed himself a friend indeed, he was superciliously informed: "You +have got to say 'Tiger' before you come in here!" "Tiger" was the +countersign; and it was only the humour of the incident that enabled the +worthy sentry to keep the Marshal's baton in his knapsack. + +Under the direction of Major Gorle, the Army Service Corps was extremely +energetic in the general regulation of foodstuffs. Colonel Kekewich +seemed bent on starving us. Now, if there remained no less drastic +alternative to surrender he could have starved us by consent. To the +_principle_ of the ordinance there was no open opposition. But it was +ridiculous to start starving us so soon, and we were far from imagining +that it should ever be necessary to start at all. The _Commissariat_ was +being largely extended, and the Colonel had drafted another +proclamation. He had already taken care that the flour should be made to +stretch for years--the colour of the bread never permitted us to forget +that--and he now commanded that all the tea and coffee in town must be +submitted for analysis. Every ounce of chicory in the city, he +proclaimed, must be handed over to the _Commissariat_ within twenty-four +hours; or, by Jingo!--Martial Law! The ladies clung to their caddies and +protested; but in vain. The gallant Colonel insisted--reluctantly; he +had a heart; but he had also, so to say, a partner (Mr. Gorle)--as +inexorable as the "Mr. Jorkins" whom Dickens has immortalised. This +arbitrary conduct on the part of Kekewich and Gorle did not stop at tea +and coffee; it was only a beginning, a preliminary step in the military +dispensation. How far the transactions of the firm would extend we were +not yet to know; but the details of the massacre at Magersfontein, which +kept pouring in, indirectly suggested that the business might extend +very far indeed. The losses sustained at Magersfontein were more +appalling than we were at first led to believe. They were a bitter +sequel to the memorable cannonade of ten days before. How inappropriate +had been our jubilation! The citizens forgot their personal woes in +sorrow for the brave men who after a series of brilliant successes had +perished in the final effort. Magersfontein hit us hard, though we knew +nothing of the "blazing indiscretions" connected with that fatal assault +on positions of peculiar strength and impregnability. Its consequences +meant another delay, perhaps a long one. Meanwhile our resolution grew +stronger to hold Kimberley though the heavens should fall. Eating, after +all, was a habit--a bad habit with some of us--which we could not give +up in a day. But the story of Magersfontein diverted our thoughts from +provisions. Let the Boers but come within range of our rifles, and then, +ah, then there would be squalls! But would they do so; would they screw +their courage to the sticking point? It was feared not, more +particularly in view of the supposed existence of dynamite mines around +Kimberley. The train was laid; the fuse was there to ignite the powder +that would blow up a hostile army. The mere suggestion of such a +_contretemps_ was enough to make the Boers think twice before drawing +near enough to be shot at. Belief in the existence of these mines was +widespread. How far it was warranted, it is hard to say. The enemy had +heard something of them, and burning though was his desire to blow up +the diamonds he did not quite court a flight towards heaven in their +company. He had seen what dynamite applied to culverts and bridges could +do, and doubtless fully measured the indignity of so disentegrating, not +to say violent, a manner of quitting this world for a good one. + +On Friday a party of the Lancashire Regiment went out to cut off a Boer +water supply at Curtis Farm. A body of the Light Horse with guns +accompanied them--as a hint to the enemy that intervention would be +resented. The Boer ignored the hint and lost no time in lodging his +protest against our infringement of "the game's" rules. The "Lanks.," +however, were not to be deterred; they stuck stoically to their work +until their object was accomplished. Our guns had meanwhile kept hurling +defiance at the enemy; but there were no casualties on either side. +These aquatic operations seriously inconvenienced the Boers; they +compelled them to make wide _detours_, to travel a long distance for +water around the great ring which encircled Kimberley; the short cuts +were dangerous. A sad thing happened when night came. A corporal in +charge of a piquet went out to inspect his men. Unfortunately the sentry +on duty was unaware of the fact, and on the corporal's return he was +mistaken in the darkness for a marauding Boer--with the pitiable result +that the sentry shot him dead. + +In the morning we had news again. It was simply the _truth_ concerning +Colenso; fiction could not improve a deal on the loss of ten or twelve +British guns. We were unaccustomed to so much candour in the matter of +reverses, and this brutal revelation of the truth overwhelmed and +astonished us--though we could scarcely pretend that we had not _asked_ +for it. A "Slip" unfolded the tale in all its naked veracity. It was +_news_, fair and square value for the "thruppence," as siege value goes; +but we were in no mood to appreciate the novelty of that; the +circumstances were too distressing. Buller was roundly abused, and his +staff also were included in a comprehensive denunciation; so that +whoever was at fault in the Colenso collapse did not escape the wrath of +Kimberley. As one of the Pitts (was it one of the Pitts?) has aptly +said: "there are none of us infallible, not even the youngest of us." +Not even Lord Methuen, as we had sadly discovered. The brightness of our +Christmas prospects was beginning to fade. + +It faded a great deal when typhoid fever broke out in the Light Horse +camp. The outbreak was attributed to the uncertain water we had to use, +since the purer supply had been cut off. The new water was none too +good. We had been repeatedly warned to boil it before drinking it, and +were now adjured to do so. A large number heeded the warning, but the +perverse majority heeded it not; they did not find it convenient to +spare fuel to boil what was not essential to the creation of the "cup +that cheers" when there is milk in it. Scurvy was playing havoc with the +native population. These trials and tribulations did not enhance our +festive dispositions on the eve of Christmas. A programme of sports +attracted all the Tapleys; but there was little until evening, when the +scramble for the good cheer that was _not_ in the shops had begun, to +enable one to remember that Yule was nigh. + +The scene was one that will be long remembered in the Diamond City. It +was only the very large stores that had anything to sell. Before the war +broke out Abrahams and Co. had purchased an immense stock of foodstuffs; +but a great hole had been made in it, and it was to be much greater +_after_ Christmas. It was at Abrahams', therefore, that the multitude +swarmed. The traffic in sweet peas, jams, and raisins was heavy. Boer +meal with imported raisins in it was the richest possible pudding! The +sale of sweets was unprecedented--so unprecedented that toothache was an +epidemic until French relieved it. How the shop assistant clung to his +reason is a mystery which has yet to be solved. Behind the counter he +was hampered by the local _elite_: Judges, Doctors, Directors, etc., who +would never say die (from hunger) while they lived. Outside the counter +the madding throng felt likewise. But the great ones were able to help +themselves; they inspected the shelves, perused the labels of every +antiquated sauce and pickle bottle in stock since the "early days," and +placed the best of these relics of a pre-consolidated era in heaps aside +for Monday's dinner. There were special constables on duty within and +without the store, which was as full as an egg; and when after a while +it was apparent that this congestion retarded business, the hundred +Christians nearest the door were hustled into the street with all the +"good will" in the world. But the relief came too late; the clock +struck nine ere half the multitude were served--or even formally +satisfied that blood is not in turnips. Of the merry season we were wont +to enjoy, the busy throng was the sole reminiscence. Its good things +were absent. But that bitter truth did not make less keen our hunt the +slipper pursuit of Christmas fare. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +_Week ending 30th December, 1899_ + + +Christmas Eve--a memorable day in its own way--dawned in due course. It +was not the siege alone, with its attendant inconveniences, that made it +memorable. It was not that the season accentuated the want of _enough_ +to eat; nor was it the absence of the time-honoured turkey that tried us +most. There was something else besides, namely, the capers of the sun. +Thermal phenomena are of course not strictly pertinent to my story. But +I feel impelled to digress for a little and warm, as it were, to this +new element of discomfort, provided doubtless as a Christmas Box by the +thoughtful clerk of the weather. To those of us who were enjoying our +first taste of a sunny southern summer the heat of the day was +excruciating; it literally took one's breath away. A man could not even +read; he tried to, in the hope of falling asleep incidentally. But in +vain. 'Nature's soft nurse' was not to be cajoled by artifice. There was +no air, no breeze to fan her softness. The thermometer registered on its +imperturbable face one hundred and seven in the shade, at which experts +who had passed the whole of their summers in the furnace of the Diamond +City inveighed against the slowness of the instrument and its lapse from +the path of rectitude. The cant of the day ordained the twenty-fifth of +December the "hottest day of the year." Well, the newcomers felt that +if it were to be redder than the twenty-fourth they might jump into the +Kimberley mine, without danger of landing on their feet, and enjoy a +better pudding in a better and (perhaps) cooler world. It was a day to +make one fed in all seriousness that life is not worth living; and to a +man fresh from over-sea the association of Christmas with such +weather--to say nothing of the victuals!--was the acme of satire. There +is no whiteness in the African Christmas, and for the first time in +their lives the newcomers sighed for a "green" one! A "green" one would +cool the atmosphere, and a cooler atmosphere would content us. We would +gladly let the turkey and the pudding pass if the Turkish Bath would go +too. Had the shade of _Santa Claus_, or the flesh and blood of anybody, +come loaded with poultry for our "stockings," we should not have said, +thank you. Our appetites were gone. They were gone, and all we asked was +that they should be restored for Christmas Day--just as if _Claus_ had +indeed made amends for the cruel kindness of the "Clerk!" It was kind of +Sir Alfred Milner to arrange a congratulatory flash of compliments (by +signal from Modder River) and to wish us all sorts of luck. One sort +would have sufficed: the kind contained in a record output of rain. +Would it come? First it would--and then it would not. A duststorm +intervened by way of compromise; it was a breeze--hot, choking, +blinding, but still a breeze. We got thunder and lightning, too; but the +rain hesitated--as if it knew there was little left to soak in +Kimberley. It ultimately relented, however, and came down in torrents +through the night. + +Christmas Day itself! It had come, cool, delicious; the change, the +metamorphosis in the weather, the disappearance of the azure sky was +strange and lovely. Those shifting, hustling clouds, how pleasant they +were to look at. The day was the antithesis of its predecessor--the +mildest we had had for a long, long time. It was a relief to find that +the "hottest day of the year" was a figurative expression used to denote +the middle of summer. Our fears of cremation were entirely +dissipated--as sometimes happens in the case of passengers to the Cape +who, sweltering in a broiling sun _outside_ the tropics, marvel how they +are to toe the _Line_. + +It thus came to pass that our interest in breakfast was after all +considerable. I shall confine my congratulations to the genius of one +resourceful landlady who furnished, in addition to "mealie-pap" allowed +by "Law," some illicit tit-bits of meat, as a surprise! But she did not +cease staggering humanity until a small dish of butter was produced. +Real butter!--the lady's character made her word sacred. It was an +astounding phenomenon in itself, but the sharing of it in a season of +famine with poor relations like her boarders was the kindest cut of all. +Butter it was; we remembered the taste, and there was the circumstantial +evidence of our eyes. We had once been taken in by dripping; but there +was no mistaking the species in the dish on Christmas morning. There it +was in all its luscious sallowness, and the smacking of our lips +betokened an appreciation of all that we had lost in the weeks gone by. +Many, alas! missed more than their butter. Speaking generally, the 'Xmas +breakfast consisted of black tea, khaki bread, and golden syrup--an +appetising rainbow on a "merry" morning. The _menu_ at dinner was little +better; it stirred up sad recollections of the past. Pudding (worthy of +the name) was nowhere. We had imitations; apologies for puddings, +plain--and hard--as a pikestaff, were everywhere. They were not +essentially cheap, because eggs, the chief ingredient, were fabulously +fresh. As for the geese that laid not, well, they did not cackle either; +their bones had long since been mumbled. But there were self-denying +citizens who actually preserved some beer and stout for Christmas Day! +These good stoics--stoical only to be epicurean--were proud of their +will-power. Indeed they ostentatiously affected intoxication and +horrified everybody--with their bad acting. + +For the men who were obliged to spend the day in camp there was not much +to live for in the eating line. So everyone thought, at least, when the +fight for leave of absence had begun. But Mr. Rhodes, with +characteristic thoughtfulness, sent a lot of nice things to the camps, +which changed the situation and made men regret their anxiety to spend +Christmas at home. The quantity of what was styled Cape brandy consumed +in camp baffles computation. The effects of the swim were bad, too--not +because there were so many drunk--Christmas comes but once a year--but +because of the awful aftermath. Numbers were ill, very ill, indeed; and +it was a blessing, all things considered, that none were dead. In the +camps, life, although boisterous, was not exactly merry; but it was a +Christmas, as was afterwards declared with chivalrous unanimity, than +which nobody had ever spent a better. Nobody had ever felt so sick the +next morning, and that was most likely the standard by which the measure +of the merriment was gauged. + +His Excellency's congratulations were the innocent cause of a little +friction. Had it not been for _his_ example the "compliments of the +season" might have been left unsaid; good taste and good sense would +have conspired to let them lapse. There was something incongruous about +wishing a man a happy Christmas. Let a man be ever so sympathetic and +cordial; let him mean--not wisely but too well; let his accents ring +true as steel: it was still difficult to convince one that there was no +suggestion of sarcasm in the greeting. But the Governor had changed the +situation; he had set the fashion--had reminded us that the fashion with +its conventions and courtesies was an element, a blessing, of our +civilisation; and that we were not permanently outside the pale. It was +nevertheless trying to be taken by the hand and wished "a merry +Christmas" by every brazen Napper Tandy in the town. It was, as I have +said, all the fault of the Governor; the custom was adhered to in +deference to His Excellency rather than with _malice prepense_ on the +part of a friend to indulge in wanton candour. There _were_ monsters who +out of sheer, crass good nature did offend; but even they took care to +couple with their "remarks" an apologetic laugh, which was intended to +convey that the joke, though carried far, was just a joke. The wags--the +species was not yet extinct--were especially felicitous. They treated +the subject as a very original piece of humour indeed. Their treatment +of it gained them an occasional cuff in the ear, and they had to be +discriminative in their choice of victims. Everybody was not to be +wished "returns of the day" with impunity. + +The happiest people in the world on Christmas Day were the wise and +simple natives. They foregathered in the streets and revelled to their +hearts' content. All day long they sang, danced, and laughed; they held +orgies (in honour of the Colonel) and _corroborees_ of the kind +described by _de Rougemont_--the Washington of France. The antics of our +dusky tragedians and comedians made a striking spectacle, and were quite +as entertaining as the performances of the highly rated Harrys, Irving +and Lauder. There was a moral in the orgies--though we did not draw it. +The natives were happy; short commons did not trouble them or mar their +enjoyment in the slightest. With us it was far otherwise; _we_ had +anticipated a different Yuletide; the natives had not. The natives made +the most of theirs; we the least of ours. Some of us had dreamt of +dining in Europe. Others of us had visions of beer drinking at the +coast. A great many would fain have taken the waters of Modder River. +But all were disappointed, dour, and sorrowful--all save our true +philosopher, the native. + +The twenty-sixth of December is proverbially a sad day. It was so with +us, but not sadder than the day before. A few shells were sent out among +the Boers to ascertain how they got Christmas over them; and they by way +of reply made some good practice on the Premier Mine. A water-pipe was +mutilated, and a man standing near had the pipe knocked out of his mouth +by a piece of shell. A good deal of desultory firing went on for +several hours. The enemy's guns were obviously handled by men who knew +what they were about, and we soon afterwards definitely learned (what we +had long suspected) that there were French and German experts behind +them. The remainder of the day was dusty, stormy, and uninteresting. + +Lord Methuen's guns made a noise on Wednesday. Their booming, with +intervals of silence, went on all day; from Kimberley shell after shell +could be seen bursting in all directions. Our confidence began to +revive; indeed it had never waned so far as the capabilities of the +Column were concerned; and we were satisfied that a second assault on +Magersfontein would be crowned with success. The excuses advanced on +behalf of those most responsible for the failure of the first attack +were legion. That they had not been given half enough men for the job +was a favourite plea; and Buller (who had his hands full in Natal) was +reviled for not supplying more. The indications of a renewal of active +hostilities, however, which Wednesday brought, enkindled hope again and +promised a happy New Year. It was still a sore point with us to see the +exchange of signals going on night after night; to think that we--the +people!--should be kept in ignorance of their meaning. But it was in +harmony with the Military methods in general; and some people vowed that +if ever the hat went round for the Colonel they would not put a cent in +it, so help them! How much the Colonel was perturbed by this dire threat +there was no evidence to show. But a Proclamation was soon +forthcoming--which would certainly not conduce to the filling of the +hat. His (the Colonel's) proclamations had for the most part made us +swear by him; the one of which I now speak made us swear _at_ him! And +our language will be pardoned when I explain that the decree struck at +the one commodity it was in our power to get enough of. There _was_ such +a commodity, and that was bread. Until this atrocious edict saw the +light it had been our privilege to, enjoy _carte blanche_ in bread. It +was the last of our privileges--too simple and sacred, one would have +thought, for even an autocrat to have dared to trample on. + +Flour, meal, Kafir corn, mealies, etc., were also to be controlled by +the socialists (they had red flags up); but the main insult, added to +the injury already inflicted by the quality of the State loaf, lay in +the suggestion that we ate too much bread, and that we were in future to +be limited to _fourteen ounces per diem_! Already limited to nothing at +all in vegetables and to a glorified _bite_ of beef, it was not +surprising that an angry chorus of protest was raised against the +Government. People asked, in their indignation, if they really lived in +a British Colony? Could such an interference with the freedom of the +subject be brooked for five minutes? Of course the query was beside the +question, but everybody was beside himself with rage. Where was the +Military despotism to stop? In the meantime, while men in the street +raved, shrewd housewives were acting. At the first note of alarm they +had started scouring up their pans and determined to encourage thrift by +baking their own bread. They would thus supplement their allowance of +the readymade article, and by the same token snap their fingers at that +"ass" _in excelsis_--Martial Law. But they reckoned without their host; +there is nothing asinine about _Martial_ Law; a closer perusal of the +proclamation would have taught them that Kekewich and Gorle were old +soldiers; that anybody buying meal or flour could not buy bread, and +_vice versa_. Even "mealie-pap," _ad lib._, we had perforce to forego; +the "Law" allowed it but once a day. Then there was a worse feature than +this limitation indicated. "Mealie-pap" without milk was bad enough; +minus sugar it was unthinkable. But the "Law" would not permit us to +sweeten the "pap" any more--that is to say, the reduced allowance of +sugar was all too little for neutralising the insipidity of black tea. +We were also restricted to a fixed complement per unit of tea and +coffee--as much as we required in any circumstances, but, ironically +enough, a little more than we required of the stimulants in their +undiluted nastiness. An elaborate system was set up garnished with red +tape, and a large clerical staff filled the Town Hall for the purpose of +receiving affidavits, affirmations, and of issuing "permits" to all and +sundry who might feel averse from succumbing to a sudden, in +contra-distinction to a slow, starvation. The possession of a "permit" +entitled the holder to purchase the "regulation" quantity of provisions +for one week, at the expiry of which period he or she would be required +to have his or her "permit" renewed, if he or she desired a renewed +lease of life. The tumult at the Town Hall was remarkable; the people +swarmed there like locusts; the ordeal one had to undergo for a "permit" +involved cruelty to corns. Matters improved when the excited multitude +were at length persuaded that one representative of each family +sufficed to conduct negotiations in respect of their right to vegetate. +No storekeeper could supply more than the exact quantity specified in a +"permit," nor dare he refuse to sell on a false plea. + +All these drastic changes were the outcome of the Colonel's +proclamation. His action was pronounced grossly unconstitutional. What +our Rulers meant by it, what such arbitrary interference with the +liberty of the stomach portended, we could not tell. Some ascribed it to +pure "khaki cussedness"; others maintained that the Military aimed at +stretching the duration of the Siege to six months--that they might be +lifted by a short cut to promotion. Such were our views of collectivism; +and if the Military left ear did not tingle it must have been +frost-bitten. + +Mr. Rhodes liked the latest inscription on the Statute book as little as +anybody else. On Thursday he contributed one thousand pounds to the +Widows' and Orphans' Fund. We liked this liberality, and there was a +consensus of opinion that the _Colossus was_ a "wonder." During the day +a Despatch Rider brought him a bundle of newspapers, which he rather +indiscreetly handed to the _Advertiser_, to dole out at retail rates on +sheets of notepaper. Thus 'news much older than our ale went round'--but +no; the papers were dated only three weeks back, and we had had no ale +for at least a month. Any intelligence of the outside world, however, +was interesting (save what we read of Belmont). The details of Buller's +repulse at the Tugela did not make good reading. What we read of streams +of transports laden with troops was better; as also was the item that +Warren--who knew much of Boer wiles--was steering through the Karoo. We +took it that he was to join Methuen, but were afterwards annoyed to +learn that his destination was Natal. The situation in Natal appeared to +be serious. Still, our opinions of our spoonfeeders remained unaltered; +we still assumed that they suppressed or minimised the seriousness of +things in Kimberley. Our attitude was perhaps uncharitable, and +deserving of the rope--of half-hanging at least; but the weather was so +hot; we felt so hungry and thirsty. There was no need to starve us, to +deny us bread; we believed that we might be safely granted a slice or +two more--until the British flag was hoisted in Pretoria. We had, it is +true, rather hugged the delusion that it would have been up for +Christmas Day. But even in the light of that error of judgment we could +appreciate the puerility of conserving supplies as if the dogs of war +were to go on barking until doomsday. + +A special meeting of the City Council was held in the afternoon; and +although opinions were divided as to the precise form its protest +against the new order of things should take, nobody doubted that it was +for such a purpose the meeting was convened. We were all wrong. It was +simply resolved at the Town House to wish the Queen a Happy New Year; +and thereby demonstrate not only the unswerving loyalty of her distant +subjects, but their _sang froid_ also in days of stress and danger. It +was an excellent idea; the taking off of hats to the Queen was general. +The Colonel signalled to Lord Methuen; that gentleman communicated with +Sir Alfred Milner; and he in turn cabled Kimberley's sentiments to Her +Majesty. There was no mention of the bread; it was an omission; but it +might have sounded "conditional," irrelevant, or even have detracted +from the value of our good wishes; and it was hardly worth risking being +suspected of loyalty to one's bread--unbuttered! Besides, our friend the +enemy (the Colonel, not the Boer) personally supervised the despatch of +messages, and he was quite artful enough to suppress reference to eating +matters if he thereby served the "Military Situation." + +Friday was quiet--in the cannonading line; the wind and dust were +bellicose enough. Fodder was scarce, and the animal creation was sharing +with us the privations of a siege. Hundreds of horses were turned out to +"grass." To be reduced to dependence on Karoo grass was a sad fate for +the poor quadrupeds. On a billiard table they could have feasted their +eyes at least on green; but the veld could not offer even that ocular +consolation. Hay and straw were at a premium; the "fighting" horses had +first call, and they were numerous enough to make hard the lot of the +steeds of peace. The poor cart horses were sadly neglected; it was +pitiful to behold their protruding ribs, their forlorn looks. Every sort +of garbage was raked up to keep them alive--second-hand straw hat mashes +being the most notable repasts in vogue. Cab-men were obliged to descend +from their boxes and face the dignity of labour with a pick and shovel. +The dearth of fodder brought down the prices of beasts, and +thenceforward they were sold for songs--ditties to the tune of thirty +shillings. Half-a-dozen horses were on one occasion sold for seven +pounds--animals that were worth a great deal more each. The purchasers +took risks of course. But the booming of cannon was still to be heard in +the land--it boomed all the afternoon--and the possibility of keeping +the quadrupeds alive until the Column came to the rescue was not yet +despaired of. + +Saturday was the seventy-seventh day of our investment, with relief not +yet in sight. True, it was within hearing; but so it had been three +weeks before, on Magersfontein day. We were weary of this interminable +thunder, which showed us no results. Colonel Kekewich was as reticent as +ever. Of guesswork there was plenty. Had Methuen not had time +sufficiently to augment his forces to cut his way through. The troops +were in the country; we were placated with the information that they +were "falling over one another in Cape Town." This comforting gem +glittered less in our minds as the days sped past, and the prospects of +a speedy liberation receded correspondingly. The delay was to us +incomprehensible. We fell back on our old theory, that the more +protracted the Siege the greater the fame and honour for the men to +whose 'prentice hands had been committed the destinies of a free +community. It was hard to believe that these armed martinets could play +with their responsibilities in such a crisis. Did they realise its +gravity? Were facts being witheld? Was the true and actual condition of +the city as regards provisions and the contingencies to which their +scarcity might lead--were these things being properly represented to the +public and to Sir Redvers Buller? In our wisdom we feared not. +Scepticism and suspicion, born of disappointment, were in our hearts. +Our conclusions may not have been sound; we lacked a proper knowledge of +the difficulties confronting the army; but we _did_ feel that if the +real state of affairs had been explicitly indicated to the +Commander-in-Chief, a column would have reached Kimberley sooner. We +were not so far away from Orange River, where thousands of troops had +been massing for weeks. We were not so far _out_ of the way as Mafeking. +Nor were we like the defenders of Ladysmith entombed within towering +kopjes. No; to snap _our_ bonds was a relatively easy task. Little +provision had been made for a prolonged investment, and we had fifty +thousand stomachs to cater for. So much was plain. If Kimberley were to +be sacrificed to the "interests," forsooth, of the campaign, British +honour would be tarnished. Such a procedure would be not only brutal, +but a tactical blunder as well. We felt strongly that the relief of +Kimberley was an indispensable preliminary to success, and, by reason of +our proximity to the Free State border, the way that would soonest bring +the war to a successful issue-- + +But hark! Wherefore that wild halloo. Ah, there was news, charming news. +Lord Roberts had set sail for South Africa, to take over supreme +command. Hurrah for good old "Bobs!" We felt instinctively, or somehow, +that the little General could be trusted to dig for diamonds. The news +of "Bobs" made a chink in the cloud and disclosed its silver lining. +Kitchener, who accompanied Lord Roberts as Chief of Staff, had shown in +his generation some skill as a pioneer of deserts; the Karoo would be +child's play to him. The Soudan was a region in which our interest was +rather academic; but the killing of the Khalifa was announced and +applauded with the rest. Oom Paul's political extinction would soon +follow, and Kimberley would emerge with a whoop from captivity. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +_Week ending 6th January, 1900_ + +The last day of the year and the distant thunder of artillery burst upon +us simultaneously. That the peace of the Sabbath should be broken by +music not exactly sacred (or melodious) was strange. The old year would +be rung out in a few hours, in company with our Utopian expectations. +All our hopes of a rare New Year were, like our Christmas phantasies, +dashed to the ground. The morrow promised to be rare enough in a +melancholy sense, but it would not be New Year's Day. There was but one +ray of comfort to sustain us, namely, the approach of the hero of +Candahar; for although a certain period of waiting had yet to be +endured--ere _another_ famous march could be accomplished--the coming of +Roberts disposed us to think kindly of Job. At the same time we prayed +that the need for patience would not last too long. Any nonentity--be he +General or Private--who could bring relief to Kimberley would eclipse +the fame of a bigger man than "Bobs." + +Passing by the Town Hall one could not fail to be struck by the contrast +between its desolate appearance on Sunday afternoon and the bustle of +its precincts on week days. The building had only recently been erected +and was situated in the centre of the Market Square. The Square itself +was an exceptionally spacious one, and the Hall added an ornament to +the city, which was the more imposing and conspicuous in that it +practically stood alone as such. It was a magnificent structure, quite +new, as I have stated; but it probably saw more wear and tear during the +Siege than it would otherwise have seen in the course of half a century. +A few days prior to our investment the building had been completed, and, +immediately after, a two days' holiday had been proclaimed by the +Municipal Authorities--dear old servants of the people! No Czar's writ +ran in Kimberley then. Amid the plaudits of the democracy the Hall had +been duly declared "open." The Mayor, in the blazing dignity of his +Magisterial robes, surrounded by the wealth and intelligence of the +city, had delivered an historical address. The Councillors had followed, +and the several ex-Mayors since the year of one had expatiated +felicitously on the architecture of the "Ornament," the merits of the +architect, and the enterprise of the contractors. "There was a sound of +revelry by night"--for two consecutive nights. Two awfully fancy dress +balls were given; and had the shade of the Duchess of Richmond waltzed +from the heavens to the waxed floor of the hall, it would have assumed +flesh and blood again on beholding the picturesque costumes of every age +and court presented to its spectral view. I will not prolong a +description of those halcyon days of Municipal splendour in these of +common khaki. Let it suffice to add that the "lamps shone o'er fair +women and brave men." The "cannon's opening roar" was soon to be heard +in the land; but all unmindful of the nation of farmers the +"shopkeepers" tripped it on the toe. + +Well, we were besieged; and the great Hall was adapted to very +different uses. It was made headquarters. Within its walls the Town +Guard were formally "sworn in," and supplied with hats, rifles, +bandoliers, and ammunition. Hundreds of distressed refugees congregated +there, for one of the Offices of the building had been transformed into +a benevolent grocery shop, presided over by benevolent ladies. There +also did mass some thousands of natives to gather their picks and +shovels and pay. The Town Hall was the pivot round which revolved all +sorts and conditions of men. Overrun inside and outside by roadmakers, +citizen soldiers, and municipal officers (whose military dignity had +raised their souls above scavenging), it was bad enough. But when the +rich and poor of all classes and sexes were forced to join in the +scramble for a bit to eat, it was worse. Until the "permit" system had +come into vogue, money could buy much (of what was going); but the +"permit" system lowered mammon to his rightful level. Money for the +moment had lost its value; a "permit" was all-important--even Croesus +himself would have starved without one. To procure these useful scrips +all sorts of formalities had to be entered into, and the amount of time +lost in waiting to prove one's right to live was provocative of many an +oath, at the expense of the British army. Kafirs, coolies, Europeans of +all nations, the wealthy the poor, and the lowly--all struggled to +procure the precious "permit," as if they were at all hazards determined +to gain one week's respite before finally succumbing to hunger's pangs. +It must be owned that the work was carried on more smoothly when the +black sheep were separated from the white, and when different days were +assigned for attending to the residents of each of the respective wards +into which the town was divided. The incompetence of the military in +civil affairs added to the grievances of the people; complaint against +the administration of the "Law" was as loud as the clamour against the +"Law" itself. The bother entailed in the procuring of authority to +purchase food, and in the purchase of it, was extreme. The food was not +worth it; but life is precious (or was then), and one had in a very +literal sense to live. A man had sometimes to stand from six to eight +o'clock in the morning to buy his paltry bit of offal, hoof, or fat, as +the case might be, and after he had rested on his feet for two hours his +turn would come to draw his miserable allowance--if somebody else had +not drawn it for him. Such accidents happened often enough to make a +good many foreswear meat altogether. Usually, however, the unfortunate +would be consoled with a "precedence ticket"--for next day! so that he +could live on the certainty of a succulent morrow. From ten o'clock to +four might be passed in waiting for one's grocery ticket; and, finally, +from four to six could be whiled away at the crowded store in a frantic +effort to catch the State assistant's eye. Oh, it was a happy epoch in +our lives--an epoch during which vows were registered against being "let +in" for such happiness again, or against living it through while a 'bare +bodkin' was left unconfiscated. + +It was the last day of the year, with nothing to elate us but the coming +of Bobs. Hope deferred maketh the heart sick; ours were so ill that but +for Bobs they must have ceased to beat. It was disconcerting to learn +that Warren was in Natal, for it had been stated that Methuen was merely +waiting Sir Charles to join him ere again attempting to fight his way to +Kimberley. + +New Year's Day! New Year's Day, indeed! Our Scotchmen sighed. Black tea +for breakfast on New Year's Day was too much for them, and not a few of +them (and others) felt constrained to take kopje dew instead. They drank +brandy--so labelled in the tavern, but more widely notorious as +"lyddite" in the town. Brandy had crimes committed in its name, and +lyddite was a happy and appropriate appellation. Even _vinegar_ could +not counteract the effects of lyddite (i.e. bottled lyddite). As for the +materials used in the manufacture of this explosive, well--necessity is +the mother of invention; and the invention was well protected. It was +only noted that methylated spirits and certain chemicals were scarce; +and a suspicion prevailed that these were lyddite ingredients--a +suspicion which afterwards proved to be well-founded when publicans were +prosecuted for using them as such. One of the peculiarly lamentable +features of the Siege was a certain tendency on the part of men, who +drank little or nothing in normal times, to dissipate in desperation on +this unique brand of brandy. + +It was dry bread with many on New Year's Day. Even syrup was extinct. +Nothing remained, to be taken or left (they were generally left), but a +few jars of treacle. Dripping graced the table, but nobody touched it; +it was too ghastly pale for a substitute, too unctuous for anything. The +poor Native's breakfast was of "mealie-pap" exclusively; and from a +hygienic standpoint he was perhaps better off than any of us. + +Many things occurred to make the day interesting, or say, rather, out of +the common; but the palm was easily carried off by the Colonel's "gift." +I have had occasion to allude to the parsimonious action of the military +in curtailing the allowances paid to natives for captured cattle and +thereby paralysing the incentive that usually induces humanity (black or +white) to face danger. This untimely experiment in economics had +discouraged the Natives and practically sent them out on strike. There +were no cattle coming in, and so the Colonel thought it would be a good +thing to reduce our meat ration from half a pound to a _quarter_, and +that of little boys and girls with capacious stomachs to two ounces! I +must leave to the imagination of the reader the effect of this +proceeding on the part of the man who made and administered Martial Law. +The promulgation of the half-pound regulation had been resented as an +injustice; but now the "Military Situation" demanded a still more +drastic fast. The Military _regime_ became more and more unpopular; it +was declaimed against with finer gusto and eloquence. The new enactment +was too much even for the "Law's" apologists; it alienated their +sympathies, and afforded them excuse and opportunity to associate +themselves at last with the rightful indignation of their +fellow-citizens. As for Kekewich, we--or as many of us as might survive +his snacks--determined that he should be made explain himself to the +Queen. It was a glad New Year altogether, with every probability of its +gladness continuing "all the year round." + +As if he had got wind of the Colonel's _coup_, and looked on it as a +menace to the success of _his own_ starvation policy, the Boer (on +Tuesday) by way of expediting things opened fire on the cattle at +Kenilworth. A supreme effort was made to wipe them out. The effort was +futile; the cows chewed the cud under fire with inimitable nonchalance, +while the goats, our whiskered pandoors, with fine satire sagaciously +cocked their horns. Not that we cared. The non-success of the +bombardment was if anything disappointing (I say it advisedly). What +substantial difference was there between four ounces of ox's "neck" and +nothing at all. None to speak of. Besides, we suspected the law-givers, +who doubtless deemed themselves, like royalty, above the "Law." Did not +the Colonel represent the Queen? Nay, more; could he not exclaim with +the great Imari in the play, "It is the 'Law,' _I_ made it so." In short +we had a notion that the Colonel and his staff did not _weigh_ their +_own_ rations. So that if the Boers had succeeded in slaughtering the +cattle there would have been satisfaction in the thought that the +military had had to suffer with the rest and been served right indeed. +Eggs were too expensive, to be thought of; two shillings each (egg) was +their market value in the New Year. They were fresh of course, beyond +yea or nay they were fresh (since none could be imported); and to be +_sure_, absolutely sure, of that was delightful--to millionaires and +roost-keepers. The exactions of the local egglers formed the subject of +much adverse criticism, but they excused their medicinal charges on the +plea that they had nothing save eggs to sell. + +Soon after the issue of the new four ounce edict a learned doctor +delivered a public lecture and eloquently assured us that we ate _too +much_ meat! He urged us to eat less of it, for our health's sake. Now, +the doctors of the Diamond City were hard worked during the Siege; so +much so that they were still allowed (by special arrangement) the +half-pound ration. This was right and proper. But there was none the +less a piquant irony in the principles of a propagandist who was eating +twice as much beef as anyone else and could stand up to utter precepts +so strikingly at variance with his practice! The good doctor no doubt +knew that new-laid missiles were too costly, and too _fresh_, to be +thrown away; but he deserved them; the audience did not say so; but +their eyes blazed kindly. + +On Wednesday sports were held at Beaconsfield to cheer up the children +of the township. Sweets, ginger-beer, and tea (neat) were served out, +and were relished by the little ones who were too young to be +particular. It may be said that cricket, football, and smoking concerts +went on as usual, though how the players and the comic songsters managed +to spare wind (on the diet) for such strenuous recreation is a mystery. +Football on four ounces of fat was a strain. No doubt our open air life +did some of us a world of good, and in many instances it was not easy to +recognise in a bronzed civilian soldier the erstwhile sallow clerk or +shop-assistant. + +It was at this stage of our travail that the Basuto Chief (Lerothodi) +followed up the fashion of the day by launching a proclamation of his +own which commanded all his people to return at once to Basutoland. Now, +we had shut up with us in Kimberley some thousands of this worthy +tribe. They received their Chief's command and set about preparing for +instant departure, with the Colonel's blessing. We white folk were not +at all sure that the Boers would be so gracious with _their_ blessing. +The process of starving us into submission was in full swing (and +succeeding, alas! but too well). It was thus obvious that a reduction so +substantial in the gross total of stomachs to be catered for would not +tend to starve us the sooner. But the enemy did not deem it politic to +attempt the task of driving Basutos and Britons to the sea together. The +sympathies of the powerful Basuto chief were not on their side, and it +would have been unwise to have risked offending him. So it was that the +natives were permitted to pass unmolested to the kraals of their +childhood. The enemy did not like it--any more than did King John when +he signed the Great Charter--but it had to be. + +In the meantime some news had come in to which the Colonel was pleased +to give publicity. It was astonishing all the trifling tit-bits we did +hear; and they occasionally excited interest--until discovered to be of +home manufacture--the distinctive work of local genius. On this +occasion, however, the tit-bit was "Official," and to the effect that +the rebels at Douglas had been routed by the Canadian volunteers. This +was gratifying; we blamed the rebels for our own beleagured state, and +the moral lesson of the rout at Douglas might hasten the discomfiture of +the gentlemen who surrounded us. I have yet to learn that it did in any +shape or form. + +It was triumphantly proclaimed in the afternoon that our patrols had +brought in a host of Republican cattle; and when almost simultaneously +with this announcement _two_ proclamations were issued from Lennox +Street, it was more than hoped, it was assumed, that the meat ordinance +was to be relaxed. But it was not so. The first of these monuments to +circumlocution had a final rap at the canteen. There were a few bars and +canteens outside the barriers of the town; the Colonel said they should +be closed, and closed they were--the proprietors, strange to say, +assenting with a will. This alacrity was not consistent with their +earlier diatribes against military despotism; but the fact was that +since "lyddite" had been found out the experts were chary of making it, +and the public still more chary of drinking it. There was some risk in +selling it, too, so--clear the course for the "Law." + +The second proclamation was all of wax and tallow. It commanded that all +lights must in future be extinguished at half-past nine. We were thus +considerately given half an hour to undress and lie reading books in bed +after having been turned away from a perusal of the stars. We might have +liked a little time for supper--but what am I saying!--there were no +suppers; at least nobody was expected to commit a capital offence. But +such miscreants existed, and kept their heads. It must in fairness be +explained that they were for the most part possessors of obstinate hens +that _would not_ lay eggs. Eggs were firm at twenty-five shillings a +dozen, and the hen that remained so contemptuous of mammon, so +unredeemed by cupidity, so unmoved by the "golden" opportunity, most +certainly deserved death. Therefore it was that an odd tough member of +the feathered tribe was now and then discussed in secret. There was +little conviviality about these gatherings assembled in back rooms where +the light could burn with impunity. The unsuspecting night-patrol would +pass blindly by, oblivious of the illegally illuminated junket within. + +But indeed it must be confessed that few people took seriously the wax +and tallow proclamation. The boarding-house keepers, of course, +championed it and its author's wisdom (for reasons)--with a zeal that +contrasted strangely with their condemnation of grander enactments. +Landladies apart, however, the populace pooh-poohed the Gilbertian +decree. Some regarded it as a mere precaution against a surprise visit +from the Boers. But this was wrong, for the proclamation permitted the +use of electric and acetylene lights at all hours. It was purely an +economic question with the Colonel. Cynics opined that we should later +on be offered the tallow to eat; and that the prohibition of the use of +starch in our linen would be the precursor of some _stiff_ emergency +rations. The public, I say, disregarded the candle law, and the night +patrol was kept busy dotting down in the light of the moon the numbers +of a thousand houses. Unfortunately for the ends of Justice (!) the +transgressors were so outrageously numerous that the heavy undertaking +of arraigning half the city was not thought feasible. Only a few +particularly refulgent "criminals" were hauled up and fined. Where +sickness darkened a house the "Law" allowed a candle to light it, the +whole night, if necessary, and invalids were accordingly as thick as +leaves in Vallombrosa! An epidemic of all the ills that flesh is heir +to raged in the land. Hypochondriacs moaned with their tongues in their +cheeks in the presence of the prying night-patrol. Fevers flourished; +multitudes were prostrated by influenza; the _pleura_ played the devil +with innumerable lungs. Anybody who was not a malingerer was voted a +fool, an altruist. A magistrate, commenting on the great plague and the +manner in which the majesty of the "Law" (the majesty of Martial Law!) +was being outraged, averred that from his own doorstep every night at +eleven o'clock he gazed at hundreds of illuminated houses. It was true; +and we used to wonder which his worship was--an invalid, an altruist, or +an owl! + +We held a position at Otto's Kopje from which our men occasionally made +things unpleasant for the Kamfers Dam Laager. The Boers, naturally, did +not like this, and they in turn sometimes harassed the defenders of the +kopje. But Kamfers Dam was shortly to be made quake, for it had just +leaked out that a gigantic gun was in course of construction at the De +Beers workshops; that men who knew their business were sweating at it +day and night. Opinions were much divided as to the probable utility of +this instrument. Some were disposed to pity the poor Boers when it was +ready for action, while others were not less inclined to lament the fate +of the poor Briton who would sit behind it, to get blown to pieces by a +botched piece of mechanism. The withering criticisms passed on this +prospective product of De Beers were anything but re-assuring. It was +useless to try to impress on the morbid critic that there were skilled +Woolwich men engaged in the manufacture of the gun. The argument would +be crushed by that expressive figure, "rats!" The scorn with which +these rodents were slung by the tail in the face of anyone who believed +in "Long Cecil" (the gun had been so named out of compliment to Mr. +Rhodes) was conclusive. Where was the necessary material to come from? +Oh, De Beers had the material, the optimist would reply. But optimists, +once so ubiquitous, were now as rare as radium. Our prophets had for +their reputations' sake altered their tactics. Experience had taught +them that the roseate view of things was the least likely to be sound, +and they now revelled in predictions of an otto--_not_ of roses. They +prepared us, with a vengeance, for the worst. "To-morrow" was ever to be +a day of tragic enormity for Kimberley. The local _Armageddon_ was to +begin (daily) at day-break; the enemy's guns were always being +augmented; the town was to be razed to the ground, and, unless surrender +was prompt, all its inhabitants with it. Thus did a spirit of +despondency continue to depress the people and the prospect of +emancipation grow dimmer and dimmer. + +Besides the prophets of evil there was a set of cynics who sneered at +all things, the incapacity of the Town Guard, its Officers, etc. For a +long time the favourite boast of these gentlemen was that they had +refused commissions in the Town Guard. It was true; and it is worth +recalling why. At the beginning of the Siege little coteries were +formed, "rings" were established, private meetings held--at which +gatherings it was settled who was to be Captain of this Section, who +Lieutenant of that, and so forth. All these matters were amicably fixed +up, to the satisfaction of all concerned--including the vintner. It was +assumed that the scale of pay would, as in the Regular Army, be in +accordance with rank. The consideration was of course a minor one; but +still the disgust of the coteries was profound when it was announced +that the Imperial allowances to Town Guards were to be uniform; that a +Captain was to receive for his services no more and no less than a +Private. It was a disconcerting sequel to some skilful wire-pulling, and +the martial ardour of the wire-pullers dropped in a trice to _zero_. +Their dignity demanded their resignations, and their dignity's ruling +was bowed to. These injured people would not be led into action by a raw +volunteer; and they confided to every ear that would hear that the +citizen soldiers could be trusted in a crisis--to shoot each other! But +imagine the discomfiture of these veterans when at a later stage an army +order, retrospective in its operation, was issued which cancelled the +original monetary conditions of service for Officers and +non-commissioned Officers, and increased the rates of pay to which their +respective ranks entitled them. This order was only less effective than +a bombshell in crushing a dignity already injured; and the gusto with +which the Colonel and the Civil Commissioner were relegated to Connaught +was excusable. + +A good deal of rumbling was heard on Friday; it might have been thunder, +or perchance artillery. Some said it was nature; others that it was +guns' work. But nobody seemed to think that it mattered a great deal. We +had grown tired of noise, nothing but noise. The whistle of the armoured +train, which kept patrolling the line (the bit that was left of it) was +more interesting, sometimes an innocent soul would allow his fancy to +beguile him into hoping that the whistle portended the approach of a +Cape Town train, with food and mail-bags, and he would march off to the +station on desperate speculation to meet it. + +In pursuance of an idea which had long occupied his thoughts the Colonel +despatched a mounted force to cross the border into Free State +territory--at which we could look across with the naked eye. What good +purpose the visit was to serve was not obvious; but it was attributed to +a desire on the Colonel's part to win the distinction of being the +_first_ to invade the enemy's territory. At any rate, the distinction +_was_ won. The men had not far to travel; and they did not go far when +they crossed over, for the Oliphantsfontein camp blocked the way. The +Boers were awake, but the audacity of the raid would appear to have +deprived them for the moment of their visual senses. The Light Horse +drew quite close ere the propriety of halting was suggested to them. The +suggestion was naturally expected to issue in the first instance from +the cannon's mouth; but the guns said nothing, and their silence +emboldened our fellows to persist in their breach of etiquette until +they made a startling discovery, namely, that the guns had been removed. +This unexpected slice of luck so inspired the invaders that they +advanced rapidly and drove out the enemy, whose resistance was feeble. A +general inspection followed; the pantries and cupboards of the houses +around were the objects of a special scrutiny, but not a bone, not an +egg, not a crust was found! In one house a Boer lance with a white rag +for pennon was picked up. This curio was carried back to town, and +ultimately became the property of an enterprising curiosity +shop-keeper, who cut artistic bullet holes in the pennon with his +scissors--thereby adding largely to its curiousness. The bullets that +made the holes were also a good line, and "sold" well (in fact, +everybody). Nothing else occurred to make Friday noteworthy. + +Saturday completed the round dozen weeks of siege life. How many more +were to follow? Alas! our seers were discredited. They were silent; but +hollow though time had branded their vaticinations the silence of the +seers was not exactly golden. The prevailing pessimism was +heart-breaking. At a critical stage, when a cheerful optimism was almost +essential to the preservation of one's mental balance, we were +tactlessly stuffed with the "lone lorn" lamentations of a Mrs. Gummidge. +But Roberts was coming, and he was a "great" soldier--far greater than +Wellington, or even Napoleon (a mere Corsican!) We hungered for news of +his plans. Roberts, we took it, was not the man to sanction the alleged +intentions of his subordinates--the callous mediocrities who would let +Kimberley work out its own salvation. It was reported at this time--for +the better security of our peace of mind--that a grand march was to be +made on Bloemfontein, while Kimberley was to live on air and fight away. + +In the afternoon a balloon appeared in the air. It attracted much +attention, and set everybody speculating on what its business in the air +precisely was. Our nautical experts (who had been at sea for three weeks +anyhow) opined that it was "steering" for the Diamond Fields. It must +have collided with a "Castle," for it never came into port. + +Balloons, indeed, were seen very often, and a great deal of time was +devoted to the study of their movements. In the silence of the night a +practical joker would rush out with a field-glass in his hand and shout +"balloon!" at the top of his voice. The desired effect--of bringing the +whole street out of bed to see the balloon--was easily produced. The +star-gazers would thus spend an hour or so minutely examining all the +stars in the firmament in their endeavours to select the one that most +resembled a balloon. This was not easily done--the stars being much +alike to the stupid naked eye--but they would near the point of +agreement on the question; and then the confounded night-patrol would +come along with his gun, and the observers would have to rush for the +cover of their blankets. When it was thought that the patrol had passed +two thousand yards there would be a general sneak back to begin over +again the search for the needle in the great haggard of the heavens. +Everybody had his or her own particular planet to minimise. The +brightest planets were naturally the more general choice, albeit +distance might in the circumstances be expected to lend a dimness to the +view. _Venus_ was essentially a very nice balloon; numbers swore by +_Jupiter_; _Mercury_ had a heavy following. _Taurus_ was indeed a +"Bull"; and Mars! talk of _Mars_ being inhabited; we identified its +inhabitants as being necessarily British. There were _thirteen_ signs in +the _Zodiac_. Anybody who called a star a star was called an ass. +"_That's_ no star," your exasperated kinsman would retort, "do you take +me for a blind fool." And it only required a fixed, steady gaze of ten +minutes, without winking, to convince the most sceptical that it was +indeed "no star"; that it did "move"; that it was "too large" for a +star; that it was absurd to consider it _not_ a balloon. The _Milky Way_ +(as per diverse opinions) was one vast creamery of balloons, undiluted +by the "poetry of heaven!" In fine, among all the things that twinkled +there were only some half dozen that hushed the voice of controversy. It +was certain there remained at least five luminaries, five unmistakable +stars, to wit, the Southern Cross. Paul Kruger once expressed +astonishment that the British had not annexed the moon, if it were +inhabited. Well, the moon, though there is a man in it, was, shall I +say, too large, too obviously itself, to deceive the Imperial eye. We +left the recluse in the moon alone, to smile in dreary solitude; +interference with him would spoil the moonshine. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +_Week ending 13th January, 1900_ + + +The rumour-monger and the quidnunc--to whom only brief allusion has so +far been made--had come to be regarded as distinct public nuisances. I +have hitherto refrained from commenting often on the actions and the +utterances of these monomaniacs in our midst. Any attempt to summarise +their mendacities would be foredoomed to failure; the output of rumours +would exceed the limits of an ordinary tome. There were indeed some +enterprising spirits who did embark upon the task of collecting these +rumours, but they dropped it in despair, before economy in foolscap was +even thought of. These fanciful canards grew more nauseating as the +Siege advanced in seriousness, until anything in the nature of news was +deemed of necessity a lie. A local scribe, "The Lad," took the romancers +severely to task in a series of pithy articles, which the _Diamond +Fields' Advertiser_--domiciled though it was in a _glass_ house--did not +scruple to publish. The "lovely liar" was hanged, drawn, and quartered. +The "Military critic" was satirised, too; he was the lynx-eyed gentleman +who had detected the Lancers approaching Kimberley at a fast gallop two +hours after the Column had departed from Orange River. We had strained +our eyes for weeks on the strength of that man's eyesight, for 'hope +springs eternal in the human breast.' + +But all these far-seeing mortals had fallen discredited from their high +estate; and it was at this pregnant turning point in our fortunes that +the need of a little originality (for their credit's sake) appeared to +strike them. They set themselves to weave a romance as weird, as +diabolical, as their perverted ingenuity could suggest. And a +masterpiece it proved to be. + +They began to tell us of horseflesh, to recite legends of how under +conditions similar to ours it had been eaten, positively eaten, in the +past by human beings, who without it would have died, and who _did not_ +die when they ate it! For our part, we should have elected to die +first--but I must not anticipate. Gradually and tentatively--just as a +man who saw virtue in cannibalism would hem and haw before he advocated +its practice--the subject of horseflesh was furtively discussed in +whispers, which ultimately developed into audible commentaries in regard +to its odour, taste, and general nutritiousness. A plea for cannibalism +could scarcely encounter fiercer opposition or evoke greater disgust +than did the mere suggestion of horseflesh, even as a last resort, a +possible infliction, an alternative to surrender. In no circumstances +would we tolerate it. The very name of such a diet was revolting to our +conservative tastes, and filled us with horror; it was bad form to +mention it. If the British army ever brought us to such a pass terrible +things would happen; loyalty would be a memory of the digestive past; +wholesale forswearing of allegiance to the Queen would be the patriotism +of the day. Horseflesh indeed! The dish was hounded down as something +too utterly inconsonant with the culinary decencies of civilisation. + +So strong and bitter was the feeling against the horseflesh fable--for +fable, our anger notwithstanding, we insisted it was--that thinking +meat-eaters began to look upon it as a bad omen, and to wonder why a +baseless rumour should stir up so much indignation. Tales of this kind, +whether or not they tallied with probability, had come to be +pooh-poohed, to be treated with disdain. Hence it was rather odd that an +anecdote so racy should excite so much ferocity. + +Meanwhile, the enemy, unaware of our internal troubles, had placed three +new guns on Wimbleton Ridge. This was ominous; it brought about an +armistice; that is, a cessation of hostilities in the war of words +against Gorle and his hippophagous designs. A bombardment was expected; +and as we might easily have our teeth incapacitated by the shells, the +absurdity of bidding the hoofed gentleman good-day before we met him +gave us pause in our campaign against his friends. But the assault was +directed to Kenilworth; the cannon rattled all day with a view to +killing the cattle sheltered there. Our guns, after a while, took part +in the firing, and when the smoke cleared away the kine were still +there--on their feet. A second contingent of Basutos had taken their +departure in the morning, and as they did not return we presumed they +had passed in safety through the Boer lines. This accommodating spirit, +while their policy of exhaustion was doing so well, must have gone +against the Boer's grain; but then Lerothodi was a sleeping dog; it was +important that he should be let lie. + +The vindication of the _fama_ was completed on Monday when horseflesh in +all its naked iniquity was offered for sale, as horseflesh, at the +Washington Market. Its virtual effect was to reduce our meat ration by a +quarter; the authorities with rare consideration refrained from +extremities, and started us with small doses of _one_ ounce added to +three of ox-flesh. Perhaps some credit was due to the military for +horse-feeding us by degrees; but certain it is, they never got it. The +people generally declined to intermix their curtailed rations with +"strange food" of any kind; and the strange food accordingly remained in +the shambles to do service another day--when means could be employed, if +need be, to exorcise the demon of fastidiousness that had taken +possession of us. + +Our historians, our booky men, were on Tuesday glib to inform us that +the Siege had now extended to eighty-seven days--the exact duration of +the Siege of Lucknow. The tribulations of Lucknow were comparatively +short and sweet; for our troubles, horseflesh made us feel, were only +about to begin. Our clamour for relief had abated, and, except for an +occasional spasmodic outburst, Methuen was left in peace. Agitation in +the wilderness was futile; it could not hasten emancipation from the +thraldom of Martial Law. We developed a lethargy on the broader +(Imperial) issue. The guns still threshed the air, but with an +increasing feebleness suggestive of the Column's return by easy stages +to Orange River. Our disappointments had been manifold, and whispers +with reference to the ultimate terms of surrender were not uncommon. Not +that there was in any mind a disposition to give in until it was humanly +impossible to hold the fort. But it was coming to that stage. Horseflesh +on the top of other trials had implanted the canker of despair in more +than one sensitive soul. We had a great deal of horseflesh of the tram +and cab kind, and much as the obligations of Empire might induce us to +perform, it was _too_ much to expect us to rise to the occasion on +foreign food. The physical needs of the moment demanded something less +repulsive to the palate. No wonder the gloomy picture of digging +trenches for the Boers obtruded itself on our mental vision. Opinions +conflicted as to the aggregate quantity of meal and flour in the +military stores; most people held the view that it was much less than +was actually the fact. The scarcity of fodder, too, was felt acutely, +and necessitated the curtailment of the tram and cab services. More +horses had to be unharnessed and sent out to graze on the veld!--to +live, as it were, on their wits. It was even rumoured that some Indian +members of the community were inviting tenders for a supply of cats, and +were prepared to pay for them as much as two shillings per puss. No +evidence, however, in support of this tale from the Hills was +forthcoming; nor was it in any event likely to prove a remunerative +venture, since _rabbit pie_--ever a convertible term--would be the last +delicacy to inspire trust where _all_ animal food was suspect. + +In the afternoon, two visitors entered the city. One had little to tell, +but the other made amends for his companion's taciturnity with a +graphic, Othellonian description of the dangers he had passed, and his +wondrous experiences for many days and nights. He had, it appeared, a +regard for Mr. Rhodes, (who is less popular in the Free State than in +Kimberley), and the Government across the border had arraigned him on +the charge of being "a Rhodes man" (whatever that is). For this high +crime and misdemeanour he had been sentenced to three years' +imprisonment. But the Rhodes man resented the injustice, and, with his +friend, contrived to escape. After a series of peripatetic adventures +they were more dead than alive when the head-gear of De Beers burst upon +their view. The spectacle revivified them, and with a desperate rally +they crawled undetected through the Boer lines, to an asylum in which +they were glad to find even horseflesh to eat. + +Wednesday was in no way eventful; lassitude had gripped the people. This +was the more noticeable in that our friends outside appeared to be +uncommonly vigorous. They devoted great attention to their redoubts, to +strengthening them, and conducted themselves like men who were sanguine +of the fall of Kimberley. They bombarded us lightly in the afternoon, on +the chance of stretching _hors-de-combat_ a unit of the garrison--not +more than one or two, as they had no special desire to prejudice the +appeal they felt sure we must soon make for food. They did not want that +consummation delayed a moment longer than was necessary. It would leave +them free to establish railway communication between Kimberley and +Bloemfontein; they had such a scheme in contemplation. + +All these things, however, were now of secondary interest; it was the +horseflesh peril that held the field. The masses were still determined +never to submit to such an ordinance on the eve of the twentieth +century; the innovation was too horrible. But the military, undaunted +by popular opposition, were bent on making the horse acceptable; and +their next move was to _equalise_ the proportions of the two species +that constituted a ration. The effect of this little twist of the screw +was to reduce our meat ration (nobody allowed that horseflesh was meat!) +to two ounces. The ounces from the ribs of the tougher animal were left +severely alone--by the majority of the people. On the other hand, +controversialists of strong anti-vegetarian views were forced to +experiment. Their verdicts differed. Some of them knew a _little_ about +cooking, and _they_ were "not surprised." Others, who knew nothing of +cooking, re-harnessed the horse at once; while a third school, expert in +the culinary art, triumphantly overcame their prejudices, but were +afraid openly to smack their lips. Unanimous approval or toleration was +never forthcoming, and, for myself, I am most inclined to respect the +judgment of the heretics who pronounced the equine dish "as good as the +_meat_ that was going." It was certainly not better, and to make it +universally acceptable it would require to have been very much better. + +On one "point" agreement obtained; it was admitted on all sides that the +horse tasted sweet. One might suppose the adjective to be a +recommendation; but it was not so; quite the contrary (the nearer the +bone, etc. does not apply to a saddle of horseflesh). And yet there were +people who liked their _porridge_ sweet! who, after wasting their +allowance of sugar in it, would go running about the streets to borrow a +little sugar for their tea. Had it been practicable to utilise a little +horse-essence for the tea, all would be well. But it would hardly do. +Nobody ventured even to hint at the adoption of such a course to a +neighbour; with borrowing rampant it was undesirable to be on other than +amicable terms with the lady next door. + +Time passed, and our antipathy to horseflesh abated not a jot. It did +not improve on acquaintance, we were told by those who tried it, while +the self-respecting persons who would not so demean themselves were no +less bitter in their diatribes. It was useless to argue that the horse +was a "clean" animal. He was deemed too useful, too tough, too sinewy, +too hard-working to be digestible. We could not connect a horse-chop +with what was fit for human consumption. Most of us indulgently spared +the butcher the trouble of weighing it; we preferred--with an air of +dignity--to take the two ounces that civilisation sanctioned, and to +forego the rest. And there were numbers who did not consider it worth +while enduring a certain jostling for the _right_ half of their ration; +it was not worth it--and they might get the _wrong_ half! The meat man +did not like the boycott at all; he wanted to get rid of his surplus +sirloins, and the asceticism of those who preferred to thrive on black +tea enabled him to invite the unparticular people to pick and choose the +rib--the equine rib--they liked best. The authorities, to do them +justice, had acted straightforwardly in differentiating between the two +animals; no deception in the way of palming off the one for the other +was permitted. But in the confusion things got mixed; and the poor +butcher, who was only human, succumbed in spite of himself to strong +temptation. Whether he was governed by the motive of doing a little +wrong for sake of a great right is beside the question. The great right +was done. In veterinary circles the meat dispenser was relished as a +rather daring "perverter," while hundreds of smart people began to enjoy +their _pseudo_-beef. And when afterwards informed of the "mistake" they +did not seem to care, but went on serenely pandering to the butcher's +genial ambidextrousness. + +On Thursday a good many shells fell in the neighbourhood of Scholtz's +Nek. With an energy which few had hitherto been disposed to give him +credit for possessing, the enemy continued to engross himself in +establishing, as it were, a fixity of tenure. This growing feeling of +security which animated our friends was most depressing. True, it was +something to hear that the Boers at Ladysmith had been repulsed with +heavy loss--if it were true. It was something; but it was not much. +Privations had developed our bumps of Provincialism; the claims of +Empire took a secondary place, as also did the fortunes of Ladysmith. +One authority stated that forty-five thousand Boers had been killed or +wounded in Natal. But these figures, to be correct, would necessarily +have embraced the warriors outside Kimberley--who were much alive! The +figures were afterwards reduced to four, and eventually to two. But +these important amendments were not proposed and carried for weeks after +the events to which they related, by which time we were so deep in the +slough of despond over something else that we could not sink deeper. We +were still in the dark as to the progress of the campaign. No accurate +accounts of the disasters, mishaps, and reverses that marked its opening +stages were placed before us. Brief and garbled references to +Stormberg, Colenso, and Nicholson's Nek were allowed by "Law" to +illumine the columns of the Press--getting lightly treated as trifles of +no consequence. There existed a small, astute minority who hazarded +unpleasant opinions of these "trifles." Our Teutonic friends candidly +expressed the view that England, to save her Empire, must shortly sue +for peace; but though they were just as anxious as anybody else to see +the Column come in, too much weight was not attached to what foreign +fellows said. The _Advertiser_, too, though ever sanguine in its +editorial columns, was sometimes indiscreet in its humour. It gave us, +for example, an anecdote anent the utterances of a certain prominent +Boer, which was in no wise calculated to allay the unrest prevalent +since Magersfontein. The Boers, he said, were willing to make peace at +their own price, and that price included a full recognition of their +Independence, an indemnity of twenty millions of money, and a perquisite +in the shape of Natal for the Transvaal. For the Free State it was +stipulated that the border should be widened to admit Kimberley back to +the fold. These were extravagant terms; they were amusing, as amusement +goes--or might go in the ordinary trend of things. But when coupled with +other symptoms--the misfortunes of the army, the reticence of the +authorities, the uncanny demureness of the fourth estate--they were not +conducive to peace of mind. Had there been aught that was good to tell +it would have been proclaimed with glowing candour; the "new diplomacy" +would have exercised its sway in riotous triumph. The Military, it was +conceded, knew everything. Unanimity obtained on that point. But it +stopped there. On the question of the Colonel's reticence, its cause, +effect, wisdom, or unwisdom, discord was rife. Acute ones had hit the +nail on the head, but they could not drive it home. Every man, or set of +men, had his or their own peculiar theory to expound. The army, some +said, was marching on Bloemfontein with a view to expediting our relief +by forcing the Boer back to defend his own State. Against this it was +maintained that Kimberley was outside the _ambit_ of the army's high and +mighty consideration. Others argued that the Colonel's policy of "mum" +was mainly intended as a protest against the traffic in "Specials." We +were all weary; the strain was weakening our mental faculties; the most +sensible and philosophic cherished the queerest thoughts. As a cynic +observed, one night at _souchong_, it took a siege to test one's +intelligence--and it tried the cynics as much as the non-intellectual. +All honour to those gentlemen--lay and clerical--who by dint of hard +work and in doing good preserved their equilibrium. We had, on Thursday, +an instance of their worth in the establishment of a cook-house to +supply the native population with _cooked_ rations. This was a +praiseworthy innovation, for wood and such fuel as _Mars_ permitted to +be combustible were extremely scarce. The native had been cured of his +weakness for the dismemberment of mahogany; indirectly the cooking-depot +warded off a "relapse," and was altogether an Institution creditable to +its founders. + +Friday came and went unmarked by incident of note; but no; we were +told--it was something new to be told anything--that a Cape _dorp_ +called Kuruman had thrown up the sponge. The place had been poorly +garrisoned, and the end was not unexpected--in Official quarters. We +protested against the military habit of publishing things we did not +want to know, while all knowledge of more important events was kept +hermetically sealed in one or half a dozen heads. We were not altogether +consistent in this, but--no matter. Saturday wound up the unlucky +thirteenth week of our sorrows. It saw us emaciated, thirsty, and filled +to satiety with the romance of isolation. It found us irascible, +contumacious, with an aptitude for fluent swearing at the tales (of how +light we had grown) unfolded by the weighing-machine. It found us in +lucid intervals conjuring up visions of a beer saturnalia when--alas! +when the barrels were full again. It heard us howling against horseflesh +and the devilish ingenuity of him who discovered a precedent for +roasting it; it heard the chorus, "where is the Column?" and the mocking +echo answering "where!" It heard many divergent opinions as to what the +Column was going to do; some contending that it was waiting to be +re-inforced by the "Sixth Division"; more dictating with fiery rancour +that it was for the "Seventh Division" the Column waited; another +insisting that the "Seventh Division" was operating a thousand miles +away--and _all_ of us knowing about as much of the Sixth or Seventh +Division's movements as Plato did of ping-pong! The need of Army reform +was much felt and talked of. But there was behind this conflict of +tongues a weary but firm determination to keep unfurled at all costs the +flag of no surrender. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +_Week ending 20th January, 1900_ + +It was an illustration of the people's enduring pluck, this dogged +resolution of no surrender. Not that they felt conscious of any +particular heroism; the thought of capitulation as a means of escape +from discomfort suggested itself to nobody. In moments of mental +depression it might have crossed an ultra-pessimistic mind and been +brooded over as a consummation that no Spartan bravery could enable us +to avert. But to the masses the notion was unthinkable; the idea of +surrender would not bear discussion; it was never discussed. Against +Martial Law as such we did not so much complain; it was an evil, but to +some extent a necessary evil; and however prone we were to find fault, +however scathingly we condemned the machinations of the "Law," or the +stern "will" of its maker, the possibility of yielding to the _other_ +enemy was never entertained for one moment. No proposal of the kind was +ever made. + +And when it is remembered that the nature and extent of the things they +endured had at this period increased beyond the mere inconveniences of +Siege life, it will be conceded that the citizens of Kimberley played a +worthy part. They saw disease and death busy in their midst; they saw +the natives succumbing to the ravages of scurvy and kindred ills; they +saw sickness playing havoc with the white population; they saw their +families in sore need of the necessities of existence, and young +children--hardest of all--dying from want of nourishment. The infant +mortality was truly heart-rending. It is recorded that thirteen babes +were buried in one day. The authorities had adopted measures to conserve +milk for the young and the invalided, but with only partial success. +When matters were at their worst a further effort was made to induce the +privileged few who could still call their cows their own to send milk to +a central depot for distribution among the children of the poor and +middle classes. And the appeal was not a vain one; the response was +generous; it lessened the mortality. To-day, the men of the Diamond +Fields can look back and laugh at their harsh judgments, their not too +sweet reasonableness towards the "Law" of the land. They acquitted +themselves well on the whole; for an imperturbable spirit covers a +multitude of foibles. The citizens held Kimberley in spite of +everything, and never swerved from the fulfilment of what they felt to +be a sacred duty. + +Sunday brought a dreary repetition of a siege Sunday's monotony. The +situation had been discussed threadbare, and there was little else to +converse about. The dust outdoors was blinding, and the people for the +most part dozed over books. That was the cardinal mercy vouchsafed us; +we had books to read, and never were they so ravenously devoured. +Reading was much in vogue; it was a siege innovation--a very good one, +too. Persons who had never hitherto believed in the pleasure to be +derived from books were disillusioned, and driven, as it were, to +cultivate a taste for literature--as men in gaol often are. It may +therefore be set down as portion of the good resulting from evil, this +teaching of people to value mental nourishment. The importance of the +physical variety was only too well understood. + +On Monday many shells fell into the west end of the town. Our West End +was not like London's; there were few houses in it, and they were +unoccupied. Mafeking, it was said, had driven back the besiegers, and, +it was added, had "possibly" been relieved from the north ("possibly" +was thought distinctly good). It may have been so; but we did not +believe it. There had all along been a great deal of chopping and +changing anent the position of the Mafeking garrison. We were at one +time told that Mafeking "fell" before our Siege began. We could, and +always did, take a more dispassionate view of Baden-Powell's plight than +we could or would take of our own. + +Tuesday morning brought the 'signal sound of strife'; no day brought any +more. The belching of the guns sounded nearer than on the Monday, but +that was small consolation, for it had sounded near and afar off +alternately for many days. There is a modernised game of blind man's +buff in which the blind one is set to find a hidden ping-pong ball, and +is aided in the search by a _fugue_ played on the piano. The nearer she +(or he) approaches the object of her (or his) search the louder grows +the music (the _fugue_) and _vice versa_. It seemed to us that Methuen +not only knew the game but was passionately fond of it. It was our +privilege in the afternoon to behold the twinkling of a balloon. It +being broad daylight the stars were not visible. Still, sceptical +wiseacres refused to come outside to see the sight; they guessed it was +"the sun." A variety of colours were to be seen about the balloon; the +sceptics said it was a rainbow. But there was no mistaking it in the +light of day; the thing was really a balloon. The rumour-monger seized +his opportunity and circulated all over the city that portion of the +Column were visible, or had halted, rather, at Kraalkop, where they +ought to be visible. Kraalkop accordingly was watched intently for eight +and forty hours, but no sign of a human presence rewarded the vigil. The +Boers, meanwhile, evinced no signs of scenting danger from any quarter, +and with their usual nonchalance kept leisurely shying shells at +Kimberley. These missiles were intended probably for the redoubts, as +they fell mainly on the outskirts of the town. They exploded on the hard +roads, and suggested plenty of melancholy speculation as to the precise +number of them that would be needed to double up for ever the entire +population. Fever continued to play havoc with both natives and +Europeans. The Siege was growing warm, insufferably warm, and the +weather that nature gave us was in all conscience hot enough. In our +fourteenth week of hunger and thirst matters were as bad as they could +be--until the meat Directorate proceeded scientifically to confound the +fallacy in their own peculiar way. + +The half and half regulation had been in operation some days--a few +eating all they got--others only half of it--more again touching no meat +at all lest they should (horrible thought!) mistake one half for the +other. This state of things did not satisfy the Authorities, and they +proceeded to push the horse--practically down our throats. The feelings +of the civilised citizens of the Diamond City can be better imagined +than described when they read in the daily _bulletin_ at the Washington +Market that they would get--not _all_ horse indeed, but, in the words of +the song, "it was near it." It was decreed that our ration should +henceforth consist of four-fifths horse-flesh and one-fifth meat proper. +This reduced our allowance of solid (familiar) food to less than one +ounce, or in other words to the dimensions of a small cake of tobacco +_minus_ several pipefuls! It may well be doubted whether Gilbert has +ever conceived anything so quaint. I will not dwell on its whimsical +side, nor on the feelings its realism stirred in the breasts of the +suffering multitude. In effect it caused a serious secession from the +ranks of the party who had abstained altogether from horseflesh. For +when it came to a choice between no meat at all on the one side, and +Boer bread and porridge _exclusively_ on the other, it occurred to the +seceders that even horse blood is thicker than water; so they passed +under the yoke of hippophagy with perfect composure. Still the party +that suffered this defection lost neither _prestige_ nor numerical +strength, for the four-fifths' standard made vegetarians of many who had +tolerated--while it lasted--the principle of equal rights, or two ounces +of each animal. A transposition of parties occurred. But none abstained +from opening the floodgates of their wrath on the authors of the latest +_menu_. The authors' apologists, for--tell it not in Gath!--they had +apologists still, argued that there were restaurants in Paris where +cooked horse was a speciality. But special pleading so palpable only +aggravated the prevailing resentment to the dish. There were a great +many customs in Paris equally foreign to our, shall I say, Imperial +ways; together with a plethora of scientific _chefs_ who could +metamorphose anything--rats as well as horses. There were +revolutionaries in France in sufficient numbers to make traffic in +gruesome dietary pay; and plenty of fodder, besides, with which to +"fatten" beasts. All this gammon respecting Continental precedent and +taste was beside the question; it only invited gratuitous vituperation +of the French nation. An ugly feature of the traffic was suggested by +the fact that horses were dying from sheer starvation. The Sanitary +Authorities had become experts in the use of the revolvers with which +they expedited the demise of the poor beasts. Everybody has doubtless +known of the repulsion one feels against partaking of the flesh of a cow +that dies a _natural_ death. All of us, perhaps, have unconsciously +relished it at one time or another, when butchers were above suspicion. +But when it was a question of a horse--well, I will not conjure up the +horror of the situation. The horses used for food were all +_slaughtered_; but the suspicion existed that they might not have been, +and to lay the bogey in minds governing old-fashioned stomachs was not +easy. These old Whigs argued that the meat we ate was "dead" meat, from +"dead" animals (which was indisputable). All this apart, however, it was +manifest even to the devil-may-care fellows who are usually satisfied +with _enough_ of a thing, that the horses were "too thin." The +Authorities kept inviting owners to sell their beasts for "slaughtering +purposes"; good prices were offered for "fat horses." Advertisements +(in huge capitals) to this effect disfigured our newspaper for a long +while, and though we did not regard it as such it was a nice piece of +humour. The "fat" horses were all too few for fighting, and were +reserved for fighting. The artfulness of "slaughtering purposes" can be +appreciated accordingly. + +Wednesday was interesting, Colonel Chamier having persuaded Kekewich to +let him off on a little expedition. He took with him a small battery of +guns, a picked force of mounted men (on "fat" horses), and wended his +way towards Alexandersfontein. On the journey he divided his force and +left half of it with a Maxim at a Mr. Fenn's farm. The jolly Boers had +evidently, and not unnaturally, assumed that they had cured us of our +weakness for meanderings. An attack was the last thing they looked for, +and Chamier got well within range of the great camp unobserved. And then +the battle began. The enemy, taken by surprise, suffered much in their +efforts to regain their trenches. In the meantime a large party of Boers +from a neighbouring arc of the circle that encompassed Kimberley were +endeavouring to cut off Chamier's retreat. But it was with tactics of +this sort that the men at Fenn's were instructed to deal; and they did +deal with them, effectually. Unconscious of hidden danger, the +unsuspecting Boers in the course of their operations drew near to the +farm. And it was then, and not till then, that into their midst came a +shower of bullets that spoiled their plans. In the _melee_ a Boer horse +(a plump one) was triumphantly captured and preserved for dissection. +The men shortly afterwards returned to town, having learnt all that they +wanted to learn, and inflicted more damage than they had hoped to +inflict. They were bombarded on the journey home, but their casualities +were nil. + +On their entrance into Kimberley they met an enthusiastic baker (with +his breadcart), who was not in a position to confer V.C.'s all round; +but he bombarded each member of the force with something quite as +precious, namely, a loaf of bread. The "regulation" allowance was only a +paltry fourteen ounces, which the lightest of Light Horsemen was capable +of demolishing for breakfast. The generous baker--Martial Law and +proclamations notwithstanding--could not resist the opportunity of +throwing the beam of a good deed on this naughty world; and when he +found he had not sufficient loaves to go round, so far from regretting +his quixotic rashness, he galloped back to his bakehouse for more. It +was a graceful act--reckless, heroic--and the recipients of the dough +were not lacking in gratitude. But, alas! the _Commissariat_ were; they +bristled with anger! How dare a baker be generous in the teeth of the +penalties attached to kindness and such weaknesses. How dare he flout so +outrageously the canons of Martial Law. Who was Czar! Was Kekewich king! +Was Cæsar (_Imperial_ Cæsar) dead and turned to--flour! The offence was +unprecedented in its heinousness. Threats of prosecution followed; but +the offending baker apologised; and though the more rigid of our +disciplinarians, given their way, would have roasted him in his own +oven, the flexible ones deemed shooting too good for him, and accepted +his apology by way of compromise. + +But Wednesday will be remembered for more than a sortie, and the +baker's rebellion that ensued. On that day was formally established our +celebrated "Soup Kitchen." Among the sheaves of suggestive letters to +the Editor, for the better management, economy, and distribution of +supplies, the epistles relating to the need of a soup department had +attracted most attention. The idea was not a bad one; it was +practicable, and had much to commend it. But still the feeling of the +people was that so long as they were allowed an _unmixed_ ration of the +roast beef of old England or young Australia (same Empire) it was +preferable that they should be permitted to make their own soup--a poor +thing, perhaps; but their own. + +The advent of a joint more accustomed to shafts than to skewers, +however, was a horse of a different colour; so different, in fact, that +all the virtues of a great common kitchen, the saving it would effect, +and the good side of Collectivism generally, dawned simultaneously upon +everybody by some magical inspiration. The advantages of a Soup-house +were at once recognised, and the wisdom of such a creation was +immediately acclaimed by a host of astute correspondents. The idea took +root, germinated, "caught on," so to say, as the one and only panacea +for our ills. So strongly was the scheme approved that arrangements for +the flotation of a semi-philanthropic, semi-military company were +settled forthwith. All the best names available (for reasons which will +be more obvious in due time) were placed on the list of Directors. Mr. +Rhodes, the millionaire, would not lend his name for inscription on a +_prospectus_ that was not _bona fide_; and such respected signatories as +Mr. and Mrs. Maguire, Doctor Smartt (who also was "well," bedad), and +other public personages of high character and probity were a good +guarantee for the quality and purity of the State Soup; while the skill +of Captain Tyson (who undertook the duties of honorary _chef_) was +incontestable. All these names were easily procured. It was laid down +with solemn emphasis, as a primary article of faith, that the soup was +to be made from oxflesh, and nothing but oxflesh. The horse was to be +banned! That was the cardinal condition of the success anticipated for +the venture; and the guarantees on this head were, in view of the +_status_ of the guarantors, accepted unreservedly. Mr. Rhodes, indeed, +went a step further than the rest; he guaranteed a contribution of +vegetables from the De Beers garden; and the Colonel, not to be outdone, +permitted the soup to be thickened with mealie meal. The allowance was +to be at the rate of one pint per adult, at three-pence per pint. That +the value given for the humble "tickey" was good the success of the +scheme proved beyond contention. Hundreds of pints were disposed of--the +Directors in person superintending the sale and wielding the ladles. The +supply did not at first correspond with the demand; thousands who had +assembled with their jugs were turned away disappointed. The great +things expected from the Kitchen were realised; the excellence and the +flavour of the broth surpassed expectations. The ordinary meat ticket +sufficed, and its presentation at the Kitchen entitled the holder to as +many pints of soup as (and in lieu of) the number of meat rations for +which the ticket was good. The fame of the broth travelled far. +Egg-cup-fuls of the liquid were exultingly passed round to the wary, +suspicious ones; and these proud sceptics by extending to it the charity +of their silence most eloquently admitted the groundlessness of their +horsey apprehensions. + +The visit of an envoy from the Boer camp aroused a good deal of +curiosity. What did he want? The Colonel would never tell. But there was +much sinister speculation abroad which, taken in conjunction with the +unabating activity of the Boers, was the reverse of comforting. The +unconditional surrender of the town had, it was whispered, been demanded +in explicit terms, and with equal explicitness refused. The consequence +of this refusal was the thought uppermost in every mind. The gentlemen +outside were numerically stronger than ever, and more at ease, too. They +had--if report ever spoke truly--intimated to the "Volunteer" camp, in +some way not explained, that they had just returned from their Christmas +holidays; that their absence accounted for the "quiet time" we had been +enjoying; but that they would presently be giving us "beans." They +certainly know how many make _five_; and their facetiousness in close +proximity to a large British Column was beyond us. + +There was yet another pronouncement to complete the eventfulness of the +day, and to cause a lull in the domestic warfare waged against the +Colonel and his Ironsides. By dint of hard work day and night the great +thirty-pound gun constructed by De Beers was finished at last. Big +things were expected from it; the surprise and consternation it was +likely to create was a pleasing reflection. The construction of such a +piece of ordnance in the middle of a desert was considered something to +be proud of, and that reflected credit on the genius of Mr. Labram, who +had planned it. Long Cecil (as it was called), in all its pristine +perfection, was submitted to the public gaze, and was at once the +cynosure of all eyes. On Friday it was tested, with complete success. +The boom, at close quarters, was loud and alarming; and it required the +despatch of a second shell to satisfy non-spectators that the gun had +not been blown to pieces by the first. A few missiles were sent into the +Intermediate Station, a couple of miles distant. Whether anyone was hurt +did not transpire, but the moral effect produced was unmistakable. A +panic appeared to ensue, and vehicles of all sorts were hurriedly +requisitioned to enable the Boers to get away with their goods and +chattels from the Intermediate to a more healthy station. Private +letters were afterwards unearthed in which no attempt was made to +conceal the alarm occasioned by this unexpected visitation. + +But the new gun was only a diversion, while the stream of invective +against horseflesh went on like the brook for ever. It is an ill wind +that blows nobody good; the truth of this was well exemplified in the +luck of the dogs. The poor animals looked shockingly thin and wasted, +and had for a long time been unable to move about with their wonted +agility in pursuit of locusts and mosquitoes. The mongrels that had any +fight or vitality left in them would engage in a terrific struggle on +the streets at night for the contents of the refuse buckets which our +primitive sanitation laws permitted to obstruct the pathways until +morning. It need hardly be said that there was not much in the way of +crusts, scraps, or bones to appease canine hunger, and the resultant +keenness of the competition made the night extremely hideous. This +snarling struggle for existence had gone on night after night to the +supreme annoyance of martyrs who would fain have slept, and who urged +(in letters to the Editor) the wholesale destruction of the snarlers as +a work at once humane, essential, and congenial. This was in pre-horse +food days, when the ox was paramount on our tables. + +But now all was changed, and every dog had his day indeed! The +brutes--not knowing the difference--revelled in horseflesh. The people +who could not look at it gave it _all_ to their dogs; while the most +enthusiastic equine meat-eater invariably left a trifle behind him. +Canine gluttony was a source of much amusement, envy, or disgust +(according to the individual temperament); and the ubiquitous cynic +reminded one of a good time coming when the horse would be locally +extinct and "fat dog" the daintiest of diets. The irony of it all was +that there were still at Kenilworth some hundreds of oxen, in perpetual +danger of being "sniped "; and the populace argued (not unreasonably) +that to force on us irrational rations was in the circumstances a +callous thing. There were doubtless considerations to palliate this +procedure on the part of the Protector, but we would not see them. The +cattle were there in sufficient numbers to feed us until relief arrived. +True, relief appeared to be remote, but our view was that (if a calamity +were to be averted) it _must_ come within a month at the outside. And +what a pretty _denouement_ it would be, we said, if, through thrusting +"strange food" upon us until the Column came in, there were left a +monster herd of jubilant bullocks to swell the chorus of welcome! And, +if I mistake not, they did actually swell it. At any rate, General +French was reported to have been highly indignant when informed of how +much more useful than palatable the horse was, and to have ordered its +exclusion from the abattoir forthwith. We had to continue vegetating on +Siege rations for two weeks after the arrival of French; but from the +first moment of his entry the nightmare of horseflesh troubled us no +more. + +Those dark days were not without their humours withal; and there was a +piquancy in the very imperviousness of our risible faculties to their +correct appreciation. Asses and mules--it was said--were butchered in +common with horses, and discussion was wont to be rife on the relative +merits of the three animals in their new sphere of usefulness. The +difficulty involved in distinguishing a steak of one from a steak of +another was no small one; but donkey was reputed to taste sweeter than +common horse--a questionable recommendation!--and the advocates of this +theory were called cannibals. The mule had its backers, too; it was the +gentler animal, they contended in sustainment of their preference. But +all three beasts had acquired a fresh interest, notoriety, and dignity; +and it was edifying to watch men, not noted for their sporting +proclivities, eyeing an animal with the knowing look of a _connoisseur_ +that seemed to say: "I wonder what he would taste like." Whether it was +that, being so cheap he might be regarded "gift horse," or for some less +occult reason, the points of a beast were never looked for in the mouth. +His age, for example, might strike a thinking person as an important +factor to be remembered in the summing up of a horse's fitness for the +grill. But the people generally never thought of that, and were mainly +influenced in their judgments by the spareness or fleshiness of the +animal's hindquarters. On Saturday the atmosphere was thick with rumours +of imminent trouble. The precise terms of the Boer ultimatum we did not +know, but that an ultimatum had been received was not denied. We heard +of a fifty-pound gun (bigger than ours!) being put into position on the +Free State border--with a view to instilling in us the wisdom of +recognising the inevitable. The less formidable instruments of torture +nearer home were also being augmented. There was a feeling that events +of an uncommon character were on the march. People talked of +presentiments--one being that the Baralongs outside Kimberley were being +armed to assist in our annihilation. The much debated topic anent the +likelihood of the Sixth Division being sent to join Methuen was settled +at last--to our chagrin. It had gone off at a tangent somewhere else. +Who knew that the Seventh Division would not follow suit? In any case, +weeks had to pass before the Seventh (being still at sea) could get +anywhere. Our prospects of speedy liberation were therefore none too +excellent. The Empire was passing through a crisis, and if Kekewich had +had only the statesmanship to make known to us the truth, the plain +unvarnished truth, we might have been less captious in our criticisms of +things both local and Imperial. Even the new gun, in common with the +times, was out of joint and undergoing repairs at the workshop. + +Nutritious food of any sort was now a rarity in real earnest. Eggs were +hard at a price per dozen that purchased a _gross_ in the not too cheap +days of peace; while ducks and drakes, no bigger than crows, but worth +their weight in diamonds, were too heavy for the patrons of paste. The +military people had an extensive variety of precious birds stuffed away +_in_ their own selected aviaries. They had also seized upon all the +cigarettes in town. Now, this was held up as a well-grounded and +specific grievance against the military. It was conceded that the sick +and wounded had first claim on our humanity; and the chicken monopoly, +had it stood alone, would not have invited criticism. But the cigarette +appropriation was reckoned a scandal. There was an abundance of matches +in the military stores--but nowhere else. The tobacconists were selling +off, at quadrupled rates, quantities of ancient, nasty-smelling +"safety-matches," which but yesterday, alas! they would have paid us to +bury somewhere! Of course there were wide possibilities of economy in +this direction--the one match often putting the kettles to boil in half +a street. The waste in the matter of pipe-kindling had to be modified, +and the mediæval makeshift of flint and steel restored. The fierce rays +of _Sol_, through the _media_ of our monocles, were also utilised to +light cigars. What else on Saturday? Yes, Mafeking, they said, was +fighting on still; and Generals Buller and Warren had forded the Tugela, +_en route_ to Ladysmith. That their plunge might stimulate Methuen to +burn his boots and brave the turgid waters of the Modder, was the +fervent wish of Kimberley at the end of fourteen weeks of irksome, +emaciating duress. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +_Week ending 27th January, 1900_ + + +The whirligig of the enemy (time, not the Boer, not the "Law") had again +carried us to the beginning of another week. The Sundays were now +exceedingly dull, and on the particular Sabbath with which I am dealing +little worthy of record came within the sphere of my observations. I +shall therefore--in the absence of matter of graver import--take +advantage of its Sunday silence to say a word or two about the _Diamond +Fields' Advertiser_. The views of the besieged in regard to their local +print had undergone a change. They had at one time been proud of their +paper. It had formerly been conducted on well-defined principles; and it +was its departure from these principles to the _status_ of an "Organ" +that preached, but which at the frown of a Draconic Colonel practised +not its articles--it was this that brought down upon its head the wrath +of the local democracy. The authorities had for a while permitted the +paper to publish war-scraps; but whether it was due to a tendency on the +Editor's part to expand these allowances, the privilege was withdrawn +and scraps were proscribed. Even the fiction in the columns of our +journal was subjected to a rigid censorship; and when the Public had +expected it to be voicing their protests against the Russian government +of the day, the paper was virtually in Slavonic hands and controlled by +the _Czar_ himself. Its eight large pages had been reduced to four +small ones, which became better known as the "Official Gazette" of the +district. But though we read in it garrison orders from time to time, +the three-penny novelette of the town would have been a more fitting +designation. It had once quoted from a London contemporary a statement +to the effect that hundreds of lives had been thrown away at +Magersfontein in an attempt to rescue Cecil Rhodes! Our "Organ" was then +independent enough to retort that there was, besides Mr. Rhodes, the +fate of thousands of British subjects to be considered. But now it was +far otherwise; the independence of tone had vanished. Instead of +dignified sarcasm, we were apologetically regaled with parallels of all +the sieges in the world's history--Troy, Plevna, Sebastopol, Paris, +etc.--and calmly assured that our tribulations weighed lightly in the +balance with what was suffered in the brave days of--"wooden" +horseflesh! + +Still the journal, though it evoked the displeasure of its quondam +admirers, doubtless acted for the best in a difficult situation; and +there were many who might have overlooked the "parallels" were it not +for the advertisements. For through the advertising columns we were +perpetually being pressed by the merchants of the city to come in and +buy everything that makes life worth living! All the dainties an +aspirant to gout could wish for were, according to our "Official +Gazette," to be had for the asking. At the hotels, "Highland Cream +Whiskey" was for ever arriving; and "O.K." (another thistle!) kept +"licking 'em all" with monotonous invincibility. Iced beer was on tap; +the champagne was sparkling; the wine needed no bush. The cheese was +still alive (on paper). Cakes, hams, jams, biscuits, potted fish, flesh, +and good red herring were, so to speak, all over the shops. This was the +sort of pabulum our morning sheet supplied by way of breakfast for +inward digestion, and there was an irony in the meal which its +uniqueness did not help to make palatable. Absent-minded people still +went shopping for luxuries gone but not forgotten; to provoke a +premature "April fool" from the startled grocer, who was powerless to +make real the chimeras that haunted the jungles of the shoppers' +imaginations. Even practical (new) women would sometimes think of +Bovril, and rush off to buy it all up, only to find that it had been +bought up long ago, and that not for nothing had so much money been +expended in the booming of that bullock in a bottle! Our boarding-house +tariffs were ridiculously low (the paper said) at seven or eight pounds +per month; while the allurements of the boating and the creature +comforts of Modder River, and the balminess of its breezes, were dangled +before our eyes with aggressive cynicism. The shipping agents were most +attentive to detail in regard to the departure of vessels from Cape +ports--just as if the availability of aerial tugs, to convey us to the +coast, went without saying. Such were the irritating features of our +morning paper. Their humour was utterly lost on us; they only served to +sharpen the unhappy appetites of all whose fatal misfortune was ability +to read. + +Nasty stories had been told with reference to the reign of terror to be +inaugurated on Monday. But they did not materialise; the rule of Martial +Law--bad to beat--remained unbeatable. The _expected_ rarely happened, +and peace was oftener than not the characteristic of the prophets' +red-letter-day. Such occasions gave us scope and opportunity to discuss +the _Kabal_ that ran her Majesty's writ, and to wonder whether it (the +writ) should ever again be pacemaker to the people's will. The spectacle +of a number of Union Jacks floating on the breeze was the most startling +incident of the day. What did the transformation mean? A wild conjecture +seized us; it was a moment of unalloyed joy when the fond thought of +Kimberley's relief having been accomplished during the night flashed +across our minds. But our jubilation was short-lived, for the Boers +presently fired a salute with intent clearly to tatter rather than +honour the Flag--in defence of which Long Cecil, tattered itself, was +unable to play a part. + +The echoes of a heavy cannonade were the feature of Tuesday. This led us +to infer that the much-vaunted "siege train" (which was the talk of the +city) had begun its work of devastation. The inspiration of itself would +not have been the harbinger of consolation--we were long listening to +sound and fury, meaning nothing--but we were quick to associate it with +the unfurling of the Flag, to put the two "straws" together--and sigh! + +"The Column," our Gazette asserted, "had made a most successful +_reconnaissance_." But experience had taught us how to estimate a bald, +non-committal statement of that kind. Our faith in the Column had been +shaken; so much so that cynics hummed, with impunity, that the "little +British army goes a long, long way." We dared to doubt the bellipotence +of the Column. The wisdom of self-help was brought home to us at last. +We were fast learning to put not our trust in Columns, and to ponder the +possibility, handicapped though we were, of hewing from within a way to +freedom. + +Meanwhile Long Cecil, successfully treated, was again in the arena. A +few "compliments" were jerked at the Kamfers Dam Laager; the Boers were +made to feel that they had a foeman to deal with worthy of their lead. +The success of the gun and the skill of him who made it were on every +lip. The theme occasioned as much enthusiasm as could be expected from +hearts saddened by disconsolation. And the man in the moon, too far +distant to betray the grimness of his smile, looked silently on. +Favourable accounts of the progress of events in Natal conduced to the +serenity of the evening. The night was so still and grand that it seemed +almost a pity to seek refuge in repose; and when ultimately we did +persuade ourselves to retire it was to dream of Long Cecil and his +potentialities--a sanguine dream of self-reliance and ability to burst +our bonds. + +But, oh! what a change came over its spirit in the middle of the night; +when startled from our slumbers by the hissing of shells in the streets +we awoke to a sense of what was real. In the blackness of the early +morning it was hard to connect the booming of cannon with reality. The +shells were falling and bursting in rapid succession. It was the +inauguration of a nerve-ordeal; the prelude to a terrible day; the +beginning of a bombardment long-sustained and fierce. + +Not for long did the guns blaze in vain. A young girl lay dead, struck +down in the privacy of her bedroom. Shell after shell came whistling +through the air, jeopardising the reason of scared women, in terror for +the safety of their children. Men rushed about everywhere seeking +shelter for their families. A gentleman walking in the Dutoitspan Road +had his hat unroofed, and a young lad was prematurely put out at elbow +by a piece of shell which passed through the sleeve of his coat. Half a +score of guns poured forth a heavy fusillade until eight o'clock, when a +short interval for breakfast was conceded. + +Fast and furious fell the instruments of destruction into every street +and alley that throbbed with human life--smashing tables and delfware, +ripping up floors, and spreading alarm abroad in the land. The Public +Library was the recipient of a missile that played havoc with a hoary +tome. Public buildings and churches were peppered indiscriminately. +Saint Cyprian's--ventilated before in the same accidental fashion--was +holed again. All Saints' fared little better. The Catholic Cathedral was +slightly damaged. Saint Augustine's was hit; and, judging by its +battered walls, the Dutch Reformed Church went nearer to demolition than +any other. No structure with any pretensions to size escaped. The Town +Hall was subjected to a fierce assault; for into the Market Square, to +the right and left of the hall, in front and in rear, the shells fell in +abundance. But the solid walls of the building were not tested, which +was strange in view of its exposed position and the large area it +covered. Inside, the busy officials were hard at work, pandering to the +needs of the hungry throng who sought dispensations from starvation, +and who dared not venture out again lest they should die hungry withal. +The Town Hall towered impregnable--impervious to the myriad +battering-rams that yearned to lay it low. As if it had occurred to them +that the chances rather favoured finding the Mayor at home, the Boer +gunners subsequently launched through the roof of his store in Jones' +Street a shower of shrapnel which riddled the occupants of a compartment +in the upper storey. The Mayor, fortunately, was not one of these; when +the smoke cleared away it was found that the injured consisted of some +handsome wax figures. At Beaconsfield a youth was struck, and another +projectile went so near to putting a poor old woman, who lay upon a sick +bed, beyond the borders of eternity that her feeble limbs were deprived +of the couch's solace. An Indian subject of the Queen had his bungalow +shattered. Not even the hallowed sanctuary of the "Law's" guardians was +held sacred, for a missile telescoped a policeman's helmet--which, +happily, was off its head at the moment. + +All day long existence was made well-nigh unendurable. None knew the +moment when an account of one's individual stewardship might be +demanded. It is in trials of this kind that mankind is most vividly +impressed with the reality of being in life and death simultaneously. +That these trials surpassed any that had hitherto ruffled the noiseless +tenor of our way was a truism. But coming at a moment when our nerves +were sufficiently unstrung by the dearth of tonics, they were doubly +enervating. Stomachal grievances were forgotten, and few ventured to +desert the imaginary security of their homes to face the risks the +redress of grievances would entail. Thus did the hours creep on until +darkness with its interregnum of peace had fallen on the city. + +But the interregnum was of brief duration, for, to our unspeakable +horror, the bombardment was resumed at nine o'clock. If in the clear +light of day the shells were trying, what were they in the night! A +ghost story well told in the daytime perturbs a superstitious mind; but +to feel queer at its recital in the night one need not necessarily be +superstitious at all. This new departure intensified the strain and went +far to make faint many a heart that had until then remained stout. The +guns were fired with longer intervals between the shots; the shells did +not follow on the top of one another as in the day; but one nocturnal +projectile excited as much terror as did ten when the sun was shining. +Far into the night--for hours after midnight--the war was waged, and +sleep denied the pleasure of steeping our "senses in forgetfulness." To +sleep was nearly impossible, and at the first peep of dawn to recline on +a bed at all was not easy, so fierce and sudden was the energy with +which a dozen guns commenced to bark in chorus. + +And with sad results. The men in the redoubts enjoyed comparative +immunity from the dangers of the bombardment; it was mainly the women +and children in the houses who had to bear the brunt of the assaults. A +lamentable instance of the pity of it was only too soon forthcoming. In +the house of a Mr. Webster (who was in camp with his regiment, the +Volunteers) his wife and children were at breakfast, when crash! through +the roof came a shell on top of the tea-pot. The mother sustained +fearful injuries, to which she subsequently succumbed. Her six-year-old +child was also killed; her second son had his leg and arm broken; while +her youngest child--a little girl--was badly bruised. The stricken +family were removed to hospital amid a shower of shells, which continued +with unabashed fury to seek whom they slaughter. Nearly all our public +buildings were hit, and the places of worship were again a mark for the +vandal. Houses everywhere were damaged, and extraordinary indeed were +the escapes of their distracted occupiers. No less gracious was the +kindly fortune that shielded those whom duty, caprice, or foolhardiness +brought into the streets. One family stuffed away in the ostensible +security of a coal-hole vegetated there all day. They were grateful for +their modern ark, but outraged nature disapproved and caused a shell to +pierce it. Nobody was hurt, remarkable to relate, and the frightened +household ascended with alacrity to take their chances in a purer +atmosphere. In every part of the town the shells kept falling. +Beaconsfield appeared to be the most favoured hunting ground, for its +_Sanatorium_ was not only a colossal structure but the home of the +Colossus himself. Hundreds of shells dropped in its vicinity, while the +millionaire went round the city in a cart, to all outward seeming as +little concerned as the most penurious of men. Some weeks before a +grazier who had fallen into the hands of the Boers had been assured that +it was Rhodes they wanted--not Kimberley. Such a revelation in the case +of a personality less notable or less esteemed might have made things +awkward for him. + +Forty-five minutes were allowed for lunch--an interval which the Boers +considered long enough for them--and no doubt for us, too, since they +might fairly assume that we did not get much to eat. But on our side +there was the trouble and delay involved in the getting of it. To jostle +about in a crowd for an indefinite period of time for sake of a scrap of +flesh meat--and such meat! such flesh!--required rare ravenousness of +appetite; and the bursting of a shell in the midst of a surging mass of +humanity was so certain to be attended by fatal results that it was only +the very healthy who bothered battling for so little. + +The forty-five minutes were of brief duration, and the assault was +promptly renewed when the clock struck two. First came the boom; then +the warning whistle; next the boom of a second gun almost before the +bursting crash of the first shell had proclaimed its contact with _terra +firma_. It was not the numbers of the killed (because they were +marvellously few) that awed the people so much as the possibilities of +the situation. The guns were fired at long range, and ten or fifteen +seconds had to elapse ere anybody could be sure that his turn had not +come. Had a closer range been feasible the bombardment might have been +more destructive, but the suspense would have been less trying. The +shells fell thickly the whole afternoon. Never, hardly ever, was there a +lull as the iron roofs of the houses continued to be fitted for service +as rough observatories which enabled us to see balloons indeed. Several +mourners attending a funeral on its way to the cemetery narrowly escaped +dismemberment, by a missile which dropped behind the hearse. The Fire +Brigade were alert and ready for contingencies; the brigade station at +the Municipal compound was singled out for attack; and it looked as if +the skill of the Boers in picking out and disabling the _Officers_ in +the field extended to the town, for the Chief of the firemen was struck +while standing on his own doorstep. He received a few ugly cuts, as also +did two of his children. + +And where all this time, it may be asked, where was Long Cecil? Long +Cecil had been doing its best, but with the odds so long as ten to one +against, its best was a negligible quantity. It sent shell after shell +in one direction, then in another, but the enemy heeded it not at all; +and though it may have irritated the Boer a little and done all that one +gun of its calibre could do, it did not mitigate the perils of the +populace. That it had done its best was undeniable, but it sank in the +public esteem for other reasons. It was reputed to have killed two women +in the Boer camp with its "compliments." I cannot vouch for the truth of +the story, but it was seized upon to intensify the growing aversion to +the whilom bepraised product of Colonial enterprise. The report +converted hostile head-shakes into voluble "I told you so's," and +swelled the feeble chorus that had prophesied ill of Long Cecil from the +beginning. + +Why did the Military insist on aggravating the enemy? This was our new +shibboleth. We had, practically speaking, been left unmolested until +Long Cecil sounded its timbrel. Hence the bloody sequel! Now, all this +would have been in better taste had not those of us loudest in the gun's +condemnation been equally boastful anent the fear it was to put into the +hearts of the Boers. They were to be taught that Long Cecil was a thing +to conjure with. In fact, Long Cecil had accentuated what is known in +vulgar parlance as the Jingo spirit. But it had failed to come up to +expectations, and all that was left--the dregs of our chivalry--was +gone; and perhaps the highest form of chivalry extant now-a-days is +consistency. The forty-eight hours' bombardment had been threatened long +ere Long Cecil emerged from the workshop in the panoply war. But it was +enough for the nonce to have even an inanimate scape-goat with which to +relieve our grief--in the absence of something mellow to _drown_ it in. + +Firing ceased at six o'clock, and many families, waiving the discomforts +of the trek, had already betaken themselves to the redoubts, away from +the centre of assault. They remained there all night, needlessly, as it +happened. Friday was not looked to with any particular pleasure; but +apart from some deliberate attempts to snap-shot the _Sanatorium_ we had +little to disturb us. The device of fixing the lens on the local library +was next resorted to; a shell dropped on its doorstep, and Beaconsfield +church had a like experience. One or two guns kept firing irregularly +all day. A shell entered a kitchen and made a complete wreckage of its +culinary appliances. Long Cecil, at this stage, made some excellent +practice, upsetting presumably the kitchen at Kamfers Dam, as several +women were among those who fluttered hither and thither for shelter. +Long Cecil was a surprise to the Boers; they had heard of the gun, and +inclined to regard its existence as a myth. They had laughed at the +visionary who had tried to piece it together; and there were not a few +among ourselves who had shared their incredulity. + +The proceedings of the previous two days had banished any timidity that +had existed hitherto in the ranks of the town's defenders. They were +eager for a fight. The sweetness of revenge was appreciated in some +measure, and those who might in other circumstances have shirked +personal danger, or collapsed in its presence, had their nerves steeled +for a fair and square encounter. Our defences were never tested; we were +beginning to wish they were. A determined and persevering effort on the +Boers' part might have made them masters of Kimberley. The victory, +however, would have been of the _Phyrric_ order. + +Saturday came. The common trials of the great bombardment had lulled the +food warfare, and the thoughts of all were directed to the provision of +adequate protection for life and limb. The erection of forts and +shelters was going on everywhere. The work had been inaugurated when the +bombardment was at its height, and the muscular energy it brought into +play was magnificent. The "boys" (natives) were kept at it like +_Trojans_, under the personal supervision of their respective white +chiefs; and the chiefs themselves, unaccustomed though they were to an +implement less mighty than the pen, perspired beadily and willingly with +the pick and shovel. Even the ladies, regardless of blisters and the +snowy whiteness of their hands, revelled in the role of navvy. Hallowed +little garden patches were ruthlessly excavated; converted into +"dug-outs"--disagreeably suggestive of the grave--and these were covered +over and hedged in with sacks of earth. The apartments thus improvised +were excellent in their way, but somewhat damp and dismal. They were not +strictly well ventilated, but the atmosphere without was so redolent of +smoke and powder that sanitation had lost in importance. Moreover, one +could always stick one's head out of the burrow to inhale the outer air +if it were considered fresher than what saluted the nostrils within. Of +course these shelters did not offer so much security from danger as +their occupiers fancied (I have already instanced how the recesses of a +coal-hole had not been proof against invasion); but they were splinter +proof. If husbands and fathers _did_ magnify the protection they +afforded, their motives were kind. + +In the meantime we were not left entirely unmolested. The Beaconsfield +_Sanatorium_ continued to be the chief object of Boer solicitude. +Smokeless powder was being employed, and the boom of the particular guns +in action was not audible, or, if audible, so faintly as to be mistaken +for the Column's artillery. We had a man placed on the Conning Tower +whose duty it was to blow a warning whistle at sight of the flame of the +enemy's fuse. But the whistle--not always heard--was only too apt to be +connected with a policeman in distress. + +The forty-eight hours' ordeal was not repeated, and interest in eating +matters was soon revived. The comparative calm of Saturday incited us to +have recourse to all sorts of tricks to unearth what was eatable. The +Soup Kitchen was a huge success, and had they not been already well +endowed with this world's goods the distinguished waiters in charge of +the department might have waxed rich. Thousands of pints were served +out daily; indeed there was never a supply sufficient to feed the +multitudes that swarmed round the cauldrons containing this delicious +_elixir_ of life. One of the most remarkable sights of the Siege was, +not the gravity of doctors, lawyers, directors, etc., presenting tickets +for soup--_that_ was piquant enough--but the number of young ladies, +votaries of fashion, who emerged from the _melee_ bedraggled and flushed +with their pails of _nectar_, to all appearances not only forgetful of +the _convenances_, but beaming with smiles of triumph. It may have been +because their charms were enhanced, artful wenches! Enhanced, in any +case, their charms were. + +The Kitchen was booming, but the generality of people had in their +enthusiasm so far failed to observe that the quality of the soup had +sadly deteriorated. It had been degenerating day by day. Condiments were +no longer available; mealie meal was withheld, and the soup had thus +become thinner and less seasoned. But the trade had been established, +and business continued brisk. There was no competition (unfortunately), +and our newspaper kept assuring us with unnecessary gush that horseflesh +was excluded from the Kitchen, and that accidents were impossible. The +meat used was strictly orthodox. The Press dilated speciously on the +economy practised under the system and on its general advantageousness. +Universal confidence was reposed in the Soup Directorate. + +But, alas and alack! one fatal day an evil-minded fellow got a lump of +something solid in his jug, and instead of holding his peace he held a +_post-mortem_ examination and essayed to prove by some Darwinian process +of reasoning that the opaque thing was more apish than orthodox! Prior +to the date of this inquest, however, people had grown so habituated to +the soup that they could not give it up if they would. They went on +dutifully consuming it--just as everybody still does his beer, the +recent poisoning revelations notwithstanding. They ate all they could +get of it; it was in truth an indispensable necessity. The Kitchen was a +blessing--in disguise, the wits said--and the most aesthetic, though not +without misgivings, in the end gave the broth the benefit of the doubt. +Only a small band of martyrs elected to bleed at the shrine of +principle; they declined to stultify their stomachs with "horse soup." +This was a reckless assumption, indicative of a shocking disbelief in +human nature; an inexpedient conclusion. They were all honourable men on +the Kitchen Committee. What! all? the reader may exclaim. Well, all but +one, perhaps--who told an interviewer in London that "horseflesh made +excellent soup!" But that was long afterwards; and, moreover, proved +nothing. The gentleman in question no doubt acted discreetly, before +unbosoming himself, in placing six thousand miles of sea between him and +the Kitchen. For that matter greater iniquities than his have been +condoned to give prejudice a fall. + +The Italian and American Consuls had protested on behalf of their +respective governments against the recent indiscriminate assault upon +non-combatants. We were pleased to hope that the protests were not +unavailing. They were in conformity with the spirit, if not with the +letter, of International Law; and it was stated that the Boers desired +to stand well with any and every nation that might possibly make real +their Utopian dream of European intervention. Of course, they were +doing well alone; it is conceivable that they now felt less the need of +extraneous assistance. Their energy and enterprise betokened +self-reliance; the will with which they used their picks and shovels was +enigmatical to the British mind. They seemed metaphorically to defy all +Europe and America. And the reply received by the Consuls was quite in +accord with a consciousness on the Boer side of "splendid isolation." It +suggested that they (the Boers) would esteem it a privilege to provide +the protesters with an escort to convey them to a place of safety, if +that would satisfy. It did _not_ satisfy, and there the correspondence +ceased. + +It was thus the week ended--the enemy active, vigorous, supercilious; +while we in Kimberley felt fretful, hungry, and sick at heart; but too +thoroughly inured to hardship to shrink from or even to question the +duty of fighting the battle to the bitter end. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +_Week ending 3rd February, 1900_ + + +The fierceness of the assault to which we had been exposed was the great +subject of discussion, but it was not until the sluggish pendulum of +Siege time had again swung round to the Sabbath that we freely and +without dread of interruption gave full expression to our feelings +towards the foe. The inconsistency of a nation so profuse in Christian +professions was much discussed, and ignoring our own shortcomings in the +same respect, to say nothing of the essential cruelty of all wars, we +readily requisitioned our best resources of invective--to show what +charity really was. We had been living in stormy tea-cups for a long +while; our fury was usually more ungovernable than this or that +grievance warranted; but we had never before given way to such +rhetorical excesses, against not only the Boers, but the Military, as +well--Lord Methuen, the Mayor, the Colonel and his Staff. Even Lord +Roberts was snapped at. They were all in turn metaphorically tarred and +feathered. + +But these, after all, were old offenders; their faults and +idiosyncrasies had been reviewed often. The occasion demanded a new +scapegoat; and we determined to find him. We looked across the broad +expanse of veld and bitterly reflected on a destiny that circumscribed +our freedom within the barriers of a town; that denied us even the wild +freshness of morning uncontaminated by the _miasma_ of city streets. In +this frame of mind we easily drifted into speculation on first causes. +We began to ask ourselves upon whose shoulders the blame primarily +rested for conditions which made such slavery possible; how it came to +pass that a few toy-guns and a handful of soldiers had been deemed +sufficient to protect Kimberley; and finally to vote the error of +judgment incompatible with good administration. And then we remembered +that the Bond was a powerful organisation, that a Bond Ministry was in +Office. The needed scapegoat, in the person of the Prime Minister, was +thus easily discovered. He it was who pooh-poohed the necessity of +_arming_ Kimberley, and we accordingly lost no time in setting him up in +the game of Siege Aunt Sally as a popular target for our rancour. And +pelted he was with right good will. The genial Mr. Quilp, when he found +himself deserted by his obsequious flatterer, Sampson Brass, cried out +in the seclusion of his apartment at the wharf: "Oh, Sampson, Sampson, +if I only had you here!" and he was considerably consoled by his +operations with a hammer on the desk in front of him. The feelings of +Mr. Quilp were understood, if not respected in Kimberley. + +The name of the Prime Minister had not been long added to our "little +list" when a local liar led off mildly with intelligence of the +Premier's resignation. We improved on this by assuming that his +resignation was obligatory--that he had been "dismissed." That he had +been arrested was the fiction next resorted to; and finally it was +blazoned forth that he had been dismissed from the world altogether. +After that he was let rest, and we returned to the misdemeanours of +men, in and out of khaki, whose turns had not yet come. Let me observe +in passing that the Prime Minister was--as we learned subsequently--more +sinned against than sinning. His _apologia_, and the extent to which he +had been wronged and misrepresented are matters outside the scope of +these memoirs. But they shed a lurid light on the picturesque _canards_ +we swallowed--and digested with an ease that any ostrich would envy. + +While engrossed in these denunciations of everything and everybody, +Sunday glided by--glided, for the pendulum was not so slow on Sundays. +We prepared for the worst the Boers could do on the morrow--rumour said +it was to be very bad--and were in no way disposed to be comforted by +the message, on the seriousness of our position, which the Colonel was +credited with having despatched to Lord Roberts. We were unenlivened by +the talk we heard on all sides as to the probable effect of the Foreign +Consuls' protests; in optimistic quarters it was felt that the protests +would lead to "intervention" of a kind rather different from that +bargained for by brother Boer. The war, it was asserted, might stop +"very suddenly." Well, of course, it might stop in certain +eventualities, or it might not; the sky might fall, but we might easily +die (on the diet) _before_ it came down. The Boers toiling at their +trenches outside cherished no illusions on these points. Their magazines +had been blown up, but, the road to Bloemfontein being clear, they could +replenish them. Plumer's proximity to Mafeking (notified in the +afternoon) would have been of more significance in our eyes had not +experience prejudiced us against faith in proximity value, Methuen's +proximity to Kimberley, for example, aggravated our sorrows in a very +special way. + +On Monday Lord Methuen kept telling us from the wilderness that he was +there and still alive. The vitality of the enemy, however, concerned us +more. Operations were started early; three shells presumably intended +for the _Sanatorium_ landed in Beaconsfield. The first two fell +harmlessly, and the charm associated with the third was no less +disappointing--to an outsider. The charm surrounding the life of Mr. +Rhodes was more tangible; it appeared to extend to the roof that covered +him. The greater part of the day was peaceful; but the Military were the +Military, war was their profession; and a fight with the foe being for +the moment impracticable, they ingeniously set about renewing the strife +with their erstwhile friends--who, like _Sancho Panza_, clamoured merely +for something to eat. Our recent experiences had tended to moderate our +claims in this regard; we had become inured to bad living; our +constitutions had had time to wax weak; our appetites were less hearty. +Matters appertaining to the stomach had reached a sad pass. Mealie meal, +_ad lib._, was no longer possible, and porridge--well, the good that it +had done lived after it, though we had never acknowledged the actual +_doing_ of it. Rice was issued to Indians exclusively, and, albeit they +got nothing else, they had on the whole rather the better of Europeans. +The exhaustion of our golden syrup made the children--young and +"over-grown"--weep. We had been reduced to the ignominy of cultivating a +toleration of what was called treacle, and even that nauseous compound +was drifting towards extinction. They were hard times for all who could +eat their soup; they were harder still for those whom the look of it +satisfied. To these latter a tribute of praise for consistency is due, +whatever may be said of their sense. The pathos of it all was that we +got plenty of tea. We had no milk, and because we needed in consequence +all the more sugar we were given less; and as "mealie-pap" had pride of +place on the _menu_ the day's allowance of sugar was only too apt to be +recklessly monopolised in giving _that_ a taste. We were observing a +protracted lenten season, a more rigorous fast than any Church +prescribes. The local Catholic Bishop appreciated the gravity of the +situation when he suspended the Church's law against the use of meat on +Fridays. Eat it when you can (which might be only one day in the week, +Friday as likely as any other), this edict amounted to in effect. + +But we had yet fourteen ounces of bread to preserve us, the whole of +which ration was sometimes polished off by mid-day meal time. There +could be no modification in that direction. Fourteen ounces of bread was +needed to sustain life. But the Military apparently thought otherwise; +they suddenly intimated that we must endeavour to keep its lamp aflame +on "ten!" The _Commissariat_ reckoned it possible; so the new "Law" was +set in motion without compunction. A number of Fingoes preferred to die +at home for choice, and with leave of the Colonel made an effort to get +there. Unhappily, they were not allowed a choice; the Boers drove them +back "to die with the English." Unlike the Basutos, the Fingo tribe was +not physically or geographically in a position to make reprisals for +such indignities. Besides, the English, the Boers knew, would be bound +to share their last crust with their black brethren, and they wanted us +to get to the last crust stage at our earliest convenience. + +Contrary to expectation, nothing exciting occurred on Tuesday. The enemy +again concentrated their fire on the _Sanatorium_; they evidently +esteemed starvation, however expedient as a means for shuffling off the +common herd, a little too good for a thinker in Continents. According to +documents which had been found in the pocket of a Boer prisoner, Mr. +Rhodes was awaiting a favourable opportunity to escape in "a big +balloon!" This strange idea may have been responsible for the efforts +made to lay the great balloonist. + +A cricket match was played in the afternoon by twenty-two disciples of +Tapley; and sundry flashes of congratulation--adulatory of our gallant +stand--were exchanged between our Mayor and Port Elizabeth's. These +messages were soothing, but none of us acknowledged it. Soft words, +alas! only reminded us of parsnips. And soon we should be without bread. +The bread question was the topic of the hour, and gave rise to more +acrimony than had any antecedent injustice. Such unwonted severity in +the administration of Civil affairs was a strain on the loyalty of a +people self-governed since they were born. The view was stoutly +maintained that the situation was not so bad as to warrant the adoption +of such drastic measures. They were straining the limits of human +endurance too callously. Nothing could alter our resolve to dispute with +the Boer every inch of the ground we defended. So much was agreed. But +the tendency to famish us displayed by our Rulers was not calculated to +improve the _morale_ of a civilian, or any, army. It did not bespeak the +early relief of Kimberley. Actions like Kekewich's and Gorle's in the +matter of bread fostered feelings of indifference. They would not +stimulate the town's defenders to shoot better or to fight the more +tenaciously in a crisis. With troops pouring into the country, wherefore +the need of so much supererogation? A hungry man capable of demolishing +a ten ounce loaf--a siege product--in ten bites might well echo +wherefore indeed! + +On Wednesday Lord Methuen could be heard banging as usual. In the early +days, the halcyon days of optimism, the banging would have been +exhilarating to a degree; but the march of events had compelled us to +reason better. The day was uncommonly quiet; even the diurnal fling at +Mr. Rhodes was omitted. Lies, rumours, sensations, fabrications were +still rampant. A poster in all the paraphernalia of Official authority, +proclaiming the relief of Mafeking--four months too soon!--adorned the +walls of the Town House. General Buller, we were informed, was about to +unlock the door of Ladysmith--"the key had been found." But evidently +the _lock_ had not, as was proven by the subsequent disastrous retreat +across the Tugela. + +Business was at this period conducted in more orderly fashion at the +Washington Market, partly due, no doubt, to the unmixed "meat" put up +for sale. Everything was simplified; the Authorities had developed into +wholehoggers in horseflesh. A placard bearing the grim inscription, +"horse _only_" was flaunted in the market place. The arrangement saved +the butcher much troublesome computation--untrammelled as he was by +bovine fractions--and injured trade agreeably. It kept off the folk who +had no dogs, and others who preferred to take the State Soup, with their +eyes shut. All the cattle slaughtered were exclusively for the Kitchen. +The "Law" decreed it; it was in the "Gazette," and was nothing if not in +equity. The quality of the soup was poorer than ever; the quantity +offered for sale was suspiciously large, and, oh! so inferior to the +article served out with a flourish of ladles a week before. Many took +the pledge against it (some of them broke it), but there were plenty +less aesthetically constituted who could dissipate on _two_ pints! We +could yet buy carrots, dry, tough little things; but they were +vegetables beyond question, and there is much in a _name_ where horses +are _cooked_. They (the carrots) were sold by the State at threepence a +bunch, and the people still made wild rushes to purchase them. A force +of police was always on duty at the vegetable, the carrot wing of the +market, and it was interesting to watch the human nature in everybody, +including strong men not ordinarily credited with much of it. + +Thursday was uneventful. The _quasi_-official statement relative to the +relief of Mafeking was contradicted. The peculiarity of the +proceeding--of contradicting an _agreeable_ canard--not the +contradiction itself--occasioned surprise; it was so unusual. Some +people attributed it to a desire on the Colonel's part cheaply to +vindicate Official veracity in all things--not injurious to the +"Military Situation!" All our little troubles and kicks against the +pricks had to be subordinated to the "Military Situation." The quality +of the very horse we ate was due to the "Military Situation." The local +situation, with its alarming death roll, was a trifle light as air +beside the other. Had the Colonel in his wisdom seen anything in its +suppression advantageous to the "Military Situation," the truth anent +Mafeking would hardly have seen the light. The "Military Situation" was +sacrosanct, supreme, inviolable! It was a fetish, a sort of idol that +the "Law" commanded all creeds and classes to worship. + +In the afternoon an occasional shell was jerked into the town. +Kenilworth was loudly barked at for an hour; and the correspondent of +the _London Times_, while driving in the suburb, narrowly escaped being +bitten. But no cattle were hit; that was the pity of it. We could have +forgiven the Boers much had they only killed the oxen, and provided us +with something rational to eat, in spite of the Colonel and his horses. + +Friday was all excitement; we had a glimpse of the balloon again, +waltzing at a high altitude in the heavens, the Column's artillery the +while maintaining a continuous uproar. Soon a terrific report was heard, +which was presumed to have been caused by the explosion of a Boer +magazine. A lyddite missile had done the deed; no "common" shell, we +argued, could have created such a noise. After an hour the balloon +disappeared, and we were of the earth earthly once more. Late in the +evening some harmless shells dropped into the streets, and a second +catastrophe befel a Boer magazine. + +Saturday again. Lord Methuen proclaimed it through the throat of his +cannon. Long Cecil--pretending to deduce from their silence that the +Boers imagined it to be Sunday--was most profuse in the distribution of +"compliments." But no acknowledgment came back, no error was admitted, +and the day dragged itself to an end, leaving little in its train to +turn one's thoughts from gloomy retrospection. + +It was at this time that practical people began to express amazement at +the conduct of their less practical neighbours. A new epidemic had +broken out. The doctrine of self-help was being practised with a +vengeance. The pleasure of gardening was the newest discovery. In short, +the notion of growing vegetables on our own, so to speak, since we could +not buy them readymade, had come to be acclaimed as the higher sagacity. +The curious feature of this departure was that it should grow in +popularity as the Siege approached its appointed end. Relief or no +relief, the vegetables would not be wasted. But the practical people +only laughed at economic platitudes. Vegetable seeds were in great +demand, and families were everywhere to be seen reclaiming their ten by +ten feet patches of common-age--where _half_ a blade of grass had never +grown before! Some enthusiasts, to enlarge their holdings, went even so +far as to pull down their untenanted fowl-houses. The soil was not so +favourable to horticulture as it might have been, but the best was made +of it. Inspired by a determination to live as long as possible we +ruthlessly uprooted our flowers, and conjured up visions of unborn +potatoes and cabbage. If the Military kept whittling down our rations, +if we were to be permitted only to nibble like so many birds, the +vegetables might one day serve as a _dernier ressort_. Who could tell? + +The enterprise displayed was admirable; but--had we to wait till the +vegetables grew? Were they to grow while we waited? This sudden zeal for +the development of the land recalled the song of the condemned Irishman +who took advantage of his judge's clemency, and with characteristic +humour selected a gooseberry bush from which to be hanged. When the +objection was raised that "it would not be high enough," he expressed +his willingness to wait till it grew! + +This policy of despair irritated the landless classes, and some of them +were mean enough to remind us that Martial Law forbade the use of water +for gardening purposes. But the reminder only furnished the workers with +a fresh incentive; it made their work a real as well as an ideal +pleasure. The possibility of breaking the "Law" (with impunity) was +worth a deal of productive, or unproductive, labour. The bread ordinance +had not increased our respect for "benevolent" despotism. Any chance of +setting at naught the _absolute_ prepensities of our legislators (with a +watering-can or by judicious keyhole stuffing, to hide the light) was +duly availed of. + +No amount of the portentous signalling that went on night after night +could resuscitate our faith in the Military. An age ago the +Magersfontein misfortune had put off indefinitely the long-expected +succour. We had been made to feel our insignificance beside the +"Military Situation." Our population after all was mainly black, but +black or white, we were nothing to the "Military Situation." Sickness +might increase, and troubles multiply; Kafirs and children might perish +in batches; meanwhile the "Military Situation" decried even a tear. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +_Week ending 10th February, 1900_ + + +The pen-ultimate Sunday of our captivity was notable for nothing but the +average crop of rumours which had characterised every day of our Siege +existence. The listlessness of the people stood out in marked contrast +to their sanguine outlook when the Siege was young, and when the folly +of prophesying unless one knew remained not only, as it were, unsmoked +but outside our pipes altogether. Still--to pursue the metaphor--our +pretensions in the role of prophet had clearly ended in smoke. Happily, +the disillusioning fog had come upon us by degrees. The cheerfulness +with which we had resigned ourselves to bear the first-class +misdemeanant's treatment of a cut and dry "three weeks'" imprisonment +but exemplified, we had thought in all seriousness, the traditional +sporting instincts of our race; and though it was not over-pleasing to +our traditional pride, the destruction of our dogmas had not been taken +to heart. Our faith in the invincibility of the British army had long +continued unshaken. The interval between the expiry of the period (of +three weeks) which with the collective wisdom of all the wizards we had +decreed to be a synonym for the Siege's duration, and the morning of the +pronouncement relative to the advance of the Column from Orange River, +had had its tedium neutralised by a cheerful vituperation of +Gladstone's defective statesmanship in the year of 'eighty-one and his +wicked efforts at a later date to "give Ireland away too." The move from +Orange River had occasioned general rejoicings. Unaccountable delay +ensued. One disappointment was followed by another. Anxiety began to +manifest itself. The dire stage of doubt was reached. Hunger, thirst, +and horseflesh succeeded in due order; until at last we saw:-- + + What shadows we are, + And what shadows we pursue. + +We pursued them no longer--in the Siege sense. "All the pleasing +illusions, which make power gentle and obedience liberal," were gone. +The eating and the drinking were gone. Even the surreptitious read in +bed was but a relic of joy; the penalty of burning the candle at both +ends was being paid. To have a bath was a crime; a little water was +allowed for tea and soup _only_. Soda-water was the sole product of the +lemonade factories; but the quality of Adam's ale tasted worse and was +more suggestive of typhoid in that form than in any other. Made into tea +it was better, until the Military, with fears for the nerves of the +"Military Situation," indirectly curbed our excesses in the cup that +does _not_ inebriate. A proclamation was issued which actually went so +far as to establish by "Law" the number of ounces of fuel to be used by +householders! Expert landladies declared the number (six ounces) +insufficient; the cynical boarders said it was _too much_! The medical +men had been entreating us--vainly, for the most part--to boil the water +before drinking it in any form, and had proclaimed it inimical to +health in its raw state. But the "Military Situation," bless you! could +not be compromised by microbes, and if extravagance in fuel involved a +possibility so awful it had to be crushed with an uncompromising hand. + +Such were the anomalies prevailing; taken in conjunction with the +ever-increasing seriousness of our position they were hard to bear with +patience. Our hopes of relief were at _zero_. "Three months more" would +sum up a fair consensus of opinion in regard to the further continuance +of the Siege. Oh, it was said, the food would not last so long. But it +had been undergoing such a process of stretching; who knew how much +farther it would not be carried. The authorities were capable of +anything. A death or two (or twenty-two!) from starvation would not +soften hearts obsessed by an elusive "Situation." Surrender, however, +was out of the question; having gone so far we could not turn back. The +Flag, too, whatever the Standard-bearers might be, was worth keeping +aloft. Exacting too much it was; but there was no alternative, save +surrender, to the lowering of it. + +Our mental machinery being thus rusted for want of the oil of +contentment it is not incomprehensible that the bulk of the people +should have come to regard the Siege as a thing interminable; and faith +in miracles was not the average citizen's predominant characteristic. +The mere mention of the Column provoked a jeer. Numerous philosophers +came into being. Shakespeare was never so highly appreciated, nor so +famous; never reckoned so "clever," nor quoted so generally; scarcely +heard of before, indeed, by some of the new philosophers. His Hamlet's +soliloquy (which accorded with our mood) was considered very good. + +Monday came and went quietly enough, the enemy's attention being given +entirely to Kenilworth. It made no difference to us whether the cattle +lived or died; we regarded the assault as a waste of energy. A few +horses--the irony of it!--were slaughtered by the shells intended for +the oxen. The mutilation of the latter would have been far more +advantageous to the _Civil_ "Situation," and--how nice if the Boers had +been better shots! + +Throughout Tuesday a good many interchanges took place between the rival +artillerists. Long Cecil made some excellent practice, while the Boers +occupied themselves with Beaconsfield. A few raps were attempted at the +_Sanatorium_ hall-door, as an intimation that a special eye ogled the +visitors; and some projectiles which fell in the rear of the Kimberley +Club indicated that the same vigilant optic was alive to the fact that +Rhodes lunched there. It may here be mentioned that Mr. Rhodes often +brought his lunch--fresh eggs and the like!--to the hospital to give to +some wounded soldier with unimpaired digestive mechanism. Otto's Kopje +was assailed during the day, and havoc was played with a few +trucks--rusted with ease--at the railway station. + +The inevitable calm which precedes a storm was felt on Wednesday. The +morning passed quietly. Whispers of imminent woe were painfully common. +Rumour, subordinating love, ruled "the Court, the camp, the grove." It +was not literally defined, this surpassing evil; its exact nature was +locked up in the breasts of the Authorities. Hours rolled by; +dinner-time (the _time_ for dinner) passed; sufficient for the day is +the evil thereof; we were beginning to think that we had received the +day's allotment, when a boom rang through the startled air! Now, a boom +(in warfare) is not an harmonious note; but one gets accustomed to +discord as to most other things. It was not the boom that was strange; +it was the loud, unearthly chord it seemed to strike; the dread whiz +which followed; which blanched faces, and sent the timid housemaid +diving beneath the bed out of harm's way. Was it an earthquake?--the +buildings shook. A fearful crash dissipated the notion. A fearful crash, +indeed; but a material sound--a relief from its weird, unnerving +prelude. Individuals living miles apart asserted that the missile had +seemed to shoot past their ears. Yet one shell had caused all the +tumult. The awful whiz was repeated again and again. The great six-inch +gun from Mafeking had started its work of destruction. The crisis had +come. The last and bloodiest act of the tragedy had begun--with no +knowledge on our side that it _was_ the last, to sustain us. + +It had come without warning; when the heat was insufferable, and the +town a veritable Sahara as regards facilities for quenching thirst; when +the tension was at its worst; when sickness, disease, and death were +busiest. It had come, in fine, with a crown for the sorrows of +Kimberley. + +From an artist's point of view a town with high stone buildings would +have offered better raw material for picturesque ruins. In Kimberley we +had but one substantial building that would meet the necessities of the +case, viz., the City Hall. It was the only imposing structure we could +boast of, and was by consequence the harder to hit, albeit some +creditable tries were made to hit it. Large holes were dug in the Market +Square, in which process of grave-digging by storm a little girl was +injured--not by a shell, but by the volley of small pebbles it +displaced. This class of buckshot--apart from the missiles +themselves--did a good deal of light skirmishing about the calves of +people's legs, and threw dust in their eyes with the force and fury of a +"south-easter." One gentleman, meandering in the Square, narrowly evaded +dismemberment, and was fortunate in getting off with a slight bruise. +Another hissing monster went tearing through the roof of the Buffalo +Club, upsetting a billiard table, and laying it out a disordered heap of +firewood on the floor. Fire-wood was worth something; and since chips of +his anatomy were not in the heap--perchance to be utilised in the +cooking of horseflesh for somebody else to eat--its grateful proprietor +conducted himself with resignation. + +Meanwhile the scattered fragments of the same mischievous projectile +careered gaily through the air. One piece--no bigger than a Siege +loaf--with sardonic humour embedded itself in the stomach of a horse and +killed it instantaneously. This was pitiful, for the animal had been +fed, and was in the very act of being shod. The smith escaped unhurt. +Another missile tested the metal of a boiler, in a house in Belgravia, +by smashing it into scrap-iron. Whether the shell was intended for a +batch of bread in the adjoining oven is uncertain; the satisfactory fact +remained that the bread was unbroken. Buildings which had been but +imperfectly ventilated by the smaller shells had proper port-holes made +in them, and chimney-tops went down like nine-pins. We were, in short, +in a couple of hours afforded a grim conception of what modern munitions +can do. To that extent the assault was instructive. But that extent was +small and did not impress our common sense--which, by the way, was +small, too, and not at all common. + +At six o'clock the firing ceased, and the "Mafeking terror" was allowed +to cool. I might as well explain here that our surmise was entirely +wrong. The gun came from--nobody knew where; but everybody _said_, from +Mafeking. We said more; the Cape Government (the Bond Ministry) had +purchased it in England for the Transvaal, in furtherance, as was +implied, of the projected sweeping of the English into the sea. This was +a hugged delusion until some fool dispelled it by discovering the gun to +be a "_creuzot_" which had been purchased in _France_ by the Transvaal. +But it mattered little where it had been purchased; it was a tangible +reality, a presage of sanguinary import. It was a time for action; and +maybe the picks and shovels did not rise to the occasion! Fort-making +was the rage; the men worked with a will--the women acting as +hod-carriers--to make the graves in which they hoped to live as deep as +possible. All over the city the navvies--amateur and +professional--sweated and panted, so successfully that unless the shells +were to levy _direct_ taxation on the people in the forts, well, the +pieces might skim their heads but they could not cut them off. The +little garden patches were pitilessly disembowelled of the vegetable +seeds so recently planted. We had lived to see them grow, but up they +had to come lest we should be planted ourselves. + +In the meantime our friend the enemy--more intimate and candid than +ever--appeared to be fully sensible of the havoc the new weapon was +capable of causing. All ears were strained to catch the first sound of +the Kamfers Dam monster. It was sighted at low range, and the boom, +whiz, and crash seemed to jumble all together. The comparative corks +with which we had been assailed hitherto used to shoot high into the +air, whistling several bars of music before touching _terra firma_, and +by careful attention to time it had been to some extent possible to +dodge them. So at least it was stated. The day waned, and the attack was +not renewed. It was suggested that perhaps the gun had "bust"; but the +straw was too thin to be worth catching at. + +It was quite four o'clock in the afternoon ere the first shell hurtled +through the air. The heat in the open was suffocating, and the rush to +the underground atmosphere was not the less brisk on that account. A +constant assault was maintained for two hours. Shops, boarding houses, +and private dwellings were battered indiscriminately. A studio in +Dutoitspan Road was broken up; the Central Hotel was struck; and two +little children were slightly hurt. But the saddest incident of the day +was the death of a young man--an employee of the Standard Hotel--who was +struck down at his work mortally wounded. One or two persons had their +shins kicked by passing fragments. Numerous wonderful escapes were heard +of. What with the vibrations of the demoralising water-melons and their +hap-hazard propensities in the choice of victims, it is difficult even +vaguely to convey an idea of the test to which the mettle of the people +was put. + +The bombardment was to have a dramatic termination, for the last heavy +projectile hurled into Kimberley landed in the capacious premises of +Cuthbert's Boot Store. Nobody was hit; but not many minutes had passed +when dense volumes of smoke followed by flames issued through the +windows--until at last the building had developed into a mighty bonfire. +What everybody long feared had at length happened. The excitement was +intense; hundreds of men, women, and children flocked to the burning +pile. The Fire Brigade used the hose for what it was worth; but to no +avail; the house was doomed, and finally was completely gutted. When the +blaze was at its height a few small shells fell amid the gesticulating +throng of sight-seers. A stampede followed; but nobody was struck, +_mirabile dictu_; and there was a general alternative run away and sneak +back as each missile exhausted itself. + +There was an element of romance, more startling than the fire itself, in +all this. It was thought that the building (Abraham's Store) adjacent to +the one in flames was in grave danger, and the united exertions of the +firemen were ultimately directed to the task of saving it. Within its +hallowed walls was collected the bulk of our confiscated food! It had +been stored away by order of the Czar, and was guarded day and night by +a strong detachment of well-armed Cossacks. This circumstance lent, it +need hardly be said, a piquant and absorbing interest to the progress of +the blaze. It was of supreme importance--to the "Military" as well as +minor "Situations"--that the supplies should be preserved. What a +glowing page it would be in the war's history that the enemy three miles +away had compelled surrender by burning our provisions! For ourselves, +we got so little of the provisions to eat that we should not have been +particularly broken-hearted by the _contretemps_. Familiarity breeds +contempt, and we Were familiar with the "Military Situation"; its +exactions were so absurdly impalpable. It was natural, therefore, that +the activity of the Military should have provoked a certain amount of +chaff from the multitude of hungry civilians. The chaff went round, +anyhow, whether it was natural or not. Officers tripped over officers in +the wildest confusion, ordering, shouting, swearing, and directing the +shop-boys, the soldiers, and the Kafirs who toiled like demons to throw +the threatened foodstuffs into the street in an impossible space of +time. The men tumbled and staggered in clusters, while the advantages of +being a native unencumbered by the collars of our celestial civilisation +were conspicuously apparent. We had our eyes wide open for all possible +pickings; but so also had the rascally Cossacks. Only one gentleman (a +most respected citizen) got off with a case of--candles! Barrels of oil +were rolled into the streets (between files of soldiers, lest anyone +should roll a barrel home), to the indignant surprise of the people thus +afforded ocular demonstration of the extent to which the commandeering +mania had been carried; it was worse even than they had thought--which +is saving a great deal! When everything had been finally heaped outside, +steps were taken forthwith--to carry them _in_ again. All danger of +their ignition had long since vanished; and the mob dispersed in a wild +rush as the clock chimed nine. + +What a day Friday was! Beginning at six in the morning the firing was +kept up unceasingly until night-fall. All day long the death-dealing +projectiles swept like a hurricane through the city, terrorising, +killing, lacerating, surpassing previous visitations by odds that were +long indeed. We had had sufficient evidence to judge of what the great +gun at Kamfers Dam _alone_ could do. But on Friday we were pelted from +all directions with a fury unknown hitherto. The first bulletin to send +a thrill of horror through the people--huddled away in holes--contained +intelligence of the deaths of a well-known lady and her infant child; +they had been struck down as they emerged from their shelter for a +breath of fresh air. In Woodly Street a huge missile went clean through +the roof of a house, shot past the heads of a lady and gentleman seated +on the stoep, fell on a soft patch in front of the door, and burst with +a deafening thud five feet under ground. With the aid of a pick and +shovel the fragments were exhumed and pieced together in the presence of +the pallid spectators; and had the next shell fallen on or near the same +spot (as sometimes happened) the results would have been more +calamitous. Many persons had an idea that they were safer in the streets +than in houses where the additional danger of flying furniture was ever +present. Several exciting escapes were witnessed in the Market Square, +and shells fell thickly in the vicinity of the fire station. A telephone +pole had a semi-lunar lump neatly cut out by a passing missile. With +undiminished fury the bombardment proceeded, battering down walls and +gables, and filling hearts with a desire, a longing for vengeance, to be +duly indulged when the fates were propitious. + +It was growing late on this tragic Friday when a profound sensation was +caused by a rumour which excited universal awe. George Labram had been +killed by a shell at the Grand Hotel. It sounded incredible, so +improbable and astounding, that he of all others, he who had achieved +greatness in adverse circumstances by constructing a large gun, the +famous Long Cecil--that he should be a victim. Labram dead! Was it a +fabrication? Alas! no; it was true; a sad, a lurid incident, hardly +needed to mark the day memorable. There was a pathetic strangeness in +the fatality that gave rise to philosophic reflections. + +Emboldened by a conviction that we should presently be glad to +supplicate for food and quarter, the enemy relaxed not their energy. It +must not be supposed that our guns were idle all this time. Long Cecil +plied pluckily to hit back, and succeeded in frustrating the ambitious +efforts of the Boers to draw their guns still nearer. They were rather +too close as things were, however, and with the aid of the Maxims we +successfully besought the enemy to fling away ambition. To that limited +extent we defeated Boer designs. Lord Methuen's sympathetic coughs in +the bed of the Orange River were heard at intervals throughout the day, +the long, enervating day which did terminate at last. Worn out by its +trials though we were, sleep was not easily coaxed to weigh our eyelids +down; like other "necessaries," it was rare indeed. + +Contrary to expectation, the ferocious assault was not resumed on +Saturday morning. It was a blessed interlude, too; there was so much to +whistle about with unbated breath. The prejudice against the Boers and +the arrogant gentlemen who led and fed us was at its fiercest. How was +it all going to end? A feeling of desperation, engendered by the +sufferings of their families, permeated men's hearts and filled them +with a readiness to dare much, to sacrifice a great deal. The situation +was critical, and many a reckless plan to ease it emanated from minds +normally prudent. The outcry against the Military rose to a high pitch; +the air was reeking with denunciations _apropos_ of their culpability +for--things in general. Their manipulation of the victuals, as I have +endeavoured to show, did not pre-possess many in their favour, and fresh +complaints in this connection were constantly forthcoming. Information +was being suppressed, we cried; our actual condition and circumstances +were being misrepresented; the notoriety of individuals was being +purchased at the expense of the "greater number!" Of course, these +charges had been in the air for a long while; but after Friday they, +though still much in the air, matured in intensity. Dissatisfaction was +expressed on all sides. We--some of us--were willing to admit the +necessity of Martial Law, its rigours, severity, and discipline; but it +was too much to expect us to stand mutely by while the Military gabbled +of the "Military Situation," and (as we suspected) inwardly built +temples of fame in the air, in which they would merit a prominent niche +when, say, half a year had passed; when the last horse-chop had frizzled +on the pan; and when incidentally numbers had been killed, maimed, or +starved! + +The clamour developed. No fuel was needed to feed the spreading flame of +resentment. None was needed, but it was supplied all the same--and from +a most unexpected quarter, namely, the _Diamond Fields' Advertiser_! It +was a startling _denouement_. The chains that bound the "mighty engine" +were burst asunder. The spell of militarism was broken; the people's +paper was itself again, and the people took it to their hearts as the +champion of their rights and privileges. Its leading article on Saturday +summarised the situation in a nutshell. It is too good to pass. +Commenting on the version of our sorrows supplied by signal, the sturdy +organ in a manner after our own hearts let flow the following deluge of +consoling truths:-- + + "... What are the facts? We have stood a Siege which is rapidly + approaching the duration of the Siege of Paris; we have practically + defended ourselves with citizen soldiers; for, thankful as we are to + the Imperial garrison, their numbers have condemned them to play a + secondary role; we have raised a large body of mounted troops, who + have on two occasions attacked the enemy's strongholds with the most + magnificent gallantry; and through the genius of Mr. Labram--whose + tragic death yesterday has sent a thrill of sorrow through the whole + community--we have been able not merely to supply ammunition for the + pop-guns sent to Kimberley, but also to produce in our workshops the + only weapon capable of minimising the terrible havoc and destruction + caused by the enemy's six-inch gun, throwing a projectile weighing + 100 pounds broadcast over the town at range of three miles. They + shout to us, 'Have patience!' Will they remember that we have fought + alone and unaided for four long months? Will they remember that we + are situated practically in the centre of a desert, 600 miles from + the coast, and have been compelled from the beginning to depend on + our own resources, and that our lives are daily and hourly exposed + to danger? Is it unreasonable, when our women and children are being + slaughtered and our buildings fired, to expect something better than + that a large British army should remain inactive in the presence of + eight or ten thousand peasant soldiers? Surely the time has come to + put in plain English the plain truths of the situation. We have been + influenced in the past by various considerations, notably a desire + to avoid compromising what is called the 'Military Situation.' We + have now come to the conclusion that respect for the 'Military + Situation' merely means deceiving our own people. The Press + correspondents cabling to the London papers are actually not + permitted to mention that Kimberley has been bombarded by a six-inch + gun! This is indeed the last straw, and if only for the sake of + future record we take this opportunity of placing the naked truth + before our readers." + +Lively indeed was the satisfaction which greeted this unexpected change +of policy. But there was little time for jubilation, for after breakfast +the shells came whistling through the air. They were delivered in a +desultory fashion, and in the afternoon at still less frequent +intervals. Happily, little damage was done and firing ceased at sunset. +It was over for the week; the prospective respite of thirty-six hours +was a pleasing thought; the morrow would be Sunday, and Sunday was +sacred. Precedent and our sense of the fitness of things alike justified +the assumption. But it did not occur to us that the chimes of midnight +were yet many hours off, nor that from eight o'clock to twelve the +unkindest cut of all was to be administered. + +There was something terribly unearthly in the sound of the whizzing +destroyers as they careered across the houses in the blackness of the +silent night. This was the hardest strain of all, and more trying to the +nerves than anything they had to endure in the clear light of day. It +was a never-to-be forgotten ordeal in the lives of the good folk of +Kimberley. From his high and dangerous perch on the conning tower the +bugler ever and anon blew his bugle, suggesting to the scared housemaid +the psychological moment for a plunge beneath the bed. On each +application of the fuse to Long Tom the bugle rang out in clarion tones +its warning to seek cover. It made plaintive melody in the nocturnal +stillness, bespeaking the death-knell perchance of many. Nobody was +abroad, excepting a solemn procession of men wending its way to the +cemetery with all that was mortal of George Labram. Cannon in front of +them volleyed and thundered--to avoid which the late hour had been +chosen for the burial. + +Thus closed the long and dreadful week. Over-wrought women and children +emerged from their sodden refuges to court a long-deferred rest, if they +might, for after the events of the night anything might happen. Who was +to tell what the morning might not show? + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +_Week ending 17th February, 1900_ + + +We awoke on Sunday morning with fears of what had happened during the +night. It transpired, however, to our infinite relief, that most of the +shells had fallen on the soft earth of the Public Gardens. One poor +soldier had his leg completely severed from his body, while the escapes +of his nonchalant bed-fellows were hairbreadth. A house was set on fire +and reduced to ashes. Another missile entered the hospital, but did no +great harm beyond rudely extinguishing a lighted lamp. A lady who +resided in a house close by went as near to the borders of eternity as +was possible without crossing them. She was seated on a folding-chair, +and had momentarily altered her position to find a bunch of keys +required by her servant when right through the spot on which she would +have been still reclining but for the timely intervention of the girl a +huge projectile came crashing. The shock was fearful, and though, the +missile failed to burst both women had an escape from death +unprecedented in its narrowness. A native was seriously injured; and, +finally, it was ascertained that a Malay canteen had been invaded, the +sequel to which was the destruction of an army of--empty bottles! There +was a negative satisfaction in the fact that they _were_ empty which the +hapless Malay was not venal enough to appreciate. + +In the houses, the streets, the camps, the all-engrossing topics of +discourse were the terrors of the week so dramatically closed when +churchyards yawned on Saturday. Excited groups were talking everywhere, +and questions of hunger and thirst, supremely acute, were subordinated +to the more urgent public importance of the new situation, its dangers, +and its gravity. The feeling grew, the belief gained strength that the +weight of the Siege cross was being officially minimised. The outside +world, Lord Roberts included, knew nothing of its actual heaviness. This +revelation was tangible and distinct. The gun story narrated by our +newspaper only too clearly exemplified the meagre information sent out +concerning the public larder, the public health, the parlous pass +altogether to which the public had been reduced. No confidence could be +reposed in the men at the helm; in pilots who betrayed unwillingness to +steer for harbour; who preferred recklessly to exploit their valour for +the sake of a selfish notoriety. To these haughty, arbitrary men, +accidentally armed with authority, was attributed much that was +avoidable. Their conduct stirred our invective powers to rich depths of +condemnation. Not that from this candid declamation we expected good to +flow; it only served as a salve for our tortured dignity. + +It was the last Sunday of the Siege! But no advance ray of light that +was to come illumined our mental horizon. We expected nothing; chimeras +had ceased to satisfy, and were not the less sternly because tacitly +taboo. It was sought indeed to placate us with _talk_ about "imminent +developments." They told us that a meeting of leading citizens had been +held under the presidency of Mr. Rhodes; that the naked truth of things +had been telegraphed to the Commander-in-chief; that the +Commander-in-chief had on receipt of the message sent a flying Column to +relieve us. All this was circulated to soothe; but it failed abjectly in +its purpose. We were not to be fooled "the whole of the time," by cant +about flying Columns--whose wings, like those of Icarus, were only too +likely to get detached in the heat of the Karoo. Such was the temper, +the inflexible pessimism of the people; the much-talked of change that +was to come over the scene was voted a delusion and a fraud. + +Business was of course entirely suspended; and further projects to +ensure immunity from danger for the women and children were being +discussed. It was confidently expected that the bombardment would be +resumed with surpassing fury at midnight. An underground dwelling had +been constructed at the railway station, and under the bridge great +walls of sandbags had been erected for the protection of pedestrians. In +all parts of the town gangs of men were excavating the debris heaps and +converting them into habitations in which thousands, irrespective of +colour, social status, or nationality, were henceforth to commingle and +waive all distinctions of class. To the redoubts, where wonderful +contrivances in the way of chambers had been fitted up, some men brought +their families. Shelters and "dug-outs" sprang into being everywhere; +and the troubles of the inner man, in reality more poignant than ever +before, were relegated for the moment to the limbo of forgotten +tribulations. Reliance on relieving expeditions was considered foolish; +all our thoughts and energies were centred in a desire to stay the +slaughter of the innocents, and thus in a manner to spike the enemy's +guns. + +A wild craving to spike them in a more concrete fashion pervaded the +minds of hundreds. The cavil against the Colonel abated not a jot; the +epithets hurled at his devoted head were as picturesque as of yore. But +side by side with this domestic hostility there had developed a deeper, +less noisy feeling of resentment against the dear Boers themselves. +Volunteers in plenty were ready for any deed of daring that would enable +them to give back blow for blow. Not the least enthusiastic in this +regard were the Regular soldiers; they wanted to destroy or capture the +gun at Kamfers Dam, recking not the wildness, the impracticability of +the enterprise, but eager for a try--to be heroes in the strife. Colonel +Kekewich was waited on for his sanction; but he argued that the +expedition would entail certain destruction for half of the proposed +attacking force, and would result in failure. The fortifications of the +enemy, he maintained, were too strong, the gun was too well guarded. In +the excitement prevailing a practical view of this kind was apt to be +misconstrued, as indeed it was. The Colonel's position was a delicate +and responsible one; but, ignoring that, his refusal to countenance the +proposed assault lowered him in the minds of individuals bursting to do +something desperate, as well as in the valorous estimation of others who +merely wanted to _see_ it done. + +It was the last Sunday of the Siege! It was not stated; no credence +would have been accorded to the suggestion. The day advanced, and +blood-curdling legends--appertaining to the arrival of batteries from +the north, to assist in the completion of Kimberley's +subjugation--abounded on all sides. The rumour-monger excelled himself; +not one but four six-inch guns were to sing on Monday; our past +experiences were to be proved but a foretaste of worse things in store. +The Mines had been talked of as a place of refuge, and when the _hour_ +at which we lunched (when luncheons were) was reached the dead walls of +the city were placarded with great posters, inviting all women and +children who desired perfect security to take up their residence in the +caverns of De Beers! The drastic nature of the prophylactic was objected +to; it was feared by the quidnuncs that the treatment might prove more +injurious in its ultimate effects than the ills it was intended to ward +off. But this element was silenced, and soon was witnessed a procession +of people with bundles of bedding and crockery on their shoulders +wending their way (in a thunderstorm) to their deep-level homes. From +all parts of the city streams of families were converging towards the +"Kimberley" and the "De Beers" mines. There were a few bejewelled dames +whose ideal of good form and adoration of the convenances would not +allow them to entertain such a "fall"; it was asking too much; what +would Mrs. Grundy say? There was again a timid set whose notions of a +pilgrimage to the bowels of the earth were peculiar; who associated with +it all the dangers attending a balloon adventure--_plus_ the probability +of asphyxiation. But as time wore on the crowds grew thicker and +thicker, until the outstanding minority began to feel lonely, then to +waver, and finally to take their places as martyrs in the "Lift" that +was to lower them into regions infernal. It was a striking _ensemble_ +that mustered at the mouth of the mines. All grades of society were +there, and specimens of almost every European nation, mingled with the +Kafir the Zulu, the Hottentot and the countless shades and depths of +duskiness that make up the coloured classes. The process of lowering the +"Lift" began at four o'clock. It was tedious work. Only eight or nine +persons could be let down at a time, and some of the trippers had so +many rugs, mattresses, cushions, antimacassars, and like lumber along +with them as to make the downward flight of eighteen hundred feet a +pleasure-trip distinctly _modern_. With exemplary patience the emigrants +waited, until it suddenly dawned on them--so slow was the progress +made--that there was every possibility of the dread hour of twelve +anticipating them. And then the pushing and the shoving commenced. It +was past eleven, and there were yet hundreds to go down when "house +full" was shouted. Arrangements were hurriedly made to domicile the +surplus in the debris heaps. Midnight came; not a gun was heard. Morning +dawned; and the weak and young were safe from the ravages of shot and +shell. Thus had closed the last, eventful Sunday of thraldom. The work +achieved did much to ease men's minds, to revivify their hope, and to +strengthen their readiness to immolate themselves, if need be, on the +altar of duty. + +Monday was awaited with calmness and a determination to meet the worst +with fortitude. The carnage predicted, and painted in such sanguinary +colours, was slow to begin. It was not until the respectable hour of +seven that a commencement was made. Several untenanted houses were +damaged; four were set on fire at Kenilworth, and though the Brigade +were on the spot as fast as they could be conveyed from Kimberley, the +conflagration was inextinguishable, the houses were burned to the +ground. The intervals between the coming of the shells were much longer +than heretofore. This was due to the fact that a number of our best +marksmen had at length managed to make themselves felt. They had gone +out on the Sunday night and secured cover so close to Kamfers Dam as to +necessitate the exercise of caution on the part of Long Tom's +manipulators. The "snipers" lay alert, invisible, and ready when they +saw a head to hit it. It was alleged that the polls in which the +marksmen were interested had the Red Cross--a useful talisman--waving +over them, the better to enable the gunners to devastate Kimberley with +impunity. Whether this was true is not certain; at any rate, the +_finesse_ did not deceive; every cranium that loomed upon the horizon +received a volley. Sometimes the gun would be fixed partially into +position, and, as the bullets whistled by, lowered, jerked up again, and +fired. Even these hide and seek tactics did not long nonplus the +"snipers"; their adaptability was equal to the occasion. Rumour spread +it that two or three of the Kamfers Dam gunners had fallen; one victim +was certainly vouched for by a number of people who had seen him throw +up his hands, in the very act of firing, and disappear from view. The +success of the "snipers" was the talk of the city. It was tactlessly +conveyed to the bottom of the mines and made some of the women anxious +to get to the top--to breathe gunpowder in preference to brimstone. +Reports went to show, however, that all was as well down below as could +be expected in a "settlement" so new and so congested. + +What a spectacle the town presented! Business, as I have stated, had +been entirely suspended since the Friday; but it was not until Monday +that the last vestige of life appeared to have passed away from +Kimberley. Meandering the streets for curiosity or in futile search of +corporal sustenance, it was not until then that the hush of the +thoroughfares struck one in its full intensity. The whole machinery of +man's work and operations was at a standstill. The shops were closed; no +car rattled o'er the stony street; no throb of life was anywhere. A +belated cat, a stranger to milk and mice, and with tail still erect as a +lamp-post to accentuate the body's decay, would now and then cross the +tile-line. The houses wore a funereal aspect. The cabs, enrobed in Red +Crosses, awaited an unwelcome fare--a mangled pedestrian. Spectral +horseman rode hither and thither in pursuit of shells, to aid the +victims of their wrath. A stillness, weird, uncanny, hovered like a pall +above the Diamond City. + + ... now the sounds of population fail, + No cheerful murmurs fluctuate in the gale, + No busy steps the grass-grown footway tread, + For all the bloomy flush of life is fled. + +The plucky manner in which "we" had risked our necks for our readers' +sakes had won golden enconiums for the _Diamond Fields' Advertiser_. +Monday's issue was awaited with unwonted eagerness, interested as we +were in the gauntlet flung at Lennox Street. But the gauntlet had been +taken up; there was no paper forthcoming; it was suppressed; the +"Military Situation" proscribed its freedom. This was not altogether +unexpected; but a more prudent counsel would have let the Press alone. +Several stories appertaining to Saturday's outburst were in circulation. +One was that the Editor had been handcuffed and conveyed to +gaol--presumably for seditious libel. But Mr. Rhodes, it was said, had +intervened and offered himself as a "substitute." He would take +responsibility for the famous article; if anybody was to be punished +_he_ would act as criminal. The story ran, however, that he was let off +with a caution--a sentence at once magnanimous and supremely prudent. + +Another night assault had been considered probable, but there was no +firing until Tuesday morning when the bombardment was briskly resumed. +Throughout the day the attack was well sustained, despite the strategy +of our "snipers." Shells crashed in close proximity to vacated houses; +half a dozen were broken into; and the _Sanatorium_, where a strong +impenetrable fort had been constructed, was well attended to. But there +was really a better chance of finding Rhodes in the open, for he +peregrinated here, there and everywhere, too much of a fatalist, or too +fond of fresh air to be intimidated by what was flying in it. It was +rumoured that the heel had been knocked off one of his boots; and +fabulous sums were forthwith offered in the souvenir market for the +heel. The story had no foundation in fact--though not for lack of likely +heels; _they_ were as numerous as the pieces of shell that had killed +George Labram. The multiplicity of these fatal fragments was one of the +marvels of the Siege. A single piece had struck Mr. Labram, but the +commercial legend pointed to a score! + +The shells continued to tear up the streets until mid-day; after which +all was peace for some hours. The information reached the ears of the +ladies in the mines; and the inevitable consequence was an exodus of the +bolder spirits therefrom, to get a glimpse of the sky; for (as the poet +says):-- + + ... the sky we look up to, though glorious and fair, + Is looked up to the more because Heaven lies there; + +and had a superlative fascination for people doomed to deplore their +nearness to "another place." The ladies granted interviews with almost +disconcerting alacrity; their narratives of life down below, its joys +and drawbacks, its good intentions, its climatic conditions and +difficulties, were glowing and diversified. Some were happy and +cheerful, while others, fastidious and accustomed to feathers, would +never be happy until they were--dead! The chorused howling of so many +young ladies and gentlemen, ranging in ages from a fortnight to three or +four (years, not fortnights) kept reasoning people awake o' nights, it +was protested; and other inconveniences like the water--tributaries of +the Styx--in the mines made the atmosphere, and the blankets sometimes, +rather humid. These little discomforts, however, were felt only on one +or two floors; and the fair sex in the main were grateful for the +efforts made to make things cosy for everybody. Sanitation was of course +the paramount difficulty; but altogether to their eternal credit must +redound the indomitable energy and labours of the floor managers, the +mine employees generally, and even the directors, in their new sphere of +caterers for half the population. It was a heavy task, all things +considered, but it was done. Through the long, sweltering day the men +wrought and perspired. Many a missile hissed near them; many a risk they +ran; but they went on doing their duty with unflinching devotion. What +was chivalrous in their nature was stirred, and the good, latent in most +men, shone out brilliantly in all. The ladies acknowledged it freely. +Unexpected little dainties--sent down in the "Lift"--were supplied them +to strengthen their toleration of a home in a warm corner. Baskets, with +the "compliments" of Mr. Rhodes, bunches of grapes, more precious (and +softer, too) than the encrusted gems around, were relished down in the +mines and worth going still deeper for. + +The horrisonous whiz of the ostrich eggs from Kamfers Dam was heard +again, and back to the "Lift" flew the ladies. Not a few preferred to +wait until 'night was again descending' to descend along with it. One or +two sturdy amazons refused point blank to be terrorised into descending +at all; they expressed a preference for surface risks. This attitude was +not by any means unintelligible. The babel down below was incessantly +audible; as was the subdued roar of machinery; the heated competition +entailed in the pegging out of claims; the high words excited by the +petty larceny of pilferers who borrowed utensils to break, or keep as +souvenirs. Yet no wayward fragment of shell contributed its quota to +the perpetual din of gem-land. Better still, no exterior sound could be +_heard_; no boom, no faint intonation of the shocks that blighted the +earth's surface ever ruffled its centre. It was the solitary advantage +the centre (as a residence) had over the surface; but it was a +substantial advantage, though rather testily appreciated. + +The town was as hushed as a cemetery; and it was not easy to gather +knowledge of the damage done, or of its extent. The hospital was the +recipient of a grant-in-aid, which a gentleman resident in its vicinity +participated in--his face getting chopped by some startled pebbles. One +young lady who had left the mine, who could better hear the shells above +than the confusion of tongues below, was penalised with a gash--happily +slight. A little boy was wounded in the leg. A number of empty houses +were battered; and the headgear of the "Kimberley Mine" was hit by a +passing missile, which occasioned not a little consternation among the +families who, finding no room at the bottom, were quartered at the top +of the shaft. The Opera House was again struck; and at the Presbyterian +Church a dextrous effort was made to discover the "lost chord," which +resulted in the organ's being for ever incapacitated to shed the soul of +any music whatsoever. The caves dug out of the debris heaps were all +inhabited; the teething community never let us forget it. A number of +the mine emigrants had returned to their native land and joined their +friends in the debris heaps. The protection of the debris heaps was not +quite so good as that afforded by the mines, and the music of the cannon +the troglodytes had always with them. But there was more liberty and +comfort in the caves, which were dry as dust and--no slang intended--not +too dusty. + +Signs and portents of the approaching revolution were not wanting. +Rumours transcended in sensationalism all past products of inventive +fertility; but though men of weight were beginning to respect the fama +the populace hi the mass were too "_ware_" to fondle her. With the women +hi the mines it was different; their newly-acquired appreciation of +"Home, sweet home" had induced symptoms of their primeval predisposition +to believe all they heard--and they heard all sorts of loving lies. The +enemy, it was noticed, evinced signs of uneasiness at last; he cast +furtive looks behind him, as if some danger lurked unseen. The +traditional stoicism of the Boer was perturbed, and an air of violent +agitation was conspicuous in the portion of the cordon nearest to Modder +River. The "star" shining down on the Free State suggested an +undesirable destiny; it was filled with reconnoitring Britons. For +ourselves, we noted the point from which the balloon had ascended, and +the obvious confusion in the Boer ranks, with curiosity; and though we +still resolutely adhered to belief in the folly of expecting relief, +instinct whispered _nil desperandum_. From out the camp at +Alexandersfontein the enemy appeared to be clearing--all of which +_phenomena_ were the more mysterious because of the silence that +prevailed. + +The next day to dawn was Saint Valentine's (Wednesday). The valentines +were delivered by an early post, but the intended recipients had happily +changed their addresses and were not at home to be caricatured. The +_Sanatorium_ received a batch of compliments--as a kind of satire on its +pretensions to salubrity--one of which played havoc with its bakehouse, +and, what was still more serious, a batch of bread in process of baking. +The City Fathers, as per immemorial custom, were not forgotten. One of +them had his house and furniture damaged; another missile struck Mr. +Bennie's dwelling; while, at Beaconsfield, the beauty of Councillor +Blackbeard's verandah was marred, as also nearly were the persons of +half a dozen workmen close by. A few shells shot appallingly close to +the bugler perched on the summit of the headgear. The "sniping" still +went on, but the Boers at Kamfers Dam appeared to be little affected +thereby, or by the signs of alarm betrayed by their fellow-besiegers at +other camps. There was, alas! to be yet one more fatality ere +emancipation was to burst upon us like a thunderbolt. In the afternoon, +while making his ablutions at a tap outside his bakehouse door, an +unfortunate baker was struck down and killed. + +Meanwhile proceedings pregnant with meaning were taking place at +Alexandersfontein. The evacuation of the position was going on apace, +and was being watched with bated breath by the Beaconsfield Town Guard. +The numbers of the enemy ensconced at Alexandersfontein had diminished +so materially that Major Rodger with a picked force of one hundred men +ventured to try conclusions with the residue. A sharp, decisive fight +ensued; the few Boers left to defend the place were so startled that +they soon fled, leaving bag and baggage behind them. A few on the Boer +side were killed (or wounded) and half a dozen were taken prisoners. Of +the Major's men, two were injured. Despatches found in the pocket of a +prisoner went to show that Alexandersfontein had been used partially as +a women's laager; and I regret to have to record that a woman and a +young child were severely wounded in the battle. + +But it was the sequel to this remarkable fight that roused the people +from their torpor. Large quantities of provisions were found not only in +the camp but in the hotel and houses of the neighbourhood. The news +spread like wildfire, and a great paean of triumph went up from a +thousand throats. From the various redoubts the citizen soldiers, +regardless of risk, hastened in carts to the scene of confiscation. The +early birds got butter! there was no doubting it, for however impaired +may have been our sense of taste, our dilated eyes were right. Some folk +carried away large sacks of meal and flour--satisfied to enjoy _carte +blanche_ in bread without butter. Others, again, bore off bags of +potatoes in contented triumph; while not a few went home with onions in +their pockets and a tear and a smile in their eyes. And when later in +the day a drove of half a hundred oxen, horses, and mules, with their +forage behind them, entered Kimberley they were greeted with a tumult of +applause never meted out to royal pageant or conquering biped coming! A +little whiskey, it was said, had been unearthed; but there was no +evidence, circumstantial or oscillatory, to confirm this. Minor +windfalls in the way of half-sovereigns, five pound notes, Kruger coins, +and trousers buttons had also been picked up and appropriated as a +matter of course. + +When Major Rodger had officially apprised the Colonel of his glorious +victory, gyps and re-inforcements were immediately despatched to assist +in the holding of the acquired position. It was soon strongly +garrisoned, and though theatrical preparations for its recovery were not +wanting, no serious attempt was made to re-take it. From the adjacent +ridges (a mile off) an odd shell came hurtling; and thus was an avenue +opened up for the Column that was always coming, and never came. +Cheering auguries there were in plenty, but we guardedly declined to be +cheered, and pretended to snigger sceptically at the auguries. It might +be that the Boers _had_ been "driven out of Colesburg," but we did not +believe it, on principle. From the same source we learned that Cronje +was a prisoner; but he was _not!_ so that our incredulity was in a +measure justifiable to the end. It was conceded, it was being made +manifest daily that the housing of so many people for any length of time +in the over-crowded mines was opt of the question. But that was a +consideration to which the "Military Situation" could not resonably be +expected to play second fiddle. + +Despite, therefore, the concrete evidence of impending developments; +despite the distant dust-clouds which only Cavalry, and a good many of +them, could cause; despite the chaos reigning in Boer circles--we still +declined to be hoodwinked on the never-to-be-forgotten morning of +Thursday, the fifteenth of February. On the night previous the sounds of +a heavy musketry duel had been heard. A force had been sent out to +frustrate Boer encroachments and the fury with which (as per +expectation) the lost Alexandersfontein was to be regained. This force +effected a _coup_, and by a series of tricks alarmed the enemy +contiguous to Alexandersfontein into a belief that a bayonet charge in +strength was contemplated, the consequence being that they (the Boers) +beat the air with bullets for full three hours. Three guns had been +trained on our new "possession." To dislodge its garrison, however, more +vigorous measures were called for; and desperate though they continued +to grow, the Boers had no bayonets, without which it was hardly possible +for them to achieve their purpose. Long Tom at Kamfers Dam was too far +off to communicate with the proud usurper; it had perforce to content +itself with the city streets, into which the shells kept falling for +some hours in the forenoon--until positively the last of the missiles +ended its blaze with a groan at eleven o'clock! That the bombardment +would be resumed when the gun had "cooled" nobody thought of doubting +for an instant; and when three hours had sped, when the gun had had time +to become a veritable cucumber, the rumour-monger, positive, superior, +laconic to the last, attributed its silence to a "loose screw!" But, for +us, the screw was never tightened; Kimberley had indeed heard the last +of Long Tom. Our scepticism, however, remained robust, and would not +permit us to treat with aught but ridicule the vaunted wonders with +which the day was to be fraught. + +The Colonel and his staff still comported themselves with Patrician +dignity (as befitted their station), only condescending occasionally to +utter unofficial words of cheer. But these utterances were taken for +what they were worth, and the experience of four months had taught us +to estimate their value at rather less than nothing. When, therefore, +towards two o'clock in the afternoon the unfolding of a tale descriptive +of an approaching body of eight thousand cavalry had begun, we +derisively snapped our fingers at the story. With amazing persistence +the narrative was shouted aloud, and with a positiveness which such +angry retorts as "Am I a fool!" "Don't come it on me!" "You're a liar!" +etc., could not subdue. Undaunted the heralds of the oncoming Column +carried their message to every ear, to be accepted or rejected. The bulk +of the people stipulated to "see" the Column, and then they "might" +believe; and it was hard even to induce them to get on to the roof for a +view. The ladies in the mines, who, uncomfortable as they were, had a +horror of being fooled any more, also perversely refused to stir until +they _saw_ the Column; it was not easy to persuade them that an +adjournment to the surface of dull earth was an indispensable +preliminary to the testimony of their eyes. Courier after courier +arrived with the grand and glorious news; and when men on the conning +tower were observed to cheer frantically, wave hand-kerchiefs, and +gesticulate insanely, our flinty nature humbly condescended to soften. +When all in turn beheld the huge body of cavalry drawing nearer and +nearer to Kimberley, the tears began to roll and the pent-up emotion of +four weary months was freely given way to! From verandahs, from windows, +redoubts, and debris heaps the roars of welcome were sent across the +veld. Advance-stragglers, exhausted and travel-stained, presently +arrived, to have their buttons cut off their coats, the feathers plucked +from their hats, their arms wrenched from their sockets, and to be +hugged with merciless and enervating tenderness in the wild paroxysm of +an ultra-Irish _cead mile failte!_ The Siege was raised! The suspense +and sorrow were over! The lowering, ever-darkening cloud had +broken--turned inside out to dazzle with the sheen of its lining our +unaccustomed eyes. We were free again; to revel in pastry and jam, and +ham and eggs, in chops and steaks, in mealies, butter, bread, and _pate +de foie gras_; at liberty to drink, to mix our drinks, to risk "swelled +head" and indigestion if we so willed, as we most certainly did. It was +over; we had fought a good fight; and in the conviction that it was +worth going through it all for the ineffable delight of the final +emergence we sent our hats into the air with an abandon and disregard of +the proprieties that was very, very rude. + +The Siege was raised! by French--not Methuen; Codlin was the friend, not +Short! The enthusiasm never slackened, and when late in the afternoon +the General with some of his officers visited the Kimberley Club, the +climax was reached. Cheer after cheer rent the air and shook the trees. +The hand-shaking crusade shook the spheres. Nine o'clock struck; but +much we cared; the warning notes had lost their terrors; they startled +not the joyous groups crowding the streets, laughing, whistling, +singing, crying, dancing, or hilariously toasting French (in the +saloons) on Siege soda-water! Not the least pathetic feature of it all +was the length and wryness of our deliverers' faces when they sought to +buy refreshments--a tin of something--cup of anything--and the loud +laugh that spake the vacant wares of the gay _restaurateur_ as he +brokenly explained the Permit Law with all its "tape" and pomps. The +exodus from the mines was necessarily slow, and midnight had long passed +ere the last of the refugees was restored to the glimpses of the moon. + +In the meantime our friends the Boers had taken to flight. Their guns +(including Long Tom) had vanished, and Long Cecil kept barking furiously +to expedite their departure. The Boer positions were soon occupied by +British troops; large quantities of provisions and forage which had been +left behind were duly confiscated; while French's ordnance was +substituted for the guns that had so long intensified the heat of a +Kimberley summer. In town all was bunting and gladness. The red, white, +and blue bedecked the houses, the lamp posts, the tram-cars, the +barrel-organs, the monkeys, the dogs, and the horseflesh! The relief of +Kimberley was an accomplished fact. The issue of the campaign was no +longer in doubt. + +Little now remains to be told. There is no need to speak of the rapidity +with which railway communication was restored, or of how amid general +rejoicings a train steamed into the city and steamed out again +choc-a-bloc with passengers in cattle trucks. Nor need I pity the lot of +the postal officials when the sorting of a million letters had begun. It +is not for me to tell of the joy of reading them; to dwell on the +Dronfield fight; the evacuation of Magersfontein; the _tableau_ at +Paarderberg, of its chastening effects on the "Military Situation." Nor +may I speculate on how well or wisely we ate and drank when gormandism +was again in consonance with law-abiding citizenship. All these things +were _after_ the Siege. + +For the rest, the citizens had responded to the call of duty with a +spontaneity worthy of the highest praise. They had "roughed it" in their +tents uncomplainingly (sulking only on occasions, like Achilles). All +honour, all gratitude to the good men and women who had spent themselves +so unselfishly for the common good. The De Beers Corporation merit a +meed of commendation for the manner in which they rose to a recognition +of their responsibilities. An expression of regret is due to the +Commanding-Officer for the impatience with which we had treated his +proclamations and chafed under Martial Law. Our attitude had been +oftentimes unfair. But the Colonel's _regency_ had in the main been +conspicuous for high ability, considerateness, and a firmness that could +have scarcely been dispensed with. Finally, Mr. Rhodes--by virtue of his +beneficent, unceasing labours on behalf of the beleagured +population--stood higher than ever in the affections of the people among +whom had been spent so many years of his life. This narrative may be +fittingly closed with a peroration of his--since it reflects the feeling +of the citizens as a whole, which has been my aim throughout. "When we +look back" said the Colossus, "upon the troubles we have gone through, +and especially all that has been suffered by the women and children, we +have this satisfaction, that we have done our best to preserve that +which is the best of commercial assets in the world--the protection of +her Majesty's Flag." + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Siege of Kimberley, by T. Phelan + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13777 *** |