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diff --git a/39348.txt b/39348.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4bc8f37 --- /dev/null +++ b/39348.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9176 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Siege of Mafeking (1900), by J. Angus Hamilton + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license + + +Title: The Siege of Mafeking (1900) + +Author: J. Angus Hamilton + +Release Date: April 2, 2012 [EBook #39348] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SIEGE OF MAFEKING (1900) *** + + + + +Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Christine P. Travers and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: The Colonel at Work.] + + + + + THE SIEGE OF MAFEKING + + + BY + + J. ANGUS HAMILTON + + + + + WITH FIFTEEN ILLUSTRATIONS AND TWO PLANS + + + + + METHUEN & CO. + 36 ESSEX STREET W.C. + LONDON + 1900 + + + + +PREFATORY NOTE + + +I have to acknowledge gratefully permission to publish in this book +certain articles contributed before and during the siege of Mafeking +to _The Times_ and _Black and White_. To the editor of the latter +paper I am indebted also for leave to reproduce photographs taken by +myself and published, from time to time, in that journal. + +I would acknowledge, too, in anticipation, any kindly toleration my +readers may extend to me for the many shortcomings, of which I am +dismally conscious, arising from the hasty preparation of this volume. +When I explain that between the date of my return to England and this +date--when I start for China--barely a fortnight has elapsed, I shall +make good, perhaps, some small claim upon the indulgence of the +critics and the public. + + J. A. H. + _July 21, 1900_ + + + + +CONTENTS + + + CHAPTER Page + + I. AT SEA 1 + + II. A GLANCE AHEAD 11 + + III. ON THE ORANGE FREE STATE BORDER 22 + + IV. BRICKS OF STRAW 34 + + V. DIAMONDS AND WHITE FEATHERS 41 + + VI. TWO DAYS BEFORE WAR 49 + + VII. THE SKIRMISH AT FIVE MILE BANK 57 + + VIII. THE FIRST DAY OF BOMBARDMENT 67 + + IX. THE ADVENT OF "BIG BEN" 78 + + X. A MIDNIGHT SORTIE 88 + + XI. CANNON KOPJE 97 + + XII. A RECONNAISSANCE 108 + + XIII. THE TOWN GUARD 120 + + XIV. WASTED ENERGIES 130 + + XV. SHELLS AND SLAUGHTER 140 + + XVI. A SOFT-WATER BATH 147 + + XVII. THE ECONOMY OF THE SITUATION 152 + + XVIII. A VISIT TO THE HOSPITAL 158 + + XIX. A LITTLE GUN PRACTICE 165 + + XX. THE ATTACK UPON GAME TREE 175 + + XXI. THE ADVENT OF THE NEW YEAR 188 + + XXII. NATIVE LIFE 196 + + XXIII. BOMBAST AND BOMB-PROOFS 202 + + XXIV. SOME SNIPING AND AN EXECUTION 212 + + XXV. LIFE IN THE BRICKFIELDS 220 + + XXVI. FROM BAD TO WORSE 225 + + XXVII. THE FIRST ATTACK UPON THE BRICKFIELDS 232 + + XXVIII. THE SECOND ATTACK UPON THE BRICKFIELDS 240 + + XXIX. THE NATIVE QUESTION 247 + + XXX. POLITICAL ECONOMY 253 + + XXXI. "A HISTORY OF THE BARALONGS" 261 + + XXXII. 'TIS WEARY WAITING 271 + + XXXIII. TWO HUNDRED DAYS OF SIEGE 278 + + XXXIV. THE EPICUREAN'S DELIGHT 283 + + XXXV. THE LAST FIGHT 290 + + XXXVI. RELIEVED AT LAST 311 + + XXXVII. THE END 319 + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND PLANS + + + Page + + THE COLONEL AT WORK. _Frontispiece_ + + MAJOR LORD EDWARD CECIL, C.S.O. 45 + + OUTPOSTS AND ENTRENCHMENTS, SOUTHERN FRONT. 55 + + HEADQUARTERS 68 + + CANNON KOPJE 98 + + MAJOR GODLEY ON THE LOOK-OUT 112 + + EFFECTS OF SHELL FIRE. I. BEFORE 144 + + EFFECTS OF SHELL FIRE. II. AFTER 146 + + BOERS INSPECTING BRITISH KILLED 184 + + THE COLONEL ON THE LOOK-OUT 192 + + WAR CORRESPONDENTS AND THEIR BOMB-PROOF SHELTERS 212 + + PLAN OF THE BRICKFIELDS 222 + + CAPE BOYS HURLING STONES AT THE BOERS 224 + + KILLING HORSES FOR THE GARRISON 292 + + THE BRITISH SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE FORT 298 + + "MAFEKING," THE AUTHOR'S DOG 324 + + PLAN OF MAFEKING 338 + + + + +CHAPTER I + +AT SEA + + + R.M.S. _DUNVEGAN CASTLE_, + _September 16th, 1899_. + +A breeze was freshening, tufting the heaving billows with white crests +and driving showers of spray and clots of foam upon the decks of the +_Dunvegan_. Passengers stood in strained attitudes about the ship, +fidgeting with the desire to be ill and the wish to appear +comfortable--even dignified. In the end, however, circumstances were +too strong for the passengers, transforming them, from a state of calm +despair, into a condition of sickness and temporary dejection. Every +one was perturbed, and those delicate attentions which the sea-sick +demand were being offered by a much-worried deck steward. Here and +there groups of more hardy voyagers were spending their feeble wit in +unseasonable jokes; here and there bedraggled people, wet with spray +and racked by the anguish of an aching void, were clutching at the +possibility of gaining the privacy of their cabins before their +feelings quite overpowered them. In this mad rush, not unlike the +scramble of a shuttlecock to escape the buffetings of the battledore, +I also joined, fetching my berth with much unfortunate sensation. +Alas! I am a wretched sailor, and travelling far and near these many +years, crossing strange seas to distant lands at oft-recurring +periods, has not even tutored me to stand the stress of the ocean +wave. I cannot endure the sea. + +The _Dunvegan Castle_ was steaming to the Cape, carrying the mails, +together with a number of tedious and most tiresome people, whose +hours aboard were passed in periods of distracting energy--in deck +quoits, in impossible cricket matches, in angry squabbles upon the +value of the monies which, day by day, were collected by the crafty +from the foolish and pooled in prizes upon the daily run of the +steamer. It was said that these were pleasant gambles, but the +Gentiles paid and the Hebrews, returning to their diamonds, their +stocks and shares, scooped the stakes. It is a way that the people of +Israel and Threadneedle Street have made peculiarly their own; and, +indeed, the multitude and variety of Jews upon this evil-smelling +steamer suggested that she might have held within her walls the +nucleus of an over-sea Israelitish colony, such another as the +Rothschilds founded. + +Time was idle, dreary, and so empty! There was nothing to do, since +nothing could be done. The monotony was appalling, and if this were +the condition in the saloon, how distressful must have been the lot of +the third class, who constituted in themselves, as good a class of +people as that contained in the saloon. Surely in these days of +systematic philanthropy something more might be done to brighten the +lot and welfare of third-class passengers. Is it, for example, quite +impossible to supply them with that not uninteresting development of +the musical-box--the megaphone? Of course it should be quite +possible; but antiquated, even antediluvian, in its arrangements, the +Castle Company cannot initiate anything which has not yet been adopted +by the other lines of ocean shipping. And yet I have been told by +numerous merchant captains that it is the steerage which provides the +profits, making lucrative the business of carrying cargoes of goods +and human freight from our shores to more distant lands. But that also +is the way of the world; yet when a rude prosperity enables the +emigrant Jew and Gentile to throng the saloons, making them altogether +impossible for the gentler classes, we shall find the economy of the +third class appealing to an ever-increasing and ever-superior body of +people until these "superior" people will not endure the dirt, +unwholesome surroundings, and fetid atmosphere of the steerage +accommodation of ocean-going steamers, but will cry to Heaven upon the +niggard's policy which controls the vessels. + +As the days wore away, and Madeira came and went, even the flying +fishes ceased to attract, and the noises of the ship grew more +distant, the people less obtrusive. Moreover, I became at rest within +myself, and the gaping, aching void which has filled my vitals these +many days, became assuaged. It was then we began to inspect the +passengers; to consider almost kindly the African Jew millionaire who +ate peas with his fingers and mixed honey with his salad, thought not +disdainfully of the poor lady his wife, who, suffering the tortures of +the damned when at sea, shone at each meal valiantly and heroically +until the menu was pierced by her in its entirety, and she made still +further happy by the administration of an original preventative +against _mal de mer_ of sweet wine biscuits bathed in plentiful and +sticky treacle. It was her way of pouring oil on troubled waters. Oh, +those were dreadful people, never ill, always eating, ever complaining +of a curious dizziness which, nevertheless, occasioned them no loss of +appetite. Surely they, of all others, were indeed of the specially +select! Then there was Mr. Clarke, a friend of the two Presidents, +who, undaunted by the most violent motions of the steamer, kept to the +deck in a constant promenade, discoursing amicably the while, and +punctuating his utterances, of a somewhat patriarchal order, with +brief pauses, in which he stroked, with much dignity, a long white +beard. He was a dear old man, and, unlike other Boers, he did not +quote from the Scriptures, a concession which, to be properly +appreciated, demands the lassitude and extreme prostration of violent +nausea. There is something inordinately irritating about the man who +proposes to soothe the irruptions attendant upon sea voyages by the +assurance that such discomfiture is to be endured, since in Chapter +i., verse 1, of a pious writer, the Lord hath there written that the +ungodly shall be everlastingly punished. Personally I objected only to +the form of punishment. + +The friend of the President, a fine specimen of sturdy masculinity, +touching eighty-two years of age, was quite the most impressive figure +aboard this particular Castle packet. He had been a sojourner in the +Orange Free State for forty years, coming to it from Australia shortly +after the riots at Ballarat goldfields. The old fellow had fought +against the Boers, championed their arms against the Basutos, raided +the blacks in Queensland, and tumbled through a variety of enterprises +ranging from mining in Australia to successful sheep farming near the +Fickersburg. I liked him, taking an intense anxiety in his future +movements, and wondering whether this fine old specimen of life would +also become our enemy. Who could tell! So much depended upon the +situation, so much upon the action of the President and the will of +Providence. He stood, as he himself was apt to remark, upon the border +of the next world--looking back upon a span of four score years, +possessing a knowledge of the affairs of these African Republics which +had obtained for him the friendship of President Steyn and President +Kruger; indeed, they had been comrades-in-arms, Oom Paul and himself, +while he had seen Steyn spring into manhood from a stripling, and when +his thoughts dwelt upon those days the voice of the old man became +flooded with emotion. These tears of memory were a sidelight to his +real character, and I was convinced that if he shouldered arms at all +these earlier friendships were held by such ties as were too sacred to +be violated. In his heart he hated fighting, yearning merely for the +attentions of his children, the cool delights of his mountain home. In +his domestic environment he was a happy man, since prosperity had +brought him certain cares of office, much as the dignity of his age +had brought him the respect of his fellow-burghers. And yet he figured +as an illustration of countless hundreds, each one of whom was in +close relationship with the crisis in the politics of the country. + +Morning, noon and night he strolled, the one figure of interest in +the ill-assorted company of passengers which the good ship--to my +nostrils an evil-smelling tub--was carrying to the Cape. There were +few others of importance upon this journey. There was a colonel of +the Royal Engineers, who had a snug billet in the War Office, and +who was leaving Pall Mall to inspect the barracks at Cape Town, St. +Helena, Ascension, and all those other places to which certain +preposterous War Office officials devoted that attention which +should so much more properly have been paid to the defenceless +condition of the frontiers in South Africa. But then, after all, +what is the destiny of the War Office unless to meddle and make +muddle? If Colonel Watson might be said to have represented the +Imperial Government among the passengers, Mynheer Van der Merure, +Commissioner of Mines in Johannesburg, might be considered as +representing the Pretorian Government. It seemed to me that these +two worthies were quite harmless, representing, each in his own way, +the acme of good nature, the gallant--all colonels imagine that they +be gallant--colonel by reason of his advanced age; the worthy--all +commissioners imagine that they be worthy--commissioner because he +lived off the spoil of the mines. But even the spectacle of these +three--the grand old man, the War Office _attache_, the wealthy +Randsman--did not suffice to break the hideous monotony of a most +depressing voyage. + +With the peace of nature enveloping us in a feeling of security, it +was difficult to realise that each day we drew a little nearer to a +possible seat of war. There was much rumour aboard; the stewards +hinted that the hold was filled with a cargo of munitions of war. The +captain flatly denied it, even the War Office pensioner thought it +improbable. "You must understand, sir," said he one morning, across the +breakfast table, "that it is contrary to the custom of her Majesty's +Government, and, if I may say so, sir, especially contrary to the +custom of her Majesty's War Office, to squander the finances of our +great Empire upon unnecessary munitions of war because the _Times_ and +other papers choose to send half a dozen irresponsible individuals to +South Africa. Now, sir--pooh!" When Colonel Watson broke out like this +the friend of the President would intervene, suggesting in his kindly, +paternal fashion that "the War Office--given half a dozen colonels, +gallant or otherwise--might well afford to follow the lead of the +_Times_ newspaper." "It has been my experience," the Colonel +retaliated on one occasion, "that when people begin to interfere they +cease to understand." It was always quite delightful to watch these +two cross swords; the elder invariably took refuge in his age when the +sallies of the War Office could not be directly countered. +"Experience! You are only old enough to be my son." The Colonel +spluttered--colonels do. By these means the elder man usually carried +off the honours, replying, as it were, by a flank movement to the +frontal attack of his superior adversary. + +The farmer from the Orange Free State talked much to me, giving me, +towards the end of the voyage, an invitation to his home. It was a +visit in which I should have found much pleasure, since the splendour +of his years, his gentleness and nobility of character were +attractive. It seemed to me that among all sorts and conditions of men +this one was indeed, a man, and I do most sincerely hope that the end +of the war may find him still living and enjoying his farm in his +usual prosperity. He was so set against the war, and dreaded the +consequences of hostile invasion into the Orange Free State, insomuch +that he realised, if some immunity were not guaranteed, the ruin and +desolation which would spread over the land. In August as we left +England there was nothing known about the future action of the Orange +Free State. The question was one of debate, altogether confused, +almost intangible, and this man, knowing Steyn as he knew Kruger, was +convinced that the Orange Free State would alienate itself from the +Transvaal difficulty. But who can tell? We look to the sea for our +answer, and it throws back to us only the echoes of the sighing waves, +the pulsing throbs of the screws pounding the green masses of water in +an effort to reach the Cape. Nevertheless, I am inclined to believe +that there will be war. I hope that there may be, since it is to be my +field of labour. + +The journey nears its end, and the weather breaks, for a few hours +into grey cold; while the sea, where it laps the bay at Cape Town, +darkening into thin ridges of foam, tumbling and tossing amid the +eddies of the bleak water, looks menacing. A fog lies off the land, +dense and weighty, impeding the navigation and impressing no little +conception of the perils of the deep upon the minds of timorous +passengers, and folding the surface of the ocean in its expanse. The +weather threatens to be wild. All day the sea fog broke and mingled, +merging, as the day wore on, into one conglomerate mass of cloud, +impenetrable to the mariner and screening the signs of the sea from +those who were upon land. Here and there, low down upon the horizon, +the storm fiend from the shore had broken into the garland of mist +which hung so drearily upon sea as upon moor, detaching parcels of +cloud from the main and toying with them with the coy and heartless +grace of Zephyr! But as yet the wind only came in minor lapses, and +was followed by intervals in which there was no movement in the fog. +From the waste of sea came a ceaseless, muffled roar which seemed +loudest and most full of mystery when carried upon the wings of the +wind. Then these echoes of mighty waters, tumbling upon the rocks off +the land, seemed ominous and charged with deadly peril, and, as the +fog belts lifted or dispersed before the gusts of the wind, the sea +would look as though swept with growing anger, heaving in tremulous +passion, until the great reach of quivering waves was flecked with +white. Closer and closer lapped the tiny waves, until, under the +pressure of the freshening wind they mingled their crests, rising and +falling in foam-capped billows of growing volume and increasing +majesty. Thus developed the storm; the wind beating on the face of the +waters and breaking against the clouds until rain fell, in the end +assuaging, by its raging downpour, the tempest of the ocean. Down came +the storm in one panting burst of tempestuous deluge. The heaving +waves threw sheets of foam from their rain-pierced summits, and the +wind whistled and screamed as it swept through the rigging. Flashes of +lightning and thunder claps parried one another in quick succession. +The rain fell in torrents, the decks, shining in the lightning +flashes, roared with rushing water. So that night we rode at anchor, +rocking idly at our cables within the shadow of the mountain, and upon +the morrow, beneath the light of coming dawn, we drew nearer through +the cool greyness of the bounding ocean. At first the figures, the +walls of the fort, the cranes, the shipping, and the scarred and +crinkled facing of the mountain were silhouetted in black against the +grey of early morning, but as the day broke more firmly across its +slopes, the finer and more subtle light gave to everything its actual +proportion. All kept growing clearer and yet clearer, and more and +more thoroughly outlined, until the sun, shooting over the horizon, +bestowed upon the coming day its first wink of glory. + +And so we landed, passing from a sluggish state of peace into a world +where everything was lighted with martial glamour. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +A GLANCE AHEAD + + + CAPE TOWN, _September 20th, 1899_. + +To be in Cape Town in September would seem to be visiting the capital +of Cape Colony in its least enjoyable month; since, more especially +than at any other time in the year, the place be thronged with +bustling people, who plough their way through streets which, by the +stress of recent bad weather, are choked with mud and broken by pools +of slush and rain-scourings. The rain is falling with a determination +and force of penetration which soaks the pedestrian in a few minutes +and makes life altogether miserable. Moreover, there are signs of +further foul weather. There is a white mist upon the mountain and a +sea fog enshrouds the shipping in the harbour: everywhere it is cold, +colourless and damp. Everywhere the people are depressed. It is as +though the wet has drenched the population of the town to the bone and +drowned their spirits in the cheerless prospect which the rainy +season in Cape Town provides. If the sun were to shine the aspect +might be brighter, a little warmth might be infused in the character +and disposition of the constantly shifting streams of mud-splashed, +bedraggled pedestrians who, despite the rain and mud and an air of +general despondency, impart some little animation to the dirty +thoroughfares. + +Other than this air of depression there is but little external +evidence of the momentous crisis which impends. It may be that the +Cape Town colonist has forgotten the responsibilities of his colony in +the cares of his own office, and is become that mechanical development +of commerce, a money-making man. Who can tell? Is it even fair to +hazard an estimation of the man in his present environment? But it +would assuredly seem that the troubles of the Government, the menace +which is imposed upon the colony by the Bond Ministry, do not touch +him, do not even stir his loyalty to the ebullition of a little +doubtful enthusiasm. Just now, although there may be war upon his +borders, although the spirit of disturbed patriotism be in the air, +and although his neighbours may be thinking of joining some one of the +Irregular Corps who are advertising for recruits, the ordinary +inhabitant of Cape Town is unmoved. He is too lethargic, or is it that +his loyalty is not of that degree which regards with concern the +arming of the border republics, the near outbreak of bloody war? It +would seem that each, after his own caste, be happy if he be left +alone; the money grubber to gain more shekels, the idler and the +casual to bore each other with their stupendous, even studied +indifference to the propinquity of the latest national crisis. Within +a few days, it may even be within a few hours, our questions with the +Pretorian Government will have reached their final adjustment or their +perpetual confusion, and it may be that we shall be at war. It may be +also, although it be difficult to believe, that a peaceful solution +will be derived. At this moment the services of such pacific measures +as can be adopted should be utilised, since if war should come within +a brief measure the position of the people of this country will indeed +be grave--the utter absence of adequate defensive measures, the entire +lack of efficient military preparations being factors which are +calculated to incite to rebellion those who incline to the Dutch +cause, and indeed, most positively, their name is Legion. There is, I +think, the essence of revolt beneath this heavy and depressed +condition of the people: it were not possible otherwise, to exist +within such intimate proximity to a state of war and be unmoved; it is +not possible either to find other explanation. It may be that in their +hearts, as in their heads, they are weighing the consequences of +revolt, succouring one another in their distress of mind and body with +seditious sympathies, maintaining a spirit of antagonism to the +Imperial fusion under pretence of the mere expression of a lip +loyalty. And in their immediate prospect there is everything which may +be calculated to disturb their equanimity, and to force upon them the +consciousness of their impotency. It is perhaps this knowledge of +their actual weakness which subdues them since they cannot afford to +openly avow feelings which are inimical to us and which would betoken +their own hostility. Nevertheless, Great Britain can do nothing which +could encourage these people in their loyalty; nor can they +themselves, in reality, assist to remove their unfortunate +predicament, since they must needs sacrifice their possessions to +substantiate their views, and to do this implies complete +disintegration of their fortunes. This they will not do; since they +cannot suffer it. They will remain discontented partisans, however; +slaves of commerce, restrained by the possibilities of further +aggrandisement from declaring their mutual connection, and manacled by +the bonds of free trade and crooked dealings. They will be neutral, as +indeed the greater proportion of the inhabitants of the towns along +the coast and within the littoral zone will be, since with every +feeling of unctuous rectitude in relation to the values of their +trade, they will leave to the provincial areas, which lie between the +borders of the Orange Free State and the metropolitan circuits, the +onus of the situation, the work of supplying active and more potential +supporters of the Republican arms. + +This is the middle of September, and I am assured that the crisis +should not be expected before the middle of October, inclining to the +first two weeks of the coming month. If this be possible, and the +information is difficult to discount, our sin of indifference is the +greater, our apathy the more criminal. Indeed, everywhere there is +nothing doing--God forbid that the steady warlike preparations of the +Transvaal Government should intimidate us, but let us at least be +heedful and not over sleepy. If we can gauge the situation by the +public press of the Empire it is most critical, and the time is rather +overripe in which we also should indulge in a few military exercises. +There is a situation to be faced which will tax all the resources of +the Castle, and strain even the vaunted excellence of the home +administration--that army for which Lord Wolseley has claimed such +splendid mobilisation, such insensate volition. If these fifty +thousand men were here now the turns of the political wheel would not +be regarded with such intense apprehension, while in their absence +there lies perhaps the answer to the rain-drenched dulness of the +population. The land is naked; from Basutoland to Buluwayo and back to +Beira, mile upon mile of smiling frontier rests without protection of +any sort. We are inviting invasion, and it is impossible that such a +movement will not be attempted. To invade our territory--it will sound +so well round the camp fires of the Boer laagers--a mere scamper +across the frontier, a pell-mell, hell-for-leather retreat to their +own lines, and the manoeuvres would be executed felicitously and with +every sign of success. But such a contingency is submerged under an +accumulation of theories and official explanations each of which deny +the possibility of the Boer taking upon himself the responsibility of +rushing the situation. Moreover, it does not seem that the Boers +require much instigation to attempt such an act. We have laid open our +borders to such an enterprise, even taking the trouble to leave +unguarded many towns whose adjacency to the border is singularly +perilous. In many cases a Boer force need only make a short march to +arrive in the very heart of some one of these border towns, when, +should they appear, the turn of affairs could be said to be complex; +and some emotions might be felt by those worthy and effete military +noodles who so persistently shout down the "pessimists" who, knowing +the country, the ambition and resourcefulness of the Boers, persist in +declaiming upon the hideous neglect which characterises our frontier +defences, and strenuously assert the probability of Boer invasion into +those districts which superimpose themselves upon the borders of the +Transvaal and Orange Free State Republics, and which, possessing +values of their own, can be held as hostages against the slings and +arrows of an outrageous fortune elsewhere. + +It is the duty of the Crown at the present juncture to bear this +contingency in mind, to confront it with the determined resolution to +repair the negligence of the past at once and at all costs, and to +allow neither the opinion of the Bond Ministry, nor the ignorance of +the existing military advisers to the Governor, to persuade the +Executive from adopting the only course which remains to us, which is +to push men and materials of war to the border with the least possible +delay. If we do not take these steps now it will be too late in a +little time, and the course of the war must necessarily be the more +protracted. There are many who would have us delay lest our premature +acts should expedite the despatch of the ultimatum, and we should lose +the opportunity, which the next few days will give to us, of receiving +delivery of the troops who are already upon the water. But the +presence of these men means little and forebodes, in reality, a slight +accentuation of the gravity of the actual situation. It is with the +forces that we can control at this moment that we must count, and it +is with them that we must deal. It does not suffice to have +parade-ground drills in Cape Town as a preliminary flourish; we should +at least show ourselves as ready as the Boers be willing. This of +course we cannot do, since, with a handful of exceptions, we have not +a modern piece of artillery in the country. Moreover we do not quite +know what armaments the Transvaal Government possess; it is with a +pretty display of pretence that we conceal the nakedness of our +borders and bolster up the situation. There is Kimberley, +Ramathlabama, and Buluwayo--what _is_ to happen upon the western +frontier?--and although it be doubtful if the Boers would pierce the +Rhodesian border and seize Buluwayo, it is not too much to expect that +if they should inaugurate any movement into the Colony from the Orange +Free State, even if their activity only should assume the shape of a +demonstration against Kimberley, that this southern advance would +receive sympathetic co-operation from a parallel movement in a +northerly direction by which they might temporarily secure possession +of our line of communication and menace Buluwayo by encroaching upon +Rhodesia. + +Then there is the position of Natal, which must be more or less +hampered by the war in the Transvaal if it does not become actually +and potentially concerned. That Natal will play an important _role_ is +elaborately evident from the Boer patrols who, even now, are reported +to be in possession of all strategical points in the mountains, and +who are also said to be busily engaged in fortifying the rocky +fastnesses of the Drakensburg Mountains, and to dominate Laing's Nek +tunnel as well as the line of railway which curvets through the chain, +by having emplaced some heavy ordnance upon prominent and immediate +commanding slopes. It would seem as though Natal may play a part, so +distinctive and so vitally important in its own history as a colonial +dependency, that the prospect of the war there may become a campaign +in itself, and one which will be almost detached and isolated from the +movements in the Orange Free State and Transvaal, where I have reason +to believe there is some intention of formulating, what may be +regarded as a dual campaign, which will avoid all invasion of the +Transvaal territory until the Orange Free State has been completely +pacified and the lines of communication effectively and securely held. +In support of this scheme it is generally conceded that it will be +impossible to carry war into the Transvaal until every provision has +been made against the risk of local rising in the areas of the Orange +Free State, and thus endangering our lines of communication, as well +as our flanks. + +These, then, are the signs of the day, and in such signs do we read +something of the terrible struggle upon which we are so soon to be +engaged, and in appreciation of which, local opinion is in such marked +contrast--I almost wrote conflict--with the opinion and views of the +special service officers from India and England. To whom, then, +belongs the honours of accurate estimation; to the man from home as it +were, or to the man who has passed his life in South Africa and +understands the Dutchman as the mere military interloper can never +hope to understand him? There is, I think, no doubt as to what point +of view be erroneous, and it is because we so persistently ignore the +worth and reliability of the men who are upon the spot, that we shall +have the falsity of our intelligence some day brought home to us by +the tidings of a terrible disaster. South Africa is already the grave +of too many fine reputations; but let us, at least, hope that we shall +not add to the disgrace of the private individual any loss of national +prestige. The wind soughs ominously just now, however, while there is +a note in it which I do not like, and which I cannot understand. At +the Castle they talk airily of being home by Christmas! If they be +sailing within twelve months they will be lucky, and at Government +House Sir Alfred Milner is beset with the difficulties of his very +onerous position. For the moment he takes--I am glad to be able to say +it, since I would have him upon the side of sound common sense--a +somewhat depressed view of the general outlook. Kimberley and +Ramathlabama were his especial concerns when I called there to-day, +insomuch that they extend an especial invitation to the mobility of a +Boer commando, while it is quite beyond his powers to save them from +their fate. It seemed to me that he despairs of these towns in +particular, but I will withhold his remarks upon them until I myself +have been there. Yet it may be taken as granted that, should Sir +Alfred Milner be concerned for their immediate and eventual safety, +the gravity of their situation is extreme, pointing even to the +closeness of the danger which would arise from a Boer invasion into +those areas. + +But in this hurried letter I am dealing with the colony, and +singularly enough we have to consider how our colonists will behave, +what may be their attitude, and how near are we to rebellion? It is of +course an all-important question, and one which, in relation to a +British colony, is untoward. If I were asked to localise the possible +area of revolt I should decline, since the question be so serious and +infringes so much upon the life and existence--the central forces--of +the colony that it would be difficult, definitely and evenly, to +demarcate any zone of loyalty, as opposed to any area of disaffection, +without unduly trespassing upon the sentiments of less favoured +districts. But I do think that the possibilities of this question are +enormous, emanating as it does from the life teachings and doctrines +of the people of the country, and however much we try to draw a line +between what constitutes due loyalty and what infringes the spirit as +well as the letter of the individual's allegiance, we must +unconsciously perpetrate much injustice either upon the one or upon +the other side of the question, which, owing to the dualistic +temperament and inclinations of no small majority of the people, it is +impossible to avoid, and which will have to be endured by individuals, +loyal or disloyal, as their penalty. The spirit of the Dutch pioneers +still impregnates much of Cape Colony; its presence south of the +Orange Free State and in the actual territory of the colony receiving +direct support and sympathy by the increasing numbers of the Dutch +population in these African Republics; an increase which, being +unrestricted in its development, has spread far and wide until it has +created a partial exodus from the recognised centres of Dutch +influence and Dutch population into those areas from which the traces +of the earliest Dutch occupation were rapidly vanishing--if they have +not altogether disappeared--and which has been the medium of +resuscitating a feeling of sympathy and clanship which, augmented by +still closer ties of commerce, has promoted the functions of matrimony +and friendship and gradually released a current of feeling throughout +the district which was avowedly Dutch, and, equally avowedly, in +silent and semi-subdued opposition to the instincts and ideals of the +Anglo-Saxon colonist. And it is against the rapid spread of this +feeling which we have to contend, much as we must guard against the +conversion of these prejudices into tacit support and effective +co-operation with the armed burghers of the sister Republics should +their arms secure any initial successes. With this danger in our +midst, in itself an almost insurmountable obstacle, no precaution +which could render the safety of these districts the less precarious +should be omitted; and to effect this--and it is quite essential to +our temporal salvation--men and materials of war should be in +readiness to forestall, or, at least, to circumvent, the consummation +of the Boer operations. If we can accomplish even so little, it maybe +possible to prevent the no small proportion of the colonists +discharging their obligations to the Crown by combining with the Boer +forces. To this end our efforts will have to be seriously directed, +and the sooner this simple fact is realised by the authorities in +South Africa as in London, the more convincing will the scope and +measures of our policy become. At present it is chimerical, and we +hesitate. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +ON THE ORANGE FREE STATE BORDER + + + THE CAMP, DE AAR, + _September 23rd, 1899_. + +Africa was streaming past the dusty windows of the railway carriage, +presenting an endless spectacle of flat, depressed-looking country, +with here and there a hut, here and there a native. I am in the +earliest stages of a journey which should lead to Ramathlabama, and +the command of Colonel Baden-Powell. Slowly and with much effort the +train drags itself along; the road is steep, the carriages hot and +uncomfortable, and there is nothing to attract attention, nothing to +fill the emptiness of the mind. I slept at intervals, to awaken at +some roadside station where fussy people were struggling to eat too +much in too short a space of time. There, for a moment, was the +scamper of bustling, hurrying passengers, who pushed and menaced one +another in a thirsty rush to the refreshment room; with a cloud of +officers, orderlies, and troopers I stood apart, listless, bored, and +travel-stained, feebly interested, more feebly talking in disconnected +phrases, until, with shrill blasts of his whistle, the guard signalled +the departure of the train. Then off again, the jerking, swaying +flight of eighteen miles an hour--the rumbling monotony of express +speed which was conducive to drowsiness and nothing more. The +landscape faded in the distance, a raucous voice sang of 'Ome, while, +in a monotonous buzz of nothingness, I slept again. + +The train was slowly thrusting itself forward as, with much panting +and purring and some screaming, it cut the borders of the Great Karoo. +Slowly the wheels clenched the metals as the waggons rocked in a +lullaby of motion, and the passengers were fanned with draughts of +scented air. The Great Karoo, lying in the shades of evening, +hearkening to the secret calling of mysterious voices, heeding not the +ravages of time, wearing majestically the massive dignity of its +grandeur, threw back its barriers of resistance to our intrusion and +delighting our senses with ever-changing and oft-recurring glimpses of +its beauty. But the picture faded with the passing of the train, the +golden and crimson delights of the overgrowing flowers gave place to a +soulless expanse destitute of beauty. + +I stopped at De Aar, which is the junction where the Orange Free State +and Transvaal lines connect with the Cape Colony system. At De Aar I +was anxious to observe the press of traffic. From Cape Town for +Kimberley, Borderside, Fourteen Streams, and Mafeking, truck loads of +horses and mules, waggon loads of general military stores were passing +northwards to the front. In the interval, there were Imperial troops +and men of the Cape Mounted Police. Indeed, the scene upon the +platform was animated by martial spirit. If the train from the south +was loaded with war material, the trains from the two Republics were +packed with fugitives, among whom were many men who, in the hour of +necessity, will, it is to be hoped, consider flight as the least +satisfactory means of procedure. However, no goods are going through +to the two Republics from Cape Colony, unless Mr. Schreiner has passed +more ammunition over the Cape lines to the Transvaal. But things are +working more satisfactorily down in Cape Town since it became known +that the Cabinet would be discharged by the Governor, unless----and to +a discerning politician of the Bond, whose income depends upon his +salary from the House, a blank conveys many wholesome home truths. + +Travelling, even with the variety of emotion which the Karoo excites, +is no great comfort in South Africa. One lives in an atmosphere of +dust and Keating's. If the trains go no faster to Cairo when the rails +be through, than they do to Buluwayo, the steamers will still retain +the monopoly of passenger traffic. It takes a "week of Sundays" to +reach railhead at Buluwayo, but there is some small consideration in +the fact that such a journey has been made. It will become a feature +in our Sabbatarian domesticity some day, and among railway journeys at +the present time it is unique. Where else do express trains arrive +several hours in advance of their scheduled time? Where else do goods +trains arrive several days late? These are but the manifold and +maddening perplexities of railway travelling in Africa. Yet if one +kicks against the uncertainties of the desert service, there is sure +to be an Eliphaz somewhere upon the train, whose philosophy being +greater than his hurry, recognises that the element of expedition, +when his train does arrive, is greater than the prospect of moving at +all where no train comes. Time passes somehow on these journeys, and +the chance prospect of obtaining a good meal, when one is dead certain +to get a bad one, is enlivening. If it were not for such trifles, the +journey would have no interest. To look forward to luncheon and an +afternoon nap, to anticipate dinner and then digest it, makes the day +run with pleasant monotony into the night. And night is worth the +inspection. The beds in the train are comfortable enough, but the +night is vested with misty beauty, and its fascination woos the +traveller from his rest. There is the roar of the engine, the rumble +of the carriages, the buzz of insects, and the faint rustle of the +night wind over the plains. Then, looking into the night, one falls +asleep, tired and stunned by the spectacle of the never-ending desert. +But, in the morning there comes a change. The stretches of the Karoo +are past, and breakfast at De Aar is in sight. + +At De Aar--a sea of tents with here and there a man--there begins the +outward and visible signs of preparation against the necessities of +the coming struggle. There are men and arms at De Aar and munitions of +war, comprising the Yorkshire regiment, a wing of the King's Own Light +Infantry under Major Hunt, and a section of the Seventh Field Company +of Engineers under Lieutenant Wilson; but their numbers are +impossible, much as their supplies be limited and seriously +insufficient; and, as a consequence, I must not talk much about the +interior linings of the British camp which has sprung up at De Aar, +and which, within a few days of what must be the turning point of the +present crisis, is so little able to cope with the exigencies of the +situation. It is a protective measure, this little camp at the +junction of the divergence in the railway system of the colony, placed +in its present situation to guarantee the safety of the permanent way, +and to ensure a modicum of safety to the traffic which is crowding +north over the points at the meeting of the rails. It is a gorgeous +piece of impudence; this minute establishment of British soldiers, and +if it be impressed with the might and majesty of our Imperial Empire, +it is also beset with the innumerable difficulties and trials which +attend an isolated State. + +We are guarding the lines of communication between De Aar Junction and +Norvals Pont, the bridge across the Orange River which unites the +territory of the Orange Free State with the land of the Colony, +between De Aar and the Camp at Orange River, between De Aar and many +miles to the south in the direction of Cape Town. I believe that the +practical influence of this particular unit extends so far south as +Beaufort West, where the custody and patrol of the line is handed over +to the care of the railway authorities, whose men are detailed to the +all-important duty of guarding the culverts and bridges of the system. +The greatest menace to our weakness in the present situation springs +from the vast lines of communication over which we must watch and +which, although lying well within our own borders, are endangered +through the contributary sympathy of the Dutch who, resident and +settled within our own Colony, and boasting some sort of idle +observance of the obligations entailed upon them by such residence, +have seldom by word, and not at all in spirit, forsworn their entire +and cheerful assistance to the cause of the Transvaal. In any other +campaign these fatigues would be unnecessary, and the services of the +innumerable small detachments delegated to the duty would be released +for more active work, but with this war the safe maintenance of our +lines of communication will become a problem of most vital concern, +and will be necessarily imbued with absorbing interest. Moreover, +whatever the nature of the scheme for efficiently guarding these lines +may be, due attention must be paid and every consideration given to +the superior mobility of the Boer forces to that of our own troops, an +advantage which will increase their facilities and chances of success +should they exert themselves to harass any particular section of our +inordinately long lines of communication. + +With the formation of a camp at De Aar, the trend which our campaign +may assume becomes more definite. De Aar is but a little removed from +Norvals Pont, an important bridge into the Orange Free State, which it +is proposed to protect from the immediate base of the troops at De +Aar, or to hold altogether from an ultimate base in the same direction +at Colesberg. I propose to visit there before the next mail departs, +since it be rumoured here that the town of Colesberg has been left +entirely undefended by the military authorities, and that the end of +the bridge, remote from this border and within the limits of the +Orange Free State, is in the hands of an armed patrol from that +Republic. When these things happen, and De Aar becomes the centre of a +big base camp, the position will constitute another link in the chain +of towns which are to be occupied by the Imperial forces along the +western and southern borders of the Orange Free State, and whose +occupation, should the troops arrive in time thus to execute the +initiative, indicates our probable line of advance to be from a +number of points, so that General Joubert will be unable to +concentrate his troops before any one force. Upon our side, also, +those frontier detachments that may be in occupation of the towns, +will harass Transvaal and Free State borderside, suppress any rising +within our own border areas, and be entirely subsidiary to the main +columns, which will be simultaneously thrown forward from these three +or four special points on the same extreme line of progression. + +Moreover, this plan of operations accentuates the detached and +especial character of the Natal Field Force, restraining them to +service in that colony, and restricting their activities to that +sphere. These troops will occupy Laing's Nek, the ten thousand men +already assembled in that Colony being reinforced before hostilities +are declared, until the Field Service footing of the Natal Field Force +will equal that of an army corps. The critical points in the present +situation are the western and eastern borders of the Transvaal, where +the young bloods from the backwoods are mostly gathered, and in their +present state eminently calculated to force the hand of Oom Paul into +an impromptu declaration of belligerency. The movements of the Natal +forces will be confined for the moment to holding Laing's Nek, +maintaining communication with the permanent base at Ladysmith and +Pietermaritzburg, and in occupying Dundee, Colenso, and all such towns +as fall within the limits of its exterior lines. + +From De Aar a division will support the left flank of the advance of +the First Army Corps, divided, for purposes of more speedy +concentration upon its ultimate base, into two divisions, which will +reunite at Burghersdorp, _via_ the railways, to Middelburg and +Stormberg Junction from their immediate bases of disembarkation at +Port Elizabeth and East London. The total force will then advance in +exterior lines upon the Orange Free State, maintaining the railway +system upon their individual western flanks, so far as possible, as +their individual lines of communication. + +While the Second Army Corps supports the situation in Natal, it is +hoped that our forces in the Orange Free State border will either +crush or drive the Boers back upon their ulterior lines towards +Bloemfontein, which, with the assistance of the De Aar flanking column +traversing the watershed of the Modder River in the direction of +Kimberley, and in possible co-operation with a force from that base, +they should be in a position to occupy. The capital will be held by +the De Aar and Kimberley divisions, upon whom will then fall the work +of protecting the lines of communication of the Southern Army Corps as +it advances. + +After supporting De Aar, Kimberley, and the lines of communication +with defensive units, and maintaining a western column by employing +the service of the Mafeking force, the First Army Corps will begin the +move upon Pretoria, in collaboration with the Second (Natal) Army +Corps, the former once again advancing in twin columns from a mutual +base. The western border will probably be held from Kimberley to Fort +Tuli by the forces composing the western column, while a flying column +is to be in readiness lest a wider area be given to the theatre of +war, and it become necessary to cross the Limpopo River. It would +appear, too, that there is also some possibility of a column moving +from Delagoa Bay. By this advance Pretoria becomes the objective of +the campaign after the occupation of the Orange Free State, but this +depends to a great extent upon the policy pursued by General Joubert +and the nature of the Natal operations. If the Boers give way and, +acting upon interior lines, fall back upon Pretoria, as General +Jackson fell back upon Richmond in 1864-1865, the Transvaal capital +will at once become the objective of the British forces advancing upon +exterior lines, the object of the campaign, once the Transvaal has +been invaded, being to force a battle upon the combined forces of the +Boers or to beset Pretoria. It will thus be seen that the theory of +the British advance favours the concentration of troops upon the +Transvaal and Orange Free State frontiers so that the Boer forces may +be dislocated, retaining the railways and their lines of communication +and, leaving the actual protection and pacification of the frontier to +the local mounted police and to the special service corps assisted by +a few detachments of Imperial troops, while no progressive movement +will be made from any one point until the exterior line, upon which +the entire advance will be conducted, has been thoroughly established. +For the nonce extraordinary precautions are being taken to conceal the +movements of troops, and I have withheld from publication at this +moment much which could be given in support of the lines by which I +have suggested our advance will be governed. This plan of campaign +reads very prettily, but it seems to me, that we are making no +allowances for possible disasters, for possible defeats, for +unavoidable delays, which, should they occur, will hamper the mobility +of our advance and restrict the celerity of our movements to a great +and most serious extent. Despite the fact that the massing of troops +at the selected points between De Aar and Mafeking, between Cape Town, +Port Elizabeth, East London, and the ultimate and interested bases +will proceed almost immediately, the successful evolution of our +plans, the wisdom or foolishness of which are so soon to be put to the +test, demands much greater forces than are calculated to be available +during the next few weeks. At present, and until the latter days of +October, the combined strengths of the Regular and Irregular forces in +South Africa will not equal twenty thousand men, and yet we are +dabbling with and making preparations against a plan of campaign which +requisitions two Army Corps at least, and will probably require the +services of not less than one hundred thousand men. I dread to think +of what may happen if war should come within a few days, but we can do +nothing but face what is a most intolerable position, and one which +most easily might have been avoided. The outlook in the absence of +efficient men and stores is indeed disheartening. + +Since I arrived upon the Orange Free State border I have omitted no +opportunity to discuss with the Boers the question of the war. A +friendly Boer, hailing from Utrecht, suggested the probable direction +which the Boer plans, so far as they concerned Natal, might assume, +and while they appear to be feasible, they reveal how curiously +predominant among them is the idea that their arms will again defeat +the British troops. The Transvaal Boers from Vryheid and Utrecht +propose to attempt raids upon Natal and Zululand as the preliminaries +to a rush upon Maritzburg and the southern district of Natal, by +Weenen and Umvoti; Orange Free State Boers from the border areas will +harass our soldiers as they move towards Laing's Nek, and, thus +drawing the attention of the British troops, the road will be clear +for those marching south on their attack upon the capital of Natal. +All approaches to Laing's Nek upon the Dutch side of the border, +already alien, have been fortified, fourteen guns being actually in +position at the more important points. The British troops soon after +leaving Ladysmith will have the Transvaal Boers on one side, the Free +State Boers upon the other, and long before the Imperial troops can +occupy the extreme border a commando of Boers from Wakkerstroom will +have concentrated upon it. In the opinion of the Boers the effective +occupation of Laing's Nek by either force will decide the war. The +Boers all seem convinced that they can sweep the British forces from +South Africa. The procedure of a campaign which finds much favour in +their eyes includes the rising of the Swazis, the Zulus and the +Basutos, who will be permitted to devastate Natal and as much of the +south as they can penetrate, and whom they claim will be easily +stirred against the Rooineks. The Boers will then feint with a small +force upon the centre of our military occupation, while their entire +army marches down upon Port Elizabeth, East London, or Cape Town, or +proceeds by railway if they can secure the lines. They will hold open +no lines of communication, because by that time Imperial arms will +have been defeated, and it will only remain for President Kruger to +dictate peace from Cape Town. + +This is actually the opinion of a Boer who administers for the +Transvaal Government an important district, and who is under orders to +proceed to the Natal border without loss of time. Surely he must be +consumed with delusion and impotent fanaticism; nevertheless, educated +Boers from the border side and living in the Cape Colony, who have +come to the camp to invite the officers to a cricket match or some +buck shooting, have all expressed this view. At present I have not +met the Boer who can conceive the defeat of his own countrymen, while +both Imperial and Republican Governments count upon the assistance of +the natives. Upon the other hand, however, I am informed that there +are many Boers who do not wish to fight, since they recognise the +futility of any effort which they can direct against British troops; +but, at the same time, should they be called out upon commando, there +is no fear of their declining to obey, while, so far as my inquiries +go, they have failed to elicit anything which would show the Boers to +be moved by any view so eminently sound as this would be. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +BRICKS OF STRAW + + + THE CAMP, ORANGE RIVER, + _September 26th, 1899_. + +Soldiers and sand--clouds of sand whirring and eddying through the +air, drifting through closed windows, piling in swift-mounting heaps +against barred doors. That is the camp here, stretching upon both +sides of the railway line in orderly rows, flanked upon either +extremity by a ragged outspan of waggons, empty to-day but soon +creating work for numerous fatigue parties when the orders come to +push forward the supplies. At present it is only a small cluster of +tents, many more tents than men--this to confuse the friendly Boers +who, visiting the railway station refreshment bar for the purposes of +espionage, stop to drink in an effort to gauge the strength of the +camp by counting the ranks of dirty white tents which flap and quiver +in the breezes. Such an impossible little camp, but so impressed with +the true spirit. + +Colonel Kincaid, R.E., commands at Orange River, and his force +comprises a few companies of the Loyal Lancashire Regiment, a troop or +two of the Cape Police District II., sections of the Field Company of +Engineers, a composite field battery and a few stores--but a general +numerical insufficiency of men and munitions. Major Jackson, with +Major Coleridge, commands the companies of the Loyal Lancashires that +were detailed with him from Kimberley, where his regiment lies, for +duty at this camp. Surgeon-Major O'Shanahan takes care of the field +hospital which has been attached to the camp, and Captain Mills, R.A., +controls the artillery. It is a happy family, this British camp in +which the necessity for hard work is understood and the members of +whose circle willingly endure the difficulties and privations of their +situation. From the ends of the earth they have come together to be +dumped down upon the Orange River flats, where for many days they will +remain an important unit in the scheme of preparation, but one which +stands alone and aside from the general hurry and scurry of our +belated movements. There is a bridge across the Orange River at this +point, and it is the duty of protecting it and guaranteeing it from +the attentions of the Boers, guarding its approaches by cunningly +contrived gun emplacements and enveloping its definite security in a +network of defensive measures, which is, for the time, the sole +objective of the various officers and detachments that compose Colonel +Kincaid's command. + +The conformation of the country abutting upon Orange River presents +those composite peculiarities of construction which contribute more +generally to the setting of the high veldt. Orange River is broken by +hills and river-beds, dry courses with rock-strewn banks, patches of +sand, sparsely grassed and destitute of bushes. The land to the west +rolls smoothly to the watershed of the river, breaking into bush and +short rises about the banks of the stream. The water clatters among +stones and rocks to the north-west, leaving to the south-west and due +west the same barren open sand flats. Upon the east there is a slight +contrast to the evenness of the pastureless country which meets the +sunset; but the fall of the land due south, south-east, south-west, is +unchanging, the compass shifting due east and north-east before the +abrupt and rugged lines of the country are exposed. Then, and then +only, does the face of the country reveal its uncouth and +uncomfortable character. East, whence the waters stream beneath the +railway bridge, the watershed is herring-backed, concealing, beneath +rough folds of rising ground, stretches of bush veldt and stony +patches. High ridges debouch at right angles to the stream, with +uncertain contours and abrupt declivities; detached kopjes rise from +upon the face of the country, claiming classification with the ages +around them, but standing aloof with forbidding mien--a formidable +menace to the chance of successful storming. Parallel hills and ridges +distinguish the hinterland of this watershed so far inland as the +areas of the Orange Free State, while the broken and dangerous +character of the country east-north-east, continuing until the +watershed of the Modder River, still further prolongates these +disturbing features. The valley of the river, within a mile from the +stretch of flats which rolls away from the bases of the hills, +converges until the sides lie within a few hundred yards of each +other. There the stream rushes and roars with some force, until the +wider reaches of the plain give to the pent-up waters a greater space +of revolt. From the mouth of the valley the river wanders with easy +indifference across a broader course to the west; gathering its volume +from the seasons, and leaving in the hot weather a margin of shining +stones upon both sides of the river bed. The hills are in pleasant +contrast to the even tenour of the veldt, and the cool waters of the +river invite repose. Small game lurk within the cover of the scrub, +mountain duck haunt the mountain cataract; cattle roam across the +land, snatching mouthfuls of dry herbage, while just now the sides of +the hills throw back the echo of the military occupation, the noises +of the camp, the calls of the horses upon the picket lines, the heavy +thudding of the picks, the shrill rasping of the shovels in the places +where the men are throwing up the necessary field works. + +Everywhere is the spectacle of orderly bustle. The summits of the +hills are crowned with earthworks, brown lines of trenches traverse +the valley, block houses command the entrances of the bridge. These +are the signs of the times, encompassed in an unremitting rapidity of +execution. Colonel Kincaid rides from point to point, throwing advice +here, praise there, and expressing general satisfaction over the +labours of his men, as the scheme of defences runs to its conclusion. +Out across the plain, upon Reservoir Hill, the sappers are +constructing an entrenched position under the direction of Captain +Mills, R.A., and especially designed to protect the water supply. +Roads have been cut across the rear face of the hill, a breastwork of +stones and earth encircles the Reservoir, and gun emplacements flank +either extremity. It is a pretty work, carefully conceived, skilfully +constructed, commanding the portion of the camp, and sweeping the +approaches to the bridge. From the top of Reservoir Hill, no great +eminence, the surrounding country is easily inspected, and the more +one scans and studies the peculiarities of its formation, the more +one becomes impressed with the fact that it presents the gravest +obstacles to the British principles of military operations. A +well-equipped and mobile force will hold the hills for eternity--but +God help the troops who are launched against these awful kopjes which +create the strength of such positions. The officers commanding these +detached units along this border have received instructions to prepare +extensive lines of fortifications round their bases, and at De Aar, as +at Orange River and elsewhere, these commands have been complied with, +until now the positions need only the service of some good artillery +to be made impregnable. When cables be at the disposal of a possible +enemy, it is as well to be reticent upon the cardinal weaknesses +within our lines, but already there are signs of the extreme haste +with which the troops have been despatched to the front. No unit would +appear to be complete, despite the months of warning in which there +has been ample opportunity to prepare. Everything is rushed through at +the last, and although urgent orders be issued to make ready against +attack, no artillery is available for the purpose. Everything is +obscured in idle talk or deferred by empty promise, and the +authorities appear to be continuing a policy which gives to the Boers +some justification of their hopes of success. The Imperial +authorities, in relying so much upon the moral effect of their +artillery, appear to forget that the better it is, the more important +the results it achieves; the more important the position to be +defended, the better it should be. The Boers lose nothing by +possessing modern weapons of defence. But with a wing only of the +King's Own Light Infantry to occupy De Aar, and four companies of the +Loyal Lancashires to hold Orange River, the need of strong artillery +support is manifest. It has been laid down that the proportion of guns +to men is as near as possible three guns to one thousand men, but this +proportion must depend upon the nature of the service upon which the +force is to be employed, the topography of the theatre of war and the +quality of the troops. A force intended more for the occupation of +strong positions, must have a larger proportion of guns than an army +intended for offensive operations in the field. De Aar, as one base of +operations toward the lines of least resistance to the western, +southern, and south-eastern approaches to the Orange Free State, is +even more important than our position at Orange River, which is +intended, in the event of any campaign, to protect the railway bridge +and the lines of communication with the north. But at De Aar the lines +of railway, which converge upon it, link Pretoria and Bloemfontein to +Cape Town, connect the north with the south, join Cape Town with the +south and south-east by a stretch of line almost parallel with the +southern border of the Orange Free State. Yet, so dilatory have been +the efforts of headquarters to obtain the necessary artillery, that, +having reduced South Africa to a condition of war, they split up +between De Aar, Orange River, and other defenceless, but important, +strategic positions along the western border, improvised field +batteries drawn from any garrison lumber room which came handy. + +The artillery at present upon this border is, as a consequence, the +seven-pound muzzle-loader which was obsolete when the passing +generation of officers were at the "shop." The inadequacy of the +artillery is a matter of the gravest concern, since, even if the +troops at these places be sufficient to police the disaffected areas, +and to hold in check the local disposition to rebel, in face of the +weapons of precision with which the Boer forces be armed, it would be +impossible, should they move forward, for the British artillery to +maintain any position which was incumbent upon the possession of good +artillery. So well is this realised by our Intelligence Department, +that elaborate precautions are taken by that Bureau, as well as all +commanding officers, to prevent the enemy from discovering that, in +its main part, the strength of the batteries in opposition has been +drawn from derelicts in the garrison stores. These improvised field +batteries might be of service in maintaining the line of communication +if any advance of British troops be made, but as an actual factor in +any defensive or offensive movements which the forces may undertake, +their restricted utility escapes all serious consideration, and puts +our present artillery almost at once out of action. The physical +configuration of the country urgently calls for the immediate despatch +of modern weapons, similar to those which the Sirdar used in his +Soudan campaign. In addition to this an exchange, piece by piece, +between these seven-pounder muzzle-loading monstrosities and the +converted twelve-pounders, breech-loaders and high-velocity quick +firers, might be seasonably effected. Five-inch howitzers, too, should +also be sent forward. But the lack of reliable artillery is +scandalous, and the sooner that guns, of a calibre which is in a true +proportion to the importance of the positions which they will command, +arrive upon the scene, the less uncertain will be the results of any +actual contact between our forces in their present deplorable +condition and those of the African Republics with whom we are so soon +to be at war. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +DIAMONDS AND WHITE FEATHERS + + + THE CAMP, KIMBERLEY, + _September 28th, 1899_. + +This usually dull and dirty mining station has now been occupied by a +small detachment of British troops. The force arrived here from the +camp at Orange River within the week, and include the 1st Loyal North +Lancashire, with its usual complement of machine guns, No. 1 Section +of the 7th Field Company of Royal Engineers, 23rd Company of Garrison +Artillery with 2.5 seven-pound muzzle-loaders on mountain carriages +(which are almost useless and certainly obsolete weapons), an +organised Army Medical Staff, and a transport most indifferently +equipped if it be intended for immediate and prolonged field service. +Yet it is claimed that nothing has been omitted which could make this +force an imposing factor in the chance of attack to which, from its +exposed situation, the hapless Kimberley is threatened. The Loyal +Lancashire Regiment is in full strength, but the battalions have been +divided between the positions here and the camp just south of the +Orange River. It is, of course, doubtful whether much be gained by +splitting up our forces along the border into small units, but at the +present juncture, when so few troops be in the colony, this policy is +receiving its own justification. We are all urgently hoping for the +arrival of troops, since if there were a general advance of the Dutch +troops, a contingency not by any means altogether remote, upon any one +of these well-defined but indifferently manned places, the task of +maintaining the advanced lines would be a severe strain upon the +efforts of the very limited number of men that are available at each +point. It is surely only within the limits of the British Empire that +a frontier line over 1,500 miles in extent would be kept absolutely +without any defensive measures; while it is Boer activity during the +past few weeks that has induced the Colonial authorities to adopt +their present precautions. Our troops are now more or less efficiently +prepared at certain points along this Western boundary, and, if no +order has yet come for their mobilisation, the steps necessary to +effect it have all been completed. At Kimberley, in the few days which +have elapsed, wonders in the preparation of the town's defences have +been worked, and the alarm which caused so much panic there before the +arrival of the soldiers has now, in part, subsided. + +For many hours before the arrival of the troops at Kimberley crowds of +interested spectators besieged the railway station and thronged the +dusty thoroughfares of the town. The Imperial men detrained very +smartly to the sound of the bugle, off-loading the guns and ammunition +to the plaudits and delights of an admiring crowd. The actual +detraining took place at the Beaconsfield siding, two miles from +Kimberley, the men not making their camp in the town until the next +morning. For the time the transport was stored in the goods sheds, +and the troops arranged to bivouac beside the railway. The traffic +manager had prepared fires and boiling water before the men came, so +that soon after their arrival they were all served with dinner. The +detailing of guards, posting of sentries, and other evolutions +incidental to open camp, permitted Kimberley to indulge its taste for +military pomp and vanities. Imperial troops have not been here since +two squadrons of the 11th Hussars passed through from Mashonaland in +November, 1890, and the presence of the troops has inspired the +townfolk with a magnificent appreciation of the gallant men who have +come up for their protection. It is hoped that special means will be +taken to interest the troops in the few hours which they have free +from work. At present all attention is being devoted to the +construction of the defences of the town, to the formation of adequate +volunteer assistance, to the arrangement of a complete system of alarm +and rallying spots. Lieut.-Colonel Kekewich, in command of the +Imperial camp here, is anxious to assist the people in rifle practice +and field-firing; while the Diamond Fields Artillery and the De Beers +Artillery are to be called out for temporary service in conjunction +with the Imperial Artillery. + +The rumour that a Boer force is within the vicinity of Kimberley has +done much to assist in the speedy formation of local forces, and now +that the train mules and private bullock teams have been requisitioned +for the Imperial service, there is much solemn speculation upon the +date of hostilities. The fact is that no one here can, with any +certainty, predict an hour. A shot anywhere will set the borderside +aflame. Moreover, the Boers are daily growing more impudent. At +Borderside, where the frontiers are barely eighty yards apart, a field +cornet and his men, who are patrolling their side of the line, greet +the pickets of the Cape Police who are stationed there with exulting +menaces and much display of rifles. But if the Dutch be thirsting in +this fashion for our blood, people at home can rest confident in the +fact that there will be no holding back upon the part of our men once +the fun begins. Seldom has such a determined and ferocious spirit +animated any British force as that one which is now stimulating the +troops in South Africa. Every man is sick of the Cabinet's delay, but +they find consolation in the fact that the slow movement of the +Ministerial machine is undertaken to avoid any precipitation of the +crisis before the forces to be engaged have arrived upon the scene. +Then it is every man's ambition to take his own share in "whopping" +Kruger. + +I did not hurry to leave Kimberley; but the place where the diamonds +come from, the least admirable of any town on earth, is no longer +essential to my existence. It has neither charm nor elegance, and it +is sufficiently irregular in its construction to be the most barbarous +example of architecture in South Africa. It greets the traveller +enveloped in the haze of heat, and it bids him farewell through a +cloud of sand. But if one has once imagined what the appearance of the +mining town may be, let him give it a wide berth. It is a conglomerate +jumble of tin houses with dusty streets dedicated to modern industry, +and palpitating with the mere mechanical energy of native labour. + +[Illustration: Major Lord Edward Cecil, C.S.O.] + +Kimberley, however, was a convenient immediate base between Orange +River and Mafeking. Around these two places rumour was spreading a +well-woven net of probabilities, intimate yet inherently +impossible. War, bloody and fierce, was alternately looming large in +the horizon just above their situations, so for the moment I tarried, +watching the approach of impending battle from afar off. It was a fine +feeling, the constant thrill caused by the mere vividness of martial +rumours. They came from Buluwayo in the North, they came from Cape +Town in the South, they were brought daily from Bloemfontein; and if +they gave infinite zest to the passing hours, it was but the +happenings of the hour that they were doomed to be misbelieved. To +listen to the gossip and rumours of Headquarters at once became the +most serious interest which our life contained just now. Spies are +seen everywhere. Within the shade of every shadow there is said to +lurk a Boer secret service agent, and, as a consequence, the attitude +of the public is one in which each figuratively lays a grimy finger to +his nose and breathes blasphemies in whispers to his confiding friend. +The spy mania which swept through France but a few weeks ago has +appeared here, endowed with magnificent vitality. At Mafeking it has +dominated both the military and the public, and, as an illustration, I +append the official notice, on page 46, in which many of these gentry +are warned from the town by Lord Edward Cecil, Chief Staff Officer to +Colonel Baden-Powell. + + NOTICE. + + =SPIES= + + There are in town to-day nine + known spies. They are hereby + warned to leave before 12 noon to-morrow + or they will be apprehended. + + By order, + E. H. CECIL, Major, + C.S.O. + + Mafeking, + + 7th Oct., 1899. + + THE NOTICE TO SPIES ISSUED BY COL. BADEN-POWELL. + +Kimberley has not yet gone so far as this notice, but a similar step +is in serious consideration, and the notice will soon be promulgated. +What with spies, war scares, reports of Boer invasion, and of active +hostilities having commenced, the Western border is living in a seethe +of excitement, and appreciating the crisis with but doubtful +enjoyment, and many signs of such indisputable terror. Kimberley has +called forth its volunteers, who in name are glorious, but in +utility uncertain. The Town Guard, after fortifying itself with much +Dutch courage, has taken unto itself a weapon of precision of which it +knows nothing. Infantry and musketry drill have not existed for the +town of diamonds; they are for the Cape Police, for the Mounted +Rifles, for Imperial troops; but for those who are regular in their +mining, but irregular in their drill, there is none of it. These +heroes shake with terror in private, but they gnash their teeth with +impotent valour in public; at heart they are rank cowards, for the +most part leaving to the few decently spirited the duties of volunteer +defence, and to the soldiery and constabulary the rigours of the +coming battle. + +Nothing perhaps has been so discreditable as the hurried flight of men +from these towns which are within the area of possible hostilities. It +is perhaps different where they belong to the Transvaal, but one would +expect Englishmen, who have seen their womenfolk to places of +security, to proffer such service as could be turned to account in +these hours of emergency. It is an unpleasant fact to reflect upon +that the leaders of the general panic and consequent exodus from these +towns are mostly Britishers. From sheer force of numbers the +white-feathered brigade merits solicitous contempt. + +Such is Kimberley in the passing hour, and as I waited there to see +whether the rumours would crystallise into actualities, the word was +passed round that three commandos of the Boers were concentrating upon +Mafeking. Heavens! how the specials skittled! By horse and on foot, by +cab and cart, they dashed to the station. Lord! and the train had gone +some hours! But, with the instinct of true war-dogs, they fled in +special expresses to the scene where attack was threatened. They might +have crawled from Kimberley to Mafeking on hands and knees, for Boers +may camp and Boers may trek, but war is still afar off. Had we not +travelled in such haste, the journey might have proved of interest, +but impatience made the time speed quickly, and the frontier posts +upon the road went by unnoticed. Just now these frontier stations are +of public interest. At Fourteen Streams, at Borderside, at Vryburg, +Boer commandos have laagered within a few yards of the frontier fence, +and since human nature is ever prone to politeness, it has become the +daily fashion for Boer and Britisher to swear at one another across +the intervening wires. John Bosman, a Borderside notoriety, implicated +in a late rising of the natives against Imperial authority, is in +command of one hundred and fifty "cherubs," as the Boer captain dubs +his gallant band. Matutinal and nocturnal greetings have enabled the +two forces to become acquainted with one another, and it is held to be +a sporting thing for men, from either force, to invade each other's +territory, inviting blasphemies and creating some excitement, since at +Borderside the friendly relations between the two countries be +altogether gainsaid. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +TWO DAYS BEFORE WAR + + + THE CAMP, MAFEKING, + _October 9th, 1899_. + +Mafeking lies a day's journey by the train from Vryburg, and was once +the terminus of the Cape railway system pending its extension +northwards. Just now it is the embodiment of a fine Imperialism. There +is the dignity of empire in the shape of her Majesty's Imperial +Commissioner, Major Gould Adams, C.B., C.M.G.; the majesty of might, +as suggested by Colonel Baden-Powell, of the Frontier Force; by +Colonel Hore, of the Protectorate Regiment; by Colonel Walford, of the +British South Africa Police; by Colonel Vyvyan, base commandant; and +there are, too, the various strengths attached to the respective +commands. For weeks this little place has been terrorised by Boer +threats, until the presence of the military has reassured them. Now, +however, the veldt beyond the town has been effectively occupied by +the different commands, while within the town, or beyond its outer +walls, noise and bustle everywhere embody the grim reality of war. It +has not been possible to visit the different camps, in time for this +mail, since the exigencies of war have interfered with the dispatch +of the English letters from the more remote districts, and until the +country is more settled the night train service is altogether +discontinued. This week's mail is two days in advance of its usual +fixture; but perhaps we are fortunate, since the mail coach to +Johannesburg has discontinued running, its last journey from Mafeking +being confined to taking back to the Transvaal the few things which +belonged to it in Mafeking. The supplementary coach was behind, its +harness was stored in sacks upon the top, and thus it made its +departure. It had better have remained at Mafeking, for no sooner had +the coach passed the border-line than its mules were commandeered for +transport by order of the Transvaal Government. + +Mafeking has entered into warlike preparations with commendable zeal, +but in reality men are uncertain whether to face the music or to skip +with their women and children. Ostensibly they wish to bear the brunt +of an attack upon their town, but as time wears on and the numbers of +the Boer force concentrated upon the border increase, the number of +men available for actual volunteer service grows beautifully less. +Mines have been laid down, fortifications thrown up, the volunteers +and local ambulance services have been called out, and an armoured +train patrols the line. The staff officers are everywhere, a crowd of +journalists drifts about smothered beneath a variety of secret +reports. Every one wears a worried look, and still the expected does +not happen. To break the monotony of false alarms, of the sound of +armed feet marching anywhere, of bells by day and rockets by night, of +irresponsible gossips chattering upon subjects they do not understand, +of the plague of locusts thick as fleas on Margate Sands (a plague as +great as the military bore)--there is lacking but one thing--WAR. The +troops want it to prove their efficiency, the journalists demand it to +justify their existence, the countryside approves since it has sent +the price of foodstuffs and of native labour to a premium, the Boers +want it as the first step in that great scheme by which they hope to +reduce London to ashes and sweep the red-vests of Great Britain into +complete oblivion. + +But if the path of glory lies in that direction for the Boer +sharpshooter, Mafeking will present him with a splendid spectacle just +so soon as the curtain rises upon the drama of mortal combat between +Boer and Britisher. It is a straggling town this Mafeking, and covers +an area wider than its dignity demands. But should Commandant Cronje, +who is hovering upon the border at Louw's Farm with 6,000 Boers, come +down, in that spirit of unctuous rectitude which epitomises the +Scripture and so distinguishes the Boers, a bill will be settled by +this little town against the man who, already the hero of many +historical iniquities, baulked Jameson of his raid. + +Upon this point Colonel Baden-Powell's notice to the inhabitants is +instructive:-- + + NOTICE. + + DEFENCE MINES. + + "The inhabitants are warned that mines are being laid at + various points outside the town in connection with the + defences. Their position will be marked, in order to avoid + accidents, by small red flags. + + "Cattle herds and others should be warned accordingly. + + "Mafeking: Dated this 7th day of October, 1899." + +If this throws a sidelight upon the situation here, the second notice +paints in the background with gloomy shadows:-- + + "NOTICE.--It is considered desirable to state to the + inhabitants of Mafeking what is the situation up to date. + + "Forces of armed Boers are now massed upon the Natal and + Bechuanaland Borders. Their orders are not to cross the + border until the British fire a shot, and as this is not + likely to occur, at least for some time, no immediate danger + is to be apprehended. At the same time a rumour of war in + Natal or other false alarm might cause the Boers upon our + border to take action, and it is well to be prepared for + eventualities. + + "It is possible they might attempt to shell the town, and + although every endeavour will be made to provide shelter for + the women and children, yet arrangements could be made with + the railway to move any of them to a place of safety if they + desire to go away from Mafeking, and it is suggested that + some place on the Transvaal border, such as Palapye Siding, + or Francistown, might be more suitable and less expensive + places than the already crowded towns of the colony. The men + would, of course, remain to defend Mafeking, which, with its + present garrison and defences, will be easy to hold. Those + desirous of leaving should inform the Stationmaster, + Mafeking, their number of adults and children, class of + accommodation required, and destination. + + "COLONEL BADEN-POWELL, + "Colonel Commanding Frontier Forces. + "October 7th, Mafeking." + +One turns from this to learn that streets in the town are barricaded, +that the houses are sandbagged, that the railway is patrolled by an +armour-plated train, which is imposing if incapable of much +resistance. It is fitted with Nordenfeldt and Maxim quick-firing +machine guns, and provided with a phonophone and an acetylene +searchlight which stands like a fiery dragon at one end of the car. +The train is in three parts, the engine being placed between two +trucks. Each of the vehicles is about thirty feet long, mounted on +four pairs of wheels, and is capable of holding sixty men. The entire +train is covered over with 3/4-inch steel armour-plate over double +iron rails, but at some recent trial the bullets from Lee-Metfords and +Martinis penetrated at 200 yards' range through all thicknesses of +armour. + +Mafeking is situated upon a rise about three hundred yards north of +the Molopo River, and from time to time its history has been +associated with military enterprises. It is not an unimportant town, +and in that day when it has been connected by railway with the +Transvaal and its present system has been improved, its commercial +importance will receive material increase. The present railway, which +cuts through Mafeking in its journey to Buluwayo, is to the west of +the town, running north and south and crossing the Molopo River by an +iron bridge, at which point the trend of the railroad inclines to the +west. To the west of the railway again is the native stadt, extending +to both sides of the river, and commencing about half a mile from the +railway. The stadt extends to the west from the base of a rise beyond +the bed of the river which, at present, covers the exterior line of +the western outposts. Near the railway the ground slopes gradually for +a considerable distance, while the country around Mafeking is flat in +general, but across the Molopo, to the south and south-east, it +commands the town, while the ground to the west of the stadt commands +the stadt. The native village rests upon this western face, and, owing +to the rough character of the country upon which the stadt lies, this +native town has received the name of "The Place among the Rocks." +About a mile from the town, and slightly east, there is an old fort +called Cannon Kopje, a hideous collection of stones, which is held by +a detachment of the British South Africa Police. It has an interior +diameter of some thirty yards. The native location lies between Cannon +Kopje and the town, on the southern bank of the river. The native +stadt consists of Kaffir huts. Further east, and between the native +location and Cannon Kopje, on the northern bank of the river, extend +the brickfields, while a little further in the same direction is +MacMullan's Farm. Between the farm and the ground to the north-east is +the racecourse and the waterworks, which are connected by a pipe with +The Springs, a natural water-hole to the east of the town. Cannon +Kopje is due south of the town, the cemetery north, the native stadt +west, the racecourse east. Between these points there are a few +buildings which serve as local landmarks. There is the Convent to the +north-east corner, Ellis's Corner south-east, the Pound south-west, +and the British South Africa Police Barracks west. + +[Illustration: Outpost and Entrenchments, Southern Front.] + +The town of Mafeking has been built upon a rock, the centre of the +town being the market square. Buildings extend at all points from the +square, running into the veldt, showing an irregularity of design and +no architectural perfection. The town is principally composed of +bungalows, built of mud-bricks, with roofs of corrugated iron. The +population in time of peace includes some 2,000 whites and some 6,000 +natives. Just now there are perhaps 1,500 whites, 8,000 natives, the +ordinary population of the native village being swelled by the influx +of some native refugees from the Transvaal. The perimeter of the +defences is between five and six miles. The armoured train protects +the north-west front. Between the railway on the north-west and the +Convent, there are some trenches, built with an eye to their future +use. Upon the western and eastern bases of the town there are further +trenches, manned by the Protectorate Regiment, the Town Guard, and +other local volunteer corps. The town was garrisoned by the Cape +Police under Inspector Marsh and Inspector Brown. Colonel Walford held +Cannon Kopje with the British South Africa Police. Colonel Hore +commanded the Protectorate Regiment, which was scattered about the +defences of the town under its squadron officers. The western outposts +were entrusted to Major Godley, while in this direction there were +also the Women's Laager and the Refugee Laager in Hidden Hollow. To +the south-west was Major Godley's headquarters. Below this, and +further to the west, was Captain Marsh's post, upon the other side of +which, along the eastern front of the town, there are many forts in +process of construction. There are De Koch's, Musson's, Ellitson's +Kraal, Early's Corner. These forts will be garrisoned by the Town +Guard, and it is hoped that they will be provided with adequate +protection from the enemy's artillery. The Railway Volunteers +garrisoned the cemetery and controlled an advanced trench about eight +hundred yards to the front. In the meantime, every effort is being +made to press forward the work of constructing the defences, and every +one appears to be willing to assist. The aspect of the town is +gradually changing, and in the little time that is left to us we hope +to ensconce ourselves behind something of an impregnable defence. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE SKIRMISH AT FIVE MILE BANK + + + THE CAMP, MAFEKING, + _October 14th, 1899_. + +Early this morning a mounted patrol under Captain Lord Charles +Bentinck reported the Boers in strong position to the north of the +town, and engaging them at once a general fight ensued. + +Colonel Baden-Powell, upon receiving this information, instructed +Captain Fitzclarence, D Squadron Protectorate Regiment, which is +commanded by Colonel Hore, to cover the right flank of the armoured +train, which had already moved out to support the patrol of A +squadron, and which, under the direction of Captain Williams, British +South Africa Police, drove the Boer artillery from two positions. + +It may be said that this movement began the more serious and certainly +the more determined portion of the engagement. Captain Fitzclarence +was accompanied by seventy men. Upon the termination of the fight he +had twelve wounded, two dead, and two others wounded so seriously that +they since died. The firing-line at no time contained more than two +troops, who, in extended order, and having seized the little cover +which was available, hotly contested the position against four hundred +Boers. Upon the arrival of the squadron under Captain Fitzclarence the +Boers again began to fall back, and withdrawing their right flank from +its propinquity to the armoured train, they projected their entire +force well beyond the right flank of Captain Fitzclarence. The two +forces both in extended order, the one falling back upon the lines of +a position which had been carefully selected and which was admirably +adapted to their methods of fighting, the other pursuing, then +prepared to settle matters between themselves. Had Captain +Fitzclarence but realised it, and had this young officer not been so +intrepid, he would have recognised in this Boer movement the ruse by +which they hoped to entice the "Red necks" within range of a position +from which they could be more effectually surrounded. The motive in +their movement to the rear was to secure the ample protection which +was offered to them by the low ridge covered with timber, scrub, large +masses of rock, and cut up by many little sluits, which extended along +the line of their retreat. When once the Boers had gained this ridge +they faced about, though it must not be imagined their retirement was +in any way a mad gallop. They fell back in as good order as our +squadron advanced, but so soon as they had lined up upon the ridge it +could be seen how very greatly the Boer detachment out-numbered the +men opposed to them. Moreover, in a little their artillery again spoke +for itself, impressing the situation with still greater gravity. When +the Boer guns opened fire Captain Fitzclarence very wisely availed +himself of the shelter of three native huts, for the better protection +of the horses and any wounded that might come on. Leaving his horses +here, he advanced with his men in extended order, until he had secured +a line of front immediately adjacent to the Boers. Indeed, our +firing-line was at first only four hundred yards from the ridge; but, +after a short experience of such close quarters, it was found to be +wiser to take up a position some four hundred yards further off. The +action of Captain Fitzclarence in endeavouring to meet the Boer +commando was one of those inopportune acts of gallantry where loss, +should the fight be successful, is overlooked. Technically speaking, +of course, the strategy was all at fault, and it soon was seen how +very serious the situation of Squadron D had become. By good luck I had +joined this squadron in its move to the front, and it was very +interesting to observe how a force, whose composite qualities were +quite unknown, showed itself to be worthy of the utmost respect, and a +corps upon which every reliance could be placed. Our men did not seem +to mind the formidable odds against which they contended. The only +disconcerting thing at the outset of the action being the position of +the artillery on the Boer side, but for some reason the Boers ceased +their shell fire very shortly after the action had begun. This again +is another of those extraordinary blunders which creep into most +fighting. The Boers might have wiped Squadron D out of existence by +playing their nine-pounders upon our position. As it was, the Boer +commandant withdrew his artillery from the fight and relied solely +upon his rifles. From the little ridge, which, when our own +firing-line had fallen back, was barely five hundred yards distant, +there came a shower of Mauser and Martini bullets. The direction from +which the fire came at first suggested that the Boers were undecided +as to the area of the position which they would occupy, since shortly +after the action began the enemy's line of fire expanded until it +extended beyond our front. For the moment the firing-line developed, +continuing to expand until it became evident that the fire of their +either flank was here most effectually enveloping the rear of our +position, and endangering our line of retreat as well as those who had +been sent to the improvised hospital in the native huts. But it was +impossible to avoid such a contingency with the numbers against which +we had to contend. Indeed, there was no point from which this +enveloping movement could be escaped, since the men with Captain +Fitzclarence were already unduly extended. The rifle fire was very +heavy. + +From the ridge of the Boer position our complete formation and the +situation of each unit could be seen. It merely required a little +sharpshooting, keen sight, and sufficient energy to cause a disaster. +Our men lay upon the ground seeking cover where they could find it, +but they had neither the trees, nor the low-lying shrubs, nor the +rocks, nor the sluits which had lent themselves to the Boers' shelter. +They simply lay, a determined body of men, individually keen for +distinction, and individually keen to put the Boers out of existence. +The firing became hot and so rapid that in a very short time the heavy +drain upon our ammunition was beginning to have effect. This again +establishes the position of D Squadron. There were no supplies, nor +was there any artillery support until too late. There was no +ambulance, and no effective preparation for retirement. The horses +behind the huts, the men in the front, were each in a position from +which it certainly seemed that escape was impossible. The Boers, upon +the contrary, had a train of supplies and an excellent line of cover +for retreat. + +The first Boer shell killed two horses and reduced to ruins a hut from +the group which had given some protection to the wounded. The second +shell fell wide, exploding, with no effect, into a sand heap. Between +the intervals of shelling, the fire from the Boer Maxims whistled +across the open spaces between the two firing-lines with a discord +which was altogether out of harmony with the calmness and coolness of +our men who, so soon as they had settled down to the serious business +of the engagement, did not seem at all to mind the firing. + +Two cousins, Corporal Walshe and Corporal Parland, Irishmen, were shot +dead very soon after the engagement opened, but the absence of +ambulance arrangements prevented those who were wounded in the +advanced position from falling back to the rear. With a quiet and +unsuspected courage they just stopped where they were shot until they +could muster sufficient strength to drag themselves to the rear. Each +wounded form became, as it crawled along, the objective of the Boer +rifle fire, and no few of those who had been hit in action were hit +again as they made their way to the field hospital. Here Major +Anderson, with whom I remained from the moment of my arrival until we +retired--who told me afterwards that it was a mere chance which caused +him to accompany the squadron to the field, since in the confusion and +din no one had thought to give him his orders--was busily dressing the +men as they came in. The total area of the improvised dressing station +was perhaps half a dozen yards; into that crowded six or seven horses, +seven or eight wounded men, the Surgeon-Major, his orderly, and all +those others who made their way through the firing-line from time to +time. There seemed to be indescribable confusion in this little spot. +The wounded men lay between horses' legs, rested upon one another, +crouched against the walls of the huts, each recognising that the +situation was one of gravity, and endeavouring to assist so far as he +was able; those who were not too severely wounded helped to undress +those who had been less fortunately hit, and to each as he fell back +from the firing-line to have his wounds dressed, there was thrown a +merry jest from his comrades. The nature of the wounds created no +little interest among the men, since it was the first time that any +one had seen the effect, upon human beings, of the Mauser bullets. One +man as he came back was advised not to sit down; another man, with +extraordinary coolness in seeing the nature of his wounds, which were +seven, exclaimed with a quaint blasphemy, that it still might be +possible for him to enjoy the functions of a married man. But if this +were the scene at the hospital base, the scene at our firing-line and +at that upon the Boer side was very different. We possibly occupied a +line of front some eighty yards in extent, and as the Boers saw that +the hospital hut was becoming the centre of our position, so they +extended their lines until a direct cross fire from the extremities of +the two flanks were added to the direct fire from the centre; each +man, therefore, was under a converging fire from three distinct +points, and had it not been that the Boers' aim was not so good as +their range our losses would have been much more serious than has +happily proved to be the case. We could see the Boers sitting in the +branches of the trees; we could see them crouching beneath bushes; we +could detect them, from the fire of their rifles, in the shelter of +the rocks and in the depths of the sluits. It soon became the first +serious consideration with our men to try to hit them as they sat in +the branches of the trees, and it was because Private Wormald caught +sight of a piece of a paper as it dropped from a tree that he was able +to shoot the Dutchman who was known to have shot the two cousins. It +was almost a unique method of warfare. Anon and again our fellows +enjoyed a little Boer potting among the foliage of the trees. Here and +there a body was seen to fall heavily from a branch, or to spring up +and fall heavily into a bush; that was as much as we could gauge of +the effect of our own handiwork. Those who were behind the stones were +possibly as safe as those who were in the sluits, but through the lack +of any effective support our shooting, good as it may have been, was +not sufficiently strong for us to maintain our position. If D Squadron +were to save itself from an unfortunate disaster it seemed that it +would have to fall back. The wounded men had come in so rapidly from +the front, and ammunition had been so heavily expended, that many of +those situated upon the extreme flanks of our position were completely +without ammunition. In one case five men had no ammunition left, and +one volunteered to go to the rear to obtain some from those who had +been wounded, and were consequently out of action. He successfully +accomplished this errand, sustaining, however, such wounds as must +prove fatal. + +Captain Fitzclarence maintained his splendid isolation as long as +possible, and just as every one was wondering why, in the name of +Heaven, no artillery had been sent to support the squadron in a +position it was never intended to occupy, a gun detachment was seen +to gallop into action on the extreme right flank. Between our men and +the gun perhaps a mile stretched, and when we could see that they were +preparing to fire, each for a brief moment stopped to congratulate his +fellow upon the succour at hand. In this they didn't think of +themselves, but they hoped that with the aid of the gun they might +still be able to maintain their position and give the enemy a hiding. + +Suddenly a cloud of smoke hung over the gun and a shell shrieked +through the air. We rapidly speculated upon the amount of damage it +would make, when, with noisy force, it burst among us. We thought at +first that the shell had fallen short, and we hoped the next would +reach the enemy, but when Lieutenant Murchison, who was in charge of +the gun, dismissed his second shell, and it was so well directed as to +fall upon one of the three huts behind which we were sheltering, the +luckless position of D Squadron received unmerited but instantaneous +aggravation and aggrievement, since it was turning the tables with a +vengeance upon the enemy when the guns coming to our support set, +forthwith, to shell us. The menace which our own artillery had thus +unconsciously become to one portion of our wounded men about these +huts had to be immediately removed, and I was one of two who were +permitted to carry intelligence of his mistake to the officer in +charge of the seven-pounder. In galloping across to the position of +the gun, the third shell thrown in this direction burst just past my +horse's head, the force of its wind almost lifting me from the saddle. +The moment was of interest, and I only realised my escape when, upon +returning, I found the base of the shell and my helmet lying quite +close to each other. When a new direction had been given to the guns, +and their fire brought to bear upon the position which the Boers +occupied, the rifle fire from the front of the ridge gradually +slackened, while, under cover of the very excellent work which this +gun was executing, our men fell back upon the hospital. Here an order +had just arrived instructing Fitzclarence to send back his wounded to +the armoured train, those uninjured covering the movement. While the +squadron was engaged in completing this order, no shots were fired +from the position of the Boers, and we concluded that they also were +engaged in withdrawing at discretion. Captain Fitzclarence, Lieutenant +Swinburne, and myself were the last to leave the line of action, +tailing off ourselves in the same open order that the remainder of the +squadron had been ordered to preserve. As we retired Captain +Fitzclarence put three wounded horses out of their misery, leaving +their bodies for the vultures that were already wheeling in circles in +the realms of space above us. These were the last shots fired in this +action, although through mistake, the Boers had fired upon the +ambulance train, mistaking it for a new instrument of destruction. +Subsequently we heard that the Boers buried their dead at +Ramathlabama, and we also have heard that all the houses in that place +have been seized as accommodation for the 107 Boers who were wounded +in the fight. These numbers may probably be exaggerated, but there is +no cause to doubt that their loss was much greater than ours, since +the proportion of their men to ours was greater than twelve to one. +Saturday thus initiated the Boer war along this frontier, and after +the morning's excitement the rest of the day passed without incident. +Colonel Baden-Powell, Colonel Hore, and Colonel Walford, the one as +the colonel in command, the others as the commanding officers of the +Protectorate Regiment and the British South Africa Police, +congratulated their men upon the stand which they had made in the +morning, and the courage which they had displayed. Brevet-Major Lord +Edward Cecil, C.S.O., described Captain Fitzclarence's movement as +brilliant. It is a question whether this movement was not, at least, +characterised by an equal amount of foolhardiness. However, the +officer himself showed such coolness in this his baptism of fire as to +deserve much congratulation upon his individual gallantry. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE FIRST DAY OF BOMBARDMENT + + + THE CAMP, MAFEKING, + _October 22nd, 1899_. + +There was some sign that the engagement of Saturday between the +Protectorate troops and the Boer forces investing Mafeking would have +been the precursor of a series of minor fights, which, if not of much +importance in themselves, yet would have been of interest and +encouraging to the command generally. + +As it happens, however, the engagement of Saturday is the first, and, +up to the present, the only action of any importance, of any interest +whatsoever, that has been brought about between the two forces. +General Cronje is evidently a man of some humanity, though it is +perhaps possible that the motives which direct his present policy of +exceeding gentleness towards the "Rooineken" that he be besieging in +Mafeking, aims at procuring for himself, when the inevitable does +come, terms perhaps not quite so extreme as would have been the case +had the Boer commandant not conducted his operations in accordance +with the articles of war. + +During the progress of the Sunday following the engagement at Five +Mile Bank, Commandant Cronje made a curiously sincere, but not +altogether unhumorous demand for our unconditional surrender. Colonel +Baden-Powell very properly felt he was unable to comply with any such +demand, and with the exchange of notes of a courteous character this +incident closed. + +During Sunday the town put the finishing touches to the earthworks, +lunettes, and to the gun emplacements, which will form a more or less +complete chain of fortifications around the town. So much as possible, +and so far as it lay within the knowledge and experience of the Base +Commandant, Colonel Vyvyen, and Major Panzera, each distinct earthwork +was made shell-proof. + +From the outside the town looks as if a series of gigantic mounds had +been suddenly created. At different points tiers of sandbags, several +feet high, protect the more exposed places, and to these again has +been added, as an exterior facing, banks of earth. Within such a +position as I am now describing there is a deep trench, which is of +that depth which enables a man standing upright to fire through +loopholes between sacks of sand. Behind the trench is a low shelter of +deals with an upper covering of sandbags, intending to serve the +garrison of the fort as protection against shell fire. + +To those points which are exposed to the more direct attack of the +enemy, a Maxim has been detached or a seven-pounder emplaced. The Town +Guard man these positions: the work of patrolling, of forming Cossack +posts, of maintaining the outer lines of sentries, being undertaken by +the Protectorate troops and the Bechuanaland Rifles. + +[Illustration: Headquarters, Bomb-proof Shelter.] + +An elaborate system of signals has been arranged. A red flag will +fly from Headquarters should the Boers be coming on, and an alarm will +be rung in the centre of the town. The streets have been barricaded +with carts, and all open places protected by traverses of a useful +character. Mines have been placed within and without the town, and an +improvised field telegraph or the telephone has been connected with +every point which lies beyond the immediate precincts of the defences. +Every possible precaution that human ingenuity can devise and the +resources of the town supply for the protection of the place, is in +order. + +Thus did Mafeking prepare for the Boer bombardment, and upon the +Monday following this took place; but it is perhaps no exaggeration to +say that nothing so ludicrous in the history of modern warfare has +been propagated as the gigantic joke which Commandant Snyman, who +directed the fire of the artillery, played off against us that day. +For many weeks we, along this frontier, had heard what the Boers +proposed to do once war should be declared. These forecasts had indeed +been sanguinary; the heads of the English people, had we believed in +these rumours, were to lie upon the veldt like the sand upon the sea +shore. + +The bombardment as such was totally ineffective, and so curiously +amateur, so wholly experimental, as to move one to astonishment rather +than derision. It began at 9.15 a.m., and the first shell fell blind. +The second and the third also pitched short, but once the bombardment +had been initiated, the feelings of those who had dreaded such an +event, more on account of their women and children than on account of +themselves, were unperturbed. When the shells began to fall into the +town it was found that they were of such poor quality as to be +incapable of any explosive force whatever. Judging from their effect +the area of damage was not three square feet. + +Shortly after the first few shells had been dropped the Boers found +the range, and from Signal Hill, their position to the east of the +town, threw several shells at the hospital and monastery. Strange as +it may seem our most grievous cause of complaint against the Boer plan +of war is that they do not respect sufficiently our Red Cross flag. +Commandant Snyman had given us no time in which to remove our women +and children, and, as a consequence, we established somewhat hurriedly +a laager, in which they were confined and which it was hoped would be +beyond the fire of the Boer, since we afforded it the protection of +the Red Cross flag. This, so far as the laager was concerned, luckily +proved to be the case, since on the occasion that Commandant Cronje +sent in to apologise for the firing upon the Red Cross by his younger +roughs during the Five Mile Bank fight, Colonel Baden-Powell took the +opportunity of pointing out to him the precise significance of this +flag, and the exact whereabouts of the buildings which enjoined its +protection. In the absence of direct evidence of the enemy's intention +upon this day, in the repugnance with which one would charge them with +wilful abuse of the Red Cross, it is good to believe that Colonel +Baden-Powell's letter was not communicated to Commandant Snyman +previous to this action, for from the moment that this officer opened +the bombardment until his artillery ceased fire for the day, each +individual missile was thrown directly across the hospital and +monastery. It was unfortunate that these buildings should have been in +the line of fire, and it was a fact greatly to be deplored that the +hospital should be filled, at such a moment, with women and wounded, +the former magnanimously devoting themselves to the work of looking +after those who had been disabled in Saturday's engagement. It was +perhaps unavoidable, with such a line of fire, that the shells should +not drop upon the hospital and monastery. Fearing this as we did, the +garrison was filled with consternation when, so abruptly that we had +scarcely realised what had been the actual object of the nameless +dread by which the camp was suddenly depressed, the inevitable +happened and we knew that a shell had burst within the hospital +itself. Had this shell been of the quality and explosive character +that we had been led to expect, one entire side of the hospital would +have been reduced to ruins; as it was, however, the area of +destruction most remote from the point of penetration was not three +feet in circumference. A little of the masonry was destroyed, a few +boards of the floor ripped up, and that was all. Dust and dirt, +however, covered everything. + +Two more shells penetrated the same building in the course of the +attack--the one burst in the principal waiting-room, the other played +havoc with the children's dormitory. Fortunately no one was injured, +and it was a happy omen for future shelling that throughout the whole +of the first bombardment no human life was lost in Mafeking. There +were no casualties, and three buildings, the hospital, the monastery, +and Riesle's Hotel, alone were struck. The dead comprised one chicken. +There were many narrow escapes. My horse was fastened to the +hitching-post outside Riesle's Hotel at the very moment that a shell +burst against the steps of the verandah, but this animal would seem +to enjoy a happy immunity from shell fire, since at the Five Mile +Bank engagement there was a shell which burst within three or four +feet of him. + +Our guns made no return whatever to the fire of the Boers, beyond a +chance shot which exploded by accident. After this very ineffective +and amusing bombardment had continued for some hours the enemy ceased +firing, and from their position only 2,000 yards from the town, and to +which they had moved from Signal Hill, where the attack had begun, the +usual messenger, half herald, half spy, was despatched to our lines. +It has become quite a feature of the Boer operations against Mafeking +for them to enjoy at every few hours a cessation of hostilities under +a flag of truce, and, I regret to say, that these constant messages in +the middle of an action, from the Boer Commandant to Colonel +Baden-Powell, are sent with an ulterior motive. The Boer Commandants +would appear to lack that experience of the conditions of warfare +which should enable them to perceive the folly and futility--if not +the guilt--of such procedure as they have been following since +operations against this town began. It was, perhaps, as much through +our own ignorance of the character of the enemy whom we were fighting +as anything, that they secured any profitable information by these +tactics, since we had expected that they would observe the unwritten +regulation which restricts the progress of a flag of truce to a point +half-way between the lines of the two forces. Upon no occasion at this +period in the investment did the Boers recognise this custom, but +securing cover where they could they crept down to our lines under +protection of the white flag. By these means they secured valuable +intelligence. + +The Boer emissary was allowed safe conduct into our lines, and was +escorted by Captain Williams, of the British South Africa Police, who +was in command of the armoured train, and Lieutenant the Honourable +Hanbury-Tracy of Headquarters Staff, who had been sent out to meet +him. The messenger was conducted to Colonel Baden-Powell, who received +through this medium a second demand for unconditional surrender. +Commandant Snyman presented his compliments to Colonel Baden-Powell, +and desired to know if, to save further bloodshed, we would now +surrender. Colonel Baden-Powell received this message with polite +astonishment, and while not telling the deputy of Commandant Snyman +that his shell fire had only spilt the blood of a fowl, and knocked +small pieces out of three buildings, replied, that so far as we were +concerned, we had not yet begun. While the Headquarters Staff were +deliberating upon the reply to such a momentous message, the messenger +was regaled with beer and bread and cheese. He was escorted back at +4.45 p.m., and for the time being shell fire ceased. + +On Monday the armoured train took up a position in advance of the +town, and in such a manner that it was completely sheltered from the +Boer position. It so happened that the Boer messenger came directly +upon this train, which was patiently waiting for the enemy's line of +fire to be advanced a few hundred yards further, before opening its +artillery. The little ruse which we had so carefully planned was thus +forestalled, and to prevent further disclosures being made the herald +was therewith blindfolded. It was a strange spectacle to see this Boer +being brought through our lines with a somewhat soiled handkerchief +across his eyes. His flag of truce comprised three handkerchiefs tied +to a bamboo, and as he came forward it waved with a motion in which +fright played as great a part as dignity. + +The Boer Commandant had evidently determined to shell Mafeking from +three positions, but force of circumstances, and the undesirability of +throwing up earthworks under the telling fire which would have been +poured into him from our own trenches, prevented him bringing his +heavy artillery into position. He had stormed Mafeking from Signal +Hill with a twelve-pound Krupp, but when he advanced into a range of +2,000 yards he fell back upon a seven-pounder, and a nine-pound +high-velocity Krupp. These guns were quite unprotected by earthworks +and could be easily seen from the town. Indeed it was the possibility +of their being put out of action by our guns which instigated the +Commandant to secure a cessation of hostilities by despatching his +messenger upon some fatuous errand to Colonel Baden-Powell while he +and his entire force busied themselves in erecting breastworks about +his field pieces. + +The Boer emissary arrived at 2.30 p.m., and no sooner had he been +received by us than the Boers began to work with pick and shovel, +continuing their labours throughout the conference. By the time that +their herald had returned two emplacements had been prepared and their +locality partially concealed by a quantity of small bushes and scrub +with which they had been covered. + +It may be that Commandant Snyman was unaware of the breach of faith he +was committing in working upon his trenches under a flag of truce. It +is our hope that this should prove to be the case, since we would not +willingly believe that the Boers be so lost to the sense of fairness +which should underlie the provisions which prevail during any +cessation of hostilities as to promote a condition of truce for +interests of their own. But should this be, indeed, the extent of the +ignorance of the Boer Commandant upon the conditions governing war, +let us trust that he may soon furbish up his knowledge upon these +especial points. + +When the messenger returned to his lines, the Boers proceeded to +advance in force upon the waterworks, and, driving in our outposts, +they have since maintained a control over our water supply. The town, +therefore, is wholly without water from this source, although we be +not in any way frightened at the loss of the springs, since many wells +have been opened out and many promising springs have been located +within the radius of the town, some of which watered the troops of the +Warren expedition. When we consider that to the majority this is their +first experience of war, and that the length of the siege is unknown +and more than likely to be protracted, it must be admitted that +Mafeking is bearing itself wonderfully well. The few women and +children who remained here show a dauntless front, while the men are +only too anxious, and indeed too willing, to indulge in some sniping +on their own account. + +Nevertheless, the position of Mafeking at the present moment is one +which, if giving no cause for alarm, is at least unsatisfactory. Our +wires are still cut to north and south. Our line is up, and all around +us the Boers are supposed to be encamped, yet as the days go on it is +becoming harder and harder to realise that we are seriously engaged in +war, and we are more inclined to believe in the cheery optimism of +Colonel Baden-Powell. It is very like some gigantic picnic, although +it may doubtless be food for disquieting reflection. Occasionally we +sleep out at night, and are in the trenches all day, but upon the +whole it is quite impossible to believe that we are engaged in +repelling an enemy who already are investing us. + +To get away from the hotels, to get more into contact with the spirit +of the siege, I have been camping out for some days at the most +outlying position upon the west facing of the town, but even by such +means it is infinitely difficult to find much that is instinctive with +active and actual campaigning. We perform the duties of a vedette, +watching by day and night, sleeping at oddly-snatched moments, ever +ready, and straining our vision in wild efforts to find trace of the +foe. But it amounts to but little in the end. + +Since Monday we have seen small detachments of the Boers daily, we +have even exchanged outpost fire with them, while we have on three +different occasions turned our guns upon their position at the +waterworks; but these occurrences are purely incidental and not wholly +relative to the main features of the situation. It has become quite +necessary for us to justify our own existence, and since there be but +such vague signs of war around us, this desire has become infinitely +more difficult of fulfilment. As the time passes we receive messages +daily from different units in the Boer commando to friends in +Mafeking, which are sometimes amicable, sometimes impudent in +character; but to increase the irony of our situation, if we be +engaged in the press of battle at dawn, it is certain that at dusk we +shall be dining with no small degree of luxury at the hotel. + +At present there has been no misery, for there has been no war, and +apart from the five lives that have been lost already, Mafeking to-day +is as it was a month ago. It would seem as though this gigantic war, +which so many people have been urging upon the Government, in relation +to the operations of the enemy along this frontier may develop into a +series of cattle raids by armed Boers. But if there be little in the +immediate situation to alarm us, there is behind the rose and silver +of the clouds a dark spot, a spot which growing bigger, ever bigger as +the days go by, implies that signs of the times are not wanting to +prove that our official optimism, forecasting the siege as but of +three weeks' duration, is based upon anything less secure than the +imaginings of a man who, knowing the hollowness of his words in his +own heart, seeks but to cheer the hearts of the garrison. There was +little sign of readiness in the Imperial troops, little to show that +they can relieve Mafeking before the year dies out in the birth of the +closing twelve months of the nineteenth century. But it were heresy to +say so now. The idle singer of an empty day dares not pronounce the +denunciation of his country in her hour of danger. Nevertheless, if +Mafeking be not relieved before the Christmas season, the hour of our +existence will be an hour of travail, impressed with the echoes of +much suffering and saddened by the memories of many who will be dead. +But for the time we will ignore the gravity in our situation, mock at +our splendid isolation, our scanty resources, since to dwell too long +upon the guilty splendour of the naked truth is to beget an +earnestness which will depress our spirits, allowing us to read out +the future of the siege in words of deadly omen. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE ADVENT OF "BIG BEN" + + + MAFEKING, _October 25th, 1899_. + +To-day is the third day of the bombardment by which Commandant Cronje +is attempting to realise his threat of reducing Mafeking to ashes. Up +to the present it has been impossible to consider very seriously the +attempt of the Boers to besiege Mafeking. The earlier bombardment and +the series of events which have occurred during the interval have not +augmented the gravity of the situation. The Boer Commandant +endeavoured to carry out his word by opening the second bombardment of +Mafeking upon the day which he had notified Colonel Baden-Powell. We +had been incredulous at the threat of the Boers to send to Pretoria +for some siege guns. Monday, therefore, was a day of some anxiety for +us, and each was curious to know what result the enemy's fire would +produce. Upon this occasion, however, the townsfolk had reckoned +without taking into account the intentions of Colonel Baden-Powell, +and it was a very pleasant surprise to find that the bombardment of +Mafeking by the Boers had been converted into the bombardment of the +Boers by Mafeking. At a very early hour, two guns, which had been +placed near the reservoir, opened fire upon the enemy's artillery in +position at the water springs. The artillery duel which was thus +started continued for some hours, and if it did not do much damage to +either side it made manifest to the Boers that the defences of +Mafeking were not altogether at their mercy. About noon, however, the +Boers, who had been observed to place some guns in position upon the +south-west side of the town, threw shells at Cannon Kopje. Here again, +fortunately, no material damage was done. + +Somewhat early in the afternoon, the look-outs reported tremendous +activity in the Boer camp. Across the veldt, those who cared, might +have seen the enemy engaged upon some enormous earthwork, which the +general consensus of opinion very quickly determined to be the +emplacements for the siege guns. They were about three miles away from +the town, and in a position different from that from which the guns +had shelled the kopje in the morning. The frequency with which shells +had exploded within the limits of Mafeking, had rendered the people +somewhat callous of the consequences, and despite an official warning +which was issued to the town, a large number of people stood +discussing, in excited groups, the value of this news, while no small +proportion of the population had gathered upon the west front to watch +with their glasses the completion of the enemy's earthworks. It was +three miles across the veldt, a mere black shadow upon the skyline, +distinguished by its proximity to a local landmark, the "Jackal Tree," +where the Boers had intrenched their Creusot gun. It was not so much +that there were no other guns around us which had drawn the crowd, as +the morbid curiosity to see for themselves what perhaps in a few +hours they might never see again. At different points upon the eastern +and western heights the Boer guns had been stationed. To the +south-east there was a twelve-pounder at a very convenient range, and +so placed as to act as a flanking fire to the direct onslaught of "Big +Ben." Upon the extreme east there were two seven-pounders, one in +position at the water springs, the other covering the entire front of +the town. Upon the west and to the north the enemy had similarly +placed their guns. There was a seven-pounder emplacement, with a +Nordenfeldt support due west, 1,400 yards from the native stadt. Below +that, and between it and the north, the Boers had a Maxim. It is, +perhaps, somewhat extraordinary that an enemy who has procured the +best available artillery advice, should proceed to attack the town in +such a fashion, and much of the failure which has distinguished the +Boer bombardment is due to the fact that, instead of concentrating +their fire upon a series of given spots, they have maintained +simultaneous shelling from isolated points. As their shells fell, the +damage which they caused was scattered over a wide area, and confined +to a building here and there. Indeed, the greater portion of the +shells had merely ploughed up the streets. However, it was not to be +confirmed that afternoon. An hour after noon on the following day the +alarm rang out from the market place, the red flag was seen to fly +from headquarters, and the inhabitants were warned to take immediate +cover. Within a few minutes of the alarm, the proceedings for that day +began, and the first shell thrown from the Boer battery burst over our +camp. Presently on the distant skyline a tremendous cloud of smoke +hurled itself into the air. The very foundations upon which Mafeking +rests seemed to quiver, all curiosity was set at rest, and there was +no longer any doubt as to the nature of the new ordnance which the +Boers had with them. With a terrific impact the shell struck some +structures near the railway, and the flying fragments of steel spread +over the town, burying themselves in buildings, striking the veldt two +miles distant, creating a dust, a horrible confusion, and, an instant, +terror throughout the town. For the moment no one seemed to know what +had happened, when the sudden silence which had come upon the town was +broken by the loud explosion of the shell as it came in contact with +some building. It was a scene of unique interest, the rush of air, the +roar of its flight, the final impact, and the massive fragments of +steel and iron which scattered in all directions, gave no time for +those who had been exposed, to realise the cause of the disturbance. +Much as people throng to the spot where some appalling catastrophe has +occurred, so, a minute after the shell exploded, people appeared from +all directions to run to the scene, and although the shell had caused +no very great damage, the noise which it had made, its unusual size +and explosive force, did not tend to pacify people. Many were +convinced that Mafeking was doomed, and although no loss of life +occurred, there were few who did not think that their days were +numbered. In the course of the afternoon, after a rain of seven-and +nine-pound shells, the Boers opened with this gun again, and although +happily no loss of life occurred, the missile wrecked the rear of the +Mafeking Hotel, falling within a few feet of Mr. E. G. Parslow, the +war correspondent of the _Chronicle_. The force of the explosion +hurled this gentleman upon a pile of wood, blew the walls out of +three rooms, set fire to a gas engine, and effectually littered the +yard of the hotel. With the curious inconsequence which has marked the +Boer proceedings in their investment of Mafeking, the enemy threw no +more of these heavier shells during the afternoon, contenting +themselves with discharging at odd moments those of lesser calibre. + +The two shells which had been fired during the afternoon gave the +inhabitants of Mafeking some little ground by which to judge the +nature of the bombardment on the morrow. After the cessation of +hostilities word was passed round that the two shells which had been +launched at Mafeking were a 64lb. howitzer and a 94lb. breech-loading +siege gun, and that it might be reckoned that these were but the +preliminary shots by which to measure the range. Officially it was +notified that every precaution must be taken to remain within the +bomb-proof shelters which the inhabitants of Mafeking had been advised +to construct. It is the presence of these pits which explains the +slight loss of life that has occurred during the Boer bombardment of +Mafeking. Up to to-day the effect of the terrible hail of shells which +has poured into the town has been but a few slight wounds. But there +could be no doubt that the more serious fighting was at last to take +place, and it seemed to us only natural to expect a general advance +upon Mafeking in the morning. The night passed with every man sleeping +by his arms and at his post. The women and children had been removed +to their laager, the horses were picketed in the river-bed, and once +again all preparations for defence, and all those measures which had +been taken to secure immunity from shell fire were, for the last time, +inspected. Firing began very early on Wednesday morning, a gun +detachment under Lieutenant Murchison opening with a few shells from +our position to the east of the town. When the light had become clear +the Boers brought their new siege guns once more into play. We +estimated at nightfall that the enemy must have thrown rather more +than two hundred shells into Mafeking, and if Mafeking be saved for +future bombardment its salvation lies in the fact that it is, +relatively speaking, little more than a collection of somewhat +scattered houses with tin roofs and mud walls. Any other form of +building would have been shaken to its foundations by the mere +concussion of these bursting shells. Where bricks would have fallen, +mud walls simply threw down a cloud of dust. But if Mafeking be still +more or less intact, it can congratulate itself upon having withstood +a most determined and concentrated shell fire. + +It is difficult to defend the action of the Boers in laying upon +Mafeking the burden of these siege guns. We have heard no little from +Commandant Cronje upon the rules of warfare, as set out by the Geneva +Convention, by time-honoured practices, and by that sense of custom +and courtesy which at the present day still brings back some slight +echo of the chivalry which distinguished the wars in dead centuries. +Nevertheless, there is a grim and ill-savoured travesty in the Boer +bombardment of this town. We do not complain, and we must be forgiven +if we find some ironical and melancholy interest attaching itself to +our situation. Three times has Colonel Baden-Powell pointed out to +Commandant Cronje the buildings which enjoy the immunity of the Red +Cross flag, yet these buildings are still deliberately made the +objective of the Boer artillery; twice have we received flags of truce +from the Boers, ignoring altogether the fact that they were but the +clumsy subterfuge by which an unprincipled enemy secured to itself +some new and advantageous position for its guns; then, as a crowning +act of mercy, we have this Boer Commander, so blatant a gentleman that +he is by sheer force of his aggressive impudence worthy of our +attentions, training upon a defenceless town a 64lb. howitzer and a +94lb. breech-loading siege gun, pieces whose action is relegated by +these self-same observances of civilised warfare to towns who possess, +in the first place, strong fortifications; in the second, masonry and +concrete in their construction. + +After the early morning hours had been whiled away Commandant Cronje +made preparations for a general advance upon the town under the +protection of his cannon fire. This was the moment which each of us +had longed for. As the Boer advance seemed to be concentrated upon the +eastern side, I proceeded to the redan at De Koch's Corner under Major +Goold-Adams, and, later on, to another a little lower down in the same +quarter of the town under Captain Musson. At this time, any one who +can, is supposed to bear arms to defend our position, and, so as to +more completely identify themselves with the movement for protection +of this place, the correspondents that are here are each carrying +their rifle and bandolier, and taking up their stand in some one of +the trenches. The correspondent of the _Chronicle_, Mr. E. G. Parslow, +the correspondent for Reuter's, Mr. Vere Stent, and myself, requested +Captain Musson, a local dairy farmer, who has been placed in charge of +one of the redans upon the east front, to allow us to assist him in +the protection of his earthwork, and it was from there, as a +consequence, that I watched the bombardment of Mafeking, taking an +active part in any rifle practice which Captain Musson permitted to +his men. At Major Goold-Adams's there had been stationed a Maxim +detachment, and it was not long before its sharp rat-a-tat-tat was +heard speaking to the enemy. The warm reception which was accorded to +the Boers from this redan soon began to draw their fire. With "Big +Ben" discharging its 94lb. shells in every quarter of the town, and a +12-pounder from the north-west dropping shrapnel with much +discrimination over that quarter, the enemy upon the east side soon +followed the example so shown them and discharged shells at the redans +along their front. The range was singularly good, and in a very few +minutes shells were dropping over and in very close proximity to our +two redans. Between the two, and but a little removed from the line of +fire, was the building of the Dutch Reformed Church, and several of +the shells intended for the Maxim in Major Goold-Adams's fort found +lodgment in its interior. The front of this church had been penetrated +in several places by the shells, when the gun was slewed suddenly +round upon the hospital and a shell fell in an outhouse attached to +the monastery with disastrous effect. When the smoke had cleared away +little was left of the building beyond a pile of smoking ruins. Above +Captain Musson's redan our untimely visitors constantly burst and +scattered, and we began to realise fully the value of the bomb-proof +shelters. In a little while, however, the Boers relaxed their shell +fire, and beyond maintaining sufficient fire to cover their advance, +the heavier guns were for the time silent. With this, the Boers began +to open out in extended order upon the east side of the town, +advancing on our west to within 900 yards of our defences. At each +point the Boer advance was protected by the guns, the heavy artillery +to the south-west seeming to be the centre of a circle of armed men, +who were advancing slowly upon this gallant little town. At no time +did the enemy, however, beyond the few upon the west side, come within +effective range of our rifles or our Maxims, contenting themselves +with taking up positions at 2,000 yards, and dealing out to us +prolonged rifle fire with some intermittent shelling. The firing was +very rapid, very general, and more or less impotent. Indeed their +expenditure of rifle ammunition and their extreme prodigality in +shells was as much playing into our hands as reaping them any +advantage. + +By night we reckoned that over two hundred shells had been fired +alone, though it was very doubtful whether there be two hundred pounds +worth of damage to credit to them. We have had two men wounded, while +here and there it is believed that certain of the enemy received their +quietus. Whether we beat them off or whether they lacked the spirit to +attack us it be impossible to determine, and it is enough to say that, +whatever may have been their intention, Mafeking remains as it was +before the first shot was fired. At night, after the attack, Colonel +Baden-Powell issued a general order congratulating his forces and the +people in Mafeking upon their calmness during the heavy fire to which +they had been subjected. + +As we are situated at present, it is impossible for us to leave our +trenches in order to give battle to the enemy, but we are still buoyed +up by the hope of being able before long to take in our turn the +offensive. In the meantime, most of us live with our rifles in our +hands, our bandoliers round our shoulders, existing upon food of the +roughest kind, peering over sandbags at the distant position of the +Boers, or crouching in the shell-proof trenches as their shells burst +overhead. There is much gravity in our isolated position; there is the +danger that, by good luck more than by skill, Mafeking may be reduced, +but there is no reason to fear that the determination and courage of +the town will give way. Above all else that may be calculated to +endure. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +A MIDNIGHT SORTIE + + + MAFEKING, _October 28th, 1899_. + +Last night there occurred one of those isolated instances of gallantry +by which the British sustain their high reputation. For some days, in +fact ever since the Boers secured their siege guns from Pretoria, the +enemy has been building a circlet of trenches around Mafeking. At the +least distance they are perhaps 2,500 yards, unhappily beyond the +reach of our rifle and Maxim fire. We have seen them lounging in their +breastworks, we have seen them gathered around their camp fires, and +the inability of Mafeking to shake off these unwelcome intruders has +been daily a source of irritation. We have not, of course, allowed +them to enjoy, undisturbed, the seclusion of their own earthworks, +and, as a continual goad in their side, little expeditions have been +despatched to make night fearsome to our besetting foe. + +Another of these midnight sorties was undertaken last night, proving +in itself to be the most important move on our side since Captain +Fitzclarence and his men engaged the Boers two weeks ago. The same +officer, 55 men of D Squadron Protectorate Regiment, with Lieutenant +Murray and 25 men of the Cape Police, were the prime movers in an +attempt to rush the first line of earthworks of the Boer position. +Shortly after 11 o'clock Captain Fitzclarence, Lieutenant Swinburne +and their men started on the perilous undertaking. In the faint light +of the night we could see their figures from our own redans, silently +hurrying across the veldt. In the blue haze of the distance a black +blur betokened the position of the enemy, and it seemed that at any +moment the hoarse challenge of the Boer outpost would give the alarm. +The men crept on in slightly extended order, holding themselves in +readiness for the supreme moment. Nearer, and yet nearer, they drew to +the Boer entrenchments. The silence was intense. The heavy gloom, the +mysterious noises of the veldt at night, the shadowy patches in the +bush, all seemed to heighten the tension of one's nerves. In a little +while our men were within a few yards of the enemy; then furtively +each fixed his bayonet to his rifle, and as the blades rang home upon +their sockets the gallant band raised a ringing cheer. Instantly the +Boer position was galvanised into activity, figures showed everywhere, +shots rang out, men shouted, horses stampeded, and the confusion which +reigned supreme gave to our men one vital moment in which to hurl +themselves across the intervening space. Then there was a loud crash, +for, as it happened, many of our men were nearer the entrenchments +than had been anticipated, and their eager charge had precipitated +them upon some sheets of corrugated iron which the Boers had torn from +the grand stand of the racecourse for protection from the rain. With +our men upon the parapet of the trench, a few rapid volleys were fired +into the enemy, who, taken completely by surprise, were altogether +demoralised. Those in the first trenches seemed to have been petrified +by fright. Where they were, there they remained, stabbed with bayonet, +knocked senseless with the rifle's butt, or shot dead by the fire of +their own men. Captain Fitzclarence himself, with magnificent +gallantry and swordsmanship, killed four of the enemy with his sword, +his men plying their bayonets strenuously the while. This was the +first trench, and as the fight grew hotter, some little memory of +their earlier boasts, inspired the Boers to make a stand. They fought; +they fought well. Their vast superiority in numbers did not enter into +their minds, since Commandant Botha told Lieutenant Moncrieff, who had +charge of the flag party that arranged for an armistice upon the +following morning, that he thought that at least a thousand men had +been moved against his position. The long line of front held by the +enemy flashed fire from many hundred rifles. Houses in the town caught +the bullets, the low rises to the east of the position threw back the +echo of the rifle shots. Our men became the centre of a hail of +bullets. The Boers fired anywhere and everywhere, seeming content if +they could just load their rifles and release the trigger. Many +thousands of rounds of ammunition were expended in the confusion of +the moment, the enemy not even waiting to see at whom, or at what, +they were aiming. + +After the first fury had been expended, our men charged at the bayonet +point right across the line of trenches. It was in this charge that +the Boers lost most heavily. So soon as the squadron reached the +extremity of the Boer position they retreated independently, their +movement covered by the flanking fire of the Cape Police, which added +still further to the perplexities of the enemy. The galling fire of +the Cape Police disturbed them for some time longer than was required +in the actual retirement of the force. + +The Boers had been completely unnerved by the onslaught of the +Protectorate men, and a feature of the hours which elapsed between the +final withdrawal of our force from the scene of conflict, and the +advent of dawn, was the heavy firing of the enemy, who still continued +discharging useless volleys into space. The loss to us in this +encounter had been 6 killed, 11 wounded, and two of our men taken +prisoners, but the gravity of the loss which the enemy sustained can +be most surely measured by the fact that, until a late hour this +afternoon, they could not find the spirit to resume the bombardment. +It is said in camp here that one hundred Boers will have reason to +remember the charge of the Protectorate Regiment. + +The way in which these respond to the duties asked of them is shown by +their conduct during this night attack. Nevertheless, when the +enrolment of the Protectorate Regiment began in August, 1899, any +practical opinion upon the future value of its individual units, as +upon its possible mobility, was the merest hazard. When Colonel Hore +accepted the command of the regiment, and endeavoured, by every means +in his power, to promote its development, there were many who +expressed, after witnessing the preliminary parade of the recruits at +Ramathlabama Camp, the verdict that the short space of time which was +allowed to the officers to knock the squadrons into shape would not +permit the men attaining any proficiency whatsoever. In those early +days of the war volunteers came from near and far, from Johannesburg +upon the one side, from Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, and East London +upon the other, to enlist in the service of her Majesty. Time-expired +men threw up their billets when the opportunity presented itself of +rejoining the colours, and while enlistment was proceeding, the +immediate vicinity of Ramathlabama and the roads from the Transvaal +into Mafeking presented the appearance of a district which has been +made the final destination of some mining rush. Pedestrians from the +Transvaal humping their swags, passengers by train from the south, +well-to-do youngsters from different parts of the Protectorate or from +the back-lying areas of the colony, all made their roads converge upon +Mafeking. At that time, however, when the work of enlisting was in its +infancy, and the services of able-bodied men were much required, the +Colonial Government, at the instigation of Mr. Schreiner, whose +dubious policy was cheerfully endorsed by his colleagues, refused to +allow her Majesty's soldiers, who were in process of enlistment for +that special purpose, to afford Mafeking the moral value of their +presence. No sooner had word reached the ears of the Colonial Cabinet +that the work of recruiting was proceeding around Mafeking, than the +recruiting officers were ordered to withdraw immediately from the +precincts of the colony so long as they continued to act in a way +which might give some possible offence to the dear friend, guardian, +and patron saint of Cape Colony, Paul Kruger. After a very decorous +and manly remonstrance, Colonel Hore withdrew his headquarters and his +men sixteen miles across the border to Ramathlabama Camp, from which +point the enlistment of the Protectorate Regiment was continued. + +The Protectorate Regiment is strictly an irregular soldiery, composed +of men drawn from every rank of African life, many of whom are gentle +by birth and education and possessed of no little means. In the ranks +of the regiment there are those who have been at the university and +public schools; there are also mechanics, miners, farm hands, and men +who have known office life. The nationalities of the men are as varied +as their occupations in peace times are diffuse. There are a few +Americans, some Germans, and Norwegians, although for the most part +the regiment is British; as a whole, perhaps, it is an ill-assorted +assembly of adventurers, animated with the same love of fighting and +the glories of war, of lust and bloodshed which characterised the +lives of the buccaneers of old. In other days, and in other lands, +they would be sailing the sea for treasure, or combining in the quest +for gold in some hidden extremity of the world's surface. The prospect +of free rations, of uniform, and allowance of pocket money, was of +course sufficient to draw a few; but, as a body, the idler upon the +farm, the bar-loafer from the town, and the thoroughly incompetent are +as distinguished by their absence, as the general tone of the regiment +is suffused with martial ardour. It is quite impossible to treat these +men with the cast-iron regulations which enthral the Imperial soldier. +He does not understand the petty exactions, the never-ending restraint +which would be imposed upon him had he accepted the conditions which +govern and regulate life in our army. He experiences and gives voice +to a very genuine aversion to fatigues of every description, and it +has required the exercise of much tact and no little personal +persuasion to induce the men to become reconciled to the labours of +their calling. They have accepted with some diffidence the fact that +it is necessary for them to fulfil, at the present moment, many +irritating, but essentially important fatigues which may not have +entered into their original forecast of the duties which would be +allotted to them. They frequently indulge in outbursts of choice +expletives, at the expense of their non-commissioned officers, while +they do not hesitate to correct, or at least to argue about what they +imagine to be wrong in the execution of some order. + +The conditions under which these men were enrolled were supposed to +admit those only who could ride as well as shoot, and before the +initial tests were applied the standard of the regiment upon paper was +exceptionally high. After the first parade, however, it was seen that +by far the great majority of the regiment was incapable of managing +their horses. Upon parade, when horses and men were put through +cavalry exercises, detached and riderless steeds would be seen +galloping and bucking in all directions. However, those who were +unproficient did not propose to allow their cattle to hold the mastery +for any longer than was absolutely necessary, and many was the tough +fight fought to a bitter end between the raw recruit and his unbroken, +unmanageable mount. After many days and an inordinate amount of hard +work, the troop officers managed to lick their men into a very +presentable appearance until, with the beginning of the war, the +squadrons of the Protectorate Regiment were as capable and efficient a +body of irregular mounted infantry as any that had been enrolled by +local movement in South Africa. During the siege there has been no +chance to continue those early exercises, and it is not at all +unlikely that when they become mounted once more the former +difficulties will again assert themselves and, bearing this in mind, +it is difficult to conclude that as a fighting force they will not be +more at home upon their feet than in the saddle, since they will find +their attentions occupied as much by the management of their steeds as +with the handling of their weapons. + +If they be not quite so mobile in the field as more experienced +troops, there is no doubt that they present a determined front to the +fire of the enemy. They have a keen relish for any preparation which +appears to lead to some immediate collision, while they profess an +equally profound disgust at their enforced inactivity. How these men +might act if, through the smoke-filled air, they saw an array of +sparkling bayonets, or heard the serried ranks of hostile lines +advancing to the charge, it is impossible to say; but in the few +fights which we have had the personal element has been strong, and the +individual courage high. We have lacked the spectacle of the +many-coloured, steel-edged columns impelled forward by the impulse of +some dominant power, with the dusty faces of the men, the stumbling, +sore-stricken feet, the gasping breath of the stragglers who tired, +dead beat, and thirsty, limp to the rear; but the play of human +passion in our little fighting force has not been absent. We have had +the wager of life against life, the angry, turbulent crash of +fierce-blooded men, fighting under the shadow of death, with their +emotions strained as they struggled in the very atmosphere of passion. +And it has done us good to see how reliable the force has been about +which so much doubt existed. Unlike the Imperial service, these +irregular corps act as much for the unit as they do for the mass, as +animated by terror or by valour, by a fatal despair, or by a blooded +triumph, they fight for an individual supremacy. That is the moment +of their triumph, and it is these splendid qualities of savage and +physical animalism which makes it more easy to treat them with a wider +latitude than is usual. Their magnificent hardihood, their splendid +fighting gifts, their lurid blasphemy, their admiration for officers +who are men, their appalling debauchery, gives to them the ideal +setting of the rough but very gallant soldier of fortune, who, +scorning his enemy and hating a retreat, has played so omnipotent a +part in the history of the universe. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +CANNON KOPJE + + + MAFEKING, _October 31st, 1899_. + +Cannon Kopje is in itself a hideous cluster of stones, perched upon a +rocky ridge, which commands the town, a mile across the veldt. It is +impossible to conceive any more positive death-trap than that which +was contained in this kopje, and whatever may have been the +determining element in its original construction, it is infinitely to +be regretted that the possibilities of its being under shell fire were +never very seriously contemplated. It was thrown up during the Warren +expedition, and much as these things go, was neither removed nor +replaced until Monday's bombardment established its complete +uselessness under shell fire, and the folly of which Colonel +Baden-Powell was guilty in leaving it unprotected. It is too late to +say much now, but we have paid a heavy price for our neglect and +carelessness. We found it here when we came; we put men into it, we +are maintaining men there, and it is essential to the safety of our +town that we should still hold it. Since the action an effort has been +made to improve it; a splinter-proof shelter has been thrown across +the trench, and traverses have been thrown out, but the work of the +past few days has perhaps prepared the kopje for further shelling at +the enemy's convenience. As a _piece de resistance_ in the defence of +Mafeking, Cannon Kopje is the most strategically important position +near Mafeking, and we may reckon that, at the moment when these +wretched shepherds who are besieging us, secure this fort, to Mafeking +itself there remains but a few hours. + +Colonel Walford had under his command at the fort forty-four men with +a Maxim detachment from the Protectorate Regiment. The fairest +estimate of the men against him would place the Boer forces at no less +than eight hundred with four guns. Sunday night, the look-out from +Cannon Kopje saw a body of Boers making their way to a point somewhat +nearer the town than had hitherto been their custom, and our +expectations having been aroused by this movement we were inclined to +believe that the enemy might attack upon the following morning. Our +anticipations were further grounded upon the fact that the Boers to +the south-west of the town, had by no means despised the claims of +Cannon Kopje upon their attentions, and to every three shells which +their guns had thrown into the town during the days which the siege +had lasted, one, in a proportion of one in three, had been fired at +Cannon Kopje. It has gradually come to be considered, therefore, that +Cannon Kopje was a point against which the Boers would, sooner or +later, direct an attack, since its capture was necessary to the +successful execution of any general movement against the town. + +[Illustration: Cannon Kopje.] + +The detachment of Police, who formed the garrison at Cannon Kopje, +upon this day performed a most brilliant service for the town by +their determined and gallant stand. Perhaps in war more than in +anything else, chance is a greater arbiter than we like to consider, +and if it had not been for the chance attack against Cannon Kopje, +which resulted in the defeat of the Boer forces, it is not improbable +that Mafeking itself would have been invaded by the enemy. The +subjugation of this point, in reality the turning point in the siege, +was, however, of vital concern to Commandant Cronje, since it had been +his intention to bombard the south-east portion of the town, and to +carry it with a large force which he had assembled during the night in +the adjacent valley of the Molopo River. When day had dawned, the +look-out from Cannon Kopje had already reported to Colonel Walford +that there was unusual activity in the Boer camp; at the moment this +was stirring news, and indeed the fatigues for the night had been +barely dismissed when an experimental shell from the Boer artillery to +test the range, opened the action. During the night, and about the +close of Sunday, the enemy's artillery had taken up their position, +and as the grey of dawn ushered in the fatal day, a large force of +Boers moved out from their laager and occupied any point by which they +might command the area of the fort. It seemed to me, as I witnessed +their disposition, that at least a third of the forces before Mafeking +had been concentrated upon Cannon Kopje, and if so great a tragedy had +not attended the action, we could have afforded to laugh at the +efforts of an enemy so hopelessly incompetent as the Boer force has +proved itself to be. Against a mere gun emplacement and forty-four +men, shell fire from four guns was directed, and the services of eight +hundred men utilised. In the extreme west there was "Big Ben" and a +seven-pounder; in the extreme east there was a twelve-pounder. Within +a circle from these two points, and within effective range, a +seven-pounder and quick-firing Maxim-Nordenfeldt had been stationed. +The big gun took no part at all in this attack upon the kopje, but at +every moment that the enemy's shell fire lapsed, the Boer marksmen +opened with their Mauser rifles. Their rifle fire stretched from the +extremities of either flank and enfiladed the interior trenches of the +kopje. Nothing perhaps in the history of their operations along this +frontier, was so calculated to prove successful as the Boer attack +upon Cannon Kopje. They had the guns, the men, and they held all +commanding points, while they themselves were snugly ensconced behind +cover almost impervious to shell fire. With these advantages it would +seem morally impossible that forty-four men could withstand the +unceasing stream of shells, the mist of bullets, which comprised the +zone of fire of which the kopje was the centre. Had these men wavered, +such a thing is easy to explain; had they fallen back upon the town, +their movement would have been in order. But by preference they +stopped at their posts, the mark for every Boer rifle, the objective +of the enemy's shell fire, until so great had been our execution upon +the enemy that the Boers themselves proclaimed an armistice under the +protection of the Red Cross flag. When this was decreed one-fourth of +the detachment in the kopje were out of action, and eight of these +were killed. But the lamentable list of fatalities had been piled up +only at great cost to the enemy, since around the circle of the fort, +and not four hundred yards away, we could see the Boer ambulances +picking up their dead and wounded. It has been stated that they lost +one hundred men, and that a further fifty were seriously wounded, but +this is preposterous; while if we err at all towards our foe it is in +the computation of the losses which we claim to have inflicted upon +them. It is almost impossible to kill a Dutchman on the field, since +they are as pertinacious and industrious as beetles in seeking cover. +We saw two waggon loads pass from their firing-line to their laager, +but I am inclined to doubt if we killed and wounded forty of the +enemy. To have scored that number in the face of the most remarkable +fusilade of bullet and shell which was directed against the fort is a +wonderful feat, since it should not be forgotten that to every shot +which we fired, there were at least four hundred barrels emptied at +our marksmen in return. Such was the unfortunate construction of +Cannon Kopje, however, and the gross neglect with which it has been +treated to prepare for the present war, that it was not possible for +our men to use their loopholes, and as it was most necessary to hold +the fort each man who fired stood to his feet, and exposed himself +above the breastwork to the full force of the Boer rifles. The enemy +had carried out their movement so well, that under cover of their +guns, and the great annoyance of their enfilading fire, they had made +it almost impossible for the defenders of the fort to pay much +attention to their advance. They compelled men to take cover, since if +anything were seen to move behind the parapet of the fort, the Boers +swept the area of the position with most cruel and deadly volleys. But +cover was sought only at intervals, and when the hail of shells became +too tempestuous, since the brave little garrison were impressed with a +courage which scorned the fire which was turned upon them. When they +manned the defences and maintained a sturdy front the Boers were +nonplussed. They had expected to carry the position whereas they were +losing men more rapidly than they were killing them. We fired by six, +we fired independently, and whenever it was possible, the Maxim swept +the front of the enemy, but, relatively speaking, nothing could +prevail against the Boer numbers. It was easy enough to hold them in +check, since the first well-directed volley made them fall back some +few yards, but the heavy shell fire would sooner or later have told +its tale. It had already claimed the majority of those who were hit, +since if the shells did not burst and strike some one of those who +were lying near, they splintered upon the stones which composed the +defences of the fort and these splintered in their turn, coming into +contact with any one who was crouching behind them for shelter. Cannon +Kopje in itself was a terrible lesson; but it was also a magnificent +example of gallant conduct in the field. Captain the Hon. D. Marsham +who was killed, and Captain Charles Alexander Kerr Pechell, who died +in the course of the morning from wounds received, were individually +setting as fine an object lesson to their men as could be conceived, +yet it must not be imagined that the standard of their bravery was +much finer or much greater than that of their comrades. Colonel +Walford and Colonel Baden-Powell have each expressed their high +appreciation of the conduct of the men who survived the attack, and +although, as befits their rank, the example of the officers was +admirable, it was no better in reality than the action of the men over +whom they were commanding. Captain Marsham was struck by a rifle +bullet in turning to render some assistance to a wounded comrade. As +he attempted to do this a second bullet passed through his chest, and +a moment later he was dead, just as a third bullet passed through his +shoulder. It was as fine a death as any soldier could perhaps have +chosen, and it had the crowning mercy of being instantaneous. + +Captain Pechell was busying himself in directing the rifle fire from +the fort, and thereby directly drew the attention of the enemy. He, +with a detachment of six men, ranged up from time to time, and picked +off the enemy with well-aimed volleys. They had taken up their +position behind the eastern wing of the kopje, engaging a body of the +enemy whose flank fire enfiladed our position. The first shell which +came at these six men fell short, and the second and the third +bursting in the same place, scattered the outer covering of the +breastwork. Pechell ordered his men to retire from the direct line of +shell fire, when just as they were shifting their position a shell +struck the stone parapet, and burst among them. Private Burrows was +killed at once, just as he had been admiring the shooting of a +comrade. Sergeant-Major Upton and Captain Pechell received some +terrible injuries; poor Pechell died of injury extending from the +thigh to the shoulder. No one regrets, so much as his comrades, +Captain Pechell's gallant act, since had he not been endowed with most +magnificent courage he would have preserved discretion in the method +by which he exposed himself to the enemy, and by the death of these +two officers, Captain Marsham and Captain Pechell, her Majesty loses +two officers of exceptional promise and soldierly qualifications. + +The casualties of this action alone were eight killed and three +wounded, four being killed upon the spot, four dying of their wounds +within twelve hours of the action. Captain Marsham, Sergeant-Major +Curnihan, Private Burrows, and Private Martin were killed in the fort; +Captain Pechell, Sergeant-Major Upton, Private Nicholas and Private +Lloyd died of wounds; Sergeant-Major Butler, Corporal Cooke and +Private Newton were wounded. + +That night the garrison paid its farewell duties to those gallant men +who were killed at Cannon Kopje. Their interment took place at six +o'clock, and as we followed in the wake of the _cortege_ we felt the +shock which brought home to each of us the bitter fact that we should +henceforth know them no more. The attack of the Boers upon Cannon +Kopje had been so sudden, so utterly unexpected, and the manner in +which these men of the British South Africa Police had met their +death, had been so valorous that the sympathies of the entire town had +been most keenly aroused and overcome by the appalling swiftness of +the tragedy; there was no one who did not feel that in some way he was +himself a mourner even though the men who had been killed were quite +indifferent to him. Doubtless before the siege terminates we shall +become accustomed to our situation, and realise that after all it is +but the natural issue to a condition of belligerency that no one can +quite tell what sorrow the day will bring forth. But at present these +tragedies come upon us with a vivid freshness which is almost +unnerving and which stimulate disquietening fancies in the minds even +of the most callous. + +The cemetery here is in close proximity to the Boer lines, and lies to +the north of the town. It is a small enclosure banked by white rough +stones, and set amid green trees, where gentle fragrance imparts a +balminess to the breeze. It is as quiet and peaceful, by force of +contrast to the dried-up veldt around, as some oasis in the desert. +There is a winding path from the hospital to the cemetery; a road +which at the present moment is flanked in two places by the forts of +the Railway Division, and kept well defined by the footsteps of those +who bear their burdens to the tomb. Since the siege began we have lost +twenty-five, and with one engagement following rapidly upon another, +nightfall usually ushers in a scene in which a small body of men may +be seen gathered round an open grave, waiting irresolutely to take +some share in the rites of the burial service. We paced slowly and +solemnly along this veldt track, depressed not so much by the fate +which had befallen them, as by the hideous realism with which the +appalling uncertainty of war had been brought home to us. In the +darkness of the evening we could see across the veldt the fires of the +enemy's position, and as the _cortege_ wound its way from the hospital +we marched to the boom of the Boer artillery, while passing bullets +sang the notes of our evening hymn above our heads, and dropped about +us in the sand. Along the eastern front of the town as it lay behind +us, an occasional blaze of light in the sky told us where the shells +of the enemy were bursting, and to many came the thought that perhaps +even of those who had remained to do their duty in the trenches, there +were some who, less fortunate than others, might have already kept +their last vigils. In time we reached the grave side, then as we +gathered round the open spaces which had been so quickly prepared, +those who felt their loss the keenest, those who had been comrades and +close friends of the killed, paid their last homage to their memory +by placing some little trinket, some slight token of personal +friendship and affection, upon the winding sheet. At this juncture, +when war is all around us, when every able-bodied man is standing to +his arms, it is not possible to provide the dead with anything better +than a simple sheet. The men who fall in these days are interred in +their blood-stained uniforms, since there be no time in which to dress +their bodies. Those upon whom the funeral service was about to be read +lay in two waggons, silent shrouded witnesses to the fleeting vanity +which attends all heroes. Around the entrance to the cemetery the +officers of the staff, the commanding officers of the outposts, +representatives of every corps and every troop had foregathered, +following closely upon the heels of those who, bearing the grim +burdens upon their shoulders epitomised in their action the horrors of +war. It seemed as we stood there waiting, listening to the solemn +words of the service, punctuated now and then as they were, by the +screams of shells, by the angry snap of the Mauser, and the droning of +the Martini bullets, that these men who were now dead had achieved the +full honour of their calling. Indeed, many were there who would have +given gladly their own lives in exchange for that of their friend, +while there was not one who did not feel that the manner in which +their end had come to them was impressed with all that was most noble. + +For a moment after the service had concluded, we stood listening to +the strains of the Last Call. As its solemn notes died away, and we +retraced our steps to the various trenches and earthworks which, for +the moment, gave us shelter, we little imagined that within a few +hours, those of us who were correspondents would follow the body of +one from amongst ourselves once more upon this road. The following +night Lieutenant Murchison, who was in charge of the guns, wilfully +shot with his revolver Mr. E. G. Parslow, war correspondent of the +London _Daily Chronicle_. The horror of such a crime still hangs over +us, and is not in any way diminished by the fact that an officer who +had already distinguished himself by his career, should now be +awaiting the verdict of a Field Court Martial upon the gravest charge +in the criminal calendar. Poor Parslow had endeared himself to +everybody by the genial sympathy which he extended to those who were +themselves in trouble. He had won the admiration of many by the +calmness with which he conducted himself under the heaviest fire. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +A RECONNAISSANCE + + + MAFEKING, _November 7th, 1899_. + +A short canter from Mafeking across the sloping expanse of the veldt +and the interior lines of its western defences lie before one. It can +be said that Cannon Kopje to the south-west and Fort Miller to the +north-west are the two most outlying extremities of the outposts on +this front. Between them there is an almost unbroken chain of +earthworks, manned by detachments from squadrons of the Protectorate +Regiment, from the British South Africa Police, from the Cape Police, +and even from the Native stadt. These men live the lives of soldiers +whose every moment is engaged in watching a foe that might at any +opportunity which is given them charge down upon our lines. Unlike the +Boers, we do not despise the native interests, and much of the +weakness of our position emanates from the fact that we have +incorporated within the mystic circle of our armed defence the most +outlying areas of the native reserve. These, indeed, can very properly +be considered the exterior lines of the western outposts. It would +have been a very simple thing for Colonel Baden-Powell to have +ordered the destruction of the Native stadt, compelling its +inhabitants to seek what protection they could from the inclemency of +the elements, from a benign Providence, and the rapacious Boer. +Mafeking, without the Native stadt, could have been much more easily +defended, since the base of the slopes, across which our advanced +trenches now extend, would have been defended from the ridges of the +acclivities which rise from them. This would have given to the +advanced outposts some commanding heights from which the western +plains could have been more easily swept. As it is, however, the +policy which Colonel Baden-Powell is adopting towards the native +tribe, whose huts were here many generations before white men ever set +their feet in this part of the country, is one which extends to them +the same Imperial protection as he has extended to the colonists in +Mafeking. Where the Native stadt had been included in any portion of +the defences, the Baralongs have been assisted to defend, and have +been instructed in the means by which they might secure immunity for +themselves and for their stadt. + +The entrenchments of the Boers rise like mole-hills from the surface +of the plain, although there is a curious regard for what has been +humorously termed "three mile limit." The valley of the Molopo River +sets a background to the Boer position, the placid waters of the +stream wind through their lines, while their chief laagers have been +constructed upon the ridges of its watershed. From Cannon Kopje a +commanding view of the whole country on all sides of Mafeking may be +obtained, the Boer laagers giving to the expanses of the valley the +aspect of a mining camp. From different points of observation the +daily life of the enemy can be noted. In the early morning the smoke +of many fires swings in thin spirals to the sky, and the silence of +the plain is broken by the echoes which echo back the noises of the +camp. It would seem that they are as regular in the ordering of their +camp life as we are. When the sun has warmed the air, and evaporated +the morning dew from the grass, we can see them out-pinning their +horses, driving their cattle to fresh pastures, and endeavouring by +the establishment of sentries and Cossack posts to take the siege of +Mafeking as a very serious element in their lives. Everywhere there is +the green of early summer covering the plain with the sheen of +Nature's youth. Between the lines of the two camps graze herds of +cattle, in themselves affording tempting bait to the predatory +instincts of the Boers, who, if they did not lack the courage of their +desires, would have already attempted to raid the browsing oxen. So +far as our own outposts are concerned, along this line there are many +days in which nothing whatever happens, just as there are others in +which the dawn of day is made hideous by the scream of shells, the +singing of the Mauser, the angry rustle of the Nordenfeldt and Maxim. +The Boers have many guns along this side, and from time to time they +treat us to bombardments, lacking both purpose and any definite +result, beyond the expenditure of much ammunition. When the shells are +falling every one who can seeks cover, watching with some impatience +their passing, and could we in these moments but give existence to our +wishes, it would be that opportunity might come at once to turn the +tables upon our enemy. It is neither very honourable nor very pleasing +to have to preserve discretion as the better part of valour, but, +while we remain the objective of their fire, our pent-up energies are +developing a fine hatred against the foe. Colonel Baden-Powell has +some hope of giving indulgence to the spirit which animates his men, +and, even if the moment be somewhat uncertain, no small contentment is +derived from such belief. Morning and night we gird our loins for the +attack, but night and morning we awaken to a sense of infinite +disappointment, yet when it comes they may expect an avalanche, and, +in result, an overthrow. + +Day is dreary, sun-swept, dusty, teased with insects, and infinitely +wearisome, but with the coming of night, the fragrant coolness of the +air, the soft lisping of the evening breeze bringeth contentment. Each +evening, when the peace of the camp be settled and the men resting, +there is always an outpost standing within a few hundred yards of the +Boer camp. If the night be fine, he lies behind the stones of a +neighbouring kopje; but whether it be fine or wet, the guard is +posted; the safety of the camp depending upon his vigilance. Sometimes +he is relieved hourly, sometimes his watch is of four hours' duration. +It depends upon the proximity of his post to the enemy's lines, but, +lying there within earshot of the Boers, it is just possible to +realise the full gravity of our situation. The element of danger is +greater in these nocturnal hours, and men go to rest, their spirits +buoyed up with the infinite zest which comes from anticipating a night +attack. They sleep beside their arms, their posts are doubled, and the +officers of the watch make hourly rounds. In the distance, across the +plain and enveloped with the darkness of the veldt, the difficulty of +seeing intensified by shadows, the outline of the Boer laagers can be +demarcated. Their camp fires die down one by one, and presently, +beyond the restless moving of their cattle, no sign of life animates +their position. It is in such moments that those who lead us deplore +the paucity of the numbers under their command, since, were it +possible to spare the men, there have been several occasions, when a +midnight dash, after the fashion of Captain Fitzclarence, or the +repetition of the reconnaissance at daybreak such as Major Godley so +gallantly led, could have been organised with equally satisfactory +results. + +[Illustration: Major A. J. Godley of the Western Outposts on the +Look-out.] + +However, within the last few days, Colonel Baden-Powell has taken +advantage of the enemy's position upon this front to order the western +outposts to spend some few hours in worrying the enemy. It was a very +pleasant little outing for us, and eminently beneficial, since the +excitement attendant upon such a manoeuvre was as wholesome as a +bumper of champagne. Word had already reached me of this contemplated +move upon the enemy, and Lieutenant Paton, of C Squadron, was good +enough to offer the hospitality of his hut for the night in question. +We dined, not with the guilty splendour of the Trocadero or amid the +sombre magnificence of Prince's, but in the rough-and-ready fashion +which falls to those who, carrying their lives in their hands, have at +most but a moment to spare for such unimportant incidents as breakfast +and dinner. As a humble offering to the board I had drawn from the +Army Service Stores a tin of canned mutton, and procured +somewhere--which may or may not have been a private garden--a luscious +marrow, and with these I hied myself to Lieutenant Paton's quarters. +Along this western front there are many delightful and very genial +officers. There is Major Godley, who is in command of the whole line; +Colonel Walford, who commands Cannon Kopje; there are Captain +Vernon and Captain Marsh, who, with Major Godley, are Imperial special +service men; Lieutenant Holden and my host. The distances between +their quarters are but slight, and perhaps the most entertaining +moment in the siege is that which enables us to foregather at Major +Godley's, chatting with eagerness and charming frankness upon the +possibilities of the war as they are suggested by our immediate +environment. By the time that I had arrived Lieutenant Paton's boy had +prepared a savoury stew, and such was the scarcity of fresh meat that +we had no hesitation in dedicating the canned mutton to some other +meal. We ate, and pleasantly indulged in lime juice and water, smoking +with contented elegance some choice cigarettes. After we had dined a +short conference was held at Major Godley's, and then to rest, +perchance to spend the night in sleeping, or perchance, to scratch; +for fleas and flies, the parasitic mosquito and the insidious ant, +make both day and night a source of irritation. + +The men of C Squadron under Captain Vernon, the Bechuanaland Rifles +under Captain Cowan, and three guns under Major Panzera and Lieutenant +Daniels, of the British South Africa Police, were engaged in the +movement, and distinguished themselves in what they did as well as can +be expected. At a quarter to two we turned out. Greatcoats had been +left behind, men slinging their waterbottles and bandoliers upon their +shoulders. We were to meet at the base of a hill rising a few hundred +yards across the veldt from Major Godley's. Night hung heavily upon +us, the sky was dark, and everything seemed to point to the wisdom of +choosing such a night. We stepped out briskly, although to our +strained nerves the soft tread of the men sounded as the rumble of a +juggernaut. However, we proceeded very quietly, and the sheen of sand, +the white lustre of the road, the rustle of the thorn bushes were +presently left behind as we took our stand in the rear of Major +Godley's troop. In the valley at the base of the hill we halted. +Before us, a scarcely perceptible rise silhouetted against the sky, +the bushes lining the summit throwing themselves into prominence +against the grey, black, background, while here and there trees tossed +their arms silently and warningly in the breeze. All around us there +was the hum of insect life, that monotonous dead level buzz of +countless insects and the baying of the bull frogs. And we waited, +when out of the darkness came Major Godley, a tall, thin figure +impressed with energy and determination, inspecting the lines. + +The squadron was dismounted, and had fallen in by troops, the dull +khaki of the Protectorate Regiment scarcely showing up against the +grey-blackness of the night; and at either end of the line there was a +squad of Bechuanaland Rifles and a contingent of natives. As they +stood there, there were nearly one hundred men, and, though the order +had been given to be in this position at 2.30, and the hour had come, +we were waiting for the guns. Presently, as we waited, barely a mile +from the Boer laager, there was the rumble of artillery in the +distance. As we heard it officers and men believed that at any moment +the Boer camp would sound the alarm. We could hear the guns rising +over hillocks, falling heavily upon stones, or crushing back upon some +boulder. Indeed there was noise enough to wake the dead themselves. +The rattle of the limber was only a little more acute than the tension +on our nerves. Men swore silently at the guns and showed their +restlessness as the noise grew louder. In a little the Major bustled +up all eagerness and fluff and worry, and then as the guns trailed +behind us and the little column moved on, it seemed that every step we +advanced further would have brought the Boers tumbling about our ears. +Much as one creeps about a house at night treading on every board +which creaks in preference to those which do not creak, so was the +march of the column. As the guns came on they seemed to find stones +everywhere. Wheels fell into snug hollows, jammed in ragged holes, and +bumped with such heaviness that the night was made hideous by the echo +of their rumble. Occasionally we stopped, as though to allow the peace +of night to settle. Then we moved forward once again and in a little +we halted for the final stage. The guns took up their position to the +left of the column, the hundred men lying in extended order across the +veldt. Before us there was the ridge of rising veldt and scrub, and so +we rested, fretting with curious impatience at the signs of life which +began to animate the enemy's camp. When we stood up we could see the +dull white of their waggons bent in position for their laager; we +could see the fires within, we could hear in the still silence of +early dawn the chopping of wood as the axe fell upon the logs. The +sides of the valley threw back the noise until, echoes echoing back, +the sound caught our ears, and so we watched and waited until +gradually dawn came. + +The dull-black beauty of the night passed, slipping into grey and +leaving the uncertain mystery of an early morning sky. A red streak +across the east threw glimpses of light into the canopy of heaven, +when, as a signal of its birth, there came the words to fire; then +the line of creeping figures which had gained the ridge pressed their +rifles through the scrub and bush which hedged the top, and, crouching +to the ground, opened the reconnaissance. The objective of the night +attack which Major Godley was commanding had been to effect a +reconnaissance in force against the western laagers of the Boers. In +respect to the constant increase of the force that surrounds Mafeking, +almost the one means of temporarily checking their advance which +remains to us is through the medium of these attacks. Information had +been brought into headquarters that the Boers were massing upon the +east side of the town, the small laager on the west being temporarily +evacuated. The night dash would both surprise and annoy the enemy, and +anything which combined such benign ends was very welcome. The guns +were to throw a few shells, the men were to fire a few volleys; when +the squadron would fall back by troops their reconnaissance completed. +We opened by volleys poured incontinently into their camp, but so soon +as the guns had discharged the first shells into the laager, the +little signs of order which had animated the natives disappeared, and +although they maintained their line they began an independent +practice. It was the first time that native arms had been incorporated +with our men, and it is to be hoped, before the next experiment is +repeated, they will have been got more under control. Excellent as +they may be on their own account, they are almost altogether useless +when removed from the immediate spheres of utility. Our fire at first +was high, and many rounds of bullet and shell fire were absolutely +wasted. Presently Daniels secured the range for the guns, and shells, +prettily planted, ruined many waggons. The sortie, so far as we were +concerned, proceeded merrily, doing no material damage, but making a +hell of a lot of noise. The glories of the early morning were soon +enveloped in the heavy smoke from the rifles of the natives, who still +continued blazing independently and indifferently at the enemy's +position and who also generally struck the earth a few yards short of +their own front of fire. The opportunity which was thus afforded of +both surprising and annoying the enemy was very welcome, and the night +dash was entered into with infinite zest. So soon as the guns had +discharged their first shell our men began to fire by volleys, but the +sortie had not progressed very far when the activity in the Boer lines +showed that they were preparing to repel a force much larger than the +mere reconnoitering party which was actually before them. In the +uncertain light of rising morn a body of 600 Boers could be seen +riding from the main laager upon the western front to the support of +the minor camp. We have hitherto thought the Boers timid at close +quarters, but in this case there was every sign of haste and eagerness +on the part of the reinforcements to arrive upon the scene of action. +We could see them dismounting as they came up and run to the laager, +some of them firing as they ran, others of them forming into detached +parties and firing from isolated positions. After volleying for some +minutes our men fulfilled the object of their morning excursion and +were preparing to retire by troops, when, owing to the presence of the +reinforcements, firing became general. Our rifles replied to their +rifles, our two seven-pounders replied to their guns, but beyond this +nothing was permitted to interfere with the successful completion of +our work. It mattered very little to us how fiercely the enemy's +Nordenfeldts spat out defiance or what their rifles said, for we fell +back steadily, the different troops doubling fifty, one hundred, and +one hundred and fifty yards each time. The fire as the various troops +took up the retirement became very hot, the enemy cheerfully Mausering +into space. For some hours after our men had gained the security of +their own trenches the enemy maintained a heavy fire upon the several +outposts along the western front. During the retirement of C Squadron +Major Godley had ordered Captain Cowan to occupy Fort Eyre, a rifle +trench, with a detachment of Bechuanaland Mounted Rifles, so that he +might check any signs of advance which the enemy might display. In +consequence of this, Major Godley, Captain Cowan, Lieutenant Feltham, +and their men experienced as severe a fire as any which has, at +present, been received from the Boers. The enemy made a determined +rifle attack upon the work, but lacking the courage to charge, after +some few hours' rifle firing, they withdrew. + +These little encounters are all that the outposts have with which to +pass their time, and the success with which they have been conducted +has been sufficient to check the enemy, and to cause him to reflect +upon the relative value of the means at our command. The defence of +the western front lies wholly in the hands of men from the +Protectorate Regiment and a few native contingents. The Town Guard is +not _en evidence_ upon the west side, the area of their exertions +being confined to the more immediate precincts of the town. And by +this it does not seem that the Town Guard will have much opportunity +to distinguish itself, since, unless its members volunteer to take +part in any sniping expedition, those manning the interior line of our +trenches, which are those occupied by the Town Guard, have received +positive orders to withhold their fire until the enemy is upon the +point of rushing the town. Several times it has been thought that this +was going to happen, and the local defensive force had hopes of +justifying its existence, but hitherto the valour which underlies the +good intentions of the Boers is not sufficient to inspire them to +convert an excellent suggestion into a practical experiment. Thus +despite the Boer telegrams to Europe there has been no battle round +Mafeking; a few slight skirmishes upon our part, much proud boasting +upon the part of the Boers is the limit of mutual operations which +have centred around Mafeking. We are waiting, and in the interval, +preparing. That is all which can be said. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE TOWN GUARD + + + MAFEKING, _November 15th, 1899_. + +The straits of a beleaguered city are only just beginning to come to +Mafeking. A retrospect of the history of the Franco-Prussian war +reveals how very great were the sufferings of those unfortunate people +who were unlucky enough to be besieged by the Prussian armies. Their +difficulties, the dangers to which they were constantly subjected, +their constant struggle against the extortionate demands of the few +who had been able to "corner" the provisions can perhaps be taken as +conveying a general impression of the hardships of a siege. Yet, +however, when we come to consider the siege of Mafeking in its more +elemental details, the picture is not unlike those presented by the +farcical melodrama. It is now nearly six weeks since Mafeking was +proclaimed as being in a state of siege, and, although there has been +no single opportunity of any commercial reciprocity between ourselves +and the outside world, the ruling prices are at present but very +little above normal, distress is wholly absent, danger is purely +incidental, and, indeed, it would seem, as Colonel Baden-Powell said +in a recent order, that "everything in the garden was lovely." This +somewhat happy state of things is, of course, to be attributed to the +extraordinary foresight and sagacity which characterises the +arrangements that the well-known firm of contractors in South Africa, +Julius Weil, concluded for provisioning the town. Immense stocks of +foodstuffs had been stored in the town before the war, and it is the +knowledge of the valuable stores which are lying here which has +inspired the Boers to court us so assiduously. The tale might have +been different had the Colonial Government been permitted to arrange +for any such emergency as a siege. In this respect, so completely +opposed to any preparation were Mr. Schreiner and his Cabinet, that it +was not even possible to procure through such an agency any adequate +means of defence, much less to obtain the essential food supplies. +When Kimberley appealed to Mr. Schreiner for permission to send up +from Port Elizabeth some Maxims which had been ordered by the De Beers +Company, the licence was refused on the ground that there was no cause +to strengthen the defences of that town, nor any reason to believe +that the situation demanded such precautions. The Colonial Government +repeated their policy in relation to Mafeking, and when urgent appeals +were sent to Mr. Schreiner, to the Castle authorities, and to Sir +Alfred Milner, the influence of the Cabinet was such that no notice +was taken of their request. + +Nothing perhaps can excuse such an obstructive policy as that which +was followed by the Colonial Government upon the very eve of +hostilities. It is only when we come to deal with the situation which +their neglect has created that we can adequately measure the full +extent of their culpability. The claim of so important a centre as +Mafeking upon their attention was wilfully ignored with a persistence +which is positively criminal, and when taken into consideration with +the repeated warnings which were sent to them by leading members of +the community of Mafeking it is difficult to believe that the Colonial +Cabinet, by so flatly contravening the spirit of their loyalty to the +Imperial Crown, were not directly conniving with a hostile oligarchy +for the downfall of this colonial town. Had Mafeking been anything but +Anglo-Saxon at heart, had it possessed that proportion of debased +Dutch and renegade British colonists which is to be found in Vryburg +and those other hostile areas in our own colony, the story of Mafeking +would have been a story of treachery and deceit, of broken allegiance, +and of palsied faith. As it was, when the petition for extra armaments +was ignored, the town, disdaining the danger which confronted them, +proceeded to stand their ground, and to show, at any rate, a firm +front to any enemy that might assail them. While Colonel Baden-Powell +organised the defences of the Western Border, the men of Mafeking, +under the supervision of Colonel Vyvyen, base commandant, strongly +entrenched the position of their town, which hitherto had been open to +every corner of the earth. In times of peace Mafeking is a collection +of buildings placed upon the veldt, lacking both natural and +artificial protection, the centre into which all roads come and from +which all classes of people go. It is a thriving mid-African township +which, more by good management than by good luck, has become at the +present time an important outpost of our Empire. In these days, when +the boom of cannon destroys the silences of our splendid isolation, +and the scream of shell disturbs the harmony of night, Mafeking rests +with patient steadfastness behind its hastily improvised earthworks, +seeking shelter when the shells of the enemy press too hotly upon one +another, yet always ready for work at the outposts, prepared for the +fitful turbulence of our invading foe. Possibly from the Boer trenches +Mafeking may look an armoured citadel. Possibly it is the sturdy +appearance of our ramparts which have caused the Boers to bring their +heavy artillery to bear upon our mud brick walls. Yet there is humour +in this situation, since the gravity of our position accentuates the +grim travesty of our defences. We have not so much as appears, and it +would be unfair to give such a moment as the present the correct +estimate of dummy camps which have been built, dummy earthworks which +have been thrown up, of dummy guns which are in position. The +situation between the Boers and ourselves may be likened to a game of +poker, Mafeking possessing no hand, yet retains the privilege of +bluffing. In the end it will be seen that the dignity of our impudence +has swept the board, although we may be excused from wishing to renew +the game. But there is perhaps a finer spirit in the tribute which +this place has paid to Queen and country than mere courage. We have +the faith of our affections, the steadfastness of a duty which, if +inspired, is equally impressed with reverence. Such strain as the +siege has put upon the loyalty of the colonists of Mafeking has been +welcomed by reason of the opportunity which it has given for the many +who have never seen the Queen to show, their honourable allegiance to +her Majesty. + +From time to time Colonel Baden-Powell has issued orders +congratulating the townspeople upon their spirit, and commiserating +with them upon their unfortunate predicament. They are indeed +deserving of great sympathy, since the manly way in which they have +come forward in support of the situation has very materially aided the +successful resistance given by Mafeking. The forts upon the eastern +facing of the town are manned altogether by the Town Guard; these are +particularly warlike when beneath the protection of their bomb-proof +shelters, and it would be almost a pity should the siege close without +any opportunity arising of testing their efficiency. Throughout day +and night they are compelled to remain idle in their trenches, and +from 9 till 6, and again from 6 till 9, they are not permitted upon +any pretence whatever to leave their posts. The life they are leading +is of the roughest description, and it certainly appears that by far +the greatest proportion of the hardships of the siege has fallen to +the share of the Town Guard. At the beginning of the siege, when, +according to official reports, there was no ground to believe that it +would be of long duration, few people were animated by anything but +the plain determination to enjoy any actual hostilities which might +eventuate. Now, however, as the fifth week of the siege draws to an +end the rigours of the confinement to which the townspeople have been +subjected are beginning to tell. The work, the most laborious, the +least interesting, and totally without compensation, is that performed +by the Town Guard, and as a body this defence force presents strangely +contrasting features as the siege progresses. Their hours are early +and late, they stand to arms at 4.30 in the early morning, and at +intervals during the day the full strength of the fort is mustered. +There is nothing with which these men can occupy their minds, and if +their inactivity is beginning to irritate them, if the poorness of +their food is affecting them, it is to be hoped that the work which +they are doing now will receive full and satisfactory acknowledgment, +both at the hands of the staff, and of the Government. As a body, the +Town Guard is a medley of local salamanders, and if it be possible, by +the force of their surroundings, they should become inspired with +soldierly instincts, and although after their fashion they may be +expected to fight, their greatest wish at the present moment is to +obtain from the Government, imperial, colonial, and military, some +adequate explanation of the causes determining their present +situation. They feel that they have been neglected by Mr. Schreiner +and I am quite certain that if that political chameleon were here now, +he would suffer as much by reason of his own sins, as for the trouble +and worry he has caused the industrious, if benighted, citizens of +Mafeking. For the most part the Town Guard is a collection of +civilians, who are accustomed to the full enjoyment of comparative +affluence, and who, through the exigencies of the siege, are at +present living under conditions which would test the endurance of the +most experienced soldier. They are penned up within the limits of +Mafeking, unable to move with any degree of safety, and condemned to +an inactivity which is very irksome to those who have been pressed as +volunteers into the defences of the town. They did not expect, in the +early days of the crisis, to be actively engaged in defending their +town, since, with some hope of having their views adopted, they +repeatedly urged upon the general staff the fallacies which +distinguished the official forecast of the situation, but the staff +was incredulous and Colonel Baden-Powell was impressed with an +optimism which now seems strangely at fault. If one is to believe +important respected members of the community here, it would seem that +they made special and very urgent overtures to the colonel commanding +upon the defenceless condition of Mafeking, and now, as they stand to +their posts, throughout the heat of an African summer, beneath the +deluges of the rainy season, they cull but little satisfaction from +the Ministerial refusal adequately to protect their town by sending +troops and armaments to it. They say that they were derided, that no +notice was taken of their request, that their petition was overruled, +leaving to them the work of warding off from the town such a day of +bitterness, of exceeding danger, of very genuine disaster, as might +have been expected to result from the unprotected condition of the +place. The irregular soldiers of the Protectorate Regiment do not, +perhaps, deserve so much commiseration, since in all probability their +present circumstances are little worse than those which they +anticipated when they were enlisting. But there is some force in the +case which the inhabitants of Mafeking can bring against the Colonial +Government, and it is to be hoped that the work which they are now +doing will receive full and satisfactory compensation at the final +adjustment. But there exists little possibility that they will be +given any compensation which will be in any way commensurate, since to +those who have followed the history of such Ministerial compensation +as comes within the region of political economy it will be known that +the accidents of war put a somewhat close limit upon the accidence of +compensation. Their businesses have in many cases been absolutely +ruined, those who were farmers upon the outskirts of the town have had +the melancholy satisfaction of seeing their homesteads set fire to by +the enemy and their cattle raided. These facts are the simple home +truths that do not tend to make them appreciative of the honour and +glory which falls to them by playing so prominent a _role_ in the +defence of their town. They expect, however, to receive medals. Those +who were local merchants, men of peace for the most part, with no very +keen enthusiasm for martial glory, have seen the industry of a +lifetime completely wrecked by the diffidence of the general staff and +the unwillingness of the Government to take such precautions as would +have placed the town beyond the probability of attack; but, although +every one recognises the worthlessness of the material which was +placed at the disposal of Colonel Baden-Powell, there exists no reason +which can defend the absence of efficient military stores in the town. +Upon the termination of the war let us hope that Colonel Baden-Powell +will be asked to explain, but for the present the townspeople of +Mafeking are singularly unanimous in their desire to co-operate with +the military authorities. + +Under their direction the Boers have been repulsed for seven weeks, +just as without the walls of Mafeking an almost impregnable defence +has been constructed. It is perhaps a detail if our defenders be armed +with Sniders, Enfields, a few Martinis, and a still less number of +Lee-Metfords. Moreover, we have none too much ammunition, our +seven-pounders are incapable of sustaining the brunt of an action +without being sent to the repairing shop upon its termination, and if +our Maxims be beyond reproach, our Hotchkiss and Nordenfeldt are both +obsolete and unreliable. These are the more material elements of our +defences, and to them may be added the strength of the Protectorate +Regiment, Cape Police, British South Africa Police, Railway Division, +the Bechuanaland Rifles, and the numerous native contingents +numbering, with the Town Guard, some fifteen hundred men. Against this +we must place an enemy whose tactics are surprising everybody, whose +artillery fire is admirable, whose guns are numerous and first class. +They stand off five miles and shell the town with perfect safety, +while under cover of their fire they project their advanced trenches +daily a few feet nearer the town. We have endeavoured with our +artillery and by night sorties to check their progress, but the +sapping of Mafeking continues, and is, at once, a very serious, if not +our sole, danger. Should their trenches advance much further it will +be impossible to move about during daytime at all, and, although we +have thrown up bales of compressed hay and sacks of oats to act as +shields against the enemy's bullets, and the flying splinters of +passing shells, there is no hour in the day in which the streets of +the town are not sprayed by Mauser bullets. It is not possible for us +to advance very far from our own lines, since, as eagles swoop down +upon their carrion, so would the Boers from other quarters attempt to +rush the town. Yet there is no doubt that such movement would be very +welcome, affording as much keen pleasure to the volunteers of the town +as to the newly-raised units of the garrison. We nurture a wild desire +to attempt to spike "Big Ben," and it may be that before long +Providence will turn from the side of the enemy by presenting us with +some such golden opportunity. The big gun is hedged around by barbed +wire, guarded in front by mines, flanked upon the one side by a +Nordenfeldt-Maxim and upon the other by a high-velocity Krupp. Truly, +they could deal out a very warm reception to those who chanced their +luck, but a little novelty these days atones for many hours of tiring +inactivity, and if the Colonel chose to put a price upon the task +there would be no trouble in enlisting for the venture some five +hundred volunteers. The siege, as it progresses, seems to give fewer +opportunities for coming into positive contact with the enemy; such +occasions as there have been are few and far between, and, although +Colonel Baden-Powell holds out the promise of such a venture, it has +been so constantly deferred that we are for the most part becoming +incredulous. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +WASTED ENERGIES + + + MAFEKING, _November 22nd, 1899_. + +Within a few weeks of Major Godley's daybreak attack upon the western +laager, it was decided to repeat the experiment against the main +position of the Boers upon the east side. Had this but come off, from +the estimate of the men and guns engaged, the movement would have been +as important as any which have taken place. It had been arranged to +open a general fire upon the emplacement of the hundred-pound gun and +the advanced trenches of the Boer position a short time before sunset, +since the closing of day would make it impossible for the enemy, in +the absence of aiming-posts and clinometers, to train their artillery +upon the town. Now that the enemy have begun to sap Mafeking by a +system of advanced galleries, the military authorities here have been +waiting for them to come within a certain radius of the town so that +we might counter-gallery their position and enfilade their trenches. +From their entrenchment at the brickfields, rather more than fifteen +hundred yards from the town, Boer sharpshooters have been sniping the +town with comparative impunity. When this plan was first projected, +natives, under Corporal Currie, Cape Police, were sent up the +river-bed, which runs at this particular point within three hundred +yards of the Boer flank, to build a trench as near as possible to the +position of the snipers in the brickfields. With the successful +execution of this piece of work the first steps towards the +contemplated reconnaissance had been taken, since this new post, which +was constructed under cover of night, completely outflanked the +advance trenches of the Boers. When they began to fire upon the town +in the morning they were somewhat surprised at receiving a volley from +what appeared to be little more than a mud heap. Corporal Currie and +his natives drove back the Boers from their advanced post in the +brickfields to the first line of trenches in their position, and so +long as we retained the river-bed post the brickfields ceased to give +shelter to the Boer sharpshooters; moreover, when the Boers had been +effectually quieted in the brickfields a little more of the original +conception was carried out. Captain Lord Charles Bentinck and A +squadron and Captain Fitzclarence with the Hotchkiss detachment were +sent to support the native outposts, while a seven-pound gun under +Lieutenant Daniels moved into an emplacement in the river-bed. Major +Panzera took command of the gun which was to support the Maxim under +Major Goold Adams in the north-east corner of the town. In conjunction +with this, the extreme eastern flank of the town was defended by a +detachment of the Cape Police with a Maxim, and a supplementary force +of the same police, under Inspector Marsh, were entrenched across the +eastern front of the native location. Thus upon Monday night were the +plans arranged. Shortly before midnight Major Panzera, who has charge +of the artillery, gave me a courteous permission to accompany +Lieutenant Daniels to his emplacement in the river-bed, from which +point it was possible to move to our advanced trenches further up the +stream. Mafeking had gone to rest when the gun started, and although +the wheels were padded and every precaution taken to muffle the noise, +it seemed that at any moment, the town would have been aroused. In a +little the immediate precincts of Mafeking had been left behind, and +the challenge of the last sentry answered. As we moved down to the +river-bed the gun detachment hung upon the rear of the gun straining +to prevent the shake and rumble of its descent. Silently we crept on; +no murmur of human voices, no steel rang a "care-creating" clatter, no +rumble of tumbril or gun broke through the darkness to the sentries of +the enemy; in about an hour the gentle lapping of the river told us +that the journey was at an end, and as we crossed the stream and +reached the party working upon the emplacement there was much feeling +of relief that the enemy had not sounded the alarm. While Lieutenant +Daniels arranged the emplacement of the gun, he permitted me to try my +hand at superintending native labour. There were thirty of them, who, +commencing about midnight, were to have completed by daybreak, the +task upon which they were engaged. It reminded me of the days at +college when the house whips stood over the team urging them and +coaching them in their game. There was every necessity for speed, and +as the night was cold one made the most of the opportunity. The +working party was divided into those with picks and those with +shovels--the one breaking up the ground, the others heaping up the +earthwork. In addition to the natives who were digging there was a +small party filling sacks with sand which, when they had been filled, +were piled up around the rapidly-rising parapet of the gun. As they +worked they sang, droning a war-song which seemed to give zest to +their labours. As an experience it was rather fine to feel that even +in this perfunctory fashion one was attempting work of some +importance. About the scene there was the usual feature of the veldt +by night: there was the subdued murmur of the waters tumbling gently +over stones or causing stray groups of bullrushes to shiver; then from +the bank there spread the veldt, rising in soft-clad hillocks, or +falling in snug hollows, the green expanse tinted with the silvery +light of the moon. Beyond ourselves and our cordon of sentries there +should have been no one, although occasionally we thought that, just +above the skyline, lights played about the shadowy outline of the Boer +gun. But if they heard us they took no notice, and as dawn broke +across the east the finishing touches to the gun were quickly given. +Brown earth was strewn upon the whitened patches of the bags which had +not been properly covered, the humidity of the fresh-turned soil +mingling with the fumes of working natives. For the night's work, as +we gathered our tools together, the best evidence of our labours was +the grim muzzle of the gun which leered through its embrasure. It +spoke defiance, and as the day which then was breaking, drew to its +close we should know whether its sense of might had been effectually +established. And so we returned to town talking upon the strength of +the emplacement and upon its strategic value. As we left the gun we +were alone, when suddenly, without a sound, the figure of the Colonel +was seen coming across the veldt. He passed us quickly, and as we +followed him we wondered what he knew, but before noon those who had +been informed of the contemplated attack had learned the news. As he +had crept up the lines he had passed detached parties of Boers +withdrawing from the extreme rear of their position. The explanation +was obvious, but he stayed until daybreak to make certain of his +ground, and by the light of early dawn the trenches which we were so +shortly to fire upon were found deserted. Thus do the spies work +within our camp, taking to the enemy news of everything which +happened, and thus does the Colonel circumvent them. However, if we +did not attack them with our guns, for the remainder of the day the +advanced squadrons in the river-bed justified their position by +keeping down the crew from the big gun. They poured in volleys at +1,400 yards, and, for the first time in the siege, no shells were +thrown. As they retired from their trenches, so they withdrew their +gun, and we had a day of peace. + +But how wearily the time passes; moreover we are still enduring the +straits of a siege and the torments of a bombardment. For almost seven +weeks we have defied an enemy who encircle us upon every side, and who +has summoned to its aid, for the purposes of breaching our trivial +earthworks, the finest guns from their arsenal in Pretoria. The Boers +outnumber us in men and in artillery, and not a day has passed since +the siege began that they have not thrown shrapnel and common shell, +omitting minor projectiles, into the town. And still we live, with +just sufficient spirit to jeer across our ramparts at the enemy. They +Mauser us, and shell us; they cut our water off, and raid our cattle; +they make life hell, and they can do so, so long as it may please +them; but no one was ever so deluded if they think that by such means +Mafeking surrenders. From time to time we have given them a taste of +our quality, and if on occasion we have lost some few, it is a source +of melancholy satisfaction to know that their loss has been the +greater. It is not long since the Boers attempted to blow the town to +atoms through the agency of dynamite, though, _similia similibus +curantur_, they went to heaven prematurely by an undesirable +explosion. It was night, and the town was just about to rest, when it +was shaken to its foundations by a most deafening roar; sand and +stones, fragments of trees came down as hail from the skies, the whole +place being lighted with the lurid glow of blood-red flame. To the +north of Mafeking, and so close to the cemetery that it might have +been a pillar of fire coming to earth to claim its own, an immense arc +of fire and smoke was ejected out of the ground. After it there came +silence, broken here and there by the rattle of the _debris_ upon the +roofs of the houses, and by the shouts and shrieks of a town in the +confusion of a panic. That night those who slept had dreams of the day +of judgment, while those who lay awake were restless, quaking with an +insidious terror. In the morning the cause explained itself, since +barely half a mile up the line was an enormous rent in the ground, the +line itself being strewn and scattered with the rubbish of an +earthquake. The Boers, with much ingenuous enterprise, had despatched +upon a purely friendly mission a trolly load of dynamite; +unfortunately, where they had started their infernal machine the +declivity of the line had precipitated the truck backwards toward +their own camp, and having very foolishly lighted their time-fuse +before they had surmounted the crest of the rise, they had not the +courage to stop the progress of the somewhat novel engine of +destruction. Apparently it had rolled slowly downwards, tracking the +instigators of such a deed with very fatal persistence, until the +time-fuse met the charge, and powder and dynamite went off together. +Upon the morrow there was much sadness in the Boer camp, and much +silence. + +Dynamite has played a not unimportant _role_ in the history of our +siege. Cronje has heard from native spies, and from his friends in our +camp, that Mafeking is set within a circle of dynamite mines, and he +has protested against its use in civilised warfare. Since then, +however, he has not only discharged dynamite by trolly loads into the +town, but he has threatened, in his vague and shadowy fashion, to send +to his capital for some dynamite guns. It would seem, then, that a +warm time is coming to Mafeking; the pity of it being that we are kept +so long and in such unnecessary suspense. If Cronje were the gallant +warrior whose dignity he assumes in addressing the garrison, he would +have either taken or abandoned Mafeking some weeks ago. As it is, +however, with occasional letters of regret for such untimely +procedure, he still elects to bombard an inoffensive and unoffending +township. The other morning, after the usual series of dull days, the +activity in the Boer camp suggested to us that the town was about to +be attacked. From the south-west the big Creusot opened fire at +intervals of twenty minutes, the intervening periods being pleasantly +filled in with Mauser and Martini fire and shells from two nine-pound +high-velocity Krupps. In a very short space of time the list of +fatalities included a native dog, a commissariat mule, and many +buildings. After such a bloodless bombardment the Boer legions +gallantly rode round to the east with the apparent intention of +attacking the town. Then we thought that, in that moment, our defence +would be justified, but he is wisest who determines what is to be the +nature of the Boer movement when that movement has taken place. Down +the serried lines of armed Dutchmen old Piet Cronje, as his friends +call him, or General Cronje, as a sycophantian Boer press describe +him, rode. He was a gallant sight--albeit we could only just see him +some two thousand yards distant. After a temporary and casual +inspection of his force, General Cronje turned his head towards +Mafeking, and waving violently one arm in the air, cantered with much +solemn apprehension towards our trenches. He had covered in this +desperate effort some thirty yards, when perhaps a natural +superstition caused him to turn his head. Was there a man dismayed in +the Boer lines? Not one; but nevertheless, they were not taking any +such manoeuvre just then. Cronje stopped and cantered back again, +seeming to hold an indaba with his petty officers. They gathered round +him, they talked to him, pointing towards their lines, and shouting at +one another; but there it ended. In a little while we saw a silent +figure, moody and taciturn, guarded by two orderlies, ride slowly +around from the east front to the headquarters of the executive on the +south-west. Thus Cronje failed, not through any fault of his, but +because the idle braggarts who form his army have not the spirit of +whipped curs. Since then Cronje has made no effort to storm Mafeking, +and it is very much to be doubted whether until the siege be raised +the attempt will be renewed. + +One must sympathise a little with Cronje since he has not been able to +sustain in his attack upon Mafeking the high reputation which he +enjoys among his countrymen. Now that he has been recalled to Natal, +we here hope that he may be able to find some opportunity to +distinguish himself. His force without Mafeking is a raw, lawless body +of Western Boers, the majority of whom have followed him on his march. +We say Natal, but there is no very positive ground for believing that +it is in that direction that the new field of his activity lies. It +may be that he has gone South, and if such should happen to be the +case, it will not be long before he will come in contact with men who +will test his mettle to the utmost. There have been many rumours of +reinforcements: some people, addicted with a greater faculty of +imagination than power of veracity, have even seen the advanced +outposts of the relief, which, of course, is ridiculous. They mistake +some scattered party of Boers for advanced scouts. We do not think +that there is much real chance of the siege of Mafeking being raised +before the New Year, since such would be opposed to the stately and +insular procedure of the Imperial and Colonial War Offices. Hitherto +it has apparently ignored the claims of Mafeking. All conditions of +people here united in their efforts to secure some more or less +reliable armament from the Government, but the reason, above all +others, which made this impossible was that the Imperial authorities +at home, in their fatuity, could not bring themselves to believe that +the war, which South Africa knew to be imminent, would come to pass. +Nevertheless, in face of their neglect, we are snug in Mafeking, +although our artillery be hopeless; and since the war began we have +gradually added to our defences. After many days' bombardment a +breach was effected in one only of the town's earthworks. That was +very quickly repaired, so quickly indeed that before nightfall it had +already been restored. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +SHELLS AND SLAUGHTER + + + _November 30th, 1899._ + +The Boers continue to shell Mafeking daily, and to concentrate upon +the streets of the town their customary rifle fire. At first we +experienced a terror of the dangers of shell fire, but the daily and +constant presence of exploding shells has brought about an unusual +degree of familiarity with its attendant feeling of contempt; people +now are too careless, seeming to rest under the delusion that, one and +all, enjoy an absolute immunity. The folly of it is that occasionally +the error of their way is illustrated by a longer list of fatalities +through one shell claiming half a dozen victims. Europeans perhaps, +are less careless of the consequences of shell fire than is the native +population, and it is a pity that it has not been found possible to +impress into the mind of the Kaffir a better appreciation of the +possible result of their intrepidity. We have had many more natives +killed than whites, and the element of tragedy in this becomes the +greater and more acute since, as a rule, the native, employed in +building bomb-proof shelters for the whites, lacks the energy to turn +to his own profit his knowledge of the manner in which shell cover +should be constructed. They lie about under tarpaulins, behind zinc +palings, wooden boxes, and flimsy sheds of that description, and +perhaps for days their shelter may escape the line of fire; but there +comes a moment made hideous by the scream of shell as it bursts in +some little gathering of dozing, half listless natives. At such a +moment their bravery is extraordinary--is indeed the most fearful +thing in the world. The native with his arm blown off, with his thigh +shot away, or with his body disembowelled, is endowed with extreme +fortitude and most stoical resolution. Unless he is seen, he lies +where he is struck, not caring to take the trouble to make his wounds +known to some one who could sympathise and assist him. When the gaze +of the curious is turned upon his mangled and wounded form he attempts +to laugh, makes every effort to assist himself, and even if he knows +that his injuries be fatal, he makes no sign. There is thus much to +admire in these natives, but for the most part, people are quite +indifferent to their sufferings. + +A few moments ago, indeed as I was writing the concluding words of the +last sentence, a terrific explosion, a shower of gravel and leaden +bullets upon my roof, foretold the fact that somewhere near at hand +one of these untimely instruments of destruction had burst. As I went +to the door a crowd of people could be seen running towards the Market +Square, the air was filled with the strong perfume of the bursting +charge. I ran with the throng to where the shell had first struck in +Market Square before delivering its full effect upon the windows of +the local chemist. Amid the splintered glass and the consequent +disorder of the chemist's shop lay the writhing figure of an unhappy +native. As an illustration of the appalling wounds which these shells +inflict, I am purposely dilating upon this very pitiful scene. As the +shell rebounded from the ground leaving a hole many feet long, narrow, +and arrow-headed, it had come in contact with a native before it +wrecked the apothecary's store. Mingled with the fragments of glass +and the contents of the shop were shreds of cloth and infinitesimal +strips of flesh, while the entire environment of the scene was +splashed with blood. The poor native had lost an arm, a foot lay a few +yards from him, and his other leg was hanging by a few shreds of skin. +In an angle of the wall formed by the junction of the shop-front of +the chemist and the tin protrusion of his neighbour's building, +something was sticking. For the moment it had escaped the gaze of the +sordid few, who, drawn by idle curiosity, were standing about without +the inclination to help, or even a smattering of the first aid to the +injured. When the bleeding body was put upon a stretcher, and the +mangled extremities gathered together, the Hospital Orderly caught +sight of the bunch which was clinging to the recess in the wall. As he +went forward to seize it, the trickling streams of fluid which escaped +from it revealed only too plainly its true character. So great was the +force of the shell, and so near had its unfortunate victim been to the +galvanised iron wall, that as body and shell met, the terrible +violence of the impact had wrenched away the lump to hurl it, in the +same moment, through the exterior wall of the adjacent premises. +Despite his fearful injuries, which were beyond the scope of human +power to aid, he was not dead, feebly exclaiming as they put him in +the stretcher, "Boss, Boss, me hurt." The ruin of the building had +scarcely been realised, and the vapour of chemicals from the shell, +mingling with the scattered perfumes of the shop, with the scent of +the ploughed-up earth, and with that curious, insidious scent of a +wounded body dissipated--when a second shell screaming its passage +through the air hurled itself with a terrible velocity against the +other window of the same building. In effect it added a little more to +the ruin of the premises, escaping by a miracle five men who had been +standing in the interior of the premises, but killing an unfortunate +corporal, who had gone from the scene of the death of the native to +get a "pick-me-up" from the adjoining bar in Riesle's Hotel. In such a +manner does the death roll pile itself up--with the impending slowness +of a juggernaut and the haunting persistency of fate. If these were +the actual numbers of the killed upon this date, there were also two +who were wounded, one of whom has since died, thus giving to one day a +terrible trio. With such a sad lesson before one it would seem that, +beyond those who were compelled to be out and about, no one would +venture in the streets under shell fire, much less employ their +leisure in endeavouring to unload those of the enemy's shells that +might have fallen into the town, yet, but two days ago a local +wheelwright blew himself and two other men to an untimely end by the +explosion of a shell from which, with a _steel_ drill, he was +endeavouring to extract the charge. One of these men was killed almost +instantaneously, another had his leg blown off, while the third +sustained terrible wounds upon his body. There is not a day now +without fresh victims being claimed in different parts of the town. +Almost the first question asked as the shell bursts is for the name of +the unfortunate owner of the wrecked house, and the number of the +killed and wounded. In the early part of the siege when people were +thoroughly scared by the introduction of this new element of +destruction, bomb-proof shelters became quite popular, but lately with +the good luck which the people in town have enjoyed, the shelters have +been rather abandoned, but there is no doubt now, that the number who +have been killed in this past week has somewhat unnerved the town. If +it induces people to stay beneath their shelters, from out of the +fearful misfortunes which have fallen upon the few, may be derived +almost universal salvation. + +[Illustration: Effects of Shell Fire. 1. Before.] + +The hospital in these times, is the centre of melancholy interest to +the town. It is perhaps a quarter of a mile beyond the outskirts of +the town, but so situated that apart from the flag under whose +protection it should lie, it would be impossible for the enemy not to +be unaware that it was a natural shelter for the sick and wounded. +Much as the town in general, the Convent which adjoins the hospital, +and the hospital itself show the stress of the bombardment. The walls +of the hospital have been riddled with Martini and Mauser bullets, +while shells have perforated the galvanised iron roofing, torn holes +in the walls of the ward, wrecked outstanding buildings, and in brief, +played such direful havoc as would be considered impossible in a war +with any nation that has subscribed to the articles of the Geneva +Convention. Only the most strenuous opposition from Colonel +Baden-Powell, who threatened the severest pains, penalties, and +reprisals upon Commandant Cronje and Commandant Snyman, for their +neglect of the Red Cross flag, has saved the building in its entirety. +Nevertheless that degree of consideration, which we secured from the +Boers for our hospital was denied by these infamous barbarians to the +Convent and its gentle inmates. Their home has tumbled about its +foundations, the wall which faces the enemy's fire has been hit in +numerous places. Shells have ruined the children's dormitory, burst +with a magnificent effect in the interior of what would have been the +operating room, shattered a corner stone to pieces, and rendered +rotten and wholly impossible for any further habitation our subsidiary +hospital. The sisters, however, still stick to their posts and +minister the comforts of religion, though seeking their share in the +task of nursing, and setting, by their subdued heroism, an example to +the entire community. Never has any hospital been saddled with such a +work as the local one in Mafeking. War had taken every one so suddenly +that like everything else in Mafeking at the crucial moment, it was +wanting in much which was cardinal to its existence. The corps of +nurses was made up of those ladies from the town who were willing to +volunteer, and if there was an absence of the professional nursing +service, there were equally a dearth of dressers, of surgical +appliances, of medical comforts. The Victoria Hospital in times like +these possesses no Rontgen Rays, and many times indeed have the +medical staff regretted that so important an instrument should not +have been sent in good time. Indeed all that the Director-General of +Hospitals has done for Mafeking was to send Surgeon-Major Anderson out +from England, and had it not been that this gallant officer supplied, +at his own expense, a large quantity of medical stores which he +believed to be necessary, with the best intentions in the world, it +would have been impossible to cope with the requirements of the +wounded. + +It has been interesting, however, to observe from the point of view of +the medical profession the nature of the wounds caused by the Mauser +and Martini rifles and shell-fire. The Mauser perforates, the Martini +splinters, the shell pulverises. The point of entry of the Mauser +bullet is somewhat smaller than the circumference of a threepenny +piece, and if it passes through the bone it does not appear to set up +any undue amount of splintering. The hole through which it emerges is +usually, except where the path of the bullet has been deflected, as +small as the point of penetration. The Mauser does not, as a rule, set +up in the body, and in the greater number of cases passes clean +through. It is a humane wound, and infinitely less injurious than the +Martini and Dum-dum. A Martini destroys a large internal surface +making beneath the point of contact a wound between two and three +inches in diameter, with an even greater area of exit. It sweeps +everything before it, shredding arteries, shattering the bones, while +its process of recovery is, in consequence, the more protracted. I +have already described the wounds from shell-fire, adding to that +account, however, the fact that the merest fragment of a shell is as +capable as the shell itself, of making most terrible injuries. + +[Illustration: Effects of Shell Fire. 2. After.] + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +A SOFT-WATER BATH + + + MAFEKING, _December 6th, 1899_. + +As compensation to the inhabitants of beleaguered Mafeking for the +many dull days we have had lately, yesterday was replete with +incidents and crowded with a constant succession of events of more +than ordinary interest. We have had our days of activity, when the +boom of artillery and the rattle of musketry have impressed into a few +brief hours the full measure of martial excitement, we have endured +our days of lonesome and tiring idleness when the hot winds of the +Kalahari Desert have swept eddies of whirring, biting sand across the +trenches, when the pitiless sun has spent its energies upon the +heat-stricken garrison. But yesterday we experienced the effect of a +combination between that Providence which the Boers claim as their +special and benign guardian and the elements themselves. It was a +reconnaissance in force by nature. A union of extreme subtlety and one +against which it was impossible to contend. It came, it swept +everything before it, and it left us drenched with rain, surrounded by +small lakes of mud, streams of water, and without dry garments to our +names. When the mischief was complete the deluge ceased. The general +physiognomy of the scene can be described at once. When dawn broke in +the morning across the sky there glowered the haze of heat, which in +Africa, as elsewhere, denotes a more than usually tropical day. To +those, however, who knew the signs of the sky, the fleeting masses of +black cloud, low down upon the horizon, foretold a day of evil +tempest. Slowly the rising wind drove them together until, shortly +before noon, clouds were bunched high up across the sky and over the +Boer laager. From where we were in the town it was quite apparent that +the temporary centre of the storm was almost above the emplacements of +the enemy's artillery. Before the breeze had increased the Boers had +thrown a few shells into the town, but presently, as the force of the +gale struck us, it was evident that the rain-filled clouds were +discharging their contents upon the extreme limits of the veldt. For +an hour or two the Boers received the full effect of the storm, and +but few drops of rain fell into the town, as the wind swept before its +path the _debris_ of the veldt, portions of broken trees, of scrub, +and bushes. The deluge quickly left the south-east, concentrating a +little beyond and over the town, and so soon as it began to trouble us +it seemed to have deserted the Boers. Possibly the wind carried with +it a rainspout, since the effect of the streaming water was as though +from somewhere in the sky buckets were being emptied on to the place +beneath. The veldt was quickly flooded, the dried-up spruits were soon +charged with foaming cataracts, Mafeking itself lay under water, the +earthworks around the town were swept away, trenches and bomb-proof +shelters were choked with eddying streams, everywhere was +ruin--destruction and complete chaos reigned until the storm had spent +itself. Down the acclivity upon which Cannon Kopje is placed there +rolled the surging tide, carrying in its might the stores of the fort, +the blankets of the men, the bodies of struggling animals, who, if +they succeeded in coping with the force of the stream, were dashed to +pieces upon the rocky facing of the hill. The women's laager, which +has hitherto rested in snug seclusion at the base of the hills forming +the western outposts, was, in a few minutes, flooded with the +off-pourings from the sluits of the veldt, while the trenches were +quickly submerged or silted with the refuse of the torrent. A cart +which went to the assistance of the inmates of the laager found itself +water-bound through the tremendous force of the tortuous cataracts. In +the town, bomb-proof cellars were vacated, and the people, discarding +their shoes and stockings, made their way from point to point by +paddling and fording the footpaths across the streets. To the north of +the town, below the exterior outposts, the men stripped to the skin, +allowing the full strength of the streaming downpour to beat upon +them. The Market Square was a sheet of running water, rising with such +rapidity that it seemed that the houses bordering the square would be +inundated. + +From Market Square, upon two sides, the roads make something of a +descent, and down these slight inclines volumes of water, yards in +width and some feet in depth precipitated themselves to the river-bed. +As the storm increased it was seen that it would be impossible to +retain any longer our advanced positions in the river-bed. The first +to go was the trench occupied by Corporal Currie and his native +sharpshooters. As the water swept from bank to bank through this post, +which we, but a few days before, had won so gallantly from the enemy, +the men clambered up the banks to the veldt and made their way as best +they could to the base. With the flooding of this position, so rapidly +did the river rise, that those occupied by Captain Fitzclarence and +his squadron were equally untenable. As they were abandoned the stream +rushed by them with the roar of a river in flood, while the crash of +boulder upon boulder turned masses of rock into shattered fragments. +Within an hour the river had risen eight feet, and so unexpected was +the flood that for the time being it was not possible to rescue from +the rising stream the 7-pounder gun, which was in position some way +down the river. As the rain continued the wind died down, until in the +height of this storm it scarcely possessed the strength to dissipate +the white mists which were rising from the veldt. They hung low upon +the ground, prevented from rising by the strength of the downpour, and +making it difficult to see the progress of events in the enemy's +lines. From time to time above the hissing of the rain and the roar of +the rivers we heard the angry cough of the Nordenfeldt, the shrieks of +their quick-firing guns, and the heavy and more stately boom of "Big +Ben." Ofttimes there was the echo of the Mauser, the grating rustle of +the Martini, and it soon became evident that the enemy did not propose +to let us endure the misery of the storm altogether undisturbed. From +these omens, as some slight diminution in the downpour allowed the +mists to rise from the ground, we expected to hear the sound of +exploding volleys coming through the fog, and to find that the fight +had become suddenly desperate; but the Boers lacked the individual +courage, and the charge which they might have made under cover of the +tangle of the brushwood and the bewilderment of the fog never took +place. They were satisfied with cannonading our position; and across +the ground, heavy with rain, upon which the mist laid dense, the red +flashes of the gun and the sparkle of the rifles had a weird effect as +they flared and vanished through the eddying masses of vapour and +fantastic columns of smoke. The tumbling volumes of mist and the +grey-black masses of smoke mingled and curled in distorted pillars, +forming at a moment when the sun shone briefly, as the tears of heaven +dried off into space, an evanescent and iridescent canopy of colour. +The respite was momentary, and as the sun withdrew, the groups of men +that had been seen about the Boer lines were quickly obscured in +clouds of grosser vapour. Their fire, however, continued, while about +them tossed the thick white fog, as above us occasionally rolled the +thunder of their guns. The area of the storm included the most +advanced trenches of the Boers, and as the wind shifted the gloomy +masses of vapour we saw through the whirling mist and smoke-charged +air, the Boers, rain-soaked as ourselves, standing disconsolately upon +their muddy parapets. They did not seem to understand what they should +do. They could hear their own guns firing on our positions, happily +beyond the later centre of the storm, but these men themselves stood +still, shaking the water from their limbs, attempting to dry their +weapons. At night, with the darkness to cover our misfortunes, the +town was busily constructing fresh earthworks, draining those shelters +from which any further use could be obtained, and making such amends +as were possible for an occurrence, almost unprecedented in the annals +of war. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE ECONOMY OF THE SITUATION + + + _December 12th, 1899._ + +The importance of the resistance which Mafeking has made to the +attacks of the Boers should be viewed in the light of its relationship +to the two Protectorates, Bechuanaland and Matabeleland, since had +this place fallen, its position as a _depot_ for the Northern trade +would have made it a comparatively easy task for the victorious Boers +to have secured the control of the intermediate areas. They would have +at once seized the rolling stock of the railway whose headquarters are +temporarily invested in Mafeking, and could, by that means, have +mobilised their forces in a fashion and with a degree of acceleration +which would have brought them in a completely equipped and efficient +condition to the borders of Rhodesia. Indeed, from what one can learn +now, it is not at all improbable that the plan of the northern +operations of the Boer forces from their base at Mafeking provided for +the seizure of Mafeking with its stores and rolling stock, with their +subsequent enlistment of this material in the work of occupying +Bechuanaland and assisting our enemy in the concentration of their +forces upon Rhodesia. With the railway in their hands small forces +would have been stationed at the important points such as are afforded +by the natural drifts, and while they maintained by this system of +custodianship an open line of communication, they would, at the same +time, have been free to utilise, in a combined and united mass, all of +these scattered parties of Boers who were engaged upon marauding +expeditions between here and Middle Drift. The history of Mafeking +then would have been but the story of Vryburg, where, once its +sympathy to the Boer cause was proclaimed and the place effectually +occupied, the Boer commandant withdrew the greater portion of his men +to fresh spheres of activity. With Mafeking in the hands of the enemy, +our chief stand would have been around Buluwayo, where Colonel +Baden-Powell and Colonel Plumer would have united their commands, +thereby presenting to the enemy greater resistance than would have +been possible had the forces been engaged upon their own initiative. +In a way, therefore, Mafeking has forged an important link in the +chain of outposts, by which the safety of the Protectorates has been +guaranteed and the independence of the country still preserved to +Imperial rule. It must not be forgotten, however, that the success +which Plumer's column has enjoyed at Rhodes' Drift and at Middle Drift +gave to Southern Rhodesia a certain immunity from hostile invasion, +while in any estimate of the economy of the victories which Colonel +Plumer's men and our own here have scored against the Boers, it should +be borne in mind that had they vanquished our forces at Middle Drift +or Rhodes' Drift, further Imperial territory would have been invaded, +and the road upon which they might have marched to besiege Buluwayo +would have been open to them. Colonel Baden-Powell has, of course, +been chiefly instrumental in preventing the investment of Buluwayo, +since the determined stand which he made caused General Cronje to hold +an aggregate number of Boers, amounting to 8,000 men, and by far the +larger portion of the Western Division of the S.A.R. forces, under his +control for Mafeking; but without in any way disparaging this work, so +important in its achievements, so vital in its issues, nothing perhaps +has proved so integral a factor in the work of maintaining our +occupation and dominion over these important adjuncts of our Empire in +Africa, as the defence which Colonel Plumer so successfully and +gallantly accomplished. However we here may have assisted in the +preservation of those Protectorates as Imperial dominions, there can +be no doubt we should have lost, for the time being, all claim to +their moral and practical possession had Colonel Plumer's force +retired. With 8,000 men investing Mafeking, and various minor bodies +scattered up and down the border between here and Fort Tuli, the enemy +could have spared 6,000 men for co-operation with these subsidiary +bodies, and still have maintained the siege and bombardment of this +town. It did not need, then, its downfall to give the Boers important +belligerent rights throughout the Protectorate and Southern Rhodesia, +and although our surrender might have materially facilitated their +progress, our successful opposition did not necessarily, nor +altogether, impede it. The strategical value of the drifts made their +safe custody a matter of momentous importance, since through them, as +much as from Mafeking, might entry have been made and territorial +supremacy for the moment acquired. Indeed, it is very much to be +doubted whether the chief value of the stand by which Mafeking has +distinguished itself is not found in the lesson which it has read to +the Colony itself. Had we gone the way of Vryburg, or had we +surrendered after some slight stand, it is almost certain that our +fall would have been the signal for the general uprising of the Dutch +in the northern areas of the Colony as well as in British +Bechuanaland. How near we are to a mare's nest in Mafeking is +uncertain, but after much inquiry amongst the chief people (business) +in the town, there is no doubt that had the inhabitants of Mafeking +been able to conceive the difficulties and trials which were about to +beset them, the losses in business at the moment, and the temporary +stagnation which will follow the war, they would have preferred to +have worshipped the Golden Calf, and to see Colonel Baden-Powell and +Colonel Hore remove their headquarters to some spot in the +Protectorate, while the sleek and prosperous merchants of Mafeking +were thus enabled to follow their occupation and to turn over their +money while they lived amid the baneful protection of a temporary and +purely commercial allegiance to the Transvaal Republic. It is not, it +would seem, that individually Mafeking is disloyal, but that it is +essentially a commercial centre, governed, impressed, and inherited by +commercial instinct, and reflecting, in its inhabitants, a gathering +of the peoples of the world in more or less confused proportion. There +is a small German community, there is an American colony, there are +French, and Jews of every nation. They have made money in Mafeking; +they own much property; they are even friendly to the Transvaal since +they have large trade interests among Dutch towns which are near the +border. They came here in the days when this part of Africa was +unknown to white man; they trekked from Kimberley, from the Transvaal, +even across the African desert from the coast, and if they have lived +beneath the protection of our standard, they have amassed their wealth +by trading with the flags of all nations. They care very little indeed +for the Uitlander in the Transvaal, for his wrongs or for his rights, +but they would respect him much if he came with his cattle and his +sheep, with his waggons and his chattels, and some superfluity of +money, for then they could add still further to their hoard of shekels +and trade with him for his cattle. It is a weird and motley crowd that +constitutes Mafeking: disgusted with Imperial government, wishing to +have vengeance upon the Colonial Government, and boasting to Heaven at +one moment about their gallant resistance, crying out against the +ill-wind that has brought them the siege. They move with the current +of the Colony, and can be as easily disturbed to patriotism as they +can rouse themselves to a passionate criticism of the follies of the +Imperial protection under which they exist. When they are moved to +sympathy with the Dutch, it is difficult to believe that they are the +self-same loyal inhabitants of Mafeking who are now beleaguered, since +by daily contact, by union of marriage, by personal friendship, they +have consciously or unconsciously assimilated the cause of the Boer, +and reveal the profundity of their sympathies in these times of +distress. + +An interesting side issue to the siege of Mafeking has been the chain +of events relating to the departure of Lady Sarah Wilson from Mafeking +upon the night of the day during which war was declared, her +temporary sojourn at Setlagoli, from where she supplied the garrison +with news, and acted as the chief medium by which Baden-Powell managed +to get his dispatches through to the Government in Cape Town; her +retirement from Setlagoli, when her work was discovered, to General +Snyman's laager before Mafeking to request from that gentleman a safe +permit into Mafeking; her eventual arrival in the town in exchange for +the prisoner Viljoen. Lady Sarah Wilson experienced no very +extraordinary adventures and was treated with that consideration which +is due to her sex by the Boers, despite the fact that they might have +made her position somewhat unpleasant, since she had quite voluntarily +taken up active participation in the siege by endeavouring to keep the +garrison supplied with news. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +A VISIT TO THE HOSPITAL + + + _December 12th, 1899._ + +The week has been a dull one, which in relation to the siege implies +that the passing days have not borne what we have now come to regard +as their full quota of shells and bullets. We here are somewhat +sceptical of the lapses of the bombardment since tactics which the +Boers have already adopted have led us to believe that intervals of +some hours' duration be planned deliberately so that when shelling +should be renewed, it may please Providence, ever on the side of the +Boers, to have the streets thronged with people. Upon one or two +occasions we have been lulled into a fancied security by the cessation +of shell fire; but with the lamentable occurrences of last week, we +are disinclined to be again caught napping. Accordingly, although +there has been a week of extraordinary desistence upon the part of the +enemy, those who were about were careful enough to take their airing +within a short distance of their bomb-proof shelters. In a fashion, +this gave to the environments of the town and the town itself, the +appearance of a rabbit warren, where at sunset the little animals may +be seen bunched about the entrance to their retreats. A few ladies +enjoyed the novelty of tea _al fresco_, with possibly, a keener +appreciation for their propinquity to some bomb-proof, than for the +light refreshment in which they were indulging. + +Thus it came that I was visiting the hospital, chatting with the +physicians upon the stoep of the building. Beneath the shelter of the +verandah lay the forms of many who had been wounded, and who now were +sufficiently recovered to sit outside; here and there a man limped +painfully with the aid of crutches, to talk to a comrade who, with his +arm in a sling, was not altogether inappreciative of the fact that he +had been wounded in a recent sniping affray against the enemy's +position in the brickfields. As we sat upon the stoep with our legs +dangling to the ground, behind us in the building there was the +complement of battle: the wounded, the nurses, and the doctors; but in +front of us there was the expansion of the veldt, green and peaceful. +The heat haze lay upon it, simmering in an endless stretch of floating +vapour. There was every appearance of the provincial and rural +simplicity which goes to make up the daily life of those who live upon +the veldt. There were homesteads which, but a few months ago, had been +the centre of some small and flourishing agrestic community, but were +now charred and blackened, epitomising the destruction which the Boers +deal out to unoffending people; in the place of the herds which +formerly had grazed upon the scene, there were the white covers of the +Boer laagers; there were the lines of the Boer horses, there were the +mobs of cattle, of sheep, of goats, which, raided from the +countryside, had been collected in the rear of the enemy's +encampments. Upon the skyline, from the steps of the hospital, the +emplacement of "Big Ben" could be seen outlined quite distinctly in +the bright sunlight. The position of the gun was known by the glint of +the sun as it played upon the burnished metal. + +Presently, as we talked, there came the boom of cannon, and the enemy +had turned upon the stadt their quick-firing Krupps. Instinctively, +since the habits which rule the enemy are well known to us, a wounded +man called out to us that was the five o'clock gun, and for the moment +we were uncertain as to whether the peace of the afternoon would be +further disturbed. But in a little a column of smoke, white and heavy, +hung over the position of "Big Ben," and we at once settled down for +further shelling during the remainder of the time that daylight +lasted. In the distance, out on the furthest limits of the Stadt, +there came echoes, echoing back the noise of the explosion when the +hundred-pound shell burst amid a collection of native huts. It is so +seldom that these greater projectiles miss their victims, that +preparations were at once made for any casualties that might have been +sent to the hospital. With these measures taken, we waited while the +firing grew heavier. It was just one of those moments which we had +been anticipating from the fashion which our friend the Boer had +already set, and in a little it was proved that whatever had been our +expectations they would be fully realised. When the firing began, the +scene upon the stoep of the hospital gradually changed; the wounded +were carried back to their wards, Surgeon-Major Anderson, the Imperial +officer who has been sent out here; Dr. Hayes, who in the virtue of +the rank of P.M.O. conferred by Colonel Baden-Powell, has charge of +the hospital, and his brother, both local practitioners, waited the +course of events upon the steps of the building. For the time firing +seemed confined to the artillery and rifles from the Boer trenches in +the brickfields, the south-eastern front of the town and the eastern +facing of the native location receiving the brunt. By degrees the +entire position of the enemy upon that side dropped into line, giving +cause and effect to the wisps of smoke which broke into the air about +the advanced trenches of the foe. In about half an hour from the time +the first shell exploded over the stadt, a stretcher-party appeared +coming from the town and began to descend into the trench which led to +the hospital. As they crossed the recreation ground, a large white +flag which was carried in advance of the party, heralding to the Boers +the passing of wounded, attracted the attention of the enemy and was +promptly fired upon. It is these wilful acts which make it difficult +to consider the Boer in any way removed from a savage combatant, and +although the flag-bearer waved repeatedly to the enemy's trenches, the +fire from that direction did not diminish. With no little heroism the +stretcher-party, which was under Sergeant-Major Dowling, a resident +physician in Cape Town, who volunteered his services for the campaign, +and who has charge of the subsidiary hospital in the native location, +made their way across the zone of fire to the doors of the hospital. +Then in a moment all that had been peaceful and serene before, became +impressed with the horrible effects and the fearful injuries which are +derived from war. + +The stretcher was taken to the operating-room, where nurses had +already begun to arrange the table, to prepare the carbolic lotion, to +lay out the lint and bandages, the dressing dishes, sponges, and a +fine array of instruments; then when the stretcher had been placed +beside the table, willing and gentle hands lifted the inanimate form +by the corners of the brown and blood-stained mackintosh sheet in +which the body had been enshrouded. Dr. Hayes snicked the strings +which had caught the ends of the sheet about the injured, and as he +threw back the flaps Surgeon-Major Anderson gently separated the +clothing where, matted with blood, it had congealed into a sticky mass +about the injuries. The doctors and the surgeon, bending with callous +diffidence about the inert and prostrate form, then proceeded rapidly +with their examination. Through the western windows of the room there +came the ruddy rays of the sun as it sank to its rest. The light +caught the bottles on the shelves, flickered for a moment upon the +silvery brightness of the instruments, and played about the hair of +the nurses, who, passing to and fro across the window, were as much +interested in their work as in the nature of the patient's injuries. +In a corner of the room Sergeant-Major Dr. Dowling explained to +Surgeon-Major Anderson that the patient, who was a native woman of +some repute, had been washing clothes upon the banks of the Molopo, +when a flight of one-pound steel-pointed Maxim shells burst about her. +The pelvis and the femur had been shattered completely, besides +internal wounds of a most fatal character in the abdominal regions. +The left foot was also pulverised, the extraordinary part being that +any one, after suffering such severe injuries and sustaining so great +a shock to the system, should yet be living. The examination +completed, Dr. Hayes, turning to the head nurse, said that it was +impossible to do anything which would save the woman's life, +inquiring, as Surgeon-Major Anderson dissolved a grain of morphia in a +wine-glass, if any one knew the name of the native. As the nurse was +about to reply, the patient, moaning feebly, expressed in excellent +English, that her name was Martha. Then it appeared that she was +recognised as being the wife of a Fingo in the location, one who +before marriage had been a member of the oldest profession which the +world has ever known, but since lawful wedlock had consummated her +union, she had passed, after the manner of her tribe, a life of great +austerity. The air of the operating-room was becoming oppressive, the +moaning of the patient merging with the heavy scent of the iodoform +and the lighter evaporation of the carbolic liniment began gradually +to dominate the nerves. To the casual observer such as myself, the +scene was striking. The insensitiveness of those assembled in the +operating-room, in reality the outcome of great experience in a +particular profession, enforced a calmness of feature and of feeling +with which I was far from being actually animated. The mechanical +industry of the surgeons, the automatic regularity with which the +hospital orderly waved his fly whisk above the head of the dying +woman, imparted a coldness to the scene which one could not help +observing. In a fashion, all that human skill could do had been +accomplished, since had the foot been amputated at the ankle, or the +thigh removed at the hip, the labour would have been unnecessary, the +extra shock to the system serving only to accelerate the end. Very +gently they sponged the mouth and nose of the woman and cooled her +brow, very gently they administered morphia and sips of brandy, but +one by one the doctors, rinsing their hands and lowering their +shirt-sleeves, put on their jackets. At the door of the operating-room +Dr. Hayes and Surgeon-Major Anderson paused to impart a few brief +instructions to the nurses. They were not to forget, said the P.M.O., +to remove the tourniquet from the pelvis when the end had come; +Surgeon-Major Anderson adding to this an order to continue waving the +fly whisk so long as there existed the necessity. + +And the incident had closed. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +A LITTLE GUN PRACTICE + + + _December 23rd, 1899._ + +We take a keen interest in our artillery, although we never cease to +deplore the fact that the War Office did not think it necessary to +send to Mafeking anything better than old muzzle-loading +seven-pounders of the Crimean period. Their range is restricted, and +their mobility is greatly inferior to more modern types; but if they +have not enabled us to do very much, we have at least been able to +return their fire. In this way quite a little flutter of enthusiasm +has been aroused through having unearthed an antiquated +sixteen-pounder gun. It would seem to have been made about 1770, and +is identical with those which up till very recently adorned the quay +at Portsmouth. Its weight is 8 cwt. 2 qr. 10 lb., and it was made by +B. P. and Co. It is a naval gun, and is stamped "No. 6 port." How it +came here is uncertain, and its origin unknown; but one gathers that +it must have been intended more for privateering than for use in any +Government ship of war, since it is wanting in all official +superscription. This weapon, which we have now christened "B.-P." out +of compliment to the Colonel, has been lying upon the farm of an +Englishman whose interests are very closely united with the native +tribe whose headquarters are in Mafeking Stadt. Mr. Rowlands can +recall the gun passing this way in charge of two Germans nearly forty +years ago. He remembers to have seen it in the possession of Linchwe's +tribe, and upon his return to the Baralongs, after one of his trading +journeys, he urged the old chief to secure it for use in defence of +the Stadt against the attacks of Dutch freebooters. The chief then +visited Linchwe and bought the gun for twenty-two oxen, bringing it +down to Mafeking upon his waggon. In those days it had three hundred +rounds of ammunition, which were utilised in tribal fights. With the +exception of visits which the gun made to local tribes, it has +remained here and is now in the possession of Mr. Rowlands. It has +recently been mounted, and is in active operation against our enemies. +We have made balls for it, and are intending to manufacture shells, in +the hope that we shall at least be able to reach the emplacement of +"Big Ben." The first trial of "B.-P." in its new career gave very +satisfactory results. With two pounds of powder it threw a ball of ten +pounds more than two thousand yards. The power of the charge was +increased by half pounds until a charge of three pounds threw a ball +of the same weight as the first rather more than two miles. We, +therefore, have pinned our hopes upon it, and commend to the +responsible authorities the reflections which may be derived from the +fact that our chief and most efficient means of defence, lie in such a +weapon. + +After many weeks of inactivity upon our part, we have lately taken the +initiative against the foe, whose present mode of war, so far as this +place is concerned, would seem to give preference to the chastened +security of laagers already beyond the three-mile limit from the town. +Upon two occasions during the last week we have celebrated dawn with +many salvoes of artillery, securing sufficient noise and effect from +our shell fire display, to excite the town to no little enthusiasm. +Moreover, up to the present, reaction has not set in, and we are even +more cheerful to-day than we were at the beginning of the siege. +Dingdaan's Day, the earlier of the two events, was distinguished by +the Boers, as by ourselves, with a bombardment, which opened with a +hundred-pound shell from "Big Ben," landing in the Headquarters Office +at half-past two in the morning. Fortunately no one sustained any +injury from this untimely marauder of our rest, the corner of the +building alone being shattered, and the town itself sprinkled with +fragments of masonry and shell. A few hours later the enemy again +started firing, while our guns upon the east front proceeded to give a +good account of themselves. About seven o'clock firing for the day +ceased from the Boer lines, since they devoted themselves to psalm +singing and prayer gathering in their laagers in commemoration of +their day of independence; but we, upon our part, threw four rounds at +noon into their camp, and then we, too, enjoyed the comparative peace +of the siege. For the next few days our guns remained quiet, and "Big +Ben" kept its nose pointed upon the furthest limits of the Stadt or +Cannon Kopje, until the impression gained ground that the Boers had +shifted the gun round to a position upon which they were very busily +engaged on the western side of the Stadt. There were those even who +were willing to lay odds that, when the gun fired again, it would be +found to have taken up a new site. And so universal was this idea that +it was not altogether discarded by members of the Staff. With a view +to disproving this illusion Colonel Baden-Powell arranged that all our +available artillery, under Major Panzera, should effect a +reconnaissance of the Boer lines upon the east of the town, from which +it could easily be learnt whether the fire of the big gun still +dominated that front. + +There had been some little talk of a movement against the five-pound +gun, which the enemy had located at Game Tree, and upon Sunday night I +camped with Captain Vernon, from whose fort upon the western outposts, +the sortie would have taken place. However, nothing happened, and +although a few shells fell about us at daybreak, there was nought to +interest one beyond the usual routine of daily life upon the western +outposts. Upon returning to town I learnt that the following morning +might reveal something more important than a mere artillery exchange. +Towards nightfall, to those who knew about the contemplated move, +Mafeking appeared to present much unusual animation. Artillery +officers, whose duty detained them at points distant from the town, +gathered at Headquarters to receive Major Panzera's final instructions +before setting out for their emplacements, as at the same time small +detachments of men moved to reinforce the entrenchments along the +eastern front. For the most part the town went to its rest in +ignorance of the surprise which was being laid for the enemy at +daybreak upon the following morning, and by nine o'clock the nocturnal +aspect of the town was eminently peaceful. The transformation from the +harsh and biting sunlight of the day to the soothing and eerie light +of night impressed the hour with grandeur and solemnity, which was in +striking contrast to the labour upon which we were engaged. From the +town, those guns which were not already in position moved to their +stations--one, the Hotchkiss, being despatched to an emplacement which +had only been completed the preceding night. It was a pleasant +scramble to this position across the veldt, and so near to the enemy's +lines that we could hear the murmur of their voices as they called to +one another in the trenches and discerned their gloomy figures +silhouetted against the skyline. The Hotchkiss, which was our extreme +piece upon the north-east of the town, was to direct its fire upon the +enemy at the waterworks and the opposing corner of their advanced +trenches. Its precise utility was uncertain, since it was not possible +to see the object at which its fire would be directed, but, as the gun +party moved to the emplacement, the officer in charge arranged with +the nearest entrenchment in the rear to signal the accuracy of his +range. Then we set out to visit the outposts and the different +emplacements. Time and distance passed rapidly in the starlight +expanse of the night, and few things could have been more impressive +than the calm which had come upon the town. From the veldt, as we cut +directly across from the Hotchkiss to the nearest post, it seemed as +though we were passing some walled-in city of the ancient days. At +short distances the outlines of the forts showed out against the +buildings, and it became almost difficult to suppress the cry to the +sentry, "Watchman, what of the night?" As we made our rounds it was +interesting to note how some points had received heavier fire than at +others. The ground round the Dutch Church was ploughed and furrowed +by shell, and at Ellis's Corner and across the front of the location +to Cannon Kopje there were numerous traces of the enemy's bombardment. +Presently the rounds were concluded, and Major Panzera went to snatch +a few hours' rest before he opened fire in the morning. As upon +Dingdaan's morning, so this time did I attach myself to the +emplacement under the direct control of Major Panzera, at the Dutch +Church, and around this, as he arrived there, the hour of midnight +chiming from the church towers, there were the sleeping figures of the +gunners. For the time we slept together, and when Major Panzera +aroused us in the morning the rawness of the morning air foretold the +earliness of the hour. + +The mists of night were still rising from the veldt about the Boer +lines, and as we looked through our field-glasses, figures here and +there, were busily engaged in gathering brushwood for the matutinal +fire. Then, as it was yet early, and they were about to prepare their +coffee, we boiled up ours, and, passing round the billy, filled our +pannikins to the health of the enemy. It was but a grim jest, and one +perhaps which shows the indifference of the men to the accidents of +fate, but as we drank, he who was number one said, raising his tin to +the air, "We will drink with you in hell." But the hour of jesting was +soon over and the gun party prepared for their morning's work by +running up the gun into the embrasure. Number one laid the gun, and +number two stood with his lanyard in his hand ready to connect the +friction tube. Number three hung upon the trail piece, and he, with +the sponge and ramrod, was prepared for immediate service. Within a +few feet of them were two who were actively adjusting the time fuses. +At their side there was a pile of common shell and shrapnel, and with +this, the local colour of the picture is completed. Of a sudden +Panzera gave the order to the man who fed the gun--"Common shell, +percussion fuse, prepare to load," and as it passed from the hands of +the man to the muzzle of the gun, one found oneself muttering a prayer +for the souls of the Boers who were so speedily to be sent into +perdition. "Load," said Panzera rapidly, and the gun was loaded. Then, +as I focussed my glasses upon the scene, the Major took one last +squint down the sights of the gun. It was well and truly laid, and as +he straightened himself to the precision of the parade ground the end +came rapidly. "Prepare to fire," said he, and number two stepped +forward, dropping the friction tube into the vent. "Fire," said +Panzera, and one raised the glasses to fix them upon a party of Boers +whom we could see drinking their coffee, as they sat upon the parapet +of the trench. There was a roar, a cloud of smoke, and a red fierce +tongue of flame leapt from the muzzle of the gun. Dust and smoke and +sand enveloped the place where those Boers had been sitting, and I +found myself wondering and endeavouring to believe that the breach in +the parapet foreboded no great harm to anybody. The battle, if battle +it were to be, had been started by a well-directed shell. Quickly the +gun was trained and loaded again, and I felt the excitement entering +into my soul. The feelings of humanity left me, and I began to hope +that we should kill them every time. Again our gun fired, falling +short, but giving the signal to the others along the front to join in +the comparative splendour of the cannonade. Away down in the river-bed +our guns boomed; beyond it and between that emplacement and Cannon +Kopje there were the jets of smoke from the Nordenfeldt like the +spurts of steam from a geyser. Above us there was the Hotchkiss and +the merry rattle of the Maxim. So far as noise, and numbers of the +pieces engaged, went the press of battle was about us. All down our +front there broke the whistling rush of Lee-Metford rifles, as the +eastern line of the defence dropped into action. For the moment the +Boers were surprised at the manner and method of our onslaught, and +beyond a few desultory rifle shots our guns fired some few rounds +before any shells came back in answer. As Major Panzera had opened the +fight so they threw their first shells upon his emplacement, and a +well-directed flight of one-pound steel-topped base fuse Maxim broke +in a cloud of dust about us, flinging their sharp-edged fragments in +all directions. Then we fired again, raking the parapet of the Boers' +trench, and wondering whether the big gun would reply to us, or +whether those who had speculated upon its removal would win. The music +of the fight grew louder and louder, the quick-firing guns of the +enemy paying their tribute. From where we were we could see the gun in +the river-bed emplacement doing remarkable execution. The smoke of our +own hung heavy upon us, mingling with the dust from the Maxim shell, +as the enemy continued to pepper our emplacement. We were beginning to +find it difficult to see, while the roar of the guns made it almost +impossible to catch the officer's orders. Suddenly, as our gun again +broke forth, the bell clanged in the distance six times. It was the +signal that the big gun had fired, the six strokes indicating that it +was pointed upon us. We heard it and crouched in the dust, and as we +crouched we wondered. There was a screaming tumult in the air, a +deafening explosion at our feet shook the ground; earth and dust, +stones and bits of grass fell all about us, and the roofs of buildings +upon either side of us rattled with the fragments of the shell as it +burst within a circle of twenty-five yards from the gun. It was a +moment rather fine than frightful, with just sufficient danger in it +to make it interesting, but, if anything, somewhat quickly over. We +wiped the dust from our faces, shook the grass from our shirts, and +laid again: once more fired, and chuckled to see, through rifts in the +battle smoke, that it had landed in the very centre of the trench. +Again the bell clanged sonorously, and a building not fifteen yards +from us was blown to pieces. They were getting nearer, and making +magnificent shooting, when the Nordenfeldt turned its fire upon "Big +Ben" itself. From where we were we could see the thin columns of smoke +rising, as the bullets burst before and behind the emplacement. If +anything were calculated to check its fire it was the irritating and +penetrating possibility of the armour-piercing Nordenfeldt. With the +introduction of "Big Ben" into the morning's festivities, the Boers +opened from their trenches, with their Mauser and Martini rifles. In +the intervals between the shells from "Big Ben," the Maxim, and +quick-firing nine-pounders, the enemy swept our emplacements with +their rifle fire. They came through the embrasure with quite fatal +accuracy, dropping at our feet and raising dust all around us, but the +tale of the one is the tale of the many, and the same scene was +occurring throughout the entire eastern front. For a moment it became +impossible to serve the gun, and we desisted with apologies to the +enemy, but anon rifle fire was deflected, and we again trained the +gun upon those very advanced trenches of the enemy; but, as we fired, +the bell rang, and for the third time their shell, passing ours in its +flight, tore up the ground in front of us. And then the Nordenfeldt +spoke again, shooting into the very smoke of the gun as though they +were anxious to drop projectiles into the breach itself. And to the +north of us the Hotchkiss spitted, as though resenting the intrusion +of this big bully. But there unfortunately it ended, and no more big +shells came our way, and we contented ourselves with a parting sally. + +Then the gun was sponged and laid to rest in the trench, and the spare +shell put back into the box as the engagement closed. Then Panzera +called his men together and thanked them, expressing his admiration +for their courage and their coolness. Then we cheered him, and +returning thanks for thanks, we went to breakfast, but in the distance +we could see the Red Cross upon the white background, floating in +tragic isolation, above a waggon, which was stopping ever and anon at +places where we knew our shells had broken. That was in the Boer +lines, but in our own the bugle sounded us to breakfast. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE ATTACK UPON GAME TREE + + + MAFEKING, _December 27th, 1899_. + +Barely had the celebration of Christmas Day passed in Mafeking when +the order to prepare for immediate action was sent out from +Headquarters, and in the early hours of Boxing Day two dismounted +squadrons began to move to the front. We had spent a pleasant holiday +that day, which of all days brings glad tidings and goodwill +throughout the civilised and Christian world; but when, hereafter, we +come to speak of the Christmas season of 1899, our stories will be +impressed with the sinister memories of the tragic events which have +for us marked the time as one of lamentation. Nothing could have been +in more complete contrast to the happiness of Christmas Day, imbued +with much real meaning to beleaguered Mafeking, than those early +morning preparations which were made as the day closed. For some +little time we have been desirous to attack the enemy's position at +Game Tree, and in my last letter I mentioned the fact that, in +anticipation of such an event, I had camped one night recently with +Captain Vernon at his western outpost. That attack, however, did not +take place, and, although the town and garrison were disappointed, +there was a very strong feeling that it would not be long before they +were compensated for their disappointment. + +Game Tree, against which our force moved, is a strongly fortified +position of the enemy, about two miles from the town, and it has been +from this spot that our front to the north-west has been subjected to +a persistent rifle and artillery fire during many weeks. The attack +was ordered for the purpose of breaking the cordon around Mafeking, +with a view to ultimately reopening our communications to the north. D +and C Squadrons of the Protectorate Regiment, under the Imperial +Service officers, Captain Vernon, of the King's Royal Rifles, and +Captain Fitzclarence, of the Royal Fusiliers, were detailed to carry +out the attack from the east, under the protection of the armoured +train, and Captain Williams and twenty men of the British South Africa +Police, with a one-pounder Hotchkiss and Maxim. This right flank was +further supported by Captain Cowan and seventy men of the Bechuanaland +Rifles, the whole of the wing being under the command of Major Godley. +The left wing comprised three seven-pounders, one cavalry Maxim, and a +troop of the Protectorate Regiment under Major Panzera; Captain Lord +Charles Bentinck with two troops of A Squadron holding the reserve. +The entire operations from this side were conducted by Colonel Hore. +Colonel Baden-Powell and his staff--Major Lord Edward Cecil, Chief +Staff Officer, Captain Wilson, A.D.C., and Lieutenant the Hon. A. H. +C. Hanbury-Tracy--watched the progress of the fight from Dummie Fort. + +Our guns moved into position during the night, throwing up +emplacements for the attack, and as soon as they could see, Major +Panzera opened fire. It was yet dark, although there came a faint +glimmer of light from the east, but not sufficient to prevent the +flashes from the muzzles of the guns and the glow of the bursting +shells from being plainly visible. Until that moment there had been no +sign of any living thing about the veldt between us and the Boer +lines, and there was no sound. We had seen C and D Squadrons creeping +to their positions under the guidance of the scout Cooke. Captain Lord +Charles Bentinck had deployed across the front of the Boer position, +taking up his place upon the left of the line. Close to him and but +little in advance, the gunners had ensconced themselves behind a few +sods of earth and sacks of sand. These operations marked the +preliminary of the fight, from which, as the armoured train steamed to +its post, completing the units in our attack, nothing had been omitted +which might increase our chances of success. + +At 4.15 a.m. our first shells were thrown upon the enemy's position, +the shells bursting short and beyond Game Tree with no very striking +effect. Upon the left of Game Tree and extending to the receding wall +of the fort, some sixty yards distant, there was a heavy overgrowth of +bushes, upon which, as the enemy seemed to be firing from concealed +pits in their midst, the cavalry Maxim concentrated its fire. Away to +the right there was the automatic rattle of the Maxim in the armoured +train, and the sharp crack of the Hotchkiss. For the first +three-quarters of an hour the attack was left to Major Panzera, who, +it was hoped, would effect a breach in the parapet through the agency +of his guns. But, unfortunately, the damage inflicted upon the fort +did not materially aid the charge which our men were so soon and so +very gallantly to make, and which, when completed, revealed the fact +that Colonel Baden-Powell had also organised a frontal attack upon an +entrenched and impregnable position, with most lamentable results. A +few of the enemy were put out of action by our shrapnel shells +bursting in such a manner as to search out the interior of the fort +with their sharp-edged segments, but the strength of the fort was so +great and had been so increased during the night, that the artillery +which was available was not sufficiently heavy for our purpose, while +the wisdom of using the guns at all is eminently questionable. The +character of our attack needed a movement which was quietly delivered, +and which was in the nature of a surprise. So far as the fact is of +value, in appreciating the appalling disaster which upon that morning +befell our arms, our gunfire simply warned the garrison in the fort to +stand to their arms. There is no doubt that the employment of the guns +was a blunder in keeping with the conception of the attack. Colonel +Baden-Powell, one has to say regretfully, upon this occasion was +instrumental in bringing about quite needless loss of life. Presently, +as we watched, we could see the signal being given to the armoured +train "to cease fire," and a moment afterwards the base notes of the +steam whistle boomed forth, when, as though waiting for this signal, +"Big Ben," whose emplacement was some 6,000 yards to the south-east in +the rear, began to shell the armoured train. As the echoes of the big +gun died away, a roll of musketry from our own line and from the fort +swept across the veldt, and for a few brief moments the hail of +bullets was like the opening shower of a tropical deluge. Upon the +east Captain Vernon with C and D Squadrons had begun the charge. Their +position at this moment was in echelon--Captain Sandford with a troop +of C Squadron was upon the right extremity, with Captain Vernon in the +centre, and Captain Fitzclarence upon his left. As Captain Vernon gave +the word to charge they opened out into skirmishing order, maintaining +the while successive volleys with perfect accuracy. The advance was +well carried out; indeed, its order and style were worthy of the best +traditions of our army, and received tributes of admiration from all +the commanding officers present. As they advanced the fire of the +enemy was principally delivered from the front of the fort and the +rifle intrenchments in the scrub. For a moment it seemed as though the +face opposed to the rush of Captain Vernon and Captain Sandford was a +mere wall requiring only to be scaled for the fort to be captured. +But, when the men approached within three hundred yards of the fort, +rifles rang out from every possible point, and the ground was swept by +Mauser and Martini bullets. The men who charged through this zone of +fire suffered terribly, and the conclusion must have forced itself +upon their minds that they were going to their death. As each face of +the fort became engaged the fire of the enemy began to have a telling +effect upon our charging line. Captain Sandford was the first to fall, +mortally wounded with a bullet in the spine. He fell down, calling to +his men to continue the charge; but where he had fallen, he died. Our +men now began to drop rather rapidly, and Captain Fitzclarence was +disabled with a bullet in the thigh. His place was taken by Lieutenant +Swinburne, who at once continued the charge, that officer and +Lieutenant Bridges, of the same squadron, being among the nine who, +upon the termination of the fight, were unwounded. The ground around +the fort was becoming dotted with the figures of our wounded men, +who, although they were but an irregular soldiery, followed their +officers with the pluck and dogged determination of veterans. The +brunt of the fight now fell upon the companies under the immediate +command of Captain Vernon, who, undaunted by the impossibility of his +task, steadily fought his way forward. As they approached still +nearer, his men, undisturbed by the shower of bullets which fell about +them, cheered repeatedly, the echo of those cheers, giving rise to the +impression that the capture of the position was imminent. The steady +rush of our men, undeflected by the worst that the enemy could do, was +rapidly demoralising those who were firing from behind the loopholes +in the fort, and it may have been that, had we not had our responsible +officers shot or killed before we reached the walls of the fort, a +different story might have to be told. As it happened, when Captain +Vernon, with whom was Lieutenant Paton, steadied his men for the wild +impetuosity of the last charge, a bullet struck him in the body. For a +brief interval he stopped, but, refusing the entreaty of Lieutenant +Paton that he should fall out, he joined that officer once more in +taking the lead. From the point which they had gained the character of +the fort was seen, and the heavy fire under which it was defended +showed it to be impregnable. It rose some seven feet from the ground, +from the edges of a ditch with sides that it was almost impossible to +climb. It was certain death which stared them in the face within +twenty-five yards, but not a man was dismayed. They continued. The +ditch was before them, the fort above them, and through double tiers +of loopholes came the enemy's fire. Our men from one side of the ditch +fired point-blank at an enemy who, from behind his loophole, fired +point-blank at him. Here those who had survived until now were either +killed or wounded, and it was here that Captain Vernon was hit again, +as he, with Lieutenant Paton and the scout Cooke, whose tunic at the +end of the engagement was found to be riddled with bullets, +endeavoured to clamber into the fort. Captain Vernon and Lieutenant +Paton managed by superhuman efforts to reach the loopholes, into which +they emptied their revolvers. Their example was eagerly followed by +the few who remained, and who were shot down as they plied their +bayonets through the apertures. Here Captain Vernon, Lieutenant Paton, +Corporal Pickard, Sergeant Ross, and many others were killed. Captain +Vernon was shot in the head, the third wound which he had received +within two hundred yards. Lieutenant Paton was shot in the region of +the heart. Bugler Morgan, who was the first to ply his bayonet, was +shot in three places, but it is believed that he will live. Then a +mighty roar rose up, and we who had not taken part in the charge, +again thought that the position had been carried. But it was the +triumphant shout of the Boers, who, from the quick manner in which +they followed us in hoisting up the Red Cross flag, would seem to have +been partially demoralised by the keenness of our attack. With the +dead and dying about them, and the area of the wounded encircling the +fort, those of our men who were left fell back savagely and sullenly, +with a contempt of the enemy's fire and the desire to renew the +attack. Further assault was impossible, and, though we continued to +fire upon the position until stretcher-parties were sent out, the +fight was practically over upon our retirement. When they fell in +again, out of the sixty men that had been engaged in the charge only +nine were unwounded. Our killed were twenty-one; our wounded thirty, +of whom four have since died. There were also three who were prisoners +in the hands of the enemy. + +Soon after the commencement of operations the chief staff officer gave +me permission to move forward from Dummie Fort, and I therefore rode +over to the position occupied by Captain Lord Charles Bentinck, and +afterwards to Game Tree, joining Surgeon-Major Anderson, when the Red +Cross flag was hoisted on the scene of the engagement. The heavy +vapour from the shells still impregnated the air, and hanging loosely +over the veldt were masses of grey-black and brown-yellow smoke +clouds. Boers on horseback and on foot were moving quickly in all +directions, and mounted detachments were seen advancing at a gallop +from the big laager upon the eastern front, with their rifles swung +loosely across their knees. They had been proceeding to reinforce Game +Tree Fort, upon an order from Field Cornet Steinekamp, when the +cessation of hostilities had taken place under the provisions of the +Red Cross. Game Tree Fort presented an animated picture. The enemy +thronged its walls, held noisy conversation in scattered groups, that, +breaking up in one spot, congregated the next moment in some other. +The bushes about the fort were alive with men who, with their rifles +in their hands and a few loose cartridges at their side, were prepared +at any moment to resume hostilities. The fort itself showed no traces +of the shelling, although it were impossible, from the seventy-five +yards limit, up to which we were permitted to approach, to examine it +very thoroughly. It has been claimed that the fort was strengthened +during the night, but signs were absent by which one could detect +traces of the new work, and, in view of this fact, one is disinclined +to impugn the statement of Commandant Botha, who told me that he had +been expecting the attack for the past two weeks. From where we were +the strength of the fort was very apparent, seeming altogether +unnecessary for the requirements of such a post, unless definite +information had been carried to the enemy about our plans. It may be +that the night attack which Captain Fitzclarence had led against the +Boer trenches upon the east of the town earlier in the siege had +prompted the enemy to strengthen all their positions. The fort itself +had been given a head covering of wooden beams, earth, and corrugated +iron; the entrance in the rear was blocked, and in every other way it +appeared impregnable. When the order came for our men to retire, Dr. +Hamilton proceeded from the armoured train with the Red Cross flag, +making his way to the wounded in the face of a heavy fire. But as soon +as it was recognised by the enemy that he was desirous of helping the +sufferers the firing was at once stopped, and Commandant Botha himself +apologised. The field around the Boer position at once became dotted +with similar emblems, for the character of the charge and the severity +of the fire had confined our losses within a very small radius of the +position. The scene here was intensely pathetic, and everywhere there +were dead or dying men. The Boers moved out from their trenches and +swarmed around with idle curiosity to inspect the injuries which they +had inflicted upon their foe, while a constant procession came from +the immediate precincts of the fort, bearing those of our men who had +fallen within its actual circumference. In their way they assisted us, +although for some time they would not permit the waggons of the +ambulance to approach nearer than half a mile, nor at first would +they entertain our proposal that the services of the armoured train +should be employed to facilitate the conveyance of casualties to the +base. + +[Illustration: Boers Inspecting the British Killed at Game Tree Hill.] + +As Surgeon-Major Anderson proceeded with his work, assisted by Dr. T. +Hayes, Dr. Hamilton and a staff of dressers, the character of the +wounds which our men had suffered gave rise to the impression that the +enemy had used explosive bullets, although it is perhaps possible that +Martini rifles fired at close range would account for the wide area of +injury on those who had been wounded. In one case a bullet in the head +had blown off rather more than half the skull; in another a small +puncture in the thigh had completely pulverised the limb; while in a +third, in which the bullet had struck just above the knee-cap, it had +raised a mass of shattered flesh and bone into a pulpy mound. With +these fearful injuries before one it was scarcely possible to believe +that the wounds inflicted had originated through the impact of Mauser +or Martini bullets. The Field Cornet, with whom I conversed at some +length, upon being shown the dreadful condition of the wounds, +admitted that at one time explosive bullets had been served out, but +that it was not possible that they could have been used that morning, +since he was convinced that that particular ammunition had already +been expended. He then produced a bandolier filled with Dum-dum +bullets, and suggested that since so much of the Mark IV. ammunition +had been taken by them from us, our men had been hit by bullets which +we ourselves had manufactured. I pointed out that this particular +ammunition had been recalled, so far as Mafeking was concerned, since +it had been found to strip in the barrel of the rifle. The Field +Cornet then said that he and his men were already aware of the +uselessness of this particular pattern of bullet, since upon many +occasions they had been hit by some curious missile from which it was +evident that the casing had stripped, and from which no injury had +been sustained. It was a strange conversation to have with a man +against whom the moment before we had been fighting, but from time to +time, as we were waiting for the wounded to be brought up, the +conversation was reopened between us. + +The attitude of the Boers around us was one of stolid composure, not +altogether unmixed with sympathy. At one time almost one hundred had +assembled around those who were dressing the wounded. With their +rifles upon their backs and two bandoliers crossing each other upon +their chests, they appeared a stalwart body of men; for the most part +they were big and burly, broad in their shoulders, ponderous in their +gait, and uncouth in their appearance, combining a somewhat soiled and +tattered appearance with an air of triumph. Their clothing was an +ill-assorted array of patterns and materials, altogether incongruous +and out of keeping with the campaign upon which they were then +engaged. Some of them, with quite unnecessary brutality, had doffed +their own rifles and bandoliers, in order that they might show and +swing somewhat aggressively before our notice, the spoils of the +battlefield. In this manner they sported Lee-Metford rifles and +bandoliers containing Mark II. and Mark IV. ammunition. But for the +most part they behaved with a certain decorum, and it may be that the +weapon which they bore was the silent confirmation of the Field +Cornet's words. Here and there they made some attempt to rob the +wounded and despoil the dead, but when I remonstrated with the Field +Cornet he expressed, with every appearance of sincerity, his very keen +regret, ordering the transgressors from the field, and explaining that +he was unable to accept the responsibility for such acts, since, +although they had instructions to respect the dead, the younger men +were so unruly as to be beyond his control. The Field Cornet proceeded +to assert that the acts of his men were neither so barbarous nor so +inhuman as those which our own soldiers had committed after the battle +of Elandslaagte, where, he said, Imperial troops had stripped the body +of General de Koch, leaving him to lie upon the field wounded and +naked, and adding that we were morally responsible, and held as such +by every right-minded person in the Transvaal and Orange Free State, +for the subsequent death of the Boer general. This opinion was loudly +endorsed by a number of the enemy, who had collected around us, one of +whom stated that he had received orders from Commandant Botha to take +possession of any effects which were found upon the bodies of the +wounded or dead. I referred this man's statement to the Field Cornet, +when quite a lively altercation in Dutch ensued. The Field Cornet +denied that any such order had been given by Commandant Botha, and +that, had any orders at all been given, they referred merely to papers +and to the removal of side arms and ammunition. I pointed out to him +the bodies of five of our men whose pockets had been turned inside +out, and who were at that moment being brought up under an escort of +the enemy. He was also confronted with three wounded who declared that +they had had their personal effects stolen as they lay about the Boer +trenches, their rings taken from their fingers, and their money taken +from their pockets. The Field Cornet then promised that if any man who +had done such a thing could be identified he would be immediately +punished, while the more reputable of those who gathered round us +guaranteed, if not the restitution of the property, summary conviction +for the offenders. And in this connection it must be said that during +the course of the afternoon a Boer orderly came in, under a flag of +truce, to our lines to restore to Bugler Morgan his silver watch and +_L_3, which had been taken from him as he lay, shot through each +thigh, in the trenches of the enemy. + +Very striking was the tone of harmony which characterised this +temporary intercourse upon the field of battle between Boer and +Briton. People who had been pitted against each other in mortal combat +the moment before were now fraternising with every outward sign of +decency and amity. This is doubtless due in some measure to the +strange composition of the two contending forces, since so many upon +the one side have friends and even relatives fighting against them +that it seems the most natural thing in the world for any mutual +acquaintance of one particular individual to make inquiries about his +welfare. These greetings impressed the scene with a note of +pleasantness and good feeling which was in most happy contrast to the +surroundings. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +THE ADVENT OF THE NEW YEAR + + + MAFEKING, _January 3rd, 1900_. + +New Year's Eve drew to itself much of the sentiment which is usually +associated with that event. We perhaps did not ring the old year out +and the new year in, because the sonorous clang of bells presages in +these times the advent of shells. When the enemy lay their gun upon +the town the bell at the outlook rings once; when its precise +direction has been located it peals according to the number which has +been given to that direction. Then there comes the firing-bell, by +which time all good people should have taken cover. It will be seen, +therefore, that the ringing of bells has a particular significance, +and one from which it is inappropriate and inadvisable to depart. But +our celebration of New Year's Eve was a quiet gathering of men drawn +from the various points of the town, who assembled within the shadows +of the English Church to sing a hymn and give voice to our National +Anthem. It had been raining during the evening; the air was fresh and +fragrant, and the ground was very damp. They came in their cloaks; +they carried their rifles and wore their bandoliers, since it was not +a time to chance the possibilities of an attack. There were perhaps +one hundred of them, and had it been convenient to allow a general +muster, the whole garrison would have very willingly attended. When +everything was ready the great stillness of the night was broken +gently by a prelude from the harmonium, which, dropping to a low tone, +became a mere accompaniment to the human voices. Then the volume of +music grew somewhat fuller until it carried in its depths the voices +of the singers merged into one torrent of stirring melody; then there +was a fresh pause, and as the echoes of the hymn died away, lingering +in the rafters of the building until countless spirits seemed to be +taking up the refrain, the voice of the preacher broke out in words +which manfully endeavoured to cheer the congregation. We stood and +listened, rapt with an attention which gave more to the scene than to +the exhortations of the man, and waiting for the time to sing the +National Anthem. In these moments, when one is so far from the Queen +and the capital of her great Empire, the singing of the National +Anthem has a weight and meaning much finer and much greater than that +imparted to the hymn when the words are sung at home. Presently the +voices took up the hymn, throwing into the darkness of the church some +whiteness of the dawn which will usher in the days of peace upon the +termination of the war. The National Anthem, sang amid these +surroundings, was incomparably beautiful, seeming to strengthen the +irresolute, even cheering those who were already strong, and imparting +to every one a happier frame of mind and a greater spirit of +contentment. Scenes on a smaller scale, but identical in purpose, were +enacted at almost every one of our posts, and the hour of midnight +must have borne to the watchful sentries of the enemy some slight +knowledge of the pleasing duty upon which the garrison was engaged. It +was only for a moment--just so long, indeed, as it took to sing the +verses of the anthem. Then, when this was over, the harmony of night +fell once more upon the garrison. + +The New Year has brought to Mafeking and the garrison that is +beleaguered within its walls, no signs of the fulfilment of the +prophecy that relief would come by the end of December. Indeed, the +closing year of the nineteenth century was ushered in with the boom of +cannon and the fire of small arms, and in a style generally which does +not differ from any one of the many days during which the siege and +bombardment have lasted. There was no cessation of hostilities similar +to that which characterised Christmas Day; firing began at an early +hour in the morning from the enemy's artillery, and did not terminate +until the evening gun gave a few hours' peace to the town. For quite a +fortnight there has been no such heavy fire, and it would seem that, +for our especial edification, the authorities in Pretoria had sent to +the commandant of the Boer forces that are investing us, a New Year's +gift of three waggon-loads of ammunition. A new gun was also +despatched to them, and, its position being constantly shifted, its +fire has since played upon every quarter of the town. For the moment +we had attached no great importance to this new weapon, but after the +first few rounds it was discovered to be employing what are called +combustible bombs. These new shells do not usually explode, seeming to +discharge a chemical liquid which ignites upon contact with the air. +They are also filled with lumps of sulphur, and so severe might be the +damage from this new agency of destruction which the Boers have +turned against Mafeking that the most stringent orders have been +issued for any one finding these shells to see that they are +immediately buried. At present, beyond a few unimportant blazes in the +gardens of the town, no damage has been caused, while, in the +meantime, our situation here has in no way altered. + +It would appear that our resistance is beginning to exasperate the +enemy, driving him to a pitch in which he is determined to respect +neither the Convention of Geneva nor the promptings of humanity. +Again, despite the innumerable warnings which he has received, for two +days in succession has he made the hospital and the women's laager the +sole object of his attentions. Yesterday the shells fell sufficiently +wide of these two places to justify the broad-minded in giving to his +artillery officers the benefit of the doubt; but to-day it is +impossible to find any extenuating circumstances whatever in his +favour, and I very much regret to have to state that through the +shelling of the women's laager many children's lives have been +imperilled, many women wounded. From time to time every effort has +been made to give to the gentler sex the most perfect immunity, but it +would seem as though we can no longer consider as safe these poor +innocent and helpless non-combatants. The children of some of the most +respected and most loyal townspeople have been killed in this manner, +just as they were romping within the trenches which encircle their +retreat. For two hours this morning the Creusot and quick-firing guns +of the enemy fired into the laager, creating scenes of panic and +consternation which it is not fitting to describe. Nine +one-hundred-pound shells burst within the precincts of that place in +the space of an hour, and in palliation of this there is nothing +whatever which can be said, since the enemy had posted a heliograph +station upon a kopje a few thousand yards distant from the point of +attack. As the big shells sped across the town to drop within the +laager beyond, the enemy's signallers heliographed their direction to +the emplacement of Big Ben. Our own signalling corps intercepted the +messages from the enemy, reading out, from time to time, the purport +of the flashes. The first shell was short, and the enemy's signallers +worked vigorously. The second was too wide. The third fell within the +laager itself, the pieces piercing, when it burst, a number of tents. +To this shot the heliograph flashed a cordial expression of approval. +These actions upon the part of the Boers, as repeatedly pointed out to +them, make it almost impossible for us to regard our foe as other than +one which is inspired with the emotions of a degraded people and the +crude cruelty and vindictive animosity of savages. Just now, when the +press of our feelings is beyond confinement, there is nothing but a +universal wish that we may speedily be relieved and so enabled to +enjoy the initiative against the Boers. When that moment comes it must +not be forgotten that we have suffered bitterly, and in a way which +must be taken as excusing any excesses which may occur. + +[Illustration: The Colonel on the Look-out at Headquarters.] + +As I returned from a visit to the women's laager Colonel Baden-Powell +was lying in his easy-chair beneath the roof of the verandah of the +Headquarters Office. Colonel Baden-Powell is young, as men go in the +army, with a keen appreciation of the possibilities of his career, +swayed by ambition, indifferent to sentimental emotion. In stature he +is short, while his features are sharp and smooth. He is eminently a +man of determination, of great physical endurance and capacity, and +of extraordinary reticence. His reserve is unbending, and one would +say, quoting a phrase of Mr. Pinero's, that fever would be the only +heat which would permeate his body. He does not go about freely, since +he is tied to his office through the multitudinous cares of his +command, and he is chiefly happy when he can snatch the time to escape +upon one of those nocturnal, silent expeditions, which alone calm and +assuage the perpetual excitement of his present existence. Outwardly, +he maintains an impenetrable screen of self-control, observing with a +cynical smile the foibles and caprices of those around him. He seems +ever bracing himself to be on guard against a moment in which he +should be swept by some unnatural and spontaneous enthusiasm, in which +by a word, by an expression of face, by a movement, or in the turn of +a phrase, he should betray the rigours of the self-control under which +he lives. Every passing townsman regards him with curiosity not +unmixed with awe. Every servant in the hotel watches him, and he, as a +consequence, seldom speaks without a preternatural deliberation and an +air of decisive finality. He seems to close every argument with a +snap, as though the steel manacles of his ambition had checkmated the +emotions of the man in the instincts of the officer. He weighs each +remark before he utters it, and suggests by his manner, as by his +words, that he has considered the different effects it might +conceivably have on any mind as the expression of his own mind. As an +officer, he has given to Mafeking a complete and assured security, to +the construction of which he has brought a very practical knowledge of +the conditions of Boer warfare, of the Boers themselves, and of the +strategic worth of the adjacent areas. His espionagic excursions to +the Boer lines have gained him an intimate and accurate idea of the +value of the opposing forces and a mass of _data_ by which he can +immediately counteract the enemy's attack. He loves the night, and +after his return from the hollows in the veldt, where he has kept so +many anxious vigils, he lies awake hour after hour upon his camp +mattress in the verandah, tracing out, in his mind, the various means +and agencies by which he can forestall their move, which, unknown to +them, he had personally watched. He is a silent man, and it would seem +that silence has become in his heart a curious religion. In the noisy +day he yearns for the noiseless night, in which he can slip into the +vistas of the veldt, an unobtrusive spectator of the mystic communion +of tree with tree, of twilight with darkness, of land with water, of +early morn with fading night, with the music of the journeying winds +to speak to him and to lull his thoughts. As he makes his way across +our lines the watchful sentry strains his eyes a little more to keep +the figure of the colonel before him, until the undulations of the +veldt conceal his progress. He goes in the privacy of the night, when +it be no longer a season of moonlight, when, although the stars were +full, the night be dim. The breezes of the veldt are warm and gentle, +impregnated with the fresh fragrances of the Molopo, although, as he +walks with rapid, almost running, footsteps, leaving the black blur of +the town for the arid and stony areas to the west, a new wind meets +him--a wind that is clear and keen and dry, the wind of the wastes +that wanders for ever over the monotonous sands of the desert. It +accompanies him as he walks as though to show and to whisper with +gentle gusts that it knew of his intention. It sighs amid the sentinel +trees that stand straight and isolated about the Boer lines. He goes +on, never faltering, bending for a moment behind a clump of rocks, +screening himself next behind some bushes, crawling upon his hands and +knees, until his movements, stirring a few loose stones, create a +thin, grating noise in the vast silence about him. His head is low, +his eyes gaze straight upon the camp of the enemy; in a little he +moves again, his inspection is over, and he either changes to a fresh +point or startles some dozing sentry as he slips back into town. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +NATIVE LIFE + + + MAFEKING, _January 10th, 1900_. + +During the time which has elapsed since Christmas an interesting event +has been the deposition of Wessels, the chief of the Baralongs. At a +_kotla_ of the tribe, to which the councillors and petty chiefs were +bidden by the Civil Commissioner, Mr. Bell notified the tribe of his +decision. The deposed chief, a man of no parts whatever, but one who +unfortunately reveals all the vices of civilisation, has been put upon +sick-leave, the reins of government being placed in the hands of his +two chief councillors. Wessels had been instigating his tribe to +refuse to work for the military authorities here, and through his +instrumentality it has become difficult to obtain native labour and +native runners. He told them in his amiable fashion that the English +wished to make slaves of them, and that they would not be paid for any +services which they rendered; nor would they, added he, taking +advantage of an unfortunate turn in the situation, be given any food, +but left to starve when the critical moment came. With the change +which had been adopted and which has been given the sanction of the +_kotla_, it is hoped that matters may progress more smoothly and the +tribe itself increase in prosperity. It was an interesting meeting, +and one which recalled the early days of Africa, when the authority of +the great White Queen was not a power paramount in the council +chambers of the tribes. Wessels, unwilling and assuming an air of +injured dignity, filled his place in the _kotla_ for the last time; +around him there were the chiefs of the tribe, his blood relatives, +and his councillors. Their attire was a weird mixture of effete +savagery and of the civilisation of the sort which is picked up from +living in touch with white Africa and missionary societies. Many black +legs were clothed in trousers, many black shoulders wore coats. Here +and there, as relics of the past, there was the ostrich feather in the +hat, the fly whisk, composed of the hairs from the tail of an animal, +the iron or bone skin-scraper with which to remove the perspiration of +the body. A few wore shoes upon naked feet, a few others sported +watch-chains and spoke English. At the back of the enclosure there was +a native guard who shouldered Martini-Henri rifles, elephant guns, +Sniders, or sporting rifles. A few of these were garmented with skins +of animals upon the naked body. After a stately and not altogether +friendly greeting to the man who had ordered the assembly to meet, the +reasons which had brought about the contemplated change in the head of +the tribe were stated in English and then translated by the +interpreter. The old chief snorted with disgust and endeavoured to +coerce his people to reject the demands made upon them. But they had +been made before a body of men who were capable of realising the +worthlessness of their chief, and who, under the protection of the +Imperial delegate, did not mind endorsing the suggestions and +expressing their opinions. The younger and more turbulent, who +recognised, in the failings of the chief, follies dear to their own +hearts, were inclined to express sympathy for the man who was so soon +to be compelled to relinquish the sweets of office. They spoke at once +in an angry chatter and confused chortle of sounds, which, if +eloquent, were wholly insufficient. The chief then threw himself back +upon his chair, spat somewhat contemptuously, and finally acquiesced +in the decision, obtaining some small consolation from the fact that +his official allowance would not be discontinued. Then the _kotla_ +ended, and the indunas rose up and left, standing together in animated +groups around the palisades, for the discussion of the scene in which +they had just taken part. Then, as the decision spread throughout the +tribe, children and women, young and old, banded together to watch +these final indabas. + +The scene had been solemn enough beneath the _kotla_ tree, but outside +the natural instinct of these children of the veldt soon asserted +itself, and they began to dance. They formed into small groups of +about forty, to the sound of hand-clapping, a not unmusical intoning, +and much jumping and stamping of feet. It would seem that they were +dancing an old war-dance which had degenerated into one symbolical of +love and happiness. Around the joyous groups the old crones +circulated, clapping their withered hands, shrieking delight in +cracked voices, and generally encouraging the festivity. The dance was +curious, and appeared to catch echoes of many lands. There was the +diffident maiden, anxious to be loved, but bashful, modest in her +manner and in her gestures, until she saw the man that could thrill +her; then she glowed, and her steps were animated, buoyant, and +caressing. A smile irradiated her face, while a slight, almost +imperceptible, movement pulsed through her body. Behind her were her +companions, the same age as herself, who imitated her with feverish +sympathy, instinctively reproducing her moods of body and of mind. The +vibration that stole through the bodies of the dancers increased +gradually until, from statues with wicked eyes, full of sensuous +expression and amorous allurement, they wavered like thin flames of +love in a gust of passion. As the potency of their feelings grew +steadily stronger, they swayed in languorous movements, throwing out +sinuous arms, their feeble faces smiling, their graceful bodies +bending in eager attitudes of expectation. The air became heavy with +noise, thick with a veritable tumult, as the dancers jumped more +wildly; now they threw themselves into postures in the circle, +shifting rapidly with tiny screams of delight and a gliding, clinging +motion of their arms and legs as though, coy and eager, they would +escape the cherished caresses of their lovers. As they glided, their +actions seemed always to be marked with the same regularity, with the +same regard to rhythm, and with an innate conception of grace. When +they shook their bodies it was with an abandonment that was, at least, +graceful; if they stood, rocking in a sea of easy emotion, as though +victorious, they would hug their capture with an air of conquest which +was delightful to behold. As they rose to the pinnacle of their +happiness, when their countenances were suffused with love and +tenderness, they infused into their emotions an appearance of sadness. +It was as though a cloud had suddenly fallen upon them, revealing to +them that their endearments had been abortive, that their ambitions +were not to be realised and that they themselves had been flouted. +Then there stole upon them the incarnation of sorrow, in which, +finding themselves alone, uncared for, unconsidered, they resolved, in +a burst of artificial tears, to have done with giddiness, and to take +up with the delights of placid domesticity. Then the dance terminated, +she, who had by her graceful contortions and sympathetic bearing moved +her audience to laughter and tears first, being considered the +victorious. Thus did these simple natives celebrate the new era. + +If dancing be one form of amusement here, the siege has also brought +the means and opportunity of indulging in a pastime of quite a +different character. If sniping be the rule by day, cattle raiding by +night gives to the natives some profitable employment. During last +night the Baralongs secured, by a successful raid, some twenty-four +head of cattle, and in the course of last week another raiding +detachment looted some eighteen oxen. The native enjoys himself when +he is able to participate in some cattle-raiding excursion to the +enemy's lines, and, although the local tribe may not have proved of +much value as a unit of defence, their success at lifting the Boer +cattle confers upon them a unique value in the garrison. We were +deploring the poorness of the cattle which remained at our disposal +only a few days ago, but the rich capture which these natives have +made has given us a welcome change from bone and skin to juicy beef. +These night excursions are eagerly anticipated by the tribe, and +almost daily is the consent of the Colonel sought in relation to such +an object. During the day the natives who have been authorised by +Colonel Baden-Powell to take part in the raid approach as near to the +grazing cattle as discretion permits, marking down when twilight +appears the position of those beasts that can be most readily detached +from the mob. Then, when darkness is complete, they creep up, divested +of their clothes, crawling upon hands and knees, until they have +completely surrounded their prey. Then quietly, and as rapidly as +circumstances will allow them, each man "gets a move on" his +particular beast, so that in a very short space of time some ten or +twenty cattle are unconsciously leaving the main herd. When the +raiders have drawn out of earshot of the Boer lines they urge on their +captures, running behind them and on either side of them, but without +making any noise whatsoever. As they reach their stadt, their approach +having been watched by detached bodies of natives, who, lying +concealed in the veldt, had taken up positions by which to secure the +safe return of their friends, the tribes go forth to welcome them, and +when the prizes have been inspected and report duly made to +Headquarters they celebrate the event with no little feasting and +dancing. Upon the following day merriment reigns supreme, and for the +time the siege is forgotten. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +BOMBAST AND BOMB-PROOFS + + + MAFEKING, _January 20th, 1900_. + +Yesterday we completed the first hundred days of our siege, and when +we look back beyond the weeks of our investment into those earlier +days it is difficult to realise the trials and difficulties which we +have undergone, and to believe that the period which has elapsed has +witnessed the inauguration of a new era for South Africa. In those +early days when we first came here Mafeking was a flourishing +commercial centre, contented with its position, proud of its supremacy +over other towns, and now, perhaps, if outwardly it be much the same, +its future is impressed with only the faint echo of its former +greatness. The town itself has not suffered very much; here and there +its area has been more confined for purposes of defence, while the +streets and buildings bear witness to the effects of the bombardment. +Houses are shattered, gaping holes in the walls of buildings, furrows +in the roads, broken trees, wrecked telegraph poles, and that general +appearance of destruction which marks the path of a cyclone are the +outward and visible signs of the enemy's fire. We shall leave in +Mafeking a population somewhat subdued and harassed with anxiety for +their future, since the public and private losses will require the +work of many anxious years before any restoration of the fallen +fortunes can be effected. The pity of it is that all this distress +might have been so easily avoided, and would have been, had the +authorities in Cape Town and at home taken any heed of the very +pressing messages which were despatched daily to them; but it was +decreed that Mafeking should shift for itself for so long as it was +able, and then--surrender. This, however, did not meet with the +approval of Colonel Baden-Powell, with the result that we are still +fighting and still holding our own. We have even achieved some little +place in the sieges of the world, and our present record has already +surpassed many of the more prominent sieges. But there is not much +consolation to be gained from contemplating the position which we may +eventually take up in the records of famous sieges, and, truth to +tell, there is such glorious uncertainty about the date of our relief +that it is perhaps possible that we may surpass the longest of +historic sieges. At one time we confidently anticipated that the siege +would be over in ten days. This, however, was in the days of our +youth; since then we have learned wisdom, and eagerly seize +opportunities of snapping up any unconsidered trifles in the way of +bets which lay odds upon our being "out of the wood" in another month. +Events are moving so slowly below that it does not seem as though we +shall be relieved by the end of February. The relief column, which a +month ago appeared almost daily in "Orders," is now no longer +mentioned in polite society, although there be little reason to doubt +that, at some very remote date, the troops may make their appearance +here. + +The early part of November witnessed the first attempt of the +Commissariat to control the stocks of provisions in the town. All +persons holding stocks of Kaffir corn, meal, crushed meal, yellow +mealies, and flour, were ordered to declare the quantities and price +at which they would be willing to dispose of them to the authorities. +Captain Ryan, the Commissariat officer, was an energetic and +painstaking individual, whose aim was to prove his department a +financial success, and so rigidly did he adhere to this resolve that +the questions involved by the Commissariat became amongst the most +important of the siege. Traders claimed that the economy of the +situation gave them a siege profit, since, as the Government had not +been shrewd enough to lay down stores, those who had done this at +their own risk, and upon their own initiative, should be permitted, at +least, to make a margin of profit in proportion to the prices which +they could obtain for their goods. This contention, however, was not +upheld by the Commissariat officer, who at once became the best hated +man in Mafeking. Oddly enough, although the Government would not allow +the merchants to reap the profit, they themselves, in virtue of the +expense in connection with the issue of rations, were not above +charging these expenses to prime cost, and so exorbitantly increasing +themselves the retail price of the articles which they had taken over. +What was perhaps the most objectionable feature in the findings of the +Commissariat Department was that the merchant himself who disposed of +his goods to the Government at a ruling which allowed but the profit +incidental to the transaction of business in times of peace, was +compelled to buy back, when he required goods of that particular +variety, at the price which the Government had placed upon them. +This, of course, seemed to the people unfair, and they were quite +unable to obtain any satisfactory explanation of such procedure; +satisfactory because the reasons vouchsafed assumed the right of the +Government to a certain profit, denying, however, that rate in the +same ratio of proportion to the individual. Among the chief obstacles +against which Captain Ryan had to contend was the maintenance of the +daily bread ration, since the supply of flour, of mealie meal, of +oats, was not particularly great. There were many experiments made +with the bread, but those which were most unsatisfactory failed +because it had been found difficult to sift the husks from the oats +once the oats had been crushed. While the issue of this particular +bread lasted symptoms of acute dysentery prevailed, and in order to +prevent an epidemic of dysentery from breaking out the Commissariat +were compelled to adopt other methods of treatment. The bread +eventually developed into a weighty circular brown biscuit, weighing +anything under six ounces, about nine inches in circumference. These +particular biscuits were less spiky, and less liable to create acute +inflammation. They were issued to the entire garrison, excepting those +who had been permitted to draw an invalid ration of white bread, and +were preserved in many cases as mementoes of the siege. Although we +have food enough to last several months this precaution is necessary, +as when the siege is raised many weeks must elapse before supplies can +come in. The garrison has been put upon a scale of reduced +rations--1/2 lb. of bread, 1/2 lb. of meat per day. The reductions in +bread took place in the early part of the year, while the orders in +relation to the meat supply were issued during this week. Matches and +milk are prohibited from public sale, and the latest order prevents +the shops from opening. All supplies of biscuits, tea, and +sugar--preserves also--have been commandeered. The shop-keepers and +the hotel proprietors, and indeed anybody who can find any possible +excuse for doing so, have trebled the price of their goods, pleading +that the inflation is due to the siege. Accordingly, meal and flour +have jumped from 27s. per bag to 50s.; potatoes, where they exist at +all, are L2 per cwt.; fowls are 7s. 6d. each; and eggs 12s. per dozen. +Milk and vegetables can no longer be obtained, and rice has taken the +place of the latter among the menus. These figures mark the rise in +the more important foodstuffs as sold across the counter, but the +hotels have, in sympathy, followed the example, they, upon their part, +attributing it to the increase which the wholesale merchants have +decreed. A peg of whisky is 1s. 6d., dop brandy 1s., gin 1s., large +stout is 4s., small beer 2s. In ordinary times whisky retails at 5s. +per bottle. This rate has now advanced to 18s. per bottle and 80s. per +case. Dop, which is usually 1s. 4d., is now 12s. per bottle; the +difference upon beer is almost 200 per cent., and inferior cigarettes +are now 18s. per hundred. Upon an inquiry among the publicans here, I +was informed that the chief reason for the increase in their prices +was to hinder the local soldiery from becoming intoxicated; this +sudden regard for the moral welfare of the garrison on the part of the +saloon keepers is however, oddly at variance with their earlier +practices, and is in reality the flimsy pretext by which they seek to +condone an almost unwarrantable act. Hitherto the constantly recurring +evils arising from the sale of drink to soldiers and others performing +military duties, have been openly encouraged by the hotel +proprietors, who, although they now profess a fine appreciation for +the moral obligations attached to their trade when prices are high and +profits great, took no very serious steps at the outset to allay what +was becoming a very serious menace to the community. Moreover, the +hotels have demanded from such people as war correspondents and others +brought here through business connected with the siege, rates which +are far in advance of the ordinary tariffs, with equally preposterous +demands for native servants and horse-feed. Indeed, whatever Mafeking +may lose through the absence of business with the Transvaal, many will +receive ample compensation from the high prices by which those who are +able, are endeavouring to recoup themselves, and in a way which it is +not possible to consider other than extortionate. Stores of all kinds +are, however, rapidly giving out, and it would not have been possible +for Mafeking to have sustained the siege so long had not the +Government contractor, upon his own initiative, laid in far greater +stocks of provisions than were provided for by his contract, and in +this respect every credit should be given to the commercial foresight +and sagacity by which these arrangements were inspired. For everything +which is in daily want, in fact for the bare necessities of life upon +the existing scale of reduced rations, Mafeking now depends upon the +stores and bonded warehouse which represent the local branch of the +contracting firm, Messrs. Julius Weil & Co. In their hands lies the +issuing of the daily allowances of bread and meat to the garrison, of +the forage for the horses, of the feeding of the natives. Indeed, +there seemed no end to the resources of this house. When the siege +began, had there been no Weil, the Government stocks would not have +lasted two months, and, moreover, they did not know that the Weils had +laid in these stores--a fact which again establishes how very meagre +were the preparations made for the siege. Therefore, when the time +comes to give honour to whom honour is due, notice should be taken of +the important _role_ which this firm has fulfilled during the siege of +Mafeking. + +The siege drags on, however, the days seeming to be an endless +monotony in which there is absolutely nothing to sustain one's +interest. Week by week we make a united and laborious attempt to whip +our flagging energies into some activity. It is a hideous spectacle, +but this Sunday celebration reveals how very trying has become the +situation. The military authorities have been at their wits' end to +find amusement for the garrison, and this effort has developed into a +Sabbatarian charade in which we all assume an active co-operation, and +try to think that we are having a very giddy and even gushing time. +Colonel Baden-Powell, in this respect, makes an admirable +stage-manager. Authors, scenic artists, stage hands, scene shifters, +there are, of course, none; but in the middle of the week the Chief +Staff Officer becomes the town crier, crying lustily, by means of +proclamation, that, by the grace of God, upon the coming Sunday there +will be a golf match or baby show, a concert or polo match, even some +attempt at amateur theatricals. The Sunday respite is, however, +immensely appreciated, and, indeed, it is a very welcome panacea to +our siege-strung nerves. Where in England you people are saying, "Oh, +bother Sunday," "How like a Sunday," we say, "Thank God it is Sunday," +implying, for that day in seven, a period of absolute rest and no +little contentment. We are warriors on Sunday: bold, bad, and brave. +We have our horses out on Sunday and take a toss as elegantly as we +take our neighbour's money at cards in the evening, when fortune +favours. We drink, we accept one another's invitations to meals of +unsurpassing heaviness; we even invite ourselves to one another's +houses. We drink, we eat, we flirt, we live in every second of the +hours which constitute the Sunday, and upon the passing of the day it +is as though we had entered into another world. As midnight arrives, +we hasten back to our trenches filled with the good things of the day, +even with the zest to penetrate the mysteries of another week of +siege. In the morning we stand-to-arms at four o'clock, not because +there is any special purpose for doing so, but rather that we may +satisfy ourselves that we are soldiers; and then the labour of the day +begins, and for six more days we stand-to-arms and wonder when the +devil the enemy are coming on. We are very brave then, and at times we +take ourselves so seriously that into each breast there comes the +spirit of the Commander-in-Chief. Then we criticise the war, talk +fatuously of what we would do, struggle somewhat ingloriously with the +archaic jargon of the army, until, if our speech betrays our +ignorance, we, nevertheless, make a mighty lot of noise. Then we are +satisfied, though doubtless each thinks the other somewhat of a fool. + +To the man who looks on at all this, the gradual change which has come +over the garrison is plainly discernible. In the beginning, when the +Boers made war upon us, there was a contempt for bomb-proofs; there +was a contempt for many other things besides, since each individual +knew better than his Post Commander, and did not hesitate to tell him +so, or rather to imply that he had told him so; but the scorn of +bomb-proofs was mightier than the sword. In those days we feared +nothing beyond mosquitoes and the creeping things of earth, but the +change came silently, and although few people commented upon it, the +transformation was completed within the first month of the siege. It +grew, as it were, in a single night, from a village of mud-walled +houses into one in which every other man owned something of a dug-out. +For the first few days, while scorn of dug-outs was rife, he who built +himself a haven kept it to his inner conscience, recalling it, when +its existence was forced upon him, with something of an apologetic +air. Thus we existed; then the staff built an underground room, and +upon the Sunday that followed this momentous event many there were who +visited it, and who, gathering wrinkles, went quietly to their gardens +and did likewise. Thus insidiously came the transformation, and +although there are still a few who talk disparagingly of these +bomb-proof shelters, their faces wear an anxious look when the enemy +are shelling, and strangely enough, as the fire waxes hotter, they +easily find excuses to visit friends, lingering, the while, in the +congenial gloom of their host's dug-out. + +So greatly have ideas expanded upon this subject that at one of the +hotels an underground dining-room is in course of construction. This +is at Riesle's, whose proprietor, at last, has been induced to build +his boarders--mostly war correspondents--a dug-out, since he had given +places of shelter to the servants, to his native boys, and to his +family, seemingly thinking that since the boarders kept the hotel +going they could very easily shift for themselves. But then that is +always the creed of the publican. These dug-outs are large +excavations some ten by fourteen feet and seven feet deep, upon which +there is placed a layer of iron rails which are procured from the +railway yard; over these there is usually a layer of thick wooden +sleepers, which again are covered over with sheets of corrugated iron. +The earth from the hole is then piled up on this, and, after the +dug-out has been inspected by the Town Commandant it is considered +safe for habitation; a few cases and chairs equip it with certain +accommodation, although there are a few into which trestle beds have +been placed. It is not very healthy passing days and nights in these +inverted earthworks, but it is eminently safe, and has been the sole +means afforded us for escaping the enemy's fire. Fortunately the Boers +have made no attempt to advance upon the town under cover of their +guns, for if they did so we should have to stand-to-arms and face the +music of the flying splinters. Every post has been supplied with one +of these underground retreats, and quite the larger proportion of the +townspeople have constructed private shelters for themselves. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +SOME SNIPING AND AN EXECUTION + + + MAFEKING, _January 31st, 1900_. + +In itself the situation has not developed over much, but in relation +to the siege there are two tragedies to chronicle. The Boers are still +investing us, in more or less the same numbers, and with but little +difference in the strength of their artillery. Sometimes we miss an +individual piece, judging from its absence that it has been sent north +to reinforce the Dutch who are endeavouring to circumvent the +movements of Colonel Plumer's column. However, these periodical +journeys of the five-pounder Krupp, the one-pounder Maxim, or the +nine-pounder quick-firing Creusot do not last for any great time, and, +as a matter of fact, Commandant Snyman has not permitted himself to be +deprived of any one piece of artillery for much longer than a week. +The garrison here, jumping at conclusions in the absence of any +definite news, finds in these disappearances some slight consolation, +since we at once affirm that Colonel Plumer must have arrived at some +point in which the presence of the enemy's artillery is urgent and +necessary. + +[Illustration: War Correspondents and their Bomb-proof Shelters.] + +The gun which we would very gladly spare is the one hundred-pounder +Creusot, whose occasional removal from one emplacement to another is a +source of much anxiety to every one in the garrison. In the beginning +of the siege--a date which is now very remote--"Big Ben" hurled its +shells into this unfortunate town from an emplacement at Jackal Tree. +In those days it was almost four miles distant, and we took but little +notice of a gun which flung its projectiles from such a distant range. +Those were the days in which we dug holes by night, and speculated +rather feebly during the day upon the resisting power of the +protection which we had thus thrown up. But the gun moved then to the +south-eastern heights, a matter of barely 4,000 yards from the town, +and of sufficient eminence to dominate every little corner. Those were +the days in which we dug a little deeper and went round trying to +borrow--from people who would not lend--any spare sacks, iron +sleepers, or deals, so that our bomb-proofs might be still further +strengthened. However, as time passed, we even got accustomed to the +gun in its new position, and, much as ever, there were many who felt +inclined to promenade during lapses in the enemy's shell fire. Now, +however, this wretched gun has again been moved, and, according to +those who know the country, is within two miles of the town--a little +matter under 3,000 yards. + +In accordance with the fresh position of the Creusot gun we have been +compelled to extend our eastern defences in order that we may, at +least, direct an artillery fire upon their advanced trenches. To the +north-east and south-east we have put forward our guns and to the +south-east have increased a detachment of sharpshooters, who, from a +very early date in the siege, have occupied a position in the +river-bed. These men are only two hundred yards from the sniping posts +of the Boers, and through the cessation of hostilities upon Sundays, +they have grown to recognise one another. Sunday has thus also brought +to the snipers an opportunity of discovering what result their mutual +fire has achieved during the week, and, when from time to time a +figure is missing, either side recognise that to their marksmanship, +at least, that much credit is due. Among the Boers who occupied the +posts in the brickfields were many old men, one of whom, from his +venerable mien, his bent and tottering figure, his long white beard, +and his grey hair, was called grandfather. He had become so identified +with these posts in the brickfields that upon Sundays our men would +shout out to him, some calling him Uncle Paul, others grandfather, and +when the old fellow heard these remarks he would turn and gaze at our +trench in the river-bed, wondering possibly, as he stroked his beard, +brushed his clusters of hair from his forehead, or wiped his brow, +what manner of men those snipers were. He has been known to wave his +hat when in a mood more than usually benign; then we would wave our +hats and cheer, while he, once again perplexed, would, taking his pipe +from his pocket, slowly retrace his steps to his trench. The old man +was a remarkably good shot, and from his post has sent many bullets +through the loopholes in our sandbags. He would go in the early +morning to his fort and he would return at dusk, but in the going and +coming he, alone of the men who were opposing us, was given a safe +passage. One day, however, as the Red Cross flag came out from the +fort, we, looking through our glasses, saw them lift the body of +grandfather into the ambulance. That night there was a funeral, and +upon the following day we learnt that he had been their best marksman. +For ourselves, we were genuinely sorry. + +Yesterday there occurred another of those acts of war which illustrate +in such a very striking fashion the silent tragedies which are +enacted, and with which perforce many unwilling people are connected, +during the progress of a campaign. There are, of course, many issues +to the career of a soldier, and perhaps not the least important of +these is the arduous and very dangerous task of collecting +intelligence. In the ranks of society, men who are known to be spies +are regarded with silent contempt, and ostracised from the circle of +their acquaintances, so soon as their calling is ascertained; but the +duties of a military spy differ in almost every respect from the +individual who becomes a social reformer. In the field the military +spy carries his life in his hand, since his capture implies an almost +immediate execution without any possibility of reprieve. Last night +such an occurrence took place at sundown, when, as the sun sank to its +setting, a native, who had been caught within our lines, and who +confessed to be an emissary of the Boers, was taken out and shot. + +The spy was a young man, and a native of the stadt, which is a portion +of Mafeking, and one who had accepted the work of carrying information +to the enemy because he did not sufficiently realise the punishment +which would fall upon him, were he to be captured. His instructions +from the Boers had been remarkably explicit, and the sphere of his +activities embraced our entire position. He was to visit the forts, +counting the number of men, and taking special notice of those to +which guns had been attached. He was to report upon the strength of +the garrison, the condition of our horses, the supplies of +foodstuffs, and he was to stay within Mafeking for about ten days. He +was captured a fortnight ago, as he was creeping in, snatching cover +from the bushes and rocks which spread over the south-eastern face of +the town. When he was caught, as though momentarily realising the +possibilities of his fate, he at first refused to say who he was, +whence he came, or what had been his purpose. However, among the +native patrol that had so successfully surprised him were some who +knew him, whereupon he stated that he was simply returning to the +stadt. In the earlier part of the siege almost every native who came +across the lines gave this same excuse, until the suspicion was forced +upon us that the Baralongs were acting in conjunction with the enemy. +However, this was not proved to be the case, the chief repudiating the +suggestion and disclaiming any authority over those natives who +happened to be beyond the lines at the outbreak of the war. +Nevertheless, it had been impossible to prevent the Boers receiving +information through native sources, and for the future, there remained +no alternative but that which implied the immediate execution of +captured spies. An increase in the Cossack posts at night somewhat +checked the mass of information which was carried to the Boers across +our lines, and in an earlier instance, when a native came in from the +Boer camp and said that the big gun had been taken away that morning +upon a waggon, he was given the benefit of forty-eight hours' grace, +with the understanding that, should the gun fire during that period, +he would be at once sentenced to death. For a day this man watched the +emplacement of the big gun, and twenty-four hours passed without +Mafeking receiving any shells from it. The day following was half +over, and it was about noon, when the Boers disproved the story which +they had instructed their spy to tell, and fired into the town. The +man then confessed that his errand had been inimical, and that he +himself was hostile to our interests. At dusk the sentence of the +Summary Court of Jurisdiction was carried out, and that spy was shot. +But this other at no time seemed to understand the gravity of his +offence, and when we captured him he informed his captors and the +Court that he himself had meant no harm. However, he confessed, +endeavouring to minimise his offence by showing that at the moment of +his capture he had gathered no information, yet his pleas were futile, +and he at last seemed to understand that his doom was sealed. From +then, as he returned to the prison to await the execution of his +sentence, he said nothing more. + +Last night the shooting party came for him, marching him to a secluded +point upon the south-eastern face, and there they halted him, a silent +figure in a wilderness of rock and scrub. Around him there was the +scene of the veldt at eventide. There was the gorgeous, flaming +sunset, its ruddy gold turning the azure of the sky to clouds of +purple, pale orange, and a deeper blue. Here and there the heavens +were flecked with fleecy clouds, which gambolled gently before the +breeze. In the distance lay the green-clad veldt, simmering a russet +brown beneath the glories of the sunset. At our feet it sloped, +breaking into rocky sluits, banked up with bushes; over all there was +the zephyr, tempering the heat. It was a moment meant for rejoicing in +the beauty of earth's loveliness rather than for dimming it with the +sadness of some crimson act. Presently we arrived, and as we bent +across the slope the blood-red stream of passing sunlight played +around the shallow heap of earth, thrown out from this man's final +resting-place. It was visible, much as were the deeper shadows of the +excavation some seventy yards away, when, as though wishing to spare +the prisoner, his eyes were bandaged by the officers of the party. +With that a sudden silence fell upon us, and each seemed to feel that +he were walking within the shadows of the valley of death. The +prisoner, supported on either arm, stumbled in the partial blindness +of the bandage, seeming, now that his last hour was at hand, to be +more careless, more light-hearted than any of the party. Then we +halted, and he was asked whether there were anything further which he +wished to say, and he was warned for the last time. He shook his head +somewhat defiantly, but his lips moved, and in his heart one could +almost hear the muttered curses. Then for a space he stood still, and +a few yards distant, in fact some ten paces, the firing party formed +across his front. There were six of them, with a corporal and the +officer in command of the post, and there was that other, who in a +little was to pay the penalty of his crime. There was a moment of +intense silence as we waited for the sun to set, in which the nerves +seemed to be but little strings of wire, played upon by the emotions. +Unconsciously, each seemed to stiffen, as we waited for the word of +the officer, feeling that at every pulsation one would like to shriek +"Enough, enough!" As we stood the prisoner spoke, unconscious of the +preparations, and the officer approached him. He wanted, he said, to +take a final glance at the place that he had known since his +childhood. His prayer was granted, and as he faced about, the bandage +across his eyes was, for a few brief minutes, dropped upon his neck. +In that final look he seemed to realise what he was suffering. The +stadt lay before him, the place of his childhood, the central pivot +round which his life had turned, bathed in a sunset which he had often +seen before, and which he would never see again. There were the cattle +of his people, there were the noises of the stadt, the children's +voices, the laughter of the women, and there was the smoke of his camp +fires. It was all his once--he lived there and he was to die there, +but to die in a manner which was strange and horrible. Then he looked +beyond the stadt and scanned the enemy's lines. Tears welled in his +eyes, and the force of his emotion shook his shoulders. But again he +was himself: the feeling had passed, and he drew himself erect. Then +once more the bandage was secured, and he faced about. The sun was +setting, and as the officer stepped back and gave his orders, a +fleeting shudder crossed the native's face. Bayonets were fixed, the +men were ready and the rifles were presented. One gripped one's palms. +"Fire!" said the officer. Six bullets struck him--four were in the +brain. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +LIFE IN THE BRICKFIELDS + + + MAFEKING, _February 3rd, 1900_. + +The main occupation of the garrison just now is to speculate upon the +progress of the work of trench-building, which is being rapidly pushed +forward in the brickfields upon the south-eastern face of the town. It +is eminently a safe occupation, since our activity in that quarter is +absorbing the almost undivided attentions of the enemy in the adjacent +trenches, and therefore giving to the town an enjoyable and protracted +respite from rifle fire. This, however, exists throughout the day +only, since night is made hideous and uncomfortable by the heavy fire +which the enemy turn upon it, and which is returned, with very +pleasing promptitude, by the town forts and the occupants of the +trenches in the brickfields. The area of war, localised thus as it is +in the brickfields, is an interesting testimony to the progress of our +arms here in Mafeking. We began the siege by abandoning this position +and with it the very excellent sniping opportunities it gave to the +Boers. The 8,000 men that Commandant Cronje had with him in those +early days, made it impossible for our small garrison to hold, with +any prospect of success, positions so far outlying from the front of +the town. It is, however, quite a different thing to occupy those +trenches to-day, since the veldt intervening in the rear, has now been +carefully protected, and we advance not at all until the post which is +in occupation at the moment, has been securely fortified and connected +with adjacent outposts by well-covered trenches. We are now, after +almost six months' siege, some 1,700 yards in advance of the town, and +the south-eastern outposts, as these brickfield forts are called, +constitute our most outlying positions around beleaguered Mafeking. + +Very gradually, and with infinite pains and labour, we have sapped +from town until the company of Cape Boys that is posted in the +"Clayhole," under Sergeant Currie, is within two hundred yards of the +Boers' main trench--a point from which one may hear at times our enemy +holding animated discussions upon his failure to capture Mafeking. +When war was first declared Commandant Cronje threw strong detachments +of sharpshooters into the brick kilns which we ourselves now hold, and +at this present moment, there is no position in those which we have +seized, that was not originally in possession of the Boers. +Innumerable traces exist of their temporary occupation, and where it +has been possible we have preserved these; so that the town itself may +at some future date be able to see the remains of the Boer investment. +These little facts give to our work here a greater significance, +insomuch that it may be assumed that an enemy who has been fortunate +enough to secure for himself a strong position, is not so foolish as +to abandon it voluntarily. This, of course, is quite the case, and +many have been the occasions when the town has been able to watch +affairs between outposts being briskly contested in these very +trenches. + +[Illustration: Plan of the Brickfields.] + +Nothing is quite so pleasant, so invigorating, nor quite so dangerous +as life in these brickfield posts. Inspector Marsh, Cape Police, in +whom the command of the south-eastern outposts has been invested, most +kindly permitted me to join his quarters. We are aroused in the +morning as the day breaks by a volley from the Boer trenches, and in +all probability the derisive shout, "Good morning, Mr. damned +Englishman!" to which the Cape Boys usually return the salutation of +"Stinkpots!" which is the euphonious rendering of a Dutch word +calculated to give, more especially when coming from a nigger, the +utmost possible offence. The day may then be said to have begun, +although, between this and any further ceremonies, there is usually a +mutual cessation of hostilities, in order that each side may enjoy a +cup of matutinal coffee. The coffee is made in town and brought out, +since orders are exceedingly strict against the lighting of fires on +outposts. Sometimes the day proves long, but usually it is one of an +exciting character, and one in which it behoves the men to move with +the utmost care. The enemy would seem to have filled their advanced +trench with a number of picked sharpshooters; for it is quite an +ordinary occurrence for them to fire, at five hundred yards range, +through our loopholes; nor are these chance shots, for there is one +man who seems to put the bullets precisely where he wishes, since, at +least once during the day, he will test the accuracy of his aim by +emptying his entire chamber through one porthole. Such sharpshooting +compels one to move with a large amount of precaution, since if so +much as a finger be shown above the top of the sandbags there is +every likelihood of it being perforated by a Mauser bullet. But if +this be the manner of our existence, the Boers do not take any risks +either, and move between their portholes with the greatest precaution, +until this system of watching one another may be said to have +developed a class of work which consists principally of lying upon +one's stomach in readiness to fire--if there should occur the +slightest opportunity. + +Sometimes, if the day be quiet, we creep from trench to trench, even +venturing to the river; but upon the whole, however, there is not much +of this visiting accomplished, since the Boers have the habit of +attempting to lull us into security and then spoiling the delusion +with a well-directed volley. Recently the advanced trenches of the +Boers were so heavily reinforced that we expected an attack upon the +brickfields; in fact, one night we were almost positive that the enemy +were about to make an attempt to wrest this position from us. They did +not do so, nor have they made any night attack, since the Dutchman +does not like to meet his enemy by night, unless he himself is +ensconced safely behind some sacks and his foe in the open. Upon such +an occasion he will fire until his ammunition is expended. However, we +expected them, and although they made no advance, they poured in at +daybreak, at somewhat under four hundred yards range, a most terrific +fire. They turned upon us a 9-lb. Krupp, a 5-lb. Creusot, a 3-lb. +Maxim, and about five hundred rifles. It was an amazing morning and a +most interesting experience, while for some hours afterwards the air +seemed to ring with the droning notes of the Martinis and the sharp +crackle of the Mauser. Of course we fired back, since we never allowed +the Dutchmen to turn their guns upon us without treating the gun +emplacements and embrasures to several volleys. It is good sometimes +to impress upon the Boers the uselessness of their efforts. Out here +in these brickfields we appear to be upon the edge of a new world, +with the limits of the old one just below. Mafeking itself is only +1,700 yards distant, but the undulating ground, the rocky ridges, the +simmering heat, and the mirage give rise to the impression that the +town, of which the brickfields is the outpost, is many miles away. We +live a peaceful, almost serene existence, disturbed only by the hum of +passing bullets. There is no pettiness of spirit, no mutual +bickerings, no absurd jealousies; one does not hear anything of the +clash between the civil and military elements. That is all below us in +the little town which sits upon the rising slopes with that appearance +of chaos and despair which now mark its daily existence. Black care is +not here, and thank heaven for it; for indeed a luxury beyond +comparison is the quiet and peaceful day. + +Mafeking at last is siege-weary--and, oh, so hungry! It seems months +since any one had a meal which satisfied the pangs that gnaw all day. +We have been on starvation rations for so many weeks that time has +been forgotten, and now there seems the prospect of no immediate help +forthcoming! We are so sick of it, so tired of the malaria, +diphtheria, and typhoid that claim a list as great almost as that +caused by the enemy's shell and rifle fire! We ask, When will the end +be? and then we shrug our shoulders and begin to swear; for we have +such sorrows in our midst, such suffering women and such ailing +children as would turn a saint to blasphemies! + +[Illustration: Cape Boys Hurling Stones at the Boers as They +Endeavoured to Rush the Sap.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +FROM BAD TO WORSE + + + MAFEKING, _February 7th, 1900_. + +At a moment when the entire garrison, perhaps, excluding the military +chiefs, was eagerly anticipating some announcement which would +determine the date of an immediate relief, intelligence has come to +hand, in a communication from Field-Marshal Lord Roberts himself, +informing the inhabitants of Mafeking that he expects them to hold out +until the middle of May. Since the beginning of the year the town has +lulled itself into a sense of security by endeavouring to believe that +at some early date the garrison would be relieved. But now, if it were +possible to find "a last straw" to break the spirits of the townsmen, +it is contained in the unfortunate telegram which Colonel Baden-Powell +received from Lord Roberts. To hold out until the middle of May, it +can well be longer, is to ask us to endure further privations, and to +maintain an existence in a condition which is already little removed +from starvation, and at a moment when the great majority of the +civilian combatants, if not of all classes, are "full up" of the +siege. For the past month we have been living upon horseflesh, +although at first these unfortunate animals were slaughtered only in +the interests of the foodless natives, and whatever gastronomic +satisfaction may be culled by us now in eating what in more ordinary +circumstances has done duty as a horse, it is none the less a hardship +and a damned and disagreeable dish. + +The effect of the announcement has been to increase the gloom and +depression which for some weeks has been noticeable among those +civilians whose businesses have been ruined; who are separated from +and unable to communicate with their families, and who themselves have +been impressed into the defence of the town. During this state of war +they are unable to earn anything, and it is quite beyond their power +to pay even the most perfunctory attention to their businesses; but +now with this statement buzzing in the brain like an angry bee, can +they not be excused if they cry out, "Enough, enough," and feel +depressed and sick of the whole siege? Within a few weeks we shall be +entering the sixth month of the siege, and already the severity of our +daily life is beginning to tell, and indeed has already told upon +many. But now that we have come so far through the wood, when we have +fought by day and by night, when we have been sick with fever and +pressed by hunger, when we have been harassed by bad news, and the +conviction, through the absence of any cheering information, that all +was not well with us down below, it would be a monstrous misfortune if +we cannot survive the pangs of hunger and the torments of starvation +until the long-promised relief arrives in the middle of May. If we do +succeed, those who come through alive will have a tale to tell, in +which there will be much which will remain buried, since there are +experiences which, when they have been lived through, it is impossible +to talk about. + +If we were only just ourselves, merely the defenders of a town against +an enemy, we could endure our privations, our short rations, and our +condemned water with even greater fortitude. The men live hard lives +in Africa, and their constitutions are strong, their nerves firm. But +they hate, as all men hate, in all parts of the world, that their +womenfolk should suffer, and here is the misery of our situation, more +especially that these gentle creatures should suffer before their own +eyes, when they themselves can do nothing for them. Aye, indeed, +there's the rub. A hard life is always hardest upon women, and, unlike +the Australasian colonies, and Canada, or the Western States of +America, and all places where women who lead colonial life have no +black labour to rely upon, the women in Africa are curiously +incapable, delegating a multitudinous variety of domestic duties to +the natives they employ. Their sphere of daily activity, so far as it +is in relation to their household, is reduced to a minimum, while +consciously or through the absence of some active pursuit by which +they could occupy their mind and exercise their bodies, their view of +life is petty and impressed with prejudices and absurd jealousies. +Moreover, they are abnormally lazy; indeed, to one who has lived in +Australasia, America, Africa, India, and elsewhere, and has experience +of life in those colonies, the lassitude and indolence of the South +African woman is one of the most striking aspects of the daily life in +Africa. In Natal this weariness is called the "Natal sickness," and in +Mafeking at the present juncture it is responsible for a great deal of +the discontent, the unwillingness to make the best of an exceedingly +trying situation. + +Without the feminine element in Mafeking, the civil and military +authorities would be in better accord, but with a pack of women and +children in an insanitary laager, caring nothing for the exigencies of +the situation, firmly believing that they are oppressed by design and +deliberately maltreated, and, rising up in their wrath, smiting the +Colonel, the Chief Staff Officer, indeed, the entire Headquarters' +Staff, or any military and official unit that comes unfortunately into +contact with them, the worry and annoyance caused to the garrison at +large by their presence here at this juncture is eminently worse than +the most fearsome thing it is possible to conceive. Of course, one +sympathises in all sincerity with these unfortunate non-combatants, +for they live amid conditions which produce and promote typhoid, +malaria, and diphtheria--diseases that have been peculiarly virulent, +and from which many women and children have died. + +Apart from the fatalities from shell and rifle fire, there is the list +of those who have died from the hardships which they have had to +experience. Strong men have dropped off from typhoid, women and +children contracting the same disease, or one which by its nature is +similarly fatal, have been unable to bear up. The smiling and happy +children that one knew in the early days are no longer such; they are +thin, emaciated, bloodless, and live amid conditions which have +already wrought sad havoc among their companions. The mortality among +the women and children must form part of the general conditions of the +siege, but it is peculiarly disheartening to the townsmen as they +stand to their posts and their trenches to be compelled to ponder and +to reflect sadly that the fell diseases which have killed the wives +and children of so many might, at any moment, attack those members of +their own family who are confined in the pestilential trenches of the +laager. The unfortunate condition of these poor people here, as well +as in Kimberley, has brought the suggestion to my mind that it should +not be too late for either the Commander-in-Chief, or some one +identified with his authority, to make overtures to the Boers, so that +we, and even the garrison in Kimberley, might be permitted to send, in +the one case our women and children to Bulawayo, and in the other +case, to Capetown. It could surely be arranged, and if it were +possible it would ensure a little greater happiness, a little greater +comfort, falling to the lot of these poor people, who are unable to +take, through lack of adequate remedies, the simplest precautions +against the dangers which assail their own health and the lives of +their children. But if our friends the Boers think that because of +these straits we are disheartened they make a very grievous mistake. +We propose to endure and we intend to carry the siege on until the +end. Nothing so exemplifies the true tone of the garrison and the +spirit of the men as this determination in which we one and all share +and for which we mutually agree to co-operate. + +Despite the heavy burden of domestic trouble which presses down upon +the townspeople, there has been a remarkable absence of any open +friction between the civilian element and military at present gathered +in Mafeking. The military authorities should be the first to recognise +this and to appreciate the ready acquiescence and assistance which +they have received from the inhabitants of the town. That at least +they do acknowledge the importance of duties fulfilled, and the spirit +with which they have been carried out, should be a conclusion against +which it would be absurd to tilt. Nothing can underestimate the +consideration which the townspeople, under conditions adverse to their +interests, and for which the military authorities are entirely +responsible, have shown for the vigours of martial law and the present +military domination. Compensation would be so materially insufficient +that it cannot be said that any one individual has stayed here for the +purpose of receiving such emoluments as would be to him some kind of a +profit. The economy of Governmental compensation is never known to be +satisfactory--Government in its impersonal attributes being +universally recognised as a most niggardly paymaster. They therefore, +those who have stayed, apart from the delusions under which they +suffered, can be said to have remained because they wished, as +colonists, to prove their loyalty; and yet, when one looks back upon +the siege and considers carefully the manner in which they have been +imposed upon by their own Government, it is very questionable if ever +so great a test was applied to the spirit of mind and body which +constitutes allegiance to a sovereign. Fortunately the town cannot say +that it has performed more than its share of the defence work. Indeed, +for the most part the services of the townsmen have been restricted, +so far as was possible, to a connection with forts which have been +constructed upon the boundaries of the town, and have not been thrust +forward in preference to the men of the Protectorate Regiment, who, +following the profession of arms, can properly be expected to bear the +brunt of the fighting. It was thought at one time that the strange +assortment of human nature which had collected in or was drawn to +Mafeking might be difficult of management; but mixed as is the +population here at present, the doubtful element, which is one that +sympathising with the enemy might create dissatisfaction among others, +has been singularly subdued. There are many instances here in Mafeking +of men who have taken up arms in defence of the town in which their +business and their domestic ties are centred, and who, to do this, +have had to fight against their own blood relatives. We have had +therefore, in a sense, many men who, while apparently loyal and +engaged in manning the trenches, were yet under constant supervision, +lest they should give way to their feelings and too openly proclaim +their sympathies with the Boer cause; but there have been few +desertions, and affairs in general between Englishman and Dutchman, +between the civilian and military, have passed off with greater +harmony than was altogether anticipated. Mistrust between Englishmen +of pronounced Imperial sympathies and colonials suspected of Dutch +leanings has been the cause of a certain amount of jealousy, which +tended to make the defence of Mafeking a work of, by no means, a +pleasant nature. However much this feeling of difference, creating and +causing in itself an acute tension between the pro-Imperial and the +colonial, has given rise to, or has been the sole cause of, any +ill-feeling which may have marked the relations between the civil and +military, it has at no time assumed proportions grave enough to foster +the opinion that its prevalence might endanger in time the commonweal +of the inhabitants and threaten with strife the daily intercourse of +the various units in the garrison. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +THE FIRST ATTACK UPON THE BRICKFIELDS + + + MAFEKING, _February 14th, 1900_. + +In the history of the siege of Mafeking there should stand forth an +event as remarkable to posterity, if, perhaps, not quite so +historical, as the famous ball which was given by the Duchess of +Richmond on the eve of Waterloo. It may be, indeed, a trite +comparison, since its only relationship is contained in the fact that +the officers were called away to the field of battle; but, with so +much uncertainty in European circles upon the conditions of the +garrison, this fact and its issues tend to show the spirit with which +the town is sustaining its precarious existence. Although we have some +3,000 Boers around us, with twelve different varieties of artillery, +and despite the steady increase in fatalities from shot and shell +which marks each day, we can yet stimulate our flagging spirits to a +pitch in which a ball is accepted and welcomed as an essential to the +conditions of the siege. A mere detail, yet one of sufficiently +striking importance and showing how very sombre and how serious is the +daily situation, will perhaps be found in the postponement of this +ball from Saturday night until the succeeding evening--a proceeding +which was rendered necessary by the death of a popular townsman from +a 100-pound shell in the course of the previous morning. Recent +Sundays have revealed a tendency, upon the part of the enemy, to +ignore that generous and courteous concession to a beleaguered +garrison which General Cronje granted, by professing his willingness +to observe the Sabbath, insomuch that the Boers have maintained rifle +fire until 5 in the morning, commencing again at any moment after 9 +o'clock at night. This Sunday was no exception, and we had the usual +matutinal volleys. + +Towards 8 o'clock in the evening the streets near the Masonic Hall +presented an animated, even a gay, picture. Officers in uniform and +ladies in charming toilettes were making their way to the scene of the +festivity, each with a careless happiness which made it impossible to +believe that within a thousand yards of the town were the enemy's +lines. Immense cheering greeted the strains of "Rule Britannia," +played by the band of the Bechuanaland Rifles, and then the dance +commenced. The town danced upon the edge of a volcano, as it were; and +while it danced the outposts watched with strained eye for any sign of +movement in the enemy's lines. As dusk closed in the outposts had +reported to the colonel commanding that the advanced trenches of the +enemy had been reinforced with some three hundred Boers, and that +their galloping Maxim had been drawn by four men to a point adjacent +to our outlying posts in the brickfields, while what appeared to be +the nine-pounder Krupp had been put into an emplacement upon the +south-eastern front. This news Colonel Baden-Powell did not permit to +become known, since he very properly wished to allow the garrison to +enjoy its dance if occasion offered; and accordingly the dance began. +It was early when the enemy sent their preliminary volley whistling +over the town; in an instant the animation of the streets which had +preceded the dance was apparent once more, as around the doors of the +Masonic Hall a number of people collected from out of the ball-room. +Officers raced to their posts as orderlies galloped through the +streets sounding a general alarm. We were to be attacked, and a man +can serve his guns, can ply his rifle, can stand to his post in +evening pumps and dress trousers as efficiently and as thoroughly as +he can were he clothed in the coarser habiliments of the trenches. For +a few minutes no one quite knew what would happen, and greater +mystification prevailed as the noise of firing came from every quarter +of our front. Urgent orders were issued, to be obeyed as rapidly; +Maxims were brought up at a gallop, the reserve squadron was held in +readiness, coming up to Headquarters at the double. The guns were +loaded and trained, and within a few minutes of the general alarm, the +ball-room was deserted and every man was at his post. + +It was a fine night, and the moon was full. Here and there, +silhouetted against the skyline, those who were watching could see the +reinforcements marching to the advanced trenches. There had been +little time to think of anything, to collect anything, the men who +were sent forward simply snatching their rifles and ammunition +reserves. For a brief moment there was exceeding confusion in the +forts that had been ordered to furnish reinforcements for any +particular trench; but this duty was performed so quickly, and the +town was in such readiness to repel attack, that our mobilisation +would have reflected credit upon the smartest Imperial force. +Presently there came a lull in the firing, and the ambulance waggon +made its way to a sheltered point, prepared to move forward should it +become necessary. I watched for a few minutes the scene in the Market +Square, paying particular attention to Colonel Baden-Powell and his +staff officers, who had congregated beyond the stoep of the +Headquarters office. Now and again Lord Edward Cecil, the Chief Staff +Officer, would detach himself from the group to send an instruction by +one of the many orderlies who, with their horses, were in waiting. It +was a cheering spectacle, the prompt and methodical manner in which +our final arrangements were perfected. Then the staff group broke up, +and the C.S.O. explained the possibilities of the situation. The enemy +contemplated an attack upon our south-eastern front, concentrating +their advance upon our positions in the brickfields. If such, indeed, +were the case, we could promise ourselves a smart little fight, and +one, moreover, at point-blank range. We had so fortified our trenches +in this particular quarter that, happily, there was no prospect of any +disaster similar to that which befell our arms at Game Tree. Towards +midnight heavy firing broke out upon the western outposts, caused, as +was afterwards proved, by the success of our native cattle raiders, +who, managing to elude the vigilance of the Boer scouts, had driven +some few head of cattle through their lines into our own camp. The +sound of this firing drew the Chief Staff Officer to the telephone in +the Headquarters bomb-proof, whereupon I made my way to the point +against which we had assumed that the attack would be directed. + +It was to an old post in a somewhat new shape, then, that I made my +way, a journey which amply compensated for any lack of excitement in +the events of the last few days. Fitful volleys from the Boers made +it impossible to walk across the section of the veldt intervening +between the rear of these advanced posts and the town, while at +present, these posts form a little colony, connected as they are now +among themselves, but cut off altogether from communication with the +town until the pall of night comes to shield the movements of those +compelled to make their way between the town and the brickfields. +Soon, those who are posted there hope to see a trench constructed, +affording passage at any moment with the base; but until this happens +it is a pleasant scramble, a little dangerous, and somewhat trying. +The ground is rough and stony, sloping slightly, in open spaces, to +within a few yards of the Boer lines. It is commanded in many points, +and upon this particular night it seemed to suit the purpose of the +enemy to play upon it with their rifles at irregular intervals. To +reach the river-bed was easy, to scramble up the river-bed with one's +figure thrown out against the skyline is better appreciated in +imagination; to put it into practice is to walk without looking where +one is going, since one is continually sweeping the enemy's positions +to catch the flash of the enemy's rifles. When the flash is caught, if +the bullet has not hit one first, it is wiser to throw dignity to the +wind and oneself upon the ground. In this position, prone and very +muddy, even a little bruised, I found myself, until the fierce but +whispered challenge of a sentry told me that my temporary destination +had been reached. At this fort there was little to betray the +excitement which consumed its gallant defenders, beyond the fact that +the entire post was standing to arms. With a laugh and a jest we +parted; and cut across what would have been the line of fire had a +fight been raging at that moment. There was a low, elongated wedge a +few yards distant upon the left, against which the moon threw black +shadows. It was the Boer position, and as they had been firing +frequently, warning to proceed cautiously was not altogether +disobeyed. Inspector Marsh's post was then very shortly gained, and +with this officer I passed the night. + +It was 2 a.m. when Inspector Marsh turned out to make his last round +before the men in his command stood to arms at daybreak. Whatever else +was not evident, it was now certain that there would be no attack +until the break of day, and so, upon returning to our post, we lay +upon the stony ground and slept. It seemed that Time had scarcely +scored an hour when we woke up, and, taking our rifles with us, +buckling on our revolvers, stood to the loopholes. Day broke solemnly +and with much beauty, night fading into grey-purple and soft, eerie +shadows. Trees looked as sentinels, and there was no sound about us. +Indeed, the spectacle of a large number of men expecting each minute +the opening volley of an attack, was thrilling, and in that cold air +their martial effect was a sufficient and satisfying tonic against the +river mists. We had been standing some few minutes when from up the +stream came the croaking of the bullfrog, so loud and emphatic that +the older veldtsmen knew it at once to be a signal. This had scarcely +been passed round when from that black line upon the sky there broke a +withering sheet of flame; it was a magnificent volley, and swept +across our intrenchments. We held our fire, crouching still lower and +peering still more anxiously through the sandbags. Dawn was rapidly +advancing, and as the light became clearer the enemy heralded its +advance with a merry flight of three-pounder Maxims. They burst among +us, hitting nobody, and falling principally upon the trench occupied +by Sergeant Currie and his Cape Boys. Then we fired, or rather our +most advanced trench opened, and in that moment the engagement began. +However, beginning brilliantly as it did, under the snapping of the +Mausers, the droning hiss of Martinis, and a roaring deluge of shells, +it was short-lived. Sergeant Currie and his men bore the brunt of the +rifle fire, replying shot to shot, undaunted and unchecked. The +reverberating echoes of the firearms, of the exploding shells, to the +accompaniment of the insulting taunts of the Cape Boys were somewhat +deafening. When the advanced trenches of the enemy started, volleys +came also from the ridge of the acclivity leading from the river-bed +to the emplacement of the nine-pounder Krupp. Between them again, +there were smaller trenches joining in the rifle practice, which, +while it lasted, was so hot that it was not possible to creep through +the connecting trenches, or, indeed, to move in any manner whatever. +Within three hours the enemy threw some thirty nine-pounder Krupp, +some twenty-five five-pound incendiary shells, an overwhelming mass of +three-pound Maxims, and a few rounds from the cavalry Maxim. Bullets +innumerable had whizzed across us, to be answered by rifle fire as +brisk again, and so rapidly returned that few of the defenders had +even time to think. + +But we wondered, as the day grew brighter and two hours' firing had +passed, what would be the end, considering ourselves fortunate that +the enemy made no attempt to rush any one of the brickfields in his +command. Occasionally, as we fired, Inspector Brown, in charge of the +river-bed work, exchanged signals with Inspector Marsh, the post +commander, through a megaphone, much to the discomfiture of the +Boers, who, as the stentorian commands rang out in any lull of firing, +were sadly perplexed. These signals had, of course, been arranged +beforehand, the men knowing that they were the merest pretext and one +by which it was hoped to confuse the Boers. Upon the part of the enemy +it must have been rather alarming to hear between some temporary +stoppage in the firing a voice in thunderous tones crying out, "Men of +the advanced trench, fix bayonets," an order which would be invariably +followed by hearty cheering from the Cape Police and insults of an +exceedingly personal character from the Cape Boys. However, everything +draws to an end, and the Boers, abandoning their intention of turning +us out of the brickfields, ceased fire, giving to ourselves an +opportunity to prepare breakfast. We ate it where we had previously +been firing, the men passing the tins of bully and the bread rations +from one to another. Then just where we had been fighting, with the +scent of the burst shells and the smoke of the rifles hanging in the +air, thin spiral columns of smoke arose in the rear of the few +brick-kilns, and coffee was presently brought to us. Until mid-morning +we maintained our posts, but with the luncheon hour we took it easy, +although preserving a watchful attitude towards the Boers. Thus passed +the day with little further firing, and some sleeping, terminating in +a merry dinner--under siege conditions--with Inspector Marsh and +Inspector Brown, in the dug-out of their town post. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +THE SECOND ATTACK UPON THE BRICKFIELDS + + + MAFEKING, _February 28th, 1900_. + +In many ways this month has been the most eventful of any during the +siege. Other months of the siege have secured for themselves a certain +notoriety, because they have been identified with some particular +engagement; but this month of February has seen our labour in the +brickfields brought to a successful consummation, and, at a moment +when the garrison was congratulating itself upon the triumphant issue +of such an adventurous and adventitious undertaking, we have been +brought face to face with the contingency that even yet it may not be +possible to continue to occupy so advanced a post. If I return to the +subject of the brickfields after such a short interval, it is because +there, more than anywhere else in Mafeking, the clash of arms is +predominant. These many days we have followed out our scheme, +endeavouring to circumvent the enemy by pushing forward a line of +entrenched posts until they should embrace an area which would enable +us to outflank their main lines and enfilade their advanced trenches. +There was a moment when this was actually completed, a moment in +which we who were in the advanced forts, knew that if we could but +hold the position we held the invaders in such a fashion that they +would be compelled to abandon their posts. But there was the shadow of +uncertainty, since we were rather reckoning upon the hitherto +recognised fact, that the Boers belonged to that class of fighting +peoples who never purposely attack if they could secure their ends by +entrenchments and delay. For one day we rather gloried in the work, +until towards dusk we realised with a swift and fearful astonishment +that the Boers were intending to sap us. We have supposed it to be by +accident rather than by design that a man, in the uniform of some +German regiment, appeared of a sudden to arise out of the ground at a +point some thirty yards distant from what we had considered to be the +end of the Boer trench. His presence explained much, since the night +before we had been perplexed at hearing the sound of picking and +shovelling a little in advance of our position. At that time we had +concluded that the noises emanated from the natives, who were +deepening and strengthening the advanced trench of the Boers; but with +this figure suddenly appearing, we realised that there was quite a +different story to be told, one which implied that our previous +opinion of the enemy was in error, and that they intended to make us +fight for our position or to turn us out. The situation was rapidly +becoming as interesting as any which has developed from the siege. Sap +and counter-sap were separated perhaps by eighty yards, and so +gallantly and vigorously did the enemy work that we could see them +approaching yard by yard. It was impossible for us in the time at our +disposal to do very much to stop them; we could simply keep a look-out +and drench their trenches with volleys upon the slightest +provocation. It was useless to fire upon the natives working in the +sap, since it was only possible to see the points of their picks as +they were swung aloft, catching for a moment the radiance of the sun. +Still they came on, and one night we knew that before dawn they would +be into us. That night no one slept in the advanced trenches, and +Inspector Marsh, who has very generously permitted me to stop with him +for the past month in his quarters in the brickfields, visited the +posts hourly. Between two and three we slept, and for a short space +there was a perfect calm in our lines. At half-past four we stood to +arms, to hear that the enemy had made contact with our trench. As we +found this out, news was brought that the big Creusot gun had taken up +its position upon the south-eastern heights, and so commanded our +entire area. The inevitable had arrived and perhaps for a brief moment +we were all a little subdued. As the sun rose Inspector Marsh, +commanding the south-eastern outposts, under directions from +Headquarters, warned every man to take such cover as was obtainable. + +The situation would have given satisfaction had there been any +prospect of an equal contest, since man to man we were not unmatched, +but it would be impossible for the occupants of these advanced posts +to attempt conclusions with an enemy who could bring to their +assistance a high-velocity Krupp and a 100 lb. Creusot. There was +immediate excitement, and Inspector Marsh telephoned the news to +Headquarters. For the moment that was all which could be done--inform +Headquarters. Then, with our rifles in our hands, with an extra supply +of ammunition by our sides, we waited the inevitable, and we waited +until night; but upon that night nothing happened. As dusk drew down, +and as the calm of night was broken only by the rumbling echoes and +tremors of the work in the enemy's sap, we threw out a working party +of some two hundred natives, starving and ill-conditioned, but the +best that we could procure, intending to make the effort to check once +and for all the advance of the Boers. We worked all night, and dawn +was breaking as we drew off, but we had passed them. In a single night +we had carried our sap some thirty yards beyond theirs, and at such an +angle that we enfiladed their sap, while only eighty yards divided the +pair. The Boer line of advance was deeper than ours by some five feet, +but all that day white man and Cape Boy strove to deepen our new +trench, and by night it was perhaps a foot deeper than it had been. It +was dangerous work; it was exciting. The crackle of bullets was never +absent; they struck all round one, and there were a few fatalities. +That night we worked again, and so did they. Indeed, each side +volleyed heavily all night to protect their working parties. We were +not extending our trench; it was already a hundred yards sheer into +the open, but in the morning when we looked, the Boer trench was +barely thirty yards away from ours. That day we did nothing but await +the inevitable again. We slept, since it was certain that on the +morrow a fight would come. Once more there was nothing for it but to +wait in such readiness as we could be in, for anything that the enemy +might attempt. They began at dusk by throwing dynamite bombs into our +sap--some burst, some fell blind; but this work was futile, since they +had not yet reached sufficiently near to effect any damage. When they +did obtain such access, we also had a little pile of bombs. Tooth for +tooth--we were not going to give up without fighting. Then the end +came suddenly, for Headquarters telephoned that the big gun had taken +up its original position, which was barely two thousand yards distant +on our left flank. With this message we began to comprehend what the +next day would bring forth. + +The affair between the outposts began about a quarter to five in the +morning. The first 100 lb. shell fell between our trenches and those +of the enemy: it seemed that they had wished to secure the range. They +had secured it. The three holes which form our advanced position +contain no cover whatsoever, since there is none to put up, and +whatever earth had been thrown up was commanded by the enemy's fort +upon the south-eastern heights. Each hole contained a shelter from the +sun, a corrugated iron arrangement, supported by props, with a +sprinkling of earth on top. The shooting was magnificent, and it will +be difficult to find, when the various comparisons be drawn, +marksmanship more precise or more accurate. Each was wrecked in turn: +a shell to a shelter. When this work had been accomplished, the big +gun directed its attention to the brick-kilns, in which we had posted +our sharpshooters. In a little time the three were heaps of ruins. +Between the intervals of shelling the Boers fired volleys from the +three points: from the fort on the south-eastern heights, from the +fort in the river-bed, and from their main trench. The company of Cape +Boys in the advanced hole could not be expected to relish the triple +fire, which was in turn endorsed by shells from the big gun. The holes +are not very large, nor very wide, nor high: they are natural +depressions in the soil, in which water had collected and caused a +further subsidence. When the enemy volleyed from the advanced trench, +they had to crouch under the lee of a bank that was facing the +direction of the fort on the south-eastern heights; when they wished +to avoid shell and rifle fire from this fort, they had to run the risk +of finding shelter in the direct line of fire from the main trench. If +they endeavoured to move to the second hole, they had to do so under +fire from all three points. It was rather an unpleasant state of +things for the Cape Boys, who, moreover, could find no point from +which to return the fire of the enemy. In an hour some twelve shells +had been thrown into the first hole, and there were five fatalities. +Whenever we endeavoured to occupy the sap the big gun shelled it, +until it was no longer possible to maintain a post in a position so +exposed. We fell back to the second hole, and the enemy began to shell +other points in the brickfields. They sent two to Currie's post in the +river-bed; they scattered them plentifully about the first, second, +and third forts--entrenched posts by which it is hoped to keep back +the Boers, should they successfully carry the Cape Boy holes. The +situation was becoming serious, and we had been compelled to abandon +the sap and evacuate the first hole. At the moment it was a question +of whether the Boers were coming on, and as we waited in the +expectation of seeing them advance down our own sap into our original +position, the shelling ceased, for the Boers had gone to breakfast. +That was our supreme opportunity, and although they must have seen us +from the south-eastern heights, we employed ourselves in saving from +the wreck what was possible. All the shelters had been pounded into +_debris_: rifles and bayonets lay about broken and twisted, here and +there were remains of camp utensils, and blood-stained clothing. It +was a scene of ruin, and as we crept into it upon our hands and knees +the confusion of the place struck one sadly. Sergeant-Major Taylor had +been hurt by the second shell, and has since died, while another of +the wounded has also succumbed. While the firing lasted the position +was untenable, and we fell back from the sap into the most advanced of +the holes. Here the situation rapidly became impossible, for the +character of the outwork prevented any one from taking cover. But +despite the galling fire, the Cape Boys behaved with admirable courage +and endurance, and it was only when three men in the advanced hole had +been seriously wounded, that they fell back behind the bank of the +second pit. In a little, when the gun had effectually driven us from +the advanced hole, the enemy began to shell the forts in the rear. At +that moment there were two things to be done: one was to bank up the +mouth of the sap, since the enemy had already reached it and were +firing down it, the other was to throw up a rampart across the mouth +of the second hole. Under a heavy fire Corporal Rosenfeld, of the +Bechuanaland Volunteers, and myself undertook and accomplished the +one, while at night the work upon the rampart was begun. By morning it +was finished, but in the night the enemy had occupied our sap. The +length of the first hole then alone divided us. Within the next few +hours, however, the position of affairs changed as rapidly again. At a +moment when the enemy were least prepared a strong party rushed the +hole and sap, expelling the Boers by vigorous use of bayonets and +dynamite bombs. Since then the Boers have left our advanced works +severely alone. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +THE NATIVE QUESTION + + + MAFEKING, _March 3rd, 1900_. + +It has become altogether impossible to gauge with any degree of +accuracy, the situation in relation to the fortunes of the Imperial +arms, or as it might be found in the camp of the enemy without +Mafeking. We do not lack here men who, from a previous knowledge of +the Boers, consider themselves capable of estimating the purpose and +designs of Commandant Snyman; but what seems to be precise and even an +admirable forecast one week, is proved, by events in the succeeding +week, to be irrelevant and unreliable. It has been our habit, when for +any length of time the enemy has rested, to attribute their +comparative cessation from hostilities to news of ill-omen, and in our +fatuous presciency we have approximately given the date upon which the +siege will be raised. But in light of the never-varying contradiction +in sense which befalls our optimistical assurance, we must perforce, +recognise the falsity of our deductions and cease from worrying. +Recently, indeed during the past week, we expected the Boers to +celebrate Amajuba Day, and to this end, the garrison was held in a +condition of complete readiness, so as to be able to at once repel the +anticipated attack. The anniversary of this disastrous fight passed +off, however, without incident, and as it happened that runners +arrived from the North upon the same day, conveying to us the +unconfirmed intelligence that a force under the ever-victorious +General French had relieved Kimberley, the wise-acres here, both civil +and military, were of opinion that the investing force, that has now +surrounded us for six months, could not stomach such unfortunate +information, and were as a consequence timorous of any renewed +aggression. But now again our theories are erroneous, and the siege +progresses to-day merrily and as pugnaciously as ever. With the +tidings of Kimberley's good-luck, we looked to see the big Creusot gun +removed across the border in its return to Pretoria, but alas! it +still confronts us and still flings its daily complement of shells +into the town. Indeed, without this piece of ordnance, life would +become so strikingly original that the townspeople would break down +under the strain. The uncertainty as to what direction it will take, +as to the number of tolls which have been rung out from the alarm +bell, as to whose house has been wrecked, or what family put into +mourning, has buoyed up the townspeople to a pitch from which, when +the cause is removed, there will be a pretty general collapse. With +the advent of the news about the South, the Northern runners confirmed +the fact of the presence of Colonel Plumer's force being near at hand. +But this has been the irony of our situation since the siege began. +There has ever been, it would seem, some worthy general or colonel +within a little trifle of two hundred miles from us, bringing Mafeking +relief, or if not for us, for the starving natives. This has always +been so pleasant to reflect upon, just this little detail of two +hundred miles. Colonel Plumer, we hear, is laying down "immense" +stocks of food-supplies at Kanya, so that the natives here, who are +already so reduced that they are dying from sheer inanition, having +successfully accomplished the journey, which is one of ninety miles, +may feed to their hearts' content--provided that they are able to pay +for the rations which are so generously distributed to them. Whatever +motives of philanthropy direct the policy of the executive in this +question of distributing food allowances to natives, it cannot be said +that the Government or its administrators, err in their administration +upon the side of liberality. Even here in Mafeking we have set a price +upon the bowl of soup--horseflesh and mealie-meal mixed--which is +served out to the natives from the soup-kitchen, finding excuses for +such parsimony in the contention that, by charging the starving +natives threepence per bowl of soup, when it is exceedingly doubtful +if they have that amount of money in their possession, we can +successfully induce them to remove to Kanya, and there live in a state +of happy flatulency off the stocks which Colonel Plumer has been +ordered to prepare against their reception. Of course, at a moment +like this, it is injudicious to cavil at the procedure of the Imperial +Government, but there can be no doubt that the drastic principles of +economy which Colonel Baden-Powell has been practising in these later +days are opposed to and altogether at variance with the dignity of the +liberalism which we profess and are at such little pains to execute, +and which enter so much into the pacific settlement of native +questions in South Africa. The presence of a large alien native +population gathered in Mafeking at the present juncture has been our +own fault, since the authorities, in whom the management and control +of the natives of this district is invested, advised the military +authorities here to allow some two thousand native refugees from the +Transvaal to take up their abode upon the eve of war in the Mafeking +stadt, and it is through the tax which this surplus population put +upon the commissariat that this particular question has required such +delicate adjustment. With supplies which are rapidly diminishing, we +are compelled to force nightly a moderate number to attempt the +journey to Kanya, and if they have been signally unsuccessful in their +essay to pass through the Boer lines, it is in part because the enemy, +having promised them a free passage, maliciously fires upon them as +they reach the advanced trenches. For the most part, therefore, we are +no better off than we were, since those natives who escaped invariably +return to Mafeking. + +With the good news which we have received, a slightly better tone of +feeling would seem to be about the community. We are simple people for +the present, living as we do under the rigours of Martial Law, but we +have such genuine faith in the supremacy of our flag, that now that we +have heard of the general movement of troops, we are infinitely +happier and inclined to forget for the moment the trials and +difficulties of our position. There was a time when the townspeople +were so disgusted with the conduct of the war, with the disgraceful +and nefarious practices of the Colonial Government, with the +abominable lethargy of the Imperial authorities, that five men out of +every six had resolved to abandon a country where such misrule was +possible, and to remove to some one other of our colonies, where life, +upon a broader and happier basis, was the order. But with the +inauguration of brighter things, such as the relief of Kimberley +portends, this tone has disappeared, while there seems to be an almost +unanimous desire to wait the arrival of the next intelligence. It is +perhaps not altogether incorrect to say that the feeling of disgust, +by which so many people were at one time swayed, existed chiefly among +those who were connected to and related with families of Dutch origin, +and who at some period discarded their Dutch allegiance, casting in +their lot with the British. These people yet retained a certain +sympathy with the Transvaal, and were as concerned as any Boer about +the issues of the campaign. Upon the outbreak of war, many of these +people took up their residence in border towns, and by these means +Mafeking received a sprinkling of people who were, by protestation, +Britishers, and by instinct, Dutch. These men were accepted, since as +a rule they were known to be genuine in their avowal; but when they +brought their families into Mafeking, their womenfolk, being wholly +Dutch, were as a rule regarded in quite a different light. It must be +remembered that inter-marriage is practised in the Transvaal to an +extraordinary degree, and that the relationship of any one family with +others can by this means permeate the entire country to such an extent +that, while the woman might be the wife of an African Imperialist, she +might be able to claim kinship with men who held high positions in the +Republican service. These ladies, therefore, were quite open to the +suspicion of wishing to convey to their relations in the Transvaal +authentic information regarding Mafeking. As our condition has been +precarious, and as important information was surreptitiously carried +to the enemy, it was perhaps natural that we should take steps to +confine these ladies within their laager, and to place a guard upon +it--precautions which were neither valued nor appreciated by them, and +from which they suffered no hardships other than those which might be +expected to accrue from the enjoyment of the somewhat restricted +liberty, with which they, together with the entire garrison, must +perforce rest content. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +POLITICAL ECONOMY + + + MAFEKING, _March 15th, 1900_. + +Colonel Baden-Powell has recently issued an order to all ranks in his +command requesting the names of those who are willing to enlist in the +special corps which are to be raised for purposes of patrolling the +country when the war is terminated. If this be a sign of the times, a +token by which we may read the lines of the policy by which Africa +will be governed during the next few years, it is satisfactory at +least to understand that we do not propose to take the risk of +successful risings in the months to come in different Dutch centres. +This war has shown us the folly of courting "compromise and Exeter +Hall" in dealing with dissatisfied areas of the Empire. We have +policed Burma, we patrol Ireland (but in a different sense), and in +India we have incorporated and turned into admirable efficiency many +of the hill tribes, but we cannot translate the native-born Republican +nor convert the rebel Dutch without the almost certain contingency +arising of their proving traitorous. There are many who know the Boer, +and, knowing him and appreciating his strange strategy, his curiously +warped mind, his natural aptitude for breaking his bond, would not +trust him in any transaction where integrity of character and probity +were the essential complement. There has been much opinion among +colonials that the Imperial Government might, anxious to be as +conciliatory as possible, enrol the Dutch for constabulary duties, +giving, indeed, to the younger generation the preference, and thus +enabling them to possess an employment definite, if not altogether +lucrative. But in this we should be perpetrating against the loyal +colonists of Cape Colony a grave injustice, for until the present +generation of Dutch has passed away, taking with it the memories of +the war, it will be unsafe, it will be unwise, to employ in any +administrative capacity whatsoever, those men who, themselves nursing +a rancour against Great Britain, will omit no opportunity to foster +the traditional hatred of their forefathers. We have in France, and in +the French animosity against Germany, a case which is identical, +proving, as it does, how the prejudices of a people can be nurtured +and kept evergreen through the sheer force of malignant sentiment; and +there can be little doubt that time, and time only, is capable of +removing from the minds of the Republican Dutch that feeling of +detestation and contempt which has maintained them in their attitude +of hostility towards us for so many decades. To them, for many years +to come, the British will be a nation of iconoclasts; we may banish +them, we may wipe out all traces of their misrule, and so obliterate +the signs of their existence that historians may find it difficult to +believe that they once lived. We may do all these things, but it will +be impossible to govern their instincts by Act of Parliament, to curb +their impulses by the rulings of the High Commissioner. It would +therefore be thrice foolish to employ them in their own country and +among their own people, and such action would imply that we intended +to ignore uses to which the younger colonists can be so conveniently +put. In South Africa, as in Australasia and in Canada, there is a +large army of young men who loaf their hours away in the idleness of +an agricultural life rather than seek some trade in the offices of the +big cities. They achieve little that is profitable upon their farms, +clinging tenaciously to such a livelihood, since it possesses finer +natural elements in its intimacy with the life of the veldt than any +form of metropolitan activity could give to them. There are, of +course, many men who have been driven to the towns through the failure +of their holdings, but in this present state of war these especially, +and all those others, have answered eagerly to the call for +volunteers, and in proving themselves worthy, have rendered excellent +services to the State. The great majority of these men would willingly +take service in the forces to which the order of the colonel +commanding makes reference, and by this we have at hand an army +extraordinarily adapted to colonial purposes, and needing only to be +called out. Moreover, at a time when the Empire has seen how its +various units have hastened to the aid of the Mother-country, would it +not be well to create in each colony a permanent militia from the men +who have so unanimously come forward; a force which would be to the +colonies what the Imperial army is to India, and which would supersede +the local defence forces in Australasia, approaching in its conception +a fixed soldiery rather than one to which is given a certain number of +exercises in the year? There would be no lack of numbers in any of the +colonies, and in Africa we could make use of the Zulu, the Matabele, +and the Cape Boys. We have long rested in fancied security, and not +until China falls a prey to Russia and India passes from us, need we +fear that Australasia can be taken from us by the combined fleets of +the Powers of Europe; nevertheless, since we must reorganise our army, +it would be no mean policy to place, once and for all, upon their true +foundation the defences of our colonies. + +To those who know the life of the mounted police in Burma, of the +constabulary in the West Indies, and of the police in Canada, the +duties of the corps that are raised for South Africa will be at once +comprehended. They would both police and administer the areas of the +Transvaal and the Orange Free State, and it may be that they will be +affiliated with the British South Africa Police corps that are already +enrolled. The life is enjoyable, there is much sport, and for a few +years to come there is sure to be trouble, at odd intervals, among the +Dutch. It is, perhaps, doubtful whether the man from home will be +quite adapted to such work, since, in a very high degree, a knowledge +of the Dutch language will be indispensable, and much valuable time +will be lost in acquiring some smattering of this tongue and in +teaching the recruits to ride, to shoot, and to drill. But life in the +mounted constabulary has also possessed so great a fascination for the +average Englishman that, should the Government decide to make eligible +the men from home, any paucity among the colonial applicants can be at +once remedied. Care, however, should be taken that the colonial men +who came forward on behalf of the colony in its hour of peril, should +be given the first refusal, and a greater financial consideration +should be meted out than, with the exception of the Canadian police, +has hitherto been customary. The economy of Africa is high priced, and +it will be eminently difficult for men to live upon their pay should +they have to forfeit any large proportion of it for extras, the cost +of which might well be borne by the Government itself. There has been +a great outcry about the higher rates of pay which are drawn by the +colonial corps now serving at the front as compared with the +wretchedly inadequate wages of the regulars, and it is a great pity +that we, who can be so foolishly magnanimous, cannot disavow the petty +economies of the service at a moment like the present. Five shillings +a day is small enough when men have to provide their entire equipment, +but to argue that because the War Office is supplying the kit the rate +should be reduced, since the main source of expenditure be removed, is +to incline towards a policy of expenditure which is penny wise and +pound foolish. We read recently, and with infinite zest, that the +artillery by which Mafeking is defended includes a battery of field +guns and four heavy pieces. This, of course, is a grotesque +exaggeration. We have no heavy ordnance, and our field pieces are +obsolete muzzle-loading monstrosities. Had the War Office paid +attention to its work, and supplied this advanced outpost of the +Empire with efficient artillery, instead of rushing up to Mafeking an +improvised field battery, it would be possible to ignore the attempt +to curtail the pay of the colonial forces, since, if Africa had been +prepared for war, it is improbable that Great Britain would have been +compelled, in order to crush the combined forces of the Republics, to +summon to her aid men from her colonial dependencies. But we did not +do this, and if we be now reaping the fruits of an impotent +administration, we should be sufficiently generous to accept the +responsibility for the expenditure, and to desist from an endeavour to +bolster up accounts by imposing upon the colonial contingents the +effects of an economy which aims at sparing a few thousand pounds by +saving some portion of their pay. Moreover, if it be true that the +colonial contingents which have been enrolled since war began, are +receiving ten shillings a day, why should not that rate be accepted as +the standard of pay for all colonial forces under arms? In relation to +Mafeking, where the question of compensation has become acute, such +addition to the pay of the defenders of the town as would increase +their rate to ten shillings would be a felicitous manner of +recognising the gallant work which the garrison has performed, and +provide at the same time, a practical exposition of official +appreciation for the units of the defence. + +If this be the one question of moment, in reference to the other +problem--the pastoral and agricultural future of the country--there is +little doubt that Africa--more especially these western districts, +where agricultural and pastoral pursuits are widely followed--will +require the assistance of the capitalist before the mere emigrant from +England can make much headway. In a sense Mafeking is the central +market for farm produce for areas which stretch far into the +Transvaal, and which, lacking the propinquity of a local market, are +compelled to send their products across the border. Many of these +districts have proved to possess valuable mining qualities, so that it +is possible we shall see in a few years the development of towns +which, owing their existence to the mines, will attract the trade +which now finds its bent in the Mafeking market. But the hope here is +of railway communication with Johannesburg and Pretoria, and the +consequent opening out and settlement of the Bechuanaland +Protectorate, and it is in this respect the capitalist will be the +Alpha and Omega of the countryside; for the youngster who goes to +Australasia with five hundred pounds and leases a property will be +unable to obtain a hearing up here until the economy of daily life has +been reduced to a less expensive order. There is a golden future here, +but much gold will have to be poured into the lap of Mother Nature +before any very satisfactory results are gained. The cost of transit +is prohibitive, and there is a scarcity of water, which will make +wells a necessity. There is much cheap labour, but the present mode of +existence of the farming class is one which favours a bare +sufficiency, and for the remainder a state of placid idleness. + +The insufficient development of South Africa in respect to its +agricultural and pastoral resources is largely due to the +unprogressiveness of the Boer or South African farmer. He personifies +useless idleness, and contents himself with raising a herd of a few +hundred head of cattle; he seldom plants a tree; seldom digs a well; +seldom makes a road; and has an unmitigated contempt for agriculture +and agriculturists. His ploughs, harrows, and utensils of husbandry +are clumsy, ill-formed, and, where they exist at all, are hopelessly +antiquated. He cannot be prevailed upon to make any alteration +whatsoever in the system of his agriculture. His ancestors were +farmers, and he himself does not conceive it to be his duty to alter +methods which were already obsolete when he was a child. The English +farmer, with good training, active disposition, and accurate +knowledge of how and where to institute radical reforms, possessing +capital, might find both home and fortune in these areas. It is a good +cattle country, and with a careful reorganisation in the management of +the cattle-farms across the border--a reorganisation which should +extend throughout all agrestic or nomadic communities in the +Transvaal--it should receive material assistance from the farms of the +western border of the Transvaal that are already stocked. The Dutch +farmer, living the life of the patriarch of old, leaves everything to +nature, and does not, as a rule, combine the varieties of farming +which his property would sustain. He remains a stock-breeder, or a +grower of cereals: the combination of the two is usually too complex. +It will be therefore a good thing should a different basis of +management be inculcated, and when this be accomplished, greater +facilities for stocking their farms will be held out to the intending +colonists who may favour the country, but for the time the new-comers +should check their eagerness, since, above all things, capital will be +necessary to their salvation. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +"A HISTORY OF THE BARALONGS" + + + MAFEKING, _March 22nd, 1900_. + +Beyond a few successful cattle-raiding forays on the part of the +Baralongs, we have done nothing these past days but maintain +courageously the glories of our splendid isolation. In a way we have +been compelled to depend to no small extent upon the prowess of the +local tribe. The Baralongs have done well by us, and have served us +faithfully, and with no complaint. They have fought for us; they have +preyed upon the enemy's cattle, so that the white garrison might have +something better than horseflesh for their diet; they have manned the +western defences of the stadt, and they have suffered severe +privations with extraordinary fortitude. There have been moments in +the earlier stages of the war when they might well have considered the +advisability of supporting a power that could not from the outset +hinder their own arch-enemy, and one against whom they have been +pre-eminently successful in other years, from invading the territories +of the Empire. But whatever may have been the workings of the native +mind, however they may have dallied with the treacherous overtures of +the Boers, they have individually, and as a tribe, unanimously risen +to the occasion, and given to the Great White Queen their absolute +support. In the history of these people there is not much in the +consideration which we have shown them to justify their allegiance, +and if we have secured their loyalty at so critical a moment, let us +hope that it may, in some way, epitomise the actions for the future, +of the tribes that are allied with them, and, when the moment comes +for compensation, let us at least remember the debt of honour which we +owe them. + +The Baralongs are, of course, identified with the Bantu peoples of +Africa, but they come from a stock that is industrial as opposed to +the military element of this race. The distribution of the military +and industrial Bantu is significant, but in this latter we will +consider one of the peaceable tribes. The military Bantu is found in +possession of the most fertile regions, and it may be well to remember +that they occupied the Southern extremity of Africa, contemporaneously +with Europeans. They are now found between the Drakensberg Mountains +and the Indian Ocean, fruitful areas about the Zoutpansberg and +Kaffraria. It would seem that they held these grounds by right of +might, and their district is in somewhat striking contrast to the +regions in which the industrial Bantu are at home. These latter cling +to the mountains, as in Basutoland, and are scattered over the high +plateau which forms so great a part of the Free State and the +Transvaal, or in the confines of the Kalahari Desert and those deserts +and karoos which lie to the south of the Orange River. The desert has +ever been their ultimate retreat, and as their more warlike kinsmen +seized and held the finer qualities of the country, the arid and, so +to speak, waste areas of Africa fell to the heritage of the industrial +Bantu. Descendants from the same family, there is naturally an analogy +between their tribal organisations which is yet curiously dissimilar. +They are both armed with the same weapon, but the assegai of the +military Bantu is short-handled and broad bladed; while the assegai of +the industrial Bantu is long and sharp, light in the blade, and +intended mainly for purposes of the chase. Among the former the chief +is a despot, against whose word there is no appeal; his town is +designed with a view to defence; the chief's hut and the cattle-pens +of the tribe are placed in the centre, and around these the remaining +huts are built in concentric circles. The power of the chief among the +industrial Bantu is limited; first by the council of lesser chiefs, +secondly by the general assemblage of the freemen of the tribe. His +town is intended to serve the requirements of a peaceful people, while +outside the ground is cultivated in a rough and unscientific manner; +they are even acquainted with the art of smelting ore and working in +iron. The pursuit of the military Bantu is directed to the successful +cultivation of a bare sufficiency of corn and cattle, and he pays +little attention to anything which is beyond his immediate +requirements. The Kaffirs, the Zulus, and the Matabele Zulus are among +the warlike tribes of this dark-skinned race; but the chief seats of +the industrial tribe are Bechuanaland and Basutoland, and it is with +the peaceful Bechuanas, with whom are identified the Baralongs, that +we propose to deal. + +Historically, Bechuanaland will remain ever interesting to Englishmen +as being the scene of the labours of Robert Moffat, David Livingstone, +and John Mackenzie: three famous missionaries, who in their time did +so much for the interests of our country in what was then the Dark +Continent. The immense area lying to the north of Cape Colony +possessed in itself one great political feature which made its +possession of paramount importance. It was the natural trade route +between that colony and Central Africa at a moment when Imperialism +was a soulless conception, and when our ideas of the Empire in Africa +shrank at the possibility of northern expansion. During all those +years possession of Bechuanaland was the golden key to a future which, +had we but realised it then, would have given us some right to claim +the distinction of being a race of discoverers. We were, however, very +diffident about accepting and recognising any greater responsibilities +in relation to any enlargement of the areas of our African domains, +and if a vindictive spirit had not encouraged the Boers to plunder and +destroy the settlement in which missionary Livingstone abode, and thus +driven him to pastures of a fresh kind, we might never have possessed +the gate through which the stream of prosperity has flowed, until it +reached to the limits of Central Africa. If the Boers had resolved to +oust this intrepid Englishman, they failed lamentably, insomuch as +they did but drive him to explore the interior, and to open up a +magnificent reach of country to his fellow Englishmen. Bechuanaland +lay at his feet when he first started forth, but to-day the point of +exploration is many hundred miles in advance. Bechuanaland has +flourished, and would have prospered more, had we but appreciated the +doctrine of those Victorian statesmen who, recognising the wondrous +wealth which lay in this new country, but fearing that the moment had +not come for such gigantic undertakings, were regretfully compelled +to delegate to posterity the duty of some day acquiring these very +areas. Great Britain does not go very far back into the history of the +native tribes of Bechuanaland. We are the later agents of a new +civilisation, but we have yet to undo many wrongs to the lawful +possessors of this proud heritage, to adjust many intricate questions, +and to grapple, without fear and hesitation, with the problems which +confront us--problems upon which it is surely not too much to say the +effectual solidarity and stability of this great African Empire +depends. + +Tradition tells us that the Baralong branch of the Bantu came from the +north under the leadership of Chief Morolong, and that the tribe +settled, after a protracted exodus from the north, on the Molopo River +under a chief who was fourth in descent from their first leader, +Morolong. The combination of the military and industrial Bantu had +been already broken by the character of the tribe itself. Before they +had been settled very long, Matabele Zulus under Moselekatse attacked +Mabua, and there was once again a complete division of tribe. They +scattered in three directions. Thaba N'chu was selected by the leader +of that party as their eventual resting-place. Two other sections, led +by Taoane, the father of Montsioa, and Machabi, found their way into +the country which lay between the Orange River and the Vaal. There +they remained, leading a quiet and comparatively harmless existence +until the Boers, under Hendrik Potgieter, entered into alliance with +the Baralongs to attack Moselekatse. When the old lion of the north +had been driven beyond the Limpopo, Taoane returned with his followers +to the south bank of the Marico. By virtue of this conquest Potgieter +issued a proclamation, claiming for himself and the Transvaal +Government the country which had previously been overrun by the Zulu +chief. Under this proclamation the Boers claimed to exercise sovereign +powers over the Bechuana tribes, but upon the protest of the British +Government this was withdrawn, Taoane and Montsioa, who had by this +time succeeded his father, refusing to recognise the implied +sovereignty of the Boers. By the intervention of the Imperial +Government on behalf of the native chiefs of a territory which was +practically unknown, it became the eventual channel through which we +pushed a benign salvation, and an indifferent protection upon the +natives of Bechuanaland until that time when we were enabled to +assimilate the country. The attempt of the Transvaal Government to +seize the areas of Bechuanaland was the rift in the silver lining of +the clouds of Transvaal prosperity. The question became, between the +two Governments, one of great moment, and its existence, since the +Republic declined to ratify the award of the Keate Arbitration, was a +bone of contention which was never altogether buried. The attitude of +this Republic, the indirect assistance which the Transvaal offered to +Moshette and Massou for the perpetuation of civil strife among the +Bechuana chiefs, undoubtedly hastened the annexation by Great Britain +in 1877 of the Transvaal territory. When this happened, despite the +fact that the border was immediately delimited, Bechuanaland passed +through a period of the greatest anarchy. The chiefs were warring +amongst themselves, and although the two parties claimed the +protection of either the Transvaal or the Imperial Government, the +country was not definitely pacified till the despatch of the Warren +Expedition, an expedient which by its success made Bechuanaland an +integral portion of our African Empire. Montsioa, the Baralong chief, +was fighting with his brother Moshette; Mankorane, the Batlapin chief, +was engaged in struggle with David Massou, who was head of the +Korannas. Of these four chiefs Montsioa and Mankorane sought the +protection of the Imperial Government, while Moshette and Massou +acknowledged the sovereignty of the Transvaal. European volunteers or +freebooters who would be rewarded for their services by grants of +land, assisted each of the four chiefs. At this juncture the Imperial +Government changed its policy of administration in relation to the +natives of Bechuanaland, and the result was that the High Commissioner +of the Cape became supreme chief of the natives outside the Republic +and the territories of foreign powers. In pursuance of the new policy +Mr. Mackenzie arrived in Bechuanaland as British Resident, for the +purpose of giving effect to the newly proclaimed Protectorate which +had been established over the country outside the south-western +boundary of the Transvaal by the consent of the delegates from the +Republic, who had visited London to obtain certain modifications of +the Convention of Pretoria. An extraordinary state of things awaited +the arrival of Mackenzie, for the volunteers in the service of the +Bechuana chiefs, Moshette and Massou, had established two independent +communities, the "republics" of Land Goshen and Stellaland. The +freebooters of Stellaland offered no resistance to the authority of +the British Resident, but the burghers of Land Goshen celebrated the +arrival of the Resident by a series of outrages and the contemptuous +rejection of the demands made to them by these new officials. With +the successful resistance of the filibusters from Rooigrond, the +capital of Land Goshen, President Kruger issued a proclamation in the +interests of humanity, by which he brought under the protecting wing +of this South African State, the contending chiefs and their European +advisers; thus the anomaly existed of a power endeavouring to assert +its authority over rebels in a country in which we ourselves had +assumed control. The mediation of the Transvaal Government was brought +about, partly by the situation of Rooigrond, partly by the +unjustifiable arrogance and assumption of the Transvaal President. The +town had been so placed that it lay across the line of the new +south-western boundary; the divisions lying partly in the Transvaal, +partly in the Protectorate, and since it had become apparent that the +Imperial or Colonial Government were unable to remedy the evils which +arose from the depredations of marauders of Rooigrond, their leaders +justified their actions by claiming that their town was the property +of the Transvaal, and that they themselves were acting for that state, +under the orders of General Joubert, and endeavouring to suppress +conditions of anarchy in a country which, from the state of its +existence, would appear to possess no controlling influences. If the +outcome of this diplomatic feat were the proclamation of the +Transvaal, it also aroused Great Britain to the true condition of +affairs. The Transvaal had gone too far, and, in response to hints +from the Imperial Government as to the feeling of the colony, +resolutions were passed stating that public opinion in Cape Colony +considered the intervention of her Majesty's Government for the +maintenance of the trade route to the interior, and the preservation +of native tribes to whom promise of Imperial protection had already +been given, was an act dictated by the claims of humanity and by the +necessities of policy. It was thus brought home to the Government that +the Cape Colonists considered that it would be fatal to British +supremacy in South Africa if we failed to maintain our rights which we +derived from the Convention of London, and to fulfil our obligations +towards the native tribes of the new Protectorate. After this +assurance of moral support the Imperial Government despatched Sir +Charles Warren, in order that he might remove the filibusters from +Bechuanaland, pacify the country, and restore the natives their land, +taking measures, in the meantime, to prevent a recurrence of the +depredations and atrocities which had been enacted recently there. +When the forces were finally withdrawn Bechuanaland was created a +Crown Colony, and at a subsequent date, it was incorporated into the +Cape Colony. Since this time we have continued to perform the duties +of a central authority in respect to the native tribes beyond the +borders of the South African Republic, the expenses of administration +being paid from the proceeds of the hut tax which is levied upon +natives, together with the revenue derived from trading licenses, and +paid for by European traders. In the settlement of Bechuanaland we +reached a critical point in the history of England's administration in +South Africa. We have been compelled to accept the responsibilities of +such a central power as we have become, and we can no longer disregard +the adjustment of those problems which so burdened that office. Now +that our Imperial interests are so strong and our holdings in the +country so great, let us no longer continue to oppose the means which +will lead to that eventual federation of the Colonies and States of +South Africa, the union which, once secured, will do so much to +rectify the mistakes that we have made in our African policy. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +'TIS WEARY WAITING + + + MAFEKING, _March 31st, 1900_. + +We have lived for so many months now under the conditions which govern +a town during siege that we almost accept existing circumstances as +normal. We have ceased to wonder at the shortness of our rations, +content to recognise that we might grumble from sunrise to sunset and +gain nothing by it. We are no longer surprised at the enemy; they seem +to take the siege as a joke, but it is a comedy which has a tragic +lining. We have astounding spirit; there is no question of the gravity +of our situation; there is no doubt that if we were to relax our +vigilance for a moment, if we were to withdraw an outpost, diminish +the establishment of some trench, the Boers would be in upon us before +the garrison had realised that any such alteration in the defences had +taken place. Nevertheless, there is really an admirable exhibition of +almost uncomplaining acquiescence in the hardships which have fallen +to our daily lot. Here and there there is grumbling, but the man who +grumbles to-day rejoices to-morrow, since no siege can be endured with +fortitude and determination if one dwells unduly long upon the +difficulties and trials which beset us. Lately we had an exhibition, +and many people in the garrison have consumed the past three weeks in +a feverish and untiring activity to complete their exhibits. Ladies +accomplished something rather fine in lacework, the men turned their +attention to constructing models of the town's defences, and one and +all entered into this little break in the monotony of the siege with +the cheering intention of getting as much out of the event as was +possible. Prizes varying from L5 to a sovereign were offered, and +indirectly, each endeavoured to foster the spirit of the town. It had +a beneficial effect, this artificial method of killing time, and it +realised some L50 for the hospital. There have been other things +besides the exhibition to stimulate the spirits of the garrison. +Native runners brought us the news of the fall of Bloemfontein, a +feature in the campaign which adds fresh laurels to the reputation of +Lord Roberts. His continued successes have been an _elixir vitae_, and, +indeed, so freely have we imbibed of this new medicine, that there +have been many who have found themselves possessed of a fresh +strength. There is, however, one thing which does not give any +satisfaction whatsoever to the little band of men who have held this +outpost of the Empire during so many weary months, and this is +embodied in the absence of any very definite signs of a speedy relief. +Lord Roberts has told us to hold out until the middle of May, but it +is a weary wait, and we could well see the van of the column crossing +the rise. Within the past few days the town has been swept by rumours +about the propinquity of the southern column; we have understood +Colonel Plumer has been within fifty miles of Mafeking for some weeks. +The rumours anent the southern relief place this column at any point +within two hundred miles of Mafeking; some days it has reached Taungs, +upon others it has not left Kimberley, again it is a week's march +north of Vryburg, and in the meantime we receive telegrams from London +congratulating us upon our successful and happy release. Where do +these rumours come from? How comes it that London should be in +ignorance of our condition? + +We, who have followed with so much interest the fortunes of the +campaign, sharing in the success of others with all sincerity and +feeling reverses like personal insults, are disinclined to deny the +existence of a relief column; but perhaps it is not altogether +understood that, while we have food lasting till the middle of May, it +is not impossible to feel famished upon our present rations at the end +of March. Of food in the abstract there is an abundance, but the +condition and quality of the ration is such that it cannot be reduced +any further without immediately affecting the health of the garrison +and proving a very serious obstacle to the successful execution of any +work which may be detailed to the command. Experiments have been tried +for the purpose of discovering whether it were possible to exist, and +to work, upon an allowance of 8 oz. of meat and 4 oz. of bread, and, +while it was proved that the garrison might exist upon such short +commons, it would be very injudicious to issue this allowance, since +it caused a serious deterioration in the stamina of the men; it has, +therefore, been condemned. The bread is impossible, and, although +every effort be made to improve it, it still resembles a penwiper more +than a portion of bread. It is made from the common oats which one +gives to horses. These oats are crushed, but, sift them as you please, +treat them by every process which the ingenuity of the entire +garrison can devise, they positively bristle all over with +sharp-pointed pieces of the husks. Recently we have been promised Boer +meal, but it would appear, according to Captain Ryan, that the Boer +meal is to be held in reserve as long as possible. For the moment we +rather hanker after that reserve, and we do not take much of the +composite forage which is served us as bread. However, if we are +eating the rations of horses, the unfortunate people of Kimberley ate +the horses, and so, it would seem, our lot might be much worse. Horses +have not become our daily ration yet, although they form the basis of +a curious soup which is made and served out to the natives. The smell +of that soup turns many weary pedestrians from their usual paths, +although the spectacle of the starving natives swarming round the +soup-kitchen is one of the sights of the siege. + +But, doubtless, those people who send us ridiculous messages of +congratulation may think that this is, after all, but the mere detail +of the siege--the side issue which should be expected, and which +should in any case be endured with a fine toleration. That is all +right; we do not mind the bread, we do not mind the aroma of the +soup-kitchen, but we do object to preposterous messages of +congratulation telling us "the siege is over," at the very moment when +the enemy is shelling us simultaneously from five different points. +The other day they endeavoured to concentrate their fire upon the +centre of the town, and, if they did not do this altogether, they most +certainly fired into Mafeking a weight of metal that has exceeded +every other day's. We had from sunrise until dusk 79 Creusot shells, +100 lb. each; 35 steel-capped, armour-piercing, delay-action, +high-velocity Krupp, 15 lb. each; 29 9-pounder Krupp; 57 3-pounder +Maxims; and such a merry flight of 5-pounders that these shells have +become a drug in the market, and to such an extent that we would very +gladly exchange between here and London, a few such stormy petrels as +a polite and cordial memento of the day of our deliverance. It is true +that in part we are relieved, since we have chosen to take the +initiative into our own hands and expelled the enemy from a position +on the south-eastern facing of the town which they have occupied since +the beginning of hostilities. This has given us immense relief, since +it has practically placed the town beyond the effective range of the +Mauser rifle and the Boer sharpshooters. + +The trench was exceedingly well made, divided by traverses, protected +with a rear bank and a strong head cover. It was a mercy that we did +not attempt to storm it, and its remarkable strength and composite +construction goes some way to explain the difficulty which we have +experienced in making much impression, either by shell fire or +storming party, upon the Boer entrenchments. We did this in a single +night, having led up to such a climax by devoting our attentions to +this particular quarter. We bombarded them by day, we sniped them by +night, and sapped them in the intervals. For a brief moment the enemy +checked us, but it was only for a moment, and our fire was so warm and +so persistent that they relinquished their attempt to prevent our +advance, leaving, however, in their trench at the moment of evacuation +a little trifle, possibly forgotten in their scramble to the rear, of +250 lbs. of nitro-glycerine. The mine was at once located, the wires +were cut, the trench was occupied, and in the morning when day +dawned, instead of there being the roar of a great explosion, there +was simply the ruddy blaze of our artillery fire from the gun +emplacements which they had constructed and which we had converted to +our own use. But we have taken care of that little mine, and +possession of the trench leaves us masters of the situation. This, +however, is the only relief that has come to Mafeking. + +The Boer possesses a natural aptitude for digging ditches and throwing +up earthworks, since his instinct tells him what not to do, much as +this same intuition teaches him how to secure the natural +fortifications of a kopje, and has made him, as the war has proved, a +foeman worthy of our steel. We have despised the Boer; we have +contumaciously called him a barbarian; but, nevertheless, these nomads +of the South African veldt have given the mighty majesty of England a +lesson which will take her many years to forget. Boer tactics are +unique, but one has to witness them to believe in their feasibility. +Their horses are so trained that when the reins are thrown over their +necks they remain immovable. Their fighting is based on this fact, +combined with the dictates of common-sense and their empirical, yet +successful manner of encountering us in the Gladstonian War. Each +commando of one hundred men is their unit; these are concentrated in +scattered groups in rear of their outpost lines, and upon coming in +contact with the enemy they endeavour to encircle their adversary, +cantering in eccentric circles until they are able to dismount in a +fold of ground near some coign of vantage. They are extraordinarily +adept at making the best of their cover, and they are most patient, +waiting hours for a shot, prone upon the ground, under a scorching +sun. It would seem that they have maintained their time-honoured +system, applying to the present campaign tactics possessing great +mobility, rapid powers of concentration on vulnerable points, and as +rapid retreats therefrom if seriously threatened. This power of rapid +movement incidental to all being mounted gives them great advantage, +increasing their powers of offence and defence, and representing the +crux of their theories of war. The Boer carries on his horse one +hundred rounds of ammunition, and rations of sun-dried beef sufficient +for four days. The horses feed upon the veldt. In four days the Boer +can cover two hundred miles, and it is this ability to move from point +to point with extraordinary despatch, that makes the Boer force a body +of mounted infantrymen possessing great strategical value. It has been +impossible not to admire the tactics which the Boers have pursued in +investing Mafeking, and where they have detached a force for any +special purpose the execution of their work has been accomplished with +laudable celerity. They dismantle and re-set, at an emplacement some +miles away, their big Creusot gun--a process which seldom occupies +them longer than between dusk and dawn; sometimes we see them moving +their guns northwards, and hear from natives that they arrived at a +point some thirty miles from Mafeking by daybreak. It may be that in +respect to the mobility of their forces we have much to learn, and let +us at least profit by the lessons which are thus afforded us. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + +TWO HUNDRED DAYS OF SIEGE + + + MAFEKING, _April 15th, 1900_. + +There is now happily no longer any doubt of the truth of the native +reports of important successes having befallen our arms in the +vicinity of Kimberley. We hear with infinite rejoicing that Kimberley +has pulled through, and is no longer invested by the enemy, and almost +so soon as these tidings reached us, natives brought in the +unconfirmed news of the capture of Cronje. This has since been +officially published, and the garrison here is beginning to feel at +last that their turn is about to come! We have waited long for this +moment, passing many black hours in the interval, but even now it +seems that the power of England may be successfully defied by these +federated South African Republicans. Yet we hope and, in the changing +of the fortunes which we anticipate, we express and share in the +felicitous congratulations which the Empire is offering to Lord +Roberts. The shrewdness and tactical genius of this gallant veteran +has been a source from which the entire garrison has drawn an +inspiring hope which encouraged one and all to resist to the uttermost +the attacks of the Boers. + +We have already been besieged six months, and although the internal +situation does not appreciably differ from that which existed on the +first day of the siege, the signs of the times betoken the gravity of +our condition. During recent days there have been two separate +indications of the straits to which the siege has reduced us. Colonel +Plumer endeavoured to pass into Mafeking a mob of cattle; the Almighty +sent a flight of locusts in such numbers that for many miles the veldt +was brown beneath the thousands which alighted upon it. Now the locust +is an article of diet, though it has not yet attained the dignity of +the position enjoyed by the nimble prawn. At present the locust is +compared only to a tasteless prawn, but it may be that when the siege +of Mafeking be raised and the world knows that no small portion of the +garrison were reduced to locusts without wild honey, this somewhat +unconvincing appetiser may be relegated to the office of a _hors +d'oeuvre_. Dame Fashion is responsible for so much that she might well +introduce to the social world such a toothsome delicacy. To catch your +locust is almost as difficult as to eat it, but it may be done by +turning out at night and throwing a blanket over any patch whose +numbers suggest the possibility of a profitable return. This, of +course, is not the native mode: the native, being as nimble as the +locust, goes for them on the rush, and sweeps them into heaps before +they have quite recovered from the shock of the surprise. By this +method you certainly secure your locust, by the other you generally +catch a cold, for the process of catching an individual locust is +somewhat laborious. However, it may be done, more especially where +there is the tedium of a siege to while away. Having caught your +locust, you then immerse him in boiling water, a treatment which at +once subdues him. You then proceed to sun-dry him and pluck away his +wings and head. The locust is then ready for the table, when, after +eating him, you discover that he has all the aroma and subtlety of +chewed string. For all the world one might as well munch string, but +since the possibilities of imparting to him an especial flavour be so +numerous and so eminently calculated to test the qualities of the +_chef_, he should again be commended to the notice of society in so +much that it is possible to create an altogether original locust. +There is, of course, another way of eating locusts, and that is to eat +them alive. This practice, however, is not held in any very great +esteem, since the native who cannot afford to wait to cook his locust +is _declasse_, even if he be starving. Personally, I rather like +locusts if they be fried, more especially if they be curried, for just +now the great thing is to eat, and, having digested what has been laid +before you, discreetly to ignore any question which might verify the +truth of your suspicions: therefore in eating curried locusts, you +thank Heaven for the curry, and pass on quickly to the next course. To +eat just now upon this basis is to enjoy consolation, which, in +relation to our food, is our sole form of enjoyment, since when you +know that you are eating horse and you imagine that you are eating +beef, your imagination is necessarily so strong and so triumphant that +the toughness of the horse becomes the tenderness of beef. Moreover, +everything is only a question of comparison, and as a consequence the +toughness of horse-beef and the tenderness of ox-beef necessitates +merely an exchange of terms which imply similar standards of +perfection. + +The pleasures of the table, however, are as nothing compared to the +delights of the bombardment by which the Boers assail the town almost +daily. We have had more time these days to recognise the precise value +of the enemy's shell fire and its wide area of demolition--more time +because the Boers have withdrawn "Big Ben," and we no longer fear to +walk freely in the streets, nor are we kept constantly upon the alert +listening to the clanging of the alarm. The guns remaining do not +appear to be able to reach the town from their distant emplacements. +They are an array of minor ordnance, uninteresting to us, since their +attentions would seem to be directed upon the outposts and the +outlying forts. "Big Ben," however, was no respecter of places, but +gaily hurled defiance at us from a variety of points, maintaining with +wonderful regularity an almost daily bombardment. + +We who are anxious for his welfare, now spend many dreary hours upon +the housetops, for, if we show appreciation of his presence by taking +refuge in the cellars, we ascend to the highest points of our houses +in order to make sure that he is gone. The sense of gratitude which +inspires us to do these things is unrestricted, and were it not that +there were smaller guns around us, we might have waved a parting +salutation from a more adjacent point; but under the circumstances we +are content, and although we feel sorry that he has left us, we shall +more infinitely deplore his presence when he returns. It is almost +pleasant in Mafeking just now, and if it were not for the scarcity of +food, the coldness of the weather, the never-ending rains, the fever +which exists (and of which we are all frightened), the entire absence +of wood with which to make fires, and the appalling monotony of the +days, the dreariness of the situation and the dulness of the people, +we might be happy, possibly inclined to exchange our lot for that of +anyone else who was not in Mafeking; but as it is, we are really +rather anxious to get out and to see the siege raised. Our nerves are +altogether raw, our tempers soured, our digestions failing. We were +young men six months ago, impressed with the importance of our +situation, invigorated with a determination to stick it out; but we +have aged considerably since then, and we would willingly send the +siege to the devil if we, by way of exchange, were permitted to +indulge in the comparative comfort of another form of purgatory. It +has become quite the accepted fashion to draw a simile between +Mafeking and hell, and to give the early Christian fathers full credit +for their powers; they were nevertheless quite incapable of imagining +a punishment so deliberate as the mental and physical torture of a +siege. To use a colonial colloquialism, "we went in blind," but one +experience is sufficient to guarantee that every member of the +garrison just now would put a thousand miles between him and the next +beleaguered town. In the situation itself there is nothing to write +about, it so constantly repeats itself until the absolute monotony of +the days settles down upon the nerves, depressing one's spirit like a +wet blanket. The Boers still fire at us, and we still sit tight, +nursing our hopes by a sublime confidence in the relief column. If we +be sceptical at times, we endeavour not to take our scepticism too +seriously, and we talk airily about the date by which the van will +have arrived here. But in reality there are but few people who believe +in the practical existence of any relief column. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV + +THE EPICUREAN'S DELIGHT + + + MAFEKING, _April 30th, 1900_. + +We have duly celebrated the two hundredth day of the siege, and if one +examines closely into the condition of a town which has withstood the +attacks of the enemy during two hundred days, it is to find a spirit +that is strong and self-reliant among the garrison and to realise the +sadness of the picture which presents the aspect of a town slowly +passing into ruin. The ravages of the siege have in no way been so +prominent as has been the case during the last few weeks. Mafeking of +yore was somewhat stately, although it was merely a colonial +up-country centre, possessing nothing which was grandiose or even +elegant. But its calm and unruffled dignity sprang from clusters of +stately trees around which it had sprung up, and from which in these +days of tempest and adversity it snatches something of their +independence, something of their indifference to the press of battle. +But now it is almost a treeless town, and it is difficult to go +anywhere without meeting the signs by which one may read the stress +and privation which a siege imposes upon a beleaguered village. +Mafeking was never a tiny town; it rambles too far over the veldt to +be considered even compact, but these natural features are now greatly +aggravated by the ruin which has fallen upon the outlying areas of the +town, causing even the most central streets to be disorderly in +appearance. From a very early date in the siege we have been +accustomed to the spectacle of ungainly structures stretching across +those thoroughfares which were exposed to the enemy's fire. These +traverses were among the earliest preparations of the war, but now, in +addition to these, at frequent intervals in the streets one comes +across shelter-pits which have been excavated in the various +thoroughfares. These protections against the enemy's shell and rifle +fire were not perhaps any lasting imposition upon the elegance of the +place, but as the siege developed its effects became more formidable +and were more calculated to leave traces of a permanent character. +To-day, perhaps, we are achieving to the end of this enforced +vandalism, since we have already utilised the garden fences and +demolished for the value of the wood which they may contain any houses +which may have been damaged by shell fire. Indeed, just now, we are +buying up the deserted huts of Kaffirs who have either been killed or +who have made their way with safety through the lines. These huts +comprise no small quantity of wood, so we are pulling them to pieces +on account of the props which support the reed roofing. But before we +ventured into the stadt for our wood, the trees in town were trimmed +of their branches, or, as in many cases, chopped down altogether, and +as a consequence the outward and visible sign of the results of the +siege is an infinite sense of desolation. There is now no longer the +gentle rustle of the trees as the night winds sigh through them; no +longer do the birds scramble amid the branches, screaming merrily. +There is no bird life now, for we have been unable to consider +sentiment in the ordering of our daily life. The best timber in the +town enjoys no greater immunity, since young and old trees each serve +their purpose. Where there was once order, there is now confusion. +Streets blockaded at one end are also furrowed by the many shells +which have come into the town; the walls of the houses have been +riddled with bullets, or wide, ragged holes gape where the projectiles +of "Big Ben" pounded their way through. Telegraph poles and lamp posts +are bent and twisted, some lying completely broken upon the roadside. +The roads and paths are covered with weeds, and everywhere the neglect +of the seven months' siege is in evidence. It is a depressing +spectacle, and it is well just now to close one's eyes to +everything--to the famine which is stalking in our midst, to the fever +which is raging round the outposts, to the ill-conditioned horses and +cattle, to the weary, patient women, to the children who, +unfortunately fortunate, have survived so much distress, and yet if +one looks a little forward it is difficult to see that the remedy will +be forthcoming. It has required the labour of years to rear the trees, +and in many cases the houses that were wrecked and upon whose sites +lie piles of rubble, represented the successful conception of a life's +handiwork which, destroyed in the passing of a moment, can never be +altogether replaced. There are many men and some few women who have +lost everything they possessed, and even if they receive an adequate +compensation will still feel the absence, in their new abodes, of +those subtle sentiments which made the fruition of their efforts so +dear and treasured to them. It is impossible not to feel this when +one perambulates through the town; every spot recalls something to the +mind of some one, an indelible association, emanating from the siege +and which time cannot obliterate. Men remember where they stood when +some particular house was shattered, others recall their proximity to +a bursting shell, whose explosion tore up the roadway. It is these +things which will never be effaced, since they are the impressions +which have struck deep down upon the mind, leaving an afterglow. But +as a rule we keep our cares, feeling that so many people have so much +else to worry them, recognising also that upon one and each of us the +siege hangs sorely. There can be no doubt that it has left its mark, +not only upon the town, but upon the garrison. The men are just a +little gaunt, just a little unkempt; the women are haggard and +careworn, for it is difficult to keep up one's spirit when from day to +day there comes no news, only that curious, ironical instinct, that +perhaps it may be that we are not to be relieved at all. The garrison +is famished, that is, in reality, the kernel of our situation. Our +energies are exhausted because our vital processes are insufficiently +nurtured. We are all listless; we all feel that the siege has been a +strain of the most severe description, and we are holding ourselves in +for the final rally, anxious to support the position, determined to +hold the town and occupy till the end our posts. Yet there is a false +note through it all, and in those moments when one finds oneself alone +one realises how artificial is the gaiety which we profess, feeling, +by intuition, that one's own emotions are alike those of one's +neighbour. However, each one of us endeavours to make an effort to +maintain in public some appearance of interest in the daily conditions +of the siege. It is a difficult part to play, because, as I have +said, there is so much that is unsatisfactory in our position. The +signs of the times are read by little things, and if one goes for a +walk round the outposts it is as well not to mention in the town the +presence of the fever flags which float over certain areas near which +it is not permitted to go. There are three such places; one is remote +from our lines, well out into the veldt, where, isolated and apart, +living in a world of their own making for the time being, is a family +fighting against the ravages of diphtheria; between them and the stadt +there is the smallpox reserve, where the yellow jack droops from the +trees beneath whose shade the tents of the patients have been pitched. +Still nearer into town at the hospital the flag of mercy protects a +building in which there is much malaria, some typhoid, and a few cases +of enteric fever. This is the gamut of our sickness, and it is in +these quarters that we, who are hale and hearty, look with anxious +eyes. There are many there who will pay their lives as tributes to the +siege, for, as in Ladysmith, so are we reduced to horseflesh, being +fortunate enough to possess, however, a small store of medical +comforts. The sick cannot be given very much, but we are very +solicitous for their welfare, and only lately the garrison as a body, +surrendered the ration of sugar to the needs of those who were ailing. +Our rations are sadly diminished; three-quarters of a pound of minced +horse-meat occasionally interchanged with mule and donkey flesh; four +ounces of horse forage, a microscopical quantity of tea and coffee, +pepper and salt, comprises the daily issue. Few of us have extras, but +there are many who indulge in experiments with certain toilet adjuncts +of an edible nature. Scented oatmeal, violet powder, poudre de ris, +and starch, have all been tested, and it would seem that starch is +the more adaptable. Recently I was allowed to taste a starch +blancmange, with glycerine syrup; it was excellent, and infinitely +better than scented oatmeal porridge. We also fry our meat in +cocoa-nut oil, in dubbin, and in salad oil--if we can "find" any. +Indeed, there is quite a boom in grease-stuffs for culinary purposes. +Aside from starch, violet face powder gives very fair results, but +when used as an ingredient for brawn, it is a hopeless failure. It +will be seen, therefore, that we are somewhat puzzled to know how to +satisfy our appetites, and we attempt infinite devices in order to +supplement our daily food supply; occasionally we shoot small birds +and less frequently we catch fish, but the size of both birds and fish +is such that a day's bag is seldom sufficient for a meal. If the +Europeans be exerting themselves to discover new processes by which to +cook inedible compounds, the natives also are at their wits' end, and +have resource to a variety of dishes which under more favourable +circumstances they would not touch. Pet dogs that are sleek, family +cats that are fat, are stolen nightly from the hotels and empty +houses, but they are invariably traced to native marauders, who, +inspired by hunger, prowl around by night seeking what they may +devour. These details give a somewhat gloomy aspect to our situation, +and if the truth be told our plight is quite sufficiently serious, but +it must not be imagined that by reason of these things we are +faint-hearted; we are not so. If we can pull through, and we are +proposing to make every effort, we shall be content, and we are +content, even at the present crisis, to think that it is not +altogether impossible that very earnest efforts are being made to +expedite our relief, and so alleviate our distress. Our +constitutions, perhaps, are somewhat impaired by the scarcity of food, +by dysentery and by fever, but we are well enough if the pinch should +come and the Boers again make a serious attack upon the town. We will +beat them off; possibly we may laugh at their efforts. It is only at +odd moments that we become depressed, when the intelligence does not +seem satisfactory, when our personal worries press too closely upon +us. In those moments we may perhaps take an unduly gloomy view of the +situation, but it is not so quick set that it cannot be dissipated by +the receipt of some good news, by a cablegram from the Queen, or a +message from Lord Roberts. It is these things after which we hanker, +and it is these things by which we keep up our hearts. That there +should be any possibility of a weak spirit manifesting itself at this +late hour need not be considered seriously for a moment, since above +all else, the garrison and townspeople of Mafeking have devoted +themselves to the work of holding this important outpost to the Empire +until such moment as the relief may come. In the beginning we +withstood six thousand men, just now there are not two thousand men +around us, and if they have more guns now than they had, we have also +strengthened our weak places and thrown out a chain of outposts +through which it should be impossible for an enemy to penetrate. Thus +we have made ourselves secure against everything but the menace of +starvation, and if there be anxiety upon our behalf in the centres of +the civilised world, the message which we send touches not upon the +question of relief, but asks that it should be remembered that, even +if our spirits endure, our foodstuffs will not last for ever. That is +the gist of our prayer, and we trust that it may receive some hearing. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV + +THE LAST FIGHT + + + MAFEKING, _May 13th, 1900_. + +From time to time intelligence has reached us from native sources that +the Boers were still anxious to make a final attempt to capture the +town. We have had this story repeated to us so frequently that there +were many in our midst who had altogether ceased to pay any attention +to it; but that there was some sincerity in the desire to attack us +has now been proved to be true, and it would seem that the obstacle +which existed, and which prevented an earlier realisation of the +enemy's plans, was the absence of any leader sufficiently capable and +enterprising to attempt the execution of so hazardous a venture. +However, when General Cronje delegated full command to General Snyman, +President Kruger sent from Pretoria his youthful but gallant nephew, +Commandant Eloff, who had not only frequently expressed his desire to +capture the town, but brought with him from Pretoria men whose special +knowledge of our fortifications had been gained when serving as +troopers in the Protectorate Regiment. It was these men who were +destined to conceive and carry to a successful conclusion the work of +projecting a body of the Boers within our interior lines. Weeks have +elapsed since Commandant Eloff arrived from Pretoria, but he has bided +his time, studying carefully our system of defence, our outlying +earthworks, and collecting all scraps of information which would +convey to him a more intimate knowledge of our position. For a time +his plans matured, but, as he conned them well over, he began to make +his preparations, recognising that, if he allowed many more days to +pass, the relief column from the south would be an additional and +important factor in his scheme of operations. Upon May 10th the relief +column had reached Vryburg, and Vryburg is only ninety-six miles from +Mafeking. Upon May 12th this southern column had advanced to +Setlagoli, a point only forty-five miles distant from the town, and +the receipt of this intelligence, which was brought to Commandant +Eloff by his scouts, revealed to him the urgency and absolute +necessity of carrying out his attack upon the town. It was a +well-considered scheme, whose eventual success was only nullified by +the lack of cohesion and estranged relations which existed between +General Snyman and Commandant Eloff. It was a glorious day for +Mafeking; it was a day of honourable misfortune for the Boers. +Mafeking fell heavily upon Eloff, recapturing the fort which the Boers +had surprised and taken in the early morning, and thereby effecting +the release of the thirty-two prisoners whom the Boers had caught, and +causing known casualties among the Boers of killed, wounded, and taken +prisoners, 139. + +[Illustration: Killing Horses for the Natives and Entire Garrison.] + +Commandant Eloff had designed to pierce our western lines under cover +of a well-organised feint upon the eastern front of the town. Upon the +morning of May 12th and a little before 4 a.m., the bells sounded a +general alarm and the bugles summoned a general assembly of available +arms to all posts. As in the early days of the siege, I ran from my +hotel to Musson's Fort, where, upon similar occasions, I have served +as a volunteer. There was no sign of disturbance in the west, but very +heavy firing was breaking over the town from the main position of the +enemy in the east. Gradually this fire was extended until the flanking +positions of the Boers north-east and south-east were also engaged. As +we stood to our arms in the fort, it seemed that they were directing +an attack upon the brickfields, when, just as it appeared to be the +usual innocuous fusilade, streaks of fire were seen leaping to the sky +towards the west; there was a lurid glow across the native stadt and +dense clouds of smoke were drifting and piling heavily towards the +north. There was instant commotion in the fort, everybody exclaiming +at once that the stadt was ablaze. At that moment we did not realise +that the conflagration which we saw was the deliberate work of the +enemy, although there were many who, catching sight of the blaze, +concluded that the attack upon our eastern front was the blind to a +movement of much greater importance upon the west. Thoroughly aroused +and anxious to learn the reasons of the fire, I returned to the hotel. +By this time rifle fire had slackened upon the east of the town, but +bullets were coming over from the west, the town being under this +cross-fire. There were few people about the town, and, save for an +occasional group of frightened women, one saw no one. My horse was +already saddled, and, riding to the front of the town, I at once +recognised that the Boers were in the stadt. Huts were burning in all +directions, the separate fires blending into a sheet of flame; dense +smoke overhung everything. There was the crackle of the burning +huts, and showers of golden sparks tossed themselves into the air. It +was still dark and the hour was about five; a lemon-coloured dawn, +sheathed in the golden glory of the fire and obscured by the +grey-black waves of smoke, was slowly breaking, following closely upon +the heels of a flame-coloured night. It was the hour when confusion +reigns supreme, when it is impossible to tell tree from man, an +outcrop of stone from a recumbent beast. It was the very hour in which +to attack, but the Boers secured an additional advantage from the +dense and heavy smoke which filled the atmosphere, making the gloom +more impenetrable than ever and screening effectually the rapidity of +their progress. Heavy firing was proceeding from the direction of the +stadt, and there was a confused babel of voices. Natives were running +in all directions, and against the flames groups of figures were +noticeable in silhouette. + +There seemed little doubt that the situation at this moment was grave +in the extreme. The Boers in the stadt, dividing rapidly, had advanced +upon the British South Africa Police Fort, in which from the beginning +of the siege the regimental headquarters of the Protectorate Regiment +have been installed. At this moment Colonel Hore and the officers and +men attached to the regimental headquarters staff, including four +belonging to the British South Africa Police, numbered some +twenty-three. Preparing to resist the invasion, Colonel Hore had +already manned the earthwork, which from the days of the Warren +expedition has been designated as a fort. The distance between the +stadt and the fort is about four hundred yards, and around the +regimental headquarters lie scattered numerous outbuildings. It is an +impossible place to hold with a small number of men, while the +outbuildings are so situated as to afford very excellent cover to any +troops which may be advancing with the intention of surrounding the +main buildings; and it was this manoeuvre which Commandant Eloff was +endeavouring to carry to a successful issue. Scattering quickly, and +under the cover of the different houses, he advanced within a very +short distance of the fort. In the dim light, obscured by smoke, and +in part concealed by the native refugees, it was impossible to tell +whether these men were the van of a Boer force or our own outposts in +process of retirement upon Colonel Hore. Under the guidance of Trooper +Hayes, a deserter from the Protectorate Regiment, seven hundred Boers +had rushed the interior lines of the outposts, making their way along +the bed of the Molopo and through Hidden Hollow into the stadt. The +movement had been noticed by the outposts, who, unable to do anything +against such overwhelming odds, had given the alarm and fallen back +upon either flank, delivering a flanking fire when the Boers were +discovered. Arriving in the stadt, Commandant Eloff had ignited the +huts in various directions, in this manner giving to the main body of +the Boers their signal to advance. Before the rush of Commandant +Eloff's men the Baralongs separated, reforming behind the enemy, in +order to co-operate with our advanced outposts in repelling the +progress of the main body. From the moment that this was accomplished +the Boers outside our lines and those who were within the stadt were +cut off from one another; but, leaving half his force in the stadt, +Commandant Eloff, with whom were Captain Von Weiss and Captain de +Fremont, prepared to assault the fort, and, advancing rapidly upon it, +had surrounded it with but little difficulty. When the little band of +men saw the Boers emerging from stadt, fire was at once opened upon +them, but, as they claimed to be friends, and as it was understood +that they were our own outposts, the fire from the fort ceased until +the enemy were within sixty yards of its front face, being at the same +time, unknown to the inmates of the fort, in occupation of the +buildings upon either flank and in the rear. + +This, then, was the situation which had come to pass within three +hundred yards of the railway and about seven hundred yards from the +town. In the town itself the Town Guard, the Bechuanaland Rifles, and +the entire strength of the Railway Division had been ordered at once +to man the railway line. The men from the Hospital Redan and the +establishment from Early's Corner Fort were detailed to the line in +addition to the Bechuanaland Volunteers, while the Railway Division, +screening their movements behind the corrugated iron fencing which +encloses the railway yards, and perforating rifle holes in the +sheeting of the fence, were given charge of the railway yards. +Lieutenant Feltham and his troop of C Squadron supported Major Panzera +and the artillery at the railway bridge, while, under orders from +Colonel Baden-Powell, Lieutenant Montcrieff advanced a section of the +Town Guard to occupy a house a little removed from the new line of +defences which had been already taken up. The town itself, agog with +excitement, had been reinforced by the Cape Police from the +brickfields and the British South Africa Police from the kopje, and +with these forces opposing them, the Boers at the fort found their +further advance cut off, while, unless General Snyman forced the +passage of the outposts and brought up his artillery, the entire body +would be hemmed in. + +In the meantime Commandant Eloff demanded the unconditional surrender +of the twenty-three men who were established at the fort, an order +which, had Colonel Hore refused, implied that every man with him would +be shot. Then, in that moment, it was known that the cheering which +had been heard in Hidden Hollow a few moments before was the +triumphant chortle of the Boers as they stepped within the inmost +lines of our defences. Around the fort there was silence--there was a +terrible silence; there was a man who was weighing in his hand and in +his heart the lives of twenty-two others, who was considering in a +fleeting moment of time the flight of an honourable career which had +brought to him a string of six medals, and who saw in one of two steps +instant death for his little band and irrevocable and almost +irretrievable ruin in the other. The pause was indeed death-like; +there was the hallowed uncertainty of a future existence, but there +was the moral certainty that no living future would fall to the lot of +any of the twenty-three men upon whose ears the cry had fallen of +surrender. The position was hopeless. With the Boers behind them, with +the Boers flanking them, with the Boers in front of them, with three +hundred of the enemy within a circumference of seventy yards, what +more could an honourable man and a gallant officer do than accept the +responsibility of his situation and save the lives of his men by +complying unconditionally with the demand of the enemy? Thus did +Colonel Hore surrender. It was impossible to withdraw to the town. +Such a movement would have meant retirement over seven hundred yards +of open, level ground without a particle of cover and with a force of +three hundred of the enemy immediately in the rear; moreover the +situation imperatively demanded this action in consequence of events +over which he had no control. It was, perhaps, a moment as pathetic +and great as any in his career. The surrender was effected at 5.25 +a.m., and was not without incident, for with the garrison holding up +their hands, their arms laid down, with five Boers within a few yards +of the Colonel with their rifles at his breast, there was one man who +went to his death. "I'll see you damned, you God forgotten----" said +Trooper Maltuschek, and he went to his Maker the next moment. The news +of such a catastrophe did not tend to relieve the gravity of the +situation. With the Boers in the fort and in occupation of the stadt, +it was necessary so to arrange our operations that any junction +between the stadt and the fort would be impossible; at the same time +we were compelled to prevent those Boers who were in the stadt from +cutting their way through to the main body of the enemy. The situation +was indeed complex, and throughout the remainder of the day the +skirmishing in the stadt and the repulse of the feints of the enemy's +main body, delivered in different directions against the outposts, +were altogether apart from the siege, which we were conducting within +our own investment. From the town very heavy rifle fire was directed +upon the fort, which the Boers in that quarter returned with spirit +and determination. But the position in the stadt had become acute, +since, behind our outposts and our inner chain of forts, which are +situated upon its exterior border, were a rollicking, roving band of +four hundred Boers, who, for the time being, were indulging in pillage +and destruction wherever it was possible. + +[Illustration: The British South Africa Police Fort, Colonel Hore's +Headquarters. + +_The Bomb-proof shelter in the foreground was the Colonel's refuge +during the enemy's shell fire._] + +Gradually, however, the situation changed. The rifle fire from the +town had forced the Boers back from the limits of the stadt adjacent +to the fort, enabling Inspector Murray and a troop of the Cape Police +and Lieutenant Feltham with his troop of C Squadron to fight their way +to this same border, affording to the town a definite and established +barrier against any possible communication between the enemy in the +fort and the Boers in the stadt. Skirmishing thenceforward progressed +over the entire area of the stadt. Major Godley, with Captain Marsh +and Captain Fitzclarence, and B and D Squadrons, effectively supported +by the Baralongs, chevied and rounded up the Boers from point to +point, until, shortly after noon, they took up a strong position in a +mule kraal and upon the facings of some neighbouring kopjes. To +dislodge these men was the work to which Major Godley now directed his +attention, and, manoeuvring carefully and with discretion, he +surrounded the position upon three sides and emplaced a seven-pounder +under Lieutenant Daniel, of the British South Africa Police, within +two hundred yards of the kopje. The enemy were now compelled to fight +or to surrender, and, refusing the request to surrender, they fought +pluckily, and with such stubbornness that they kept Major Godley's men +some time at bay. But, gradually drawing his circle closer, he poured +in a few terrific volleys and charged the position at the point of the +bayonet. There was a rapid volley from the Boers, but it was of no +avail, and, as the glistening steel was poised for a moment over the +walls of the kraal, a flutter of white from the interior betokened +that at least this body of the enemy had surrendered. Major Godley +then proceeded to shell the kopjes, but the Boers at this point were +not proposing to increase by their numbers those of the twenty-five +who had laid down their arms in the mule kraal. They scattered and +broke into the stadt, fighting from hut to hut, from rock to rock, +from snug hollows to the broken points of the many rugged mounds which +characterise the configuration of the stadt. These skirmishes +continued, and Major Godley contrived to drive the scattered Boers in +the direction of Captain Lord Charles Bentinck, who, so conducting his +operations, managed to hem the enemy in between the fire of Major +Godley and that of his own men. It would have been impossible for the +Boers to escape; but dusk was falling, our men were weak and hungry, +and we already had a number of prisoners, and, after a sharp rally +between the three squadrons, Major Godley instructed Captain Lord +Charles Bentinck to withdraw C Squadron and assist in driving out the +enemy. + +These, then, were the events which were occurring in the stadt, and, +if Major Godley had been successful in circumventing the Boer plan and +checking any very definite occupation of the stadt, the outposts had +also successfully repulsed the indifferent and weak-hearted attempts +which General Synman had made to assist his colleague. There had been +a definite plan of attack, and, although a portion of it was +successful, its main features had failed because their execution had +been left to a man who, faint-hearted and cowardly, was altogether +unworthy of the command with which he had been entrusted. Upon General +Synman must fall the responsibility of Commandant Eloff's capture, +inasmuch as he failed to support his share of the operations. The Boer +movement upon the town was carried out with remarkable precision and +extraordinary dash, but, despite their splendid gallantry and +enterprise in penetrating so far within our lines, the fatality which +would seem to attend their attacks upon Mafeking rendered their +present efforts again unprofitable, causing their assault to recoil +upon their own heads. It had been the intention of the Boers to make +the fort the key of a position from which they were proposing to shell +the town with the guns which would have been brought up by the main +body. But General Snyman did not fulfil his obligations to Commandant +Eloff, and, as a consequence, when the siege of the fort had been +effected the little which they could accomplish had been concluded, +and they found themselves compelled to defend their newly-won position +from the galling fire and spirited attacks of the townsmen. Their +position, only seven hundred yards from the town, would have proved +untenable much earlier in the day, had not the Boers secured the +officers and staff of the regimental headquarters as their prisoners. +We should have shelled them and in all probability caused tremendous +carnage; as it was, however, killed and wounded upon either side were +not numerous, although there is some ground to believe that the Boers +were successful in carrying off a large proportion of their wounded. +Upon the following morning, when the returns for the previous day were +made up, it was found that 110 had been taken prisoners, ten had been +killed, and nineteen had been wounded. Our own casualties were four +killed and seven wounded, while there were five natives who had +received slight wounds. These are the figures, correct, so far as we +can ascertain, of this very remarkable day--a day which is almost +without parallel in the history of war, inasmuch as the garrison, who +in themselves had sustained a seven months' siege, were yet able once +more to turn the tables upon their enemy, who, although penetrating +into the heart of the invested town, failed to carry the position. + +During the morning of the fight, after accompanying Lieutenant +Montcrieff to Major Hepworth's house, where he was engaged in +installing a section of the Town Guard, I thought that I would attach +myself to Colonel Hore, since his headquarters appeared to be a +central position in the engagement. It was only a short ride--a few +hundred yards. The bullets whistled over from the stadt, and I +scampered rapidly across in order to gain what I thought was +protection from this fire. The light was not clear, and the smoke was +still drifting across the line of vision. Men were standing about the +regimental headquarters, some were scurrying, many were sitting upon +the stoep facing the town. It did not seem to me possible that these +could be Boers; but, as I galloped on, my horse was struck, and, +swerving violently, I found myself pulled up short by a peremptory +demand to surrender. They were Boers, or rather they were the enemy, +for there were Germans, Italians, and Frenchmen, and a few +Republicans. + +They ordered me to hold my hands up, they ordered me to give up my +revolver and to get off my horse; they asked me a dozen questions at +the same time, speaking in Dutch, French, and English. As I sat upon +my horse we conducted quite an animated conversation, but the bullets +were coming from our men in town rather rapidly, and it seemed to +strike the Boers that they had best take cover, advice which I pressed +home upon them with much irony. In the meantime I had not dismounted, +nor had I given up my revolver, nor were my arms thrust upwards in the +air. "Will you hold your damned hands up?" said one, playfully +thrusting a rifle into my ribs. "With pleasure, under the +circumstances," I replied with alacrity. "Will you hand over that +revolver?" said another. "What, and hold my hands up at the same +time?" asked I, quibbling to gain a little time in which to think. +"Get off your horse," said another, when, as they unstrapped my belt, +I rolled to the ground. It was only then that I knew my horse had been +shot in the shoulder, and as they dragged me to the shelter of the +building, I asked them to shoot him. They refused. "Your men will do +that soon enough," said they, and it seemed to me that this was the +unkindest cut of all. The poor animal stood there looking at me. When +I saw him again his throat had been cut, and there were seven bullet +wounds in his body. + +The fort had surrendered. Colonel Hore, Captain H. C. Singleton, +Veterinary-Lieutenant Dunlop-Smith, with fifteen non-commissioned +officers and men of the Protectorate Regiment, Captain Williams and +three men of the British South Africa Police, and five native servants +were prisoners in the hands of the enemy. Around them were numbers of +the enemy talking rapidly in French, German, Italian, and Dutch, while +there were also many who spoke English. They were all well armed, +carrying some 250 rounds of ammunition with eight days' rations in +their haversacks. Some were eating breakfast, many were drinking from +bottles which they had looted from the regimental mess; occasionally +the group around us was swelled by the numbers of those who, hitherto +engaged in looting the quarters of the officers, were now mostly +anxious to preserve their skins from the fire from the town and to +enjoy an inspection of their plunder. In the short time which the +enemy had been in possession of the fort many of them had ransacked +the premises, breaking open boxes, cutting open bags, and generally +appropriating all the effects which they found. It seemed to me at +this moment that the men engaged in this work were Boers, as distinct +from the foreign element in their force, and I thought that I caught a +current of conversation which was passing in French between two of our +captors, and which denounced the unnecessary and almost wanton +destruction which was in progress. + +From the remarks which were passing round us it seemed that the +majority were discussing the precise treatment which should be dealt +out to the prisoners. At this moment Trooper Hayes, deserter, +swaggered towards the circle; he sported Colonel Hore's sword, and a +gold chain and watch dangled from his belt. Hearing the subject of the +conversation, he at once suggested that we should either be made to +stand upon the verandah, a mark to the fire of our own men, or be +given the opportunity of taking up arms and joining in the defence of +the fort. "You cannot do that, I'm a war correspondent," said I in +English to a Boer who was speaking fluent English to a friend. "You be +damned!" said he, pleasantly enough, "we'll put you upon the roof." +But at that moment Commandant Eloff approached and ordered our removal +to a building in the centre of the fort, which hitherto had been used +as the storeroom for the regimental mess. Into this they crowded us, +together with three others who, visiting the fort in ignorance of the +turn of affairs, had likewise been taken prisoners. We were thus +thirty-two, and were confined for the day in a space which was not +only short and narrow, but ill-ventilated, dirty, littered with +rubbish, and already smelling horribly. Firing from town had now begun +in earnest, and the bullets whistled and cracked and spat all round +the fort. They struck upon the stones and spattered the roof with +splinters of rock and lead, while we could detect from these signs how +ably directed and how fierce was the rifle fire which was delivered +from the town. When they had safely secured us in the storehouse the +space in front of the building was at once occupied by some +sixty-seven men, who crouched up against the walls of the house or lay +within the lee of the exterior wall of the fort. From time to time +these men moved to points whence the fire was hottest, seeming to take +their share of the work in pleasing earnestness and with much +keenness. Occasionally those who were without and around the door +handed in fragments of dried meat and broken biscuits, but the +quantity was not great, and there were many of us who had nothing to +eat all day, while few Boers or prisoners had anything to drink. Early +in the morning bullets from the town had perforated the water tanks, +and as a consequence there was no water to drink, nor was there +anything with which to alleviate the sufferings of the wounded. As the +day wore on many casualties occurred among the Boers in the fort, and +the absence of efficient medical aid among his men prompted Commandant +Eloff to appeal to us for assistance, whereupon Veterinary-Lieutenant +Dunlop-Smith, Farrier-Corporal Nichols and Forbes, the regimental +canteen-keeper, offered and rendered valuable services to the wounded +Boers, running the gauntlet of our own fire in the cause of a common +humanity. Early in the fight the Boers took over the Children's +Hospital, which was located some two hundred yards away from the fort, +and in which those devoted nurses, Mrs. Buchan and her sister, Miss +Crawfurd, remained the entire day, attending indiscriminately to the +sick children, to the wounded Boers who were brought there, and +bringing upon two occasions tea to the prisoners. During the progress +of the fight we constantly caught glimpses of the Red Cross flag +escorting one or other of these gallant ladies to points where wounded +Boers were lying. Throughout the fight the Boers respected the +conventions, repeatedly expressing their appreciation and their +gratitude for the services of these ladies. For this courtesy +Commandant Eloff was largely responsible, and indeed if there was any +abuse of the Red Cross flag the blame of such disrespect cannot be +charged against the enemy, since our side, I understand, issued orders +that the men of the firing line were not to take notice of any white +flags which the Boers displayed. The enemy respected its conventions, +treated the prisoners humanely, and behaved throughout a situation +almost maddening from the strain which it must have imposed upon them +with conspicuous gallantry, coolness, and consideration. + +In our prison the situation was more than uncomfortable, and when +towards evening they locked the door the atmosphere became fetid, and +was seriously aggravated by the condition of a man who was suffering +acutely from the agonies of dysentery. In a recess, piled up, were +the stores of the regimental mess, comprising principally cases of +liquors--whisky, Beaunne, pommade, and lime-juice. In a big open crate +were tinned provisions of an indefinite character--fruits, peas, and +parsnips, and other canned luxuries. These were at once looted by the +troopers, who in this respect and the indifferent manner in which they +received the orders of their officers, did not set a particularly +praiseworthy example. Within the storehouse, however, the prisoners +mingled irrespective of rank, and mutually sympathetic in the face of +common misfortune. At first every man seemed to be smoking, but +gradually the atmosphere became so bad that it was absolutely +necessary to desist, and all pipes, cigars, and cigarettes were +ordered to be put out. Commandant Eloff returned constantly to the +prisoners, chatting brightly with them and sympathising upon the +fortunes of war. He sat within the door upon a case of Burgundy, his +legs dangling, his accoutrements jingling, and the rowels of his spurs +echoing the tick-tacking of the Mauser rifles. Herein and within our +presence the drama of the situation was slowly passing; orderlies came +and went, but the Commandant, still tapping with his spurs, continued +to issue his instructions and his orders. He seemed to possess the +complete mastery of the situation; his buoyant face was impressed with +the confidence of youth, reflecting the happiness he felt in so much +that his ambition seemed to be about to be realised. But as the +situation became more critical, beneath the brightness of his manner +he seemed to be feeling the gravity of his position. At times he lost +control of himself and complained querulously in Dutch about the +non-appearance of his reinforcements; at other moments he regaled the +prisoners with scraps of information relating to the situation, and by +this means we learnt that Limestone Fort had fallen, and that the +trench beneath the railway bridge had surrendered. This news was, of +course, not particularly pleasing, and it somewhat added to our +dejection when we learnt that, when night arrived, we were to be +marched to the south-western laager and thence to be conveyed to +Pretoria. I never wished less to see a place than I did the Transvaal +capital at this moment. Since Commandant Eloff made himself so +agreeable I was moved to chat with him. We discussed the situation in +China and the feeling which America was showing for the Boers. To this +latter he did not attach much importance, shrugging his shoulders as +he said, "Americans and the English----" The pause was eloquent, and I +changed the conversation, requesting his courteous permission, should +the fortunes of the day go with him, to communicate with the _Times_. +He expressed surprise at my being a correspondent, and said that he +thought the correspondents had more sense than to get themselves +captured. Then he laughed and asked my name. I told him, upon which he +replied, "I have heard of you, but I have not read any of your stuff; +you have been writing unpleasant things about the Boers." I retired +crestfallen to the darkest corner I could find and reflected upon the +character of the punishment which General Snyman would mete out to a +man who had been so iniquitous as to write "unpleasantly about the +Boers." Night was coming on rapidly now, and we were rather glad, +since it removed from us the horror of being with the enemy and +watching while they fired upon our own men. It seems to me that the +strain which emanates from such a sight is more awful than anything +in the world. + +As dusk settled down we prisoners, crowding in a small room, could +hear echoes of desperate fighting outside. Bullets penetrated the +wall, perforated the roofing, crashed through the windows, splintered +the door. Ever and anon the fire would die away, breaking out again +spasmodically within a few minutes. Through the grating of the windows +we could see the enemy keeping an alert look-out; we could see them +scurrying and scrambling to defend the points against which the firing +was heaviest; we saw the limping figures of the wounded; we heard +voices cursing us, threatening the prisoners, and urging Commandant +Eloff to handcuff and march us out across the line of fire while the +Boers used us as a screen to escape; while upon one occasion the door +opened suddenly and three wounded Boers precipitated themselves +violently into the room. The inside of the building was pitch dark by +now, and lighted only by the fitful flashing of the rifles, which made +almost a glow within. Straining eagerly at the windows, we caught +glimpses of a number of Boers scrambling over the exterior walls of +the fort, in order, we afterwards learnt, to make good their retreat. +This movement to the rear surprised us and was followed by a terrible +outburst of firing, caused by the order of Commandant Eloff to shoot +down the fugitives. Then time dragged heavily, and we were hungry and +tired and faint when there seemed signs of a rally among the Boers. +After an interval of extraordinarily heavy firing, in which the noise +from the snap of bullets and the reports of the rifles were deafening, +there was a sudden silence. Commandant Eloff rushed to the door, and, +summoning Colonel Hore, stated that if he could induce the town to +cease fire the Boers would surrender. It was an altogether unexpected +_denouement_, and in that moment there was not one amongst us who did +not think that each in his turn was about to be summoned to an instant +execution. We feared a ruse, and whispered to Colonel Hore, as he +advanced to meet the commandant, to be careful. Our momentary +hesitation caused Commandant Eloff to surrender himself as a hostage +until the cessation of fire could be arranged. The Boers, like +ourselves, were unable to grasp the situation, and seeing their +commandant in our midst, made an attempt to rescue him, which only +helped to increase the confusion of the moment. Commandant Eloff +called out, "Surrender, surrender," and endeavoured strenuously to +pacify his men. We, upon our part, shouted to the town to cease fire; +this was at once done, whereupon sixty-seven Boers laid down their +arms, handing them to the prisoners, who piled them up within the +storehouse. Those of us who were not engaged in this work seized +rifles and bandoliers from the heap and manned the defences of the +fort until the prisoners could be delivered into proper custody. The +Boers were then marched off and were found accommodation in the +Masonic Hall and in the gaol. As I retraced my steps to the town and +was passing the stables of the British South Africa Police Fort, the +groaning of a wounded man caught my ear. I ran to him to find that +lying within the shelter of the stables, with a wound through his +thigh, was the man to whom I had surrendered myself in the morning. We +smiled as he handed over to me his rifle and bandolier. My revolver he +had lost, but lying beside him, stiff and dead, with a bullet wound +through his forehead, was, by one of those extraordinary coincidences +which do happen, the man who had shot my horse. And thus this day of +melodrama passed; dramatic in its beginning, dramatic in its +conclusion, with enough bloodshed, firing, and animation to satisfy +the cravings of the most dispassionate seeker after excitement. +Commandant Eloff, Captain von Wiessmann, Captain Bremont, dined at +Headquarters. The town came to greet the prisoners, drink was +unearthed, and everybody seemed to be congratulating somebody upon +their mutual good fortune. We who had been prisoners and were now free +rejoiced in the liberty which was restored to us, yet it was difficult +to restrain oneself from feeling compassionately upon the great +misfortunes which had attended the extraordinary dash and gallantry of +the men who were now our prisoners. They had done their best. They +proved to us that they were indeed capable and that we should have +kept a sharper look-out, while it was indeed deplorable to think that +it was the treachery of their own general, in abandoning them to their +fate, that had been mainly instrumental in procuring them their +present predicament. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI + +RELIEVED AT LAST + + + WEDNESDAY NIGHT, 7.30 P.M. + MAFEKING, _May 16th, 1900_. + +The relief of Mafeking is now an accomplished fact, and the first +Imperial troops to enter our lines were eight of the Imperial Light +Horse, under the command of Major Karri Davis. They had ridden in +advance of the main body in an effort to pierce our lines while +General Mahon, who had already formed a junction with Colonel Plumer, +was engaging the main body of the enemy along the watershed of the +Molopo, some seven miles north-west of the town. + +We had known since Sunday that an Imperial force was approaching +Mafeking from the south, and during Monday immense activity was +displayed in the Boer laagers, while towards the south-west a thick +fringe of dust was drifting slowly under the commotion of a column of +Boers who were retiring rapidly before the approach of the Southern +force. During Tuesday we thought we heard the distant booming of the +guns, and we could see the Boers preparing to take up positions along +the north-western ridges of the Molopo River. At an early hour on +Tuesday morning news reached us that the respective commands of +General Mahon and Colonel Plumer had joined at Saane's Town, a few +miles up the valley of the river. From the moment that the town +received this news the memory of the past seven months was dissipated +in the first flash of the glad tidings. Speculation was rife as to the +precise hour of the arrival of the relief, but the day passed without +much prospect of the siege being raised before nightfall. However, +this morning the most positive information had arrived during the +night, and it seemed that within the next forty-eight hours the +combined forces would be here. The morning passed uneventfully. No one +seemed quite to know how to spend the few remaining hours which were +all that remained of the siege. About noon it became known in town +that the forces would not enter Mafeking without having a smart brush +with the enemy. We had observed small, detached forces of Boers making +from north and south of the town for the ridges about the western +areas of the Molopo. Artillery accompanied these men, whose numbers +had been drawn from the various Boer positions around Mafeking. A +large contingent had moved from the eastern laager and similar bodies +had been called out from the south-western and northern camps. It was +an anxious time for us in Mafeking, and, although there was no doubt +about the final result, we still felt that the fate of the relief +column hung in the balance. About half-past two General Mahon's guns +opened upon the enemy, the smoke of the bursting shells being plainly +discernible away towards the north-west. There was a constant booming +of artillery, and the smoke of heavy rifle fire just above the +horizon. As the news swept through the town there were many who +gathered upon coigns of vantage to witness the action. It was +impossible to see details, and indeed it was about half-past four +before we even caught sight of the moving masses of men. It seemed +then that the Boers were falling back; the artillery had ceased to +play, and we were under the impression that they were engaged in +taking up fresh positions. About five o'clock a large force of Boers +was noticed moving rapidly along the ridge to the east, while a +smaller body of three hundred men, detaching themselves from the main +column, were riding rapidly towards the west. + +In the meantime Colonel Baden-Powell, Colonel Hore, Colonel Walford, +of the British South Africa Police, and Captain Wilson, A.D.C. to the +Colonel commanding, had taken up their position upon the roof of the +railway sheds, where during the last few days a special outlook had +been prepared. The scene in the railway yards was animated and +dramatic, and in order to be close at hand I secured permission to sit +upon the ladder which led to the outlook. In the town people were +taking events quite calmly. The final in the siege billiard tournament +was taking place at the club, and in many other respects it seemed +difficult to realise that our deliverance was at hand. Between the +railway yards and the outposts there were men shooting small birds, +while in the yards around us natives were engaged in skinning and +cutting the carcase of a horse which, shot overnight, had been handed +over to the soup-kitchens. For perhaps an hour everything was calm and +peaceful, but ever and anon the bubble of voices reached me from the +roof as orders were transmitted over the telephone to Headquarters. +Of a sudden Captain Wilson scrambled down the ladder, calling an +order to Lieutenant Feltham to saddle up the horses and mount. While +this work was in progress orders were issued to Captain Cowan, of the +Bechuanaland Rifles, to march his men at once to the barracks of the +Protectorate Regiment, while in a cloud of dust and with a cheering +rattle Major Panzera galloped by with the guns. "I think we can catch +them," said Colonel Baden-Powell, and a minute afterwards he had +mounted his horse and was off. I found that he was referring to the +detached party of three hundred Boers who were making their way from +the scene of the fight in a south-westerly direction. I mounted and +followed, and the small force which had thus been rapidly collected +moved quickly towards our extreme position in the north-west of the +town. It was just possible that we should catch them between the fire +of General Mahon's guns and our own, and there was every necessity for +speed. In a short time we were out at the "Standard and Diggers' News +Fort," where, while our horses were given a short rest, the guns were +unlimbered. That particular body of Boers who had been our objective +seemed to be unconscious of the movement which had taken place in our +own lines. As they emerged from the valley we opened fire and turned +their head. For a moment they did not seem to realise their situation, +when they rapidly wheeled about and put themselves out of range by a +hurried retreat towards the main body. Dusk was now falling, and it +was impossible to see any longer, and as a consequence the guns were +ordered to retire to town and the men to return. It was half-past six +when we reached town, and General Mahon's artillery had not been heard +to fire for quite an hour. We went to dine, cheered by the comforting +and consoling thought that by noonday upon the morrow the siege would +be raised. However, about seven o'clock, in the bright moonlight, and +totally unexpected, eight mounted men suddenly appeared in the Market +Square. In a short space of time the news flashed round the town, and +a concourse of people gathered to cheer vociferously about the +precincts of the Headquarters Office. As round after round of cheers +broke out it became known that these mysterious horsemen had galloped +in under Major Karri Davis with a despatch from General Mahon. In a +trice they were surrounded, besieged with questions, clapped upon the +back, shaken by the hand, and generally welcomed. These plucky +troopers seemed as surprised as ourselves and as glad. Major Karri +Davis called for cheers for the garrison, while the crowd took up with +tremendous fervour the National Anthem and "Rule Britannia." It was an +exciting moment and a picturesque scene, bathed in the soft moonlight +and irradiated by the glow of countless stars; but the men were +hungry, and Major Lord Edward Cecil, the chief staff officer, busied +himself in making arrangements for the care of these eight Imperial +Light Horse, who, not content with relieving Ladysmith, had insisted +upon being accorded the privilege of making the first entry into +Mafeking. + +That night the town retired early, but about two in the morning a +subdued roar came from the direction of the north-western outposts, +and in a very little time word was passed round that the troops were +making their entrance into Mafeking. Just as the relief column had +proceeded from Vryburg without any flourish of trumpets, so was their +entry into Mafeking unexpected and unostentatious. But the town had +aroused itself and was soon flocking across the veldt to the ground +where the combined columns had already begun to form their camp. It +was not a large force; its full muster was below two thousand men; but +amid the soft and eerie shadows of the starry, moonlit night there +seemed no end to the lines of horses, mules, and bullocks, to the camp +fires, to the groups of men, to the number and variety of the waggons. +In a corner, as it were, were the guns, a composite battery of the +Royal Horse Artillery, eight pieces of the Canadian Artillery, and a +number of Maxims. It was these which we had heard booming to us the +first distant echoes of relief, and we were of course proud of them. +Then and there we examined them, felt them over, pondered upon them, +and then and there we thanked our God that we had in our own hands at +last some really serviceable artillery. But there were other sights to +be seen, early as was the hour, tired as were the troopers. There were +the men of the Kimberley Light Horse and their comrades of the +Imperial Light Horse to be inspected, to be patted upon the back, to +be admired, and to be congratulated. There was scarcely any one who +could not claim a friend among the mere handful of men who had marched +from Vryburg to our relief, but if by chance there were such a one he +quickly placed himself _en amitie_ with the first group of troopers +with whom he came in contact. Alas! such was our plight that we could +not give them anything to drink, but we most willingly had prepared +cauldrons of steaming soup and boiling coffee. A cup of coffee is not +much to offer, but the goodwill was taken with the spirit, and there +was no one who did not seem glad to receive even so small a thing. It +was not possible to stay long in the camp. The men were weary, and, +moreover, there was much to be done before, with their martial cloaks +around them, they were able to snatch a few hours' repose; and so the +town returned to its bed, drunk with enthusiasm, in an abortive effort +to calm its excited brain with sleep. But, good heavens! was such a +thing possible? It was now four, and although it was somewhat early, +in the morning we began to call upon one another, passing the hours +between dawn and sunrise in hilarious uproar. About seven the camp was +all a-bustle. There were rumours that the men were to move out and +attack the Boers, who were still in position upon the east side of the +town. Presently, as we moved about the streets down by the western +outposts, clouds of dust were tossing themselves in the air. The guns +were coming--our guns, if you please--and thereupon a pandemonium was +raised. Every one seemed to be screaming, and as the Royal Horse swept +through town we streamed after them, feebly endeavouring to keep pace +with them, so as to be able to witness the effects of their power. The +Market Square at this time presented a picture of military life which +has never been equalled by any of the scenes that have been enacted +there in its earlier days. Men in uniform were hurrying from point to +point, troops from the various squadrons were coming in, +squadron-leaders, majors and colonels were falling over one another. +These were the beginnings of the fight, and much as the relief had +fought its way into Mafeking so were they now going to secure definite +freedom for the townspeople by driving out the Boers. As the guns came +into the Square willing hands tore down and pushed aside the line of +carts and fencing of corrugated iron which for these seven months had +served duty as a traverse. Then the guns of the Horse Artillery swept +on, taking up positions upon the veldt in front of the town, in +readiness to begin the bombardment of the Boer position, while, in +simultaneous co-operation with this movement, the Canadian Artillery +were sent out with orders to shell Game Tree. However, the fight did +not last long. In a very short time the Game Tree fort was deserted, +the Boers from there hurriedly joining their main body. But the +presence of the guns had terrorised the Boers, and they fled +precipitately, leaving their camp, their guns, their stores behind +them. We shelled for an hour with the composite battery of the Royal +Horse, comprising four 12-1/2-pounders and two pom-poms. Then we +advanced in skirmishing order, extending our line rapidly until we had +outflanked their position. Then we charged, and the day was ours. The +enemy had vanished, and we were in possession of their camp, while so +undignified had their retreat been that they did not even wait to +remove their hospital. Upon General Snyman's house there was still +floating the Republican flag, while the Red Cross hung drowsily in the +air above the hospital. There were thirty wounded in the hospital, and +these, for the time being, were placed under a guard, but otherwise +left undisturbed; in this manner did the siege come to an abrupt +conclusion. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII + +THE END + + + MAFEKING, _May 26th, 1900_. + +The imprimatur has now been given to the siege, and that chapter of +the war which bears reference to the investment of Mafeking must now +be considered as closed. The end of the drama is with us; the curtain +has dropped, and the people of the play are scattering--some are dead, +some have been wounded, lying nigh to death in the Victoria Hospital, +some have passed through this seven months' ordeal suffering neither +monetary loss nor physical hurt, but bearing with them, in their +minds, the almost indelible impress of an interesting but terrible +experience. And so the play is ended, and the great historical drama +in which we have enacted our part is soon to present fresh scenes, and +with the transformation, let us hope some stirring incident and a +picturesque scenario. To the end, of course, there is the story, but +it is simple of fact, it is plain of feature, it deals only with what +one may consider as the final obsequies of the siege, and in a brief +space we will consider them. + +The siege is now officially returned as having been raised by General +Mahon's force at half-past ten upon the morning of May 17th. It has +been quiet since then. The garrison has mainly rested, taking itself +idly and participating in the few last deft touches with which Colonel +Baden-Powell has adorned the siege. These issues to the relief have +been sad, have been pleasing, but mournful or gay they have served +their purpose, fitting in most accurately with the long chain of +circumstances which has enclosed the siege. There was the time when +the garrison attended just beyond the precincts of the cemetery, where +the rank and file of the forces which have been beleaguered, stood to +attention as they paid their last honour to the dead, to all of those +who died so nobly, to those who had been the victims of disease, and +who, one and all, had paid the penalty of our success. It was a +mournful retrospect which was thus forced upon our notice as the names +of our dead were passed slowly in review; but as the mournful cadences +dropped from the lips of the preacher we braced ourselves to think +that such an end, as we had gathered to conclude, was but the +inevitable. As the Colonel stood before us--the man who reaped the +glory of the siege--we wondered whether beneath the calmness of his +demeanour there lurked any feeling of regret, any half-cherished +desire to express aloud to those who stood around him the potency of +his sorrows. To him it was but the simple ceremony, and one, moreover, +to be got through quickly, and indeed there was but little in the +service. Occasionally the breeze, which sighed so tremulously through +the hedge of trees that fringe the graveyard, wafted to us snatches of +prayer. And that was all, so far as we were concerned--the mere +fragments of a passing communion, ending as abruptly as it began, +seeming all to concentrate in that one moment when at command three +rounds of blank cartridge were fired across the graves. That was the +full weight of our honours to the dead, since afterwards--for it does +not do to dwell too much upon these things--the Colonel commanding +reviewed the remnants of his force, unbending insomuch that he +addressed to each unit, a few words of appreciation and of thanks. And +then where we had assembled, there did the Town Guard and other corps +of the garrison receive their dismissal, since now that the siege was +raised they might return to their businesses, to their homes, and to +their families to spend a cheering hour or two in an endeavour to +compute some estimate of the ruin which has fallen upon their +fortunes. + +Now that the siege is over, it is not without interest to know to what +extent the garrison has suffered. We have had 1,498 shells from the +100-pounder Creusot, but in addition to this the enemy has fired into +Mafeking some 21,000 odd shells of a smaller character. These have +ranged from the 14-1/2-pounder high-velocity, armour-piercing, +delay-action shell, down to the high-velocity one-pound Maxim, +embracing in the series a variety of nine-pound shells--common, +segment, shrapnel, and incendiary--several hundred seven-pound shells, +and a multitude of five-pounders. This has been the weight of the +enemy's artillery fire which has played upon the town since October +12th, and which has supported commandos of Boers which were reckoned +as 8,000 men in October, and whose numbers are believed never to have +fallen below 3,000 rifles. Throughout the siege there have been some +eight guns around us, including the big Creusot piece, but at times +there have been eleven, and at rare intervals our spies reported that +the strength of the enemy's artillery was fourteen guns. And we have +stood this with a certain cheerfulness and with a pretty spirit of +determination: moreover, we have returned their fire, claiming to have +disabled three guns and killing and wounding several hundred men. Our +own casualties from shot and shell and sickness until the end of April +were 476. In October there were 77; November, 49; December, 101; in +January, 47; February, 68; March, 67; and April, 67. The admissions +into the base hospital during this period were 685, while 496 were +discharged. Among those who were admitted to the hospital there were +106 deaths. During a similar period and through identical causes, 180 +natives were admitted to this hospital, 115 were discharged, 56 died, +but irrespective of these figures 398 deaths were registered from +amongst the natives. That their mortality was great, the monthly +returns from the native population will show. In October 12 natives +died; in November, 13; December, 46; January, 64; February, 44; March, +84; April, 135. These figures relate to those patients only who were +passed through the base hospital, but the monthly returns bear upon +the available strength of the garrison, and are in themselves an index +to the conditions of the siege. The town itself has suffered to a +great extent, although the amount of damage which the enemy's shell +fire has created is insignificant when compared to what would have +been the result had the main elements in its construction been bricks +and mortar. The tin shanties and the mud walls have given to Mafeking +a remarkable salvation, making it possible for the little town to +compare, when the weight of metal brought against it is considered, +even favourably with Ladysmith. Among the men forming the relief +column there are many who were with Sir George White, and from these +one gathers that the damage which Mafeking has sustained is infinitely +greater than the injuries which Ladysmith can show. + +[Illustration: The Author's Dog "Mafeking," Wounded three Times +during the Siege.] + +And so the siege is ended; but if this were taken in its more literal +sense it would imply that there has been an immediate change for the +better in our condition. But such is not the case. We have been +relieved of the presence of the Boers, a matter which did not greatly +trouble us, but there has been no alteration in our scale of diet--a +matter which does greatly trouble us; we are still issued four ounces +of rusty bread and a pound of scraggy meat, and there is still an +absence of table delicacies. We have no sugar, we have no milk, we +have neither eggs nor fowls. In point of fact we have nothing, and +indeed there has been no change. Yet we understood that Field-Marshal +Lord Roberts in his kindly and generous way had sent us a mob of prime +bullocks, and a convoy of something other than hospital luxuries. This +is told to us upon the authority of Major Weil, who controls the +commissariat, and if it be true, it is still most certainly the case +that the commissariat officer who has controlled the food supplies of +the garrison during the siege is still, relatively speaking, doling +out his sugar by the thimbleful, and ladling his flour with a spoon. +However, there is to come a time some day when Captain Ryan will be +far away, and the hours of meal times will be graced with such +luxuries as we have not seen for seven months. It is only recently +that the issue of horse meat was stopped, but there is a very general +belief that if the horses are not being slaughtered for human +consumption, their carcases still play an important part in the soup +with which the garrison is served. Of course, the days of starch +puddings and other table delicacies which were manufactured from +toilet necessaries are over, while we believe that an effort is to be +made to improve, but not increase, the bread allowance and to put +fresh meat on the public sales. But these are the boons of the future; +since we are relieved that is held to be sufficient for the present. +However, our thoughts do not dwell much upon our food, we rejoice so +much over our liberty that we can spare but little time for grumbling, +and indeed feel but little inclination. The town is bright again, and +people throng the streets as though a load had been lifted from off +the backs of every one. The shops are open, the post office has +resumed its work, and now once more accepts telegrams and letters. +During the siege there has been but little opportunity to send to the +outer world any message of a private character that contained more +than a few words. Letters were almost out of the question, and were +expensive luxuries even to war correspondents, who were compelled to +employ special runners at high prices to carry their despatches to the +nearest office. Lately, and when the investment of the enemy was not +so close, the intelligence department did manage to pass through the +lines small parcels of mail matter. The occasions have been +infrequent, and there were so many people who were anxious to write +that it became necessary to restrict the general public to a certain +limit of space. It does not seem that many letters got through, since +now that we have had time to overhaul the laagers of the enemy we have +found much correspondence in their waggons. We have also found a +number of telegrams, and these provide interesting reading and bear +importantly upon the situation. Moreover, it would seem that our +estimate of the Boer forces in the field is much exaggerated, for +President Kruger complains bitterly to Commandant-General Botha of the +paucity of numbers at the command of the State President. The +Commandant-General had but fifteen hundred men with him in Natal, +while General Snyman mentions the numbers of the various commandos +which he has summoned to his assistance, and by which he hopes to +secure an additional eight hundred men. But from the telegrams it +would seem that, for the most part, the Boers are timorous and tired +of fighting. The Field Cornet of Christiana asks what he is to do with +twenty men, and states that the Johannesburg Police are bolting. +"What, then, am I to do with my men?" At this moment the British +troops were within one hour's ride of Christiana. General Snyman has +many interesting comments upon the situation on the Molopo, and if +President Kruger believed one half of the intelligence that General +Snyman telegraphed to him, his knowledge of the situation must have +been obscure. From the despatches which passed between this worthy +General and the State President, mention is made quite frequently of +the desperate assaults upon our lines which General Snyman organised +and in some cases personally carried out, and which upon many +occasions resulted in the capture of one of our outlying positions. If +this be true such positions as were captured must indeed have been +outlying, in fact so far beyond the perimeter of our defences as to +altogether have escaped the notice of the garrison. But it does not +seem that President Kruger believed everything that General Snyman +communicated to him. In one message Oom Paul requests immediate +information upon the whereabouts of Colonel Plumer. There is a certain +pathos in the question of the aged President asking General Snyman, +"Where is Plumer? You must know," and one gathers that the old man saw +somewhat further into the future than the majority of his councillors, +since he gives it as his opinion that Mafeking will be relieved. But +prophets have never been respected in their own country. General +Snyman does not seem to have found favour in Pretoria; perhaps the +character of the man was too well known, since the State Secretary, +Mr. Reitz, is ordered by the State President to inquire as to whether +the failure of General Snyman's reinforcements to support Commandant +Eloff in his attack upon the town on May 12th was due to drunkenness +or to cowardice. "If it be drunkenness, let us say so," advises Mr. +Reitz, "since it would be better that the truth be known than that it +should be believed that General Snyman was a coward." Does this +sentence contain the secret history of the failure of Commandant +Eloff? If it be so one can afford to be generous and to sympathise +with President Kruger, even to feel a certain pity for Commandant +Eloff. + +The Commandant, since he surrendered to us, has taken life very +philosophically. He is confined in the gaol, and with him are Captain +de Fremont and some half-dozen others. The majority of the prisoners +are lodged in the Dutch Church and in the Masonic Hall. Their time +hangs heavily upon their hands, but when the tedium of their +imprisonment becomes too great they indite long letters to their +friends, using much paper, in villainous denunciations of the English, +in complaining bitterly of their food, and in villifying Snyman. + +Commandant Eloff smokes and reads and talks. Sometimes he becomes +abstracted, and again upon Sundays he is dejected. As I had the +pleasure of meeting him in the British South Africa Police Fort upon +May 12th, the occasion upon which he captured me, I called upon him in +the gaol. He was pacing the courtyard, but he stopped and smiled when +he saw me, and as I saluted him he held out his hand. "My prisoner," +said he, amiably. "The fortunes of war," said I, and he waved a hand +in the air as he accepted a cigarette. His costume was free and +comfortable. He wore a brown jersey, a pair of riding breeches, and +slippers. The jersey fitted him, and he seemed to take some pains in +showing the physical development of his shoulders. His arms also were +strong, and with every move of his body his muscles quivered. He was +lithe, supple and active, and as he stood there with the whitewashed +walls of the gaol behind him, with his companions around him, and a +guard upon each of the four walls which enclosed the courtyard, an air +of romance clung to him and he might have been for the moment some +creation of Anthony Hope, casting in his mind for some entrancing but +desperate situation. He puffed my cigarette vigorously and began a +conversation. "You know," said he, "I don't like horseflesh." "I am +sorry," said I, "but you should have taken Mafeking before." "We shall +have it yet," said a man at the table, whereupon the Commandant +shrugged his shoulders and threw the end of his cigarette somewhat +petulantly from him. "If," said I. "Ah," said the Commandant, and +there was a pause in which we all laughed. He looked at me for a +moment as though he thought. "It is possible," said he, and he +punctuated his words with little nods. As he finished Captain de +Fremont joined us. "My God," said he; "you English." Eloff laughed. +"Do not let us make this Fashoda," said he. "Yes, it is possible," he +began again, "and I think we should have captured your town, but +Snyman----" he paused and spat. "I wish to God you would make Snyman a +prisoner," said he. The conversation had become interesting, and I +passed my cigarette case around again. It returned to me empty, but +Commandant Eloff had begun to smoke a pipe. "Are not you Dutchmen +tired of the war?" said I; "the end, after all, is inevitable." +Captain de Fremont spoke again. He twisted his cigarette between his +fingers and remarked with an air of incisive inanity, "Life and death +are inevitable." "And the English," said Commandant Eloff, whereupon I +laughed. The Commandant once more took up the thread of the +conversation. "We attacked you because it seemed to me that you had +relaxed your vigilance. How could we otherwise have pierced your +lines?" His view was right--at least I thought so. "We expected you," +said I. The Commandant shook his head and looked at me somewhat +quizzingly. After all it was a palpable lie. "No," said he; "you +should at least allow us that amount of energy. You did not expect us, +and had Snyman pressed home the attack upon your eastern front and +supported me with the guns and reinforcements, I think that Mafeking +must have fallen." He paused for a moment, and said, slowly, "I am +certain that we should not be prisoners." "It was bad luck," said I, +"we would rather have you with us than against us, but this time you +will remain with us." He glanced at the four walls, upon each of which +there was sitting a guard. "I notice," said he, "that I am well +protected." The Frenchman shrugged his shoulders, as I suggested he +would rather be outside. "Give me a chance," said he, and he snapped +his fingers. "What, don't you know," said I, "what has occurred this +morning?" In a flash his mind reverted to the firing upon the previous +day. "Tell me, what was that firing last night?" "Mafeking has been +relieved," said I. The Commandant said nothing, and once more there +was a pause; but before we spoke again the sergeant of the guard +clanged upon the door with his musket. "Time is up," called he, and +the door opened. For a moment the Commandant could see through the +open space of the doorway, beyond and above the heads of the five +guards who were waiting outside, the glimpse of blue sky, a line of +trees, a stretch of veldt. "Is there anything I can do for you?" said +I, before I went. He waved his hand. "Nothing," said he, "except fresh +meat." I stayed for a moment and pointed outside. "Fresh meat and +fresh air are both outside." I thought I caught a sigh: it seemed to +lurk for a moment amid the harsh and grating noises of the bolts as +they were thrust forward in their sockets. + +From the prison I strolled to my hotel. The day was fine, the cold of +the morning had given place to a warm and brilliant sunshine. It was +the Queen's birthday, and our little world seemed at peace. For the +moment we were forgetting the strife and tribulations of the past +seven months, and in our anxiety to do honour to her Majesty there was +much commotion in the town. Flags were flying and bunting was +fluttering from the verandahs of the houses. Here and there, passing +in a cloud of dust, were the troops marching to the parade. There was +to be a review and there was also a general muster of arms. In the +centre of the Market Square were the guns which we had captured from +the enemy. In a corner, but surrounded by an admiring crowd, were the +two pieces which we had improvised during the siege. There was +"B.-P.," there was also "The Wolf," and acting as guard to these guns, +were two men who, the day before had reached Mafeking from Pretoria, +having eluded the vigilance of their sentries and walked one hundred +and eighty miles in a gallant and successful attempt to gain liberty +and freedom. The men were almost as interesting as the guns. But time +was speedy and the war correspondents were anxious to attend the +parade. The review was a study in contrast, the contrast between a +birthday parade and that review at the cemetery where the souls of the +dead were passed in inspection and for whom prayers were offered. The +parade stretched from end to end of the ground immediately in front of +the British South Africa Police Fort, taking place upon the very spot +where the town had so valiantly contested the attack which Commandant +Eloff had organised. Behind the lines of the men were the white +buildings of the Protectorate Barracks, while from the flag-mast, +which stands aloft in the centre of the fort, there floated the Union +Jack. The scene was indeed a study in contrast. We were at peace now +with the elements of war within our midst. We were fighting then, a +grim and determined struggle waging all round us, and in a way this +birthday parade was the issue of that day's fighting, since had the +end been otherwise, it might have been Commandant Eloff who passed in +review order upon the birthday of our Queen Empress. We formed up, +detachments from the different corps and the artillery upon the right +of the line. It was only the siege artillery, and nothing very much at +that. The pom-poms and the guns of the Royal Horse Artillery were +guarding the front of the town, and could not be spared. + +And so we waited, when of a sudden there came a cheer from the rear +and we realised that General Mahon was approaching. There was no band, +there were no horses, the entire parade were dismounted. The Colonel +inspected, the men dressed, and the Colonel returned to the saluting +base. He seemed conscious of the crowd, and stood as though he +realised that the parade which he was now holding meant to him so much +more than the mere abstract honour to the Queen. It signified the end +of his labours, epitomising his successes, touching with ironical +glory the honours which the near future must surely bring to him, and +as he stood he seemed quite nervous. It was one of the few occasions +upon which I have ever known him to be moved. The men who had come to +his relief were passing by him, and ever and anon one heard the +commands of the officers calling to their squadrons as they gained the +shadow of the saluting base, "Shoulder arms; eyes left." Then Colonel +Baden-Powell would raise his hand, taking and returning the salutes as +they were made. In the distance there was a haze of dust through which +a gaudy sunlight was flickering, and in the distance and, beside us, +there was the heavy music of the armed tread, as squadron after +squadron marched by. The air was filled with sound and sentiment, but +yet the crowd that stood behind was quiet and quite subdued. It was no +wonder that they were impressed, that they recognised in the rumble of +the distant feet and in the flowing masses of men the hour of their +deliverance. Their troubles were indeed past, their siege was over, +and the moment was approaching when those who had been in their midst +during so many months would be again upon the move, advancing this +time against the enemy upon Pretoria. But the hour was not one in +which to say farewell. It was an hour which lived for itself, an hour +that bore to each of us some knowledge of our liberty, and a secret +appreciation of the duties which our Empire asked of us. We were all +contented, happy in the knowledge that the siege was over, but imbued +with even a greater happiness since, upon this day, her Majesty was +sharing with us the joys of our good news. And presently the ceremony +concluded, and for the remainder of the day we attended sports and +organised a concert; while that night there was a dinner and a +pyrotechnic display in Market Square. We dined and drank the Queen, +and drinking this, streamed to the air where the rockets were already +rushing to the _ewigkeit_ with the roar of the racing tide. And then +beneath the steely beauty of the moonlight and the soft radiance of +countless stars we sang "God Save the Queen" and wandered home, +chanting as we went the strains of "Rule Britannia." Thus in a cloud +of loyal enthusiasm were brought about the closing scenes of the Siege +of Mafeking. + +[Illustration: Plan of Mafeking.] + +THE END + + +UNWIN BROTHERS, THE GRESHAM PRESS, WOKING AND LONDON. + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Siege of Mafeking (1900), by J. 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