sally out with his whole force in a fierce endeavour to escape southwards.  Perhaps half the garrison might succeed in reaching our lines, but the rest, less the killed and wounded, would be sent to occupy the new camp at Waterfall, which has been already laid out—­such is the intelligent anticipation of the enemy—­for their accommodation.  So we are going to try to force the Tugela within the week, and I dare say my next letter will give you some account of our fortunes.

Meanwhile all is very quiet in the camps.  From Chieveley, where there are two brigades of infantry, a thousand horse of sorts, including the 13th Hussars, and a dozen naval guns, it is quite possible to see the Boer positions, and the outposts live within range of each other’s rifles.  Yesterday I rode out to watch the evening bombardment which we make on their entrenchments with the naval 4.7-inch guns.  From the low hill on which the battery is established the whole scene is laid bare.  The Boer lines run in a great crescent along the hills.  Tier above tier of trenches have been scored along their sides, and the brown streaks run across the grass of the open country south of the river.  After tea in the captain’s cabin—­I should say tent—­Commander Limpus of the ‘Terrible’ kindly invited me to look through the telescope and mark the fall of the shots.

The glass was one of great power, and I could plainly see the figures of the Boers walking about in twos and threes, sitting on the embankments, or shovelling away to heighten them.  We selected one particular group near a kraal, the range of which had been carefully noted, and the great guns were slowly brought to bear on the unsuspecting target.  I looked through the spy-hole at the tiny picture—­three dirty beehives for the kraal, a long breastwork of newly thrown up earth, six or seven miniature men gathered into a little bunch, two others skylarking on the grass behind the trench, apparently engaged in a boxing match.  Then I turned to the guns.  A naval officer craned along the seventeen-feet barrel, peering through the telescopic sights.  Another was pencilling some calculations as to wind and light and other intricate details.  The crew, attentive, stood around.  At last all was done.  I looked back to the enemy.  The group was still intact.  The boxers were still playing—­one had pushed the other down.  A solitary horseman had also come into the picture and was riding slowly across.  The desire of murder rose in my heart.  Now for a bag!  Bang!  I jumped at least a foot, disarranging the telescope, but there was plenty of time to reset it while the shell was hissing and roaring its way through nearly five miles of air.  I found the kraal again and the group still there, but all motionless and alert, like startled rabbits.  Then they began to bob into the earth, one after the other.  Suddenly, in the middle of the kraal, there appeared a huge flash, a billowy ball of smoke, and clouds of dust.  Bang!  I jumped again; the second gun had fired.  But before this shell could reach the trenches a dozen little figures scampered away, scattering in all directions.  Evidently the first had not been without effect.  Yet when I turned the glass to another part of the defences the Boers were working away stolidly, and only those near the explosion showed any signs of disturbance.