dry mealy stalks, which burn furiously. Then we and Ramsey cooked our
meat in our mess-tin lids, and made cocoa with water which Ramsey
fetched from some distance. It was a thick brown fluid, and froze
while we were waiting to put it on, but it tasted excellent.

_July 7._--Reveillé at 3.45. We marched out about a mile and waited
for the dawn.

_7 A.M._--At first dawn firing began, and we went into action at once,
as did the whole line of infantry. A tremendous fusillade of shells
and bullets is now being poured upon the position in front, and
chiefly on the central conical kopje. My waggon is halted, waiting to
go up. The sun is just getting strength, warming our numbed feet, and
spiriting away the white frost-mantle that the land always wears at
dawn.

_(3 P.M.)._--Guns, Maxims, and rifles hailed lead into the Boer
trenches for a long time, and then the infantry seized them, and the
Boers retired. The practice of the 38th and our guns seemed to me to
be very good. We have also a five-inch lyddite gun (Clements brought
it), which sent up huge clouds of brown dust where the shell struck.
We have now advanced over very heavy ground to the late Boer position,
halted, and ridden some way to water down a precipitous slope, into a
long, rocky hollow. From this point the country seems to change
entirely to steep, rocky hills and hollows, rising and increasing to
the whole Drakensberg range, which is blue and craggy on the sky-line.
They say the Boers have evacuated Bethlehem with a baggage train three
miles long. I don't know why we are not following them up. Perhaps the
mounted infantry are. Our horses are done up. It was cruel work
spurring and lashing them over heavy ploughed land to-day.