hit, and not having bothered bringing artillery with them, they were
unable to retaliate.

Later in the day an express rider made his way through the Boer lines.
The most interesting news he was able to impart was summed up in the
Proclamation he carried in his pocket. It bore reference to the
prohibition by the Governor of the sale of arms and ammunition
throughout the Cape Colony. It was feared that the Africanders might buy
the goods and throw them across the border; it had been done. But
information in disproof of this was forthcoming when the story reached
us that a number of the Cape Dutch had risen in rebellion and needed the
weapons for themselves! Kimberley's voice at once favoured the extreme
penalty--death for high treason! Even moderate men, who allowed for
racial sympathies, held that neutrality was in the circumstances the
proper attitude to assume. But the local extremist--and he was the man
of the hour--argued that the object of the rebels was to sweep the
English into the sea, and to make Africa the exclusive privilege of the
Africander. In the evening, a terrific explosion was heard; a dynamite
magazine had been blown up at Dronfield. It was stated that some people
went up along with it; but that part of the story has yet to be
verified.

All this made Wednesday an interesting day, but the gallant Colonel had
yet to crown it with his quota. Having previously omitted to fix a
charge for meal and flour, he now brought back to their normal modesty
the prices of the two commodities. The two hardly provided sufficient
material for a proclamation, but with some stretching they were made to
do so. It was easy to discover a disparity in the relative quantities of
the two foodstuffs in Kimberley; we had a great deal of the one, and
comparatively little of the other. Thus when Kekewich in his wisdom