but slept near the trenches. Captain Tennant, R.A., our
Intelligence officer, came down from the fighting lines at night,
and said to the five Dutch prisoners whom our mounted infantry had
captured the day before, "You now see how your own men are firing
upon our hospital, and if you are killed or hurt it will be by the
shells of your own people, and not by ours." They saw at once the
perilous position they were in, and asked for permission to dig a
trench for themselves, which was granted. The natives also followed
suit, and digged one for themselves.

'We were not molested during the night, but the battle was resumed
the next morning (Wednesday, the 4th), and was fiercer than ever,
until at last it was evident that the position was taken, and we
surrendered at nine o'clock a.m. The enemy immediately galloped in,
tore down the Union Jack, which they burnt, disarmed our men, and
marched them off as quickly as they could in a column five or six
deep. They sang a verse of a hymn and the Volkslied (their national
anthem), and after listening to a short address from their
commandant, they dispersed.

'Commandant De Wet was annoyed at our having dug trenches within
the lines of our hospital, and said it was a breach of the Geneva
Convention, and that we were taking an undue advantage of our
privileges; but when we pointed out to him that it had been done to
protect the wounded, some native women, and an old native man and
child who came in for protection, and not as a protection to our
troops who were in the firing lines, he was satisfied.

'The trenches were dug under a tolerably heavy fire. The enemy
captured all our horses and saddlery, some of our kits and