1900 - Diary of the siege of Mafeking by Edward Ross
Tuesday, 6 March
Big Ben fired her first shot since Saturday at about 3 o’clock this afternoon. This shell struck somewhere near the Court House, bumped, did not burst, and continued its career right over the edge of the world; and another at about 6.30 p.m. going through Riesle’s roof and bursting in the yard, no other damage. Half a dozen men were sitting behind the wall of the sitting-room immediately under where the shell burst, thus getting a splendid view of the bursting projectile. Too close to be very pleasant. This, with a little sniping and rifle-firing at the brickfields is all the Boers have attempted to do today, giving us almost a Sunday.
A native was today brought before the Court of Summary Jurisdiction and charged with being a spy. It seems he was seen by two of the P.R. - through the telescope at the western look-out - to leave a distant blockhouse, behind which two Boers were known to be, and when arrested he seemed very anxious to give information as to the Boer movements, but seeing that he had apparently come specially from them, and was in possesion of six days’ bread and meat Boer rations, his conduct was too palpably that of a spy. He was remanded for the next sitting after w'hich I suppose he will be shot like the last one.
It is said that our firing last Sunday morning killed 5 of the enemy including one of their officers.
