1900 - Diary of the siege of Mafeking by Edward Ross
Wednesday, 28 March
After the storm comes the calm.
Hardly a shot of any kind has been fired all day, and it is thought the day would have passed almost like a Sunday, only that Major Panzera, who delights in worrying the enemy, opened fire at their laager from one of our seven-pounders posted in the extreme trench at the brickfields, and managed to get two shells very close to their headquarters house at McMullen’s. The look-out on the telescope reported a lot of men scurrying out of the house like rabbits. This of course brought Big Ben on us again. Why not let sleeping dogs lie? Panzera will only be satisfied when he gets one of our guns hit and put out of action and possibly the gun’s crew killed .
The enemy’s "big ’un’’ sent seven 94-pounders, but made very bad shooting, As I have often remarked, they can just about hit a mark a mile or so square, but absolutely nothing smaller that they aim at.
Completed about 20 £1 notes today and handed them over to Greener for issue.
Everything quiet all the evening.
Almost what one might call a horrible stillness, making you wonder what on earth was going to happen next.
No further news of the relief troops; it is a week since we heard they were at Vryburg, 100 miles distance. Surely they can do 10 miles a day, and ought to be well on the road by now. I suppose movements of troops will never be told us. We shall be quite satisfied if they only dust down the surrounding Boers
