TOPIC:

From the South Wales Daily News, dated; 30th November 1899:

LETTERS FROM THE FRONT.
A RIFLEMAN'S CONTEMPT FOR THE FOE.
"Private L. Thompson, a reservist of B Company, 1st Battalion King's Royal Rifles (60th Foot), who lived at Norwich, has (the Daily Telegraph states) written home a letter, dated from Ladysmith Camp. The writer says:- Our advance had now lasted five and a half hours, and we were about 100 yards from the top when came that order which put new life into us- "Fix bayonets." As he gave this order our colonel fell shot dead. We then closed in, and with leveled bayonets went at them for all we were worth. The bayonets went to work, and heads were smashed like pumpkins. Then with another cheer, that could be heard above the roar of the artillery the second line of the King's burst upon them, but that cheer frightened the Boers. They were speechless with terror when they saw that line of cold steel coming at them.They threw down their arms and fled in confusion, only to be cut up into traveller's samples when they reached the bottom by our cavalry. . . . I think the Boers will soon "cheese" it, as they are no match for our fellows. Their shooting is worse than the blind man's rifle club. If every shot had told there would not have been a man alive when we stormed the hill. There are some good shots among the old stagers, but they are very few. The others could not hit the parish they were born in. They find Thomas Atkins a lot better than he did in 1881, and well they know it. The enemy are four to one to us, but I am not boasting when I say we can slog them any morning before breakfast. They are a mean, crafty, treacherous lot."

WITH THE 9TH LANCERS.
LETTER FROM A SWANSEA BOY.
"An interesting letter has just been received at Swansea from Private Ifor Gabe, of the 9th Lancers. Private Gabe, who at one time was a member of the Morriston Football Team, joined the 17th Lancers, and also played for the York Club while stationed in that city. After his regiment went to Cork he transferred to the 9th Lancers, out in India. In his letter addressed from the camp at Orange River, he describes the journey from India, and gives a description of a night alarm which took place on October 27th, after the men had nicely settled down to sleep subsequent to a terrific storm had flooded the camp. The Boers fired a volley, but strangely enough retired after two sentries had replied to them. Possibly they found too many to oppose, as the letter says there were 2000 in camp, with three batteries of artillery. The letter, which is a sort of diary, states under date November 5th that the writer, when out on patrol nine miles from camp, saw some 100 Boers with a big telescope some few miles off. He was on duty from 4:30a.m. to 8p.m. and his breakfast consisted of a little corned beef and some hard biscuits. In closing the letter on November 6th Private Gabe anticipates the Belmont engagement, details of which have since been forwarded. He says:- " I am writing this with a bit of pencil, which cost me 4d. God knows what pen and ink would cost. You will have to pay for this at your end as I can't get a stamp."

From the South Wales Daily News dated 1st December 1899; page 6:

LETTERS FROM THE SEAT OF WAR.

A PENCOED MAN AT ELANDS LAAGTE.

"Written to the editor of the Glamorgan Gazette, Mr. John Williams, late of Pencoed, near Bridgend, says:- "I live in Durban. Being curious to see an army moving on war footing and a battle if possible, I started for the seat of war on the 17th. In the town of Ladysmith there were about 12,000 troops of all kinds. On the 21st the troops marched out of the town in the morning, about2,000 all told, consisting of batteries, Dragoons and Lancers, with Gordon Highlanders, Devons, Manchesters and the Imperial Light Horse (a corps lately formed here). I should state that allthe men of the above regiments were not in action that day.The Boer rebels were near Elands Laagte Colliery (where a Welshman is manager, Mr. Harris, with a number of our kinsmen also working there) on a hill, or partially on three hills, with a battery of quick-firing guns. About two o'clock the action commenced by the two batteries shelling the hill-range 4,000 yards-with precision and effect. In less than an hour the infantry started moving over that ground, when the rifle fire commenced, occasionally knocking a man down. They were proceeding to skirmishing order under cover of the artillery fire. As they were getting near the the top the fire of the rebels was very effective, but their shells not exploding they could not do much damage. However, our troops ascended without wavering until they reached the crown of the hill which stands 600 or 800 feet high- almost an impregnable position. The big guns stopped firing. Then the slaughter commenced, which I could not see , but from what I heard and saw afterwards it must have been terrible. I took a position on the side of a hill, about 2,000 yards away clear from the line of fire. I ought to say that the Lancers got round at the back of the hill, intercepted the Boer retreat which was turned into a complete rout. If night had not come on I do not think that a man of the Boers would have escaped, being either killed or captured or wounded. As it was we captured about 300 prisoners, many of whom were wounded. Among them were a great number of their great men-members of the Raad and Executive Council, field cornets, judge, some Germans, a few Englishmen and Americans. Darkness came on, and we had to leave all, being satisfied as having done a grand day's work. On the following morning, which was Sunday, I rode out to see THE FIELD OF BATTLE of which I had no idea the previous day. I went over the track of our men as near as I could to the top of the hill. There I saw a sight which I shall never forget. The wounded had been all taken away by the Boers, but the dead were all left. Our dead lay over a large area on the slope, but very few were on the top. The enemy I could count by hundreds. All agree that the Boers fought bravely, but could not stand the bayonet charge. They hate the use of the bayonets; they are not afraid of the bullets, but will run off at 200 yards when they can see a bayonet charghe. Hence the slaughter on the brow of the hill when in close quarters. The shells played awful havoc . The Boers cleared off a sbest they could, and left everything behind them-two splendid big guns besides other guns. The place was literally covered with dead men and everyting imaginable in the shape of eqipage. I had very soon seen quite enough and came back to town. On the way back I passed the wounded being carried to the station on stretchers; others that could walk did so. The return of our men was a solemn sight, and yet there was an amusing side. It was sad to witness the wounded with bandages on arms, legs, faces and heads. Numbers were being carried helpless on stretchers but all were cheerful, and the majority smiling on us in passing. The accommodation here is limited. All the chapels and the schools and the Town Hall are fitted with beds and are full. Yesterday some 200 who could stand the journey were brought to Pietermaritzburg Hospital, where the accommodation is on a large scale. The laughable side of the picture is to see our soldiers loaded with every available spoil of the enemy, such as blankets, shawls, shirts, coats, waterproofs, hams, guns, cartridges, boxes of tea, cocoa, coffee, Bibles, caps, boots etc. Our soldiers did a good trade, selling all they could but they were not allowed by the authorities to sell guns. It was a very grand day and a thorough victory."

LOCAL SOLDIERS AT TINTA INYONI

"Lance-corporal E. Watkins of the 1st Gloucester Regiment, writing to Mr. and Mrs. J. Derrick, No. 1, Brook Terrace, Cadoxton, Barry, his uncle and aunt, under date November 3rd, from the hospital at Pietermaritzburg, says:- "I am in the hospital wounded. We had a battle with the Boers on 24th October, and I got wounded at Tinta Inyoni, near Ladysmith. We had a very hard fight with them that day, and the loss to our regiment was eight killed, 52 wounded and three missing. There was a great number killed on the English side, but the losses of the Boers cannot be numbered. Our regiment had the worst of the fire, for we formed the firing line. We advanced up a ridge to attack the enemy, and we got surprised by them. They opened fire on us at about 500 yards, and the bullets showered on us like hailstones, but they did not do much damage at that time, for the big guns were put on them, and a heavy rifle fire from us soon silenced their big guns, but we fought several hours before we could drive the enemy back. I was in hospital in Ladysmith first; then I was removed to Pietermaritzburg, and now we are about to be sent down to Cape Town. I hope to be well soon, when I shall have another go at them. It was a grand sight to witness the battle. It made one think where he was for a few minutes, and then after the first few shots it was alright. It was horrifying to see the dead and the dying about on the ground, and the shot and shell flying about all over the place. They had got the largest part of our regiment prisoners. We were only two regiments sent to attack 17,000 Boers, and the enemy surrounded and captured them and took them prisoners."

A BRECON PLATELAYER AT LADYSMITH
(To avoid repitition, if of interest, please see this article in the ABW thread " Medals to the Railways" on page 9.

From the South Wales Daily News dated 2nd December 1899; p.5 & 6:

LETTERS FROM THE FRONT.

WITH LORD METHUEN'S COLUMN.

Mr. C.H.L.Fitzwilliams, J.P. of Cilgwyn, has received a letter from his son and heir, Mr. Edward C.L.Fitzwilliams, who, writing from Stellenbosch, a few miles from Cape Town, on October 30th, said he had just received orders to go to the Orange River, via De Aar, and that he was the first of his lot to go to the front. He was then in camp and well. They had been very busy training a very rowdy lot of mulesimported from South America. He wished to be kindly remembered to everybody at home. He is now most probably advancing with Lord Methuen's column to the relief of Kimberley.
Mr. Fitzwilliams sailed with the Army Service Corpsin the Braemar Castle."

FROM A DESPATCH RIDER HAILIUNG FROM CARDIGANSHIRE.

"A Cardiganshire gentleman who served with Sir Charles Warren's force in Bechuanaland, writes:- "I am deeply interested in this Transvaal war, especially on the west side. We made the camp and put in the waterworksat Mafeking and built thye fort at Vryburg. All the country was patrolled and surveyed by Warren's force, and I was despatch rider for some time from Mafekingsouth to Pitsani. I am glad Baden-Powell is holding out so well there. Ladysmith will come in for the bulk of the fighting. I think it is a grand thing for us that the Orange Staters did side with the Boers, as it gives Buller an easy well-watered country to march through, avoiding the hills and narrow passes of the Laing's Nek route and dry veldts of Mafeking."

BRITAIN'S DEFECTIVE GUNS.

"A private letter , dated Maritzburg, October 26, contains some interesting items:-
"The Boers have simply magnificent artillery, that none of ours can touch. What, in the name of heaven, can England be thinking of? Insufficient forces;dilatory mobilisation! Is this the country that rules the waves? If America had been in England's place we should have been better off , and not wearing our lives out with anxiety for the future and heartbreak over the slaughter of our gallant soldiers. Truly the Boer loss is heavier than ours, and we have hundreds of prisoners, among them Colonel Schiel, the German commandant, and many other Boer notabilities. But of what avail? Each victory has been followed by a retreat on our side. Oh! what brave fellows these British soldiers are. Their unflinching discharge of their duty has been splendid. Correspondents who have watched the engagements, especially that of Talana Hill, say that the charge of the Lancers and Dragoon Guards up the hillsides in the face of heavy rifle and artillery fire passes description. Three times they charged at Talana, twice being repulsed with fearful loss; but undaunted, and with a ringing cheer, the Dublin setc. charged a third time, and the Boers promptly hoisted the white flag and surrendered . But think of the battlefield dark, cold and a heavy mist enveloping everything and baffling the search of the Indian bearers for the wounded. They say the sight of the poor wounded fellows crawling down to the ambulance camp , groaning and tortured and bleeding, was simply heartrending. The Indian bearers are invaluable, working calm and unmoved in the very thickest of the fight, carrying off the wounded. The Natal Volunteers have been in action, and the Regulars speak most highly of them and their officers. Dear green little garden of Natal how I honour her for her loyalty and pluck. . If, after this, the prowess and valour of our colonial troops are not perceived, I am sorry for the eyes that are so blind."

5TH ROYAL IRISH LANCERS WORK.

"The Daily Mail publishes a further batch of letters sent them by the recipients in England. The extracts given below will be found exceptionally interesting:-
"A private in the 1st King's Rifles writes, after the Battle of Elands Laagte:- "I must give a word of praise to the cavalry, who performed the finshing stroke. I tell you it was a great, but a terrible sight to see those horsemen hew their way through the Boers with their swords. Three times they rode right through the Boers, hacking, cutting, slashing. We had suffered pretty severely, and I suppose we got our backs up a bit. Anyhow, we got even with Joubert's men.
" Dear

---

, it's very terrible this war," the letter proceeds. " I saw several Boers whose heads had been cut right off by our cavalrymen's swords. It is ghastly, isn't it? But it's the plain truth. Some of the Boers had died in praying attitudes. Many, I was told by a friend in the 5th Lancers, flung down their arms as soon as they saw the flash of the lances, and clasping their hands above their heads as they begged for mercy. But they had shown no mercy to our men; some day if I'm spared, I will tell you some incidents of how the Boers behaved to our men--killing and hammering our wounded as they lay on the field--and this was our revenge.
"Do you know what I should like more than anything else?" this interesting letter continues. " Well, that's a good stew in a hot bath. And, oh how nice it will be to sleep in a bed again."

AN R.A.M.C.s STORY.

"A pathetic incident at Elands Laagte is describedin a letter from one of the bearer company:- "We were out looking after the wounded at night when the fight was over, when I came across an old white haired Boer. He was lying behind a bit of a rock supporting himself upon his elbows. I was a bit wary of the old fellow at first. Some of these wounded Boers we have found, are snakes in the grass. You go up to them, with the best intentions, and the next thing you knowis that the man you were going to succour is blazing at you with his gun.
"So," the letter goes on, "I kept my eyes on the old chap, but when I got nearer I saw that he was too far gone to raise his rifle. He was gasping hard for breath, and I saw he was not long for this world. He motioned to me that he wanted to speak, and I bent over him. He asked me to go and find his son--a boy of 13 who had been fighting by his side when he fell.
" Well, I did as he asked me," continues the writer, " and under a heap of wounded I found the poor lad, stone dead, and I carried him back to his father. Well, you know I am not a chicken-hearted sort of a fellow. I have seen a bit of fighting in my time, and that sort of thing knocks all the soft out of a chap.
"But," this correspondent confesses, "I had to turn away when that old Boer saw his dead lad. He hugged the body to him and moaned over it, and carried on in a way that fetched a big lump in my throat. Until that very moment I never thought how horrible war is. I never wanted to see another shot fired. And when I looked round again the old Boer was dead clasping the cold hand of his dead boy.....I haven't got that tobacco----promised to send me. Hope I shall have a good English smoke before Christmas. I found a little bag of Cape tobacco last night that some Boer had dropped as he was running away, but it doesn't taste like the stuff at home."

BOER'S TREATMENT OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN.

"Trooper Carlyon Hill, one of the Cornish members of Thorneycroft's Mounted Infantry, writing to some relatives at the Lizard under date November 3rs, says:- "Natal is in a shocking state owing to the scarcity of troops. The governor was compelled to ask for Volunteers to protect the capital, happily meeting with a ready response. All the Uitlanders who were able joined willingly. We felt it only our duty after witnessing the disgraceful cowardice of the Boers and their shamefully cruel and heartless behaviour to helpless women and children on the way here from Johannesburg.
"The Boers," the letter adds, "refused them even a drop of cold water to drink when children were dying for the need of it. They will get a warm reception if they come to Maritzburg. It is well fortified with plenty of guns; but before that we hope to be reinforced by troops underr General Buller. I trust we shall all live to march back to Johannesburg soon under the British flag. This is the ambition of us all."

A RIFLEMAN WRITES OF TALANA.

"Private Down, of the 1st Battalion, King's Royal Rifles, writing to his friends at Ashford, Kent from Ladysmith, under date October 29th, describes stirring scenes in the battle fought on October 20th at Talana Hill. H e said that he had fought in three battles at Dundee. The Talana Hill fight took from between eleven and a half hours hard fighting to get possession of the hill. They were soon at the foot of the heights, where from a heavy rifle fire from the Boers, the brave little riflemen and the Dublin Fusiliers went up the steep hill. Halfway up there was a breastwork of rocks to climb over "then," he says, "we were picked off one by one, and worse than that we had a flat piece of ground to go over right in the open. Our men were dropping down wounded, and our colonel thought they were retiring. He turned round, revolver in hand, and said that any man retiring under Boer fire he would shoot. Almost immediately he received a bullet in his heart and fell, never to get up anymore, and another of our officers was hit in the stomach and blown to pieces by a shell from one of our own guns. " He adds that they must have killed a thousand Boers, as they found eight hundred buried in a coalpit, and the ground was strewn with their wounded and dead comrades and with horses. They smashed up a battery of Boer artillery, captured 300 horses, a number of rifles, and a quantity of ammunition. He then speaks of the great hardships experienced in marching to Ladysmith, And states that they marched in three days and nights ninety miles. On arrival at Ladysmith they found about 1500 Boer prisoners.

BOERS BOLTED BEFORE THE STEEL.

A letter received by his parents at Talbot Road, Plank Lane, Westleigh, from Private Alfred Sumner, 1st Battalion King's Royal Rifles, gives a thrilling narrative to the battle of Glencoe. He says the firing was very heavy. " We had to climb the hill on hands and knees, and it was awkward too, with a rifle. It was here we lost most men including four of our officers with the colonel who led the way. One of our own shells killed eight or nine of the Irish Fusiliers and ours. We had fixed bayonets while climbing up. As soon as the Boers saw us coming over the top they fled like sheep. About half a dozen who saw they could not get away fell on their knees and begged to have their lives spared. They can stand the bullets, but don't like British steel. The King's Rifles who were first over the top, captured two of their colours. I had some narrow escapes having the heel of my boot shot away , one bullet through my helmet, and another through the rim, in fact, in the last rush up the hill the bullets were hissing all around my head and body. Never shall I forget my first battle and the horrors of it. Our shells had inflicted terrible wounds on the Boers killed. The day after another large force of Boers commenced shelling our camp, which became untenable, so we had to shift, leaving the canvas and large quantities of forage and stores. We kept shifting our position for three days. We durst not risk another battle, as the artillery were short of ammunition, having only 50 rounds a gun, and we were greatly outnumbered, the Boers having also the best position."

THE LOOT AT ELAND SLAAGTE.

Private McVinnie, of the Gordon Highlanders, writing home to Dumfries regarding the battle at Elands Laagte, says:-
"Lieutenant Murray was the first to fall. The advance was made under a most galling fire, but the final rush quickly cleared out the Boers. On the top of the ridge a horrible sight was viewed. There were killed and wounded Boers in all directions, and the bodies of boys from 12 to 15 years of age were found by the side of grey-headed burghers. The loot included bottles of Scotch whisky and sides of bacon. Riderless horses captured were freely exchanged for tobacco."

NO LETTERS FROM THE FRONT COLUMN ON 3RD DECEMBER 1899.

From the South Wales Daily News dated 4th December 1899; p.6:

SOLDIER'S LETTERS HOME.

CHUMS AND COMRADES.

A prominent tradesman of Hungerford, Berks, has received the following letter from the seat of war, dated Ladysmith, November 1st, "Dear Sam, just a line to say that R and I are still living, working, Fighting side by side, and a very trying time we are having. We went to Glencoe and Dundee, and went through the battle of Talana Hill without a scratch. The next morning we had a very narrow escape. We were just rising off our pillow of rock, when a shell struck the ground five yards away and splintered my canteen, with several of the missiles, and went nearly through Rs greatcoat, which he had rolled up. On October 22nd we started to retire on Ladysmith, as we were a bit short of troops. The Boers are concentrating on this place, but have been repulsed on each occasion. We went from Friday, the 20th, to Wednesday, the 25th, with only five hours sleep and a wash so you can guess we looked alright with our whiskers on. With best wishes to all, I will close,as R wants to put a line in. Your old chum, GEORGE. The other letter ran Dear Sam:- Just a line, along with George, to tell you about our welfare. We have just got in from digging our own gun pits, and we are putting something in these that will repay the Boers for their action at Dundee. Old George had a narrow escape there, and I had a bole in my greatcoat and my water bottle cork was blown off. The Boers are splendid shots, there is no mistake, but we have a few of our bullseyes waiting for them. We have plenty of money, but can't spend it. Goodbye. Will write more next time.-Your old friend."R----.

WOUNDED OFFICER'S EXPERIENCES.
THE BARBAROUS REALTY OF WAR.

The Daily News publishes a letter from an officer who was wounded at Elands Laagte. Among other things he describes his experiences after being wounded. " I lay where I fell for about three quarters of an hour," says the officer in the letter, which is addressed to his mother , "when a doctor came and put a field dressing on my wound, gave me some brandy, put my helmet under my head as a pillow, covered me with a Boer blanket which he had taken from a dead man, and then went to look after some other poor beggar. I shall never forget the horrors of that night as long as I live. In addition to the agony which my wound gave me I had two sharp stones running into my back. I was soaked to the skin and bitterly cold, but had an awful thirst: the torrents of rain never stopped. On one side of me was a Gordon Highlander in raving delirium and on the other a Boer who had had his leg shattered by a shell, and who gave vent to the most heartrending cries and groans. war is a funny game,mother, and no one can realise what it's grim horrors are like till they see it in all it's barbarous reality. I lay out in the rain the whole of the night, and at daybreak was put into a doolie by the doctor, and some natives carried me down to the station. The ground was awfully rough, and they dropped me twice; I fainted both times. I was sent down to Ladysmith in the hospital train; from the station I was conveyed to the chapel (officers' hospital) in a bullock cart, the jolting of which made me faint again. I was then put to bed, and my wound was dressed just 17 hours after I was hit. Then they gave me some beef tea, which was the first food I had had for 27 hours."

"GILDED POPINJAYS."
HOW OFFICERS FARE ON ACTIVE SERVOICE.

Mr. W.C.Hannah,a son of the vicar of Brighton, went to Ladysmith to secure from the officers of the Leicestershire Regiment details of the death of his brother, Lieutenant Hannah, who was the first officer killed at Dundee. Mr. Hannah, in the course of his letter, dated November 3rd, says:- "I dined with the Dundee column last night. I will give you a description of this dinner as showing how Burn's 'gilded popinjays' fare when times are warlike. To begin with there was no kind of furniture either in the mess-room or the ante-room. If you wanted to sit down you did so on the floor. We each got hold of a large tin mug and dipped it into a large tin saucepan of soup and drank it , spoons not exiting. A large lump of salt was passed around, and every one broke off a piece with his fingers. Next you clawed hold of a piece of bread and a chunk of tongue and gnawed first one and then the other--knives and forks there were none. This finished the dinner. Add to this two or three tallow candles stuck in a cocoa tin, and the fact that none of the officers had shaved or had had their clothes off for a week, and had walked some 45 miles through rivers and mud, and you will have some idea of how the officers' mess of one of the smartest of her Majesty's foor regiments do for themselves in times of war. Not a murmur or complaint was to be heard."

THE BOER POSITION AT GLENCOE.

Of the Glencoe position Private E. Francis writes:- "The Boer position was a grand one and if it had been held by the English would never have been taken. The Boers were under Lucas Meyer, and about 8,000 strong. Twelve hundred of them were killed and hundreds wounded, including several of their commandants. The prisoners are a rough looking lot, and they lay on the ground crying for mercy when the cavalry went after them. The general let hundreds of them get away. Some of them were mere boys, and they were crying whenwe got upto them. The Boers, as usual, showed the white flag--a treacherous design of theirs. It rained in torrents all day, and we returned to camp about 6p.m, having been in the field all day."

MARCHING 22 HOURS OUT OF 28.

Private A.T.Hill says of the march back:- "On Sunday night we ran the gauntlet of his guns, and got through without him knowing anything about it. We marched all that night till about 7 o'clock, and then we rested for 2 hours, and then on again until about 6 o'clock at night, and started again at 11 o'clock the same night and marched all night till daybreak through a long pass. Four hours after we got through the pass there was a force of Boers waiting for us, but they came too late. We kept on marching till 10 o'clock, then we had a much needed rest. We started again at 3 o'clock next morning and, got in Ladysmith smothered in sludge."
Of the same march Private J. Crowdell says, "I never thought I should be alive to tell you this, as we expected to be cut off every minute on the march back to Ladysmith. I think we are getting a star for the smart way we got away from them."

SOUTH WALES DAILY NEWS: NO LETTERS FROM THE FRONT COLUMN ON 5TH DECEMBER 1899.

FROM THE SOUTH WALES DAILY NEWS DATED 6TH DECEMBER: P.6;

"LETTERS FROM THE FRONT."
"AN ESTCOURT DESPATCH MESSENGER'S EXPERIENCE"
TERRIBLE INCIDENTS."

"Writing to his friend Mr. Dixon, tobacconist, Cardiff, from Estcourt, under date Nov. 10, a despatch messenger says:- "The excitement here is intense. Ladysmith is completely surrounded by Boers. The colonial troops at Colenso had to retire upon Estcourt, as their number were so small that it would heve been useless to offer resistance, so this is now the base of operations, and we are hourly expecting the Boers to attack us.
I was out scouting yesterday and got within 500 yards of the Boers. Their commando is about 5,000 strong between here and Colenso. Should they attack Estcourt there is nothing for us to do but retire, as we are numerically weak. Of course we are expecting the 1st Army Corpsdaily, and never did I respect the British uniform more than now. I have seen some sights this last week. I was out the other day guiding a party of scouts when we caught a Dutchman rushing for the Boer commando. We were taking him to camp when he suddenly sat down, his left hand clutching his revolver. One of the scouts quickly seeing what his little game meant clubbed his rifle and smashed his head in two. Hundreds of little incidents are occurring around us, and you will naturally conclude our moments are not dull.
The troops retiring from Colenso created quite a panic, and all civilians cleared out, so there are none but soldiers here now.
This war has not really started yet. The Dutch have surprised the world, and they have some of the finest French engineers and German artillerists to assist them.
At the battle of Talana Hill, when the Dublins "spotted" the rebel Irish Brigade, they went for it tooth and nail until the traitors turned tail and fled. One of them was left wounded, on the hilltop, when one of the Dublins saw and recognised him, and before anyone could stop him plunged his bayonet up to the hilt into his abdomen. They are awful fellows.
I am getting tired of the ration, but feel grand, as the exercise we get makes us tough as nails. I think I am going to have a stroke of luck. There is no one here who knows the country as well as I do between here and Ladysmith, and I can speak Kaffir fairly well. So I have volunteered to open the line of communication between here and beleaguered Ladysmith.
You can send out all the old papers you can lay your hands on, for they will come as a blessing to the fellows lying in hospital here. The papers yopu send so regularly are greatly appreciated by the wounded. I think several months of 1900 will have passed before this war is over."

"TOMMY'S VOYAGE OUT."

"Mrs. Cowley, of 84, Salisbury Road, Cardiff, has received the following interesting letters from her son. Writing on October 31st, he says:-
"We left Madeira on Wednesday about 6 p.m. That was four days out from Southampton. The funniest sight I ever saw was the swarm of natives who came out in the bay in boats with fruit, etc. Bananas, apples oranges werte the principal things sold-a shilling for a basket full, containing 6 or 8 of each. Lads diving for coppers thrown into the sea were numerous too. Some of the ship's officers and military officers of and above the rank of sergeant were allowed to go ashore, while Portuguese from the shore took in coal,etc. A boatload of fruit and vegetables came aboard for use. We had pumpkins on Sunday and cabbage today out of it. The majority of it though is not for Tommy's use. I should think the nboat held as much as would go on five or six Great Western drays. Two iron boats came out loaded with fresh water, which was pumped into our boat. There is hardly any ground for complaint on our food supply. Very liberal catering, but we are very much crowded, and the heat we are having makes sleeping "tween decks" almost impossible. In fact, those parts of the deck whch are available for sleeping on are covered every night by the troops. We have to stand the chance of it coming on to rain and beating under the awning. We get a daily parade, half in the morning, and half in the afternoon. We see very few ships. I don't think it would average one a day. Yesterday our engines failed for a couple of hours, but were put right and on we went again. The ceaseless grind of the propellor was rather disturbing at first, and is so now, only we are getting used to it. We have seen any amount of flying fish. I cannot describe them very well-not unlike herrings in size-they are so quick. They only remain out of the water a few seconds, long enough to fly 10 or 15 yards I should think. We have also seen either dolphins or porpoises, I am not certain which. They have a very peculiar habit of coming right under the bow of the boat and keeping in front, at times jumping right out of the water and then taking their place under the bow again. This goes on for about four or five minutes, then they turn tail and off they go. Perhaps four or five groups of five ort six in each will carry on like that in a day. I suppose they keep to certain districts, as we haven't seen any the last few days."

"ROUGH WEATHER."
"1st November, 1899--Today and tomorrow we are having sports on board. Our engines have stopped again today for another couple of hours, during which times some of the chaps have been fishing. A meat hook with a lump of meat on was the bait. Sharks were seen but not caught.
4th November, 1899-We have had a couple of days very rough weather since writing the foregoing. I have not been able to eat very well. The ship has been rolling alot-the worst we have had yet. We are expecting to sight the mail boat Norman today, and if we do they will send letters home by her. So we are getting our letters ready. The only address we can give is "No., name, 18 Company A.S.C., Headquarters, South Africa. " We are four days steam from Cape Town, and if we are there any length of time must write from there. We had a concert on board last night which passed off very well, considering they were all amateurs. We have two or three Lords, one lady, and quite an aristocratic lot of first-class passengers aboard. Well, I think I shall have to finish this or I shall miss the chance. Those we posted at Madeira had to be in the night before."

"STILL AT SEA."
"Writing again on November 8th, he says:- "After getting our letters ready and handing them over to the P.O. for the boat that was expected to pass us on Saturday, we missed her, so that you will get this the same post as the other one. I told you we stopped twice for repairs. Well, we have had two more spells of five hours -one Sunday and one Monday- and sice have only been going half speed. Our run at first was near about 350 miles a day; now we can only manage 240 or thereabouts. The troops do not half like losing so much time; we are all impatient to get ashore. Hope to be so by Friday morning at the latest. Although ours was a fast boat, I don't suppose the other troops will be far behind us now. We have had no news of how the war is going on since we left Madeira, so you can guess we are all hanging on for news. That cough, etc., of mine has disappeared entirely; the climate seemed to loosen it. More next time.--Yours, Ene."

"PRESS CENSORSHIP."

"Mr. E.W.Davies, jeweller of Wynburg, writing home to a friend at Neath, says:--" We get very little news of the war at Cape Town. The censorship on the Press is so strict that we get next to nothing. You in England get more news that we do." Proceeding, Mr. Davies describes the arrival at Wynburg of 200 wounded from the front, and adds that, apart from the sad sights which must be witnessed, Wynburg is a perfect paradise just now. The trees have put on their beautiful green foliage, and the vines are now in full fruit bearing. It is easy to walk for miles between trailing vines bearing fruit in profusion."

"MUST STAY AT CAPE TOWN."
"A Mrs. Lewis who last summer visited some friends in the Aberavon district booked return passage and arrived at Cape Town just after war was declared. Her husband, who is the manager of some mines situate between Johannesburg and Pretoria, having several important matters to attend to which he could not delegate to another, sent his foreman to meet Mrs. Lewis. The outbreak of war made it impossible for the return journey to be completed, so Mrs. Lewis remains at Cape Town, where she has to pay the war price of 15 guineas per week for her rooms. The foreman alluded to is a Mr. Jenkins, formerly of Resolven, in the Vale of Neath."