1910] The Battle of Majuba Hill 327 



mine, of which he is the Director. The mine was discovered some 

 thirty years ago accidentally by two English sportsmen when Mark's 

 father was Governor of Madras, and a company was formed, but it 

 yielded no great result till old Sir Charles Tennant, Margot's father, 

 put £20,000 into it, and became almost sole owner. The thing was 

 treated as a mere gamble, and having nothing reliable to go upon in the 

 way of engineering reports and, nobody knowing where to dig, it was 

 decided that Sir Charles should put his finger at haphazard on the map 

 and that the digging should be begun there, and there exactly the gold 

 was found, several millions' worth of it.' 



" Mark gave me to-day also an interesting account of the battle of 

 Majuba Hill, which he got from Sir Ian Hamilton, an old friend of 

 his, and which is as follows : ' General Colley finding himself about 

 to be superseded in the command by a superior officer, was anxious to 

 achieve some notable success before his successor arrived, and with 

 this object he occupied the hill with a few hundred men. The hill 

 dominated the Boer position, and if they could have brought guns with 

 them and entrenched themselves the plan would have succeeded. It 

 was, in fact, near succeeding, for the Boers, finding the hill in posses- 

 sion of the English, were beginning to retire when they thought they 

 might as well first see how strongly it was held. The British army was 

 at that time in a quite undisciplined state, and the men not only refused 

 to drag up the guns but even to entrench themselves when at the top, 

 saying they were too tired for work and lay down to sleep ; and Colley, 

 who was a theoretical rather than a practical soldier, had not sufficient 

 personal authority with them to insist, so that the Boer attack found 

 them quite unprepared. The Boers, advancing from below, had the 

 advantage that their heads were comparatively invisible as seen against 

 the rocks, while the English were clear on the skyline, so that the 

 Boers stalked them like deer and got close to the top before they were 

 perceived. Hamilton, as I understand the story, was sent with a de- 

 tachment to oppose the Boer advance, but being driven in found Colle)- 

 lying on his back smoking a cigarette, having given up all attempt to 

 cope with the situation. He was alone with only a few men of his 

 staff, but the rank and file had already run in panic down the hill on 

 the side opposite the attack. Hamilton had then returned to the ad- 

 vanced post where he got wounded on the wrist, and once more was 

 driven back by the advancing Boers to the crest of the hill. This time 

 he found all the living and unwounded gone, and Colley lying dead, 

 shot through the head with a pistol in his hand. He had committed 

 suicide. The Boers then rushed over the crest, driving what remained 

 of the advanced guard before them, and Hamilton took to his heels. 

 " I would have jumped over any precipice just then," he said to Mark; 

 as it was he jumped over one twenty feet deep and stunned himself, 



