936 



REVIEW OF REVIEWS. 



Sovember 1. 191S 



peaceful, having the positions pointed 

 out to us ; wondering as we looked at 

 the steep and stony flank of the Kop 

 up which our soldiers toiled ; reading 

 the inscriptions on the monuments, obe- 

 lisks in memory of different regiments, 

 or on the numerous pathetic little white 

 crosses that star the plateau. 



The remains of both friend and foe 

 fill two ominously long Boer trenches. 

 The price we paid alone at the end of 

 that terrible day was 1300 dead. 



We stood in silence. There was no 

 sound, no sign of life in all that world 

 of sun and glory, in all that vast blue 

 vault of heaven, save the hum of busy 

 insects, the song, faint, yet expectant, of 

 the wind among the dry grass, and the 

 flash of a mountain swift as he darted 

 up into the air. 



It is well that at times we should 

 think on these things. 



A little way outside Ladysmith tall 

 cypresses throw protecting shadows over 

 the white monuments of those who rest 

 from their labours — inhabitants of this 

 quiet little hamlet and those who fell 

 during the war. 



A few miles away, on the other side 

 of the town, rises Wagon Hill, the scene 

 of a very critical engagement.. 



If we had been defeated, Ladysmith 

 would have fallen, and probabh- the 

 whole course of the war changed. 



The regiments that lost most heavily 

 were the Devons and the Imperial Light 

 Horse. Half-way down the hill a 

 marble obelisk has been erected to the 

 latter, and under the list of names, he 

 who runs may read these simple, impres- 

 sive and pregnant words : — 



" Tell England, ye who pass this monu- 

 ment. 

 We, who died serving her, rest here 

 content. 



6 Jan., 1900." 



We scrambled over the loose stones to 

 the very end of the hill, and saw where 

 the British had clambered up, where the 

 Boers had done the same, and where 

 they met in a hand-to-hand struggle on 

 the top, among the thorns and aloes ; saw 

 the very spot where Ian Hamilton shot 

 at de Villiers, and missed him, but de 



Villiers was shot down the next instance 

 bv Albrecht, and so it went on the whole 

 day. 



Messages were flashed by the helio- 

 graph to Buller, and on by him to the 

 rest of the world. One came with the 

 announcement of the attack. Then 

 " Everywhere repulsed, but fighting con- 

 tinues," and, later, " Attack renewed ; 

 very hard pressed," and there the mes- 

 sages ended for the day, leaving the 

 Empire black with apprehension. 



Seeing these sights, and re-reading the 

 accounts of these battles, bring back 

 those agonising days when our hearts 

 stood still with fear and we, at home 

 and elsewhere throughout the Empire, 

 chafed and fretted, feeling our im- 

 potence and helplessness acutely. It is 

 only on seeing the scenes of such events 

 that one understands something of the 

 glory as well as the tragedy of war ; at 

 any rate, these men died bravely and 

 gladly ; had they lived it might have 

 been ignobly. 



Thirteen years ago, and now the union 

 of the South African people is an ac- 

 complished fact. But those who live 

 here shake their heads ominously when 

 we say there will be no more war, for 

 behind the outward serenity and peace 

 there lurks the huge and hideous shadow 

 of a great conflict between the black man 

 and the white. 



An Over Seas Club meeting was held 

 in the Town Hall the same evening, in 

 the very room that during the siege had 

 been a hospital Through the groups 

 of laughing men and women I saw the 

 rows of beds full of wounded, and 

 heard the crash of the shells as they rent 

 the walls. 



Many of those present had been 

 through the siege. During the last days 

 they, lived on horse flesh and biscuits, 

 and though some were only able to 

 crawl about the streets, there was m talk 

 of surrender. They had food for 

 exactly nine more davs when the relief 

 came. 



The outcome of our visit has been the 

 election of a committee, and we look for- 

 ward to having a strong branch of the 

 Club in Ladysmith in the near future. 



