On arriving at Orange River we carried our load of wounded to the base hospital.  I wish some of those well-meaning enthusiasts in Trafalgar Square who clamoured for war could have viewed the interior of these hospital tents and seen the poor twisted forms lying on the ground in every direction.  What a stupid and brutal thing war is!  Certainly the alleged “bringing out of our nobler qualities” is dearly purchased!  If a superior national type is the outcome of all this death and pain and misery, War, like Nature, seems at any rate utterly “careless of the single life”!

The battle of Magersfontein has been frequently described in the Press and the main outlines of the fight are already well known to the public.  The Highland Brigade, consisting of the Black Watch, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, Seaforths and Highland Light Infantry, had dinner on Sunday at 12.  They then marched from 2 to 7.30 P.M., when they bivouacked.  They advanced again at 11 P.M. in quarter column through the darkness, using ropes to keep the direction and formation intact.  At 3.30 the order to extend had just been given when a murderous fire was suddenly poured into the Brigade from the first line of Boer trenches at the foot of a large kopje.  Our men had already seen two red lanterns burning at either extremity of this entrenched position.  All at once the lamp on the left of the line was extinguished, and this seemed to be the signal for the Boer riflemen to commence fire.  The light was so bad—­in fact there was scarcely any light at all—­that it was impossible to see the foresight of a rifle clearly.  How were the Boers able to discern our approaching columns?  One very intelligent boy in the Black Watch told me that he thought the “wild-fire”—­the summer lightning which plays over the veldt—­showed up the approaching troops.  Others who were present stated that the Kimberley flash-light did the mischief, and a sergeant who marched in the rear of the brigade told me that he could see the whole line of helmets in front of him illumined by these electric flashes.  Apart from this, it is quite possible that some treacherous signals from Dutchmen near Modder River camp may have apprised the Boers of our approach.

Be this as it may, the first volleys from the opposing trenches swept through the crowded ranks of the Black Watch with deadly effect.  Great confusion ensued, our men could do little by way of retaliation, contradictory orders were given, and the Brigade, unable to hold its ground under the murderous fire, fell back.  The fusilade was fearfully severe and what added to its severity was its unexpectedness.  It is especially the case in war that the unexpected is terrible.  This has been exemplified again and again.  On one occasion during the siege of Paris a body of Zouaves had fought splendidly all day in a sortie under a hot fire from the Prussians.  They were at length ordered to withdraw some distance into a hollow which would shield them effectually from the Prussian shells