THE BOER WAR.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11642, 27 January 1900, Page 4

THE BOER WAR.

LETTERS FROM OUR ROYS.

We have been permitted to make two short extracts from a letter by Mivjor Robin'to his people in Dunedin. The letter, like the previous ones, is scribbled in ink pencil on thin paper, and bears date Arundol, 20th December. In one place the majoi' expresses regrat that, he cannot be everywhere with his men, and a little further on lie says:—•

Toll the boys it is rather a pleasant sensation to be under fire—an elating glass of champagne effect, with a corresponding feeling o£ relaxing aftor all is over; when one feels the'want of a cool drink, only v/e have to do with warm water, or, if one has luck, some cold, warm tei in the water bottle instead. I foi'got to say what a strange tliihg an engagement is. The boom of the guns, the rattle o[ the volleys, tmfi independent falling mvny to desultory fii'C, then rising again to high pitch. The puff of smoke of the bursting shell, the poor patient horses falling—the general whole we have so often read of. Tile realisation is somewhat different, It felt grfriid: Perhaps it wns the feeling of hunger and tiredoittness, the knowledge of the amount of Work still to be done, that took the romance of gay and glitter out of the original.

The following ;extf acts are from a lettsr, dated Arundel, December 22, received from Trooper JiWit by his brother at Kaikorai: — I' have a few spare minutes, anfl will just let you know how things lire moving since I last wrote. ... "We got very fine weather here. I do not think it is much warmer than it is in New Zealand, Jjtit the nights tire a jolly sight colder. Last Friday and Saturday Ws word out Boer limiting. On Saturday inclining we lined a kopje, and in the afternoon we gave the Boers v shot or two with our artillery, but without rifle fire We hud nothing to do en Sunday; the Boers do not fisjht on Sunday. Last Suhdriy we had. the great honour to be attached to the Royal Horse Al'tillery; a very great honour indeed, seeing that the Hoyal Horse Aitillery is the crack artillery of the ivorld. They set us to work at once. We were out at 3 a.m. On Monday, and away to shell a Boer farm some1 distance away, avid left early in order to get there by daybreak. We commenced operations with the giilis, and shelled the fat'iu and the kopjes close by. We fired about SO shots, When the Beers started with a gun of theirs which carries five niilcs. Oiirs will cany olily about half, that distance, so our gtius were useless, and we had to retire them behind a hill. Meanwhile our No. 1 company, under Major Robin, had occupied the farm. Two hui.clred Boers attacked them, and tilings were very lively, the balh wlmfeiiig in all directions. As soon as the shooting commenced on the farm blif artillery went to fight them. It is a grand sight to sec a battery of six guns, with their limber and horses going lull gallop for about a mile and a-half or two miles, and when they get up lo tile spot they want, round go the. horses, and almost before the limber is loose they rtre at their business, and they can fire quickly too. The long Boer gun, which they, call " Long Tom," then reconmieneefl btttzilig nway. And here we were just behind the guns, say, 23 yards, and the shells flying five or 10 yards away, it is a fine sensation I can tell you. First of all you see the smoke from the guiis. Then you hear the report, and immediately afterwards, pretty short it is too, you hear the shell come whizzing yotir way, and you don't know whether it is you or the. next man that is going to ,4;et the. benefit frorii it, but it goes further than "you, and then yon sort of feel relieved till tho next one. The Boers can shoot pretty well with this gun, and if they shot the same shells as we do they would havt! killed a great number of us. Their shells would only kill one hittn or disable a gun if they hit it, as they nearly did one time. One shell landed not liibre tlian a yard from tho rear horse at one of tho guns, but the horse took very little notice of it. You would think the horses had been used to it nil their lives. I was sitting on my hoise just in the rear of that shot, about 16 or 20 yards at the mnst, when it- struck, and I think it was quite close enough for a. start at any rate. "While this was going ffil btif Wo."I company retired from tho house. One man was killed-i-Brncifqrd was his name, and he came from the north. Two horses were killed and foiir wounded* The major was in a great way at the loss of the man. Our men'went to the wrong kopje, and tho Boers got there before them. Had they got to the right one they would have done for till the Boers, with the assistance of our guns. Our guns fire a shell which bursts in the air at a certain' time, and sends n shower of bulleta down oil tho men underneath, and they do a terrible lot of execution; in fact, they say our guns killed 150 in a bit of a tussel some time ago. Since that morning we have had Slothing at all to do, except a small party of 0 doMn oi' so Would go out on ft patrol in conic diiectioii or other. I weii* out oh one the other morning, and we only saw about 50 Boers a long distance off. We stopped at a Boer farmhouse (he was a friendly" B6er), and I got some milk aild bread. Did I say broad? I gave him Is, and he gave me Jive glasses of milk, so I asked him for something to cat. lie asked, bis wife..if she had any bread, and she gave him a piece of stuff that I thought was gingerbread. I smacked my lips in anticipation, but I was disappointed. It was as hard as rooks. It is . rye bread, and.it goes that way after it has been made a short time. 1 soaked it in the milk, and then eat it

I have some chums in the artillery; mid one of them has invited me to dinner on Christmas clay. He has some' friends In Nnaiiwpoort, and they are going to 'send hifli up his Christinas dinner, and I am going to shave it with him. There are co many rumours about as to what Ji-q, lire; going to do arid when wd are coming home, .'that oiie cannot believe what ono hoaVs. We do not leav'o here till the 6th of January. * Wo are waiting for some infantry anil big gulis life the Boers haVe-, and then we are gqiug.to make a- splash. Niggers charge Cl Jor washing a shirt. It'would have done you a sight of good:to have soon Hastie and me sitting over a bucket of water washing our clothes.

' In the course/of'a. letter to Mr T. W. Mao. ' kay (published by the Clutha Leader), ' Trooper . Bunten writes: — j December 21.—1 suppose you are sorry you ' are not with us, but you can take my word for. it most of us viiah. it was over. War and soldiering is not the ganie it is cracked up to' be, especially in .this God-forsaken, country. A chap does not know what a real thirst is till he has had a day's march here. Your I throat gets bo dry that the dirty water you get to .drink takes about half an hour to get down. . . . We were ordered to go up to the . Modeler Eiver, but I believe General French, bucked about it, and got the Yorks Mounted Infantry sent instead. He calls ua the New ' Zealand Independent cavalry. We. have had a great feed to-day as wo managed to get sbniß stores sent up to us from Naatiwpoort. Our great feed consisted of bread, jam, and cocoa, .. and three potatoes apiesc; our usual dinner is dry bread and water. I got into trouble' on board the Wahvera once for tellmg the ser-geant-major to go to " China," and Major Robin, told me I wanted toning down a- bit, so he put mo on tea, bread, and butter for three days. I would knock the sergeant-major head over heels now if I thought I would 'get the same i sentence. i ' , ,