THE FIRST CONTINGENT.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6730, 27 February 1900, Page 4

THE FIRST CONTINGENT.

BETTER FROM TROOPER COOK. Mr J. C. Cook, St Helen's, Hanmer Plains, has courteously forwarded to the "Lyttelton Times" a letter received from his son, Trooper John Cook, of the First New Zealand Contingent. The letter is in two portions, one dated Jan. 10 and the other Jan. 16, and the writer, on Jan. 10, wrote from Raasfontein. He says: —" We have now again shifted camp, or rather a part of it. General French's division is now cut up into four damps, and we have the Boers pretty well surrounded. We were obliged to split up in this manner on account of the Boers' Long Tom, as our artillery were hot able to reach them. By.cutting up the oamp like this we are able to harass .them both front and rear.

Our camp.i? right on the rear of the Boers, or rather was, but owing to our other camps pushing the Boers back, they are falling upon this camp, and the result is our artillery are pretty well engaged in keeping fheir! back." The writer then gives a rough sketch of the country in which he and. his comrades were operating on Jan. 9. They were under a heavy cross-fire, but fortunately none were hit. Trooper Cook has Ho high opinion of the Boer as a marksman, and says that if the positions had been exchanged the First Contingent would have wiped out a lot of the Boers, who did not even wound a horse. He goes on:— "Our artillery had to retreat from their position, and they took up their stand just below us, and they shelled the. Boers, and they were still firing when we were relieved, and returned to camp. After dinner yesterday the whole camp was aroused by a shell from' the Boers' cannon landing right in our camp. In an instant all was excitement — men rushing out of their tents, saddling their horses, getting all their accoutrements on, getting on their horses. a-ncj. out pf camp quick and lively. We had. to ,wait for orders, put our saddles on, and then stand by tho horses. The Boers landed '.several shells in the camp. Most of them burst, but did no damage., Four of pur. cannons went -out, supported by. six squadrons of cavalry, and engaged the Boer guns. 'They, found out that it was not the. usual 'Long,' Tom ' the Boers use that had thrown the shells into the camp, but thtvt they were of French make and French officers were commanding them, and what is more, they were drawn by French horses; in fact, everything was of French make, so it looks as if Johnny Crapaud is having a hand in it. The Boers began to retire the minute our gunV" opened upon them. A part of our camp had to shift, but we did not move away from our lines. Our guns are not long! enough in the range for the Boers' can-, nons, and of course our advance is very slow. If we get any of these howitzers we shall j make them shift quick and lively." ■ On Jan. 16 he writes : — A few lines to let you know about a big engagement we had with the Boers yesterday. We were occupying our large kopje in company with a company of Yorks. They were 80 strong, and there 'were 70 of our company.- All: told we were 150 strong. The Boers were ■all on tlie- little kopjes, at the end of ours. One oi the staff captains said they were about 1500 strong. ' The Boers started firing "at a long range, and, under cover of their fire, a strong party of them advanced, crawling ! from bush to bush. We were obliged to lie low. If any of our fellows showed their heads, they were at once fired upon, and were obliged to drop quick and lively. There was any amount of. narrow escapes. The advance party of Boers came up close, for, owing to the splendid cover, we were not able to see them. lii one place they came up so close that some of our fellows fixed swords, jumped over their barricade, arid started to rush down the hill, but were compelled to retire under a hot fire. Two of our men were shot down almost as soon as they jumped the barricade. One of them was Sergeant' TJourley, of the Otago Hussars, and the other was Trooper Connell, of the Auckland College Rifles. Connell was shot through the heart. He dropped dead. Sergeant Gourley was shot in the head, three bullets going in the same place. He was rendered unconscious, and our fellows picked him up and carried him back over the barricade, where he was attended to. The Ambulance Corp took him down to the camp, and he was again attended to, but he remained unconscious and died at ten o'clock last night. Several attempts were made to rescue Connell's body, but the fire was too hot, and they had to leave it until this morning, when it was brought down to where the two graves were dug. He was sewed up in his blanket and lowered into his grave. In a few minutes we left the camp with Sergeant Gourley's body, the firing party walking on in front with arms reversed. Then came the pallbearers, and next came we men two deep, and behind us came the officers. When we got to the grave we formed up in halfcircle: Major Robin read the burial service. He was very much affected, because our Major was Captain of the Otago Hussars, and Sergeant Qourley was one of- his company, and was a great favourite in it. He was a great favourite with us, too, and when he was buried, there was not a dry eye amongst us ; everybody was deeply affected. A curious thing about Connell was that, before any previous engagement, he used to give the doctor's assistant a letter to post to the lady to whom he was engaged, but this time he took the letter out with him. He carried it in his left-hand pocket, along with her photo and three other letters for his relatives. The bullet went right through the centre of the letters and carried the head of his sweetheart out of the photo into his body. On 'the back of the photo was written : "If I am shot, please bury this with me." The doctor's assistant was given permission to search his body, and he discovered what I have already described. It was a peculiar. thing that he should carry the letter out with him only the once and got shot that timei This morning General French came up and congratulated us. This is what he said : " Major Robin, officers and men of the New Zealand Contingent, — I wish to tell you that I have heard with the greatest pleasure of your splendid conduct of last night and yesterday. You have behaved in a most gallant manner, ft is not" the first nor the second time during the campaign that I have had to congratulate you upon your conduct whilst under hot fire, and I can only repeat, what I have previously said, that you bring great credit upon the colony which you represent. I shall have great pleasure in mentioning ■your gallant stand to the Commander-in-Chief." I hear the regulars talking about our stand all over the camp. Our flankers go to all the farmhouses in" the neighbourhood and see who are there. At one farmhouse they asked the farmer if there were any Boers •about, and he replied that none had been there since Christmas, but a- couple of nig•gers put him away. They said that two burghers and "fifty Boers had been there .'the night before. '. Our men then arrested hini^ and he has been sent back to Rensburg. I have jdot heard what has been done to him as yet,! but. he said that' he Was. a .lby.il Britisher^ Any of the fanners that leave their homes are at once, ruined, because everybody goes. through the house and take what they want ; or if they do not want it, they smash it up. Nearly all the pianos, '«&id harmoniums are smashed. You find both these instruments in hearty all the farmhouses. Although these places are rough without, inside they are superbly fitted up in every room. The wages the Boers paid the blacks were very poor. Six men got 10s per month each, or else one ■sheep apiece, or the six of them got one cow for their month's work. So you can see it was nigger-driving all right. This war will be a big boom for the blacks, There is big talk about a trip Home when die war is over. Whether it will come off or not is hard to say.