BRITISH PRISONERS SEIZED AT VRYBURG.
The three armed men who are standing up are typical Boers of the district. Their prisoners are—Hellawell, of the London Daily Mail and the Cape Times, in the centre; Townshend, of the Bechuanaland News, on the left; Lelyveldt, a compositor, on the right of the group; and a native guide.
On the 24th the Boers placed three heavy siege guns in position, and with them shelled the town, while the smaller weapons kept up a heavy fire. Three bedrooms were wrecked, the gas plant destroyed, and the town set on fire. Next day the bombardment was resumed, and the enemy massed for an assault, compelling the little British force to leave the bomb-proofs and line the trenches. Day after day these experiences continued till on the 31st an assault was actually delivered upon Cannon Kopje, an outlying hill protected by a small fort. The Boers advanced under cover of the fire of four 15-pounder field guns and of a 5·9-inch siege gun, but were repulsed after a long and desperate struggle, in which the little garrison suffered severely and lost the services of Captains Marsham and Pechell, both of whom were killed.
[From a sketch by a British officer, brought through the enemy's lines by a native runner.
Showing the British and Boer lines and the spots where fighting took place during the early days of the siege.
To keep his men in good spirits, always a hard task in a long siege, Colonel Baden-Powell held impromptu concerts, at which fragments of popular operas were given by the ladies and officers in the town. He speedily obtained the complete confidence of his men. No precaution was neglected; everything was foreseen; and in spite of his limited resources he was never beaten. By common agreement between the British and the Boers, Sunday was observed as a day of truce. Once or twice when the Boers were noticed to be digging trenches on that day, "B.-P.," as his men called him, drew Cronje's attention to the fact, and the digging stopped. The Boers, however, persistently shelled the hospital and a convent which the nuns had refused to abandon. These heroic ladies attended the sick and wounded, and took the fullest share in the hard work, setting an example which was above all praise.
ORANGE RIVER BRIDGE.