The feature of the artillery fight was a duel between the "Pom-Pom" and the 18th Field Battery. "The Boer gun," says Mr. Julian Ralph, the brilliant correspondent of the _Daily Mail_, "was never seen, and the man who served it never once saw us. His piece was hidden beyond the ridge on the further slope, and a comrade gave him his range and direction. For a long time this gunner devoted his attention to one of the field batteries. Next he attacked the black mass made by their horses and limbers. Later he paid his respects to the naval gun and its crew. He never achieved perfect excellence, for he did no damage to any British gun; he killed but two horses in the field, and he wounded but five of our men altogether. And yet he got his range so quickly and well, and he was so persistent and so wholly invisible, that our men set their teeth in grim determination to destroy him. They had for a target nothing but the thin smoke which rose over his gun, but into that little floating cloud they planted shot and shell, until at the end of the day they had given out 210 rounds, if I remember the extraordinary figure correctly. All the other Boer guns were silenced before this one was, and at twenty minutes to ten this was silenced and every gun of the enemy was speechless."
[Illustration: NO. 1 BASE HOSPITAL, WYNBERG.
Says an officer in command of one section (two guns) of the 18th Field Battery:--"I had a warm time of it, from a quick-firing gun, firing one-inch common shell, but luckily all the rounds (about 100) fell just about 100 yards beyond my guns. We didn't get a scratch. In the meantime I plugged away at the right hand line of kopjes, but couldn't for the life of me see where their cursed little gun was."
STAFF OF THE OFFICERS' HOSPITAL AT WYNBERG.]
Noting the intensity of the artillery and rifle fire, and receiving reports that a fresh commando of the enemy was advancing from the north-east and threatening his rear, Lord Methuen came to the conclusion that the Boer force before him was far stronger than 400. Accordingly he heliographed orders back to Belmont to the battalion of Coldstreams and to the Guards' Brigade, now on their march to Enslin, for them to hasten immediately to his help.