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Next day a third brother, Puffing Billy, made a somewhat bashful first appearance on Bulwan. Four rounds from the four-point-seven silenced him for the day. Later came other brothers, of whom you will hear in due course.
The Gordons held their sports near the Iron Bridge, sentries being posted to give the alarm if the Bulwan guns fired. "Any more entries for the United Service mule race? Are you ready? Sentry, are you keeping your eye on that gun?" "Yes, sir." "Very well then, go!"
They were shelled religiously for a part of every day by Puffing Billy from Bulwan and Fiddling Jimmy from Middle Hill. Every officer who showed got a round of shrapnel at him. Their riflemen would follow an officer about all day with shots at 2200 yards; the day before they had hit Major Grant, of the Intelligence, as he was sketching the country.
"Long Tom" and "Puffing Billy," with their huge volumes of smoke, are much more satisfactory. Rain fell heavily for the rest of the day, and the bombardment ended, but it was bitter cold. November 18, 1899. The bombardment was continued without much energy. The balloon reported that the Boers were occupied in putting up more guns on Bulwan.
But General Hunter will not allow any one to visit the camp, and it is no good repeating secondhand reports. December 27, 1899. The side of Tunnel Hill, at the angle of the Helpmakaar road, where Liverpools and Gloucesters have suffered in turn, was to-day the scene of an exactly similar disaster to the Devons. The great Bulwan gun began shelling us later than usual. It must have been past eight.
Three-quarters of a mile further the road enters rough and bushy ground, thinly covered with stunted thorns and mimosa. It rises gradually to the foot of the two great hills, Lombard's Kop and Bulwan, the road crossing the low wooded nek between them. Lombard's Kop, which is the higher, lies in the left.
The ravine "kloof" is the word here, like "cleft" is fairly safe from shells, though the Bulwan gun has done its best to get among the tents ever since spies reported the removal. It is fully exposed to those terrible dust storms which I described in an earlier letter. In the afternoon we had one of the worst I have seen.
But the black powder gave away their position in a moment, and from every side Pepworth's, Lombard's Nek, Bulwan came spouting inquirers to see who made that noise. The Lord Mayor's show was a fool to that display of infernal fireworks. The pompon added his bark, but he has never yet bitten anybody: him the Devons despise, and have christened with a coarse name.
January 20, 1900. Again I was on Observation Hill two or three times in the day. It is impossible to keep away from it long. The rumble of the British guns was loud but intermittent, but the Boer camps remain where they were. With us the bombardment continued pretty steadily. After a silence of two days "Puffing Billy," of Bulwan, threw one shell into the town and six among the Devons.
I have never seen it so clear the precipitous barrier of the Basuto mountains, lined with cloud, and still touched with snow: the great sculptured mountains that mark the Free State border: and then the scenes which have become so familiar to us all Elands Laagte, Tinta Inyoni, Pepworth Hill, Lombard's Kop, and the great Bulwan.
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