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The plan was to bore out a cast iron gun and then to insert a wrought iron rifled barrel consisting of two tubes of coiled iron one inside the other. By the firing of a proof charge the wrought iron barrel was tightened inside the cast iron casing. By this means we obtained a converted gun at one-third of the cost of a new gun, and saved L140 on a 64-pounder and L210 on an 80-pounder.
Against that we had two 47-inch named respectively Lady Ann and Bloody Mary four naval 12-pounders, thirty-six field-guns, the two remaining mountain guns, an old 64-pounder, and a 3-inch quickfirer these two on Cæsar's Camp in charge of the Durban Naval Volunteers two old howitzers, and two Maxim-Nordenfeldts taken at Krugersdorp in the Jameson raid, and retaken at Elandslaagte, fifty pieces in all.
It was the voice of a 64-pounder gun from the nearest rampart, and the shot it sent fell within ten feet of the Portsmouth's bows. "Hullo!" exclaimed her captain, more angrily than ever. "We've run in almost to pointblank range of those heavy guns. About! About! Lieutenant, we must get out of this." "All right, sir," was anxiously responded.
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