You ask if it e'er took a life, sir? Aye, I mind the time full well; I had spotted him by a farm, sir, And went for him with a yell. He tried to escape me hard, sir, But I plunged it in his side, And there by his own backyard, sir, A healthy porker died. But did I draw it in action? You ask me roughly now. Yes, we were taking a kopje, The foe were on the brow. We drew and fixed our bay'nits, The sun shone on the steel; Death to the sniping beggars We were about to deal. Then, sweating and a-puffing, We scaled the rocky height, But when we reached the top, sir. The foe was out of sight. Has it e'er drawn human blood? Yes, once, I grieve to say; It was not in a battle, Or any bloody fray; 'Twas just outside Pretoria. The deed was never meant, I slipped and fell on the point, sir, 'Twas quite by accident. _Chorus_: _Then here's to the British bay'nit, Made of Sheffield steel, And here's to the men who bore it, Stalwart men and leal. And here's to the Millenium, The time of peaceful peace, When neighbours shall love each other, And wicked wars shall cease._ DEATH OF LIEUTENANT STANLEY. Monday, September 17th. There is a funeral to-day--an officer's--and we (the Composite Squadron) are stopping in camp for it, as it concerns us. So I will tell you all about it. Yesterday was Sunday, seldom a day of rest out here. We, the three squadrons of Yeomanry attached to Clements' force, were sent out early on a reconnaissance. Without any opposition we advanced in a westerly direction towards Boschfontein, almost the same way as on Monday last, for about four miles, the Devon and Dorset troops of our squadron being on the right, our Sussex troop on the left, the Roughriders (72nd I.Y.) in reserve, and the Fife Light Horse scouting ahead. The Fifes had reached the foot of a high grass-covered kopje, and were about to ascend it, when the enemy opened a hot fire on them, causing them to scoot for their lives, which they managed to do successfully. We then galloped up, dismounted, and opened fire on the hill-top, the Devons and Dorsets doing the same on our right, and the Fifes falling back on our left. Where the Roughs were we never knew, probably their officers did. Taking into account the absence of the Nos. 3, with the led horses, and one group of our troop being sent some distance to the left, we only numbered six and our officer, Mr. Stanley, well-known in the cricket world as a Somerset county man. Our led horses were in a donga in the rear. The position we occupied, I should mention, was at the base of a kopje opposite to that held by the Boers. We were sighting at 2,000, when our captain, Sir Elliot Lees, rode up and said he could not make out where the Devons and Dorsets who should have been on our right, were. As a matter of fact they had retired unknown to us. This the wily Boers had seen and quickly taken