bear on the group; Baird's, a heavy metalled 'polygroove,' by Dickson, of Edinburgh, throwing a ball right amongst them at a distance of at least 1200 yards, the effect of which was most absurd; one fellow, who had been standing conspicuously in a dark red blanket, throwing himself flat on his face, and the rest jumping right and left with uncommon agility. They fired several more shots at us, and Bruce, Gordon, and myself, each in turn brought our rifles to bear on them, completely silencing their conversation as well as the fire. The wheezing oxen having recovered their breath for another spell, the creaking waggons again moved slowly on, and halting every five or ten yards, toiled wearily up the steep ascent, the slippery road constantly bringing a whole team on their knees in their efforts to move their load; so tedious was our progress that we were fourteen hours performing these eight miles. When about half-way up the Pass, at a turn in the road, we saw that "the krantz" was held by a strong party of the other brigade posted to cover our ascent, the red coats of the 6th and 91st appearing like specks along its lofty precipitous edge, peeping from among the bush and huge masses of rock some hundreds of feet above us. The heat of the sun in the narrow road, shut in between thick forest, was intense, and told fearfully against the cattle. We had barely gained the top of the Pass by three o'clock, and with the exception of a single cup of coffee, at two in the morning, had not yet broken our fast, for unfortunately none of us had any biscuit in our haversacs, as it was "ration day," and we had expected to gain the top of the hill for breakfast. I was, however, lucky enough to get a few raisins from a dirty but generous Dutchman, to the envy of the less favoured. When we had fairly gained the open flat above, the covering party of artillery and infantry was withdrawn, and formed our rear-guard, and in a couple of hours more we reached the camp, far more fatigued by the slow creeping pace and constant halting than we should have been by a long day's march, and were so hungry and tired that we could not wait for anything being cooked. As for myself, having secured a lead-like loaf of camp manufacture, I devoured the whole of it, and fell asleep on the grass.