For some time after Colonel Walford's gallant defence of Cannon Kopje on the 31st October, nothing much occurred. The losses from this attack were more than at first supposed. Captain the Hon. H. Marsham, as we know, was killed, and Captain Pechell, who was hit in the abdomen by a piece of shell, succumbed to his injuries. Sergeant Lloyd, who did splendid service with the Red Cross company, was struck while attending to the wounded, and died. Trooper Nicholas, whose arm was shattered, succumbed owing to shock to the system. A trooper who was hit by a bullet in the collar-bone escaped death miraculously. Fortunately, Lieutenants Brady and Dawson, who were also injured, were getting on well. Among the marvellous escapes recorded, and these were not a few, was one of a negro who was shot through the brain by a bullet. The projectile passed through one temple and lodged in the other, yet the man still survived, and showed a decided intention to recover. There is an old story of a Jamaica negro who fell from a tree without injury, and when asked how he escaped, he explained his good fortune by saying, "Tank God, me fall on me head!" The invulnerability of the nigger cranium in that case, as in this, had its advantages, and it would be interesting if some of our specialists--say Dr. Horsley--would account for the rough-and-tumble superiority of blacks over whites. On the 1st of November a lamentable incident occurred. Parslow, the correspondent of the _Daily Chronicle_, was shot by a member of the garrison. The following is an extract from a letter relating to the sad affair, which was in the possession of the Editor of the _Daily Chronicle_:-- "MAFEKING, _November 19_.--One item, the most unpleasant of the whole beleaguerment, occupied attention during last week--that is, the court-martial of Lieutenant Murchison for the murder of Mr. Parslow, special war correspondent of the London _Daily Chronicle_. He was a genial, good-humoured young fellow, and asked Murchison, an artilleryman of ability and undoubted courage, to dine with him. After dinner Mr. Parslow strolled with Murchison across the Market Square towards Dixon's Hotel, the headquarters of the Staff, the ostensible purpose being for both of them to obtain a copy of the orders for the day, usually issued about that time--half-past nine or ten o'clock P.M. Some words ensued apparently during the few minutes occupied in reaching Dixon's. Parslow left his companion in the passage of the hotel, and was passing out, when it is alleged that Murchison drew his revolver and shot him dead, the bullet entering his head on the occipital protuberance an inch or an inch and a half behind the left ear, and lodging against the base of the skull. The case is completed, and the court closed to consider the verdict."