General Maxwell encountered the enemy, who, posted in a good position, attacked him with two guns, which eventually were silenced by the British artillery. He then succeeded in sending the whole of the eastern force scudding towards the north, while General Hutton on his side, making an unusual detour, and assisted by No. 9 Field Battery and Colonel Alderson with his smart Colonials, prepared a little surprise, and contrived so to pound and harass the enemy on the hill commanding the town, that their valour, chastened by discretion and shrapnel, subsided, and they scurried away across the plains, thus leaving the coast clear. Several prisoners were captured, among them the commandant of the town, who had returned there for the purpose of destroying the instruments at the telegraph office. Among the defending force was the Irish-American Contingent, a riotous crew, who, according to the townsfolk, must have been to the Boers more bother than they were worth. During the engagement Captain Williams (2nd Hampshire Regiment) was wounded. On the 4th, the Mounted Infantry, under General Hutton, covering a front of ten miles, proceeded on their way, reconnoitred up to the Vet River, and meanwhile cleared the rail of such Boer stragglers as happened to be hanging about, as far as Eensgevonden, where they bivouacked. They were followed the next day by the rest of the force, all branches of which had been in communication by heliograph. At dawn on the 5th, the river was found by the West Australians to be held by the enemy. The guns advanced, and a fierce artillery duel followed, in which the 84th and 85th Batteries had some exciting experiences, and escaped as by a miracle without injury. Later on, two naval 12-pounders assisted them, and there was warm work till sunset, the Boers on the opposite bank fighting with rare obstinacy, and only desisting occasionally the better to leap to the attack. Meanwhile on the left, the sound of General Hutton's further operations could be heard. Having endeavoured to find a drift to the west, this officer encountered the enemy in possession, and was greeted by a duet from a hostile Maxim and a pom-pom. This presently developed into a quartet, the British galloping Maxim and a pom-pom taking so prominent a part that presently the Boers, concealed in the bed of the river, began to feel uncomfortable. News had come in to the Chief at mid-day that the enemy meant to hold the Vet River, and was there located with the necessary equipment of field-guns and Mausers, and that he was already in touch with Hutton's Brigade on the left. The army, taking advantage of such daylight as remained, moved on, and presently, across the river, and on the distant hills, blue-grey smoke in panting puffs bespoke the activities of the Colonials. To their assistance went naval guns, great and small, carrying messages of fuming green horror to the other side of the water. While this was taking place the Canadians and Tasmanians were