At last the first shot is fired! I am certain that at this moment not a single Boer is left in the trenches. Everyone has rushed out to see the effect produced. It is of two kinds. Firstly, our shell, badly calculated, bursts far off in the plain; then, no sooner has it been fired, than an English shell from the Autoskopje battery, 3,500 metres to our right, falls and explodes among the machinery of the Kampferdam mine. This exchange of compliments goes on till near twelve o’clock. This is the sacred hour of lunch. The fire ceases. As coffee is a liquid which has to be imbibed slowly, firing does not begin again till nearly four o’clock. It is very hot, for it is the height of summer. During this interval, the Colonel has been several times to General du Toit, to ask for fifty volunteers. The Colonel’s plan is to batter the town with a storm of shells (we have 450) for two hours, from four to six, and thus demoralize it; then, with fifty men, whom the French contingent would lead, to seize the Autoskopje battery, which is but poorly defended, at nightfall, and thence to gradually creep up to the town through a little wood, which would mask the advance. The plan was very simple, requiring but few men, and had every chance of success, because of the surprise it would have been to the English, who had never been attacked hitherto. ’Wait a bit,’ said Du Toit; ’I will lay your plan before the council of war to-morrow.’ In vain the Colonel tells him that the success of the plan depends on its immediate execution. He can get no answer. The evening is wasted. General du Toit is a big, bronzed man, with a black pointed beard and a straight and penetrating gaze. Though very brave personally, he has never dared to engage his men. The latter are very well pleased with their role of besiegers. They will appreciate it less when the _Long Cecil_ comes upon the scene. Hitherto, the long _far niente_, comparatively free from peril--the town, under the command of Colonel Kekewich, was defended by such a small garrison that _sorties_ were impossible--has only been broken by the singing of hymns, the brewing of coffee and cocoa, and the occasional pursuit of a springbock. Every evening a guard, composed, I fancy, of anyone who chose to go, went off, provided with a comfortable stock of bedding, to do duty round the camp. Others, the valiant spirits, remained at the three batteries where were installed _Long Tom_, the three Armstrongs, and the Maxim. _Long Tom’s_ battery was by far the most popular, for several reasons. In the first place, its processes were much more interesting than those of the small guns; then, its defenders were much more sheltered, owing to the proximity of the mining works; and finally, a good many former miners were always on the look-out for a stray diamond or two. Among the besiegers of Kimberley, indeed, we met with a good many adventurers who took no other part in the campaign.