From the shoulder of the hill by the mimosas, where the maimed men crowded in a heart-rending throng round the dressing station, the reinforcements emerged upon that bare plateau of death. There were now the best part of 5,000 men, crowded into an area of little over three acres. But no guns came, though all looked long and eagerly for them. A couple of "Pom-Poms," a pair of 15-pounders, would have restored confidence by their roar. But there were no "Pom-Poms" with the army, and the artillery officers could not undertake to move their guns up to the height by the precipitous track. It only remained to suffer and die. In that atmosphere, thick with the fumes of cordite, of melinite, and of the powder in bursting shells, suffocating with smoke and dust and heat, the burning thirst of the battlefield laid its parching grip upon the throats of the combatants, and men cried and screamed for water. Yet water there was none, or, if there had been, there was no time to seek it, and no chance of carrying it alive into the firing line. Units were now commingled, companies confounded with companies, battalions with battalions; so many officers were down that there were few to lead and inspire the men in the fighting line. About 2 p.m. a white flag was raised over part of the British trenches, and 150 of the 2nd Lancashire Fusiliers under Captain Freeth surrendered. In this battalion the losses of officers had been terrible, and the consequent demoralisation great. Among those who fell was the ill-fated son of Hicks Pasha, Captain Hicks. Blown to pieces by a shell, while bravely leading his men, no trace of him could be found, and his fate was for months uncertain. [Illustration: _F. J. Waugh._] THE BRITISH TROOPS MEETING A BOER RUSH ON SPION KOP.] [Sidenote: JAN. 24, 1900.] _An Officer's Experiences in the Battle._] [Sidenote: Boer attempts to rush the position.] The rifle fire of the British troops was so shaken by the hail of shells, that the Boers were able repeatedly to close, and were only driven back time after time by desperate bayonet charges. They had set their hearts upon repeating Majuba, and capturing or driving back in utter rout the British troops. Again and again their leaders called upon our men to surrender, and were received each time with derisive shouts, though some small parties raised the white flag. They asserted, indeed, that our officers slashed the men with swords to make them fight--a story which is disproved by the fact that, like the men, the officers carried rifles; and they further accused us of firing upon those who had been made prisoners. There may have been such incidents, but not through any set purpose or with the fixed deliberation which attended their own too frequent breaches of the laws of war. [Illustration: LYDDITE SHELL FROM A BRITISH NAVAL GUN. Fired at Spion Kop and not exploded. Presented by the finder to President Kruger.] [Illustration: CAPTAIN HICKS.