Captain Jones ordered me to go on up the hill during the night, leaving the 4.7 guns at the bottom; so we commenced a weary climb up Van Wyk (6,000 feet) on a pitch-dark night lighted only by the lurid gleams of grass fires which the enemy had set going on the slopes of the mountain. With thirty-two oxen on each gun it was only just possible to ascend the lower slopes, and thus we made very slow progress. But as Colonel Sim R.E. kindly showed me a sort of track up, on we toiled for six hours, my men not having had a scrap of food or a rest since starting while the night was deadly cold and dark. In the gray dawn, just as we were attempting the last slope which was almost precipitous, the wheels of one of the guns gave out and there we had to leave it till daylight, pressing on with the sound one and getting it up to the top exactly at daylight (7th June) in accordance with our orders, taking the gun and limber up separately, with all my oxen and 100 men pulling. We found the position was held by the 10th Brigade, and very heavy sniping going on down the N.W. slopes--a regular crackle of musketry. I soon got my gun along the crest into an emplacement prepared by the Royal Engineers, and opened fire at once at 7,000 yards at a Boer camp on the slopes of an opposite kop; but finding the camp practically deserted we did not waste much fire on it. My men were now half dead with fatigue and cold, so we all got a short rest in a freezing wind. Sir Redvers Buller, quite blue with cold, rode up about 9 a.m. with his Colonial guide, and carefully surveyed the position through my long telescope. Prince Christian also came up later to talk over the Boer position and seemed in great spirits. After a good look round we could not see many signs of the enemy in front, and he was just going off to report this, but at that moment the spurs of the berg opposite to us became alive with them at 6,000 or 7,000 yards off; they came in a long line out of a dip and donga and advanced in skirmishing order with ambulances in rear and a wagon with what looked like a gun on it. I opened fire at once and put my first two shells at 6,000 yards right into some groups of horsemen; we saw them tumbling about, so after about a dozen shots from my gun off they went like greased lightning, seeming to sink into the earth and evidently quite taken aback to find we had a gun in such a position. In a few minutes not a sign of them was left, and the Commander-in-Chief riding up appeared much pleased and congratulated us on our straight shooting; he seemed very satisfied that we had got the guns up Van Wyk at all, and rode off leaving us quite rewarded with his appreciation, besides that of General Hildyard and his Staff who were with him.