formidable indeed, and in one important respect is likely to receive an immediate increase. There is, according to Mr. Holland, no defence possible against the existing type. The submarine is indeed a seadevil against which no means that we possess at present can prevail.' Again: You can send nothing against a submarine boat-not even itself. You cannot defend yourself against an attack under water except by running away. Wharves, shipping at anchor, the buildings in seaport towns, cannot run away. Therefore the sending of a submarine against them means their inevitable destruction.' And Mr. Holland does not hesitate to predict that nations with seaport towns will have to refrain from making war altogether unless the ingenuity of inventors comes to the rescue.

The most striking thing, however, in this article is the positive statement that a new submarine is about to cross the Atlantic entirely under her own power. She is to go first to Bermuda (676 miles), then to Fayal (1,880 miles), thence to Lisbon (940 miles), and she could just as easily do the whole distance of nearly 3,500 miles without any break at all. This, we presume, is the third and most advanced stage of the Holland type. If the result of the experiments justifies the inventor's confidence, there will be an end of the weightiest plea in the argument against the submarine. It will be no longer possible to pretend that they are 'weapons of coast defence' only. If the Daily Chronicle's Washington correspondent is right, a supplemental submarine programme is about to be proposed in the United States. 'Congress,' he says, will be asked during the present Session to authorise additional submarine torpedo-boats. There are seven boats now under construction. The new vessels are to be slightly larger than those now building, and have an increased radius of action. They will carry five instead of three torpedoes.' He takes the responsibility of adding that the naval officers who have been studying the question have become convinced that submarine boats will prove one of the decisive factors in future wars.' 5

What, then, is the situation as it appears to persons without special knowledge or preconceived opinions-unacquainted either with the policy of the Admiralty or the designs of inventors? We see that the United States, which fifteen years ago could come to no conclusion because the question was in an experimental stage," are now in possession of the finest specimen of the type yet devised, and are making it part of their naval equipment. The opinions of naval officers and the interests of battleship-builders have, we are told, blocked the way, but have not prevailed. France, which led from the first, has still the lead in the number of submarines built,

Daily Chronicle, the 24th of December, 1900.

* The Board of Fortifications and Defences reported in 1886 that 'submarine boats have not passed the experimental stage,' and declined to make any recommendation.

building, or financially provided for. Other nations are following suit-even some not named in this or in any other paper that I have seen-and that on the advice of English experts. In this country we have not as yet been permitted to know what our policy is, or whether we have a policy. Russia, it is said, keeps her doings secret, but such a course is impossible in this country. Until some financial provision is made in the programme attached to the Navy Estimates we know that nothing is being done beyond inquiry, and possibly experiment. A few weeks ago some of the newspapers reported that experiments had been begun, but the statement does not appear to have been authorised, and has not been confirmed. Until Parliament meets again in February we are not likely to have any official announcement on the subject. I am the last person who would desire to take the decision of such a question out of the hands of the Admiralty, or to use any pressure to force them to a premature decision. But no decision can now be described as premature. The question has been before them for many years. They must by this time be in a position to tell us authoritatively whether the submarine vessels have any value for ourselves or for our possible enemies, and if for the latter only, how we are to countervail them. The most satisfactory assurance we could receive from the Admiralty would be that the submarine is, as many persons in this country still maintain, an expensive toy, which is dangerous only to its owners. But in the face of the huge provision made by France, and the considerable provision made by the United States, it is difficult to believe that any such assurance can be forthcoming. There is really nothing in the recorded opinions of private experts which can be set against the conclusions of the Chief Constructor of the United States Navy or the positive statements of Mr. Holland. At the present time our military misfortunes have shaken public confidence in all our great departments, and continued reticence on a subject which has excited so much curiosity and apprehension would, I venture to think, be a mistake. If not before Parliament meets, at all events then, the new Admiralty, it is to be hoped, will take the country into its confidence.

EDMUND ROBERTSON.

THORNEYCROFT'S MOUNTED INFANTRY

ON SPION KOP

'Varus, Varus, give me back my legions.'

By the 21st of January it had become evident that the high hill of Intawanyama or Spion Kop was the key of the Boer position, and that whoever held that commanding height held the road to Ladysmith. An assault on this hill was planned, and Thorneycroft's Mounted Infantry, on account of their local knowledge, were selected to supply a detachment to the attacking force. The attempt was to be made on the night of the 22nd, but, in answer to a suggestion of Colonel Thorneycroft, the General decided that it should be postponed until a thorough reconnaissance of the hill had been made.

With this object General Warren went out on the morning of

the 23rd.

Of the two routes to the summit, that which started from the direction of Trichardt's Drift was the one which at first recommended itself to the General, for it was not exposed to view or fire from the enemy-while the other route over the south-western face of the mountain was visible from the Boer positions. General Warren, accompanied by some of his staff, reconnoitred the route from the side of Trichardt's Drift; but, when later in the day General Woodgate was placed in command of the enterprise, it was decided to climb the hill from the south-western slopes.

On the afternoon of the 23rd the camp was moved and preparations were made for a rendezvous in the evening to assault Spion Kop from the direction of Trichardt's Drift: that is, from the southeastern side of the mountain. It was not until seven o'clock at night that the word came that General Woodgate had decided to attack Spion Kop from the other side: that is, from the south-western side of the mountain.

Colonel Thorneycroft rode out from camp at once, and the rough sketch and the hasty notes which he was then able to make in the fleeting moments of dusk afforded the sole information as to the route up the hill which the column possessed.

He noted the landmarks-first two 'dongas,' then a little to the

left hand a third-then straight up and a cluster of kraals-then up again and two trees-up again and two more trees, then a plateau, some steep rocks, some more trees, and a smooth green' glacis '-then a belt of trees, and after that straight over the open to the top. Also a long donga seemed to run rectangularly up the mountain on the right hand of a column passing by the kraals and the other landmarks, while on the left would be a gully or 'couloir' which appeared to run down the mountain.

It was six o'clock on a warm cloudy evening when, leaving their horses in camp, 180 men and eighteen officers of Thorneycroft's Mounted Infantry set out for the rendezvous.

The meeting-place was at the mouth of a long glen, which led to the base of the hill, and was near the main camp of General Warren's force. Here the men halted, and their Colonel spoke a few words to them. The honour of the regiment was in the hands of the men involved in this enterprise,' he said, and he knew he could trust. them all to do their duty.'

Absolute silence must be kept, and no lights must be struck.. When the top was reached there was to be no firing; the bayonet only was to be used.

It was com

At about half-past ten the column had assembled. posed of the Royal Lancaster Regiment, the Lancashire Fusiliers, two companies of the South Lancashire Regiment, and Thorneycroft's Mounted Infantry. It moved up the gully with the Lancashire Fusiliers leading.

When some half-mile had been traversed General Woodgate halted the leading battalion, and sent the mounted infantry ahead; and from that moment until the summit was reached the column was led by Colonel Thorneycroft, accompanied by Lieutenants Farquhar and Gordon Forbes, and Privates Shaw and Macadam, with 183 officers and men of their regiment behind them. Kaffir paths were followed leading to the kraals, which, being beyond the dongas and the broken ground at the base of the hill, and being on the hill itself, were the first and most important landmark of all. Near the foot of the hill a short halt was made, and scouts were sent out to find the kraals, which the column reached a little after midnight. Here the difficulty of the ascent began: huge boulders lie hidden in the grass all along this side of Spion Kop, and the steepness and roughness of the route increased as the column ascended. The first clump of trees came in sight (the second of the Colonel's landmarks). The mountain seemed to change its shape: the sketch and the notes of the route had been made from a distance and in a few minutes of waning light. The long donga, which had looked as if it ran straight up the hill, had disappeared; but the other landmarks were enough, and the Colonel and his four comrades pushed. up to the second clump of trees, keeping the hollow on their left—

then on to the little plateau, then to the steep rocks, while the column behind plodded slowly up over the grass slopes and the boulders. No man spoke; orders and messages were whispered. Halts were made for the column to close up, but the formation ('double files') was well kept, and touch was maintained throughout.

A few yards from the column not a sound could be heard except the muffled rattling of boots against the rocks.

Above the steep rocks (so steep that in many places the men had to use their hands) the hill flattened, as is the manner of South African hills, and here that thick mist which is not unusual in Natal in the rainy season settled on the hilltop, enveloping the column. The night was so dark that the fog could not render sight much more obscure, and the last of the landmarks were found-the green sloping 'glacis' and the belt of trees. Here the head of the column halted and a broader formation was taken up, Thorneycroft's Mounted Infantry from this point upwards gradually coming into line as the ground permitted so as to sweep round the whole face of the hill and avoid all possibility of missing the Boer picket. Halt after halt was made in order that in the mist no mistake should occur as to the direction of the line, and that thus the column might be ensured against being fired on by the enemy's outpost from a flank— a contingency most unfavourable to any night attack.

As the hill opened and flattened, section after section was hurried up into line, until as they were reaching the summit almost the whole of the T.M.I.' was in the front line, with the remainder in rear, and the Lancashire Fusiliers, the Royal Lancaster Regiment, and two companies of the South Lancashire Regiment in successive lines.

And thus, in this order, with bayonets fixed, the column breasted the last slope of their long climb in the darkness, at a few minutes before 4 A.M. on the morning of the 24th of January. The continual halts, which had been inevitable so that their cohesion should be preserved and their direction maintained, had enabled every man to arrive at the top in full breath and strength. The silence was intense throughout—only the faint rumbling of the men's boots and the barking of some dogs near the kraals were audible. When they were some twenty yards below the skyline a loud ringing voice calling twice in quick succession Wie da?' pierced the stillness in which the column had surrounded itself throughout the long night. The Dutch sentry's challenge was heard by every man near the head of the column, and each will remember it while his life lasts. A second later and the whole picket of some twenty Boers fired heavily -their rifles flashing irregularly through the darkness—and the leading line, the 'T.M.I.,' in obedience to an order given at the rendezvous, threw themselves on the ground. The firing lasted but a few moments, and then, when it seemed that the Dutchmen's