The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-06-22

| fault. spelling an excellent scene Now both
| the officer and l were feeling rather foolish;
| we were some yards ahead and we pulled back
to him. I'm very willing to do anything,
said | 10 the officer. but | don't wee what good
we can do. The slower we go the more chance
| OF our being shot. II We stay with this chap
| and he falls of, we'll all be captured; besides,
it's all against common sense II WAS this
that made me feel so awkward The officer
| began getting ahead. Gimme your carbine,'
] said to the man. He handed II over. and |
| felt quite pleased. ] was now doing a sensible
| thing for to prevent arms falling into the enemy's
| hands is surely sensible. With that l galloped
| of after the officer.
Il read this out 10 NJ. sitting on the other
side Of the tent. He raised another point.
| Acts OF bravery due 10 ammunition boots.
You can't run in the army boot. NJ. escaped
from the convoy. After fifty yards or so he
/ couldn't run any more. SO he walked 10 a house
| held by our men. an exposed position, and
| fired from there. A man walking under a
hail OF bullets has not necessarily the soul OF
a hero, he may be merely wearing army boots.
ron the whole, everybody acted In a very
everyday sort of way. Some threw away
bags and things they were carrying on their
saddles. One man ] heard OF SHE'D away
rife and band0lier. The man next me In
| the firing line was firing with his head TANNED
against a little ant heap. which completely
shut out any possible view Of the enemy.
There Is no bravery in facing bullets; you
don't usually expect them to hit you. and they
don't hit you. and the chances OF them select
ing you are SINAI One place Is very much
as safe as another. You zee little black OBJ
jects advancing in a line; you blaze away AT
them at 200 yards. and don't ses where your
bullet goes to. l should explain that We rode
into that trap with our rifles slun1 on our backs.
unloaded Moreover, we had no bayonefs;
and there was a Doggy ditch between Us and
the Beers. so charging was out OF the aues-
ton. We were 228 strong; the Beers had their
magazines loaded with explosive buletsl
we we're within forty yards; we bolted straight
from them, and yet ! don't expect we lost
thirty men there. so cavalry charging over
the same ground would have lost less 1.-THE
enemy being more uncertain in aim). There
fore the day Of cavalry Ia not over with the
advent OF a magazine rife. It's very hard
To hit men gallopins at 600 yards. The aver
age Boer il a poor shot
The newly arranged Babylonian and As
syrian room in the British Museum will be
opened 70 the puvlic on Monday next. IL
may now be safely said. declares q writer in the
Times. that about nine-tenths Of the known
material for the history OF Babylonia and As
syria IL to be found in the British Museum.
He continues There wa a time when IL could
be truly said that a case in the British Museum,
about two feet square. held all that remained
Of the literatures OF the ancient empires OF
Babylon and Assyria, but now the in
scribed tablets preserved there may be num-
bered by tens OF thousands. and the inscribed
bricks. boundary stones, gate-sockets. cylin-
ders. &c, add several hundreds 70 their total.
The arrangement Of the antiquities Is, a. far
as possible, both national and chronological
and the objects exhibited cover a period Of about
five thousand years. |. e.. from about B. c. +SO
to A. D. 500. The languages In which they are
inscribed are Accadian, or Sumerian. Babylon
ian, Assyrian, Persian, Scythic or Median.
SUSAN. Vannic and a number OF northern
Semitic dialects. including Syriac. Mandsitic,
Hebrew, &c. and within a space measuring &c
feet by IS feet the student will find exhibited
specimens OF every known kind OF cuneiform
writing. The whole of the west side OF the
room Is occupied by a splendid series OF In
scribed bricks. gate sockets and other heavy
monuments.
zone of the most noticeable groups OF objectsis
the set OF boundary stones or which
fill the centres OF the wall cases 9-i2. These
remarkable documents are sculptured with
NEUROLOGICAL and other figures in relief, and are
inscribed with texts relating 10 grants Of land
the transfer of property. and the like. or specia
interest in the group il the stone OF Ritti-Mar-
duk mo. Us about h. c. liO0l, who. In return
for certain assistance which he rendered to his
King, Northumberland l., in his war against the
Elamites, was granted certain privileges: Nc
tax was TO be levied by The local overload. the
King OF Namar, on Ritz Marduk's stations
mares and other animals. and incense trees: no
plantation or date grove was 10 be- cut down OF
road made or bridge built in his territory with
out his consent, no recruits We're 10 ba drawn
from Ritti- Marduk's city. and he and his famil,
were exempted from military service forever,
a little further along We have a fine exhibit
ton Of bricks and other monuments OF Nebu'
chadnezzar H.. the Great. The inscriptions
on these prove that he carried on building
operations in almost every great city In Bah,
lonia: that no restored the ancient shrines Of
Baby lon. including that OF Borsippa; that h
fortified Sab lon and provided IL with tbs
mighty protecting walls which he called I'm
gur-Ber and 'Nimitti-B6l, and that his boast
Is not this great Baby Ion, that | have built fol
the house of the kingdom by the might Of my
power. and for the honor Of my majesty wa
no vain one. The bronze doorstep NO. $50
which cane from the lower part Of the flight %
steps leading to the ancient temple u E-Zid'
at Bor-ippa. T. p. the traditional site Of th'
Tower Of Babel. Is Of considerable interes AfOl
il proves that the art Of making large cast g
In bronze was understood by the Baby ~lonian-
An interesting series Of casts II exhibited fol
the frs, time, from the paper squeeler' which
the late Sir Henry Rawlinson made from th'
tri-lnsual inscription of Darius the Great II &
52l-B. G.. is5y engraved in the Persian. Scy thi'
and Bahylonian languages on the Rock o
BehiStum. Sir Henry obtained these AZ i'm
minent peril 10 life and limb. and, az the de
EXPERIMENT OF the Royal names in the Behistur
inscriptions Afforded the clue TO the decipher
ment of every other kind Of c%uneiforn
inscription. the specimens 81 the identical pa
Der squaezers exhibited on the floor Of the cas-
near the casts will be inspected with interest.