Those of the second watch were ready to reinforce the men on duty, while the third were only to turn out if summoned by the alarm-bell.

All the defences had, indeed, been brought to a wonderful pitch of perfection by the C.O.First there was a network of rifle-pits, which gave the Boers no peace day or night, and from which on one side or the other an almost incessant sniping went on.
These were supplemented by dynamite mines, the fame of which had frightened the Boers more than anything else, all connected with Headquarter Staff Office by electric wires.

In addition there was barbed-wire fencing round the larger earthworks, and massive barricades of waggons and sandbags across the principal streets.

All this looked very simple once erected and in working order, but it was the outcome of infinite thought and ever-working vigilance.

Then there was a complete system of telephones, connecting all the redoubts and the hospital with the Staff Office, thereby saving the lives of galloping orderlies, besides gaining their services as defenders in a garrison so small that each unit was an important factor.