IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) /. // .< C<'x '^, 1.0 I.I 1.25 ■M ilM IIIIU |||Z2 \^ 12.0 i-4 IIIIII.6 VI <^ /^ "3 e. M '^^?^> >/ A o->) /A Photographic Sciences Corporation 33 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. 14580 (716) 872-4503 War Sketches Hedl'^v V. Mackinnon ! I ■■■■^^.^r" WAR SKPrrCHES WAR SKETCHES RKMIXISCI-XCKS OF Tlli: BORR WAR IN SOUTH AFRICA 1S99-1900 m- HEDLKV V. MACKINNON LATK OK (J COMP.W^ 2n|> matt. UOVAI, can a MIAN KKOT \ 1 O ^ THE EXAMINER PUBUShlNQ COMPANY CMAIILOTTETOWN P F 1 1900 I Kiilcr«-(1 itctoriliiiu lo X.i ,,f ii,,. 11...1; . . , ,. yi-;ii- KuKr liy i ! II" H. \'. MACKINNON INTRODUCTION. jif ■ i- ■ I ANY books have already been written on the Boer war in South Africa and manv more vv.ll be sure to follow ; but, to Canadians, no descrip tion „f the war will appeal more stron^rlv than such reminiscent sketches as are contained in this booklet These pen pictures trive the best possible idea n\ the imi)ressions made on tlir minds of the men in the ranks, and faithfully portrav the life of the soldier, with its lij^hts and shadows, durintr a cam miSn m many respects uni.aralleled in the historv of (mr (Jreat Empire. Tlr. writer of the sketches has carefully kept vv.thm the ranjre of his own experience ; and what .1 thrlhnjr experienci. it was throuu-h which he in common with his comrades, passed, durin^r the year of service. They fouj^ht : they endured the fati«-ue of lonK dreary marches over barren veldt-acro.ss hujr, ln their parched lips. Others, pale ami weak from hungrer and thir.st-would rush to a dirty pool on the i-oad. and. pushing, aside the grreen slime and filth suck up a few drops of liquid poison. When any kind ot water was to be had we were joyful, and even thoug.h a rag- had to be put over the mouth of the water bottle to keep back the hundreds of little ani- mals we thanked God. In our worst times a mud puddle was always welcome, for a few handfuls put in a handkerchief and .squeezed would furnish, sufficient water to moisten the lips and throats of three or four 10 ON TREK I > I I men. No talking- was done on that inarch, for we needed all our spare wind, and besides, breathinp^ was painful enoug-h without making our throats more parched by unnecessary conversation. Blistered feet were plentiful ; veldt sores, those terrible ulcers, were common, and the way those boys from comfortable Canadian homes strug-gled along when every stej) must have been a hell is deserving of the g^reatest praise. In times such as those our officers would often pass down the Imes, usually with a word or two to cheer us up and help the weaker ones along". Only four more miles, boys," "Try to hang" on," "It won't be over two hours till we halt," etc. And the tired soldier would grasp his rifle more firmly, the poor fellow with soleless boots move with a quicker step, and the man almost crazy for water would straighten up, each with the look in his eyes that showed he would "stick it out" for that day's march at least. And when the long-looked for pond ""ime in sight, with what joy we hastened to the halting--place, piled arms, threw off our equipment, and hurried down to drink cup after cup of water, —.sometimes slimy, it is true, .sometimes dipping- it up from between the horses and mules that needed it as badly as we did, but still water. Then on returning to the lines we heard orders read: "Reveille at 2 a. m., blankets in waggrons at 2.30, breakfast at 3, march off at 3.30 a. m " The orderly men brought supper from the cook "house, blankets were spread, darkness beg-an to settle, and we lay down to sleep, — our day's work done. :h, for we ithinjT was *oats more iterert feet leers, were omfortable every step e j,'-reatest often pass I to cheer Only four ; wont be red soldier ellow with I the man each with "stick it ; in siiiht, lace, piled down to limy, it is the horses I, but still ird orders jrfTons at m.' The )l\ "house, !ttle, and 9 i THE FAMOUS CHRISTMAS DINNER. •"Some men live to eat. others eat to live, but we did neither.' " WE were at Belmont, a half homesick and wholly discontented crowd, anxious to do somethin^^ more than ^rarrison duty and lon^injr for a move. Our idea-perhaps a somewhat mistaken one-was that we had come out to Africa to fight and not to spend our year m seeminq-ly useless outpost duty on the line of communication. This anxiety of ours to get into a hffht was a great source of amusement to the Imperial troops, but although they smiled at our wild talk they always gave the same piece of advice, "Dout hurt yourselves in looking for a scrap, for after you have been in one you won't like it so well." We di.scovered the truth of this statement later on. However, Christmas was drawing near and grad- ually from war our conversation flowed into the channel of what we were mi.ssing by not being at home. We knew of course that presents had been •sent to us, but as many other things had gone astray we did not anticipate very much from that source Our hopes were based chiefly on what the Army Serv- ice Corps would issue and our Colonel buy In fact our Captain had told us that there was to be a plum II' i • 12 TIIK KAMOIS CIIKISTMAS IMNNKH puddintj for each man, lots of chicken, etc., and more fruit than we could eat. The puddinjrs we knew were canned goods, probably partially dried, and would need steam inj^ to brinjf them to proper condition. In anticipation of this many of the boys made from old biscuit boxes a curious style of steamer. They bent the tin in a circle, nailed the edfi^es tog^ether, put a bottom on in the same way, and punched holes through it with their bay plenty" into twelve parts and received our shares on spoons. Then mifi-ht have been seen an exhibition of true c.mrapre, for every man opened his mourh and actually swallowed plenty plum puddinjr, in fac; all he could eat. at one mouthful. xNo one thoufrht ot indifrestion ; the chan«-e to .such a rich diet never bothered an> person, but strange to say, after having all the plum pudding we could eat we did not experience that full teeling. One fellow in an ashamed sort of way mur- mured that he would not object to .some more, but he was a glutton and did not know when to stop eating. -Who is orderly man here?' The corporal was .speaking. -Gone out.' -Well anyone will d,>. 1 want a man from each tent to draw chickens • (Gen- eral chorus :" 111 go. • "You come Silver.- "Wait tilllwa.shmy hands.- '-You are a chump. I don t want you t(, draw the chickens in that way but just to draw them from stores. " Silver went-but never returned. Three oclock came, four, half-past four, and no chickens. Suddenly a faint voice was heard- -You fellows ! Will you give your rations of chicken to the man m hospital who has fever ? The other companies are domg so and we expect to have plenty to give him a feed. You know a fever patient does not eat much We looked at the big pile of chicken-two wings and a thread of meat--enough f<,r twelve men, and c<,n- ■sidered. Here we were with a splendid dinner before us and actually asked to give it awav when we had I 10 THK FAMolH CHRISTMAH DrV^KK eaten nothing all clay. Ah! Hadn't we? We were nearly forjrettinfr the puddinjj. But we looked ajjain at the two wind's etc., and thoujfht that all that, to be eaten by only twelve men, mijfht hurt us, so the verdict was in favor of the fever patient. When it had f^'one, the pflutton who wanted more pudding annoyed us still more by sayinj^ that he miy^ht have had a yood square meal for his pet tarantula if we ha«l not been so quick in giving the grub away. They told us that the sick man had a splendid feed —we doubt it. At five o'clock we were ordered to fall in and when the regiment formed up on parade the six barrels of beer were opened — all but Ave of them which were kept for future use. The company orderlies brought pots t'lnd each mess received its share. Then (mr senior major made a short speech in which he thanked the regiment for its good conduct up to the present time and said that in return for our excellent behaviour we were to receive a plentiful supply of fruit to make the day seem more like Christmas. In addition to this, if none of the men got drunk on the most generous share of English beer already issued we would be given an extra ration of rum — two brimming spoonfuls. Regiment was dismissed and we returned to our tents with the intention of doing our best to keep sober after drinking a whole pint of beer. On reaching our tents what should we find but the non-coms, dividing the issue of fruit into equal shares. We stared in wonder at the big basketful before us and almost TIIK KA.M(»rs niRISTMAS DINNKH r ' We were H)ked .'i^ain all that, to : us, so the . When it *e puddinjif fni^rht havt- ta if we had ivay. lendid feed n and when barrels of I were kept mjrht pots our senior lanked the •esent time behaviour it to make ion to this. : generous Id be |,^iven ?nfuls. ed to our keep sober iching- our s. dividinjT stared in id almost wished it had been kept in stores for a few days, for how could we manajre to do it justice after all the plum l)uddin«- and other luxuries which had jrone before ? However here it was. three black bananas, one oraufre. four plums, eleven K'rapes, and two maufrroves ;- and we had to eat it. Even the jrlutton had hard work to swallow the last of his two frrapes and such bein^r the case it is easy to ima^nne how the rest of us felt. We dreaded cramps and lay down in the tents to rest our overloaded .stomachs. It had been a si)Ien(li(l dinner, we were told so at least, but the beer must have made a jtckI many of the men drunk, for the rum was never i.ssued. PAARDEBERG. " The Canadians hastened the inevitable." |UCH has been said and written of this our first enjrag-ement, but as it comes home to the people of Canada more than any other fi^ht in which our rejriment took part, it may be classed as one of those events which are always new. At other times in the campaign we have endured for a .short time much greater hardships, but never were there four weeks of misery such as those from February 17th to March 15th, 1900. We had left Graspan on the morn- ing of Tuesday, Feby. 13th, and reached Klip Drift early the following Saturday. Fully expected to have a day's rest there, but about sundown orders came to pack up and be ready to move at a moment's notice. We started at seven in the evening and marched until ten, when a halt of an hour or so was called that the mules and oxen might be watered at the river. Dur- ing this hour we slept. Then it began again and we went along, mile after mile, hour after hour, not knowing where we were going or what was ahead of us. One misery we were spared on that march— the heat- but the night was fairly warm and we were in a very sandy part of the country, so that the dust bothered us almost as much as the sun would have done. We were short of water, for the supply at Klip Drift was PAARDKMKRO 1}> limited and many of the boys had found it impossible to fill their bottles ; but our captain-a man in every sense of the word-did everythin^r in his power to mak'e it easier for us. He, in some way, manajred to obtain about half a bucket of water ami served it out with his own hands-one cuj^ful for ten men-and the last person in the company to wet his lips was the captain himself. We were hun^rry too, but hun^rer is for^^otten in the lonj^injir for water. Towards morninjr j^runs were heard in advance and we quickened our pace, not knowing- what was poin^r on but wishinjr to jret there before the finish. As liRlit be«-an to break over the hills and we could see the road, numbers of scraps of me.on and citron riml were found .scattered alon^r our line of march where they had been thrown by the Kaffirs accompanyinjr our advance yuard. These were ea^rerly picked up sciaped, and eaten by our men, as they were both juicy and cool. The last few hours were terrible, but everything must have an end and shortly before six o'clock we halted in a grove near the bank of the Mod- der. Rations were at once issued-one and a quarter biscuit per man, tea was made-the ration of tea at that time being one twenty-fourth of an ounce and sugar one quarter ounce-and we tried to eat a morsel before going into action. It was useless, for before the tea was cool enough to sip we were given the usual ration of rum-one half gill-and ordered to fall in. We went first at the double to the slope of a rising ground on the top of which our guns were in position, 20 I'AARDKnKRO but after stayin^r there a short time were ordered back and proceeded to cross the river. At the point of crossing— Troop's Drift— the cur- rent was very swift and the water varied in depth from two to six feet. From our place on the bank we saw the Gordons wading- across, three or four of them C9r0^m»„A Omit; '■ AJfe-SU£.>y KIMBERLEY Z''^, R( ^TT TToo^ Qj/\COBiOa(, Pa«rdc Ber^ CMH«U» joining- arms and thus supporting- each other, but when our fellows started they carried ropes over and by a number pulling on each end we were enabled to cross in single file more easily than the others had done. Our haversacks, containing the fragment of biscuit supposed to represent a day's food, were tied around our necks, rifles slung as high as possible, and watches or other articles liable to be damaged by water were placed in the helmets. In this way we forded the im^ > ^- /■■^i»w^,%rt ■ /,■ PAARDEBERG 21 Modeler, and althoujrh many of our men were thrown off their feet by the rushinjr river none were lost. On reachin},^ the farther bank we had a good wash and filled our water bottles, after drinking as much as we could hold, and then formed up to begin our first fight. As one of the boys remarked, "We were up against the real thing then. ■' The general plan of attack is so well known that a description of it would only be a repetition of what everyone already understands. Enough to say that we were extended to ten paces and advanced. Our company was held in reserve during the greater part of the fight, but on this day, on account of the ground sloping towards the Boer position the casualty list among the reserves was larger than is usually the case. We had, of course, got wringing wet when crossing the river, but the sun came out about nine o'clock and in a few hours our clothing was almost dry. Then a most unusual thing happened. Our men, lying under fire, but not actually engaged, one by one fell asleep and enjoyed the best rest they had had for some days. While sleeping, a heavy thunder storm came on and in a few moments we were as wet as ever. As it was now late in the afternoon there was not enough sun to dry our clothes and consequently the same old, miserable feeling tackled us again. It was about this time that Father O'Leary walked along the lines, stopping to speak to each man, espec- ially the French Canadians, and doing his best to cheer them up. A plucky action on his part, but very foolish 22 PAARDKBKRO for he was making- a tarjret of himself and drawing fire on each man he spoke to. During all this time the usual quiet excitement of a fig-ht was keeping- up our interest. Every now and then a cry would come for stretcher-bearers, and by and by some poor fellow was carried past moaning^, often with blood trickling- down trom his wounds. One of our own boys, who has not come home, walked alongr the line, under fire, .i^^athered the water bottles from his chums, w( nt to the river and filled them, and then came back and deliberately carried each (me to its owner. And in our reg-iment dozens of brave deeds were performed, any one of which was worthy of the Victoria Cross had the proper report been sent in. It is a very strangre thing- that in the Royal Canadian Keg-iment, which did its part so well and received such praise, uot one man ever received the V. C. This was not because no one had earned it. but rather that the deeds of valor performed in our numerous engtig^- uients were never reported, and no effort was made to reward any of the boys for their heroism. About four or five o'clock on Sunday afternoon as we were beg-inning- to tire of the thing-, the Cornwalls were seen commgr up from the rear, and we found that they were to do a bayonet chargre. Before making- the final ru.sh they lay down with us for a few minutes' rest, and it was then that the mistake occurred which gave us such a name for bravery, but which was paid tor with the blood of many of our brave fellows. When the Cornwalls halted, preparatory to charg-ingr PAARDEBKRO 28 a and H Companies of their corp.. were ri^ht beside G and H of the Canadians, and when, in a minute or two the order was passed alonjr for G and H Com- panies to fix bayonets, we naturally understood it to refer to ourselves and acted according-ly. Almost in- stantly the bucrles sounded the charge and we started. When our other companies saw G and H rushinjr alon^, they fixed bayonets and did the same, so that the work which was intended to be done by the Corn- walls became a combined rush by both battalions. The charg-e failed. No men who ever lived could have made a success of it, but the jrrandeur of that wild rush must have ^aven the Boers a much hijrher opinion of British courajre. The Colonel of the Cornwalls, who ordered the charjre, and who held in his hand five pounds for the first man to reach the Boer trenches, fell at the first volley, when leading: his men, and was buried by them next day. This piece of work practically ended the davs fi^rht- injr but firing- was continued until lonjr after .sundown, when all our men who could be found, .rathered tog-ether to march back to where we were encamped for the night. When we had walked about a mile our junior major appeared, and, after giving us orders for the nijrht, asked for a volunteer search party togfoout for dead and wounded. In the whole cam" paigrn there is nothing- more creditable to Prince Edward Island than the fact that all the men who formed that party were from her shores. And it i^ u PAARDEBERO the more worthy of praise, as all our own wounded had previously been brouffht in. The scenes witnessed on that field where so manv heroes lay dyinjr, are beyond description. It was sad in the extreme, but amid the sadne.ss was a feelinjr of pride— that we were permitted to form part of an army which held such men in its ranks. One poor chap shot throufrh the throat told us that he was not badly hurt but dreaded lyin^r on the field all nifrht. His wound, he said, was not painful, but interfered mth his breathing. We g-ave him more clothinjr and promised to send a stretcher out for him. "No," was his answer, " Dont say that. So many have promised a stretcher and I have waited hours for it. Let it come as a surprise." We found him in the morniny—dead. For the remainder of that ni^rht we slept, in spite of the cold and huno-er. It had been found impossible to brinjr our wag-ons over the river and food and blankets were not ready for us. On an average five men tried to find shelter under one rubber sheet. Next day, Monday, we rested after burying- the dead, and in the evening- marched out to a rising- ground a few miles from the bivouac, where our Brigr- adier made a short address of cong-ratulation and thanked the battallion for its conduct on the previous day. Tuesday morningr we moved out to take our place in the cordon formed around the enemy. All day we lay on the field doings some fine shooting with almost no ■ ^•WSiHi " /, I»AARI)KBERG 25 danger to ourselves, and at sundown retired to the hills where we were to do outpost duty. Here we re- mained until about noon on Friday, starving-, shiverinjr with the cold, and wrinfriny wet all the time from the continuous rain. While on these hills some of our men mana^-ed to capture a nice heifer which was killed and eaten in double time, the meat beinjr put on to fry almost before it was cold. On Friday our company moved back near Troops Brift to a hill we afterwards named Starvation Kopje, and on it passed three more days of misery. Rain every nijrht, no firewood, wet clothin;,r and blankets, outpost duty and a two mile walk for water. From this position we had a splendid view of the .surrounding- country and could see all that was yoinjr on in the plain below us. Here we first saw a larj>e army, almo.st fifty thousand men, and could watch all their movements. The boys would sit for hours enjoy- injr the spectacle and observing the effect of the shrapnel and lyddite which poured unceasino-lv into the Boer trenches. Rut even this little excitement yrew monotonous and on the third day our only topic of conversation was about when we were likelv to ^o home. Poor boys ! None of them dreamed how soon some were jjroinjr home. On Monday afternoon we came down from the hill and marched up the river to the British trenches whither the rest of our battalion had preceeded us. I„ passinjr over the position first held bv Cronje we actually had to break ranks to avoid the" carcasses of i 26 PAARDEBERa mules, horses and bullocks with which the frround was almost covered. The stench was sick'eninfr ; so bad indeed that in our regiment the name Paardeberg was seldom heard. We used a more vulgar but certainly a more expressive word and called the place Stinkfontein. In the evening- tea was made and served on the bank of the river and when the nijrht jrrew sufficiently dark we moved in silence to the trenches and took up our posi- tion in readiness for the advance. Our orders were that we were to move out at 2 a. m. in two ranks, the front rank with fixed bayonets, fifteen paces in advance of the others, who were to sling their rifles and carry picks and shovels to assist the Royal Engineers in digging the new trench. Front rrnk of course to act as a guard in case of an attack. The new trench to be two hundred yards nearer the Boer position than we then were. We lay down in the trenches to get a few hours sleep and at two o'clock were awakened and got ready for the advance. Orders were passed along in a whisper and we started. We knew that the Boers were about six hundred yards away but never imagined that we were to get any nearer to them than the distance ordered. So when, the word to halt was passed along we lay down, thinking the worst was over and that we only had to keep quiet until the new trench was made. But in a very few moments, to the surprise of everyone, word came to advance again. On and on we moved, scarcely daring to think what the result might be but hoping that our leaders knew what they were doing. For the last minute or two the 4**^" - V>;'-^» I PAARDEBERO ?T nervous strain was intense. We knew how far our trench was from the Boers, and could judjre fairly well the distance we had come, so expected every second to be ris-ht on top of the enemy. This mijrht have happened, but one of our feUows kicked a tin can, probably there for that very purpase, and then came a •single shot from the Boer sentry, followed by a volley that almost took our breath away. The flashes from the rifles made a continuous blaze of lijrht rifrht in front and we could almost imajrine we felt the heat from them. Men dropped on all sides and in a few seconds the air was filled with cries and groans from the wounded. Those who were hit in that first volley and did not manage to get back almost at once were afterwards killed, for. being disabled, they could not throw up any protection for themselves. The rest of us, using our bayonets as picks, and canteen covers or hands for shovels, quickly dug small holes and piled the clay in front as a covering for our heads. The hardest part of the whole thing was to he there being shot at without returning the enemy's fire. The Boers knew we were .somewhere in front of them but could not tell exactly where and were firing at random. Conse^ quently had any one of our men discharged his rifle the flash from it would have betrayed our position and the probable result would have been that not a single man of F or G companies would have come out alive. Then the thought struck us that we were in a delicate position should morning break and show us to the enemy. But before this happened the fire gradually fii^ 28 PAARDKBKKd n slackened and we crawled back one at a time to the trench which had been built. However, another un- comfortable feeling- arose from this cause— that here were F, G and H Companies of the Canadians forty yards from five thousand Dutchmen and nearly six- hundred yards from any of our own men. Our only plan therefore was to scare the life out of the enemy and keep down their fire. This was done to perfection, for all the men g-athered in the trenches with rifles cocked and ready for anythiufr that mijrht turn up. We thoug-ht the Boers would be anxious to see what had occurred in the nigfht, and just as day was break- ing our suppositions were shown to be correct. One man, more ea/^er than his fellows, slowly raised his head over the trench. We just had time to observe the look of surpiise on his face and then there was not much face left to look at, for nearly all our fellows fired to^rether, and over a hundred rifles aimed at one small tar^ret less than fifty yards away made that Boer look surprised. In fact he lost his head entirely. From that time until the sun was up they were continually jumpinjr around their trenches wavino- white flajfs. but everyone who showed himself was shot. About seven o'clock the matter seemed settled, for a veldt-cornet of theirs came {rallopinfr over the field with a lar^re white flajr on a statt'. The Boers laid down their arms and came troopinjr out of the trenches; the ten days" fijrht at Paardeberjr Drift was over : the Canadians had hastened the inevitable : Majuba was avenged, for Cronje had surrendered. .-'^*'^ OUR DOCTOR. "Bless thee, Bully Doctor." WE was a F-enchman, with all the peculiar char- acteristics of his race ; short and slijrht, but well put tojrether ; a thorough athlete and quick as a steel trap. When he joined us first, his knowledjre of the Enjrlish lanf^uajre was somewhat hazy, but {gradu- ally improved as time passed. On the steamer from Quebec to Capetown we befran to discover that in the little doctor we had a bit of a curiosity, but not until we reached Belmont did we find out just what he was. The task of drillinfr the stretcher bearers fell to him as junior surjreon, and the way he handled them was somethinjT marvellous. In the forenoon we always manaired to jrather around, at a respectable distance of course, and watch the fun. No sio-n of a smile ever appeared on the faces of the onlookers, but when the show was over and the " little doctor " jrone, we {rave our feelings full play, and lau* 30 orK DonoR r HLs usual method of treatinjr anyone who reporteff sick was-lookinjr at the sick report-" Jenkin«, Wen- kins. Henkins. Oh, 1 don't know, but come on anyhow, whatever your name is. Well, my boy, what is the matter?- " Cramps. Eh ? What! You will have cramps? Well T will jrive you three pills, you under- stand : you take one pill now. one piR at dinner time, one pill to-ni-ht. and the other in the morning-. You understand ? And if you not well next week come back a^-ain, eh ?" He was always (juick in his movements, and ex- pected every(me else to be the .same. Woe betide the man who was slow in answering- to his name when called from the sick report. Nothinjr was too bad for him. '-My boy, you think I am .sit here all day to wait for you ? Why you not come when I call, eh ? You ever come to me this way agrain. I will g-ive you some thmjrs that make you move more quick, eh ? You understand? Now. what is the matter ?" In the medicine panniers the pills always went by numbers instead of names, and his favorite seemed to be number nine. No matter whether the man for treatment was sufferingf from a touch of sunstroke or a blistered foot, it was all the same. On one occasion, when the victim was. by his own account, feelinjr pretty feveri.sh. the doctor called for number nine The orderly replied that there were no number nines in stock. Quick as a flash came the request, " Well then g-ive me a six and a three. • Talk about Yankees bein^r equal to any emerg-ency : with our doctor necessity was ■^'%.'«> (r • >rK DOCTOR 81 certainly the mother of invention, and he always rose to the occasion. While he was on duty at Klip River, the Sjrt. Major of the Royal Irish Rifles reported sick with a veldt sore on his hand. Lookinjr him over carefully, the doctor broke out : " My boy, you are Serjreant Major you have one sore hand, eh >. Well, my boy, you eat too much. I will «-ive you two ,)ill,s, eh ; you will take one pill every two hours, you understand ; the last one not .so soon "' Rut when a man was really sick no one could be more attentive than he. We all liked him. althoujrh bis manner was, to say the least, verv peculiar. In cases where his knowledjre of sury-ery was required, he always did his best and treated the different wounds or sores with all the tenderne.ss of a woman. One of our boys received a nasty cut, and the doctor was as attentive as thouyh the wounded man were his own brother. He came into our car on the armoured train one eveninjr with a pillow in his hand, and jroinjr over to the sick man asked : - Well, my boy, how your head is this evening- ?■• - Pretty .sore, doctor. • " Is it one jump, jump pain?- -No." -A pain that stands .still all the time?- ^Ye.s.- -And sore, .sore like blazes ? - - Yes. doctor. " •' Well, my boy. I will o-ive you one pillow for put under your head, eh ? You will put the pillow down and your head on the pillow you understand, eh ? .And the.se two little pills ver- chance .some hospital men had commandeered them for the sick. Anythinjr mijjfht have occurred, and we jrrew pale and hafrjjfard-lookinjr from the terrible strain ; II -tr«L- r-s» :u I^fT)IOESTlON r'lr.LS on our nerves. But after a time the exh^e was worn off our suffering- and we were able to think of the mat- ter with a cahiier mind. In fact the non-arrival of the ^oods formed a common topic of conversation and we were never tired of "irds the first part. The second half was still to come and sometimes we rep )rt. At ^mmii^74 INIJKJESTION PILLS .^- that .statre of the (fame we were in a state „f semi- »tarvati.,„ and had the presents reached us then thev would have been appreciated as perhaps nothing, was «-er appreciated before. But the, did not come and after a da, or two we became quite resi^^ned to our ate never expecting, to .see the cakes or puddings untd we started for home. A short time after this we marched into Bloeuifon- tern and very soon g^ot better food and far more of it than we had received since leavinjr Grn.s Pan While quartered at Bioemfontein our re^nraent .vent ■mt several times on reconnais,sance and when the -hsaster at Sannahs Post occurred we were hurried out t" reinforce or tr, to mend matters. It was a fast march and fair,, ,on,. ^^■, were not in ,„,k, condition or here had been rain nearl, ever, „i,,ht since we eached the town and our tents had not arrived A tew da,s later ue marched back to the city and there u-e few m G Company who will for,.et the surprise t^t awa.ted us. Our tents were all pitched and readv tor us to occupy, and the Christmas boxes had arrived fecarcel, had we piled arms and taken off our e.,u>pme„t when the order was heard G Companv fall ." for ,our Christmas presents.- And we fellin so vere presents to be is.sued at every parade. We fairlv ran to the Quartermasters stores and there la, three an,e boxe.s-T,,K boxes-containinjr the ^ood thin.,s that we had been thinkiu,. about for months >«r the New Brunswick b„,s there was a lar^e case 36 INDKJKS'TION IMI.LS Hi »l> i with a small box in it for each man. From Charlotte- town three boxes had been sent — one larj^^^e one from the ladies of the city with a present for each of us, the other two containinj^ private shifts. By chance, one plum pudding-,* which should have been in the larji^e box was packed in one of the others, and it is the only thinjif we ever received from the people at home. The principal box for the Island boys had jifone to G Co. of the Butt's. But although the puddings, etc. had failed to materialize we still had our private presents to fall back upon, and they were well worth receivinre,s.sion-not much to look at. The men, althc.u.^h tanned by exposure, are usually of a fair complexion ^vith mouse-colored hair and watery blue eyes These eyes are a distino-uishin,. characteristic of the people <>rn.ore than any other race, they have the sneaky." treacherous expression always .seen on the face of 'a coward. In most cases he dre.sses in a suit of ...ey homespun, often just as useful as our khaki for aMv 'lenn,. himself invisible in the sunburned ,a-ass of the veldt. A lijrht slouch hat with a handkerchief wound round in the form of a pu^aree covers his head, and 40 OUR FRIEXDS TIIK KNK.AH' If! .11, iiil i in his les^s are g-enerally protected by leather le'i'jring's. Picture to yourself a filthy, ifrnorant-lookinj]^ fellow in a costume like this, wearinjr over his shoulder the in- evitable bandolier full of ammunition, in his hand a Mauser rifle and you will see the Boer as we saw him, a cowardly cur, belonj^in^ to a civilization of three hunc^r. \ rs ago, and a cancer on the face of the earth. As a fiij^hter the Dutchman most certainly is a suc- cess in his own way. He knows his country perfectly, is a g-ood ri''-r- ,]Aes not object to filth, eats any old thinjj. ana vr's ''■';>. s' when there is the least sifjfu of daufi^er. Th , ruL i.' -ay kind of warfare is, ''Injure the . neniy ?.' ■ iruoh o • ssible, with the least loss to yourself," anJ il pr.^, [i mv« the maxim certainly, but before it always piace.-^ another, older than the hills, to the effect that "he who fijfhts and runs away may live to fljifht another day. ' In practically all the enji^auements in which our rejjfiment took part, the firins»- was at long" ranj^e, sel- dom becomin}>- less than three or four hundred yards. Whenever our firinjif line g'ot to within any decent ran 'in^ '^'^'mm (M •^'f Lord Kitchener, thorouo-hlv fitted -mrl • , ior the species of .nierill. u-.rf-n ''''''''"'' The extreme mobility of the enemv i ■ f i, .,,„,,. . -^ '^"'^ enemy is the cause of the ..PIMrent s„cc.»s „f his mov™,e„t,s, but >vith „e„ Wses .n„ p,ent.v „f the„, there is „„ ..aso Z ™. ...valr, could „.,t e„„a,i.e matter, and the fi„er he .cu,u „f the earth, the thorn in the si„e „f e1 ' l.'n,l. be settle,] once ami forever ■»^k3o. ir "SPASMS." "For spangled nighf does not always spread its shade for mortals." /JVN Ntn. Ye.-,i-, nijjht G Company was ,ktaile»ll-«- billow them where it Is." The man went, an,l ,-etnrne SPASMS anatheinized the Army Service Corps for not furnish - injr more food, abused our officers, and went away to drink cup after cup of Modder River water with the enerj^y of despair. And that is how the Royal Cana- dians celei)rated the relief of Ladvsmith. * When the disaster at Sannah's Post occurred, our brififade was hurried out from Bloemf(mtein, but at Sprinjrfield, about ei^'^ht miles from the city, quite a number of the men fell out. Amonjjf these were three who had been out in that direction before without haviufjf any fij^htin','" to do, and not expectinjj^ any on this trip thouirht it quite an unnecessary march. These three came back to Sprinfjftield camp where some Life Guards were doinjjf some {garrison duty, and in order that they mijjht receive }J"ood treatment one of them pretended that he was suft'erin}.^ from a touch of sunstroke, and the other two that they were escortinjjf him back to Bloemfontein. The Guards made a nice bed of straw in the loft of a barn, loaned the three Canadians some of their blankets and greatcoats and shared supper with them. The night was passed very comfortably, and in the morning the supposed sick man bluffed the doctor and was ordered into hospital at Bloemfontein. All were to be sent in on a Red Cross wagon which was leaving Springfield at nine o'clock. When the Canadians saw the Kaffirs inspanning the mules they went down to the spring for the purpose of tilling their water bottles and forgot to coine back. By (I SPAH.MS" 47 the Hide of the stream was a nice yrove in which thev lay hidden and fr,„n whence they could watch tlie (iuards searching- the house and barn for them. After a time the wau-on started and when it was \vell out <.f sijrht the three made dinner. Rice had beLMi bou«-ht the day before, each man had lots of biscuit, tea and su^rar, and they had a fine meal. After dirin^r. s(,me- one suyjrested a bath, and as such thinj^rs were rare in tho.se days it was thoroujrhly enjoyed. They dre.ssed and rambled around amon^r the trees f<,r a few hours and towards eveniufr strolled back to Jiloemfontein. Reached camj) alxmt .seven o'clock but could not find a place to sleep as all their blankets had o-„„e „ut ,.u the tran.sport wajron with the battali ui. However, the town was still open, so with a .sovereiyn borrowed from one of the officers they went in. One of them had previously spent a ni-ht in the city, .so led the way at once to a private house wh. . e «-increr beer and cakes could be bouu-ht and a bed supplied if nece.s.sarv. They afterwards told that between the three thev" ate twn dozen cakes and drank nine bottles of beer." Candles and writing paper were furnished bv the lad- of the house and the three retired to a room in one" of the adjoining- buildino-.s. Each man sat up two and a half hours to keep watch -the time beinjr told bv the length ot candle consumed -and made the hours seem less lonff by writinjr letters. At five o'clock next moru- m^r they left the house and reached camp before reveille, perfectly satisfied with the knowledge that they had passed two days and ni«hts in as pleasant I 4g si»AK>rs and comfortable a manner as any of the army haci ever done. i i ll * * Towards the end of Aujrust, DeWet was hoverin>>' around the railway line in the vicinity of Klip River, and in consequence of this, we, on the armoured ti-ain. Were kept Ccmtinually on the move, patrollinjjf the line from Vereenij^injj to Elandsfontein. The <»-an"isons at the different stations were weak, and every nifjht we were sent to some place to assist in case of an attack. But on Friday, Auj^. 81st, General Chermside found it necessary to make an inspection of the line from Elandsfontein Junction to Pretoria, and it was our duty to escort him. We left Pretoria on the return journey Friday afternoon and reached Elandsfontein about 7 p. in. Orders were that our enjjcine was to be sent to Johannesburjif for repairs, so we were side- tracked for the niiifht and the eng-ine detached. As everyone expected, DeWet, knowinjr that we Were well out of the way for that niy^ht at least, held lip a train, and early next morninjif we were hurried down to the scene of action, — about four miles south of Klip River. Of course we were too late. The Roers had taken all the stuff they wanted, set fire to the train and hurried off to the hills on either side of the line. When we arrived the whole was a mass of Haraes but throujrh the smoke we saw that .several Carloads of food were still almost uninjured. Immed- iately after our train stopped most of our men were sent awav on observation duty to jruard afjainst an m»^ '^-^^^ A *■ spasms' 40 attack, and the remainder put on Fatijrue uorU on the burning- train. After haulino- off the cars all the stutr they could jret at, our men decided that some of it would be far safer if stowed away in our own cars and at once proceeded to dispose of it in this way. Here- upon a .sentry was placed over the yoods with orders that no unbroken cases were to be touched, but in the smoke it was almost impossible for the sentry to see what was beni-r done, even had he wished to do so. and thus the accidental fallinjr and consequent break- injr of a case was never noticed. In our car, which carried the rations, only one man had been left, and he was not of much account as a forajrer, but manay-ed to jrather in a little. Abcmt an hour after the fun be^an he came out to where we were on duty and made us almost wild by the stories he told of the jrreat quantities of jam, mutton chop.s, etc., which were beineant and one color- serjjfeant ; No. 2, twenty men. (me corporal, one ser^reant ; No. a. twenty-one men and one cor])orai. No. 1 Car carried the stores a-, well as men. and ir; it we lived, moved and had our heinj.r, from July 20th until September 25th. It was an ea.sy job-we used to say the snap of the whole war,— and while there the men refrained all the flesh they had lost on the march to Pretoria. In the evcninjr.s we u.sually gathered in the car to talk about the war, and what we would like to eat; and were a stranjrer to drop in suddenly he mijrht have found the conversation, if not very instructive, at least amusinir. •' Weary, let s challenjre them to a ^arne of whist." "All ri^rht. come on, you fellows." "Oh, no you dont. Go and ( Cameron Hifjfhlanders were attached to the 21.st Bri- j^-ade with the Sussex, Derbys and ('. 1. Vs., and the Gordons or "Gay Gordons,' as they are sar- castically called, were with us.* We saw them fii'st at Oranjjfe River when we wei"e buildinjr railroads. They marched from their camp to entrain for M odder Kiver. and as we stood and wzitched them \>o past with their lonjr. loose stride we thoujrht what tine-looking'' men they were and tried to imaj^ine how they would look in a fijjfht. After that we never met them ajruin until the IHth of February, when we were brijraded. and started from Graspan on the march to Bloemfontein. In line of column the reifiments form from rijjfht to left in order of seniority, so that our briy-ade marched and camped with the Shi'opshires on the rij^ht, then Corn walls, Gordons and cmrs. This fcn^maticm made us far more friendly with the "Jocks" than we might otherwise have become, but another reason for the stranjre friendship was that the Gordons have no sister refij^iment in the army. Of course they are the wives of the Scots Greys, but the Greys are a mounted corps, and were not in our division, so the (rordons were all alone. The fact that we were in the same state formed a bond between us and it is seldom that two bodies of men from different parts of the world become such true friends as the "Jocks" and " Canucks." *'rhis article only tak^.•^, into account liic- l)atlaliuii> with which we came in contact. .JH (ll'll CIllMS — rilK (i(HU>0.\S I On the march to Pannleberfj they were at first both anjjfry and anuised at the way wc acted. While actually on the road oiir fellows moved alon^r with such a lon- of the walk instead of the end. We finished in fine style and came in to the haltinjjf-place witliout a sij^n of fatiyue. althoutrh we were all feelinj.>- played out. Then to g"et square with the others who were just as tired as we were, our boys .started sinj>-in<»" and danc- ing while supper was beintj cooked. That settled the lousiness, for the Gordons thouoht that men who could march as we had done and seem so fji^ay afterwards were all rijrht and would make g^ood companions. Fi-om that time until the end of the job one could scarcely tell when in bivouac which was our rejjfi- ment and which the Gordons for they were always over talkinjif to us, and our men of course returned the calls. Thinj^s went on in this pleasant way until OIH (III MS— ■'UK (i(»RI)()NS after tht^ first day's (ij^ht at Paardeberfr, when their jrotKl ()i)ini()ii of lis was increased if jxissible by the way our boys acted under fire. The feeling- thev held for the '-Indians ■' is well sh')wn in a story told of a Cornwall and Gordon. In the fi»'oin<»- to dinner, but the Gordons were always happy as well as calm and never kxst their heads. On one occasion when they made a bayonet charoe at Doom Ko]> the Dutchmen lay behind rocks waitinjr for them and calling- (mt all kinds of abuse. An officer of theirs tells that in the charge he saw a biy sergeaut finishing a man with a Ixiyonet and heard the Boers shout- ing to him "Come on, you gfi-eat big- woman, come (m, we wait for you."' And the .serg-eant answered. : (iO <»l K (111 .MS TIIK (i(»HlioXH "Hoot, mon I Dinna fear. Til be there a lot too soon for you. " He was shot throuirh the head a few seconds later. In rej,''ard to former campaijifns they have very little to say. Any one will tell you what sort of a country Ejrypt or India is. but when it comes to an account of any of their entjatifements they ;ire silent. They alway say that too much prai.se was jjfiven to them for the charijfe at Darjjfai, and state that the other battalions did all the hard tijji'htinjjf i>efore they took any ])art in it. But even a sim])le statement like this cannot V)e yot out of them easily. They are not boasters by any means and look u])on others as just as ^innl men as themselves. One evening"", on the march to Pretoria, after we had finished a fairly stiff enjj^aj^'e- inent in which the brunt of the work fell to the (Gordons, we were lyinjjf in bivouac when they came marchinjif back to take their place in column. They looked worn out. tired after the d.ay .s work, and were not in the best of spirits as they had lost a jrood many men. biit ju.st as the first of their line reached us our men burst into one loud, rinjrinjjf cheer. At first the "Kilties" did not seem to under- stand what it meant, but when they saw that it was they we were cheerinjr a remarkable chanj^e came over them. Rifles went up to the .slope, their step quickened, chests were thrown out and the battalion went past as if on review before the Queen. Then as the other re.sjfiments in our brifjfade noticed oni Clir.MS TIIK (KtltltOXS (H vvh;it was jr„injr „„ they took up the cheerin^r and wild "Hurrahs- ran down the line. It was as ^rreat an honor as could be paid to any corps— to be cheered by their own companions, and they well deserved it. One of them speakin^^ about it afterwards said that it was the happiest moment of his life and that if the Canadians only knew how much trood it had done they would always feel pleased with themselves. When we left them there were tears in many eyes and .sadness was felt on both .sides, but throujrh it all we were proud that it had been our privilej^e to march and fiyht beside such men. Expre.s.sions of rejrret were heard on all sides and more than once has one of them told us that he felt far worse at partinj^ from the Canadians than he did from his own folks at home. We felt the .same. As tijrhters they are perfect. As men the whole Firitish army should be proud of them and as friends n(me could be truer or more kind hearted. (~)ur battalion has been di.sbanded. and as a fij^ht- inir unit we will never more meet the Hi^rhhinders. They may forget us— I think nt)t -but one thin^^ sure is, that no man of the Royal Canadian Rejri- ment will ever fory-et or fail to admire-not the (iay, but the '>rand Gordons. * We've wandered mony a wearv fit Frae morninfr sun till dine ; But seas between us braid hae roard Sin' auld lan},>- syne. 11 HOW WE ANNIHILATED THE TURK. •'A perfect creature, nobly planned." p was at Wo.vehoek in the Oran^re River Colony I that we first saw the bird, and surelv ''never iM^hlea on this orb a more celestial vision. - We had just co„.e in iron. Heilbron, and were feelin.r quite happy after a severe enjra,.ement with a herd ot sprin,rbok which resulted in a complete victorv 1 heSouth Wales Borderers were doin^ .arrison dutv at Wolvehoelc. and in some manner best known to himself one of them had commandeered or otherwise acquu-ed a fine lar«-e turkey. At any time in the campai,rn turkeys were a rare sio-ht, but to our astonished eyes here appeared a regular beautv-for that ountry to produce -wei,.hino- at least twelve IKHinds. ,,, ""^' ^^'"'"^ '''' t'^ ^^^t possession of the fowl v that was the point that troubled us. and for a time •^) 'nnuls were concentrated on the all-important subject. As the affair turned out we need not have troubled ourselves about it, for the S. W. B's con- sidered a turkey supper far beyond their wildest dreams, and .such extrava^^ance could not be thou-^ht ot for a moment. Under the.se circum.stances the ••"'y thin.r for them to as to be ,l,me, and we appointed three men a c,.mm,ttee of ways and n.eans. who were to treat '"' .•■'■;■"""' ""■"'■■'-' ^'" <"™» at any station where :::;7"' ^""' '"■• •' f«» "ours. ,.■„,. ,„.o .,avs ti, b huu, .,,teinthe end of our car, arnon, b es of b,.scu.t, bully.beef and .Maconochies rations uutU ,u .son,e ndu.ls came the fear that unle.ss we n foun a chance for cooldn,. it n,i,ht liKe riches, take to ,tselt wi„,,s. for at that tin.e of vear tl,; 2 "•- 'varraer than is absolutely neces'sarv for the preservafon of food. fJut jus, as though our . eral Knew what was passin, ,„. „,„.„;„,„,,, came tor us to nn>,-..M/i ♦ i"i- puK.vd to \il,„en.s Orift on the J' 1 .'t 1 6-4 now WK ANNIIIir-ATKl) TIIK TURK h } banks of the Vaal — the one place on the whole line which we would have chosen had such been our privi- lej^e. In Viljoen's was a military bake shop, in which worked some very decent fellows belonjjfing' to the 5th Northumberland. They, we knew, would consider it no trouble to roast the turkey for us, but would rather feel pleased with the thouj^ht that while they were livinW WK ANMim.ATKI. TlIK TIMK (jf, knees, the corporal inserted handfuls of the mixture and the strono- man-who has been used to artillery work-rammed home with the handle of a bavonet. The cavity was closed by punching, holes in each side with the marlinspike on our ammunition knives and sewin,r up with a strand of twine, taken from the su,rar ba,r. While this was .oin,. on, our commit- ee previously appointed had paid a visit t(, the '>ake shop and on returnin«- reported that cmr sup- positions were correct, the bakers bein<, quite wiUin.- o undertake the task. So, with an oat ba. wrapped ound him as a protection from the .sand storm then ra^nn,r. we carried all that remained of the once proud cobbler to the shop, and with u.anv instructions as to turnin. etc., handed him ne who has been h: ■sudden 1 ivinj.i- y awakes to find the an instant the ex pression i;ii now \\K Awmii.A ii.() iiiK 11 i: cliaii<^"e(l : the bisouit (ln>])|»e(l on tlu' (ioor. :[\u] witli a >m(>theiv(l " Damn !" tin' poor soldier cliinbjd out ol tlu" oar and wt-iit to soothe tiis injured t\'elinL!> with a ciii';irette. I>nt no two lionrs can last forever, and >^"ra(hiallv the hands of tlie coriyoral s w.'tcli approaclied the appointed time We (."aUed upon all the hoys to foi'ui lip. and with a (piiids. firm stt.']) walked over to the oake snoi) Tl lere lav the turkev. on tlu COVi^'l" ol a diekshee. a lovely brown eolor and sendinii" out a p 'rtunie far njire i)L'asinn- tlian aiiy atlai' ol' looses could havi' been. The Color isloke raided aloft over his lu\ad the cover coidainnii;- our darlini^-, aud we formed in line. In front marched the i)and an accordeoii ])laved i)V — . next. ( 'oloi-> with tin.' i»ird. and then thirteen of us headi'd by tlu' cuch a hap]iy occasion. !)ut we had the '■ CoiKpierinL;' Hero. ' ■■.Ma])le l^eaf. and " Ihatish I i i-enadiei"s, " In triuini)h we marched to the cai" and climlied over tin.' side. I>v mutual consent the ciirp(>i-al was chosen to do the carvinjj. and it was done in a manner onlv ac(piired bv loiii;" experience'. Then of course, our little man, as owner i»f the bird, was called upon to >erve it. It was an e.vcitiuL:' nioiu.-nt. for after evi.'ry one had receivei a sliare. w.' waited ai sirspeuse to heai" what name would follow the inevitable '" \nu oidv L:(»t .1 small share, iiaxe some more . ■„-i!f^*,> ""^^ ^^l-: AXMUM.ArK/. ■ I'liK rruK ^ '"' '»^"^-'«si,.n lor „,,,,.), . ui (lo not su])|)(,se th-if- if f I .ninut..s to ,at our ' '" ^'''''^' '"■^■'•O'. and not to l,e nrul '^^ ^■''-' " " -as,i.,.n tu-oi.,-. ,■ ' --•" -^ so each n.an the ,>an.,L ,: '^: "^^^ ^' "-'"• -^<^ '" this ..v ">vr to „ur litH. tlH- m,„„.v „,!» |,,-„,.|,,| .U,tv „ ' , Z '^ "'" "■•■ '■ '"-■•"' "•"■ ... , . ' "^^'^ '"■■'" n.st^ to n.:.k-.. •. ,> ^iK'x'ch in ,-(M,|v t,> , . ~ ^" ■""'''■ •' ^'i<"-t who after '""■ "tte^an^t^ oou,^, '■ ""^^' '^ ^^-^'^ "-arlv |,,,,tin,.. s spivad in tht <| ')laiil\\'t> cai-. pixF ajKl <.^rrt"(l tht also ontside anoth i^r Wf ^■■'••""Hl to a hard \\ l>v th OSf oor. av d ''ours tht own t( •'"'y sound to Iv I ' slt't-|). an '■"ow u-onid t ''-■ard \va> urn ID WK LIKK IT ? gjj Many of our men suffered from fever, few have escaped sickness in some form or other, and is it stranjre that we did not see much fun in this '? One experience we were denied, and happily so-we were never defeated in action, so cannot tell what it feels like. The o.mntry throuj,* which we marched was raon- "tonous. In the Oranfre River Colony the soil is dry and sandy with plenty of rock mixed amon^r it A ™nburned .rass intermin^.led with stunted Karroo bushes forms a coatin^r over the veldt, and kopjes, heaps of round iron-stones, piled one upon another as over Giants' ..raves,' ri.se abruptly from the but althou,.h we spent a g-ood part of our time in that country we saw nothino- but mealies and citron Of course around the farm-houses where there is any attempt at irri,.ation, we found small vegetable srardens, but none of any account. Wood is almost unknown, and all the houses are bmlt of mud or c„rru,.ated iron. The homesteads themselves nestle in the valley between two kopjes t.r»t the .stone walls forming, kralls for sheep or oxen' then the farmhouse, a square, one-storied buildin. usually of white-washed mud, with rou^h thatched root and at a short distance a number of Kaffir huts Over ,such a country as this we tramped for weeks' footsore and weary, bothered by flies, short of water' and hun,.ry. We suffered both from the direct rays ■>f the sun and the heat radiated from the earth (0 1 1 W K 11' aj.';tinst wliii-li latter protci-tioi). ()iii- t'l'c't otii" lii'lniets w i'i\' () Course riip Wfl-f blist ^"i-c froin rluniiuat fivd. limits stiff ai](( 111' ufiwht of ,,1 sin. and our -shoulders chaft l)V niucli pleasure in this a? "■ •'Miiipiiient. Theie was not in a little summer stroll at iionu' W'v Would also I lave greatly preferred a clean bed m Canada to some of ilu. spots on which we uir few short lion l"s of |-est. In t inr,' of war. ^pent sieei)- my acconmiodations ai' Usual plan was to i- very primitive, and tl around on tlu le ■>eai-i-|i of some htti space les- avinsj' found what wa,- yround m ii'n])y than the rest. cotisidei-ed a suita )ie we s])re;id our blankets an ■^pot middl .\ ay down I'ntil tht )V\\ we had '<>'" each man i-a.i,'yvd blaida-t and a ^1 while in 15! lari- oi a laibber one heet. -mall but oemlontein n the remaind Comfort. I'w ones were i.ssued. and for er ol th( .||>l> we enjoyed comparative tw Our company, with tli " in tents at Hloemlont e e.\ ceptioii of a nio-lit or s. were ue\er un in houses at S])rinn •lannary L'2nd until October 1; we had the oitportnnity of test oni. and about tw o wee • liffcrent kinds of der cover from t. f)urin<)- this time in«^- the (|ualities of sou 111 r I'li' ard to their abilitv t ii-nish conilort at ninht. and tl le unaniiiuui .f o s decision "iir iiu'ii IS that far the best. On a .li'ood bin- p ya-a.ssv rou )ne ot rctcks is bv nd which, by the wav. IS usnallv and the who! xinipy on,, is compelled to lie straight e weiiiht of i " •' '"'Mvi'-. it is ..a,,v. I)v i>* nu-ks. only ai-(|iiir •I'lwii aiiioiiu- th, If lto(|\- <■iii\'(|. and if th tl'lt-' stollf f L-'Tfatlv ill "I" a pillow 1 ori'ast'd !)v f sift'|)cr can It' roiiifoi-t i< planiin his an i'I>"ii it and thii- t " ill a hriit posit on '"■"•"in- a iv>t lor tl '^vfii this luaniur ,,r ;i-^ plt-asant as in a " "■ lu-ad. |5iiv p''iid,iin- a njuht is not (jiiite • HKi iH'd at X lloiilc !'!■ \va.- oiir 'I'litf trill' that a coininn- to him " I'lil t) h.tv! ar "■'h'ii Toiiiiii y .yi't,- it i- all that'. t roni) 11*' has niori' t 't' IS that lan rnou;j-h. Put t lu- dot not n-ft it nil (lav meat. IT '•••itioii consists of .Mtlu-r I w^yy ol'tiMi. T ''• l>iilly. or i tin M iiH'at (»r iCdiiochif rat ll)s fiv.l, ions with Diillv I 11). Vfyetal !>• nix-ad or 'h-'^ is issut.'d : | t wii f a ut'tdx ■uit. usually the latter .i^'iii laiin ditto. <>Z. C( )ti ee <'>^- suyar a IK addition to th I II' jam pt-i' day. I'i^'iit.v pepper and salt. "/. tea IS. ch twii eese or haeoii <■' a Week, tw "lay l)e dra.\vn f<|i''il to a piarter " -^<>H-(^s of either beiiiu- eoiisideivd pound IJiit it \va> meat. that ratioi "Illy uhij,. on tl \V(.' n-, ,t thi- ll' aniKuired tr; I in amount ol loo(| is wer At other 1 line •' y^-yy short aiis for I <'iii almost inii "'^itt^''- of fact I mvself I • ■>SSll)|f t O LOO I !a\'e L:(>lle to t le 72 DM) WK 1,1 KK IT : refuse pits and after (11<,''.i,'"iti^'' up sheepskins have piclted from them the little lumps of fat which had come away from the bodies durinjj the skinninjf process, and used that fat to fry tlie cakes made from the mealies. Often on the march we came across patches of citron, half ripe, and filled up on them. But they were .sickening" thinjrs, and we jjfrew to hate the sijjfht of the stuff even in fruit cakes. This food was not equal to what we mij^ht be ealinj,'" at home. Very few Chinese laundries accompany tlie British army, and consequently we found it ditlicult to keep clean. Often the boys who had any underclothes would take them off and wash them in a river or pool, only to find on returninjr to bivouac that we were j'l'ettinf,'' ready to move ajjain. Then the wet clothes were put on, and after a few hours' marcliiny through du.st became as dirty as ever. But in spite of all these discomforts there is a strong- attraction in the life of a soldier. Where can one meet a finer class of men than in the British army, or where find more excitement than in battle ? The very worst hai'dships only served to teach us how to appreciate comfort when we aj^ain found it. Many times throu