The sea coast echo., 1900-03-10


There are no bands in the Boer
armies.
The farmer soldiers of the two re-
| publlcs make or receive charges In
silence, their minds intent upon aim
| and upon strategy. IF it is a charge,
| they advance in a scattered and what
seems to be a confused manner. In
reality it is only the Poers' natural
order, in which they fight best. A
retreat looks like a rout because each
man tries to save himself as quickly
as possible A rout is almost i'm
| possible because the farmers do not
| understand how to close their heads.
They scatter, and when place of
safety has been reached come together
again as if nothing had happened.
While they have no martial music
in the ordinary sense, they have mar
tial music of most impressive kind
in the extraordinary sense.
Each night before turning in" and
each morning before breakfast, and
also before going into battle if there
is opportunity, the entire army, with
heads uncovered, joins in singing
"Old Hundred. Each note is pro-
longed six beats and the effect IS
solemn and even awful, so much of
resolution, of stern and relentless re-
| solve do they put into the singing.
The two strongest points abont this
practically uninformed and strangely
organized Boer army are both indl-
vidual-the individual ability of q
Boer at strategy and his individual
ability as sharpshooter.
The favOrite topic of conversation
among the Beers has always been how
best to meet the British when they
came to destroy the republics. how to
fight the great defensive war which
every Boer has felt sure would in
evitably come. The plans that are
being carried out, and will be
carried out, are the result of
years upon years of study of the
situation by the burghers OF all ranks,
consulting together upon the stoops
of their thatched houses of evenings.
The Boer is a natural strategist, willy.
| crafty, hard to corner, quick to seize
the slightest advantage, quick to sec
advantage where even trained soldiers
of other nations would fail to see it.
1t is mistake to suppose that the
Beers have deteriorated IN marksman-
ship. The English have got that i'm
preston from superficial observa-
tion of the Beers of the large towns
The villagers and farmers are as sure
OF shot as of old. With a smOothbore
gun Boer shot Sir George W. Coiley
through the head in the Majuba Hill
fight at 400 yards. With one Of the
new guns Gen. Symons was shot in
the Beers new target-the stomach -
at far longer range. | have seen a
girl bring down bird on the wing at
400 yards.
If Sir Redvers Butler shows himself
at 1000 yards his fate IS hardly dou bt-
full. For the Beers are now armed
with the sporting Manulicher and they
can, with their knowledge of air cur
rents, hit a small object almost every
time at 1900 yards.
President Kruger has been buying
these arms in la sc quantities ever
since the Jameson raid and the prac-
teal failure of the British to punish the
raiders. General Jou ert took me into q
storehouse at Pretoria file with
thousands of these rifles. isn't it a
beauty?'' he said, picking up one OF
them and patting it atfectionately.
Attwenty yards twill shoot through
fifty inches of pine.
M. 10 !,
a velocity of 2O0O feet per second. AT
1000 yards it will pierce two inches oi
solid ash and three inches of pine. Al
1000 the bullet, if it does not fatten,
will bore n hole right through a bone
without splitting. This rifle has a
barrel 80 inches long and weighs
eight pounds. It's calibre Is 30. II
is hair triggered, has a pistol grip,
and the Boer carries it slung over his
shoulder by a strap.
If the British try to go up into the
republics by way of Natal they must
traverse the Drakensburg mountains,
the only great range in South Africa.
The peaks of these mountains rise as
high as II 900 feet. The way through
steep cliffs and above yawuing preci
pices. Every few hundred yards there
is an impegrable position. The eyap-
oration ofthe lowlands condenses there
and gives plenty of water for force
intrenchel high among the rocks.
Forage, too is plentiful. A few mer
can hold out indefinitely and unless
, pr,+i.I toll hao,,v o,fjliarTT
them-an almost impossible feat
few hundred men can almost destroy
a great army.
Once the British gain the almos
level and almost open weld, oyeI
which two republics spread, the Boer'
have left two typical aIlies-famin'
and fire.
Water in South Africa is often a!
precious as gold, and sometimes in
fnite!y more precious. Every yea
witnesses a terrible drought in some
part. One may journey 100 miles OF
the "karoo' and never find a drop o
, water In johannesburg the write
was glad to pay 24 cents for a quart
Nearly the whole city was drinking
bottled and imported mineral water:
at the time.
Scarcity of water is the curse o
that country. Every farmer main
tains a reservoir, but even these give
out. There are only two or thre'
large rivers in the whole country, ant
in the dry season even they degener
ate into shallow pools. These ar'
called pans ami serve to quench thu
thirst of wild animals. The Trans
vaal and Free State are high plateau
that the sun bal{ les to a crisp anC
where the water e ivaporates as 1t falls
oughly acquainteh with the country
have knowledge of the formation o o
the rocks and plants and know wher'
to dig down a ifew feet and get water
In this way "A commando can Away
secure enough water to make coffee =
their op1f drink. With coffee, bhtoot
and n.aies the Boer can campaign