The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-04-01
THE BoERs IN BATTLE

A branch of warfare to which the Boers attach almost supreme import ance and rightly so, is scouting. At this their rowing habits and mode of life make them particularly adept, although during the present war some of the most valuable work in this direction has been performed by Uitlanders. Two corps of scouts one composed ot Frenchmen under Captain Le Galllen, and the other of Italians under the command of Captain Ricchiardi, both recruited in Johannesburg during the earlier months of the war, rendered ser vices of almost incalculahle value to the Boer cause. Of an essentially eau tious nature, the Boers never think or moving in any new direction until the country has been thoroughly reconnoi- tired by scouting parties, and the enemy has been located: and it is to this fact that their marvellous mobility is largely due, Having ascertained the position of their opponents and calculated the numbers likely to be engaged at any given point. the scouts report to the general cf the forces to which they are attached; and the burghers are then shifted from one position to another, SD as to be ready for all emergencies. Thus it is that during the present campaign the Boers have almost invariably been just where they could do the most et- fective work and in about the right numbers to do it.
 Another method of guarding against Surprise is that of "crow-nests" Choos- ing as elevated position as possible in the neighborhood of their trenches or laager, the Boers erect cover of loose bushes, made to appear to natural that from quite a short distance it is easily mistaken for the growing, shrubby bush with which the country is to great ex- tent covered, Planned on the top of kopje the Boers. with their telescopes and field glasses, are able to keep q lookout over miles of the surrounding country, while themselves perfectly hid den.
 Having decided upon the positions they intend to occupy and defend, the burghers proceed to dig trenches or erect low stone walls, or exchanges" as they are called, of loose stones piled up some three feet high; or, if the ground is suitable, they do both. If anything the latter afford the more protection of the two; since not only do these schan- Zes give almost perfect shelter from rife fire but through the interstices be- tween the stones the men are able to watch for the approach enemy. On the smallest mark being presented they either use the interstices as loopholes, or else they pop up, aim and fire, and are down again in an almost incredible short space of time. Tn this manner they can pick off the advancing sol diers while remaining in almost perfect security themselves This method of fighting explains to a great extent the extraordinary proportion in the casUal- ties of Boers and British respectively in most of tbe important enra gem erte fought during the present war. These schanzes Fr5 frequently several miles in length, and are sometimes built in duplicate or even tripliCate thus eua- bling the Boers, on being driven back from the first, to retire and continue to fight behind the second and the third. The admira ble construction of their trenches has been testified to on more than one occasion by the British ganer- als. notably by Sir Radvers Butler in his dispatches on the opera tions in Ma tal.-By Edward F. Rose in the April Forum.