--in addition he must be provisioned for eight days. That
there should have been an alternative to the rifle was due to the fact
that the law was made at a time when only a few burghers possessed
breech-loading rifles--_achterlaaiers_, as we call them.

With reference to the provisions the law did not specify their quality
or quantity, but there was an unwritten but strictly observed rule
amongst the burghers that they should consist of meat cut in strips,
salted, peppered, and dried, or else of sausages and "Boer biscuits."[1]
With regard to quantity, each burgher had to make his own estimate of
the amount he would require for eight days.

It was not long after they were notified to hold themselves ready that
the burghers were called up for active service. On the 2nd of October,
1899, the order came. On that day the Veldtcornets, or their
lieutenants, visited every farm and commandeered the men.

Amongst the commandeered was I; and thus, as a private burgher, I
entered on the campaign. With me were my three sons--Kootie, Isaac, and
Christiaan.

The following day the men of the sub-district of Krom Ellenborg, in the
district of Heilbron--to which I belonged--mustered at Elandslaagte
Farm. The Veldtcornet of this sub-district was Mr. Marthinus Els, and
the Commandant of the whole contingent Mr. Lucas Steenekamp. It soon
became known that the War Commission had decided that our commando was
to proceed as rapidly as possible to the Natal frontier, and that with
us were to go the troops from Vrede and Harrismith, as well as some from
Bethlehem, Winburg, and Kroonstad. Carrying out these orders, we all
arrived at Harrismith six days later.

Commando life now began in real earnest.

The eight days during which the burghers had to feed themselves were
soon over, and now it was the duty of the Government to provide for
them.

It may be interesting to mention here that the British commissariat
differed greatly from ours. Rations were served out daily to their
troops. Each soldier received the same quantity and the same quality as
his comrade. Our methods were very different, except as regards flour,
coffee, sugar, and other articles of that nature. The British soldier,
for instance, received his meat ready cooked in the form of bully-beef
(_blikkiescost_ we called it), whilst the burgher received his meat raw,
and had to cook it as best he could.

Before I leave this subject I may be forgiven if I describe the method
o