were any that might be dignified by that name, were
extremely bad, the dust was intense, the supply of water of the most
inferior quality, and the expedition, not being under the command of
one general, added irksome difficulties by the uncertainty of the
movements of its constituent parts from day to day.

Fighting is not the sole duty of soldiers in the field, and in almost
all their other duties apart from that we had ample and varied
opportunities of contrasting their merits. The Japanese infantry were
a surprise and a revelation to most of the Allies. Notwithstanding the
enormous trouble they have taken with their cavalry, it is immensely
inferior to every other arm of their service. This is not to be
wondered at when we reflect how little the Japanese are accustomed to
horse-riding at home, and what small opportunities they have of
acquiring that knowledge of the management of horses which comes
instinctively to the English groom, to the Irish farmer's son, or to
the field labourer. The defect of a want of efficient cavalry is with
the Japanese largely compensated for by the extreme mobility of their
infantry. They appear to do everything at the double. All their
soldiers seem to be perpetually kept in the best of hard training. If
they have not horses at home, they have plenty of rickshaw men, who
consider thirty to thirty-five miles of running not an excessive
day's work.

Often watching the Japanese manoeuvring in the field, it occurred to
me that if the men of her entire army had not served an apprenticeship
between the shafts of the rickshaw, they must at least have passed
through some training equally severe. On the expedition to Pekin they
carried with them a number of light calibre guns, which they pulled
into action, without horses, right into the firing line. In every
detail of their camp equipment, food-supply, and field hospital corps,
there was a neatness of packing and arrangement which apparently
resulted in their carrying all their requirements in about a third
less space than any of the others. The simple fare of the Japanese
soldiers was ideal for campaigning. Broadly speaking, it consists of
rice, with what might be called a flavouring of strong-tasting dried
fish and mysterious brown condiments suggestive of curry. As they have
modelled their fleet on our own, so they have drawn from the French
and German armies a selection of their uniform and equipment. The
colour of their uniform at home