cannons of various antiquated types, and
how the burgher element had, up to that time, continued unarmed and in
unsuspecting insecurity. To stamp these misstatements as false, it needs
only to be considered that from the time of the Boer trek in 1835-38
every Boer had been a hunter and guerilla soldier possessed of the best
firearms then extant, ready at any sacrifice to provide still more
effective weapons as inventions in arms of precision in turn progressed.
His passion to be well armed only equalled that of his love for land.
From 1881 every Transvaal and Orange Free State Boer without exception
had, and was obliged to have, his Martini-Henry rifle. The Government
arsenals were supplied with reserves of that up to recently unsurpassed
weapon and with large stores of ammunition. The authorities supplied
that rifle at L4 each, and even gratis in the case of indigent burghers.
At the frequent reviews (_wapenschouwingen_) each burgher had to appear
mounted, with his Martini-Henry rifle and thirty rounds ammunition. To
maintain proficiency in rifle practice, prizes and honours were
distributed at Government expense in each ward, whilst there was plenty
of private emulation encouraged among young and old in the science of
sharp-shooting, the Governments of both Republics contributing
ammunition at below cost price.

In about 1893 the Transvaal Government introduced about 10,000 new
rifles of the Guede pattern, firing a steel-pointed bullet, but the
issue did not become general, as the Martini-Henry rifle continued to be
held more effective for game and for war. The Mauser rifle was only
provided, after long hesitation and much diffidence, for its
rapid-firing quality in war, whereas for game it is still considered
inferior to the larger bored Martini-Henry.

On the occasion of the Jameson incursion, the Transvaal had in readiness
extensive parks of the most modern quick-firing Maxims and Nordenfeldts
of various calibres, and breech-loading field artillery of the Krupp
make. The Orange Free State hurried to their assistance with similar
artillery, each burgher armed with a Martini-Henry rifle. Besides all
that, there was the dynamite and explosives factory equipped to
manufacture all sorts of modern ammunition as it does now, and this is
why President Krueger described that factory as one of the corner-stones
of Boer independence. In the face of these facts it is a most singular
departure to say that the Transvaal only t