jungle, and
bush, mountains and ravines, rivers and streams are natural obstacles,
while cultivation adds woods and plantations, fences and hedges, high
growing crops, farm houses, villages and towns, with sunken roads below
the surface of the adjoining land, and civilisation brings in its train
a network of railways and canals with embankments and bridges, and the
natural difficulties of close country are thereby increased. The
obstruction to movement is more or less constant, except in
"continental" climates, where frost and snow render movement possible
in winter over the deepest rivers or marshes, and over roads and tracks
which are scarcely practicable in the summer season. The obstruction
to view is greater when trees and hedges are in leaf than when the
leaves have fallen.

When the advantages and disadvantages of fighting in close country are
weighed in the balance there appears to be a distinct tendency in
favour of the Attack over the Defence.

An Attacking force can usually obtain cover in the early stages of the
action and loss can therefore be avoided in approaching the objective,
while the screening of its movements and dispositions generally enables
the Attacking force to surprise the Defence as to the direction and
weight of the blow to be delivered. Troops fighting in close country
are often unable to see what is going on around them, and the "sense of
security" is lessened by the knowledge that a flank may be successfully
assailed without warning. This favours the {156} Attack more than the
Defence, as the counter-attack, which is the soul of all defensive
operations, requires previous organisation to be thoroughly effective.

SAVAGE WARFARE.--In Savage Warfare the inherent difficulties of
fighting in close country are often increased by the disparity of
numbers on the side of the civilised troops and by the fanatical
courage of the savages. Discipline, self-reliance, vigilance, and
judgment in the application of the Principles of War, are required to
overcome these added difficulties. A vigorous offensive, Strategical
as well as Tactical, is _always_ the best method of conducting
operations in Savage Warfare, and for the purpose of Protection
vigilance must be exercised to an even greater degree than in any other
form of warfare. At _Isandhlwana_ (January 22, 1879) the British camp
at the foot of Isandhlwana Hill was surprised and overwhelmed by a Zulu
Army, 10,000 strong, and almost the who