declared to be within an ace of
being fulfilled. The Boer is inherently as tough as the Briton, and as
obstinate: he was now well equipped for warfare, well led, and the
chances of a terrific and bloody struggle seemed hourly to become more
and more certain. Fortunately, each day brought our troops nearer to the
Cape, and after the 9th of November they began to disembark--a total, so
far, of 11,000 in all. At first sight this military multitude seemed an
imposing addition to our force, but, in view of the losses we had
sustained and the general complications of the position, some 100,000
was nearer the figure required. However, the Home authorities chose to
send out their help in driblets, and the same Home authorities were
supposed to know how the driblets might be adequately disposed. It was
only to the ignorant "man in the street" that the problem of how to meet
the massed armies of the Boers with diffused handfuls of troops became
incomprehensible.

Among the misfortunes with which the British had to contend was the
unfit state of the horses after prolonged travel. Horses are intensely
liable to sea-sickness; they also suffer much from being cribbed,
cabined, and confined for any length of time; and the difference between
the state of the Australian and the British animals on landing was very
marked. The former were in good working fettle, while the latter had
swollen and stiff joints, and were generally below par. The New Zealand
chargers were all that could be desired, and they made an excellent show
when compared with those of some of the other mounted regiments.
Horse-sickness had also to be contended with, and it was with great
difficulty averted. Some of the officers, however, discovered that by
keeping the horses protected by their nosebags during the dewy hours
of early morning the liability to the complaint was lessened. The
question of horses was a serious one, almost as important as the
question of guns. The exceeding mobility of the Boer army for long had
been a matter of surprise, if not to the initiated, at least to the
general public, and, as it later appeared, to the Government itself.
They had sent out important generals and learned tacticians, and a
fairly large and unwieldy mass of men, who were bound by their healthy
appetites to stick to their base and hug the railway lines, while the
enemy shifted about with the most annoying and confounding velocity,
delighting to deceive as to their position,