ch battalions, but whether these battalions are 100 or
1,000 strong seems quite uncertain. Some surprise occurs elsewhere,
and away go some of the march battalions. They may lose prisoners,
say, on the Russian front, and the Russians naturally believe that the
regiment and the division to which the regiment belongs are all on the
Russian front, whereas only one weak battalion of drafts may be there
and all the rest may still be against the Italians. The Austrians also
take a number of regiments from a division and send them elsewhere,
leaving a mere skeleton of the divisional command behind.

"For these reasons one must regard with a good deal of scepticism any
estimate which professes to give an accurate distribution list of the
Austrian army. Also it is difficult to believe that any real _esprit
de corps_ can remain when such practices are common, and we are
reduced to the belief that the only real soldier of the army is the
personal devotion to the emperor of which I have already written.

"I could not find time to study the Italian air service, but foreign
officers with the army speak well of it. The Austrian airmen deserve
praise. They watched us daily and bombed with pleasing regularity.

"My view of the war on the Italian front is that Italy is in it with
her whole heart, and has both the will and the means to exercise
increasing pressure on Austria, whom she is subjecting to a serious
strain along 400 miles of difficult country. I think that few people
in England appreciate the special and serious difficulties which
confront both combatants along the Alpine borderland, and especially
Italy, because she has to attack. The Italian army is strong in
numbers, ably commanded, well provided, and animated by an excellent
spirit. As this army becomes more inured to war, and traditions of
victory on hard-fought fields become established, the military value
of the army is enhanced.

"As I think over the Italian exploits during the war, I remember that
the men of Alps, of Piedmont and Lombardy, of Venetia, and Tuscany, of
Rome, Naples, Sardinia, and Sicily have one and all contributed
something to the record, and have had the honor of distinguished
mention in General Cadorna's bulletins, which are austere in character
and make no concessions to personal or collective ambitions. I find
much to admire in the cool and confident bearing of the people, in the
endurance of great fatigues by the troops, and in the silent patie