sitions which could have been held indefinitely if
there had been military discipline in the commandos. It was not always the
case that commandants and generals were obliged to go begging for
volunteers, and there were innumerable times when every man of a commando
did the work assigned to him without a murmur.

During the Natal campaign the force was so large, and the work seemed so
comparatively easy that the majority of the burghers never went to the
firing line, but when British successes in the Free State placed the Boers
on the defensive it was not so easy to remain behind in the laagers and
allow others more willing to engage in the fighting. General Cronje was
able to induce a much larger percentage of his men to fight than
Commandant-General Joubert, but the reasons for this were that he was much
firmer with his men and that he moved from one place to another more
frequently than Joubert. Towards the end of General Cronje's campaign all
his men were willing to enter a battle, but that was because they realised
that they must fight, and in that there was much that was lacking in the
Natal army. When a Boer realised that he must fight or lose his life or a
battle, he would fight as few other men were able to fight, but when he
imagined that his presence at the firing line was not imperative he chose
to remain in laager.

[Illustration: KRIJGSRAAD, NEAR THABA N'CHU]

There were hundreds of burghers who took part in almost every battle in
Natal, and these were the individuals who understood the frame of mind of
some of their countrymen, and determined that they must take upon
themselves the responsibilities of fighting and winning battles. Among
those who were most forward in fighting were the Johannesburg police, the
much-despised "Zarps" of peaceful times; the Pretoria commando, and the
younger men of other commandos. There were many old Boers who left their
laagers whenever they heard the report of a gun, but the ages of the great
majority of those who were killed or injured were between seventeen and
thirty years. After the British captured Bloemfontein, and the memorable
Krijgsraad at Kroonstad determined that guerilla warfare should be
followed thereafter, it was not an easy matter for a burgher to remain
behind in the laagers, for the majority of the ox-waggons and other camp
paraphernalia was sent home and laager life was not so attractive as
before. Commandos remained at one place only a short time, and t