rity over the artillery. Major Albrecht, the director of the Free
State Artillery, was a foreigner by birth, but he became a citizen of the
Free State long before the war, and did sterling service to his country
until he was captured with Cronje at Paardeberg. Otto von Lossberg, a
German-American who had seen service in the armies of Germany and the
United States, arrived in the country in March, and was thereafter in
charge of a small number of heavy guns, but the majority of them were
manned by Boer officers.

None of the foreigners who served in the Boer army received any
compensation. They were supplied with horses and equipment, at a cost to
the Boer Governments of about L35 for each volunteer, and they received
better food than the burghers, but no wages were paid to them. Before a
foreign volunteer was allowed to join a commando, and before he received
his equipment, he was obliged to take an oath of allegiance to the
Republic. Only a few men who declined to take the oath were allowed to
join the army. The oath of allegiance was an adaptation of the one which
caused so much difficulty between Great Britain and the Transvaal before
the war. A translation of it reads--

"I hereby make an oath of solemn allegiance to the people of
the South African Republic, and I declare my willingness
to assist, with all my power, the burghers of this
Republic in the war in which they are engaged. I further
promise to obey the orders of those placed in authority
according to law, and that I will work for nothing but
the prosperity, the welfare, and the independence of the
land and people of this Republic, so truly help me, God
Almighty."

[Illustration: BATTLEFIELD OF ELANDSLAAGTE]

No army lists were ever to be found at Pretoria or at the front, and it
was as monumental a task to secure a fair estimate of the Boer force as it
was to obtain an estimate of the number of the foreigners who assisted
them. The Boers had no men whom they could spare to detail to statistical
work, and, in consequence, no correct figures can ever be obtained. The
numerical strength of the various organisations of foreigners could
readily be obtained from their commanders, but many of the foreigners were
in Boer commandos, and their strength is only problematical. An estimate
which was prepared by the British and American correspondents, who had
good opportunities of forming as nearly