slight remonstrances from them.
An angry man was as rarely seen as one who cursed, and more rare than
either was an intoxicated one.

Few of the men were given to boasting of the valour they would display in
warfare or of their abilities in marksmanship. They had no battle-cry of
revenge like "Remember the _Maine!_" or "Avenge Majuba!" except it was the
motto: "For God, Country, and Independence!" which many bore on the bands
of their hats and on the stocks of their rifles. Very occasionally one
boasted of the superiority of the Boer, and still more rarely would one be
heard to set three months as the limit required to conquer the British
army. The name of Jameson, the raider, was frequently heard, but always in
a manner which might have led one unacquainted with recent Transvaal
history to believe that he was a patron-saint of the Republic. It was not
a cry of "Remember Jameson" for the wrongs he committed but rather a plea
to honour him for having placed the Republic on its guard against the
dangers which they believed threatened it from beyond its borders. It was
frequently suggested, when his name was mentioned, that after the war a
monument should be erected to him because he had given them warning and
that they had profited by the warning to the extent that they had armed
themselves thoroughly. Seldom was any boasting concerning the number of
the enemy that would fall to Boer bullets; instead there was a tone of
sorrow when they spoke of the soldiers of the Queen who would die on the
field of battle while fighting for a cause concerning the justice or
injustice of which the British soldier could not speak.

After the commando-train reached its destination the burghers again took
charge of their own horses and conveyances, and in even less time than it
required to place them on the train they were unloaded and ready to
proceed to the point where the generals needed their assistance. The Boer
was always considerate of his horse, and it became a custom to delay for
several hours after leaving the train, in order that the animals might
feed and recover from the fatigues of the journey before starting out on a
trek over the veld. After the horses had been given an opportunity to
rest, the order to "upsaddle" came from the commandant, and then the
procession, with the ox-waggons in the van, was again formed. The regular
army order was then established, scouts were sent ahead to determine the
location of the enemy, and t