on on to the enemy. We gave up counting the days and fights, for every
day has its battle. Besides the English there are Indian troops, and a
few French batteries in front of us.

[Footnote 231: The Germans call their big guns "Brummer," _i.e._,
growler.--Author.]

"Every day confirms our experience that we are faced by an enemy with
incomparable powers of resistance and endurance. An enemy who can hardly
be shaken by the sharpest rifle-fire or the most awful rain of shell and
shrapnel. We gain ground slowly, exceedingly slowly, and every step of
soil has to be paid for dearly.

"In the trenches taken by storm the English dead lie in rows, just like
men who had not winced or yielded before the bayonets of the stormers.
From the military point of view it must be admitted that such an enemy
deserves the greatest respect. The English have adapted the experiences
gained in their colonial wars to European conditions in a particularly
clever manner.

"Every attempt to cross the canal was thwarted by artillery fire and in
many places the enemy was more advantageously situated than our men. His
trenches were at least dry while ours were flooded with water. I went
into the front trenches by Dixmude and found them lined half a yard deep
with faggots and wood, yet at every step our feet sank into the water
and slush.

"On the other bank of the Yser lay the enemy and fired continuously.
Anyone who saw our soldiers under these conditions and heard their jokes
will never forget the sight. All the folk at home who grumbled at the
slow progress ought to have been sent for a single day and night into
that mud-swamp!

"In those fields and canals, in this endless morass--made impassable by
flooding--many, many brave German soldiers have sacrificed their lives.
During the autumn and winter months of 1914 the whole Yser domain was
transformed into a vast graveyard.

"The battle-front was determined by the nature of the land. It stretched
from the sea through Ramscapelle, Dixmude, Roulers, Paschendaal to Ypres
and the rage of battle swayed like a tossing ship in ocean storm. Even
now Germany does not know the greatness and terror of the battles fought
there. Only names are known, such as Middelkerke, Zonnebeeke, Warneton,
etc.

"The Belgians fought with the courage of despair. Their battle-cry was
'Louvain!' and 'Termonde!' Highlanders, Indians, Sikhs, Ghurkas,
Zouaves, Turkos, Canadians, Belgians, French and English were thrown
i