ver the parapet. But even in this case the shell
fire must be extremely accurate if it is to be of any great use. If
shrapnel shells burst well, some thirty yards in front of the enemy, the
force of the bullets released by the explosion is terrific; if, on the
other hand, the shells burst high up in the air, 150 yards in front, you
might almost keep off the bullets with an umbrella; and one sometimes
hears of these missiles being actually found in the pockets of
combatants. At Omdurman our shells played tremendous havoc with the
dense masses of the enemy; but here the Dervishes advanced to the attack
in broad daylight and over a flat plain absolutely devoid of cover, and
with its "ranges" well known and marked out beforehand.

In one of our southward journeys with a load of wounded men we passed, a
little below Graspan, through the midst of a swarm of locusts. We pulled
up the windows and so kept the wards free from these clumsy insects. At
one period they seemed to almost shut out the daylight, and it was easy
to realise how unpleasant it would be to meet a flight of locusts when
walking or even riding on horseback. Some odd stories are told about
these creatures. I have heard it gravely stated that occasionally a
train is stopped by the accumulated masses which fall on the metals. My
informant evidently believed that the engine in these cases was
absolutely unable to force its way through the piled up insects, in the
same way as trains are sometimes blocked by gigantic snowdrifts! This,
of course, is ridiculous; what really happens is that the rails become
so greasy from the crushed bodies of the locusts that the wheels can
secure no grip on the metals and spin round to no purpose.

The attitude of the Boers towards the locust is very quaint. If a swarm
of these insects settles on a Dutchman's land, the owner will not
attempt to destroy them because he regards them as a visitation of
Providence. But I have heard that he does not scruple to modify slightly
the schemes of Providence by shovelling the unwelcome locusts upon any
of his neighbours' fields which may adjoin his own estate!

On this same journey we pulled up, as usual, for a brief interval at De
Aar, and just opposite our train was a carriage containing seventeen
Boer prisoners, returning to the front. At the battle of Graspan a
number of Boer artillerymen were found with the Geneva Red Cross on
their arms, and it seems pretty clear that these men had delibe