f the meat,
in the camps, and the still greater one of having no butchers' offal to
need destruction or prove a source of danger. When bread was to be got
it was fairly good, and the biscuit was at all times excellent. Except
on the advance from Modder River to Bloemfontein, as far as I could
judge, no large bodies of the men ever really suffered from shortness of
food, and then only for a few days. Drink was a more serious problem: in
the early days beer was to be got at the canteens, but with the increase
of numbers and difficulties of transport this ceased to be the case, and
water was the sole fluid available. This was often muddy, and the
soldiers would take very little care what they drank unless under
constant supervision; hence a great quantity of very undesirable water
was drunk. None the less I think the water was more often the cause of
sand diarrhoea than of enteric fever. A large quantity of fluid was by
no means a necessity if the men would only have exercised some
self-control. During the first week I spent at Orange River, I drank
lime juice and water all day, but after that time, by a very slight
amount of determination, I thoroughly broke myself of the habit, and
drank at meal-times only. Most of the men however emptied their
water-bottles during the first hour of the march, and the rest of the
day endured agony, seizing the first opportunity of drinking any filthy
water they met with. When, for instance, we camped near a vlei, and the
General took the greatest care that the mules and horses should be
watered at one spot only, in order to preserve the cleanliness of the
rest of the pool, the men would often go and fill their water-bottles
amongst the animals' feet rather than take the trouble to walk the few
necessary yards round. In such particulars they needed constant
supervision.

The climate on the western side was a great element no doubt both in the
general healthiness of the men and in the general good results seen in
the healing of wounds. The days were often hot; thus even in November at
Orange River the thermometer registered 115 deg.F. in the single bell tents,
but on the other hand the nights were cool and refreshing. The air was
very pure and exceedingly dry, while the constant sunshine not only kept
up the spirits, but also proved the most efficient disinfector of any
ground fouled to less than a serious extent. Dust was our principal
bugbear; and when a camp had been settled for a few d