tisfactory course to follow, since the number of casualties is still
undergoing continuous gradual increase, and besides this the warfare has
assumed a peculiar and irregular form, statistics from which scarcely
possess general application.

The battles included, those of the first Kimberley Relief Force, were
fought under fair average conditions as to the nature of the ground. In
the first two the defending enemy occupied heights, in the two following
the ground advanced over by our men was comparatively even; thus at
Modder River there was only a gradual slope upwards, and at
Magersfontein the advanced trenches of the Boers were only slightly
above the level of the ground over which the advance was made. At the
same time, at the latter battle a great number of the Boers engaged were
on the sides of the hill well above the advanced trenches. In no case
were the Boers in such a position as to have to fire upwards, to them a
considerable advantage. It must also be noted that throughout the Boers
were able to rest their rifles; hence the fire should have been at any
rate of an average degree of accuracy. In the advances of our own men,
anthills and stones were practically the only cover to be obtained, and
little or no help was given by variations in the general surface. All
these points seem to favour a large proportional number of hits on the
part of the riflemen. I very much regret that I am unable to say what
was the proportional number of shell wounds among the men hit, but I can
say with some confidence that among the wounded it was not as great as
ten per cent. I should be inclined to place it as low as five per cent.
Again, I cannot fix the proportionate occurrence of wounds from bullets
of large calibre such as the Martini-Henry, but this was certainly not
large. I think if ten per cent. is deducted to represent the number of
hits from either of these forms of projectile, that we may fairly assume
the remaining 90 per cent. of the wounds to have been produced by
bullets of small calibre. The numbers of the opposing forces were
probably fairly even.

Taking all these circumstances together, and bearing in mind that our
army was always in the position of having to make frontal attacks on men
well protected in strong positions, I think it must be allowed that a
fair idea should be possible of the effectiveness of the modern weapons.
Only one circumstance, one inseparable from any fighting with the Boers,
seems to a