and which
has been organised on a most moderate scale, must soon become a
tradition of the past in civilised armies.

As to the efficiency of the organisation of the General hospitals,
either at the advanced or actual base, I have already testified.
Naturally the working of these hospitals varied with the personal
equation of the officer in charge of them, but as a whole the service
has every reason to be proud of their success. As far as surgical
results are concerned, and with these I had special acquaintance, the
success of the hospitals was amply demonstrated.

Adverse criticism was not however wanting, and often expressed in the
strongest terms by persons totally unacquainted with hospital methods,
and apparently unconscious that such excellence as is exhibited in a
London hospital is the result of continuous work and development for
some centuries, and that such institutions are worked by committees and
staffs of permanent constitution.

The proportion of female nurses employed in these hospitals underwent
steady increase from the commencement of the campaign, and the immense
value of the nursing reserve was fully proved. There is no doubt that in
Base hospitals the actual nursing should always be entrusted to women.

The demands of the campaign necessitated the employment of a large
number of civil surgeons in the various hospitals. These gentlemen
accommodated themselves with true British aptitude to the conditions
under which they were placed, and in all positions their sterling work
contributed in no small degree to the success that was attained.

One class of hospital still remains for mention. I refer to the
improvised hospitals prepared in the Boer towns prior to the British
occupation. They were met with in all the smaller towns, and also in the
larger ones such as Johannesburg and Pretoria.

The Burke hospital in Pretoria, started by a private citizen and his
daughter, and the Victoria hospital in Johannesburg, presided over by
Dr. and Mrs. Murray, were two of the largest, but each and all deserve
due recognition.

I am sure that many of our wounded officers and men who were cared for
in these hospitals while prisoners in the hands of the Boers, will never
lose their sense of gratitude to those inhabitants who spared no effort
to render their position as happy as possible under the circumstances;
and the existence of these hospitals was no small boon to the service
when called upon to take charge