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THE BOERS AS FIGHTERS.
Major-General Sir Charles Holled Smith,
Commandant of the Victorian Forces, has
been interviewed about the Boers as fighting
men, in which capacity he knows them very
well. He was through all the fighting in
that brief and disastrous campaign which
culminated in the loss of the British
position on the Majuba Mountain.
"Yes, I do know something about the
Boers," said Sir Charles ; "I had plenty to
do with them, not only in warfare, but also
in times of peace.
"Is the Boer the morose, aggressively
anti-English individual that he is repre-
sented to us by some of the Johannesburg
people!"
"I can certainly say that I never found
him so. You must speak of a man as you
find him, and I have met many Boers after
the trouble, and always found them good
tempered and agreeable fellows. I had to-
go up after Majuba and get letters and other
things belonging to Sir George Colley, which
fell into the hands of the Boers when he was
killed. They treated me with every courtesy
and consideration. Of course, the Boers
are a century or two behind the rest of the
civilised world in many of their ideas. The
Boer cares for his wife and children, his
Bible, his farm, and his cattle, and he does
not care much about anything else. He is
fond of shooting, and get him with a rifle in
his hand and you won't find a much more
genial companion."
" Now, General, as to the humanity of the
Boers? How do they treat their prisoners?"
"I cannot call one instance to mind of
their having treated prisoners, wounded or
unwounded, other than the most civilised
nation would have done. After fighting at
Ingogo River from 12 noon till long after
dusk, we were obliged to leave upwards of
60 wounded on the field. You see the Boers
were behind rocks, and so were we, and we
fired all day, with the result that we, the
British, had to clear back to camp in the
dark. We could not carry the wounded,
but they were treated with every kindness
and consideration."
"What about the affair with the 94th.
Regiment?"
"Oh, you mean at Bronker's Spruit?
That I had forgotten, it was certainly an
abominable affair, and certainly should have
been avenged. We owe the Boers a good
licking for that. The 94th Regiment were
merely marching from one station to an-
other, and the commanding officer had
no idea that war had commenced
between the Boers and England. A
force of Boers lay in ambush and delibe-
rately fired into the regiment, which, so far
from being prepared for war, was accom-
panied by the women and children. Yes ;
we should not forget that little thing in a
hurry. But, apart from that, I believe the
Boers always acted most humanely."
"I see there is a letter in one of the
morning papers by a man who declares that
the Boers were not such wonderful shots at
all. What do you think of that ?"
"I think that whoever wrote can have no
idea of what he was writing about. I never
saw anyone in the world shoot like the
Boers. Why, at Laing's Neck I saw the
68th Regiment go up to their doom ; in fact,
I commanded the force that covered their
retreat. Certainly, they were sent up in
close column, which was simply suicidal.
The hill they were attacking had a sort of
natural terraces round it, and here the
Boers lay and awaited our men. I saw them
with my own eyes standing up as cool as
cucumbers, and just potting the unfortu-
nate British soldiers like rabbits. Every
shot told, and they were as self-possessed
and quiet as if nothing out of the
ordinary were happening, while our men
were firing wildly from the hip. Yes, the
man who thinks, the Boer can't fight is
making a huge mistake. It is not only that
they can shoot, but they are so clever at
taking advantage of every bit of cover. The
manner in which they will manoeuvre from
rock to rock is simply wonderful."
"Are they drilled and organised, Sir
Charles?"
"I don't think they trouble much about
drill. They don't require it I believe
they are called out from their various dist-
ricts, and they are under certainly duly
appointed commanders. They don't wear
what we should call a uniform, but some
sort of rough corduroy clothing, which
seemed serviceable."
"What is the weapon with which they do
such wonderful shooting?"
"In the Transvaal war they were armed
with the Westley-Richards, which, as you
know, is a handy little sporting rifle, and
can be used either as a breechloader or
a muzzle loader. No one can possibly say
too much as to their shooting, and they are
also good fighters. When the campaign
opened some of the roadside store-
keepers informed Sir George Colley, who
was in command, that the Boers were
cowards, and would not fight. I think that
idea arose because some of the Englishmen
who could use their fists had thrashed some
great hulking Boers, but that might easily
happen where one man was a skilled boxer
and the other knew nothing about it.
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