ately, compared with their predecessors, they were in many instances mere ponies in size. The great difficulty that presented itself was how to fit them with the saddles that were available. Of course the thing was done in the best makeshift manner possible, but at the expense of some want of efficiency, and not a little daily worry and anxiety to every individual trooper. Many people have long disliked the present iron saddle trees which are used by our mounted services, and think that the old wooden saddle tree was in many respects preferable. The wooden tree could always be mended by the regimental artificers if it was accidentally damaged, and its size could be reduced or enlarged; but the iron tree is immutable, no alterations in it can be made, and if it is in any way injured, there is an end of it. Many forms of saddles exist which have advantages over our English equipment, and as almost all our saddlery will have to be replaced when the present war is at an end, it would seem to be a good opportunity for making some useful changes in our service pattern. In any case, something might be devised to make each saddle to some extent adjustable to horses of different sizes. Many other articles of equipment have been tried in Africa and found wanting, and when they come home regimental officers will have much to say upon the subject. Even such simple articles as haversacks have been found to be utterly useless. It is devoutly

That cavalry must sometimes be called upon to act with carbines dismounted, and that they can act dismounted with the best effect, is a truism in modern war, and we have seen constant exemplifications of it within the last few months. Over and over again our troopers have seized and held kopjes and other positions of temporary importance; but nothing was more useful than the work of a squadron of the 12th Lancers under Lord Airlie and Major Eastwood on the fatal day at Magersfontein. It was freely said in the division that the presence of this squadron with the regimental Maxim gun under Lieutenant Macnaughton stopped the Boers from following up the Highlanders' disaster. From 6.20 A.M. till 3.30 P.M. the squadron was lying under a very heavy fire, and in that time it had worked its way to within 300 yards of the Boer trenches. By the time officers and men again could mount their horses, they might have been able to say that they had had as severe a piece of work as ever can fall to the lot of soldiers.

At Ladysmith, too, dismounted cavalry perforce played a very important part. When

their horses had to be turned into rations, Sir George White provided them with infantry rifles and sent them to occupy positions of defence. The official accounts of the great siege have not yet been published; but the gallant veteran, whose steadfast defence has been the crowning achievement of a brilliant career, has made no secret of his enthusiastic approval of the services rendered by his dismounted cavalry. That the troopers could be said to be able to rival the unconquerable infantry in its own sphere will be a proud memory for the regiments to which they belonged.

But, if cavalry soldiers may be called upon sometimes to act on foot, they must have a better firearm. The enemy's fire in South Africa has often been at ranges of 2000 yards, and even more. This distance is, of course, a long way outside the effective range of our carbines, and our men have been much at a disadvantage. In order to get an increased range, it may possibly be necessary to have longer and heavier carbines. This will be an inconvenience, but it must be faced if we are to hold our own in modern war. In the case of Lancers, at any rate, the balance may certainly be restored by doing away with the swords, which, to them, have proved as useless as they are weighty and cumbersome.

We know not what will be the theatre of the next great war in which England will be engaged; but we may take it for granted that in its conditions it will be very different from that now running its

It

course in South Africa. It is very possible that it may be in a more fertile country, where some supplies of food for man and beast will be found. may be waged against regular troops, whose actions may be guided by the conventional military ideas of Europe, and by the requirements of a civilised people; and it is more than probable that in the field against us will be found regular cavalry, highly trained, and led by scientific soldiers. If we have not thoroughly good mounted troops of our own, in numbers at least in proportion to our infantry and artillery, we shall have cause for deep regret. Mounted infantry will avail us nothing, infantry and artillery will be sadly hampered, if we cannot meet cavalry with cavalry, and if at a given moment we are not able to throw the shock-power of charging horsemen into the scale of battle. Our present campaign has been one of enormous difficulties; but we must not suppose that we shall ever have lesser obstacles meet. Their kind may be changed, but their magnitude will remain. Whatever they may be, they will certainly be such that cavalry will be necessary in order to overcome them. And if we should have to meet a regular army, it will undoubtedly include many men of trained and alert intellect, ready to detect any false movement and to profit by it to our loss, unless we have steady and well-trained cavalry ready to cover and neutralise a failure or to clinch an incipient suc

cess.

to

At the beginning of the tour of the Australian Cricketers last season, when entering on my duties as Scorer for them, I determined to keep a record of the time occupied at the wickets by each batsman taking part in the matches, at the same time noting all stoppages of two minutes or over during the progress of play. I venture to believe myself successful in doing this, and able, in consequence, to cast a new and interesting light upon the cricket of that tour.

For the purpose of showing how I arrived at the figures upon which I base my conclusions, let me present my record of one of the matches. For several reasons, I select the final

Test match, played at Kennington Oval last August, at which many of my readers no doubt were present. I kept, and have beside me, a similarly detailed record of the other thirty-four matches of the tour.

TWENTY-NINTH MATCH, AUSTRALIANS
v. ENGLAND, 1899.
Played at Kennington Oval,
August 14, 15, and 16.

England won the toss, and began batting at 11.35 on the first day. Lunch from 2 to 2.51. Stops: 3.51 to 3.53 refreshment for bowlers; 4.21 to 4.23 refreshment for batsmen ; 4.25

to 4.30 claret-cup for team; 4.49 to 4.51 MacLaren went on the field to consult Ranjitsinhji; 5.50 to 5.52 refreshment for bowlers. Stumps drawn at 6.30. Fry and Townsend were the not-outs. Resumed second day at 11.4. Innings over at 12.42.

Gross time of innings

479

511

551

576

H. M.

8 33

other stops

Gross time of innings

7 18

other stops

It will be seen that, in the match recorded above, England winning the toss batted the whole of the first day and for a portion of the second. The three batsmen who had possession of the wicket up to 4.49 on the first day played in a style which I think was correctly described in many newspapers as superb batting. They made 315 runs for the loss of one wicket only; and were at the wickets for 4 hours 12 minutes, which yields an average of 75 runs per hour. At the end of this time, owing to a decision communicated to Ranjitsinhji by his captain,

forcing tactics were tried, with the result that nine wickets fell in 2 hours 52 minutes, for an addition of 261 runs. The average rate of scoring jumped from 75 runs per hour to 91-06 per hour. In the whole innings, 576 runs were made in 7 hours 4 minutes, which gives an average of 81.51 runs per hour. Then followed what was almost universally described as The Australians stonewalling to save the game. In the result, the visitors batted for 9 hours 20 minutes for 606 runs, that is, at the rate of 64.93 runs per hour, and the game ended in a draw.