little time for other things.  It was a republican army composed of republicans, and anything that smacked of the opposite was abhorred.  There were no flags or insignia of any kind to lead the burghers on.  What mottoes there were that expressed their cause were embroidered on the bands of their slouch-hats and cut on the stocks of their rifles.  “For God and Freedom,” “For Freedom, Land, and People,” and “For God, Country, and Justice,” were among the sentiments which some of the burghers carried into battle on their hats and rifles.  Others had vierkleur ribbons as bands for their hats, while many carried on the upturned brim of their hats miniatures containing the photographs of the Presidents.

Aside from the dangers arising from a contact with the enemy and the heart-burns resulting from a long absence from his home, the Boer burgher’s experiences at the front were not arduous.  First and foremost he had a horse and rifle, and with these he was always more or less happy.  He had fresh meat provided to him daily, and he had native servants to prepare and serve his meals for him.  He was under no discipline whatever, and he could be his own master at all times.  He generally had his sons or brothers with him in the same laager, and to a Boer there was always much joy in this.  He could go on picket duty and have a brush with the enemy whenever he felt inclined to do so, or he could remain in his laager and never have a glimpse of the enemy.  Every two months he was entitled to a ten days’ leave of absence to visit his home, and at other times during the first five months of the war, his wife and children were allowed to visit him in his laager.  If he was stationed along the northern or western frontiers of the Transvaal he was in the game country, and he was able to go on buck-shooting expeditions as frequently as he cared.  He was not compelled to rise at a certain hour in the morning, and he could go to bed whenever he wished.  There was no drill, no roll-calls, nor any of the thousands of petty details which the soldiers of even the Portuguese army are compelled to perform.  As a result of a special law there was no work on Sundays or Church-holidays unless the enemy brought it about, and then, if he was a stickler for the observance of the Sabbath, he was not compelled to move a muscle.  The Boer burgher could eat, sleep, or fight whenever he wished, and inasmuch as he was a law unto himself, there was no one who could compel him to change his habits.  It was an ideal idle-man’s mode of living and the foreign volunteers who had leaves of absence from their own armies made the most of their holiday, but in that respect they did not surpass their companion, the Boer burgher.