Up to this time the subject of food supply, though it had long seriously occupied the attention of the authorities, had not gravely added to the anxieties of the siege.  Under the date of 1st January Mr. Pearse has the following entry:—­

Colonel Ward tells me that rations are holding out well.  Neither soldiers nor civilians, who number altogether over 20,000, have suffered privations yet, and, thanks to Colonel Stoneman’s admirable system of distribution, something more than beef, bread, and groceries can still be issued to those who are too weak to be nourished by rough campaigning fare.

     Forage for horses was, however, getting very scarce, and the poor
     beasts suffered greatly.

Four hundred men, including natives, are sent out every day to cut grass on the hillsides that are least exposed to Boer rifle fire, and they manage to bring in about 32,000 lbs. daily, but this does not go far among all the cavalry horses, transport animals, and cattle.  Many must be left to pick up their own food by grazing under guard.  The old troop-horses, however, break away from their allotted pasturages when feeding-time comes.  Perhaps their quick ears catch the familiar bugle call to stables sounding afar off.  At all events, neither knee-halters nor other devices are of any avail.  They get back to the old lines somehow at feeding-time, and it is pitiful to see them standing patiently, in a row, waiting for the corn or chaff that is not for them, trying by a soft whinny to coax a little out of the hands of soldiers who pass them, or sidling up to an old stable chum who is better fed because better fit for work, in the hope of getting a share of his forage for the sake of auld lang syne.  Those who know how the cavalry soldier loves a horse that has carried him well will not need to be told how hard Tommy found it to resist the appeal of a dumb comrade in distress; and who shall blame him if he shortened by just a handful or so the allowance for horses that are rationed on a special scale rather than turn a half-starved outcast empty away?  But sentiment is a mistake when kindness can do no more than prolong misery.  There is no horse sickness yet in the epidemic form.  They simply pine for want of nourishment until, too weak even to nibble the grass about them, they drop and die.  Some day we may have a use for them before things come to that extremity, but at present the difficulty is to dispose of their carcases.  Sanitary considerations forbid that they shall be buried in town or near camp.  The enemy shells working parties, who begin to dig pits on the open plain, and so an incinerating furnace has been built for the cremation of horses.

[Illustration:  SIEGE OF LADYSMITH, AFTER TWO MONTHS OF BOMBARDMENT]