Related article: but several horses and one man are hit, and the young soldiers have the new experience of hear- ing bullets whistling past their ears. It is fortunate that the enemy do not fight stubbornly for their position, for the movement against them has been necessarily so rapid that the small-arm am- munition cart and the water-cart have been left behind. The day is Buy Micronase scorchingly hot, and the men are suffering from thirst. For long hours, too, it has been im- possible to give the horses a drink. Altogether a very trying day. Night comes at last, how- ever, and a bivouac is establislied ; some rough food is procured, and blessed sleep follows. The want of water for horses has been mentioned, and no one who has not had the experience knows what this means on a cam- paign. Nothing, not even the want of regular feeding, tells upon the condition of horses so much as tlie want of water or the use of a contaminated supply. In an arid country like South Africa, it is of course inevitable that oppor- tunities of watering horses should bfe few and far between, but cer- tainly on many occasions there was a lack of care in managing the water supply that was avail- able. There is an old and well- known camp regulation, when many troops are massied ' together, that the upper waters of a run- ning stream .should be used for drinking water by men, below that there should be a space where animals can satisfy their thirst, and that all washing should be carried out lower still. In South Africa, possibly from .quite unavoidable circumstances, this regulation has not always been enforced, and washing with soap has been done higher up a river than the drinking- place for horses. The consequence has been that the water has been so foul and contaminated that animals would not drink it, at least as freely and in such satisfying quantities as was necessary to their consti- tution. Again, all available forces are drawn together, for a great action is impending. We shall not enter upon the general doings of all arms, but follow the duties of our regiment. The horses have been fed later in the evening, for there may be no chance of doing so for many hours. The regiment is on parade at midnight, and at 1 a.m., in pitch darkness, it moves oft, following an infantry column. The men are leading their horses, partly to spare them and partly because the ground is too rough for riding where nothing can be seen. A position is at last taken up, and daylight is anxiously awaited. With the first dim light of dawn heavy firing breaks out on our flank, and it becomes necessary to fill up a gap in the general line. Two squadrons are at once pushed forward dismounted, and find themselves within a few hundred yards of the enemy's entrenchments. The men take what cover they can find, and are allowed to begin slow independent firing, but the officers are still able to maintain some control, 1901.] CAVALRY IN WAR TIME. 249 and no ammunition is wasted. A battery of horse artillery is in action on a ridge behind them, and the Glyburide Micronase shells pass .shrieking over their heads. The sun rises" higher and higher in the heavens and beats down in power on the backs and necks of the soldiers as they remain prone upon the earth. Little by little the men creep for- ward, and their stinging fire has a marked effect in keeping the foe oppo^d to them comparatively harmless, while the regimental machine gun has been able to establish itself so as to pour out effective showers of lead at inter- vals. Some poor fellows are seen to crawl away to the rear, sorely hurt, while others remain silent and motionless on the spot where death has found them. Hour Micronase Glyburide after hour goes by, . and still, parched with thirst, cramped with long lying and creeping, the dra- goons are straining their eyes, trying to see some definite mark for their carbines. But. for long there is no change. Messengers are sent back to ask for supports, but one or two are hit in crossing the fire-swept zone, and it is evi- dent that there is nothing for it but stern, determined endurance. The afternoon comes, and with it some relief. The firing dies away on both sides. New dispositions are made, and at last the two squadrons can retire, but first they perform the sad duty Micronase 10 Mg of giving rude burial to comrades who will sit in saddle no more. They have been engaged from six in the morning till four in the afternoon, and this is the work that may not infrequently be required from cavalry in a modern battle ! Needless and tedious to recount the reconnaissances, patrols, bi- vouacs, skirmishes that follow in long succession. Enough to say that every day's work is hard, but that on some days it is harder than on others. Let us look at the net result on the horses after being a little more than a month in the country. Out of an esta^ blishment of 506, 173 have left the ranks, of which very, very few will ever again be fit for ser- vice. And, though shot and shell have taken their toll, the greater proportion of the loss is due to over-fatigue and insufficient and unsuitable food and water. And there has been no lack of care and attention. In all the corps of which we have indisputably ac- curate details, the stable duties were, as far as circumstances would permit, accurately carried out exactly as they would have been, in the most comfortable barracks in England ; each horse was minutely inspected at least once daily, nothing tliat foresight could suggest was overlooked, legs were hand- rubbed, and the few resources for stimulating appetite and securing nourishment were zealously used. And here is manifest one of the greatest faults in the class of horses on which English cavalry are generally mounted. They have, when they are in condition, many undeniably good qualities ; but, both congenitally and on account of their pampered exis- tence at home, they are so delicate that they demand endless atten- tions which would not be required by a hardier race. On service, a trooper should not require any very special attention except with regard to its back, and its appe- tite should be so healthy that it will eat anything that is available at whatever time the food may be offered. We have been talking a good deal about the food of the horses. How are the officers and men fed? Of course the well-pro- vided regimental mess of home