PATROLLING.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXII, Issue 203, 20 October 1900, Page 1

PATROLLING.

~ -' ' (Lendon MaU.) 0» the word "patrol," it yon look it op ia the dictionaty, jon will find a ' simple i xplanatkra; but the average English at -home' hare do idea of its real meaning m exhibited in warfare—especially war against an enemy like the Boer. It requires more courage, more real pluck, to patrol the kopjes round about oar camp than to make a charge in company with thousands of yonr fellows in the teeth of a deadly fire. In the Utter case the excitement, the spirit of the military display, the confidence in yourself and officer, the anxiety to get at thi enemy—all these ' combine to impel the men to that brilliant dash and pluck for which our army is noted. Bat the patrolling—that is quite a different matter. Two or three mounted men walk their horses in a leisurely way np t9 the kopj« ' scattered all over the veldt, and ex- ' amine them fir eigne of the enemy, ■ Finding none, the next cover is ex- : stmined, and so on. The patrols are on the open, the Boers lurking behind the boulders, hidden from sight, Possibly the first notice the nnlucky man has of the vie'nity of the enemy is a volley fired at clcse range, and then it is a race for life. I have watch' d these patrols from a* distance with nerves all on a quiver. I hare been with them, and the weird feeliegs that in spte of every effort creep over you as you proceed closer and closer to s >me isolated kopjs. Are the Boers there or not] Then the tension grows keeter and keener, until ore feels that it would be a relief wre the enemy to open fire. From one koije to tn tber tbe patrol has to %o —taking bs lib in his bants- doing work which if nec< s?ary is one of the most dangerous, arduous, and trying in the service. And if you era shot there is no glory attached to your memory. " So-and-so was shot while on patrol"— a few fioop'e words which convey a greit deal, bat cny to tbo initiated. I fcave been and can s»y without x iggeration Bfhat I was g'ad when the enemy opened fie. The whz'-'ng of tbe built ts all round, lha res') for iifr, and the «ni of tbe Bospesse— tbe excitement of it was gloriois.