The British-Boer War. EXPERIENCES OF LANCE-CORPORAL C. A. WILSON (3rd NEW ZEALAND CONTINGENT).

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume III, Issue 46, 15 September 1900, Page 3

The British -Boer War. EXPERIENCES OF LANCE-COR-PORAL C. A. WILSON (3rd NEW ZEALAND CONTINGENT).

{^Continued). ■'Before commencing the third instalment of my narrative, I would like to <[(Bff attention to a couple of printer's otg i n my last, which somewhat jtftroy the sense. lam made to say M at -stables we used a dress suit fljth brass battens; This should rend that " in stable work we -used a pair of loose serge trousers and a jersey, but for going ashore we used our drees anil with brass buttons and shoulder dates. 11 We &ad a Aeld service uniform exactly -siiailar, except that it jisd khaki-coloured wooden ■buttons, jlgaiu, the effioera are inferred to have foen devouring ham atxi tfgga, while the men woro entertained -at the Club. ji, most of my readers win long ago hive concluded, the reverse was the <saje, the transposition of a word making all the -difference. It was just before reaching Albany ihftt an incident occurred which terminated in the captain of No. 1 company banding in his resignation the diy after we left that port. I have no jntencion of relating fche circumstances, although they are perfectly familiar, to jne. Lieut. Bourne (Timaru), senior wkHem, was appointed to captain $o. 1,-and the appointment wasa-very popnlaT -one. All the non corns, had tecewed their stripes on the first day. Furrier Ward, of Waimate, was made fcrrier-sergeant of No. 1, and the imter received the lance stripe, taking -the position oi orderly-room clerk and also that of private sopvetary to Major Jowsey. On the field, however, the ■duties of this position are not arduous, ,and die! nofc interfere with my chances o! seeing any fun that was going. Sergeant O'Farretf's -camp appointmerit was confirmed, Bugler Strachan, <oi Timaru, was made lance-corporal lagier. To repeaif ttie other appointments would be waßte of time,', for al 1 ■tre strangers to Waimate readers. Our days were not idle ones. The hor-sea. ■i course, claimed a lot of attention, »na the various classes some more. Beading matter was on board in '4bundance,-and the Press had from its land supplied a box containing, imongst other very useful" "article's, . tobacco, paper and an indelible pencil, •the most handy thing that could have been provided. Very long letters were •written home, and the hardships en Aired vividly ' pourtrayed, but when <we were out on the veldt later* the «rae fellows remarked that they itiahed that thsy had the K'light" Templar meals again. The worst ■point, to my mind, was the t9a. -It ■wm not at all palatable, but this is aearly certain to be. the case on contact work. 1 had mads the acquaintance of the first mate, and at his Jnvitation I used to go to his cabin dvery afternoon and partake of a delicious cup of tea. This was the treat •of the day to me, and Mr Hicks will fllways liave my best regards for his landnees. He also told' me. a good number of words of the Lanears' tongue, and vauous , reasons for their , employment, which, to a seeker after Inowledge, were always worth storing way. One white man will do the work of about three Lascars, but he often gives much more trouble than thirty. The serang and tindal, or boatswain and boatswain's mate, are Ihe real persons In authority over the tlack crew. To the serang ihe mate gives his directions, and. he sees they •»re carried out. " If there is any trouble 4be serang settles it, but his orders are wrely questioned. If the «rew have •any trouble among themselves, they ?o into their own quarters and slice pieces off each other, and when this object has been attained and "bandages adjusted, all is joy. If the white sailor goes aßhore he often comes back elightly elevated, and thinks it his bounden duty to go to the officers' quarters and tell them his opinion of them. He sometimes bo far forgets blmself as to strike the mate,- but it is as much as that officer/* ticket is worth to return the b10w., . The. - Lascar >is cheaply kept and. paid, and' is inoffen«ve when his racial and ' religious principles are not c&lled'into question, hence his inclusion in so' fiaany Boat*. But there is; to nay tnind^ond' objectionable trait in fcKe 'ohftTftct'er 64 the gentle Lascar. This is hi* f oneness for " ghee "or faattv'e 'outlet?.. I never but this compound, Tbfufc tb used to stoat out oft in to^lstilly night by means of the ventilator, and" hum! Another of their favourite dishes I was content to l«»v« at a distance was salt fish fried on the stove. My quarters were in the orderly room, a deckhouse holding fivebuuks. Towards the door, which was kept open all through the hot nights, were directed the large venti< lators, and the sickening odours floated vi with the dawn. We sometimes

looked down 'the skylights at the natives leading. A large dish, mostly containing carry and rice, was placed in the middle of the floor, and the diners squatted round on their haunches. Each one had a small finger bowl of water beside him. He would take a small handful from the dish, uoll it into a ball and throw it into his mouth from a little 'distance* No forks or spoons were used. The quarters of these people were very clean, not from any predisposition on their $art to the sister virtue of godliness, but in respect to the prejudices sf the mate. The long days passed slowly, the monotony being relieved at intervals by a burial at sea— of a horse. The poor animal 5 ! suffered ■greatly, -especially those in th© holds. Those on deck got often drenched with salt water* Out of 278 horses, 12 •died on the voyage, and a number of others were ti3«?les3 for the work required of them. One day was a repetition of another. If there was no work to do, we basked in the sun, wrote our diaries, chatted of the future, or listened to someone playing the piano provided by Mrs Stead, and which stood in the messroorn. Several con.carts were held on deck, and as there was plenty of talent on board among officers and men, these were appreciated. We saw many flying fish and porpoises, and much enjoyed watching them. Soon the time required to Teach the African coast could be reckoned by hours, and all were in a fever of anxiety. Every glass in the ship was brought into requisition, and at last the watchers were rewarded by the sight of the dim distant coast. We had run right into the port of Durban, where we were to receive orders. To the boys, fresh from Albany and Christchurch, where their importance had been fully recognised, it seemed as if all the officers in Durban would swarm out to meet them, but hours passed and the British Lion made no sign. l?y means of flags, it was discovered that several of the ships, which crowded the roadstead, had troops on board, and that several of them had been there a week. The night passed and no one catue, and this hurt .the sensibilities of thosa who had hazarded their opinions as to tup recaption that would be given, whether there would be a band,, and whether Lord Bobs would think it worth while to conao. A Gustoias officer, who had boarded us, knew nothing coneermug us. Wednesday uaoraing was fine, and the rocky headland at the entrance to tb'e harbour, from Which we were distant about a mile and a half, stood out in bold relief. In ihe roadstead opposite us waa H.M.S. Terrible, and we could plainly seft the spaces in her bulwarks from which had come the guns which did such yeoman Berviee at Ladysmich. At 12.30 p.m., the agent i ar the ship came on board, but he had no news for the croops. • The captain signalled lor bran, of which the horses stood in need, but was only able to get 20 sacks of inferior quality. At 8 p.m. no orders had been received, but they came during the night, and at 7.30 a.m. on Thursday, 22nd March, tbe anchor was hove, and we were off to East London. Durban, the chief port of Natal, has a population of 25,000. The port is builr, all round tha harbour, and through the glasses we could see many fine buildings. All along tbe edge of the shore, a .short distance inland, rrns a low range of hills, and on this the houses are built. This gives it something of the 7 appear, anee of Duuedt-n, and when _the electric Ijghfcsiire on in the streets at night, ths effect from the water "is Very fine. Being the base of operations dining the campaign on the Natal side, it is, of course, very busy, and we heard 'here were thousands of tons of induar and stores lying on the wharves, there being no chance of removing it. £t may be of interest feo mention that Durban . received its name 1 roni the famous Portuguese explorer, Vasco di ; Gama, who sighted the headland at tbe entrance to the port of Durban on, Christmas Day,- 1497. From the Dies Natalia* Jbe named it Terra Natalis, now Natal* The colony, which is a little larger than Denmark, is bounded on the south by the Umtumfani, on the north by the Tugelft, which separates it from Zululand, on the west by the Drakens-, burg Mountains, and on the east by the, Indian Ocean. The soil is veryfertile,\the chief crop raised.. being ijaealies or mai?e, the grain forming the, food of the, bulk of the population', [.pjUwhich nine-tenths aye blaok. Tha chief industry, is sheep-rearing, and'tfae I chief export .wool. Tbe climate being hotter than that of the Cape, sugar is also ", largely grown, and' exported. Natal, however, not only sends awa"y its own produce, but is the carrier of the wool, hides, feathers and ivory sent down from, the inland provinces of the Transvaal and Orange Free State, both of whiob names are now but a memory- Ostrich feathers are valued

at from £30 to £80 per lb. "We sighted land again on Friday morning, but during the night we had passed our port about fltve miles and had to -turn back, sailing close inshore. The weafcTae* was beautiful ; floclcs of seabirds swam close to the boat in every direction, und from time to tinie we would see a farmhouse or a. mob of cattle, so that although in a state of feverish excitement we had no lack of objects of interest. Soon the shiws and buildings of East London began to appear, and at 2 p.m. on Friday we anchor in the roadstead. I omitted to say that a Maori war-cry had boen written by one of the officers, and this had been learnt and practised. As a" large and crowded transport steauacd up and dropped anchor a little j way from us the word was passed to { ! assemble for the cry. This was given I with great enthusiasm, but it only I caused a silence of blank astonishment on the parb of the Imperial troops. They made sure we were hooting at iheui, and must have thought us a' cargo of pro-Boer troops, but seeing the mistake, we prefaced It with a cheer. Then across the water we heard geveral voices say " It's the New Zealanders,'" and the next instant trom several thousand throats came the old, old war-cry of the British, and one that never palls, three hearty riuging cheetf*. I append the war-cry of the contingent. The first two lines , a q solo lines, the " hi " being a chorus, and' the last two lines are yelled by all. ' Next week I will give an account of j our landing in East London, of its j harbour, people and buildings, and of the treatment we received during our fortnight's stayKia fceha, hi. brave, yes.) Eintoa, hi. (Be stmng, yes.) Fuvi tea te mana o te Kmm. (UplvMd I'ne smpieinacy of the Queen) Hi, hi, ha — a(Yes y GS ' we WIU O [To be Continued )