stones, which makes a smart crack like a small
explosion.

A clip of soft-nosed Mauser cartridges, in which a copper centre to the
bullet suggested a percussion-cap, was sent home to the War Office.
Colonel Montgomery has kindly furnished me with the following report on
the bullet:

'The bullet contains no explosive matter, it is fitted with a hollow
copper tube in the nose, similar to the ordinary "Express" bullet. The
envelope is made with a solid base, which is possible in this bullet
owing to the core being inserted from the front.'

One cannot help feeling some astonishment at the strong feeling that has
been exhibited regarding the use of expanding bullets of small calibre,
both at the Hague Conference and during this campaign, when the
Martini-Henry, a far more dangerous and destructive missile in its
effects at moderate ranges, is allowed to pass muster without notice.

Lastly, we come to bullets of large calibre unprovided with a mantle.
The Martini-Henry is practically representative of all these, but I
append a photograph of some twenty out of thirty varieties which came
into my possession during searches amongst captured ammunition. Some of
these were provided with a copper core to facilitate 'setting up,'
others were cupped at the top, and others flattened, to increase the
resistance on impact. I can say little about them except that I believe
some of the forms were responsible for a considerable proportion of the
most severe injuries we met with, in some of which a large and regular
entry made their use certain, while a considerable proportion of them
were retained. In the case of the viscera their power of doing serious
damage was very striking compared with that of the bullets of small
calibre. As with the small sporting bullets I think their use was often
due to the fact that the sporting Boer preferred to use the weapon he
was accustomed to rather than his military weapon.

A considerable number of the Boers were armed with Martini-Henry rifles,
and this was particularly the case with small bodies of men, rather than
with the larger commandos fighting regular engagements. The Transvaal
Government, moreover, had Martini-Henry rifles made as late as 1898. The
Martini-Henry bullet was responsible for some of the worst fractures
that came under my notice, but it is of interest to remark that its
capability to do damage did not satisfy some of the Boers, who cut them
as is shown in fig. 43. I cannot s