ives, 1 a deserter who
took twenty horses from the Cape Police, and the remaining 23 were
British subjects taken fighting and bearing arms against their own
country.

_Hostages upon Railway Trains._

Here the military authorities are open, as it seems to me, to a serious
charge, not of inhumanity to the enemy but of neglecting those steps
which it was their duty to take in order to safeguard their own troops.
If all the victims of derailings and railway cuttings were added
together it is not an exaggeration to say that it would furnish as many
killed and wounded as a considerable battle. On at least five occasions
between twenty and thirty men were incapacitated, and there are very
numerous cases where smaller numbers were badly hurt.

Let it be said at once that we have no grievance in this. To derail a
train is legitimate warfare, with many precedents to support it. But to
checkmate it by putting hostages upon the trains is likewise legitimate
warfare, with many precedents to support it also. The Germans habitually
did it in France, and the result justified them as the result has
justified us. From the time (October 1901) that it was adopted in South
Africa we have not heard of a single case of derailing, and there can be
no doubt that the lives of many soldiers, and possibly of some
civilians, have been saved by the measure.

I will conclude this chapter by two extracts chosen out of many from the
diary of the Austrian, Count Sternberg. In the first he describes his
capture:

'Three hours passed thus without our succeeding in finding our object.
The sergeant then ordered that we should take a rest. We sat down on the
ground, and chatted good-humouredly with the soldiers. They were fine
fellows, without the least sign of brutality--in fact, full of sympathy.
They had every right to be angry with us, for we had spoiled their sleep
after they had gone through a trying day; yet they did not visit it on
us in any way, and were most kind. They even shared their drinking-water
with us. I cannot describe what my feelings were that night. A
prisoner!'

He adds: 'I can only repeat that the English officers and the English
soldiers have shown in this war that the profession of arms does not
debase, but rather ennobles man.'

CHAPTER X

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE QUESTION

Writing in November 1900, after hearing an expression of opinion from
many officers from various parts of the seat of war, I stated in 'The