l us cattle we were frequently met by the reply that we had
already taken their best cattle, that the British had taken some, and
that the little they had left they could not do without. Of course
we were not hindered in our purpose of obtaining food by such a reply,
and we had sometimes to resort to force. We frequently gave these
"bush-lancers" notice when danger threatened, but in most instances
they were the first to discover danger, and gave us information as to
the movements of the British.

Everybody knows that it is a sore trial for the Boer to live without
coffee, but this national beverage disappeared entirely from our menu,
and its loss was only partly replaced by the "mealie coffee" which we
set about preparing. The process was a very simple one. As soon as we
off-saddled a hundred coffee mills were set to work. The mealie was
roasted over a fire and afterwards treated in a similar manner to that
by which the coffee bean is prepared. This "mealie coffee" made a very
palatable drink, especially as we were frequently able to obtain milk
to mix with it.

We generally roasted our meat on the coals, as we found that without
salt meat was most palatable when treated in this way. This is
explained by the fact that the ashes of the fire contain a certain
saline quality. We obtained mealies in all sorts of extraordinary
ways. Sometimes we harvested it ourselves, but more often we found
quantities hidden in caves or kraals. Mealies were also purchased from
the natives. Every general did all that was possible to sow in the
district in which he was operating, for the soil is very fruitful. We
very seldom lacked mealies, although the British frequently destroyed
the crops we had been growing. There can be no doubt that when an
Afrikander feels hungry he will find something to eat.

I have already mentioned that sometimes when the British swooped down
upon us they carried away our culinary utensils, and a question may
arise in the minds of my readers as to how we obtained others to
replace them. Well, we were not particular in this connection. We
found empty tea cans and empty bully-beef tins, and by manipulating
barbed wire we speedily converted these crude materials into
serviceable culinary implements. We preferred the tar cans because
the beef tins often came to pieces after the solder with which they
are fastened had been subjected to the heat of the fire. I remember
that one day our parson gave as much as five sh