AFRICA.

The local troops serving in Uganda, British East Africa, British
Central Africa, and Somaliland, are not given. The aggregate area of
these Protectorates is nearly four times that of Great Britain. The
majority of their inhabitants were, and still are, but semi-civilised
or wholly savage, and internal order has often to be maintained by
serious fighting. In 1899 the force included three and a half
battalions, but as it was then in process of reorganisation into one
corps, the "King's African Rifles," its precise strength at that time
cannot now be ascertained.

CHAPTER VI.

THE NAVY IN THE BOER WAR.[82]

[Footnote 82: For vessels serving on the Cape station during
the war, see Appendix 5.]

SECTION I. THE GENERAL WORK OF THE NAVY.

The duty of the Navy in this, as in all war was:--

(1) To acquire and keep the command of the sea.
(2) To undertake, by full use of our great mercantile marine, all sea
transport.
(3) To carry out the instructions of Government for stopping the enemy's
supplies by sea.
(4) To render any local or temporary assistance to the Army that
circumstances might require.

[Sidenote: Command of Sea.]

[Sidenote: Transport.]

[Sidenote: Stopping supplies.]

During the Boer War the command of the sea was never disputed, so that
it gave rise to no anxiety after the first few months. The second
duty, that of transport, at once assumed extreme importance owing to
the 6,000 miles distance of the base of operations (Cape Town) from
England, the large number of men and animals, and the great quantity
of stores to be dealt with. The third duty, involving the much
disputed matter of contraband, etc., was, and is always likely to be,
a difficult one, owing to the rather nebulous state of International
Law on questions which were likely to, and did arise, and to the many
interests, belligerent and neutral, which might be involved. It was
further complicated by the fact that the enemy possessed no seaport
and no carrying trade of his own, so that all goods for him from over
sea had to be landed either at a neutral port or in a British colonial
port. The fourth duty, that of local assistance, was a simpler
matter. Owing to causes recorded elsewhere, the armed forces of Great
Britain in South Africa were not anything like adequate for the task
before them when the war broke out on October 9th, 1899. The grave
differences that exist