CHAPTER XIII. 



BOER MARKSMANSHIP. 



THE idea that every Beer is a first-class rifle shot 

 seems to have become a form of faith, in its way, 

 in England, and I am afraid that no observations 

 of mine will have much effect in dispelling the 

 prevalent credulity on this subject 



It is, however, perfectly true that when the 

 Transvaal was a game country the majority of 

 these people acquired a certain amount of aptitude, 

 as distinct from exact skill, in the use of their 

 weapons, and that the natural deficiencies of their 

 country, from every agricultural and pastoral point 

 of view, made it more or less necessary, in order to 

 fill the pot and neutralise the vituperative instincts 

 of the " Vrouw," that the males of the family should 

 stand to their arms ; thus many of them attained 



