TOBACCO LEAVES 



What a curious contrast with the cam- 

 paigning in South Africa, where marches 

 and privations as long and as stern as any 

 suffered by our great-grandfathers were 

 borne by the volunteers and soldiers of 

 to-day, with a grumble only when their 

 " smokes " failed them. 



We have it from many who took part 

 in the forced marches leading to Paarde- 

 berg, to Bloemfontein, to Pretoria, and 

 beyond, that when rations were but two 

 or three biscuits a day, the only real phys- 

 ical content of each twenty-four hours 

 came with the pipe smoked by the smoul- 

 dering embers of a camp-fire. This pipe 

 eased the way to sleep that might other- 

 wise have lingered, delayed by the sheer 

 bodily fatigue and mental restlessness 

 caused by prolonged and monotonous ex- 

 ertion. It is difficult, then, to believe that 

 tobacco is anything but a real help to 

 men who are suffering long labours and 



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