A Camp Fire Concert. 125 



It was after eleven before the programme Avas 

 completed, of&cers and men taking equal parts in 

 the performance. The men were in the highest 

 spirits, the officer being obviously extremely 

 popular. At the close Sir Frederick Carrington 

 addressed them in a stirring speech, and was 

 enthusiastically cheered. Truly an impressive 

 scene. Here, some thousands of miles awav 

 from England, in a country inhabited by a 

 numerous tribe of savages of noted ferocity, not 

 a hundred miles from the kraal of the sTeat 

 Lol^engula, was a tiny group of men holding their 

 own, maintaining their authority ]3artly by their 

 own reputation for efficiency, partly because they 

 represented the might and prestige of the Empire ; 

 never dreaming for a moment that a shadow even 

 of danger could approach them, never doubting 

 their ability to dissipate any danger should it 

 arise. This is the group of military force which 

 holds for England a portion of South Africa, from 

 Kimberley to Fort Salisburv, comprising a territory 

 as large as Germany and France, replete with 

 elements of a hostile and dangerous nature. May 

 good fortune ever attend and reward them. 



