11 



2 14 Horses on Bom'd Ship. 



duration of life of three hundred and odd 

 thousand remounts has been about six weeks. 

 Had these Generals taken the precaution to 

 consult their veterinary staff, they would no 

 doubt have learned that moderately service- 

 able horses in three weeks' time, would be 

 more useful for military operations than dead 

 ones. Besides, the mounting of men on 

 horses which were incapable of enduring a 

 single day's hard work, has been the cause . 

 of the death of great numbers of our young 

 men and boys in South Africa. In such 

 cases, the crime of ignorance is no less 

 serious than that of heedless disregard of 

 life. Some excuse might be admissible for 

 this deplorable folly, if the war had been 

 finished in the supposed six months' time. 



