100 WAR: A SCOUTS' PATROL 



with him, we mentioned how fine a great bull 

 koodoo looked when standing alert. " He looks 

 so beautiful," said the old man, " that you could 

 not help shooting him.' 1 



Sassaby, that very wary buck, Rensberg de- 

 scribed as " having eyes stronger than what 

 looking-glasses (field-glasses) are." 



When, scouting together later on, it became 

 necessary for one of us to ride forward on the 

 approach of a party of doubtful appearance, 

 Rensberg, who went under the name of " the old 

 general/' would dismount and take up what he 

 called a " petition," and an exceedingly good 

 man he was with his long Lee-Enfield to have at 

 one's back. Once when we were scouting, he 

 asked me, " Have you got a white flag ready in 

 case we find we have got a bad petition ? Because 

 if we put that up and they shoot at it, then we will 

 know there is danger." And he asked us quite 

 seriously one day whether we thought a German 

 could be killed with a " hard " bullet — the point of 

 a -303 bullet, if not a soft nose, wants blunting to 

 kill buck with certainty. On my assuring him 

 that a German could certainly be killed with an 

 untampered bullet, Rensberg replied that in that 

 case he thought it necessary that the unfortunate 

 Teuton should at least be given a " head shot." 



I had the bad luck about here to lose the little 

 Irish terrier I had brought from Salisbury ; the 

 little fellow somehow managed to stay behind 

 at our camp one morning trek. A government 



