46 WASTAGE OF ANIMALS IN WAR. 



on mobilisation and to provide for wastage of a war, 

 reliance was placed in a system of registration amounting 

 to 14,000 animals. 



(d) There was no system of obtaining and tabulating in 

 time of peace, information as to horse supplies of foreign 

 countries with a view to the contingency of a great expan- 

 sion in requirements. 



(c) No steps were taken in view of the possibilities of a war 

 in South Africa to ascertain what animals could be 

 obtained from abroad until four months previous to the 

 actual outbreak of hostilities, when officers were sent to 

 certain countries to enquire as to the supply of mules. 

 Consequently when the conflict came and a great number 

 of animals had to be procured from various countries, 

 officers despatched for that purpose, for want of previous 

 information and system, were much at the mercy of 

 vendors both in a matter of price and quality of animals 

 purchased. 



{d) The Director General of Eemounts at that time could 

 do little with the organisation with which he was furnished 

 in time of peace. His functions were strictly limited and 

 his staff even more so. It was inevitable that a Depart- 

 ment with no provision for expansion, when called on 

 suddenly to extend its operations to a previously uncon- 

 , ceived degree, should fail through lack of system. 



<e) The evidence confirmed the view that the chief cause of 

 loss of horses was that they were brought from distant 

 countries, submitted to a long and deteriorating sea 

 voyage, when landed were sent into the field without time 

 for recuperation, and there put to hard and continuous 

 work on short rations. 



if) In the early part of the war there was' great pressure for 

 horses but no well-thought-out system for the establishment 

 of Base and Advanced Eemount Depots in which animals 

 could be held, exercised and prepared for issue. 



{g) There was also ill-provision of Veterinary Institutions 

 to which sick and over-worked animals could be sent to 

 recover. In the beginning, by reason of the inability to 



