WITH THE INTERNATIONAL FIELD FORCE IN CRETE, 1897. 53 I 
Artillery must have a wider signification than the word Mountain would 
lead us to imply. It must include all guns in pack trasport intended to 
work with infantry in the field, not only in a mountainous country, but 
under all circumstances where Field Artillery cannot work at all, or at 
the best, only practically as Position Artillery. For example, the 4 so- 
styled Field Batteries of the Egyptian Army are Mountain Batteries, 
as their equipment exemplifies) and their role a most useful one, 
though except possibly in Abyssinia, their usual theatre of operations 
is a desert not a mountainous range. Again in the case of the battery 
in South Africa, operations in the kopjes of Matabili and Basuto 
Lands, or on the cols commanding the Drakensberg Passes can 
scarcely be called mountain warfare in the widest sense of the term. 
On the other hand in a purely mountainous district such as the 
North-West Frontier of India, pack artillery in its most efficient form 
must be employed, and guns with long range power and a large am¬ 
munition supply become inevitable. But as I have said Mountain 
Batteries are constantly engaged elsewhere than in the Himalayas, 
in minor operations in countries which although occasionally hilly, 
are genrally difficult on account of the absence of roads, the presence 
of heavy sand, rocky desert, dense bush or jungle, etc. It is generally 
found in these circumstances that our Mountain Artillery requirements 
would be satisfactorily met by a simple equipment enabling us to 
throw a comparatively few rounds of heavy shell at short ranges, 
either by direct fire at 'personnel , or by curved fire to search out the 
interior of the enemy’s obstacles. 
Many senior officers who have been engaged in operations of recent 
years on the North-West Frontier of India, are moreover agreed that 
our mountain guns in that country require to be supplemented by a 
small proportion of howitzers, to search out the reverse slope of heights 
and interior of obstacles. They quote (as what might have been use¬ 
ful examples of their employment) Dargai, and even as recent instances 
as the attack on Gumatti, on 6th February last, when it was officially 
announced that the failure of the expedition against the latter village, 
was due to the insufficiency of calibre of the mountain guns which ac¬ 
companied the column. The 10-pr. gun will not meet this case, as the 
shell fuzed is only 2 lbs. heavier than our present 2.5-inch shell. 
From a consideration of the preceding, I am therefore inclined to 
think that an equipment of howitzers should be introduced into our 
Mountain Batteries of the Imperial establishment, which should be 
increased in number, as also into our Indian establishment, to the extent 
of 25 per cent, of the armament of our British and Native Batteries. 
Our Irish mules kept their condition throughout the hot summer in 
Crete, although fully exposed to the sun in open lines, and previously 
only accustomed to cool, comfortable, stables at Newport. We had no 
mule laid up with a gall of any description, and it was with great regret 
that I received orders at Malta on our way home, to send them on to 
Egypt for service with the 32nd Field Battery and 16 Eastern in the 
Soudan. We took over some Spanish mules which had been pur¬ 
chased in the neighbourhood of Gibraltar, but neither in bone, sub- 
