NOTES ON GERMAN MANQUVRES. 75 
load of six pounds. ‘The artillery and cavalry do not carry tents of any 
kind, when bivouacking the men sleep between the two rows in which the 
horses of a sub-division are picketted, and in this way get a certain 
amount of protection from the wind. At manceuvresa plentiful supply 
of straw is always issued, and the gunners say that they sleep com- 
fortably in the open. 
The German boot differs very much from ours, it is a low Wellington, 
the advantage of which is that the mud cannot work in by the ankle, 
so neither gaiters or spats are required; the boot would be according 
to our ideas unsuitable for marching, but it is the pattern most 
commonly worn by all the working classes throughout Germany, so 
that the men have always been used to it and would not readily under- 
stand the mysteries of a lace-up boot, and certainly the marching power 
of the infantry is beyond question. The long boots of the mounted 
troops are but seldom made with much attempt at cut or smartness, 
the boot fits loosely round the calf, with the advantage that whatever 
may be the weather, it can be pulled on or off without trouble. 
No part of the uniform is smarter or more genuinely useful than the 
great-coat. The collar is the great feature, when not in use it lies well 
back over the shoulders being cut so deep as to almost form a cape, 
but when turned up, at night time or in bad weather, it comes well over 
the ears and nose, while a small pocket of alpaca, a continuation of the 
collar lining, forms a hood or cap, fitting tight on the head, so as to 
allow of the forage cap being worn outside. The durability of the 
material is beyond question. One evening I was talking to some men 
of the lst Guard Ulans, who after a long day were cleaning their kit 
and packing it away for the following morning’s parade, four of the 
men were engaged rolling a cloak, and noticing its very aged appcar- 
ance, I said “that cloak has given the state good service,” “yes,” 
replied the owner “I think it is about time it was cast, it has been 
twenty-five years in the regiment ;” the other men laughed but the man 
undid his cloak and shewed the date of issue 1868, saying “it was 
serving in this regiment five years before any of youwere born.” This 
incident is a true example of the strict economy and care with which 
everything is seen to in the German army. 
The conditions under which manceuvres are held in England and in 
Germany are so different, that it is hard to draw a fair comparison be- 
tween the two. With us manceuvres may be said to be carried out only 
on sufferance, and their present development is largely due to the per- 
sonal influence of a few of the senior officers of the army, who have, in 
their private capacity, obtained permission for troops to manceuvre over 
a certain extent of country. In Germany the whole country is open to 
the army without let or hindrance, and a General Officer is in no way 
hampered by having his manceuvre maps marked in all kinds of colours 
to distinguish the ground over which his men may move, from that over 
which it is strictly forbidden to cross. - The actual manceuvring of the 
troops is therefore bound to partake more of the real nature of war than 
with us, but it is more especially in the manner in which the men are 
housed and fed, that the great difference occurs. 
During the manceuvres every regiment must pass two or three nights 
