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3o8 A British Officer which beset the column and its intelligence staff in that task. Writ- ten with knowledge and humor, the book depicts the hopes and disappointments of guerrilla war; and although the suppression of names precludes its classification as history, yet it may well be run through by the historical student who desires to realize the atmos- phere of that period, to get the smell of the veld in his nostrils, the whistle of the sniper's bullet in his ears, and the vision of the great, barren plateau, the boulder-strewn kopjes, and the stony drifts be- fore his eyes. We have considered as yet only English military. If they offer but scanty material for the historian to deal with, he must not hope for compensations from the other side. The Boer is more skilful with the rifle than with the pen, and although the present generation contains individuals such as Steyn, Louis Botha, Advocate Smuts, and others who hold their own in intellectual circles, a South African literature has yet to be made, and the Bible is still to the majority of Boers the only book required by man. To this lack of local de- mand must be attributed the fact that with one exception no Boer account of the Boer War has yet appeared. To soldiers as well as to the historian it is a matter of peculiar regret that the story of the gallant resistance against superior numbers made by a patriotic nation should not have been told by both sides. Nor does the solitary break in this self-imposed rule of silence compensate fully for the lack of other accounts. Three Years' War, by General De Wet,^ although a book to be read, is in many ways disappointing. Dictated in haste from memory for the Continental market, it lacks the accuracy of historical work. Yet it cannot be neglected, for it sets down De Wet's recollections of his dramatic personal experi- ences, so far as a man who kept no notes and no diary can record facts accurately after a lapse of two years. Its very roughness and simplicity enable the reader to appreciate the merits and demerits of the author as a national leader. It is much to be hoped that other Boers will follow the example set by the late commander- general of the Free State, refreshing, however, their memories care- fully from such historical records as they may possess. Military narratives by Generals Louis Botha, Delarey, and Cronje would be read eagerly by the British army and warmly welcomed. Fortunately, however, there were with the Boers a few who by training and inclination were qualified to tell the truth frankly and impartially. Of the reports of the military attaches with the Boer forces, only one has been made public, that of Captain Carl Reich- ' London and New York, 1902.