In the Orange Free State nearly every man above fifty years of age has
had the experience of the three years' Basuto war in 1865-67, and almost
all above forty are very expert huntsmen and crack shots. Quite a good
number have also taken part in the Transvaal war against the English in
1880; the rest have been trained by the elder veterans, and, though not
so well seasoned, are good horsemen, expert with the rifle, and
competent in the field. As to the Transvaalers, the men have all had
plenty of field practice before the previous war with England and since,
in subduing formidable Kaffir rebellions, the last being the operations
against the Magato chief, which terminated just before the outbreak of
the present Anglo-Boer war.

Besides this, game had continued longer in abundance in the Transvaal,
and is still hunted with success in the northern low veldt and in the
adjacent Portuguese territory. Added to this, the young Boers in the
Cape Colony, Natal, Orange Free State, and Transvaal have been
encouraged to attain proficiency in rifle practice and competence in the
field, ostensibly for the gratification of keeping up old traditions,
but in reality to be prepared for the struggle against England meditated
by the Afrikaner Bond.

About thirty odd years ago the Orange Free State and Transvaal were
still swarming with all sorts of game. Venison was the staple diet.
Lions and leopards also infested those States, but these and the game
have been pretty well extirpated since, except in some of the lower
parts of the Transvaal. In the earlier days ammunition was costly and
hard to procure, and the use had to be husbanded accordingly. It became
thus a practice never to pull a trigger unless with intense aim and the
certainty of an effective shot. A man would go out stalking for an hour