explosive bullets, _i.e._, hollow bullets charged with an explosive
which is fired by a detonating cap on coming in contact with a resisting
surface. Now it is almost impossible to render a Mauser bullet
"explosive," owing to its extreme slenderness, so that any explosive
bullets which may have been used by the enemy must have come from
sporting rifles, which are--as all evidence goes to show--extremely rare
in their commandos. Expansive bullets are made by cutting off the
rounded tip of the bullet, scooping out its point, constructing its
"nose" of some softer metal, or simply making transverse cuts across the
end. These missiles are not prohibited by the Geneva Convention:
nevertheless their employment against white men is altogether
unnecessary and reprehensible.

As to looting, we must not forget that all commandeering of goods on the
part of the enemy has been so described. But, of course, it is perfectly
legitimate according to the usage of modern warfare to seize any
property necessary for an army provided receipts are duly handed over to
the persons from whom the goods are obtained. The Germans invariably
acted in this way during the Franco-Prussian war, and no historian has
ever described them as "savages" for this reason. Of course the wanton
destruction of property which appears to have been perpetrated by the
Boers in Natal is absolutely indefensible.

If any one on reading the above thinks the writer "unpatriotic" he can
only say that many British soldiers serving their Queen and country are
"unpatriotic" in the same way. I hold no brief for the Boers, and I
feel sure that here and there one may find an unmitigated scoundrel in
their ranks who would fire on white flags, loot houses and use explosive
bullets. On the other hand wounded and captured soldiers have repeatedly
testified to the great kindness shown them by the enemy. In short, I