for use against ships on ships or coast defences, and in these circumstances they employ of course armour-piercing shells. The latter must penetrate the target aimed at, hence in their flight flatness of trajectory is essential. Now it stands to reason that flatness of trajectory vanishes when the gun is fired at anything above a small angle of elevation. Therefore, the distances scheduled in the following tables, which are those for which the three pieces are sighted in their normal employment, are doubtless being greatly exceeded from the extra elevation that is sure to have been allowed for in Captain Scott's land carriages. In the case of the field guns mentioned, our 15-pounder cannot be elevated more than 16 degrees, as compared to the 20 degrees of the Boer weapon-a difference quite sufficient to account for the superiority of the latter in maximum range :— TABLE A.-BRITISH GUNS OF POSITION. If Q.F., rate of aimed fire per minute..... Projectiles...... ? + 2,210 1,750 1,900 779 Weight of ditto, lbs. Explosive in Common Shells 45 100 12.5 Common Common Common Common Common Common Lyddite Lyddite Powder Lyddite Powder Lyddite or Powder *These three types of Naval Guns are all mounted upon Captain Percy Scott's improvised land carriages. The 6 in. gun was taken from the Terrible on Feb. 12th, or thereabouts, and sent to Durban on a Scott_carriage. It is impossible to estimate the rate of fire per minute when mounted upon improvised carriages. *Fortunately, there appears to be some doubt whether these formidable pieces, intended for the forts at Pretoria, have ever reached here. The travelling carriages for these guns are very light and simple. They are especially adapted to defend entrenchments, or, in fact, for any purpose which requires a frequent change of position. The South African Republic possesses only one or two of these howitzers. Gun...... Construction Calibre, inches... TABLE C.-BRITISH FIELD GUNS. Total Length of Gun, inches... Nominal weight of gun, including breech Muzzle velocity, feet per second Horse Field Howitzer Mountain Naval Brigade.* 12-pr. B.L. 15-p. B.L. 5 in. B.L. 7-p. R.M.L. 12-p. Q.F.B.L. Wire SteelJointed Steel 2.5 1,607 3 Steel Steel 3 1,553 Shrapnel 8 Ring Shell, Common Projectiles.......... * These Field Guns carried by our warships are available, but have not yet been utilised. + With Sir G. Clarke's "spade" apparatus. Also some 25 in. R.M.L. Mountain Guns (see Table C), and 12-pr. B.L. Field Guns (see Table E), all purchased in this country circa 1894. *Nicknamed by our troops the "Pom-Poms." The British Government has now purchased some of these. + With the elevation of 20 degrees. TABLE E.-BRITISH FIELD GUNS (VOLUNTEER CONTINGENTS*). * Canadian and New South Wales Artillery Contingents are equipped with 15-pr. Q.F. B.L. Guns, same as those scheduled in Table C, while the gun detachment is protected by bullet-proof shields on the carriage. + Eighteen shots per minute possible with case shot only. Raadhuis Rand Ricm Riet = House of Parliament, but not used in Pretoria, as two chambers are set apart in the Government Buildings there (Gouvernements Gebouwen) for the two assemblies. These chambers are each known as a “raadzaal.” Compare French salle. = means a rough ridge when describing natural features. = thong of dressed leather used to couple yoked oxen together. reed or wild cane. = a river. = scrubby copse. = a whip of giraffe or other tough hide-pronounced shambok. = a small stream. Rivier Ronde Ruigte Spruit Sweep Vaal Veld Veld-cornet = = = = = whip. = grey. Vaal Rivier is the Grey River. not field, as we understand it, but open country like the prairies. Field-cornet. Commander, but is not used in ordinary South African Dutch patois. It is good Dutch, and means a commander of armies. CommandantGeneral is General, then Commandant DistrictGeneral, then Field-cornet is a Colonel, or rather a combination of Colonel and Major. Assistant Field-cornet is a Captain. In the artillery the ranks run down from Colonel as with us. = a marsh, it is a contraction of vallei, but it does not mean valley. Free. In the English form of any word in which the two letters i j occur together these are amalgamated into y. to triumph or win, seen in Winburg. Witwatersrand = Ridge of the white waters. Win Zeekoe = Rhinoceros, a word often used in the names of farms. APPENDIX F GLOSSARY OF BOER TERMS AND THEIR ENGLISH EQUIVALENTS, SPECIALLY PREPARED BY A JOHANNESBURGER FOR THIS VOLUME. = mountain. = spring. = bridge. Compare Scotch and Old English "brig." = a smooth ride, in contradistinction to "rand,” a "down." Berg = tree. = bush. Bron Brug Burg Dorp Fontein = Kaallaagte Kloof Корје Laagte = spring. = health. spring of health. = bare valley = not camel, but giraffe. Kameelfontein is "Fountain of the Giraffes." = a gap, cloven between two hills. = a corruption of a word cognate to corral. An enclosure for cattle. = peak, rather than hill. It may, however, be used to indicate the latter. = a fortification made by placing waggons in a circle, locking their poles together, and filling up all gaps with thorny mimosa bushes or other obstructions. It is now often used merely to denote a camp. = valley. Paard, or perd = horse. Raad Council, but is usually qualified by a prefix. |