Before we begin to fight I must say something about the fighters, and will commence with the Boer and his readiness for war. The Boer is a simple, unpretentious farmer, with a long beard, rather long hair, a powerful physical frame, a man inured to all kinds of hardships, who daily looks after his horses, cattle and sheep. He has a lot of Kaffir families on his farm, to whom he gives all the land they wish for cultivation, on the condition that they put in his little patch of mealies (corn), and oats. To the Kaffir boys who stay at the farm house, and make themselves useful at all kinds of odd jobs, he gives each a cow at the end of the year. This means a great deal to the Kaffir boy, for when he has as many as eight head of cattle, he has the price he must pay for a wife; and to have a wife is every Kaffir boy's ambition. Every night and every morning the Boer has religious services in his house, and all the family attend. A visitor may attend or not as he pleases. The Boer cares not what your religion is, nor of what your church may be, and it does not concern him whether you have any religion or not. He looks after his own soul, and grants you the privilege of looking after yours. He will never impose his beliefs upon you, nor will he ask you your religion. He simply takes it for granted that you are a Christian, a God-fearing individual. He is a domestic man whose greatest happiness is in his home, with his wife and children--and he generally has plenty of children. When he visits his neighbors on Sunday, the whole family visits with him. They all go to church on Sunday, and after the services are over, they all remind me of a happy reunion of a family that has long been separated. In his way, he is as simple as a child, hospitable and generous to a fault, ready to extend the helping hand to friend or stranger, modest and retiring; but when once you try to deprive him of his liberty, you will find that he will fight to the bitter end, regardless of the odds against him. For months previous to the war, the English Press was busy trying to let the world know what a savage the Boer really was, and especially how intolerant he was, as regards the Catholics. There was an object in spreading broadcast all these outrageous lies; because England wished the world to believe, that in waging war against the Boer, she was really doing a service toward God and humanity. The Irish people were Catholics; so the press told how bitter the Boer is against the Catholic, how he tramples him down, and tries to drive him out of the country. All this infamous lying was for the sole purpose of inducing the Irish to enlist in the British army, and I regret to say that the Irish fell into the trap. Thousands of them joined the British army, and to-day thousands of them are buried in South Africa. Few English are buried in South Africa, but the graves of the Irish and Scotch can be counted by the thousand.