=Major.=--The lowest rank of field officer. Being a field officer he is mounted on all parades and going into action. To every infantry battalion there are four, and to every squadron of cavalry one. =Major-General.=--The lowest grade of general officers. A brigade in the army is properly a major-general's command. =Majuba Hill.=--Scene of the Boer triumph over Sir George Colley in 1881. Near this spot is the grave of the gallant general, and not far off are the burial places of Colonel Deane at Laing's Nek and the men who fell in their country's cause. It is four miles distant from Charlestown. =Marines.=--A body of men under the control of the Admiralty--for service in the navy or on shore. They have been described as "amphibious animals," because they are equally at home on land or at sea. They form part of naval brigades landed for service on shore, and co-operate with the sailors. The force consists of two branches, Royal Marine Artillery and the Royal Marine Light Infantry. They were first raised in 1664. A finer and more serviceable set of men it is difficult to find. =Martial law.=--Martial law means no law at all. According to the Duke of Wellington it represents the will of the general who commands the army. Proclamation of martial law cautions the inhabitants of the district concerned, that in consequence of rebellion or other rising, the responsibility of superseding the jurisdiction of the ordinary tribunals for the protection of property and persons rests with the military authorities, who will act as they think expedient for the public safety. =Mauser.=--A rifle sighted up to 2200 yards, but capable of much longer range, of which the bullet leaves the muzzle at a speed of 2300 feet per second. It weighs three quarters of a pound less than the Lee-Metford, and is much neater in appearance. The Mauser is a favourite rifle with the Boers though its magazine is only capable of holding five cartridges, while that of the Lee-Metford will accommodate ten. =Maxim Guns.=--Guns of small bore weighing 59 lbs., sighted up to 2500 yards. =Mobilisation.=--Fitting an army for the field--bringing the units to war strength and calling out the reserves. The success of a war depends largely on the rapidity with which armies can be got ready previous to their being concentrated on the threatened points, and thus enabled to take the aggressive. In the Swiss army the whole organisation is so completely carried forward in time of peace that at the outbreak of hostilities the headquarters staff need do no more than telegraph the one word--mobilise. The rapidity with which foreign armies can be mobilised has been gradually increasing. In 1866 the Prussian armies, 220,000 strong, reached the frontiers of Saxony and Silesia in a fortnight. In 1870 Germany took nine days to mobilise, and eight days more to send an army of 400,000 men and 1200 guns to the French frontier.