=Shelter Trenches.=--Trenches constructed in the presence of the enemy as cover for troops from the action of shot and shell. =Siege.=--A regular organised attack on a fortified position by means chiefly of artillery. Sir John Jones, the author of "Peninsula Sieges," says "the most celebrated commanders and best engineers are agreed that as a general principle the besieging army should vary in proportion to the strength of the garrison according to the numbers of the garrison; and as an approximation have fixed that proportion at 5 to 1 when the garrison consists of 15,000 men, 6 to 1 when of 10,000 men, 7 to 1 when of 5000, 8 to 1 when of 3000, and in still greater proportion when it consists of a less number." This curious computation is explained by the fact that the more numerous the garrison the smaller the besieging army need be in proportion to it, since the attack of a similar front or fronts of fortification is little different. If the garrison contain 5000 or 10,000 men, the guards of the trenches and other duties increase proportionately, but the work does not. =Spruit.=--A stream. =Spy.=--Persons sent into the enemy's camp to gain information regarding the intentions of the enemy. There are two classes of spy: the spies who betray their own people to the enemy, and those who go to the enemy in the interests of their own party. In both cases martial law orders the death of a detected spy. =Squadron.=--A fourth division of a cavalry regiment, divided in two troops each, commanded by a captain. =Stad.=--A town. =Staff.=--A body of officers appointed to assist a general in command, to form a link between him and the various branches of the army, and thus give coherence to all its parts. =Subaltern.=--A term applied to a commissioned officer in the army, under the rank of captain. =Succour.=--Assistance in men, stores, or ammunition. =Sword.=--Offensive weapon in use throughout the world. One of the arms of the British cavalry. During the Anglo-Saxon period swords were made of iron, two-edged, long, and straight. =Team.=--Two or more horses or animals harnessed together. =Trek.=--A journey. =Troop.=--Two troops form a cavalry squadron. Each troop is commanded by a captain and two lieutenants. =Tugela River.=--River dividing Zululand from Natal. =Tuli.=--Town, 340 miles from Pretoria. The junction of several roads radiating towards Victoria, Bulawayo, Mangwe, Mafeking, and Pretoria. The direct road from Tuli to Bulawayo, cut in 1874 for the Zeederberg Service of coaches (now discontinued), reduced the distance from Pretoria to Bulawayo to 500 miles. =Uitlander.=--A resident in the Transvaal not entitled to the Franchise. The term is generally applied to Europeans resident in or around Johannesburg, of which before the war there were some 50,000, mostly British. _See_ vol. i. p. 146. =Uitspan.=--To unharness and halt. The reverse of inspan.