The Colonel looked surprised, but said, “Well, look here, Mr Burke, if you really want to see what they call fighting in this country” (he had served through the Crimea and Mutiny and like all the rest of the regular officers was sick and disgusted with the long-drawn-out war), “the best thing for you to do would be to join one of the colonial defence forces. We get news very slowly here but the day for regular troops in this country is past, and before another twelve months is over there will be but few left in the island. The only way to put an end to the war will be for small bands of irregulars to follow the Hau Haus into the bush, live, or rather starve, in the bush, and keep in pursuit of the enemy until they are worn down and killed off. Now I will, if you like, at the club this evening, introduce you to some of the colonial leaders and you can discuss the matter with them, but you will find it a hard, brutal life without any chance of gaining honour or distinction.” After a pleasant dinner he took me down to the club, and there I met several leaders on their way from the east coast to the west, for, as the enemy held the whole of the interior of the island and there were no roads, all communications between the two coasts had to be sea-borne. I was also introduced to several members of the Colonial House of Parliament who were at that time in the capital, and, among others, to the Defence Minister, to whom I mentioned my desire of taking service. He was evidently amused at the idea of a man travelling over fifteen thousand miles to run the chance of getting killed and turned into long pig but assured me there were plenty of openings in the country for a man desirous of seeing hard, rough fighting, and asked me to call at his office next morning. Well pleased with my evening I said good-bye to my host and returned to my hotel, where I found my shipmates full of beer and excitement, drinking in company with some half-dozen tough, weather-beaten, fine-looking young fellows dressed in blue jumpers, Bedford cord riding breeches and smasher hats, who on being introduced to me I discovered to be troopers in the Colonial Field Force. They were all men who belonged to the class that go to public schools and Varsities, and in a very short time I discovered that most of them had come out to learn sheep farming, but finding the cadet business to be a swindle had thrown it up and joined the irregular forces. Their tales of the wild life they led quickly captivated my companions, who one and all declared they would join the irregulars and let the sheep farming go swing. Other men trooped in, and seeing every likelihood of a very wet night I slipped off to bed and managed to get some hours of sleep, notwithstanding the rough choruses that were howled out for some hours as the troopers, taking the only chance they had, after months of hard work, and knowing they were on the threshold of another campaign, were determined not to let