We are delighted to note a telegram from Ceylon confirm-
ing the story of the enlistment of Boer prisoners for service outside South Africa. Some two hundred are said to be already undergoing drill. We trust, however, that this pro- cess will not be carried too far, or rather carried out too pedantically. We would much rather see the Boer recruits not swallowed up in our Line regiments, but placed in a. special corps of irregular horse, mounted on, say, Burmese ponies. The officers, except the Colonel and, say, two Majors, should ultimately all be Boers. The uniform should be simple but striking, and the force liberally paid. Properly organ- ised, such a force would attract many young Boers as the Highland regiments attracted the Jacobites. Why should we not have four regiments of irregular Boer cavalry (five hundred each) permanently stationed in India as part of the garrison? They could be recruited after the war from loyalists as well as Dutchmen, and would afford an excellent outlet for young South Africans of spirit. In ten years time such corps would be one of the "most popular in the Empire, and we should not be surprised to see the Afrikander Horse providing a guard of honour for the Sovereign at some great State function.
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