A Journey In Social And Environmental Accounting

Accountability And Society 1st Edition Maria

Gabriella Baldarelli download

https://ebookbell.com/product/a-journey-in-social-and-
environmental-accounting-accountability-and-society-1st-edition-
maria-gabriella-baldarelli-51681178

Explore and download more ebooks at ebookbell.com

Here are some recommended products that we believe you will be
interested in. You can click the link to download.

A Journey In Social And Environmental Accounting Accountability And

Society 1st Edition Maria Gabriella Baldarelli Mara Del Baldo

https://ebookbell.com/product/a-journey-in-social-and-environmental-
accounting-accountability-and-society-1st-edition-maria-gabriella-
baldarelli-mara-del-baldo-51676926

Journey In Social Education A Primer Cameron White

https://ebookbell.com/product/journey-in-social-education-a-primer-
cameron-white-2470138

A Journey In Antarctica Exploring The Future Of The White Continent

Sergio Rossi

https://ebookbell.com/product/a-journey-in-antarctica-exploring-the-
future-of-the-white-continent-sergio-rossi-46668318

A Journey In The World Of The Tantras Mark Dyczkowski

https://ebookbell.com/product/a-journey-in-the-world-of-the-tantras-
mark-dyczkowski-49476688
A Journey In The Future Of Water Terje Tvedt Richard Daly

https://ebookbell.com/product/a-journey-in-the-future-of-water-terje-
tvedt-richard-daly-50673778

A Journey In The Seaboard Slave States Volume 1 With Remarks On Their

Economy 1st Edition Frederick Law Olmsted

https://ebookbell.com/product/a-journey-in-the-seaboard-slave-states-
volume-1-with-remarks-on-their-economy-1st-edition-frederick-law-
olmsted-2147298

A Journey In The Seaboard Slave States Volume 2 With Remarks On Their

Economy 2nd Edition Frederick Law Olmsted

https://ebookbell.com/product/a-journey-in-the-seaboard-slave-states-
volume-2-with-remarks-on-their-economy-2nd-edition-frederick-law-
olmsted-2147306

A Journey In Servant Leadership Marcia B Armstead

https://ebookbell.com/product/a-journey-in-servant-leadership-marcia-
b-armstead-42747218

A Journey In Mathematics Education Research Insights From The Work Of

Paul Cobb 1st Edition Erna Yackel

https://ebookbell.com/product/a-journey-in-mathematics-education-
research-insights-from-the-work-of-paul-cobb-1st-edition-erna-
yackel-4721206
A Journey in Social
and Environmental
Accounting,
Accountability
and Society
A Journey in Social
and Environmental
Accounting,
Accountability
and Society
Edited by

Maria-Gabriella Baldarelli
and Mara Del Baldo
A Journey in Social and Environmental Accounting, Accountability
and Society

Edited by Maria-Gabriella Baldarelli and Mara Del Baldo

This book first published 2020

Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Lady Stephenson Library, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2PA, UK

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Copyright © 2020 by Maria-Gabriella Baldarelli, Mara Del Baldo

and contributors

All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without
the prior permission of the copyright owner.

ISBN (10): 1-5275-4623-3

ISBN (13): 978-1-5275-4623-3
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface .............................................................................................. vii

Editors ............................................................................................... ix

List of Contributors ........................................................................... xi

Chapter 1 ............................................................................................. 1
Corporate environmental sustainability best practices
Caterina Aura, Francesca Aura, Franco Rubino

Chapter 2 .......................................................................................... 17
Solid waste management in Albania: does accountability matter?
Valbona Dudi

Chapter 3 .......................................................................................... 49
“Gaming”, accounting and accountability: experimenting in higher
education
Maria-Gabriella Baldarelli

Chapter 4 .......................................................................................... 71
The development of assurance services for sustainability reporting:
a challenge and an opportunity for accounting professionals
Ingrid Shuli, Linda Gjika

Chapter 5 .......................................................................................... 87
New categories for a sustainable and spirituality-based company:
insights from the Economy of Communion
Maria-Gabriella Baldarelli, Mara Del Baldo, Sabrina Vieira Lima

Chapter 6 ......................................................................................... 113

Global reporting initiative disclosures for oil and gas companies
Athanasios Mandilas, Stavros Valsamidis, Dimitrios Kourtidis
 PREFACE

The goal of our research is to present a referred selection of

chapters from the present academic discussion about social,
environmental, and sustainable accounting and accountability. In
the past the importance of accounting for the construction of social
reality (Gray, Bebbington, and Walters, 1993; Gray, Owen, and
Adams 1996; Gray, Adams, and Owen, 2014) and the need for
cultural change to drive movement towards a new and better world
have been stressed. The authors consider the subject of
environmental problems and at present how to manage these
problems and to face the challenges that derive from them.
So, the economic measurement process requires rigid system
orientation. Then there can be a transition phase and in the other
changing contexts, such as civil economy, new dimensions can be
created. Civil economy requires new elements to measure and to
account for. This matter engages current literature in this field
because there is an urgent need to find decision-making tools to help
managers to respect environmental and social problems (see, for
example, Bebbington et al. 2017; Bebbington and Unerman, 2018).
The selected papers, deriving mainly from the 7th Italian Centre
for Social and Environmental Accounting Research (CSEAR)
conference–Urbino in 2018 and blind reviewed, want to contribute
to the discussion about social and environmental accounting and
reporting in academic and practitioner contexts, involving different
sectors and both for-profit and not-for-profit companies of different
sizes.
The authors who published their chapters are very grateful to the
numerous anonymous referees that contributed to improving the
papers.
viii Preface

Bibliography
Gray, Rob, Bebbington, Jan, and Dave Walters. 1993. Accounting for
the environment. London: Chapman Publishing.
Gray, Rob, Own, Dave, and Carol Adams. 1996. Accounting and
accountability. Changes and challenges in corporate social and
environmental reporting. London: Prentice Hall Europe.
Gray R. U., Adams C., Owen D. 2014. Accountability, Social
Responsibility and Sustainability: Accounting for Society,
Pearson.
Bebbington, Jan, and Jeffrey Unerman. 2018. “Achieving the United
Nations Sustainable Development Goals: An enabling role for
accounting research.” Accounting, Auditing & Accountability
Journal 31(1): 2-24.
Bebbington, Jan, Shona Russell, and Ian Thomson. 2017. “Accounting
and sustainable development: Reflections and propositions.”
Critical Perspectives on Accounting 48, 21–34.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpa.2017.06.002.
 EDITORS

Mara Del Baldo is Associate Professor of Small Business Management,

Financial Accounting and Economics of Sustainability and
Accountability at the University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino, Italy.
Her main research interests include entrepreneurship and small
businesses management; corporate social responsibility; sustainability
and business ethics; SMEs and networking strategies; accountability;
financial and integrated reporting; and social and environmental
accounting research (SEAR).
She is a member of the European Council for Small Business,
CSEAR, the SPES Forum, the Global Corporate Governance Institute
(GCI), and the European Business Ethics Network (EBEN) Italian
Chapter. She is an editorial board member and reviewer of several
international scientific journals. She is also the author of numerous
scientific publications, including articles in Italian and foreign
journals, book chapters, conference proceedings and books. She has
given numerous lectures and didactic seminars by invitation in
various Italian and foreign universities (University of Vigo, Spain;
the Juraj Dobrila University of Pula, Croatia; the New Bulgarian
University of Sofia, Bulgaria; and the Corvinus University, Budapest,
Hungary).

Maria-Gabriella Baldarelli, PhD is an associate professor at the

University of Bologna (Italy), (acting full professor), Department of
Management. She has been a visiting professor at: University of Pula
(Croatia) in May 2006; University of Vlore (Albania) from May 12–
15, 2009; visiting professor—teaching staff mobility at the New
Bulgarian University of Sofia (Bulgaria) from November 22–27,
2010; University of São Paulo (Brazil) from the end of May to June 1,
2011; University Institute of the Diocese of Buea (Cameroon) from
February 4–8, 2012; La Trobe University (Melbourne—Bandoora
campus) in 2015; State University of Tirana (Albania) in 2017.
Editorial Board member of “Economic Research” Review (UDK 338;
ISSN 1331-677X). Her research interests include: financial statements
in tour operator and travel agencies; corporate social responsibility;
ethical, social and environmental accounting and accountability;
x Editors

sustainability in tourist enterprises; responsible and accessible

tourism for blind people; Economy of Communion enterprises;
gender accounting and accounting history. She was a member of the
board of SIDREA until 2018 (Italian Association of Accounting
Scholars and Teachers). She is member of: SIDREA, the Centre for
Social and Environmental Accounting Research (CSEAR), the
Accounting History Association (AHA) and the European Business
Ethics Network (EBEN) Italian Chapter. She is a reviewer of
international scientific journals.
 LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS

Caterina Aura
University of Calabria, Italy

Francesca Aura
University of Calabria, Italy

Maria-Gabriella Baldarelli
University of Bologna, Italy

Mara Del Baldo

University of Urbino, Italy

Valbona Dudi
University of Urbino, Italy

Linda Gjika
University of Tirana, Albania

Dimitrios Kourtidis
Institute of Technology, Kavala, Greece

Sabrina Vieira Lima

University of Milan-Bicocca, Italy

Athanasios Mandilas
Institute of Technology, Kavala, Greece

Franco Ernesto Rubino

University of Calabria, Italy

Ingrid Shuli
University of Tirana, Albania

Stavros Valsamidis
Institute of Technology, Kavala, Greece
 CHAPTER 1

CORPORATE ENVIRONMENTAL
SUSTAINABILITY BEST PRACTICES

CATERINA AURA
FRANCESCA AURA
FRANCO ERNESTO RUBINO

1. Introduction
The idea of this research work has been summarised in our
statement: There will be no future for firms without a big
commitment to respect for the environment.
Today, in fact, environmental risk is not limited to a mere
reputational threat: it insinuates itself strongly in the life of
companies—in investments, in strategies, and in business decisions.
Thus, it becomes a theme for the companies themselves, in an era
like the one we are experiencing, in which climate policies and
decarbonisation increase the need to assess environmental risks.
The intent of this paper is to provide a conceptual understanding
of the state of the art, in terms of good practices on environmental
sustainability for companies.
Sustainability—specifically, in a Europe turned upside down by
the crisis—becomes the centre of an important line of study.
Not only is evaluation required but also accounting for
environmental and energy risk.
It is also necessary to clarify the impact of operations on health,
on the safety of society, on the risks of others, and on the
environment in the medium to long term.
This communication is necessary in order to interact with
stakeholders if the activity of the company with which they are
involved in business and, therefore, in which they make investments
may involve environmental risks.
2 Chapter 1

The debate on sustainability, in this new century, takes on a

central role in the UHÀHFWLRQ on development dimensions and
possible emerging managerial frameworks, in search of world-class,
sustainable organisations.
As a result, a new development strategy has emerged, embodying
political, economic, social, technological and environmental
dimensions.
Sustainable development means “the satisfaction of the needs of
the present generation without compromising the possibility of
future generations to realise their own”. In essence, it is a matter of
finding solutions that allow good economic development, while at the
same time keeping the focus on the environment.
A rigid framework for sustainability does not exist today; it is
considered a unique challenge in literature—the use of the term
“sustainability” was too broad. There are sustainability studies that
can be summed up in a few lines (McDonald and Oates 2006;
Alhaddi 2015).
This paper is based on the fact that the best practices in
environmental sustainability performances are no longer the exclusive
domain of the major international companies, as they were a decade
ago, and it contains several proposals that help companies approach
sustainable development as protagonists. However, good intentions
are not enough (Epstein 2018).
Companies are therefore concerned about society and the
environment and need to continue making significant changes to
more effectively manage their environmental impacts.
Specifically, studies analyse how companies in the market respect
and protect the environment starting from concrete actions that
already exist or should be invented.
This paper includes best practices and is full of good ideas and
innovative suggestions, as well as the analysis of initiatives already
implemented by companies that aim for environmental responsibility.
Its contributions can be used by those who are interested in these
topics: by following their contents, it will be possible to identify the
ways to implement possible environmental policies.
These policies must be monitored, promoted and disseminated to
entrepreneurs who have difficulty in identifying the economic and
non-economic advantages of environmental responsibility, including
by way of specific training courses.
This is because the companies of the “future”, whether large or
small, in addition to having high margins of added value and being
 Corporate environmental sustainability best practices 3

innovative, will have to pay special attention to environmental

sustainability in order to remain competitive in the markets.

2. Firms and environmental sustainability

The increase in concern regarding the future prospects of
ecosystems and societies today obliges not only the political world
but all society to reflect deeply on the objectives, the strategies and
the actions to be taken to manage the complex relationships between
the social, economic and environmental spheres. Sustainable
development becomes the responsibility for living and managing the
planet’s resources so that future generations can meet their health-
related needs.
In this sense, companies must be aware that in management they
must respect the environment and ensure sustainable development.
Educating companies about sustainable development means
considering the different managerial situations, the various specific
assumptions of corporate leaders, the environmental context and the
many experiences already acquired. In recent years, the adjective
“sustainable” has become a must-have addition in every context. We
often hear managers talk about “sustainable” success, environmental
“sustainability” and “sustainable” measures.
With the concept of environmental sustainability, we mean
something that has a lasting effect. Consequently, for sustainable
business management we mean the acquisition of skills and
performing of actions related to the conditions and possibilities of
development of the economy, society and the environment that can
be solid and durable and suited for the future of our children. That
means preserving the natural heritage and using resources wisely.
Making reference to the paradigm of “sustainable development”,
it is clearly a shared orientation which, however, must find its
operative activation in heterogeneous contexts and at very different
territorial scales. Precisely this variability is at the origin of very
“free” interpretations of the concept itself, which takes on very
different connotations depending on the system whose development
is considered and the object whose sustainability it is intended to
promote (Cicatiello 2015).
Precisely in this historical moment, not even a day passes without
reading or listening to news of environmental disasters, pollution of
any type in air, water or soil, or accidental or deliberate spills of toxic
substances of various kinds and origins (Motta 2014).
4 Chapter 1

The orientation towards sustainable development is considered in

a long-term perspective in which interactions between companies are
placed. In fact, there are many companies that in recent years have
adhered to the “Business Card for Sustainable Development”, which
aims to reduce the use of resources considered non-renewable.
During the Rio Conference in June 1992, the central theme was the
concept of sustainability.
Institutionally, the last Action Program of the EU stands out
(1993/2000) as constantly referring to sustainability. The concept of
sustainability includes development as part of competitiveness
between interconnected objectives of a social, economic and
environmental nature. This meaning of sustainability in relation to
companies is defined by the regional sustainable development
planning notebooks as conducting the activity in such a way as to
reconcile the needs of the company with those of the stakeholders,
protecting, supporting and increasing the availability of natural
resources for tomorrow.
The sustainable development model frames the interdependence
between economy and environment, and it suggests the possibility of
reconciling sustainable economic development and environmental
protection; in practice, sustainable development becomes an integral
business activity. There are factors that are useful in recognising
sustainability practices within the company system and are found in
the management of environmental variables intended as important
priorities, like: the environmental orientation of technological
innovations and research, and dialogue with all stakeholders and
with all employees on environmental issues (Frey 1995).
The concept of corporate sustainability is not a whim of
entrepreneurs with feelings of guilt but a need that is emerging
because it is the market itself that imposes it. It has now been shown
that consumers tend to reward products and companies that choose
to reduce their environmental impact and equip themselves with
management and organisational structures that ensure they reduce
emissions, waste and pollution.
After all, companies, whether small or multinationals, are
increasingly valued in light of the ESG grid, “Environmental and
Social Governance criteria”, and the same goes for their management.
The acronym ESG is composed of three words (environmental,
social and governance), which in turn contain three distinct
universes of social sensitivity. The first is that of the environment,
which includes risks such as climate change, CO2 (carbon dioxide)
emissions, air and water pollution, waste and deforestation. The
Random documents with unrelated
content Scribd suggests to you:
Australia—generally good, but sometimes there is a difficulty about
unfreezing it.
We have no Quartermaster here, and the man in charge of the
stores is quite unused to his job, so I have to see to a great many
things with which an Army Lady Superintendent has, as a rule,
nothing to do.
I am very much afraid some of our orderlies will be getting typhoid;
of course they find it difficult to realise a danger they can't see, and
though we all lecture them about taking precautions, we are so busy
ourselves, that it is difficult to enforce them; and just at first there
were so many patients quite unconscious and with severe diarrhœa
and hæmorrhage, so that it meant constant changing of sheets, &c.,
by the orderlies.
I think I told you some of the orderlies were ill when our first
patients (from the train accident) arrived; it proved to be a form of
dengue fever they had, and now the medical officers also are
indulging in it; it is rather like influenza—high fever for two or three
days, and then they are very weak and pulled down for a few more
days. I only hope the sisters will refrain from having it until the
orderlies have had a little more education: at present they are about
as useful as an average ward-maid at home, and the sisters have to
act as sister, staff nurse, and probationer too; but I don't want to
grumble at them as they are working well, anxious to learn, and very
patient with the men (some of them half delirious) who call "Orderly,
orderly" all day long.
If they had had a few R.A.M.C. men amongst them, or even one or
two R.A.M.C. ward-masters, it would have been easier; as it is, there
is not a single man amongst them who knows anything of the usual
routine in a hospital, though they are well up in "First Aid" (for which
we have no use here).
The buildings are getting on, and we are ready for more patients as
soon as they can get a train to bring them down. We hear nothing of
more medical officers, sisters, or orderlies as yet.
One of the men said to me that he did not think any of us could
understand what a luxury it was to have a wash, a comfortable bed,
and clean clothes; that for months he had been marching and
sleeping (in the open) in one suit of clothes, frequently wet through,
and remaining wet until the sun came out to dry them; he said that
on the high veldt the nights were very cold, and they frequently had
nothing but their greatcoats to sleep in; if they were lucky, and the
baggage waggons had kept up with them, they would also have a
blanket and perhaps a mackintosh sheet; but that the baggage
waggons had a habit of getting stuck at the last drift, and then they
had only what they carried.
If we had only come out to South Africa to nurse this one batch of
thirty officers and men back to health, I think it would have been
worth while, for they were just about as bad as they well could be,
and one can't help thinking of the anxiety of their poor friends at
home, who will have seen them reported on the "danger lists" from
their Field Hospitals; and we go plodding on night and day trying to
make them pull round. Only one man has died, and I think the rest
will get on, though some of them are still pretty bad.
Captain —— had Cheyne Stokes breathing for two nights, and made
us very anxious, but now he is distinctly better.
The Bishop of Pretoria came to lunch with us the other day, and was
very nice in visiting the men.
We are expecting more men any day now, and on the 25th of this
month we are to be officially "opened" (on Princess Christian's
birthday, I believe); a crowd of people are expected from Durban
and from Pietermaritzburg.
I could not help thinking the other day, when all these thirty men
were dumped in upon us in a couple of hours, of the old days in
London when we thought we had had a very heavy day if six or
eight patients were admitted to our ward in a day; and there we had
everything ready to hand, and several well-drilled nurses to help.
Here I can see it will take a little time before the sisters will realise
that it is useless to try to have things done just the same as we can
at home, and for them to distinguish between the essentials of good
nursing, which we must have, and the superfluous finish, which we
must do without.
 XXX
Pinetown, Natal,
June 1900.
We have had a stiff time of work since I wrote last. I think I told you
that several orderlies were ill, when our first cases came in, with
dengue fever, and soon the medical officers began knocking up with
it—first one and then another; next, the sisters took it; no one has
been very ill, but the fever was high for several days, and, of course,
they were weak and seedy after it went down; so we have not had a
full staff at work for some time, and with lots of bad cases in the
wards it has made things very difficult.
Several odd cases have been straying in, and on the 17th we took in
five officers, and then on the 19th of last month we admitted eight
officers and thirty men from Modder Spruit, most of them very ill,
and one poor fellow so bad with hæmorrhage (enteric) that he died
the same night.
We had to open a second officers' ward, and the sister put in charge
was very hopeless (at having so many bad cases, and such
inefficient help); so I had to spend a good deal of time helping her
look after the worst cases, and then the next morning after they
arrived I found she had dengue fever and could not come on duty;
so I had to take charge of her ward for a few days, and do the best I
could in looking after the patients with the help of the orderlies,
amidst constant interruptions and appeals for help or advice from
different parts of the camp.
With every one so new to the work—the cook quite unused to
military ways or the serving of hospital diets, the storekeeper hardly
knowing where anything is, or whether he ought to issue it when he
did know, ten Kaffir women washing who could not read the marks
on the linen, and so were quite incapable of returning it to the right
place without my assistance, and, to do the house work, several new
Kaffir boys who really are quite "raw" and want constant looking
after (they rejoice in the names of John, Monday, Charlie, and Cup-
of-tea; they can speak about six words of English between them,
and it is awfully funny hearing the orderlies trying to make them
understand), with much other work needing to be done in
connection with fitting up new wards and preparing for our opening
day ceremony—you can imagine it was difficult to be tied up in one
ward with a lot of sick officers who required one's best attention,
and more; but it had to be done, and I had to leave the rest to do
the best they could, only going round to attend to the most
necessary things when I could spare half-an-hour in the day, and
after the night sister came on at night.
My worst case was poor Captain ——, of the —— Dragoons, who
was desperately bad from the day he came in, and was delirious
most of the time; Lieutenant ——, of the same regiment (a friend of
his), was very good in sitting with him for part of the day, and when
he was at his worst one of the other sisters and I took turns of
acting night special (as the night sister could not possibly stay with
him much); but he had been thoroughly worn out with the hardships
of the campaign before he got the fever, and though he lingered on
so that we kept hoping he would pull through, he died on the 30th
of May—our first death amongst the officers, and we all felt very
sad. It was terrible for Lieutenant —— (ill with rheumatism), as he
knows the captain's relations, and has been cabling to them daily.
The funeral was the next day, and the station-master kindly stopped
a goods train here, so that the few officer patients who were well
enough might go to Pinetown to attend, and all the medical officers
who could leave also went. I was too busy to go, but I helped
Lieutenant —— to make a cross of white flowers to put on the
coffin.
A thing that always makes me feel creepy when I am working in the
store is the sight, in one corner, of a little pile of coffins that have
been sent up from Durban; of course it is really necessary to keep
them ready as, in this climate, the funeral must be the day following
the death, but we have had them covered up now, as I did not like
the men to see them when they went up to the store for things.
All that last batch of men were frightfully poisoned with enteric, and
nothing seemed to stop it; six of them have died, and most of them
had symptoms of blood poisoning too.
I don't think I told you that the two sisters who went to help on one
of the hospital ships till we could get rooms ready for them, came up
at the beginning of May. They brought a poor account of the nursing
on that particular ship, and said that, when they went away, there
was no fully-trained nurse left on board; that a large proportion of
the men who had been ill any length of time, had sore backs (some
before they reached the ship). It seems sad that when there are so
many fully-trained nurses in England longing to come out, these
poor fellows should not be getting the best nursing they might have,
even right down at the base.
On the 21st of May we heard that Mafeking was really relieved, and
on the 25th of May we were officially "opened." General Wolfe
Murray was to have performed the ceremony, but he could not
come, as General Buller had sent for him, so the Bishop of Natal and
Colonel Morris did it between them.
There were special trains from Maritzburg and Durban; a good many
people to lunch, and such a crowd in the afternoon—no one seems
to know how many, but I think we gave tea to about five hundred.
Fortunately, Sister —— was on duty again, so I was not fixed up in
her ward, but she was still needing help with her bad cases. I made
the teabags in the middle of the night while I took my turn at sitting
by poor Captain ——, and several people who live near here were
very kind in helping me arrange flowers on the day, and they cut up
cake for me. We had a lot of coolie waiters up from Durban, and our
house-boys and some whom Mrs. T. (a most kindly neighbour) sent
to help, were washing up all the afternoon.
I can't say I enjoyed the day, as we had several patients very ill, and
two poor fellows died that day, but we managed to keep their ward
(and one of the officers' wards) closed to visitors, so they were not
disturbed, and everything went smoothly and well.
When the visitors were leaving, I asked the Major if the orderlies
might come and finish up the cakes, &c., as there was some good
tea in the urns still, and they had all been working very well, so he
told the sergeant-major they might. I was rather amused at one
thing: I took a big tin and gave it to the sergeant-major, asking him
to save a few cakes for the night orderlies, but he pointed out to me
they were all present; the news of a tea and some good "skoff" had
brought them all down from their tents, and they soon made short
work of the remains.
I went into Durban one day to do some necessary shopping, and on
the train met Colonel Galway, the P.M.O., going down to inspect the
hospital ships. He was very nice to me, and told me that if I liked to
engage any more sisters out here I might do so, and he would take
them on; so I am engaging a lady as a kind of probationer and
housekeeper. Her husband is at the front, and she wants to help,
and I think she will be able to relieve me a good deal by looking
after the house-boys, putting out linen, &c.
Our sisters are working awfully well, but some of them don't get on
well with the orderlies—a great mistake: they don't seem able to
hide the fact that they think the orderlies very useless and incapable,
and consequently the orderlies don't do their best in working with
them; it is a great pity, as the men are quite willing and anxious to
learn, and are very patient in having to do many jobs that must be
very trying to them.
At last I have got a nice white woman to look after the Kaffir
washing ladies, and she will do the starching, &c., for the staff. Two
of the Kaffirs were washing all day with babies tied on their backs—
such jolly fat and shiny little black-a-moors. I gave them an empty
packing-case with some sawdust in it and a mat, and both the
babies and mothers were delighted.
I actually had a ride the other day; Mrs. D. kindly lent me a horse,
and I rode with the Major over to a most interesting Trappist
monastery. The Trappist Fathers cultivate a lot of land, and teach the
native boys various trades. They are going to supply us with eggs,
vegetables, &c., and the Major arranged with them that they should
visit our Roman Catholic patients, and, if any of them die, they will
bury them in their churchyard.
We shall have to have a horse for funeral purposes, and we have
been offered a rather nice-looking black animal, so I hope that, to
my varied duties, will be added that of keeping the funeral horse
exercised!
I don't care much for walking about here, there is so much long
grass, and you get covered with ticks (to say nothing of one's
natural fear of snakes), so an occasional hour or two on horseback
will be refreshing, though up to now I have hardly left the camp
except to go to church at Pinetown once on Sundays.
I had a letter the other day from the Secretary of the Durban Ladies'
Club to say they had made us all honorary members—a very kind
and friendly attention on their part. It is a nice club, but whether we
shall ever have time to make use of it remains to be proved.
There are many strange animals about here: a huge owl is getting
quite tame, and comes to be fed by the night sister.
The men are trying to shoot a wild cat, but can't get up near to it.
After hearing them talking about it, I was rather frightened the other
night (sleeping with my door and window open), when something
jumped from the window on to my bed; I felt it creeping towards
me, and was just going to dive under the bedclothes when it began
to purr, and I found it was the camp kitten!
 XXXI
Pinetown, Natal,
June 1900.
It is rather difficult to know what to write about that will interest
you. There is always plenty of work, but it is not of an exciting
nature—just steady plodding on, with difficulties always cropping up
and having to be waded through.
If one had time to sit and talk to the patients one could hear many
exciting tales, but most of my time is spent with those who are too
ill for much conversation. I think I told you of the arrival of the
officers and men from Modder Spruit. Opening the large ward for
these officers caused some difficulty, as it is such a long way from
the kitchen, but we soon got up from Durban some hot tins, covers,
&c., and the feeding is going better now.
Major —— had been very ill with ptomaine poisoning before he
arrived here. He has been a difficult case to feed in this climate, and
has been very slow in getting up any strength; but he is well on the
mend now. Then there was a bright-faced boy with acute
rheumatism, who said he had not been in bed for six months, and it
was "just heavenly." Lieutenant —— (a bishop's son) is 6 ft. 6 in.,
and we have to wrap up his feet on a chair beyond the end of his
bed. He has enteric, but not so very badly; he called me to him the
other day, and told me that he had had the most bitter
disappointment of his life—the doctor had ordered him an egg, and
he waited patiently till tea-time, expecting a nice boiled egg, but he
never knew the orderly would bring him a beaten-up egg, and he
had nearly drunk it before he recognised it!
Then there is Second-Lieutenant ——, who looks about sixteen, and
who only joined his regiment nine months ago, but he has seen a lot
of fighting, and was at Spion Kop, Pieter's Hill, and other battles.
Some of his men are here, and they think a great deal of him; they
say at Spion Kop all his seniors were either killed or wounded, but he
led the men on as calmly and well as possible; I believe he got a
"mention" for it. His captain wrote to me so nicely asking after him,
and said, "He is a good boy, and A1 when the bullets are flying." He
had been wounded badly, and now has enteric, but only slightly. The
other officers all call him "the boy." I hope we shall be able to send
him home to his people soon, as I think he has done his share.
Some of these officers are beginning to get about now, and they will
go to visit the officers in the small ward and persuade them to give
them tea there, and then return and get their own tea as well. They
say they are "making up for past hardships"! Amongst that same
batch of men there were two or three rather smart R.A.M.C. men,
and we don't think they are going to be fit for duty at the front again
this campaign: they will be quite contented to stay here, and work
as soon as they are well enough.
We have just got the electric light into working order; and, though it
is rather erratic, and often goes out, on the whole it is a great
comfort.
There has been a case of bubonic plague in Durban, but they don't
seem to think it is likely to spread.
Twenty more orderlies have arrived, St. John's Ambulance men, and
the buildings were all complete by the end of May.
I have had a few rides on the funeral horse, and, as it is very tame
in harness, I was astonished to find it was quite gay and hard to
hold; but we have found out that it was once a racehorse, and of
course it has never had a side-saddle on before.
Our nice compounder has been awfully ill with appendicitis and
dysentery. We have had to write each mail to his people, but now I
am glad to say he is doing well. Several of the orderlies are down
with enteric, including our mess-room waiter; so "Cup-of-tea" has to
wait on our mess of eighteen, and needs a good deal of looking
after.
I expect they will give me another orderly soon, but so many are ill,
and the wards are heavy, and need a good many men for night duty.
Every few nights the orderlies have to do a spell on night (as well as
their ordinary day) duty, so they are rather inclined to grumble, and
it is difficult for them to keep awake; but I don't think any of them
do longer hours than I do, as I prowl about a good deal in the night
when the cases first come down and are bad; so they don't grumble
too loud.
The sisters seemed to be getting rather fagged out, so I have begun
to give them in turn a monthly day off, and I look after their wards. I
find it is rather useful, as I get a good opportunity of seeing how
they have managed, and also of learning how much the orderlies are
good for; it is quite touching how good they are to me: they want to
show me they can be trusted, and they do everything they possibly
can to save me trouble on these "days off." From the sergeant-major
downwards they have always been very nice to me, and I am sure I
do very little for them (except when they are ill and need fussing
over) beyond scolding them for misdeeds for which the sisters report
them.
I wonder whether they guess that, all the time, I feel that the sisters
are expecting too much of them!
I was amused when a new sergeant arrived with twenty men the
other day; of course, at first they did not know any of us, and when
I met them and said "Good morning," they simply gaped. The next
day I had a fatigue party sent up to tidy the china and linen store; of
course our old batch of men saluted when I went to show them
what I wanted done; and I expect the new men received a few
words from them on their slack manners afterwards, for since then
there has been a very stiff draw up and salute whenever they come
for orders or with a message. I hear the army sisters are not saluted
as a rule.
I think I told you how much we suffered from fleas at first; now they
are quite banished. We have twenty coolies, and a good orderly in
charge of them, and they do all the sanitary work, and sweep and
scrub and generally keep the place tidy (they also have to dig the
graves), and since we have got rid of all the packing-cases, and
everything is trim and tidy, the fleas have disappeared.
So far we have had very few wounded in—nearly all enteric or
dysentery, with some cases of camp fever, rheumatism, &c.; the
medical officers are disappointed at so little surgical work, but I
don't think I mind, as we can feel we are actually saving the lives of
some of these men by sheer hard nursing, and that is good enough
for me; sometimes a man sees that I am worrying about a patient
who does not seem to be improving, or who is going downhill, and
he will come up and say "Never mind, Sister, he would have been
dead long ago if he had been left in that Field Hospital any longer;
you have given the chap a chance." It is grand to see the first batch
of men, who came to us so desperately ill, so haggard, starved,
dirty, and miserable, getting about now in their blue suits, looking so
clean and bright, though still very thin.
Some of them are beginning to need to be amused, and the knitting
wool and materials for worsted work that I brought out are coming
in very useful; in fact, they will soon be finished, but the Durban
ladies have kindly promised to send me more.
Several of the men were making worsted belts in one ward the other
day, and a big Scotchman looked in and asked them to go for a
walk, but they refused, saying they were busy, and the Scotchman
was heard to mutter "They've all turned blooming milliners!"
Lieutenant —— (the giant) is getting on very well, and he was
always saying I must stay and amuse him, or else give him some
toys, so I have started him with some worsted work, and he is more
contented, and as fussy about my providing him with the right
shades of wool as any old lady. The Lieutenant in the next bed has
learnt to knit, and Major ——, the ptomaine poisoning case, looks
surprised at their babyishness.
The other day Sister B. was going to have a day off, and these boys,
overhearing her instructions about themselves, made up some
poetry on the subject (which I enclose), and Sister won't hear the
last of it for some time.
We have a service in the wards every other Sunday, and the hymn-
books I brought out are most useful.
June 13.—The last few days have been very busy and very sad.
On the 7th we had a trainload of patients—two officers and seventy-
three men—several of the men very bad. I was up most of the first
night helping with the bad cases, but one poor fellow died the next
day (he was never conscious after he got here); that day also, Sister
—— knocked up with slight fever, so I had to take over her ward,
and there were several bad cases in it.
The orderlies are knocking up with enteric—six of them warded; and
I have hardly liked to leave them at night, as several of them are
inclined to be delirious and try to get out of bed.
L. was the worst, but he did not seem in any special danger till last
Wednesday: on that day I was Orderly Sister for the afternoon, and
on my first round I talked to them all, and he seemed much as
usual, but on my second round I found him distinctly worse, and
with a failing pulse. I called his doctor, and we tried everything
possible, but he soon became unconscious, and died at 7.30 P.M. All
the orderlies are dreadfully cut up; several of them come from the
same place in Yorks. He was such a fine, strong young fellow, and it
seems only the other day that he was acting as groom, and put me
up on the black pony, and was so pleased I could manage him. He
was a butcher by trade, rough in his ways, but so good-natured; I
must write to his poor mother.
He had a military funeral, and we let every orderly go who could be
spared. The clergyman asked me if the men would like to have a
hymn in church, so we sang "Brief life is here our portion." Several
people sent wreaths, and the men are going to make a wooden
cross. This was the first death amongst our staff. Having so many
orderlies ill, and the place pretty full, we have been very busy, and
many of the men have had to do eighteen-hour shifts every two or
three days: that is to say, their usual twelve-hour day and half the
night. So they are having a heavy time of it. Enclosure:—
SISTER'S "DAY OFF"
There once was a Sister called Baker,
Of beds she's an excellent maker,
She knows temperatures too,
And between "me and you"
Is of medicines an excellent shaker.

She shows each man's vice—how to treat it,

And warns Sister H. how to meet it:
"No. 2 you can trust
But show T— a crust,
Well, it's a thousand to one he'll eat it."

She dilates on the treatment we need,

All our habits, our drinks, our feed;
"I repeat, Mr. T—
Doesn't realise all, but
He cannot be trusted for greed."

"Mr. N—, however, is wise,

At the sight of eggs hard boiled he sighs,
D— eschew them I must
And that beautiful crust,
For on me Sister Baker relies."

You may ask how we know what was said

The culprit there lying in bed,
Overheard in the dark,
The whispered remark,
And tears of hot anger he shed.

The moral is not far to seek:

A crust perforates you when weak,
While eavesdropping at night
Is really not right
For it's apt to raise anger and pique.
(With apologies to the Authors.)
 XXXII
Pinetown, Natal,
July 1900.
Since my last letter we have had a good many changes of patients,
some being sent back to the front, and others going home by
various hospital ships. It is so nice to see some who were carried in
desperately ill, able to march down to the train so cheery and bright,
and tremendously grateful.
We sent thirty home by the H.S. Dunera last month, and were just
hoping to have time to breathe, and to get the sheets and blankets
washed, when we had a wire to tell us to expect seventy-five more;
so we had a scramble to get the beds and bedding ready for them,
and they nearly filled us up; but they were not quite such a bad lot
as our previous batches had been, and there were a good many
wounded by way of a change.
We were still short-handed, so had to do a good deal of sorting of
patients; turning some wards into convalescent wards, that needed
only occasional visits from a sister, and no night orderlies—a
sergeant patient being made responsible for good order in the ward.
Several of the orderlies are still ill: the mess-room man has had a
relapse, and will not be fit for work for some time; the second
compounder has also been very bad with typhoid—delirious for more
than a week—but I think he will do all right now; it has been
awkward, as the first compounder can only just crawl about after his
spell of illness.
We have had one man awfully bad with double pneumonia after a
stiff turn of typhoid. Then he got a bad abscess in the jaw, and had
to have it operated on; for some days his temperature hovered
between 105° and 106°, but now he is doing well, and will soon be
sent home.
We have been inspected by Colonel Clery, who, unfortunately, came
on the day on which we had those seventy-five men in, and before
we had got them all washed or their kit put away; but he was very
pleasant to me, and said he was pleased with the wards and the
looks of the patients, bedding, &c.
We have also had several other distinguished visitors—Sir John
Furley, Sir William Stokes, and Major Baptie of the R.A.M.C., who
won his V.C. at Colenso.
We have all been very sorry to hear of the death of Colonel
Forrester, who had been in charge of the Princess Christian Hospital
Train, and had been here several times bringing us patients.
The four months for which this hospital was given, equipped, and
maintained by private generosity, are now nearly over, and in a few
days we shall have become a Government Hospital. We shall then
receive our pay and various allowances from the Government; and
we are now arranging to separate the mess of the sisters from that
of the medical officers. I expect it will be difficult to keep our stores
separately, but we shall wish to live more economically than they do.
For the present we have decided to share the same cook, an Indian
who has been acting as our dhobie for the last few weeks, and who,
we hear, is a good cook; his wife will continue to act as our dhobie;
she is such a pretty little thing, with rings in her nose and bangles
on her ankles and arms.
I quite expected to be superseded by an Army Sister proper when
the hospital was handed over, but the P.M.O. has asked me to "carry
on" (which does not mean the same in the army as it does in
Cockney land!)
The other day poor Miss H. arrived. She had started from England as
soon as she heard her brother was ill here, meaning to nurse him,
and I think I told you he died here (our first death amongst the
officers). It was awfully sad for her. I was frightfully busy the day
she came, but felt I must walk over to the cemetery with her. She is
a trained nurse, and we should have been very glad of her help if
she could only have arrived in time, as her brother was delirious for
so long, and we had to take turns at sitting up with him for some
time; but everything that could possibly be done for him was done.
They do seem to muddle things a bit; in the last few weeks we have
had seven new sisters sent to us; we would have given anything for
a few of them a couple of months ago, but now there is much less
fever, and many of the beds are filled with convalescents. We had no
rooms for so many sisters, so had to put up tents for them.
One day we sent off a batch of over fifty men for home, emptied
several wards (putting the remaining cases into other wards), and
had a general clean up; the same day we had a wire to tell us to
expect seventy-two men the next evening, so we had a scramble to
get the linen dry and everything ready for them. They proved to be
all convalescents, and they came down thinking they were going
straight on board ship for home, and of course were rather
disgusted at being stopped here. The next day, having got them all
settled in, and their kit stowed away, we had a wire asking us to
send sixty men down to Durban the next morning for home!
So, again, there was a great bustle and inspection, and the lucky
sixty having been selected had to retrieve their kit from the store
and be fitted up with comforts for the voyage.
We feel sure that it was all a mistake their coming here at all, and
that they ought to have gone straight on board ship. Of course it
gave us an awful lot of work, and did not do them any good. We
must try to see the remaining twelve get off with the next batch.
The other day fifteen new orderlies came, men of the Imperial
Bearer Company (chiefly recruited from refugees and other
Colonials). Some of them are quite old and bearded, and there was
much puffing over their march up from the station. It is so funny to
have to hurry these venerable gents round the wards when they
look at me solemnly through their specs, and the Tommies are
rather inclined to humbug them.
Some of our original St. John's men will have to leave soon, as their
time is up, and we are letting all those go who are not very keen on
the work, but, unfortunately, some of the keen ones want to go too.
I am sorry to lose them, and rather blame the sisters for it.
The orderlies have been awfully nice to me; two of the best have
been promoted to be sergeants. One, who has been chiefly in the
officers' ward (he is a railway guard at home), has been splendidly
patient with them all; and the other is the man who has been in
charge of the sanitary work and managed the coolies.
I have been having a little riding lately while the extra sisters have
been here, and all the sisters in turn are having a few days' leave.
One day some people asked us to go for a picnic (riding), so we
collected all the screws we could, and, making a party of twelve, we
rode to a very pretty waterfall about nine miles from here, and they
had arranged for tea at a quaint old farmhouse near by.
Riding back by moonlight my (funeral) horse was so keen that I
could hardly hold him, so I was riding ahead with one of the men,
when, hearing a shout, we hurried back and found the senior civil
surgeon had had a tumble. He was not much of a horseman, and
they had put him on the very quietest nag, but it had stumbled, and
he came off.
He managed to ride home at a walk, though he was unconscious for
a few minutes at first. He was a good deal shaken, and had to keep
quiet for some days.
Another day we went to the Trappist Abbey; when we arrived, they
kept us waiting some time in a room, and then a meal suddenly
appeared—poached eggs, delicious brown bread, honey, fruit, tea,
and tamarind wine. We were surprised, as it was early in the
afternoon, but we felt obliged to accept it, and it was all very good,
though I shied at the tamarind wine. Afterwards they showed us
round the place.
It is really wonderful what these Trappists do for the natives, with
their schools, shops for bootmaking, saddlery, tanning, ironmongery,
printing, photography, &c.; but whether it does the native any real
and lasting good to teach him all these things is quite another
matter.
Everything seems to be running more smoothly in the hospital now,
and even if the place were full of bad cases (as it was at the first),
now that the orderlies are getting to know their duties, we feel that
we could tackle the work without the hopeless sensation of being
unable to do half enough for everybody.
We are very lucky in our Major: he is very keen to have everything
well done, and one can always go to consult him in any difficulty.
 XXXIII
Pinetown, Natal,
August 1900.
We are now a full-blown Military Hospital, instead of being partly civil
and partly military. Everybody had talked so much about the coming
of "red tape" that I had been a little nervous about the change; but,
except just in the transition stage, everything has gone very
smoothly, and when everybody gets used to the military ways I think
it will be all right. Personally, I shall have much less worry and
responsibility, for we now have a Lieutenant-Quartermaster of the
R.A.M.C., and I shall not have to try to look after the linen and other
stores. Moreover, a batch of Indians has arrived and gone into camp,
with a good headman, and they will do all the washing over which I
have had so many struggles with careless Kaffir women.
I had to attend a big function down in Durban, when the residents
presented the gentleman who gave this hospital with an illuminated
address. There were many speeches, and much "butter" for all the
staff. I was presented with a large photograph of the address.
We have had a good many changes in the staff, and among the civil
surgeons who have gone home is the only one of us who
understood the electric light plant, with which, in consequence, we
have had difficulties. I hope we shall soon find an orderly who
understands it, as, when the light fails and we have to grope about
with candles, the men cannot read, and find the long evenings very
dull.
I hear many interesting tales when I go about trying to amuse the
men on these occasions; the other day I was called to enjoy a joke—
some of them had asked an Irishman whether he knew what
"strategy" meant? and he said "Yes, it means like this, sure, when
you've fired your last cartridge, don't let the enemy know, but jest
kape on firing all the same!" I don't know whether it was original,
but he brought it out as though it was.
I have had a few days of slight fever since I wrote last, and I took a
couple of days off, and spent them at Umkomaas with some friends,
who have a nice cottage down there. It is the most perfect little
seaside place I have ever struck; such jolly woods all round the
cottage, with semi-tropical growth, and lots of monkeys in the trees;
glorious rocks, and such a blue sea. I had a delightful rest, and
came back much better, but of course found various muddles to
face, and they always make one wish one had never gone!
The worst thing I had to straighten out was a complaint from a
medical officer about a sister; they had been rubbing each other the
wrong way for some time, and of course I thought if I had not gone
away I might have kept the peace; however, as the complaint was a
definite one (though in no way serious), and was also just, I had to
move her to a less important ward. This very much hurt her feelings,
and I was sorry, as, though not a good manager, she is very good to
the patients. Now she works for a different doctor, and there is
peace in the camp.
All the civil surgeons and sisters growl at the new military rules and
regulations, but I think they are rather inclined to make mountains
out of mole-hills—they can really get all they want if they set about
it in the proper way, but they don't take the trouble to find out what
is the proper way. Perhaps I have rather spoilt the sisters by letting
them have things that were urgently ordered from my stores at any
time, but now that the place is not so crowded up with bad cases
they must learn to order in the proper way and at the proper time.
In one respect I was afraid that our system would be changed, but
the Major has very kindly arranged it as I wished; I saw, when at the
Cape (and heard of it in other hospitals), that when a sick convoy
arrived there was much delay before the men were classified and
put to bed—sometimes not until several hours after their arrival. One
cause of the delay was that each man, if he could crawl, had to go
up to the store to draw his kit and sign for it himself; the poor chaps
used to look so frightfully ill and tired with this weary waiting about,
before they could get food or a wash, after (perhaps) some days in a
train.
Here we have managed quite differently; as soon as we received the
wire saying that patients were coming (and the number), we had
everything issued for that number; the beds were all made up, and
before they arrived I used to go round and see that the crockery for
each man was on his locker, a clean shirt, towel, soap and flannel,
&c., all ready, so that the men could be carried straight to their beds
as soon as they arrived, and have a good basin of bovril without any
delay; then those who were well enough to go up to the store to
give in their kit and to receive their hospital suit did so; and the
orderlies took up the kit of those who were too ill (of course they did
not want hospital suits).
Now it is necessary for all, who are able, to sign for their equipment
(sheets, blankets, &c.); but the Major lets us have some beds fully
equipped in each ward before the men arrive, and the orderlies sign
for those fittings until the men arrive, and then they countersign the
book, so that the bad cases can still be carried straight to their beds.
Our new mess arrangements are working well; it is much more
comfortable having a cook with a kitchen separate from that from
which all the food for patients, orderlies, and others is served. We
had to buy a new stove, but as the expense was shared between the
medical officers and sisters, it did not come to very much. Our
Madrassee cook is serving us very well. I thought it would be difficult
to keep our stores separate, but he seems to manage well and
economically, and he is a good cook and serves the things up very
nicely. We share the expense of his wages with the doctors, but
have separate boys for our mess waiters and for our rooms.
I have kept John on for the sisters' rooms: he is very slow, but a
good old thing, and very clean. It is the custom for these boys to go
home for a day or two when their wages are paid, but you always
keep some of what is due to them in hand (or they don't come
back); but when the hospital was handed over to the Government,
the boys were all paid up to date, so of course they all cleared, but
John promised to come back in two days, and I thought he would;
but it was six days later when I found him slinking about his work
and looking like a big dog that expected a whipping. I said, "Oh,
John, you bad boy, sisters not have you back any more," and then
he said his wife was "plenty sick," but I told him I thought Kaffir
beer was plenty good, at which he grinned, and I had to forgive him!
William, our good scamp of a mess-room boy, never returned, so I
had to go into Durban to the toct (or tax) master at the police
station, who generally looks after all the natives and gives them their
passes, &c. I chose a boy who was recommended, but he never
turned up, so I was thinking I must go again and lead one out from
Durban with me, when the dearest little Kaffir turned up, with a note
from the toct master, saying he was a very good boy, and his name
was "Imdenbe, son of Cholem, Chief of Imsugelum, Umtenta," so I
was rather relieved when the boy said his name was "Dick"!
I thought he was much too small to reach to put the things on the
table, but he is very quick and nimble and clean, and both the cook
and John are very fond of him; so we manage all right, and he looks
perfectly sweet in his white suits with red braid—they all wear things
like bathing-dresses, with short sleeves, and go about barefoot.
The worst of the enteric season seems to be over now, and we are
very slack, and we hear it is the same at all the hospitals up this
side. The days are still very hot, but the nights are quite cold.
I expect you hear more about this Hospital Commission than we do,
but the R.A.M.C. men are very sick about it, as they have worked so
tremendously hard all through the war.
I think every one agrees that the Tommies have never been so well
looked after in any war before, but no doubt at the front they have
suffered badly, more especially at Bloemfontein, where, suddenly,
the army was attacked by a perfect scourge of enteric (I believe
there were about 6000 cases there); but people must remember
they were 900 miles from their base, with only a single line of rail,
and for the last 250 miles almost every bridge destroyed, so that all
traffic had to be carried on with the utmost caution over temporary
bridges, only a few trucks crossing at a time; also it was an
unusually dry season, so that engines often had to drop their heavy
trains, run on to get water, and then return for them.
The Transvaal could practically supply nothing to feed the troops, as
the Boers had planted no crops.
To get sufficient rations up daily for the men and horses was just
about all the one rail could do, and when it was necessary to leave
the railway line, the troops often had to wait weeks to scrape
together rations to carry with them.
I believe the R.A.M.C. were well prepared for the probable number
of wounded, but when unexpected sickness knocked the men over
by the thousand, it is scarcely surprising that it was impossible to get
up tents and all medical necessaries and comforts quickly enough.
I believe the sick and wounded are quite comfortable now in
Bloemfontein; but no doubt there was suffering there, and the
Commission will find out whether it might have been prevented.
There can have been little excuse for the bad management that is
complained of at the base, and if that is proved, no doubt some one
will get blamed for it.
I know the single-line railway on this side, that passes close to us,
has been very hard worked night and day; at one time eight trains
went up each day with water-tanks only, besides almost incessant
trainloads of men, horses, mules, stores, &c.; the only wonder is
that there have been so few accidents.
All the sisters have now had some leave, and as we have extra
sisters here and very few bad cases, I am going to take a run up-
country with a lady from here, and hope to tell you about that next
time I write.
 XXXIV
Pinetown, Natal,
August 1900.
I must first of all tell you of my interesting few days up-country. I
left here on the evening of the 20th of last month with Mrs. D. and
her baby and a small Kaffir nursemaid; she was going to stay with
friends who have a hotel and store at Colenso, and I had engaged a
bed at this hotel, and took my saddle with me hoping to secure a
horse there, and be able to explore the country around.
Two of our medical officers were going for a run up-country the
same day, but as the train ran in two sections, I only saw them on
the platform at Maritzburg late that evening.
At the same time I saw another officer in khaki looking at me, and
then recognised in him a well-known London surgeon who is chief of
another hospital out here—of course I was more used to seeing him
in frockcoat and top-hat. He had his wife on the train, and as they
also were going to Colenso, I was very glad to be able to be with
them there.
The train rocked about so much (first crawling up a hill, and then
tearing down the other side) that it was difficult to sleep, but the
baby slept like an angel with the little Kaffir girl, safely deposited on
the floor.
At 4.30 the next morning we arrived at Colenso. It was very cold and
very dark, but Mr. Edwards (the hotel proprietor) met us, and with
him we stumbled across the veldt to his hotel, which is just a one-
storey shanty, as their house had been knocked to pieces by the
Boers. Unfortunately he could not possibly take in my friends, so
they had to stay at the station.
Welcome to our website – the perfect destination for book lovers and
knowledge seekers. We believe that every book holds a new world,
offering opportunities for learning, discovery, and personal growth.
That’s why we are dedicated to bringing you a diverse collection of
books, ranging from classic literature and specialized publications to
self-development guides and children's books.

More than just a book-buying platform, we strive to be a bridge

connecting you with timeless cultural and intellectual values. With an
elegant, user-friendly interface and a smart search system, you can
quickly find the books that best suit your interests. Additionally,
our special promotions and home delivery services help you save time
and fully enjoy the joy of reading.

Join us on a journey of knowledge exploration, passion nurturing, and

personal growth every day!

ebookbell.com