Each soldier received the same quantity and the same quality as his comrade.

Our methods were very different, except as regards flour, coffee, sugar, and other articles of that nature.

The British soldier, for instance, received his meat ready cooked in the form of bully-beef (_blikkiescost_ we called it), whilst the burgher received his meat raw, and had to cook it as best he could.
Before I leave this subject I may be forgiven if I describe the method of distributing meat to the burghers.

After it had been cut up, the Vleeschkorporaal[2] handed out the pieces--a sufficiently responsible task, as it proved, for, as the portions differed much in quality, it became of the first importance that the Vleeschkorporaal should be a man whose impartiality was above suspicion.

To avoid any temptations to favouritism, this useful personage used to turn his back on the burghers, and as the men came up in turn he would pick up the piece of meat which lay nearest to hand and, without looking round, give it to the man who was waiting behind him to receive it.
This arrangement should have been satisfactory to all, but it sometimes happened that some burgher, whom fortune had not favoured, made no effort to conceal his discontent, and thus squabbles frequently occurred.