appointed to the command of a troop of cavalry formed at the Seedbeds. Volunteering was then expensive, as officers and men had to find their horses, uniforms, and accoutrements, the only concession by the Government being the loan of some heavy cavalry swords and breech-loading rifles. This corps comprised among its members many well-known men; it speedily became popular and took a conspicuous part in the reviews and sham fights of its seven years' existence. Eventually the whole volunteer force was disbanded, but many members of the old troop, including their late captain, in conjunction with Captain Scott, Lieut. Gray, Mr. Skipper, and other enthusiastic riflemen, got up a semi-military rifle club called "The S. A. Rifle Association," which existed for several years and formed the parent of the present R.V.F. In 1866, another war scare arose, and volunteers were called for; troops of cavalry were raised, and Captain Ferguson was again offered and accepted a command in B troop, and the squadron was named "The Duke of Edinburgh's light Dragoons" by H.R.H., who was then on a visit to the colony. About eighteen months after accepting his commission Capt. Ferguson was thrown from his horse and had his arms and wrists broken. He was thereby incapacitated from using a sword, but yet not prevented from using a rifle. He retired from the cavalry, but not before he had fired for and won the £50 brigade prize, the £10 prize for the best shot in the troop, and the £300 prize Challenge Cup, given by Sir W. W. Hughes. The volunteers were again disbanded, and quiet reigned until a new war scare came, when the present V.M.F. was raised by the Government, and an auxiliary force (the Rifle Volunteers) also established, Capt. Ferguson being unanimously appointed to take a command in the No. 1 Adelaide Company. The pains he took to instruct them in rifle-shooting was attended with excellent results, 36 out of the 40 men comprising the company becoming marksmen, but finding that his Civil Service duties prevented his devoting
