Although in poor condition this photograph shows a rare image of a Black African soldier name Jim serving during the Anglo-Boer War. Dressed in a uniform comparable to his white comrades in arms he  holds a Martini-Henry rifle while several other African troops look on from inside their tent. Many black African troops such as these served as block house guards in the chain of fortified posts built to hamper the free movement of Boer commandos. The reverse of the photograph bears a long inscription from Jim to a Miss Phare. Cabinet Photograph D. Fortui(?) - Photographer Middle Street, Graaff Reinet, South Africa 1 August, 1902