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"But do you think 'dum-dums' have really been used?" I asked.

"No, they are cruel and of no use at all. The 'dum-dum' bullets to be effective must be of fairly large size, and we cannot use anything of the kind with our modern rifles. In military circles we don't attach any importance to these rumours. In all the wars of the last fifty years the 'dum-dum' legend had a resurrection like the Arab phoenix."

"But I have seen photos of 'dum-dum' bullets," I insisted.

"So have I, but who can tell that the bullets have only been made 'dum-dum' after the cartridges have been served out? A soldier may individually, without any officer telling him to do so, cut with his pocket-knife across the part of the bullet which protrudes from the brass part of the cartridge. The result is not that of a real 'dum-dum,' of course, but it is quite a good imitation. In a case like this the Government to which the individual soldier belongs cannot be called responsible for the violation of the Hague Convention."