to force was Relief's
Nek, and, as we had expected, the Boers made a determined stand there.
The ground lay in a naturally defensive position; a narrow plain among
steep, almost precipitous, ranges, and in the plain, arresting further
progress, an abruptly sunken valley, scooped out to a depth of a couple
of hundred feet; as though, what must perhaps have happened, some sudden
collapse down below had allowed the ground here to fall in. The sides
are in most places precipitous, but to the north they shelve up by
degrees in terraces of sloping rock which a man can easily clamber up.
The first terrace is only a few feet deep, and accordingly a number of
men can form here along the brink and fire across the plain, being
totally concealed from the advancing troops. Moreover, the edge of this
curious and sudden valley is indented and pierced with a number of
little crevices and fissures in which riflemen can snugly ensconce
themselves with little risk of being seen by attackers in front. This
was the main Boer position. You see it departed from the general rule,
and instead of occupying a hill, occupied a hollow. They are
past-masters in the art of choosing ground. The adjacent heights were
also held.

On the morning of the 23rd we struck our camp a few miles north of the
Nek, and advanced to find out whether the enemy were in position here or
not. We started before daylight. The night had been intensely cold and
very wet. On the high mountains snow had fallen. The sky was heavily
clouded, and about sunrise-time dense masses of mist rose and clung
about the hills, sometimes closing in the view at fifty yards and then
drifting off and leaving it clear again. Our scouts advanced steadily,
reconnoitring hill after hill and ridge after ridge, but still there was
no sound of firing, and we began to think that the enemy had abandoned
the place altogether. This preliminary scouting work, poking about in
the hills with a handful of men to find the enemy, always reminds me of
tufting for deer in the Exmoor woods before the pack is laid on.

Then there came a few shots from our extreme right, from the hills on
the right of the valley's nose, sounding very muffled and dull in the
mist, and we, out on the left, advanced with the more caution. It was my
chance to come upon the enemy first on this side, and as it will give
you a fair notion of the usual risks of scouting, I will tell you how it
happened!

I was out with my tufters on t