he summit, just before daylight, the Boers being
entirely in ignorance of the movement which had taken place. The
position was of immense natural strength, as it was only at a few points
that an ascent could be made. On the summit was a plateau, so that all
the troops not actually engaged in repelling assaults could lie down
perfectly secure from the fire from below. At sunrise the Boers could
be seen moving about in their lines. An hour later a party of mounted
vedettes were seen trotting out towards the hill, which during the day
they used as a post of observation; as they approached the outlying
pickets fired upon them. As the sound of the guns was heard by the
Boers below, a scene of the greatest confusion and excitement was
observed from the height to prevail. Swarms of men were seen rushing
hither and thither; some to their arms, some to their horses, others to
their waggons, to which the oxen were at once harnessed, ready for a
retreat in case of necessity. Then a great portion of the Boers moved
forward towards the hill, with the evident intention of attacking it.

At seven o'clock the enemy opened fire, and the bullets whistled up
thickly round the edge of the plateau. The main body of the troops
remained in the centre of the plateau, out of fire, small bodies being
posted near the edge to answer the fire of the Boers and prevent their
approaching the accessible points. For five hours the musketry duel
continued. So far its effect had been trifling, a few men only being
wounded. The position appeared perfectly safe. The Boers were indeed
between the garrison of the hill and the camp, but the former had three
days' provisions with them, and could therefore hold out until Sir
Evelyn Wood arrived with the main body for a direct attack upon the
Boers' position.

Between twelve and one o'clock the Boers' fire slackened, and the
besieged force thought that their assailants were drawing off; this,
however, was not the case. Under cover of the shrubs and rocks the
Boers were creeping quietly up, and at one o'clock a terrific fire
suddenly broke out, and the enemy in great numbers rushed up the short
intervening distance between themselves and the scanty line of defenders
on the edge of the plateau; these, seized by panic, at once fled, and
the exulting Boers poured up on to the plateau and opened a destructive
fire upon the troops.

The scene which ensued was one of the most discreditable in the annals