Roberts, in
forwarding Kekewich's report, comments that "the greatest credit is
due him for his able dispositions, for his rapid organisation of an
auxiliary force, and for the tact, judgment, and resolution which he
displayed throughout the siege." This admirable service was performed
at a loss of 38 killed and 133 wounded, of all the troops employed
from the beginning of the investment to the day of relief.

Orange River, where Methuen's relief force was assembling, is seventy
miles from Kimberley. The country between is part of the great inland
plateau, in general contour rolling, but with frequent stony hills,
which locally have the name of kopjes, now become so familiar. These
kopjes are of varying heights, from fifty to five hundred feet, and
consist mainly of large boulders, with, however, a plentiful
sprinkling of smaller rocks not too heavy for handling. The steepness
and roughness of the surface make climbing a matter {p.143} of hands
as well as of feet, and are therefore a source of particular
difficulty and exposure to an assailant; while, on the other hand, the
broken heaps of huge stones afford to the defence much natural
protection, and can be further improved by building shelter places,
which it was the habit of the Boer to do, forming semicircular
breastworks. In this way, with natural and artificial cover, was
obtained a strong line of defence, depending in extent upon the length
and formation of the kopje.

Superficial advantages at once strike the eye and impress the mind,
and it was to the kopje therefore that the Boer first looked as the
natural feature upon which to found his tactical and strategic scheme
of offence. Its command over the plain country, by permitting fire
tier above tier, compensated in part for any lack of development due
to limited length or other causes, and afforded also several lines of
defence to be successively occupied. But the height, while it imposes
difficulties upon the attacker, has also drawbacks of its own. A
downward, plunging fire demands definite precision and accuracy of
{p.144} aim, and in mark firing error in elevation is more commonly
found than swerving to the right or left. The ordinary shot is more
apt to fire over a man's head, or strike the ground ahead of him, than
to miss him to one side or the other. When, therefore, it had been
found by a few experiences--Talana Hill, Elandslaagte, Belmont and
Graspan, in all of which the kopje bore a principal par