n the 29th November a Boer council of war was held at Jacobsdal,
at which two different plans of action were discussed. P. Cronje
wished to take up a flank position at Jacobsdal, so as to compel the
British troops to attack him, and thus diverge from their direct line
for Kimberley. With the Boers so placed, if Lord Methuen had marched
straight upon the town, he would have exposed himself to the danger of
being cut off from his line of supply over the Modder bridge. De la
Rey, on the other hand, desired to make one more effort to bar the
direct road, and his scheme was eventually adopted. At first the
heights of Spytfontein were chosen. Preparations for their defence
were taken in hand on the afternoon of the 29th, when Cronje and the
bulk of his force arrived from Jacobsdal. But De la Rey realised that
if the heights of Magersfontein, which lay between Spytfontein and the
river, were allowed to fall into the hands of the British, Lord
Methuen could utilise them as artillery positions for a bombardment of
the Spytfontein range. Under cover of this he would be able to deliver
an infantry attack. De la Rey suggested that the Magersfontein heights
should themselves be held as the cornerstone of the defence. His views
prevailed, and the fortification of a position nearly nine miles in
length was at once begun. The fight at Modder River had demonstrated
the advantage of placing the main firing line so that it should just
be able to graze the surface of the country over which the British had
to advance. He therefore proposed to hold the ground, now to be
occupied, in a similar manner. In the centre, Magersfontein Hill, a
grim and rock-bound kopje, rises precipitously from the veld and
dominates the plain, six miles in width, which stretches from its foot
to the Modder River bridge. From this hill the Boer line extended five
miles north-west to Langeberg farm along the foot of a series of
kopjes, in some places sufficiently well defined to be marked on map
No. 13, in others mere hillocks, but together forming a continuous and
formidable line of defence across the railway. From the south-east of
Magersfontein Hill a low scrub-covered spur, or ridge, three miles in
length, runs southward to Moss Drift on the Modder. Though not of
sufficient height to be fully shown upon the map, it exercised an
important influence upon the course of the battle. From the river the
ground rises gradually towards the heights of Magersfontein. There a