I believe myself that the position was not a mile less than fifteen miles long, and for the most part it was just what Boers like--rocky kopjes and ridges, high and low, always giving cover and opportunity for surprise and ambuscade.
[Illustration: LOMBARD'S KOP] It was against the left flank of that position that our right was now hurling itself.

The idea, I suppose, was to roll their left back upon their centre and take Pepworth Hill and "Long Tom" in the confusion of retreat.

That may or may not have been the General's plan, but from my post with the Gordons I soon saw something was happening to prevent it.

On a flat piece of green in front of the rocky kopjes, where the enemy evidently was, I could see men, not running, but walking about in different directions.

They were not crowded, but they seemed to be moving about like black ants, only in a purposeless kind of way.