Across the veld, some miles from the waterworks, there runs a deep donga or watercourse--one of many, but the largest.

It cuts the rough road at right angles.

Its depth and breadth are such that a wagon would dip down the incline, and disappear for about two minutes before it would become visible again at the crown of the other side.
In appearance it was a huge curving ditch with a stagnant stream at the bottom.

The sloping sides of the ditch were fringed with Boers, who had ridden thither before dawn and were now waiting for the unsuspecting column.

There were not more than three hundred of them, and four times their number were approaching; but no odds can represent the difference between the concealed man with the magazine rifle and the man upon the plain.
There were two dangers, however, which the Boers ran, and, skilful as their dispositions were, their luck was equally great, for the risks were enormous.