Marksmen had their opportunity then, and long aim was taken before a shot was fired.

Men knelt on the one knee and rested an elbow on the other, while they held their rifles to their shoulders.
Reports of carbines became less frequent as the troops progressed farther in an opposite direction, but increased again when the cavalrymen returned for a second attack upon the kopje.

"Lend me a handful of cartridges, Jan," asked one man of his neighbour, as they watched the oncoming force.
"They must want this kopje," remarked another burgher jocularly, as he filled his pipe with tobacco and lighted it.
The British cannon in the east again became active, and the dust raised by their shells was blown over the heads of the burghers on the kopje.

The reports of the big guns of the Boers reverberated among the hills, while the regular volleys of the British rifles seemed to be beating time to the minor notes and irregular reports of the Boer carbines.

At a distance the troops moving over the brown field of battle resembled huge ants more than human beings; and the use of smokeless powder, causing the panorama to remain perfectly clear and distinct, allowed every movement to be closely followed by the observer.