Commandant Olivier and Captain Potgieter now made a detour, so that they could cut off the unsuspecting scouts from their camp, and could also get nearer to the mountain themselves.

I knew that by doing so they would draw the fire of the two guns, which would tell me precisely where Colonel Firman's battery stood.
Before these officers could accomplish their purpose they were observed, and seeing that they could not cut off the three men, they turned their horses and galloped back.

But when they saw that the three scouts had the temerity to pursue them, they faced round at the first rise and suddenly confronted them.

The three (who were Kaffirs), seeing that the tables were turned, hastily wheeled round towards their own camp, but before they could reach it one of their number was caught and shot down.
One gun and the Maxim-Nordenfeldt now fired upon our two officers as long as they were in sight, and thus we learnt that the guns were placed on the high western point of the mountain, from which they could shoot in all directions.
Let me describe Groenkop.

On its western side was a precipice, on the north and south a steep descent, and on the east a gentle slope which ran down to the plain.
From which side should the attack take place?
Some of the officers were of the opinion that this should take place on the east, where it was the least steep, but I differed from them, for through our field-glasses we could see that the walls of the fort were so built that it was quite clear the enemy had thought that, should they be attacked, it would be from the east.