After passing them the road leaves the river, runs north, and in another mile reaches Pieter's Station.

A mile to the eastward of this is Pieter's Hill, which the river nears by a northerly bend in its course.

The Boer position north of this section of the river stretched from Railway Hill, three-quarters of a mile west of the road, to Pieter's Hill.

The British occupied the heights on the opposite side, between one and two miles distant, and 200 feet above the {p.302} bed of the Tugela.
Along these crests they mounted heavy guns, a sustained fire from which, as is usual, preceded the attack.
On February 27--Majuba Day--as the troops detailed for the assault were about to step on to the bridge, there was communicated to them the news of Cronje's surrender at an earlier hour of the same day, flashed by the wires around from the Modder by way of the sea.

Under this inspiring intelligence they went into action.