a repetition of the severe toil of
entrenching which had apparently been wasted. But his eye was as
quick, his tactical and topographical instinct as keen as those of his
commander, and if the new dispositions were not selected for him, he
often selected them himself.

[Sidenote: Their defences: strong points.]

Once on the ground the burghers' first care was to conceal themselves
quickly and cunningly, cutting deep and narrow entrenchments, if
possible upon the rearward crest, leaving the forward crest, of which
they carefully took the range, to the outposts. Upon the naked slope
between, which was often obstructed with barbed wire, they relied to
deny approach to their schanzes. A not uncommon device was the placing
of the main trench, not at the top, but along the base of the
position. Here the riflemen, secure and invisible, lay while the
hostile artillery bombarded the untenanted ridge lines behind them.
Such traps presented an enhanced danger from the fact that the Boers
would rarely open fire from them until the front of the attack was
well committed, though, on the other hand, they seldom had nerve or
patience to withhold their musketry until the moment when it might be
completely decisive. As regards the Boer artillery, its concealment
was usually perfect, its location original and independent, its
service accurate and intelligent. Dotted thinly over a wide front, the
few guns were nevertheless often turned upon a common target, and were
as difficult to detect from their invisibility, as to silence from the
strength of the defences, in the case of the heavy ordnance, and in
the case of the lighter pieces, from their instant change of position
when discovered.

[Sidenote: A weakness in defence.]

Nevertheless, with all these virtues, the Boer defensive, by reason of
the above-mentioned characteristics of the individual soldiers, was no
insurmountable barrier, but only an obstacle to a determined attack.
Many of the positions occupied by the Republicans during the campaigns
seemed impregnable. Prepared as skilfully as they had been selected,
in them some troops would have been unconquerable. But at the moment
when they must be lost without a serried front, the reverse slopes
would be covered with flying horsemen, whilst but a handful of the
defenders remained in the trenches. Nor, except on the feeblest and
most local scale, would the defenders at any time venture anything in
the nature of a counter stroke,