Methuen believed that the Boers were occupying the crests of the line of kopjes, as they had done at Belmont, but he was unable to reconnoitre the position; his mounted scouts could not roam the countryside freely on account of wire farm fences, Tufnell et al, (1910), p. 59 nor could they approach any closer than 1.0 miles to the Boer positions without being driven off by rifle fire.