Keeping down on the eastern side of the hills, they continued until they
could see the white line of steam that showed the direction in which a
train from the south-east was coming, and were therefore able to
calculate within half a mile where the bridge must be situated. They
camped in a dry donga, and next morning at daybreak left their horses
behind them in charge of the men and walked forward. A mile farther they
obtained a view of the bridge. It stood at the point where the river,
after running for some little distance north-west, made a sharp curve to
the south. The bridge stood at this loop. If the object had been to
render it defensible, it had been admirably chosen by these Boers who
laid out the line to the Portuguese frontier, for from the other side of
the bank the approach could be swept by cannon and even musketry on both
flanks.
Lying down, they took in all the details of the construction through
their glasses, and then, choosing their ground so that they could not be
seen by any on the bridge, they kept on until they were able to obtain a
view from a distance of a quarter of a mile. The examination that was
now made was by no means of a satisfactory nature. Near the bridge there
were sidings on which several lines of loaded trucks stood.
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