The truth is that the information possessed as to the country was extremely small. No general description of it was available. There were no road reports, no reconnaissances--in fact, it was to all intents and purposes ‘an unknown country.’ From the high ground on the south side of the Tugela the hills to the north could be scanned, and it could be seen that to the west of Spion Kop the Rangeworthy hills appeared to terminate abruptly in the Bastion or Sugar Loaf Hill. Here it was supposed that the Boer trenches ended and were held by only a small force. It was this range that Sir Charles Warren was directed to attack, by pivoting the right of his line on Spion Kop and swinging round his left until he gained the so-called open country to the north of Spion Kop. Beyond, towards Acton Homes, other hills could be seen, but nothing was known about them. It was generally supposed that the ground was good for cavalry for a certain distance; but the information given was that the Acton Homes road, leading through Clydesdale, passed through a country full of dongas and small kopjes, and passed eight or nine miles north of Potgieter’s. The open country immediately north of Spion Kop could only be reached by wagons by the road leading past Fair View to Groote Hoek. The farm map, procured from the office of the Surveyor-General of Natal and available for the troops, gave a fairly good idea of the ground about Spion Kop; but it was uncertain how far it could be relied upon. It showed that mountain ranges beyond Spion Kop extended to the west, range after range, with a large hill both to the north and north-east of Acton Homes, the high road from Acton Homes to Ladysmith passing up a valley between high hills. It was also evident, from the lines taken by the rivers and streams, that the water-parting continues from Spion Kop several miles to the north-east of Acton Homes. The Orange Free State Boers encamped on the Tugela drew their supplies from Harrismith. Their communications were by two roads leading through the Drakensberg mountains to the south of Van Reenan’s pass, the more southerly passing Oliver’s Hoek. These two roads meet at Acton Homes. Acton Homes, which lies in a basin, is surrounded on three sides by hills, and these hills formed an important strategic position. On the north and north-east they guarded the investing lines of Ladysmith, and on the north-west and west the communications of the Orange Free State Boers with their base. It was not difficult to believe that these hills were covered with intrenchments strongly held, or able at short notice to be strongly held. In regard both to the positions held by the Boers and the numbers of the enemy there was a good deal of information which must have been at the disposal of Sir Charles Warren; but the difficulty would no doubt have been to know how much of it was reliable.