At dawn of November 28th the division got under arms and cheerfully marched off to disperse the handful of demoralised fugitives who were, it was reported, all that would be encountered at Modder River. From the Modder it was to bend eastwards to Jacobsdal and come in upon the flank of the Boers at Spytfontein. The early morning air was clear and cold, but the breakfastless men marched joyously down the gentle slopes, eight miles long, towards the eagerly desired water. A few minutes of skirmishing was the most that anyone expected. Yet early in the morning--seemingly while the division was on the march--Lord Methuen received disquieting news. This was to the effect that the Boers were in great force at the Modder. Still he felt no great anxiety; he had been told that the Riet and Modder Rivers were fordable everywhere, and therefore he thought that he could easily outflank the enemy and drive them from their positions. He does not appear to have communicated the news to his subordinate generals and battalion commanders. Indeed, so free from care was he, that he gave his cook orders to get his breakfast ready as his line of men neared the Modder River. Still, the approach to the river was made in very open order and no reasonable precaution was neglected. [Illustration: A PLEASURE PARTY ON THE MODDER RIVER. The Modder, a little above the bridge, is the favourite resort of the jaded Kimberley folk for picnics and boating.] [Sidenote: Disposition of troops.] The disposition of the British troops was as follows:--On the right was the Guards' Brigade, with the Scots Guards, Grenadiers, and 2nd Coldstreams in line from right to left, and the 1st Coldstreams following in support. On the left was the Ninth Brigade, under Major-General Pole-Carew, composed of the Northumberland Fusiliers, Yorkshires, and North Lancashires in line from right to left, with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in support. The two field batteries were on the right, where also were the Lancers and mounted infantry. To the rear were the transport and ammunition waggons in charge of the Northamptons. [Illustration: [_Re-drawn from a photograph._ GENERAL P. J. CRONJE. Commanded the Boers in the beginning of the investment of Kimberley, subsequently at Magersfontein and Paardeberg, where he surrendered together with 4,000 men to Lord Roberts. Cronje is a man of 65 years of age, who has always been a bitter enemy of England. In 1881 he was in command at the siege of Potchefstroom, where he behaved with terrible cruelty and unfairness to the garrison, which eventually surrendered to him, with the honours of war, on March 21, although an armistice had been in force since the 6th, of which Cronje had kept them in ignorance. It was to him also that Dr. Jameson surrendered on January 1, 1896.] [Illustration: THE FREE STATE ARTILLERY.