continued, with the
Hussars still in the van. On the following night there was a scene of
wild disorder. It was very dark and camels began to stumble and lose
their places in the long grass.

The men were so weary that many went to sleep and even fell from their
camels, which wandered along unguided and strayed far from the column.
The night was extraordinarily dark, and there was no moon to light the
way for the exhausted column through the wild and pathless country,
which would have been difficult to traverse even in broad daylight. At
times it was discovered that the troops were going in a circle and the
rear guard found itself in front of the force.

When at last open ground was reached the enemy were found to be in
strength. Once again a fight was inevitable for the tired force. So
Stewart had a zeriba of camel saddles, boxes, etc., hastily flung up
to protect his men. By this time the horses of the 19th Hussars were
so done up as to render them useless. French's regiment, therefore,
was left with some artillery, under Colonel Barrow, in the zeriba,
along with the war correspondents, who had tried in vain to make a
dash back to Abu Klea.

[Page Heading: THE GUARDS AT ABU KLEA]

The rest of the force once more formed into a square to meet the
enemy's attack. It was like a tornado when it came.

With a headlong rush eight hundred spearmen, led by emirs on
magnificent horses, hurled themselves upon the British square. Without
a tremor the troops awaited their onslaught, cheering loudly as they
saw the fluttering banners of the enemy approach. The brunt of the
attack was on the left angle of the front face, where the Guards and
Mounted Infantry received the charge, at a distance of three hundred
yards, with a fire so deadly that the front ranks of the yelling
Dervishes were mown down. The battle was over within a few moments.
The enemy never got within thirty yards of the square, but with broken
ranks and wild confusion the spearmen fled, leaving two hundred and
fifty of their dead upon the field.

This rapid victory was largely due to the garrison in the zeriba, who
made very effective use of their guns. The enemy left two hundred and
fifty dead on the field. Yet not a single British soldier was either
killed or wounded in actually repelling the charge. Among those
seriously wounded later in the day was General Stewart, who died of
his wounds a few days later. Almost his last words to Colonel Barrow
were, "Tak