ttack but, at
nine o'clock, before his dispositions were completed, the whole
crest of the hills held by the enemy seemed to be swarming with
men. Scarcely had the guns opened fire, when the enemy swept down
from the hills, in successive lines of swordsmen, stretching out
far beyond either flank of our force. At the same time a large body
of horse rode along the hills, threatening the left flank.

"As the swordsmen swept down on the infantry and guns, the Afghan
horse came out of two ravines, and charged the Bengal Lancers
before they could acquire sufficient speed to meet them fairly. The
Lancers were forced back, disorganizing the 3rd Ghoorkhas, who
composed the left battalion of the line. The colonel of the
Ghoorkhas threw his men into company squares, and they stood their
ground; but the Lancers could not be rallied until they had swept
along almost the whole rear of the infantry.

"In the meantime the swordsmen on foot swept down with fanatical
fury, and it became necessary to bring up the whole reserve into
the fighting line. The two batteries of artillery on the right were
now firing grape shot, at close range, into the mass of Afghans;
but neither this, nor the fire of the infantry supporting them,
could check the advance of the enemy. The batteries, having used up
all their case shot, were compelled to retire two hundred yards;
and the right of the infantry line was also forced back.

"The situation at this moment was horribly critical: both our
flanks were turned, and the troops were a good deal shaken by the
suddenness and fierceness of the attack. The enemy's horsemen,
however, pushing round to the left flank, were checked by the
firmness of the 3rd Ghoorkhas--who stood their ground bravely--and
by the fire of the batteries on that flank. On the right the 2nd
Punjab Cavalry charged and drove back the enemy, thus giving time
for the two batteries to take up their fresh position, and again
come into action.

"The infantry on the right also recovered from the confusion into
which they had been temporarily thrown, and poured a withering fire
into the Afghans. In the centre the 2nd Sikhs maintained, through
out the fight, a steady and unyielding front. The steady and
well-directed fire of the whole line, aided by the batteries, was
creating terrible havoc among the enemy and, after an hour's
gallant and strenuous exertion on both our flanks, their efforts
began to slacken and, before long, the whole of them