olumns, seeking to pulverise them. As for the
Maxims--and I closely watched the effect of their fire through my
glasses--I am compelled to say that they often failed to settle upon
the swarming foe. At any rate, their effectiveness was not equal to
what might have been expected. Would the Khalifa succeed, in the face
of such an awful cannonade, in reaching the zereba with a corporal's
guard? But after all, it usually takes tons of iron and lead to kill a
man. There was marvellous vitality in the dervish masses. Thousands
were knocked over by the screaming, bursting shells, which made hills
and plain ring with thunderous uproar. But numbers of the apparently
killed were merely wounded, and they speedily rose and truculently
hastened forward anew with their fellow-tribesmen. A diversion that
told momentarily in the enemy's favour occurred. The extreme dervish
right at that moment appeared climbing the slopes of Jebel Surgham.
Emir Melik's wing, hidden from view by that intervening high ground,
had, as it came on, been reinforced by a part of Yacoub's division. By
other accounts Osman Digna, as well, had united forces with Melik.
There suddenly sprang into threatening proximity before us, a force of
at least fifteen odd thousand men, with a wide surf-line of white,
red, and gold lettered banners, less than a mile away. Brandishing
their weapons and shouting "Allah!" down the slopes they ran towards
the zereba. Emirs rode in front, and gaunt, black riflemen sped like
hounds, keeping pace with the horses. The guns of one battery, then
another, and finally all three, upon General Lyttelton's left, were
turned upon them. Maxims also were swung round, and the long-distance
volleys were dropped for shorter ranges. The dervish main columns
which had got shelter in low khors re-appeared, and without pause
joined in the hot rush for our zereba. Our elated foemen evidently
thought they would at last be able to close with us. In their
ignorance they reckoned not with the accuracy and discipline of the
British infantry fire. Nor had they then learned to dread the
terrible bullets of our men's Lee-Metford rifles. Later in the day, as
well as on the following one, I heard many expressions of regret from
wounded and unwounded dervishes that they were so mad as to charge the
white soldiers, whose bullets rarely missed. The light was good, the
hour about 7 a.m., and the ranges shifted rapidly from 1700 yards to
1500 yards, 1200 yards down t