Indian infantry regiments halted before the
jungle instead of pushing forward to the river. Not even riflemen were
sent into it, although the bush was by no means too thick for a chain
of riflemen to take cover. The prickly bushes on the river's bank were
sparse enough, and the high grass reaching up to the mens' shoulders
would have made a splendid hiding-place.

By-and-by the English army had executed the movement to the left, and
now stood facing the Russian front. One new regiment after the other was
drawn from the second division and placed on the left wing, which was
believed to be most threatened. The English guns thundered without
interruption, but their position might have been better; many fired
without being able to see the enemy at all through the thick jungle, and
threw away their ammunition prematurely.

The sun shone brightly in the cloudless sky. A slight north-westerly
breeze coming from the far distant hills blew the smoke of the powder in
clouds back on the English army.

The enemy being thus completely shrouded from view, the infantry stood
motionless. A sullen expectation brooded over the colossal forces,
who realised danger, but were yet condemned to a torturing inactivity.
Suddenly the wild roar of thousands of voices rose from the river, and
hosts of cavalry, which before could have been held back by English
infantry, broke through the jungles like immense swarms of locusts.
Thousands of wild Afghans and warriors from Bukhara, Samarcand, Khiva,
and Semiryechensk, combined in the Turkestan divisions, had crossed
the river and, wildly crying "Allah! Allah!" hurled themselves upon the
English battalions and batteries. Splendidly trained at firing from the
saddle, they were terrible foes indeed.

Although the English returned the unexpected attack with crackling
volleys, and did not recoil a hair's breadth from their positions, the
Russian lines suffered but small losses in consequence of their open
order. One new swarm after the other broke through the jungle, and
rushed like an army of devils upon the batteries. A few of these were
silenced; the men who served them were killed before they were able to
turn their guns against their assailants, so wildly rapid had been this
surprise rush of the bold horsemen.

The English cavalry, advancing to a magnificent attack, arrived too
late; the weight of the shock was lost, the enemy having already
dispersed in all directions. These men understood how t