o manage their
small, rapid horses in a marvellous manner. They seemed like centaurs,
and the rapidity with which they broke up their squadron, in order
immediately after to close up again at another place in dense masses,
rendered a counter attack on the part of the serried ranks of their
adversaries almost impossible.

At one time, Heideck, with that part of the staff to which he had
attached himself, had been drawn into the shock of battle. He had been
obliged to shoot an Afghan, who attacked him, down from his horse, and
he would probably, a moment afterwards, have been laid low by the
sabre of another, had not the faithful Morar Gopal, who displayed
extraordinary courage, just at the right moment made the horseman
harmless by a well-directed blow of his sword. The cavalry engagement
was still undecided, when lo! in the grass before the jungle were seen
a number of glittering sparks. The sharp crack of shots was heard, and
their destructive effect showed how admirably the Russian riflemen, who
were gradually advancing against the British army, knew how to
handle their rifles. The British infantry kept on discharging volleys
indefatigably, but no practical result of all this waste of ammunition
was apparent. Their targets were too small and too scattered, and the
mechanical volleys fired at the word of command had but little effect.
Besides this, the Russians had admirable cover, with the variegated
jungle as a background, whilst the English stood out sharply against the
horizon, and presented an excellent mark. According to their plan,
the Russians first of all directed their fire against the men who
were serving the batteries. Their well-directed shooting decimated the
English artillery to a terrible degree. Scarcely two minutes had elapsed
before the order was given to fall back with the guns. As far as was
possible, the English harnessed up, and galloped off to take up their
position between the infantry battalions, and from there again to
open fire. The advance of the English artillery, which had taken place
contrary to orders, and which was a result of their over-hasty forward
movement, thus showed itself to have been a most disastrous step.

An even stronger and more damaging effect than that of the attack
itself, was produced by the ceaseless cries of "Allah! Allah!" which
proceeded from the Afghans and the Turkestan cavalry, and penetrated
to the Mohammedans who stood in the British lines. Heideck saw quite