THE FIGHT AT HASHEEN, 245 advance. The 70th Regiment (the East Surrey) set to work at once to construct four sand-bag redoubts, with seribas on the summits, on the left of the line of advance. It was about nine o'clock in the morning when the Berkshire Regiment reached the foot of Dihilbat Hill, which rose sheer above them like a wall, the enemy clustering on its rocky summit. Without firing a shot the men of this splendid regiment began to swarm up the side of the mountain in attack formation and preserving their line unbroken, while two battalions of marines followed a little in rear as supports. The foremost spur of the mountain was separated from the summit by a deep ravine about half-way up, and on reaching the edge of this the gallant Berkshires paused in their rapid ascent and opened fired so steadily that the roll of their musketrj' could be heard echoing from the surrounding hills. The enemy returned the fire for a time, but the marines advanced so as to enfilade their position, and the Arabs then wavered and ran, the Berkshire men crossing the ravine and gaining the summit. The Indian infantry deployed and advanced upon the village of Hasheen, the brigade of guards, formed in square, covering their rear; while the mounted infantry on the extreme right scoured the thick bush, whence small bodies of the enemy were keeping up a brisk fire upon the advancing Indian brigade.

The battery of artillery took up their position on a saddle-shaped hill, and cleared off the enemy on the right flank with shell and shrapnel ; and while this was going on, a large body of the rebels, driven from the hills on the left by the advance of the marines and 49th, descended into the plain on the other side, and a detachment of the Bengal Lancers was despatched to intercept them. The rebels, instead of flying, stood their ground with extraordinary boldness, and charged the cavalry as they advanced. When the collision came they practised the same tactics as at El Teb, throwing themselves on the ground, and slashing at the horses' legs with their swords. After a severe hand-to-hand fight the lancers were obliged to fall back, losing four of their men, whose horses were hamstrung by the enemy, and whose bodies could not be recovered.

The Indian infantry had reached Hasheen, and were now formed in two sides of a square, their left resting on a ridge, and the brigade of guards in complete square covering their rear. On either flank the cavalry were skirmishing over the bush-covered plain, while groups of the enemy, in numbers from ten to a hundred strong, were swarming all round, on the slopes of the hills, in the thick undergrowth in the valley, and amongst the mimosa bushes scattered over the plain. One party of about a hundred and fifty strong suddenly debouched from behind a hill within three hundred yards of the guards, and actually charged down upon the brigade. They were received by such a withering volley from the face of the square that those who survived it at once turned and fled, leaving their wounded