THE BATTLE OF OMDURMAN ; 161 I walked along the zeriba to a point some_ way below the Lincolns. A large number of the Tommies had never been under fire before, e.g. the Guards and the Lancashire Fusiliers, and there was a curious look of suppressed excitement in some of the faces, as they stared over the desert to catch a glimpse of the enemy they were at last destined to behold, after many long marches by day and false alarms by night. Now and then I caught in a man’s eye the curious gleam which comes from the joy of shedding blood—that mysterious impulse which, despite all the veneer of civilisation, still holds its own in a man’s nature, whether he is killing rats with a terrier, rejoicing in a prize fight, playing a salmon, or potting Dervishes. It was a fine day, and we had come out to kill something. Call it what you like, the experience is a big factor in the joy of living : one speaks davavra ouvetoict, Lower down the line the Sudanese showed their white teeth as they grinned with delight at the prospect of slaughter.

Suddenly the Lancers came trotting over the ridge between Gebel Surgham and the Nile, while several officers galloped across the plain II