GORDON AND THE MAHDI. 76 selves and again came rapidly on. Theyheralded their advance with rifle fire, and the bullets thickly pattered on the sand in the centre of the square, whilst their hissing and whizzing* overhead was terrific. In recent battles there have been few hotter corners than the centre of General Davis's square, and had the Arabs been as good shots as the Boers,not a tenth of those composingit wouldhave escaped alive.

The British troops now advancedto meet the enemy, andindoingso the weak points of the square formation at once became apparent. The companies of theYork and Lancasterregiment,and oftheBlack Watch in front, swept forward against the foe, but the remaining companies of these regiments which formed the sides of the square, and which were also expecting attack, failed to keep upwith the rapid forward movementof the front face,and the consequence was that many gaps appeared in what should have been a solid wall of men. As the frontlineapproachedtherebels the troops began to cheer, and with fixed bayonets advancedat the double, thereby still further increasing the gap between themand their companions forming the sides, and at this moment immense hordes of Arabs were seen charging down on the right face of the square. The front line was halted, and the officers of the companies of the York and Lancaster regiment which fronted the foe, now pouring down,made even* effort to close upthe gaps,and steady the men to receive the charge. The time,however,was too short to accomplish this, and the rolling fire which was opened upon the enemy both in front and flank drowned the voice of command. With a fierce rash the Arabs burst down on the right face. The York and Lancaster men wavered and began to fall back on the Marines and Black Watch, opening great gaps in the square. Through the smoke the dark figures could be seen rushing on,unchecked, even for an instant,by the hailof bullets, and in another minute the fight became a hand-to-hand one.

the front;but withinthesquaretherewasnocommotion, as even theEgyptian drivers andcarriersrecognised that a thousand Britishbayonets wereinterposed oneveryside betweenthemand theenemy. Allnightlongtherebels kept up their fusillade, thebullets sweepingthicklyoverhead. They aimedespecially at the highrounded tops of the two hospitalwaggons which showedconspicuously in the moonlight, and consequently the doctors had several narrow escapes, whilst the camels, horses, and mules huddled togetherin the centre of the square were occasionallyhit by bullets. Owing however to the men continuingtolie clown the casualties werebut slight,one privateof theYork and Lancasterregiment beingkilled by a shot in the head, and anofficer and two men being wounded.

Still the position was an unpleasant one, and there was ageneral feeling of relief whendaybegan to dawn and the long anxioushours of watching were brought to aclose. At four o'clock Wyld and his Abyssinianscouts creptout totheleft,and found that thefiringpartythere was composedof about ahundredand fiftymen, supported by a much stronger force. Theywere observed and fired at, but managedto get back safely. Sunrise brought no relief from the enemy's fire, which was kept up with increasing*strength, whilst theimmunity enjoyed by the Arabs so added to their boldness that they advancedto within three or four hundred yards of the square. This was more than couldbe quietlyendured,and at aboutsix o'clocka Gardnerandaninc-pounderwerebroughtintoplay. Theguns madeexcellentpractice,afewroundsdispersing theArabs, whoretiredtotheirmainpositionnearthe wells of Tamai. The troops thenbreakfasted, and' whilstthey wereso occupied GeneralStew-art and his cavalry arrived fromBaker's zereba,where they had passed thenight unmolested.

At seven o'clock the cavalry were sent onahead with strict injunctions to act as mounted infantry only,and onnoaccount to beenticed intoacharge. Theysearched the bushesin front thoroughly,but only small parties of the enemy showed themselves, and the opinion that the tribesmen did not mean to fight afterall began to prevail. An hour later the infantry formed up outside the zereba in two echeloned squares. In front was General Davis's Brigade,consisting of the Black Watch, and the York and Lancaster regiment, with the Marines onthe rear face. The NavalBrigade with their machine guns, as well as General Graham himself, were in the centre of the square. General Buller's Brigade,also in square, was echeloned onthe right rear,being madeup of the RoyalIrishFusiliers,GordonHighlanders,andthe King's Royal Rifles. General Stewart's cavalry, more especiallythe mountedinfantry and a troop of the 10th Hussars, sent out to the left front, had meanwhile discovered the enemy,andsome sharp firingwasinprogress. As theinfantry advanced overakind of plateaudipping towards the cast— exactly the sort of ground among whichlarge numbers of rebels might conceal themselves — they saw the cavalry soiling back, and the enemy in great force following them. Right in front about a thousand yards aheadagroup of Abyssinian scouts were exchanging shots with the advancing foe, and parties of cavalry in skirmishing order were similarly engaged in the same quarterof the field. The cavalry cleared off to the left,and the enemycould now be discerned in crowds over the bush in front. Davis's Brigade halted, and tightening up in square opened a heavy fire with the machine guns and rifles upon the advancing mass of Arabs. This checked them for a short time, but encouraged by their wild sheikhs they steadied them-The Arabs crawledon their hands and knees beneath the bayonets and the muzzles of the Gardners and Gatlings, and thus got within the square, when they commenced st.abbing and slashing, doing terrible execution.

At close quarters with the cold steel the troops were nomatch for these powerful savages, who would dodge the bayonets, or turnthem aside with their shields,and then deliver two or three spear thrusts before the manarmed with thebayonet couldrecover. Another pointin their favour was the poor quality of the steel of which the cutlasses andbayonets opposed to them were made. If these weapons touched a bone theybentlikehoop iron withoutpiercing thebody, whereas thespears andswords of the Arabs, sharpasrazors, cut throughbone, sinew, and every obstacle without turning the edge of the weapon. The rebels, too, made betteruse of their weapons than the troops. When they gave a thrust it was invariably directed against a vital part, whereas many a soldier, after missinghis manat short range,too often struck at him in such a way as to inflict only slight flesh wounds. Two"officers of the Black Watch, however,killedseveral of the enemy with their claymores, running the blades wellup to the hilt,and one ofthe finest and strongest men in the regiment, big Jamie Adams, with nineteen others of his company, havingchargedup tothe edge of the ravine whereinthe bulk of theArabs hadbeenlying concealed, opposed steel to steel,fighting with aprowess superior even to the sinewy strength of the swarthy savages opposedtothem. Heandcolour-sergeant Donald Fraser made overadozen of their adversaries bite the dustbefore they fell from loss of blood due to wounds