The hedge was a high one, and was formed for the most part of prickly bushes.

The position was, indeed, a formidable one; manned, as it was, by nearly twenty thousand desperate fighters.
At six o'clock the first gun was fired; and, for an hour and a half, the camp was swept with shell, shrapnel, and Maxim bullets.

Most of the Baggara were lying in the pits.

Many, however, walked about calmly, as if in contempt of the fire.

More than half of the wretched men bound to the trees were killed.
At last the fire of the guns slackened and, on the crest of the position, in a semicircle round the wood, a long line of steadily marching men appeared.