As soon as the first
few shells had reached the Arab entrenchment the whole line of shelter
trenches was edged with smoke, and the Dervishes replied with a heavy
rifle fire. The distance was, however, too great for their bad rifles and
inferior ammunition, and their bullets, although they occasionally struck
the ground on which the infantry were drawn up, did not during the day
cause any loss to the watching army.
The Dervish position was about half a mile in length. As the gunboats
approached the northern end they opened fire with their guns, striking the
mud entrenchments at every shot, and driving clouds of dust and splinters
into the air. The Maxim guns began to search the parapets, and two
companies of the Staffordshire Regiment on board the unarmoured steamers
Dal and Akasha fired long-range volleys. Now, as on other occasions
throughout the war, the Dervishes by their military behaviour excited the
admiration of their enemies. Encouraged by the arrival in the morning of a
reinforcement from Omdurman of 1,000 Black Jehadia and 500 spearmen under
Abdel Baki, the Dervish gunners stood to their guns and the riflemen to
their trenches, and, although suffering severely, maintained
a formidable fire.
The gunboats continued to advance, beating up slowly against the strong
current. As they came opposite Hafir, where the channel narrows to about
600 yards, they were received by a very heavy fire from guns placed in
cleverly screened batteries, and from the riflemen sheltered in deep pits
by the water's edge or concealed amid the foliage of the tops of the
palm-trees.
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