g enough to resist the rush of horned beasts. On that
day, I should add, as the Mazitu never dreamed of being attacked, all
their stock were grazing on some distant veldt. In this space between
the two fences were many hundreds of huts, wattle and grass built, but
for the most part roofed with palm leaves, for here, in their separate
quarters, dwelt the great majority of the inhabitants of Beza Town, of
which the northern part was occupied by the king, the nobles and the
captains. This ring of huts, which entirely surrounded the market-place
except at the two gateways, may have been about a hundred and twenty
yards in width.
Down the paths between these huts, both on the eastern and the western
side, advanced the Arabs and half-breeds, of whom there appeared to
be about four hundred, all armed with guns and doubtless trained to
fighting. It was a terrible force for us to face, seeing that although
we may have had nearly as many men, our guns did not total more
than fifty, and most of those who held them were quite unused to the
management of firearms.
Soon the Arabs began to open fire on us from behind the huts, and a very
accurate fire it was, as our casualties quickly showed, notwithstanding
the stone _schanzes_ we had constructed. The worst feature of the thing
also was that we could not reply with any effect, as our assailants, who
gradually worked nearer, were effectively screened by the huts, and we
had not enough guns to attempt organised volley firing. Although I tried
to keep a cheerful countenance I confess that I began to fear the worst
and even to wonder if we could possibly attempt to retreat. This idea
was abandoned, however, since the Arabs would certainly overtake and
shoot us down.
One thing I did. I persuaded Babemba to send about fifty men to build
up the southern gate, which was made of trunks of trees and opened
outwards, with earth and the big stones that lay about in plenty. While
this was being done quickly, for the Mazitu soldiers worked at the task
like demons and, being sheltered by the palisade, could not be shot, all
of a sudden I caught sight of four or five wisps of smoke that arose
in quick succession at the north end of the town and were instantly
followed by as many bursts of flame which leapt towards us in the strong
wind.
Someone was firing Beza Town! In less than an hour the flames, driven by
the gale through hundreds of huts made dry as tinder by the heat, would
reduce Beza
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