deed, which probably had as good an effect upon the enemy as a
bigger victory of our arms; but the obvious comment will be that made
about the Balaclava charge--equally heroic, and not, I honestly think,
less useful--"C'est magnifique, mais ce n'est pas la guerre." On
searching the ground inside the khor sixty dead dervishes were found
where the central squadrons passed over. A small heap lay around
Lieutenant Grenfell and his troop. Four of our men were found alive,
but died before they could be moved. A sword-cut had cleft young
Grenfell's head and given him a painless death. The bodies were, as
usual, full of sword-cuts and spear-thrusts inflicted by the enemy
before and after the victims had breathed their last.

EGYPTIAN HEROISM.

[Illustration: MACDONALD'S BRIGADE ADVANCING.]

It is a long tale I am telling, but yet the most brilliant and heroic
episode of a day so full of glowing incident remains to be told. About
9.20 a.m. the Sirdar led his troops slowly forward towards Omdurman.
Great as the slaughter had been, thousands of dervishes could be seen
still watching us from the western hills. Behind them they had
re-formed again into compact divisions. The Sirdar's direction, I have
said, was that his troops were to swing clear of the zereba and march
in echelon with the 2nd British brigade leading Moving out a few
hundred yards, Lyttelton's brigade, which, as before, marched in four
parallel columns of battalions, the Guards on the right, swung to the
left. They were making to pass Surgham, leaving it upon their right.
The 1st British brigade, Major-General Wauchope's, was behind, and had
turned to the left to follow the 2nd brigade. Behind, in succession,
were Maxwell's, Lewis's, and Macdonald's Egyptian or Khedivial
brigades. The nature of the ground forced some of them out of their
true relative positions. Macdonald had marched out due west. The
dervishes, like wolves upon the scent for prey, suddenly sprang from
unexpected lairs. With swifter feet and fiercer courage than ever they
dashed for the comparatively isolated brigade of Colonel Macdonald.
Although I was far away at the moment with the 1st or Lyttelton's
brigade, the shouts, the noise of the descending tornado reached me
there. From behind the southern slope of Um Mutragan hills the Khalifa
was charging Macdonald with an intact column of 12,000 men, the
banner-bearers and mounted Emirs again in the forefront. A broad
stream, running from the so