When they were not more than fifty yards away from the first wall, I shouted an order to my riflemen to fire, aiming low, and set the example by loosing both barrels of an elephant gun at the thickest of the mob.

At that distance even the most inexperienced shots could not miss such a mark, especially as those bullets that went high struck among the oncoming troops behind, or caught the horsemen lifted above their fellows.

Indeed, of the first few rounds I do not think that one was wasted, while often single balls killed or injured several men.
The result was instantaneous.

The Black Kendah who, be it remembered, were totally unaccustomed to the effects of rifle fire and imagined that we only possessed two or three guns in all, stopped their advance as though paralyzed.

For a few seconds there was silence, except for the intermittent crackle of the rifles as my men loaded and fired.