four o'clock in the afternoon
While our men were sitting or lying upon the ground , waiting for the baggage to arrive , the Afghans brought up a mountain gun from the main ridge -- about three-quarters of a mile distant -- to the point of the spur overlooking the village of Turrai , and opened fire at 1700 yards range . The astonishment of the troops , when the first shell fell among them , was great . Every one jumped to his feet , and seized his rifle ; and the guns of the Royal Horse Artillery were brought at once into action . It was four o'clock in the afternoon when the Afghans opened fire . Had they waited for a few hours , brought up another gun or two , and made a night attack immediately after opening fire , it is morally certain that the imprudence of camping in such a position would have been punished by a disaster , which might have vied with that of Isandula . Huddled together in a small village surrounded by scrub ; and impeded , as the troops would have been , by the baggage animals and native followers , rushing in terror in all directions , our men would have been taken at an immense disadvantage . Fortunate was it that the enemy opened fire before the darkness set in .