eight o'clock
Grasping their rifles the troops lay ready to spring to their feet and repel the attack should it be made ; but the hours passed on slowly without the expected movement taking place , and there was a general feeling of relief when morning at last broke . As the Arabs continued their fire , a nine-pounder and Gatling gun were brought into play upon the bushes , and the fire of the enemy soon died out and they fell back to their camp . The troops now had breakfast , and soon after they had finished the cavalry arrived from the other zareba . At eight o'clock the Mounted Infantry moved out , accompanied by a party of Abyssinian scouts . They had gone but a short distance when a very heavy fire was opened upon them , and the officer in command sent back to the general to say that there was a broad ravine stretching across the country a few hundred yards ahead , although hidden by the bushes from observation until closely approached , and that this ravine was held by the enemy in great force . The infantry now moved out from the zareba , formed in two squares . The second brigade , composed of the Royal Highlanders , the 65th , and the Marines , led the way .