six o'clock
Everywhere the ground was pitted with deep holes , capable of sheltering from fifteen to twenty men . The hedge was a high one , and was formed for the most part of prickly bushes . The position was , indeed , a formidable one ; manned , as it was , by nearly twenty thousand desperate fighters . At six o'clock the first gun was fired ; and , for an hour and a half , the camp was swept with shell , shrapnel , and Maxim bullets . Most of the Baggara were lying in the pits . Many , however , walked about calmly , as if in contempt of the fire . More than half of the wretched men bound to the trees were killed .