But we hadn't succeeded in going a hundred paces when suddenly behind us
there sounded loud trumpet sounds and the place resounded with howling
and war cries of the natives. They surrounded us and, wildly jumping and
"playing"*** with their javelins, swiftly attacked us. The site of the
battle was closed and very awkward for us. On the north and west grew
dense bushes, and to the east the mountain steeply came to an abrupt
end. Our trail twisted along ledges of the precipice. We took hold of
our guns and quickly began to shoot, aiming the fire on the foremost,
who fell about 20 paces in front of us. I fired five cartridges from my
three-eighths-inch caliber rifle, and while Ababa reloaded it, let loose
ten cartridges from my rapid-firing Mauser revolver. It was difficult to
miss at such a close distance, and almost every shot hit its target.
The accuracy of our shooting had a stunning effect on the natives and
stopped their charge. We were particularly helped by the circumstance
that the natives couldn't steal up on us and that they dragged their
dead and wounded comrades far back; because although our fire was
effective, there were too few of us and we had too small a reserve of
cartridges to be able to hold out for long. The natives only had 20
paces to go to reach us, and we would find ourselves in their arms.
After several minutes of heated fighting, the distance between us and
our enemies had increased to a hundred paces. Somehow the natives'
spirits had fallen, and they only sprinkled our side with stones from
slings. We already didn't have much ammunition left. Stopping fire and
dividing my soldiers into two units, which should provide cover for one
another consecutively, I began to descend, little by little.
Our enemy was stunned. As soon as we moved down, they took heart again,
and, not daring to attack us, resorted to another means of action. Our
trail lay along ledges, and groups of dare-devils, having separated from
the main mass of the enemy, began to occupy salient points above the
road and to push off falling rocks onto us from there. It is impossible
to say that rocks flying down with a crash, rebounding on all sides from
the stone ledges they encountered produced a particularly nice
impression. It seemed to each of us at that moment that the rock was
falling directly on him, and each rushed to hide behind the cliff face
or to bend down low to the ground. Howling and wild cries of the natives
accompanied each rock fall. Although, luckily, they had not yet caused
real damage, they caused some panic among my soldiers. In order to
counteract the intentions of the enemy, we in turn began to occupy areas
from which we could fire on the ledges where the natives were preparing
rock slides, and in this way, to some degree, stopped them.
Only at five o'clock did we get down the cliff. We passed the boundaries
of the settlements completely safely, if you do not count one soldiers
wounded in the arm by a stone from a sling and one dead mule. Late at
night I returned to camp.
The Ras, who was worried about my long absence, waited for me
impatiently, and as soon as he learned of my return sent to ask me to go
to him. They had already reported to him all the details of the fight.
Congratulating me for the victory, he at the same time began to reproach
me.
"Why didn't you say that you were going to fight? I would have given you
more soldiers. I do not understand how you stayed safe and how your
soldiers did not run away. Death must have seemed inevitable to them.
You are Saytan (the Devil). But you should know that your present
bravery is not yet true courage, but rather the ardor of youth and
inexperience. Believe me, that only when you have experienced retreat
and been wounded will you begin to understand danger, and your
inexperienced ardor will change into the conscious courage of a warrior
hardened in battle."
He was right.
Blessings to all
Biniam
Arlington, Virginia, USA