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At midday, after the repulse of the main attack, the guard of the signal
tower was reinforced by six men, and food and water were also sent up.
This difficult operation was protected by the fire of both the Maxims,
and of all the garrison who could be spared from other points. Until the
1st of August, water was sent up daily to the signal tower in this way.
The distance was long and the road steep. The enemy's fire was
persistent. Looking at the ground it seems wonderful that supplies could
have been got through at all.
As night approached, the defenders prepared to meet a fresh attack.
Lieutenant Wheatley, observing the points behind which the enemy usually
assembled, trained the fort Maxim and the 9-pounder gun on them, while
daylight lasted. At 11 P.M. the tribesmen advanced with shouts, yells
and the beating of drums. The gun and the Maxims were fired, and it is
said that no fewer than seventy men perished by the single discharge. At
any rate the assault was delayed for an hour and a half.


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