Presently a peck would go home, and his enemy would drop down
with a neat little circular hole in his forehead or skull, exactly
similar to that which a cheese-scoop makes in a cheese. He never
used the broad blade of the axe except when hard pressed, or
when striking at a shield. He told me afterwards that he did
not consider it sportsmanlike.
Good and his men were quite close by now, and our people had
to cease firing into the mass for fear of killing some of them
(as it was, one of them was slain in this way). Mad and desperate
with fear, the Masai by a frantic effort burst through the thorn
fence and piled-up dead, and, sweeping Curtis, Umslopogaas, and
the other three before them, into the open. And now it was that
we began to lose men fast. Down went our poor Askari who was
armed with the axe, a great spear standing out a foot behind
his back; and before long the two spearsmen who had stood with
him went down too, dying fighting like tigers; and others of
our party shared their fate. For a moment I feared the fight
was lost -- certainly it trembled in the balance. I shouted
to my men to cast down their rifles, and to take spears and throw
themselves into the melee. They obeyed, their blood being now
thoroughly up, and Mr Mackenzie's people followed their example.
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