All day the Tuaregs had followed the column, and they settled on a nearby plateau to watch the camp's movements. After observing the mission for a long time, they waved a white cloth, and a Tuareg came to announce that they had dates, and that they would bring the sheep in the evening. Three skirmishers who had left with Sassi ben Chaïb returned carrying three bushels of dates. They were sandy, but now was not the time to be difficult. Dianous distributed them evenly:each man swallowed his ration, with the exception of Santin, too feverish to eat anything, and the sentries who were watching.
Suddenly the men seemed taken by surprise. madness. They began to run in all directions, some fled with mad gestures, others fell to the ground in strange convulsions. The whole camp resounded with howls, skirmishers threw themselves on the sentries or writhed on the sand. Dianous took out his revolver, emptied its cylinder at random, brandishing a carabiner. Appalled, amid shouts and vociferations, H Madani and the Chaamba brought back the fugitives and forced them to drink hot water until they had vomited.
La bettina ! The Tuaregs had mixed dates with this plant with dark green leaves speckled with purple, a violent poison that drives men mad.
At dawn, after fearing all night an attack from the Tuaregs - an attack that would have been fatal - El Madani counted the column. Four skirmishers and the mokkadem were missing.
Dianous, who was gradually regaining consciousness, ordered the departure for the same day and fell back into a kind of torpor. Around noon, the troop, reduced to 51 men, arrived at the ravine which opened in the side of Mount Tassili. Very close to there was Armand's water point, a veritable paradise with abundant vegetation...
The Tuaregs had outstripped the column. They closed the road that led to the source, determined to make these men pay dearly for their victory over the Amadghor.
Throats burning with thirst, the men of Dianous prepared for battle. Hatred gave them new strength. Three sections moved forward:the lieutenant in the center, flanked on his left by Pobéguin, on his right by El Madani. Santin and four skirmishers were relegated to the rear, still dazed by the poison, as well as the two camels.
Jostled by the firepower of the 74, the rezzou beat a retreat and dug into the cavities of the cliff. not, in spite of their numerical superiority, venture on the slopes.
To throw terror into the enemy ranks, the Tuaregs pushed in front of them five men on the crest. Horrified, unable to fire, the lieutenant recognized the mokkadem and the four skirmishers that the adversary had captured the day before.
Despite their pleas, they were
tipped, with a saber cut, into the abyss.
At this sight, Dianous, beside himself, got up a bound. A hail of bullets knocked him to the ground. Without a word, he expired.
Taking advantage of the stupor they had caused, the Tuaregs attempted an attack. Spears pointed, they charged. Four men were killed, six seriously injured. Pobéguin and El Madani pulled themselves together in time and repelled the enemy's assault.
A second time, leaving many dead, the rezzou retreated in disorder.
Brame rushed forward to recapture the corps of the lieutenant from the Tuaregs. A Tuareg jumped up and stabbed him with his javelin. Marjolet and three skirmishers, seized with delirium, left Santin, reached the line of fire, where, in turn, they collapsed.
When evening came, the Tuaregs remained hidden. Their losses had taught them that any assault was futile. But they clung to the sides of the mountain and their guns barred access to the corridor leading to the source. At eight o'clock a Chaambi came to inform Pobéguin of the engineer's death. The sergeant remained the only Frenchman.