The country in which our troops were now operating is an undulating, treeless plain, rising here and there into isolated, rocky hills, similar in character to the country farther south. It is, however, much more populous than southern Palestine, and is extensively cultivated, though at this time of year the crops had all been gathered, and the land was as bare as a village common. Partly, no doubt, for purposes of defence, and partly to avoid wasting the fertile plain land, most of the villages are built on the tops of the hills, where the rock, outcropping over large areas, renders the land unsuitable for cultivation. Many of these villages are surrounded by trees and small enclosed gardens, and some are encircled by stout mud walls. All of them command the surrounding country for a wide space, and, with their walls and cactus hedges, form admirable strong points, very difficult to reduce without the aid of heavy artillery. The village of El Mughar, on its high and rocky ridge, is one of the most prominent of these hill strongholds, and forms a notable landmark from the flat country to the west and south of it.
The 8th Mounted Brigade, leading the Yeomanry Division, approached Yebnah about eight in the morning, and two troops were sent forward to gallop into the village from either side. This was the usual method adopted by our cavalry, when approaching villages during a rapid advance, unless they were definitely known to be strongly held by the enemy. If there proved to be few Turks in the village, or none at all, these troops would signal back to their regiment or brigade to advance. If, however, the village proved to be strongly held, the few men in the exploring troops, moving in extended order and at a very fast pace, seldom sustained many casualties, while they nearly always succeeded in gaining a fairly accurate idea of the numbers of the enemy, the location of his machine guns, etc.
In the present case Yebnah was found very lightly held, and the 8th Brigade at once pushed through it, and advanced to the attack of the villages of Zernuka and Kubeibe, on which rested the extreme right flank of the enemy's line. The Turks were found in force in these two places, and the brigade was unable to make any substantial progress, in the face of very heavy machine-gun fire.