Wildly the Arabs pressed down upon the retreating troops, but the second brigade, under General Buller, came up in splendid order, their volleys sweeping away the enemy. This gave the retreating troops time to reform their ranks, and they at once advanced again in line with Buller's brigade; and the enemy were put to flight, after suffering a loss of over 5000 men. Amongst those who fell in this action were Lieutenant Montresor, RN, Lieutenant Almack, RN, and Lieutenant Houston, RN, with seven of their men who were killed at their guns. For the subsequent proceedings against the Mahdi, see _Our Soldiers_, page 338. CHAPTER TWENTY SIX. WARS IN SOUTH AFRICA. In 1879 Great Britain became involved in war with Cetewayo, chief of a powerful race of savages on the north-eastern border of the colony of Natal in South Africa, and two years after in a short conflict with the Boers, or Dutch farmers, in the Transvaal; and in both of these wars a Naval Brigade took part. From this time onward, South Africa has held a position of increasing importance in our colonial history, and is likely to continue to do so for many years to come; it will be well therefore before considering the wars referred to, to give a general view of the position of the British, the Dutch, and the Zulu at the date of their commencement. Cape Colony was originally founded by the Dutch about the middle of the seventeenth century; it was seized by Great Britain during the wars with France in 1806, and finally annexed to the British Empire by virtue of the Treaty of Vienna in 1815. A great proportion of the colonists, and especially of the farmers in the districts farthest from the coast and from civilisation, did not take kindly to British rule; and in 1835 and succeeding years a great number crossed the Orange River--at that time the boundary of the colony on the north--with the intention of setting up independent Dutch communities. To this movement, known as the Great Trek, the occupation by the Dutch Boers (i.e. farmers) of the territories, since known as the Orange Free State and the Transvaal, or South African Republic, is due. At that time the limits of the British colony were, on the north, the Orange River; and, on the east, the Fish River. Beyond this, on the east, was territory occupied by hostile Kaffir tribes, afterwards called British Kaffraria, and now annexed to Cape Colony, and still farther to the east of these lay the fertile land of Natal.