Upon December 13 the Boers made an attempt to dislodge General French. Early in the morning some 1,800 of them were seen to be advancing towards Arundel in three parties. They drove in the British pickets, but, as soon as their intentions were perceived, Colonel Porter marched out with 1,000 cavalry and four guns of the Horse Artillery. The enemy brought up two guns, which, however, could do nothing against our Horse Artillery. They were shelled and driven back. Later in the day the British horsemen found the Boers in some force at Kuilfontein Farm, a little to the west of Rensburg, and ejected them by the summary process of artillery fire. The enemy lost no less than forty killed and wounded on this day; the British losses, including some casualties in a patrol skirmish on the day before, were only nine wounded and missing. All through the 13th, Vaal Kop was resolutely held by a tiny British garrison of 100 men and two guns. The fighting was remarkable for the enormous extent of country covered by the forces engaged. The Boers fought on a front of fully fourteen miles; the British, with a yet smaller strength of men, extended over an even longer line. The mobility of the cavalry and Horse Artillery proved to be such that the Boers were filled with uneasiness. They summoned reinforcements, which were at once despatched from the Free State. [Illustration: ARUNDEL CAMP FROM THE HILLS TO THE NORTH.] [Illustration: MAP OF THE ACTIONS AROUND COLESBERG.] [Sidenote: [DEC. 14-20, 1899.] [Sidenote: The Boers fall back on Colesberg.] [Sidenote: DEC. 30, 1899.] _Movements around Colesberg._]