ured to oust them with a mounted force of 70 men
and some 500 men of the 58th Regiment. The position is one difficult
enough to climb unencumbered by military accoutrements, but the
disposition of the little mounted force covered the approach. By some
unexplained mistake, however, half of the mounted infantry charged
and carried the Boer position before the 58th had climbed the hill,
but were too weak to hold it and retired, leaving the 58th uncovered
in a terrible ascent. But few of the exhausted men reached the top of
the hill, and those, led by Colonel Deane, only to be shot down. Of
the mounted men, 17 were killed and wounded; of the 58th, 73 were
killed and 100 wounded. The result was absolute defeat of the British
forces. The number of Boers engaged is not known, but the force
behind the Nek consisted of several thousands, and no doubt a fair
proportion engaged in the fight.

On February 8 General Colley made a demonstration in force on the
Ingogo Heights. The force consisted of under 300 men, with 4 guns and
38 mounted men. On the Boer side there were about 1,000 men, and the
fight lasted from morning until after dark. It was a drawn fight, in
which both parties left the battlefield at night. There cannot be any
doubt, however, that the balance of advantage was with the Boers,
since the loss on the British side was very severe: 76 men were
killed and 69 wounded.

On February 27 came Majuba, when Sir George Colley designed to
retrieve his fortunes and strike an effective blow without the aid of
his second-in-command, Sir Evelyn Wood, whom he had sent to hurry up
reinforcements. The scaling of the mountain at night was a fine
performance. The neglect to take the rocket apparatus or mountain
guns, or to fortify the position in any way, or even to acquaint the
members of the force with the nature of the position which they had
taken up in the dark, and the failure to use the bayonets, were the
principal causes of disaster. The Boers attacked in force a position
which should have been absolutely impregnable, held as it was by a
force of 554 soldiers. The Boer force is not known, but probably
consisted of upwards of 1,000 men, since Christian Joubert after the
fight offered to take a portion of the men, numbering, as he said,
some 500, to attack a small British laager on one of the spurs of
the mountain. The splendid feat of taking the hill-top, however, was
accomplished by a small storming party of less than 200 men