The war went on
in a desultory fashion, till in July 1880 we recognised a new Ameer in
Abdurrahman, heretofore a Russian pensioner, and a grandson of Dost
Mohammed. That same month a British brigade was cut to pieces near
Candahar; but, starting from Cabul at the head of 10,000 picked troops,
General Roberts in twenty-three days marched 318 miles, relieved
Candahar's garrison, and won the battle of Mazra. Already our forces had
begun to withdraw from the country, and Candahar was evacuated in 1881. A
peaceful British mission was undertaken in the autumn of 1893, when
various matters regarding the frontier of Afghanistan were dealt with.
[Illustration: Earl Roberts. (From a Photograph by Poole, Waterford.)]
In 1877 we annexed the Dutch Transvaal Republic; the republic was restored
under British suzerainty. In 1879 we invaded the Zulus' territory. On 11th
January Lord Chelmsford crossed the Natal frontier; on the 22d the Zulus
surrounded his camp, and all but annihilated its garrison. The heroic
defence of Rorke's Drift, by 80 against 4000, saved Natal from a Zulu
invasion; but it was not till July that the campaign was ended by the
victory of Ulundi. The saddest event in all the war was the death of the
French Prince Imperial, who was serving with the British forces. He was
out with a small reconnoitring party, which was surprised by a band of
Zulus; his escort mounted and fled; and he was found next morning dead,
his body gashed with eighteen assegai wounds.
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