the German forts and advanced to attack. The German gunners
having perfect range, poured a murderous fire from machine guns on the
British forces. The native troops wavered and fled, leaving British
officers in the trenches, and these in turn were soon forced to fly to
escape complete annihilation. Lieutenant Colonel Maclear was killed,
and of the 31 other officers only 10 escaped, while 40 per cent of the
native troops were lost. The remainder of the British force retreated
into Nigeria in such an exhausted condition that had the Germans
followed up their victory not a man would have escaped.

[Illustration: German Possessions in Africa.]

The second British expedition which entered the Cameroons from a more
westerly point along the Nigerian frontier occupied, after slight
resistance, the German station of Nsanakong a few miles from the
border, where a week later the Germans attacked in force at two
o'clock in the morning. The British resisted stubbornly, but, having
exhausted their ammunition, the garrison tried to cut their way out
with the bayonet. The British lost three officers, while large numbers
of native soldiers were killed or made prisoners. The remainder,
escaping to the bush, after many hardships found their way back to
Nigeria. Another British expedition from Calabar, near the coast,
occupied Archibong, August 29, 1914, while about the same time a
German force took possession of the Nigerian station of Okuri.

The British had failed by land; they were more successful on the sea,
as will be seen in the chapter on Naval Operations. On September 4,
1914, an attempt was made by the Germans to wreck the British gunboat
_Dwarf_, which with the cruiser _Cumberland_ was watching German ships
in the Cameroon estuary. The German merchantman _Nachtigal_ tried
later to ram the same gunboat and wrecked herself with a loss of 36
men. Further attempts to destroy the _Dwarf_ also failed.

The British now taking the offensive cleared the channel for three
miles, where the Germans had sown mines and sunk 10 or 12 steamboats
to obstruct the waterway to Duala, the capital of the Cameroons.
H.M.S. _Challenger_ and five troopships joined the _Dwarf_ and
_Cumberland_ on September 26, 1914, and, moving on Duala, bombarded
the town.

On September 27, 1914, the Germans offered to surrender Duala
unconditionally, and on September 28, 1914, Brigadier General C. M.
Dobell came ashore and took it over. About the same time a batta