The English soon found that retreat was impossible, and blundered by dividing their force to oppose their encirclement. The Zulus made a successful dash which split the forces in two. In the desperate situation that ensued, the British force was overwhelmed. Only Dick King, Richard (or George) Duffy, Joseph Brown, Robert Joyce and about 500 Zulus escaped to the bay. Pursued by the Zulu force, all the European inhabitants of Port Natal were compelled to take refuge for nine days on the Comet, a British vessel which happened to lie on anchor in the bay. When the Zulus retired, only Dick King and some seven or eight others returned to live at the port. The missionaries, hunters and other traders returned to the Cape. In 1842 however the British sent a garrison to Durban under the command of Captain Charlton Smith (who also served at Waterloo). The Voortrekkers had in the meantime consolidated their position inland. They established the Boer republic of Natalia and were intent on expelling the British force from the strategic bay area. This soon led to the Battle of Congella, where the English suffered heavy casualties besides the loss of their artillery. The British garrison had to retreat to their tented camp where their only defence was their trenches and earthworks. The camp was besieged by Andries Pretorius who kept up the small arms and artillery attack continuously, day after day. Trader Christopher Cato, who was to become Durban's first mayor, informed Dick King of the situation, who was on the Mazeppa vessel on 25 May. Before daybreak the next morning, King was met by his 16-year-old servant Ndongeni, who brought two horses to the current Salisbury island in the bay. Attached to a boat, the tethered horses swam alongside the boat to the bluff, from where King and Ndongeni escaped. From Port Natal (now Durban), King and Ndongeni started a heroic horseback ride to convey a request from Captain Smith for immediate reinforcements. The journey involved a ride of through the wilderness and the fording of 120 rivers to arrive at Grahamstown. Ndongeni was forced to return halfway through the journey, as he had no saddle or bridle. Dick King reached Grahamstown 10 days after leaving Port Natal, a distance normally covered in 17 days. King returned a month after his escape on the "Conch", one of the British vessels which carried the relief parties. It arrived at the bay on 24 June, and the reinforcements were in time to save Smith's garrison from imminent surrender or starvation.