Page:George McCall Theal, History of South Africa from 1873 to 1884, Volume 1 (1919).djvu/81

 i877] The Ninth Kaffir War. 6i strength. The carriage of Inspector Chalmers' only field- gun broke down, when the Fingos dispersed, and he was obliged to fall back to his camp at Ibeka. Sub- Inspector Von Hohenan and six privates fell in this action, and it was believed that about two hundred Galekas were killed. On the 27th of September the residency at Idutywa was abandoned, when the traders and missionaries in the district retired to Blythswood, the industrial institu- tion of the free church of Scotland near Nqamakwe, in Fingoland. On the 29th the police camp at Ibeka, where Commandant Griffith was then in command of one hundred and eighty Europeans and two thousand Fingos, was attacked by a Galeka army variously esti- mated from seven to ten thousand strong. On this occasion three seven-pounder guns were brought into action, and caused great loss of life when directed upon dense masses of the assailants. A girl who was believed to have communication with the spirit world had directed them not to attack in loose formation, but in masses close together, and they carried out her instruc- tions, for she assured them of victory if they would do so. The battle commenced at three o'clock in the afternoon, and the Galekas, though often stunned by the cannon fire and the discharge of the snider rifles of the police, rushed on again and again from different direc- tions. It was getting dusk when the seer was struck by a ball and fell dead, and then the courage of the warriors failed them. The Fingos^ in two bands gallantly led by Sub-Inspector Allan Maclean and the headman Veldman, charged, and the Galekas retired from the field. Their loss had been very heavy, but only six Fingos were killed, and one white man and six Fingos were wounded. The Galekas, however, were not altogether discomfited, and at daybreak the next morning, the 30th of September, they attacked again from another direction. On this