Page:George McCall Theal, History of South Africa from 1873 to 1884, Volume 1 (1919).djvu/97

 i877] The Ninth Kaffir War. yy But on the very day that this arrangement was con- cluded, 2nd of December 1877, it became known that instead of the Galeka army having been broken up and dispersed, as every one had believed, it had merely executed a clever strategic movement, had placed its women, children, and cattle in places of safety, and was returning to its own country to renew the war. The only force remaining in Galekaland at the time consisted in round numbers of five hundred of the frontier armed and mounted police, with their horses needing a long rest, and two hundred infantry volunteers, even the Bantu auxiliaries having been allowed to return to their homes. That an officer of Colonel Griffith's experience could have made such a mistake would be inex- plicable, except for the fact that volunteers, white or black, cannot be kept in the field suffering discomfort when there is apparently hothing for them to do. On the 1st of December Inspector Bourne was sent from Ibeka to patrol the country with twenty-five of the police and one hundred and twenty-seven volunteers from Capetown and Grahamstown. He had two waggons with him laden with food and baggage, and two field guns drawn by horses. He did not anticipate meeting with opposition, the patrol being regarded more as one for practice than for real work. That night he encamped near Sigcawu's burnt kraal, having seen nothing as yet to indicate that the country was again occupied. On the morning of Sunday the •2nd he went forward towards Umzintsani, better known to Europeans as Holland's shop, when to his surprise he encountered a division of the Galeka army several hundred strong, and a skirmish followed, in which one policeman was killed. The Galekas were beaten off, and as the ground there was rugged, the patrol moved to more open country, and formed a camp. A message was sent to Colonel Griffith, informing him of what had occurred, and asking for assistance. The camp was put into as