In 1856 a terrible delusion took hold on the X̓osa Kafirs. They had endured a good deal of misery from the destruction of much of their cattle by an epidemic of rinderpest, and were in a mood to be influenced by the wild sayings of their witch doctors. One of these wizards, Umhlakazi, who had received a smattering of education at a mission school, arose and proclaimed a strange gospel. He announced that the dead and gone Kafir chiefs would return to earth with their followers, and bring with them a new race of cattle exempt from disease, and that following on this resurrection would come the triumph of the black man over the white. The prophet had heard of the Crimean War, and announced that the dead Kafir chiefs would bring with them many Russian soldiers and attack the British. But one thing was necessary to secure this millennium—the existing cattle and crops must be destroyed. A portion of the Kafir tribes believed this rubbish. Some of the chiefs even who knew better, and who smiled at the imposture, encouraged it, thinking that after taking these desperate measures their men would stick at nothing, and would really break down the British power. Therefore, most of the X̓osa Kafirs of the Galeka and Gaika clans, set to work to slaughter their oxen and cut down their corn; and all looked forward eagerly to the dawning of February 18, 1857, on which date the resurrection was to take place. Nothing happened, however; and the consequences of this hateful imposture were terrible. It is stated that 25,000 Kafirs died of starvation, and nearly 100,000 others left British Kaffraria and the territories beyond the Kei to seek another home. Some 40,000 of these Kafirs settled in Cape Colony, being taken into service there through the intervention of the Government; and from them, mixed with Hottentots and emancipated slaves, are descended the “Cape Boys,” who have since attracted attention by their value as soldiers in suppressing the Matebele revolt. Sir George Grey in 1858 was obliged to send a military force (the _sixth_ Kafir war) against some of the Kafir tribes rendered desperate by destitution, and they were driven for a time into Pondoland; British Kaffraria being annexed to Cape Colony, and the Transkei being taken under British protection. This Transkei territory was subsequently repeopled, partly with Fingo[146] Kafirs, and partly by the descendants of the Kafir tribes who were ruined by the teaching of the false prophets. In 1877 the Galeka, a clan of the X̓osa tribe, commenced fighting the Fingos. They were joined later by the Gaika, another X̕osa people, who had long been dwelling peaceably in the Eastern province, and during 1877 and 1878 the _seventh_ and last Kafir war raged, ending inevitably in conquest and submission.