"This man, by his influence, his superior eloquence, and his pretended
revelations from heaven, was now looked up to by the whole Caffre
nation; and he promised the chiefs, if they would implicitly obey his
orders, he would lead them to victory, and that he would drive the
English into the ocean. He resolved upon the bold measure of making an
attack upon Graham's Town, and marched an army of between nine and ten
thousand men to the forest bordering on the Great Fish River.

"According to the custom of the Caffres, who never use surprise or
ambush on great occasions, they sent a message to the commandant of
Graham's Town, stating that they would breakfast with him the next
morning. The commandant, who had supposed the message to be a mere
bravado, was very ill prepared when on the following morning he
perceived, to his great astonishment, the whole force of the Caffres on
the heights above the town.

"Had the Caffres advanced in the night, there is no doubt but that they
would have had possession of the place, and that with the greatest ease.
There were about 350 regular troops and a small force of Hottentots in
Graham's Town, and fortunately a few field-pieces. The Caffres rushed to
the assault, and for some time were not to be checked; they went up to
the very muzzles of the field-pieces, and broke their spears off short,
to decide the battle by a hand-to-hand conflict.

"At this critical moment, the field-pieces opened their fire of grape
and canister, and the front ranks of the Caffres were mowed down like
grass. After several rallyings under Mokanna, the Caffres gave way and
fled. About 1400 of the bravest remained on the field of battle, and as
many more perished from their wounds before they could regain their