Shades

The period from 1895 through to about 1903 was a time of excruciating drought in the Eastern Cape - certainly the worst drought in more than 60 years.

At the peak of this drought, the rinderpest broke out. This was a deadly sickness which struck ruminants, especially cattle.

The rinderpest decimated the herds of cattle in the Eastern Cape, triggering an intense campaign of quarantine and inoculation.

Because the Whites and the missionaries tended to respond more quickly to the government call for quarantine than did the amaXhosa, their cattle tended to survive the inoculation.

It is natural, therefore, that the amaXhosa became deeply suspicious. Many believed that the rinderpest was merely the Government and colonialists' deliberate attempt to destroy their herds.