This movement drew to an end by early 1858. By then, approximately 40,000 people had starved to death and over 400,000 cattle had been slaughtered. Among the survivors was the girl Nongqawuse; however, her uncle perished. Sir George Grey, governor of the Cape at the time ordered the European settlers not to help the Xhosa unless they entered labour contracts with the settlers who owned land in the area. Governor Grey and his administration invented a conspiracy called the ‘Chief’s Plot’ where they claimed the chiefs deliberately starved their people in order to instill desperation so that the Xhosa would be recruited for war and attack the settlers. This narrative was used at the time to justify the confiscation of land from numerous chiefdoms. The land was distributed to colonial settlers, and over two hundred farms of around 1,500 acres each were created.