Acting on these wayward impulses, Aly sent men of his own to replace the existing governors in the chief commands throughout the empire. In most places they met with but a sorry reception. At Bussorah, Ibn Aámir, unwilling to provoke hostilities, retired, and his successor, Othmân ibn Honeif, entered unopposed; but the faction which clung to the memory of the late Caliph was as strong at Bussorah as that which favoured Aly, while a third party waited to see how the tide of public opinion might run at Medîna. In Egypt it was much the same. Cays, appointed to the command, was a singularly wise and able ruler; but he only succeeded in passing the frontier garrison by feigning attachment to the cause of Othmân; while a strong and aggressive faction occupied the district of Kharanba, swearing that they would not submit until the regicides were brought to justice. In Yemen, the new governor obtained possession, but only after Yála, his predecessor, had carried off to Mecca all the treasure. The governors-elect of Aly who attempted to enter Kûfa and the province of Syria, met with a rough reception on the border, and were fortunate in escaping with their lives back again to Medîna. [Sidenote: Aly sends letters to Muâvia and Abu Mûsa.] Dispirited by these reports, Aly again took counsel with Talha and Zobeir. The sedition, he said, which he had apprehended, was already kindled, and would spread like wildfire, catching whatever came in its way. ‘Then,’ replied they, ‘let us depart, that we may do thee service in the field.’ ‘Wait,’ answered Aly; ‘the cautery must be the last resort.’ So he resolved, in the first instance, to address letters to Muâvia, and also to Abu Mûsa at Kûfa, demanding their allegiance. Abu Mûsa replied in loyal terms, but at the same time bade the Caliph beware of the spirit of disaffection which in Kûfa was rife around him. With Syria, all communication was cut off; weeks elapsed, and there was no reply. In truth, a strange scene was being enacted there. [Sidenote: Emblems of vengeance suspended on the pulpit at Damascus.]