Roustan to induce the Bey to commit political suicide. The memorandum ran as follows:—“The recent declarations made by the Bey to M. Roustan and the _corps consulaire_ have increased the anxiety already excited by his first communications. It is true that His Highness asserts his firm intention to maintain order, but he adds that he can no longer be responsible for it when once the expedition against the Khamírs commences. In the presence of these apprehensions in the mind of His Highness, M. Roustan informs him that he is ready to place at his disposal a company of marines, together with two cannons belonging to the French frigate in the roadstead, which force will be amply sufficient to maintain order in and protect the European quarter. But as we are now, and desire to remain in peace with the Bey, the disembarkation in question can only take place on the express demand of His Highness. Ask for an immediate answer, and in case of refusal say that we take note of it.” Mustapha had already given orders for a reply to be sent to M. Roustan, and having called M. Conti, the Bey’s interpreter, we ascended the staircase together and entered a small _salon_. The room was typical of the whole place. The floor was covered with Sicilian tiles, and the wooden ceiling painted with wreaths of red, yellow, and blue flowers. Window curtains, sofa cushions, and _portières_ alike consisted of faded yellow damask. The table was missing, but there were two chests of drawers, each supporting a clock flanked by two artificial bouquets in Parian vases. A side door opened, and the Bey entered; he took me kindly by the hand, and asked me to sit down. Mustapha also occupied a place on the divan, but M. Conti remained standing. The Bey is a fine-looking old man, with grey hair and beard, and a ruddy complexion. His features are rather Turkish than Arabic, and I never saw trouble more clearly written on a human face. He was dressed in a black frock-coat and red trousers, and wore only his Pacha’s sword and Turkish and Tunisian orders. Muhamed es Sadek at once began the conversation:—“You have come lately from England, do Englishmen believe in the Khamírs?” I replied that “I was afraid they knew very little about them, but that the English press had unanimously deprecated the expedition.” He said he knew that, and was grateful for the sympathy of Englishmen, but that he wished to make his case more widely known both in England and Europe generally. He then, with much animation and gesture, spoke at considerable length as to his grievances. He commenced by observing that both he and his predecessors had received, during more than two centuries, continued marks of sympathy from England, and that on their part the Beys of Tunis had always followed implicitly every suggestion made by the English Government. His cousin Ahmed was the first Mussulman sovereign who had abolished slavery, and he had himself first granted permission to British subjects to hold land in the