We have received your letter by which you demand a list of our reclamations and details of the crimes which the French Government alleges to have been committed by the Khamírs and other mountain tribes belonging to the state of your august brother and sovereign. _We have on several occasions communicated the details of these complaints, and it is therefore superfluous to repeat them now_. We have orders to punish the tribes which have committed the aggressions and _against which you have been impotent to act_. We can only obey these orders, but this does not prevent the maintenance of the friendship which has existed for centuries between the two countries! The blow almost overwhelmed Ali Bey, who believed, in the simplicity of his heart, that the French had no other object beyond the punishment of the Khamírs. An express was at once sent to Tunis with a copy of General Forgemol’s letter, and an urgent demand for instructions. The same evening we received letters from the governor of Kef, stating that a second body of French troops was being assembled at Sidi Yussef close to the frontier, and that an attack on Kef itself seemed imminent. Sy Selim added to our perplexities by informing us that the French were apparently preparing to cross the frontier at Roum-el-Souk, and that six gunboats could be seen off Tabarca. I was fortunate enough to make the acquaintance of Sheikh Salah El Khamíri, one of the most popular and influential chiefs of the clan. I told him that I was anxious to go through their country, and see for myself what was really going on. He at once offered to take me under his protection, and during the night we quitted the camp together. By his advice I left all my European clothes behind, and I was soon the only Christian to be found in the midst of twenty thousand armed Arabs, all ready at a moment’s notice to defend their mountains against the invaders. From the various accounts, emanating from a French source, I, like everybody else, had been led to suppose that the Khamírs were little better than savages. I soon discovered the deception or mistake. During my stay amongst them, as soon as they were assured I was an Englishman, they treated me with kindness and consideration, readily discussing with me the all-engrossing topic of the movements of the French.