The Arabs defended themselves bravely. As the French troops advanced they found the _douars_ abandoned and set fire to them. When obliged at last to yield, the Arabs sought to gain the mountain tops. At this juncture they were harassed by the projectiles from a battery in the plain. At five P.M. the enemy was no longer in sight and the retreat was sounded. As no wounded were found it was supposed that the Arabs had themselves given them the _coup-de-grace_. Amongst the dead were two women. They had been shot fighting, and had ammunition upon them and guns in their hands. Eleven prisoners were brought to the camp. The _goumiers_ collected over 2000 head of cattle.” It is almost impossible to reconcile these very different versions of one event. General Logerot emphatically and repeatedly denied the truth of _chaouch_ Chaban’s report as endorsed by the heir-apparent, but even according to the most favourable statement of the facts, there can be no doubt, that the rout at Ben Bachir was unnecessarily destructive of human life. At any rate, it quite convinced the Arabs of the fallacy of the Bey’s assurances, and effectually prepared the way for reprisals and revenge. The Bey was not the only person at Tunis to receive astounding intelligence on the 1st May. On the same day M. Roustan wrote to Mr. Reade that at the battle of Aïn Ismain on the 26th of April a European had been observed _in the ranks_ of the Khamírs, and that moreover the person in question had shot dead Lieutenant Fayet, an officer of the 22d Regiment. “His description,” added M. Roustan, “corresponds exactly to that of Mr. Perkins.” This story was never seriously persisted in, and at length formally withdrawn. When details were asked for, the offender was said to have worn “a black cloak and broad felt hat.” It was of course proved by many witnesses that Mr. Perkins was always dressed in an Arab costume and red cap, and “the broad felt hat” turned out to be quite as apocryphal as the “ranks” of the Khamírs. The accusation of M. Roustan and the correspondents’ test of General Farre were both prompted by the same motive—a desire to keep things quiet. They were eminently unworthy of the great nation in whose name they were made, and the authors have both since fallen under the lash of that very public opinion they sought to stifle. The wholesale suppression of telegrams during the crisis has only been atoned for by the excellent manner in which the service has been carried on ever since. The excitement of the 1st May was followed by an anxious pause. The Sultan sent repeatedly cipher telegrams to the Bey of a reassuring nature, and transmitted a copy of the circular sent to all the Turkish ambassadors abroad concerning the Tunisian question. CONSTANTINOPLE, _May 3d_.