were walking over their country; and, in the innocence of their hearts, they were anxiously awaiting definite instructions from the Bey, through the Caid of their district, to prepare to resist and turn out the invaders. “On the 29th April (two days prior to the occupation of Bizerta), men had come running to Mater from the coast between Tabarca and Bizerta, saying that the French fleet, consisting of two hundred vessels at least, had appeared in the offing, that a landing had been effected, and that fortifications were being built! The chief people in Mater at once sent letters to the heads of the surrounding tribes, summoning them to collect all the cavalry and fighting men they could, and come to Mater for the purpose of opposing the invaders. They also sent off letters to Tunis, asking the Caid, who resides there, for his orders. They were very enthusiastic and anxious to begin, and on a man crying out, ‘It seems that though the thief is at the door, the watch-dog is chained up,’ his simile was very much applauded. These simple, ignorant, but courageous people could not be made to comprehend that they had no chance against their well-armed and disciplined foes. A day or two later it transpired that the ‘black crow’ which had given rise to the story of the landing, was the shipwreck on the coast of a little Corsican brig laden with empty barrels. The captain and owner of the boat was brought to Mater. He spoke Italian and claimed that nationality. The Arabs treated him well and sent him on to Tunis, while guards went to the coast to see that the remainder of the crew were well cared for, and that the ship and its cargo were not meddled with. “I do not say that if these people had been recognised as Frenchmen, they would not have been, under the existing provocation, ill-treated, or possibly killed. Every Arab in Mater knew what had been done at Tabarca and was being done amongst the Khamírs. As it happened, however, both captain and crew escaped unhurt, and according to their own showing had nothing to complain of. Nevertheless, when some days later Mater was occupied, the tribes adjoining the scene of the disaster were given up to indiscriminate pillage; their huts were burned, their women’s bracelets taken away, and their cattle confiscated. The punishment was as severe as it was unmerited, unless it was a crime for these poor people to have allowed a French vessel to be wrecked on their coast.