Up to the night in which Ali Bey made good his retreat to Ben Bachir (April 27th), very little progress had been made by the invading columns. The Vincendon brigade, which formed both the centre and the advanced guard, was then encamped on the Kef-Cheraga plateau close to the frontier, and from which reconnoitring parties were despatched to operate in two directions. The column of General Galland was to the left, on the ridge known as Reched Mankoura, but the brigade Ritter, now commanded by General Caillot, had returned to the camp at El Aioun. This force had encountered severe resistance, and the cause of its retrograde movement has never been satisfactorily explained. Torrential rain now impeded any further progress; the soldiers, encamped in a thick fog, were severely tried both by wet and cold; and after the first day’s fighting the main body of the Khamírs had disappeared to the north. The huts of the Ouled Cedra were given up to the _goumiers_ of their Algerian rivals, the Ouled Nehed, who completely destroyed them. During the two following days the neighbouring valleys were explored _en reconnaissance_; at times a brush with the Khamírs took place, but oftener nothing was found but abandoned villages. On the 1st May all the three brigades received orders to unite at El Hammam and to move eastwards towards Fernana. Meanwhile the force under General Brem occupied the station at Souk el Arba, while General Logerot led his column northwards, also to take up a position at Fernana. The object of this combined movement was to surround the Khamírs, who _were supposed_ to be concentrated around a famous _kouba_ or sanctuary, on the summit of a lofty mountain, called Djebel Sidi Abdallah Ben Djemel. On the 5th May the three brigades arrived at Feldj-Mana, close to the foot of the Djebel Abdallah, and the camp was established upon three hills, and there some few of the Khamírs gave in their submission.