While the flying column under General Delebecque was climbing up to the great Khamír shrine, bent on the hopeless _chasse aux Khamírs_, General Logerot had pushed on to a position about seven miles north-east of Fernana, in the direction of Ben or Bou Matir, but found that it would be necessary to carry out somewhat extensive works before the country could be made accessible to cavalry and artillery. Then followed another series of _reconnaissances_, but all attempts to come up with any number of Khamírs seemed fruitless. One day a few of them were dislodged from a ravine by firing the brushwood, but on the morrow (May 10th) they came back close to the camp and killed three soldiers before their presence was discovered. On the following morning the French moved to a position between Sidi Abdallah and the Meridj mountain, in the direction of Ain Drahan (“the silver spring”), where a junction with General Logerot was to be effected. “Our soldiers,” writes M. De la Berge, “found the dead bodies of some Khamírs in the forest, several deserted huts were burned, the barley crops on the march were reaped, _and the engineers received orders to destroy the marabout of Sidi Abdallah_.” The same afternoon General Logerot reached El Fedj, and while the camp was being pitched, the Algerian irregular cavalry were sent ahead towards Ben Matir. They suddenly came upon the enemy, and although strong reinforcements were sent to the front, the Khamírs for a long time managed to hold their own, till dislodged from their position by the fire of the mountain guns. Ten soldiers were placed _hors de combat_ on the side of the French, of whom five were killed. Stations were now permanently established at Ain Drahan and Fernana, and strongly garrisoned. On the 14th May the columns Caillot and Vincendon marched towards Ben Matir, which was evidently the strategic stronghold of that country. The way lay through woody defiles, which the Khamírs had endeavoured to make impregnable by throwing down huge oak-trees across the paths, and the passage was undoubtedly a task of serious difficulty. It was however accomplished, with the loss of some of the baggage mules, and a junction effected with General Logerot’s troops coming from El Fedj. The column commanded by Colonel O’Neill sustained an engagement with the Khamírs in the woods during some hours, but with the exception of this comparatively unimportant resistance, the rich valley of Ben Matir, the most fertile spot in the whole country, was occupied without a blow being struck. Here a certain number of tribes made their formal submission, but other clans continued to hold out. The Mekna only yielded after two engagements, and the Ouled Yahia never asked for the _aman_ till they had lost both homes and herds (June 1st).