During the following year the Bey resolved to send a special envoy to congratulate the Sultan Abd el Aziz on his accession to the imperial throne. In May 1862 the first local loan, which was afterwards to be the cause of so much mischief, was contracted, and about the same time some of the Algerian tribes led by Spahis in the French service attacked the Tunisian clan Boughanem on the Tunisian side of the frontier. This greatly irritated the Bey, and he received very favourably a proposal by Mr. Wood to enter into a convention permitting British subjects to hold real property in the country. During the autumn the Khamírs rose in rebellion against the Bey owing to the imposition of an extraordinary poll-tax. In spite of the natural difficulties which the dense forests of their country present, the heir-apparent in a short time succeeded in restoring order. It was just at this juncture that a timely visit of the Prince of Wales and the Crown Prince and Princess of Prussia created a very happy impression on the Bey’s mind as regarded his relations with England, and very formal assurances were given him that as long as he followed the policy he had already adopted he might always count on the friendly offices of Great Britain. Two months later the present King of Italy arrived in Tunis, and during the festivities which ensued somewhat surprised his suite by investing the Bey with the insignia of the Annunziata. Victor Emmanuel some months afterwards confirmed by patent the spontaneous nomination made by his son. The pecuniary embarrassments of the Bey soon passed beyond the reach of local loans, and in May 1863, after long negotiations, he borrowed £1,400,000 from Messrs. Oppenheim and Erlanger for fifteen years at the interest of twelve per cent. From this date began the long series of financial difficulties which have not a little contributed to the virtual absorption of the Regency. During the summer the Bey had occasion to complain of three specific raids on his subjects committed by Algerian tribesmen. “These incursions,” remarked Mr. Wood, “are unfortunately becoming more frequent, and now generally lead to remonstrances and misunderstandings between the French authorities and the Bey’s Government. In the last aggression reported, it is, to say the least, singular that the French troops at Tebessa did not interfere to prevent the attack.” The Bey at last signed the convention allowing British subjects to hold landed property in the country. This diplomatic success was hardly of less importance than the abolition of slavery and the constitution itself, and the more so as no similar concession had ever yet been before granted in any Moslem country.