The year 1878 was not destined to pass away without its _casus belli_ and _ultimatum_. The hero of the next episode in Tunisian history was the Count de Sancy, of the now almost-forgotten firm of Sancy-Ronalds. To console the count for the troubles which attended his first effort “to improve the breed of Tunisian horses and cattle,” M. Roustan in July 1877 induced the Bey to grant him another concession of land, on which he agreed to keep a certain quantity of stock. The rights he acquired were declared to be purely personal, and he was exempted from the payment of all the usual taxes and duties. To avoid all future disputes the Tunisian Government inserted the following clauses in its decree, viz.:—1st, “That the grant was to be forfeited _ipso facto_, if, on the 1st July 1878, the number of animals agreed on were not forthcoming; 2d, That the estates so conceded were to be considered as Tunisian property, subject to Tunisian law, and to be treated as still forming part of the Beylical domains.” In February M. De Sancy wrote a letter to the Prime Minister, in which he stated that he had been unable to fulfil his engagements, “on account of the interrupted communication with Europe consequent on the Russo- Turkish war,” and because the Bey had not put him in possession of the whole land stipulated for. The first excuse was absurd, the second untrue, and both contradictory. M. De Sancy received a civil answer declining to accept his pleas, and in July a commission went to Sidi Tabet to ascertain the real state of things in accordance with the terms of the concession. Even M. De Sancy himself signed the _procès-verbal_ attesting his own failure to carry out the conditions he had agreed upon. The Bey then published a decree, in which he declared the grant at an end. A long correspondence next ensued, during which M. Roustan made several appeals _ad misericordiam_, and finally the Government determined to expropriate M. De Sancy, according to the local law he had agreed to abide by. A notice to quit, sent to the French Consulate- General, was treated with contemptuous silence, and the agents of the _concessionnaire_ were found to have leased out portions of the estate in defiance of the conditions of the original donation. The Bey wrote to M. Roustan saying he intended to take possession, and he received an answer asserting that the land was French property, and that if any one ventured upon it “he would find a French janissary on the border.” A reply was sent couched in the most conciliatory terms, declaring that if any opposition was offered the persons sent to take possession would at once withdraw, and confine their action to a platonic protestation. Accordingly on the 9th December, a deputation, composed of the Austrian Consul, General Bacouch, M. Quéillé, the French Member of the Financial Commission, General Arbi Zaruck, and Mr. Santillana, the Bey’s interpreter, started on the bootless errand of asserting the Bey’s rights.