At the present time England enjoys what the French are pleased to call _prépondérance_ at Tripoli, but her influence is not exclusive, and is purely the consequence of successful commercial competition. To this satisfactory result her present Consul-General, Mr. Hay, has very materially contributed during the past sixteen years. The loss of the independence of the Pashalik might very seriously affect British trade, and we have certainly more than one reason to support its _status quo_. An invading army has reached Tripoli and Tunis from Egypt three times since the feat was first accomplished by Cato the younger, and the movement might at any time be reversed. The “Valette” having gone from Malta to Sicily, I returned to Tunis three days later by the “Dragut,” another steamer belonging to the Compagnie Transatlantique. At Jerba we took on board a number of invalided soldiers, whose heart-rending accounts of what they had undergone it will be difficult to forget. Four days later the “Dragut” brought me safely back to Goletta. CHAPTER XLI. GENERAL FORGEMOL’S RETURN FROM KAIRWÁN TO TEBESSA. Early on the 10th of November, from the minár of the mosque of Sidi Okhbah at Kairwán, I watched the column of General Forgemol, with its enormous baggage-train, start on its journey to the south. The sight was one not easily to be forgotten. Two hours later the Commander-in-Chief, General Saussier, and his escort rode out of the Bab-el-Tunis to join General Forgemol. In the afternoon the camp was pitched at Biár-ez- Zlass, on the southern extremity of the Kairwán plain. The next day’s march brought the column, without meeting an Arab, to the banks of the Oued Marguellir. By the side of the road the advance guard found the half-consumed remains of a European. Some soldiers of the 100th Regiment identified the body as that of one of their comrades, who had committed suicide during the advance to Kairwán, and who was afterwards buried at the foot of the mountains. The corpse had evidently been disinterred and mutilated. The following day the column arrived at Hadj-el-Aioun. At this place information reached the camp that a large body of Arabs from Northern Tunis were only a short distance ahead, and were journeying with their herds towards Gabes and the marsh lakes beyond it. A reconnaissance of cavalry in force, commanded by General Saussier in person, was promptly ordered. After a rapid march of two hours’ duration, the _goumiers_ detected the presence of the enemy behind the thickets which covered the hills. Besides a number of Arabs on foot, there seemed to be about 300 horsemen in front, and the same number on the right. Two squadrons of the 4th Hussars dismounted and attacked the woods, while the 1st and 6th Companies of the _Chasseurs d’Afrique_ executed a flank movement to the left. After a struggle the enemy abandoned their cover, and, together with their wives, children, and