present responsibility and possible blame. Meanwhile, the Arabs secretly rejoice in the visible discomfiture of the French councils, and regard Ali Ben Amar as a hero worthy of their old traditions. The non- occupation of Tunis is pointed out as a glaring sign of weakness, the unfortunate consequences of which may at any moment become a still more unfortunate reality. In the evening I left Medjez and returned to Tunis. CHAPTER XXXII. THE FRENCH OCCUPATION OF THE CITY OF TUNIS. The immediate consequence of the Oued Zerga disaster was a very natural agitation for the occupation of the metropolis by a French garrison. Sympathising as I did with the wrongs of the Tunisians, I saw unmistakable signs that an anti-Christian outbreak might at any moment occur. The general hostility which the Protectorate had given rise to all over the country was intensified by General Sabatier’s vigorous but destructive _reconnaissances_ around Zaghouán, and might be reasonably expected to reach a culminating point at the fall and possible pollution of Kairwán. The discomfiture of Ali Bey and the atrocities of Oued Zerga were now notoriously the subject of ill-disguised public rejoicings amongst the Arabs, both at Tunis and the neighbouring “holy city” of Sidi Bou Said, and the averted faces and gloomy looks of the strangers, who now thronged the streets, told their own tale of hatred and dislike. M. Roustan alone deprecated the occupation, as it always afforded him a useful diplomatic lever, to influence the mind of the Bey, who still seemed anxious, when all else was lost, to preserve at any cost uncontrolled possession of his capital. At this critical juncture, the brutal murder of an inoffending Maltese coachman within sight of the city walls decided the fate of Tunis, and with many fears the Bey wrote a letter to the Ferik or Governor, informing him “that his allies _had consented_ to stay for a time in the forts and citadel, and were to be received and treated like brothers, and that if by chance they found it necessary to pitch any camps, they were in no way to be hindered.” Meanwhile the manager of the railway to the frontier issued notices suspending all traffic beyond Medjez-el-Bab. Still the French authorities seemed to hesitate; the Belvidere hill overlooking the city was occupied by a small camp and fortified with a battery of artillery, and regiments from Manouba on two or three occasions passed close to the town gates.