French troops now went to the rescue of Ali Bey, but the Arabs showed no signs of surrender. On the 5th October they were with difficulty beaten off in an attack on the Tunisian guns, and the French intimated to Ali Bey that a more vigorous action was necessary. An assault on the insurgents’ camp was consequently concerted for the following morning (October 6th). The headquarters of the heir-apparent were at this time situated half a mile south of Testour, the French occupying a position to their left, and the Arabs a very favourable one on a hill two miles distant. The insurgents numbered about 5000 men, and were nearly all mounted. Ali Bey marched at dawn, followed by the French troops, whose presence in the rear rendered any further resistance to the Bey’s orders impossible, for it now transpired that previous to the arrival of the French reinforcements his soldiers refused to attack their fellow- countrymen. The struggle lasted four hours. The insurgents, finding themselves hard pressed, suddenly set fire to their camp, and retreated from the neighbourhood. The French fired six projectiles on the fugitives at the end of the engagement, but otherwise took no active part in the fighting. Only three rebels were taken prisoners, and the loss on either side was not great. One French soldier was mortally wounded. This engagement put an end to the dilemma in which Ali Bey had been placed for several weeks, and he was now directed to move his camp in the direction of Zaghouán. The news of the occupation of Tunis once more aroused the latent hostility of his followers, and he was again threatened with a mutiny. It was in vain that General Ben Turkiya cleft the head of an imprudent soldier, who boldly anathematised the treason of Muhamed es Sadek; the troops would no longer offer the heir-apparent the usual honours. Most of the irregulars were at once disbanded, and a month later just enough men remained to furnish the necessary guards and do police duty in Tunis itself. The collapse of the Tunisian army was now complete, and it could scarcely have been more ignominious. Its present existence is entirely confined to the delusive statistics of the Tunisian almanac, and to the legion of generals and colonels, headed by General-of-Division Elias Musalli, whose exalted military rank General Japy obstinately refused to recognise. On the 9th October workmen were busy in clearing out the heaps of rubbish which filled the habitable portion of the citadel, and masons were engaged in opening an unusual doorway in the bastion. It was clear, therefore, that the occupation would not be long delayed. The time has now come when I should describe the capital of the Regency, so soon to lose the charms of an Oriental metropolis.