The Arabs fought with great courage, and only retreated after a charge of French cavalry, in which fifteen of their horsemen were slain. The reconnaissance retired on Ras-el-Aioun in the evening, and the next day the division reached Hydra without further molestation. The heat was very oppressive, and the march lay across hills and valleys covered with brushwood. From Hydra a reconnaissance advanced some miles farther east to Hanout-el-Ajem, without encountering any resistance, and on the following day (the 20th of October) the whole column arrived there also. On the 21st General Forgemol reached Oudem-el-Ghanem, and some of the smaller tribes came in to demand the _aman_ (pardon). After passing Henchir-Rohia a movement was made on the 23d of October towards Henchir-Sbeiba. The camp had hardly been struck when the Goums reported the presence of 4000 Tunisian horsemen in the neighbouring ravines belonging to the tribes of the Ourten, Ouled Maggers, Ouled Ayar, and Hamáma. The Arabs commenced the attack, and were at length dislodged from their position by the infantry and artillery after an engagement which lasted till noon. During the action the column continued its advance, and after sunset reached Sbeiba. General Forgemol halted the following day at Sbeiba, and on the 25th of October commenced a march on Coudiat-el-Halfa. The assailants of the 23d resumed their attack simultaneously on the advance and rear guards. The Goums and infantry sustained some loss, and the Arabs finally yielded only to repeated charges of cavalry. From Coudiat-el-Halfa the column moved to Oued-el- Foul, and on the following day, before the march commenced, the Arabs in force assailed the camp on all sides except the east. In spite of the attack, rendered more serious by the presence of contingents from the tribes of Zlass and Ouled Said, the troops advanced towards El Haouareb. The firing of the Arabs was silenced by the artillery about noon. Leaving El Haouareb next morning, the camp was pitched before sunset at Biar Zlass, in sight of the _Minár_ of Sidi Okhbah at Kairwán. Without meeting any further obstacle to the final advance, General Forgemol moved on next morning (October 29th) to Kairwán itself. Nearly all the effective strength of the column, with its bands playing the “Marseillaise,” defiled through the Tunis Gate, and, passing across the bazaars and principal streets, returned to their camping-ground outside the city by way of the Bab-el-Djelladín.