The Last Punic War. Tunis, past and present, with a narrative of the French conquest of the Regency ... With illustrations

Preface

. I have associated with my narrative of the French conquest of Tunis the title of Punic War, partly from the fact of the invasion having taken place on the spot which once witnessed three famous con tests of antiquity so called, and partly on account of the consistent Punica fdes 1 displayed in the web of tortuous diplomacy which has practically put an end to Tunisian independence. If my reader will open the Almanack de Gotha for iSS r, at page 1029, he will find the following passage : — '" TUNIS (REGExNCE)." " Depuis 1575 sous la souverainett; de la Turquie. Le Sultan a regie, par firman du 25 Octobre 187 1 (9 Chabdn 12S3), les conditions de la souverainete de la Sublime-Porte sur Tunis et il a renonce h. l'ancien tribut. D'apres ce firman la situation de Tunis est a present celle-ci : Le 'Bey'recoit 1 " Ego comperio ilium Punica fide egisse." — Hallust. VOL. I. b

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. 1'investiture de Constantinople, il ne doit sans l'autorisa tion du Sultan ni faire la guerre, ni conclure la paix, ni ceder du territoire. II ne doit faire de negociations diplo matiques avec l'etranger que sur des questions intckieures. II est oblige de frapper la monnaie au nom du Sultan et de niettre ses troupes a la disposition de la Sublime-Porte en cas de guerre." Within four months from the time when this clear and unmistakable definition of the political status of the Eegency of Tunis appeared in the celebrated Annuaire genealogique, diplomatique et statistique, the government of the French Republic, Avithout any declaration of war, either against the Bey of Tunis or the Sultan of Turkey, invaded the country, compelled the Bey, by moral if not phy sical duress, to accept a Protectorate, and finally effected a complete military occupation of the Regency from the Khamir mountains to the frontiers of Tripoli.

The virtual extinction of Moslem power in Tunis, after an unbroken duration of more than twelve centuries, is in itself an occurrence of no small political importance, but when considered in connection with its actual and possible consequences, not only in Tunis itself but throughout the whole of North Africa, the "last chapter in the history of the Moors " seems to be likely to excite a durable, and perhaps an increasing, interest. This belief has

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. IX prompted me to attempt to write the chronicles of the French Invasion, and to briefly sketch, by way of introduction, the more recent chapters of Tunisian annals. In 1 3 So the Moslems of North Africa had almost forgotten the shock occasioned to their religious susceptibilities by the conquest of Algeria, and prior to the events of which I am about to speak, Panislamism had in that region a theoretical rather than a practical existence. Tunis has always been an intact Moslem state, and it contains Holy Kairwan, after Mecca perhaps the most hallowed of Moslem cities. The invasion of the Regency, and the occupation of the shrine, at once converted this sentimental Panislamism into a stern and un compromising reality. To these causes must undoubtedly to a certain extent be attributed the rising in Algeria, the so called insurrection in Tunis itself, the wide-spread agitation in Tripoli, and the crisis in Egypt.

So much for the consequences of the "Last Punic War," as far as they concern the World of Islam. In Europe its effects have been hardly less momentous ; Italy has become the avowed enemy of France, England no longer believes in the

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. X peaceful intentions of the Government of the Republic, Spain is hankering after Morocco, and Germany is posing as the champion of the Caliphate. In Italy the Ministry of Signor Cairoli fell twice within a month, because it was unable to stay effectually the tide of French Diplomacy, while in France M. Ferry succumbed to the unpopularity which attends a failure, and M. Gambetta was wrecked in the storm to a great extent occasioned by his injudicious support of M. Roustan. All this and much more has resulted from the taking of Carthage. While France has her hands full in Tunis, both Turkey and Italy are openly and almost ostentatiously watching their opportunity. These patent facts can but enhance the historical importance of the events which are related in these volumes. The policy of England as regards the Tunisian Question has been almost a diplomatic enigma.

She sang a song of triumph over the Fictnan of 1S71, still declared Tunis " an integral part of the territory of the Sublime Porte in 1880, then told the Bey just one year later to cheerfully assist at his political suicide, and finally, just six days after the convention of Kasr-es-Said, promulgated an

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. XI Order in Council, to be cited as the Ottoman (Tunis) Order of 1881, the preamble of which justifies its existence by the consideration that " by treaty, capitulation, grant, usage, sufferance, and other lawful means, Her Majesty the Queen has power and jurisdiction in relation to Her Majesty's sub jects and others in the Ottoman Dominions ! " I have endeavoured to tell the story of recent events in Tunis essentially from an English point of view, and to mete out impartially the share of praise and blame ascribable to the different con tending parties. In all probability I shall please neither of them. The present result of the expedition in the Regency itself can be described in a word, chaos. Mr. Whitaker has very fairly summed up the situation in his useful Almanac for 1882 : " Last year," he writes, " Tunis was a tributary pro vince of the Ottoman Empire, and in a state of profound peace.

At the present time, it may be considei<4d as a turbulent, informally annexed dependence of France, nominally under the do minion of the Bey, but really under the control of a French Resident." The prime mover of the mischief, M. Theodore Roustan, has quitted the scene of his exploits, and M. Paul Cambon reigns in his

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. XII stead. Upon him will fall the arduous task of evolving order out of chaos, and cleansing an Augean stable of no small dimensions. He pro mises well, and Europe will await with pardonable curiosity and some impatience the initiative which must sooner or later follow his study of existing difficulties. It must be remembered in England that the indemnity to the pillaged and bombarded Maltese of Sfax yet hangs fire, that none of the families of the British subjects massacred in cold blood at Oued Zerga or on the Kairwdn road have been recompensed for their irreparable loss, and that no satisfaction has been given, or even proposed, for the judicial murder of the British Consular Agent's servant at Hammamet. In these serious matters it is to be hoped that M. Paul Cambon will pour oil on the troubled waters.

I once and for all disclaim any intention of criticising in a hostile manner the conduct and bearing of the French troops. Their work has been performed well and honestly, and the marches of General Forgemol, as well as the organisation of the Susa column by General Etienne and Colonel Moulin, are deserving of all praise. To the French diplomacy concerning the Regency both at Paris

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. XIII and Tunis, I uncompromisingly take exception, and I fear that the political history of the " Last Punic War " throws its military achievements en tirely into the shade. I believe that both M. Saint- Hilaire and M. Roustan "have deserved ill of the Republic," in contriving and promoting the invasion and occupation of this country. At any rate, it is to be hoped that the numerous and serious com plications which have been engendered by the "Last Punic War," will serve as a memorable lesson to strong Powers endowed with absorptive tendencies as regards their weaker neighbours, and that the pitiful spectacle of the Paris Assize Court will prove a warning to Political Agents inclined to imitate the diplomatic vagaries of M. Roustan. I desire to express my obligations to the kindly interest and assistance of the Earl De la Warr, to Colonel Frederick Burnaby for many excellent su o-o-estions, to Colonel Moulin and Commandant Coyne for much assistance in the matter of detail concerning the military movements at Tunis and Kairwan, and to Mr. Vice-Consul Galea, who was good enough to lend me his diary of the siege of Sfax. The reproductions of the curious Spanish pictures illustrating the expedition of

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. Charles V. have been reduced from large photo graphs in the possession of H.M. the Queen, which were taken from the original paintings by H.R.H. the late Prince Consort, and a few copies of which were printed by special permission for Lieutenant Colonel Playfair, the learned author of " Travels in the Footsteps of Bruce." I have to ask the reader's indulgence for irregu larities that he may discover in the spelling of Tunisian and other proper names ; as distance from England, and the necessity of sending these volumes to press, have prevented me from finally revising the proof-sheets. Tunis, June 20, 1SS2. CONTENTS OF VOL. I. CHAr. PAGE I. TOPOGRAPHY OF TUNIS I II. THE DWELLERS IN TUNISIA IJ III. NINE CENTURIES OP POWER, A.D. 648-A.D. 1 535 . . 30 IV. THE CONQUEST OF TUNIS BY CHARLES V. , .36 V. SPANISH SUPREMACY 45 VI.

THE TRIUMPH OF THE TURKS 48 VII. THE DOMINATION OF THE DEYS (a.D. 1590-1705). . 51 VIII. THE BEYS OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY . . . 6S IX. TUNIS BETWEEN l80O AND 1 837 82 X. THE REIGNS OF AHMED BEY AND HIS COUSIN MUHAMED BEY 97 XI. MUHAMED-ES-SADEK II4 XII. THE BEGINNING OF THE END [48 XIII. BEFORE THE STORM . . . . . . . iSl XIV. THE ACUTE STAGE OF TUNISIAN POLITICS . . -194 XV. THE OUTBREAK OF HOSTILITIES . . . . . 214 XVI. AN INTERVIEW WITH THE BEY ..... 232 XVII. FRUITLESS APPEALS 247 VOL. I. <* CONTENTS. XVI PAGE CHAP. XVIII. A FORTNIGHT AMONGST THE KHAMlRS . . . • 255 XIX. AT BIZERTA ■ 27° XX. THE THREE WEEKS' WAR 286 XXI. AT KASR-ES-SAID .• 3°8 XXII. THE EARLY DAYS OF THE PROTECTORATE . . • 32° XXIII. HOW THE FRENCH TOOK MATER 333 XXIV. THE CHASSE AUX KHAMlRS 344 ILLUSTRATIONS TO VOLUME I. The Bey of Tunis Frontispiece.

Christian Slaves at Tunis .... To face page 36 Siege of Goletta by Charles V 36 Landing of Charles V 36 Battle between Tunis and Goletta .... 36 Taking of Tunis by Charles V 36 Map of Tunis At the end.

Chapter I. Topography Of Tunis

The coast-line of Northern Africa runs almost due east as far as Cape Bon, the Mercurii Promontorium of the Romans, at which point it takes an abrupt turn southwards till it reaches the island of Jerba, famous in history as the fabled abode of the lotus eaters, and close to the lower extremity of the Gulf of Gabes, once known as the Lesser Syrtis. From this point the shore of the Mediterranean again resumes its, easterly course towards Alexandria and the Nile. The tract of country which occupies the angle thus formed is the Regency of Tunis. As its very name denotes, the Regency of Tunis never had any pretensions to be more than a quasi-independent state. The dominion of Tunis is, or rather was, a VOL. I. a Regency or fief of the Turkish Empire, and the Beys of Tunis were both politically and religiously vassals of the Sublime Porte.

French historians, more candid than French diplomatists, have ad mitted this both before and after the eventful 12th May 1 88 1, when a French general, manu militari, by a stroke of the pen substituted the suzerainty of the French Republic for that of Abdul Hamid. Only a few months ago, the well-known writer on Algerian subjects, Commandant Villot, wrote as follows: — " The religious tie is so powerful amongst Muhamedans, that the successors of Heussein (the common ancestors of the Beys of Tunis) have never omitted to obtain a firman of investiture from the head of Islamism, nor has any money ever been current except that which bears his name." * More than this, the Beys of Tunis have resisted repeated efforts put forth by Western Powers to induce them to shake off the yoke of their natural lord.

M. Thiers, who endeavoured to persuade Ahmed Bey to take this step, was fortunately obliged to abandon his intention, for France has no interest in weakening the authority of the Porte. The dangerous policy of M. Thiers has been almost unanimously condemned by historians, * Description Geographique de Tunis et de la Regence. Paris ; Challamel Aine, 1881. P. 14. ■J O and especially by M. Guizot in his " Memoires pour servir a l'Histoire de mon Temps." In 1877 M. Desfosse"s says in his pamphlet entitled " La Tunisie " : — " Le Pachalik de Tunis est toujours sous la souzerainte' de la Turquie." Thirty years ago Pellissier, in his elaborate and almost complete " Description de la Regence de Tunis," remarks that " the suzerainty of the Grand Signor is recog nised by law, but more in a theological than in a political point of view.

The money is struck in his name, and each day at noon his glory and virtues are proclaimed by a herald before an empty armchair which represents his throne." * A few days before Kairwdn fell I happened to go to the Bardo palace. The French Protectorate was then six months old, but the herald and his attendant drummers went through the ceremony as hereto fore, and invoked the protection of Allah for the Sultan and Caliph. The most northerly part of Tunis is only divided by some eighty miles of sea from Sicily. Indeed, a line of rocks beneath the waves, known as the Ferki reefs, forms a junction between that island and the Atlas mountains of the African main land. It is this strait or channel which separates * Volume xvi. of the Exploration Scientifique de PAlgerie. Paris: Imprimerie Imperiale, 1853.

P. the eastern and western basins of the Mediterranean. "This Tunis," as Shakespeare says, "was Car thage."* It afterwards became in turn Africa Propria, Zeugitania, and Byzacium. Numerous authors have handed down to posterity the history of its remote antiquity, but the Tunis of to-day was little better than a terra incognita when the events of the French invasion forced the fact of its existence on the attention of Europe and Eng land. The Gulf of Tunis and the now land-locked harbour of Bizerta command the passage of the narrow sea before them, and hence arises the maritime importance of Tunis in the past, the present, and the future. All writers, except modern diplomatists, fully recognise this fact ; but unfortu nately the statesmen of to-day are not only intent on deceiving each other, but are forced by the exigencies of party to know as little as possible.

If the position of Tunis had been as familiar to Englishmen in 1878 as it is now, we might never have witnessed the events of 188 1. " If the Tunis lake were only dredged and deepened," writes Commandant Villot, " and the coast fortified, and if a powerful navy were stationed in the Tunisian roadstead, not only the path to Egypt, but the * Tempest. road to India through the Suez Canal, would once more be closed to the people of the West." * A concession to dredge and deepen the Tunis lake has, as a matter of course, followed the Treaty of Kasr es-Said, and although M. Barthelemy Saint-Hilaire wrote to Lord Granville on the 16th May 1881 that " France has no more desire to annex Bizerta than any other part of Tunis," a project for the restoration of its port by French capitalists is now receiving the serious consideration of the French Government.

Mr. Perry in his work on Tunis sums up very fairly the state of the case in a few words. " Tunis," he writes, " has the finest posi tion in North Africa. Commercial preponderance and the control of the Mediterranean are the attractions for the Powers which dispute with each other for its possession or its neutralisation." t The Regency of Tunis is bounded on both the north and east by the Mediterranean, on the west by -Algeria, on the south by the Sahara of the Touaregs, and on the south-east by Tripoli. It has an area of about sixty thousand square miles, and a sea-coast 550 miles in length. The * Description Geographique de Tunis et de la Regence. Paris : Challamel Ain-3, 1881. Pp. 43, 44. *" + Carthage and Tunis : Past and Present. By Amos Perry, late United States Consul for the City and Regency of Tunis.

Provifience, R.I., 1869. P. 4. population of the whole country does not far exceed 1,500,000 souls. The configuration of Tunis is almost identical with that of Algeria. Like Algeria, Tunis has its mountains, its plains, and its coast (sahel). Like Algeria, its mineral wealth is almost unequalled. The rocks of Tunis yield nearly all minerals except gold. Its chief river is the Roman Bagradas — the modern Med jerdah, which rises in the Algerian province of Constantine, and after a tortuous course of over three hundred miles reaches the Mediterranean at Porto-Farina near the city of Tunis. The streams in the south of the Regency are comparatively unimportant, and generally end in the great marsh-lakes 6r Sebkhas of Kairwan, Faraoun, or El Medir. The face of the country can be conveniently divided into four regions or districts, viz., the Vol canic or mountainous, the Tell or highlands, the Coast, and the Desert.

In the neighbourhood of Kef, in Western Tunis, the traces of extinct vol canoes and lava are unmistakable. Mount Betoum in the Khamir or Khroumir country emitted smoke and flames forty years ago. The north and especially the north-west part of the Regency is very hilly, and the richness of its luxuriant oak forests vies with that of the unexplored iron and lead mines which are known to lie beneath them. The coast is generally low and sandy, but the land which immediately borders it is almost invariably fertile and productive. The salient features of the Tunisian Tell are vast expanses covered sometimes with esparto grass and some times with a layer of thin soil. In the winter the vegetation is abundant and luxuriant ; in the summer everything is scorched up by the pitiless African sun. The Tell slopes gradually towards the great marsh-lakes of the far south.

The Tunisian Sahara is perhaps richer than any part of the desert in fertile oases. To follow the course of recent events, some slight description of the interior of the country is indispensable. Each of its four natural divisions must be considered briefly in respect of its inhabitants and its resources. The volcanic or mountainous district consists almost entirely of the basin of the Medjerdah river, which first enters the Regency in the vicinity of Kef. During the winter rains the Medjerdah becomes a wild mountain torrent, and carries down to the Mediterranean with the noise of distant thunder large quantities of mud and stones. As it approaches the sea it traverses a series of fertile valleys, which bear the names of Dakhla, Mai'cera, Bizerta, and Tebourba. Another river, the Oued Tin, rises near Beja (the Roman Vaga or Vacca), and finds its way across the fruitful plains of Mater into the Chott Eshkel or inner Bizerta lake (the ancient Sisara Lacus).

The town of Mater is built on rising ground and commands the surrounding country. It in no way merits any further description. Roman ruins abound in its vicinity. The tribes which dwell on the banks of the Tin belong to the great Algerian clan of Ali Ben Amar. Ascending the Medjerdah from the often bom barded town of Porto-Farina, the traveller first arrives at Fondouk, a great centre of inland trade. Beyond Fondouk is Bon Shatar, which was once Utica. It was here that Cato the Younger died. The traces of Carthage's most powerful rival still convey to the spectator a tolerable idea of its extent and magnificence. The sea which once washed its quays is now barely visible from the site of its citadel. The ruins of its cisterns are now used as stables, while sheep graze peacefully in its ruined amphitheatre.

A learned Frenchman has written a charming volume in which he men tally rebuilds Utica,* the soil of which still con- * Recherches sur l'Origine et l'Emplacement des Emporias Pheui ciens. Par A. Daux. Paris : Imprimerie Imperiale, 1859. tinues to yield an apparently inexhaustible harvest to the excavator. Beyond Bon Shatar are the small towns of Jedeida and Tebourba. In the former General Hamida Ben Ayad, a great Arab landowner, whose family has for half a century enjoyed British protection, has attempted to con struct irrigation works on a somewhat large scale. In the latter is the great Moslem college of Sidi Ghars Allah. Medjez-el-Bab, Testour, and Teboursak, other towns in the Medjerdah valley, will be described in connection with the story of the French expedition. Still farther to the west is Beja, the market town of the Khamir tribesmen.

Like most Tunisian cities, it is built on a hill, and is surrounded by a crenelated wall flanked with small towers. Por tions of these fortifications are evidently of Byzan tine origin, and the mosque of Sidi Aissa appears to have once served as a Christian church. The mountainous districts which lie north and north west of Beja are the abode of the Khamirs, who are popularly supposed to have occasioned the French invasion of the Regency. Khamir-land and the Khamirs will be spoken of at length in the course of the narrative of the war. Some few miles west of Beja the Medjerdah receives the waters of its principal tributary, the Oued Mellegue. In the valley through which this stream passes is Kef (the Roman Sicca Veneria), a place which has played an important part in Tunisian history, and which is situated at a distance of some thirty miles from the Algerian frontier.

It was formerly con sidered almost impregnable, but its powerful fortifi cations are now nearly in ruins, and it is susceptible of easy attack from the neighbouring heights. The Zaouias or convent-sanctuaries of Kef are still much frequented, and its markets are thronged by Algerian as well as by Tunisian Arabs. Another Tunisian stream reaches the Gulf of Tunis near the little town of Rades, close to the Tunisian Piræus of the Goletta, and within sight of the capital itself. It is called the Oued El Kebir (Great River), and near its mouth bears also the name of the Oued Miliana. Rades, as the Roman Addir, once witnessed the great victory of Regulus over the Carthaginians. The Oued Kebir was then the Flumen Catada. Following its course in a south-westerly direction one reaches the modern ruin of the Mohammedia.

Ahmed, Bey of Tunis, built a great palace and a town there forty years ago. His greatest pleasure seems to have been to reside there surrounded by his army of 30,000 men. He died in 1855, and both town and palace were abandoned. The timber, the marble, the ironwork, and the tiles have disappeared, and the place has the appearance of a second Pompeii. The great Roman aqueduct close at hand is in far better repair. Its majestic arches still stretch in an unbroken line across the plain, and its canal still brings the famed water of Zaghoudn into Tunis itself. On the right bank of the Great River rises the majestic peaks of Zag houan and Djougar, visible alike from Tunis, Susa, and Holy Kairwan. At the foot of the former mountain is a town bearing its name, built of Roman materials, amidst verdant fruit gardens and running water.

Zaghou&n has its Roman gate way, as well as a ruined temple. Its limpid spring rises from a Roman vault. Mr. Hodgson, R.A., has immortalised the beauties of Zaghoudn in the picture he exhibited in the Royal Academy of 1875. The coast towns of the Regency are so intimately connected with the story of the last days of its independence that I need say little of them here. Tabarca, Bizerta, Porto-Farina, Galippia, Nebel, Hammamet, Susa, Monastir, Mehdia, Sfax, Mahres, Gabes, Jerba, Zerzis, and the Tripolitan frontier will all be spoken of at length hereafter. The history of the central district of Tunis will be told with that of its capital — Kairwan. The Saharian portion of the Tunisian Regency comprises the countries of the Beni Zid, the Nef zaoua, and the Djerid. The mountainous territory of the Beni Zid lies between the lake-marsh or Sebkha Fardoun (by some believed to be the classical Palus Tritonis) and the Great Desert.

It possesses many fruitful oases, as does also the district of the Nefzaoua, which borders the Faraoun Chott. The Chott or Sebkha Fardoun almost joins the Chotts of Algeria, and has given rise to one of the most celebrated geographical enigmas of the present century — the quœstio vexata of the Saharian Inland Sea, about which some scores of pamphlets have been written since 1870. The Chott is divided into three distinct portions by the Debdeb or natural bridges. Archæologists would have the uninitiated distinguish in three sheets of water the Palus Tritonis, the Palus Pallac, and the Palus Libyæ of Ptolemy, but any complete and satisfactory identification is of extraordinary dif ficulty. During the past ten years France has sent two exploring parties to investigate the matter, while Italy has also despatched a special commission, and the conclusion now generally accepted is, that the creation of the inland sea is impossible, and that even if it were practicable, the benefit its existence might confer on North Africa would be very problematical.

Sir Richard Wood, C.B., G.C.M.G., Her Majesty's Agent and Consul-General at Tunis from 1856 to 1878, has written an interesting brochure on the subject.* According to Sir Richard Wood, not only is the execution of the scheme prevented by insurmountable natural difficulties, but the attempted identification of the inland marsh-lakes with the lake of Triton is wholly erroneous. He argues with great show of reason that the scene of Jason's adventure was really the little gulf in the Mediterranean between the island of Djerba and the mainland, which for many reasons may be easily mistaken for an inland sea. The Djerid, an alternation of sandy plains and green oases, is the abiding place par excellence of the. date-palm. Its chief towns are Nefta, Tozer, and Gassa, and the province is undoubtedly one of the richest in the Regency.

I have endeavoured to describe in as few words as possible the dominion of Tunis. The main object of this book is to furnish the last chapters in its annals, and to tell more particularly the story of its conquest. The unrivalled associations which surround this lately obscure province would naturally tempt one to be discursive at the onset. * La Question des Chotts Algeriens. Par Sir Richard Wood. Marseilles, 1878. The chronicles of Carthage, the rise and fall of Roman power on its ruins, the invasions of the Greeks and Vandals, the legends of the African Churches, the Moslem conquest of Tunis from Arabia and of Spain from Tunis, the Crusade of St. Louis, the expedition of Charles V., and yet untold gesta of the Knights of St. John on this part of the African littoral, are one and all a legitimate portion of Tunisian history.

My concern is alone with Moslem Tunis. Down to the year 1830 its story has been ably written from a French point of view.* Since that time I am not aware that anything like a continuous narrative of events has been attempted. I shall therefore endeavour to take up the thread of M. Rousseau's story by way of introduction to the more immediate subject of this book. Some knowledge of the previous political history of the Regency is essential to the just appreciation of the events of 1881. Before that time I shall content myself with the briefest resume, except when I am able to place before the reader certain information which I have gathered from a careful examination of the ancient archives of Her Majesty's Consulate General at Tunis, and which I trust wdll be both novel and interesting. * Annales Tunisiennes. Par Alphonse Rousseau. Paris : Chal lamel Aine, 1864. ( *5 )

Chapter II. The Dwellers In Tunisia

The wave of conquest has five times at least swept over Tunis, but, with the exception of the Arabs, none of the conquering races have left any visible imprint on the present population of the country. The levelling influences of Islamism has well-nigh obliterated all differences of origin, and the natives of Tunis are very often described generically as Arabs. Of Arabs pur sang, strange to say, there are none, and the name can only with any show of correctness be applied to the nomadic tribes of the interior, which have all mixed more or less with the indigenous Berbers. The term Bedouin is also frequently indiscriminately used when speaking of the tribesmen of Northern Africa. This, too, is an error. The term Bedouin in its strict sense is applicable exclusively to the dwellers on the borders of the Great Desert.

The following classification of the inhabitants of Tunis may be conveniently adopted, viz. : — (i) Moors, (2) Arabs, (3) Berbers or Kabyles, (4) Turks, (5) Koulouglis, (6) Jews. The remaining race dis tinctions, always excepting the large European colony, have no practical importance. The term Moors demands some explanation. It formerly served to denote generally an inhabitant of Mauritania. This use of the word has now entirely passed away. It then served to describe the Saracens, who left Africa to conquer Spain and parts of France and Italy, and who at last returned to the countries from .which they came. The Spanish Moors form in Tunis an exclusive and aristocratic clan. The word Moor is also applied to the townspeople of the cities of North Africa, who are essentially members of a more or less mixed race.