THE CHASSE AUX KHAMÍRS.
Before M. Roustan had managed to convert the French Protectorate over
Tunis into a personal dictatorship, France was already heartily tired of
the Khamírs. The expedition which began in the enthusiasm of credulity
was destined to end amidst a storm of universal ridicule. No amount of
press restrictions could conceal the patent fact that the Khamírs were
difficult to find and still more difficult to catch, and early in June
the comic papers of Paris and Lyons were either representing Generals
Vincendon and Forgemol engaged in a minute examination of the Tabarca
mountains with Brobdignagian magnifying glasses, or portrayed the
Commander-in-chief carefully searching a bush with a lantern, and
singing to a popular refrain:—
“Forgemol dit la lanterne à la main
—J’ai beau chercher. Où diable est le Kroumir?
Il etait là, disait on, hier matin
Sœur Vincendon, ne vois tu rien venir?”
The question was then, _Où est le Khamír?_ It has never been answered
yet, and there seems little probability of its being ever entirely
cleared up. An enterprising Paris manufacturer patented a mechanical toy
which consisted in the perpetually revolving figures of a mounted Arab
pursued by a French hussar, and called it the “_Chasse aux Kroumirs_”
(Khamírs). This man at least understood the humour of the situation, and
the movements of the toy are hardly more monotonous than the details of
the enterprise it so fairly represents.
M. Albert de la Berge has devoted twenty pages of his “History of the
Tunisian Expedition” to the events in Khamír-land between the 27th April
and the 16th June, but even he begins his narrative with an apology for
its barrenness of any notable event:—“The attack on the Khamírs,” he
writes, “is rather a great military manœuvre, or a voyage of
topographical discovery, than a war in the ordinary sense of the term.”
Although I can hardly agree with M. De la Berge, in the absence of any
precise information as to the scientific result attained by the
enterprise, I should certainly advise my readers to skip over this
chapter as inevitably dull and uninteresting.
Up to the night in which Ali Bey made good his retreat to Ben Bachir
(April 27th), very little progress had been made by the invading
columns. The Vincendon brigade, which formed both the centre and the
advanced guard, was then encamped on the Kef-Cheraga plateau close to
the frontier, and from which reconnoitring parties were despatched to
operate in two directions. The column of General Galland was to the
left, on the ridge known as Reched Mankoura, but the brigade Ritter, now
commanded by General Caillot, had returned to the camp at El Aioun. This
force had encountered severe resistance, and the cause of its retrograde
movement has never been satisfactorily explained. Torrential rain now
impeded any further progress; the soldiers, encamped in a thick fog,
were severely tried both by wet and cold; and after the first day’s
fighting the main body of the Khamírs had disappeared to the north. The
huts of the Ouled Cedra were given up to the _goumiers_ of their
Algerian rivals, the Ouled Nehed, who completely destroyed them. During
the two following days the neighbouring valleys were explored _en
reconnaissance_; at times a brush with the Khamírs took place, but
oftener nothing was found but abandoned villages. On the 1st May all the
three brigades received orders to unite at El Hammam and to move
eastwards towards Fernana. Meanwhile the force under General Brem
occupied the station at Souk el Arba, while General Logerot led his
column northwards, also to take up a position at Fernana. The object of
this combined movement was to surround the Khamírs, who _were supposed_
to be concentrated around a famous _kouba_ or sanctuary, on the summit
of a lofty mountain, called Djebel Sidi Abdallah Ben Djemel. On the 5th
May the three brigades arrived at Feldj-Mana, close to the foot of the
Djebel Abdallah, and the camp was established upon three hills, and
there some few of the Khamírs gave in their submission.
General Logerot had by this time arrived at Ali Bey’s old camping ground
at Sidi Saleh, and on the evening of May 6th General Forgemol was able
to join him there from Feldj-Mana, to decide on a plan for the attack on
Djebel Abdallah, where several thousand Khamírs were still believed to
be assembled. At dawn, on the 8th May, twelve battalions from the three
columns Caillot, Vincendon, and Galland, left their knapsacks in the
camp, and started for the _marabout_ of Sidi Abdallah Djemel. The white
dome of the saint’s tomb could be seen five miles off, but the advancing
troops only came across recently abandoned _douars_, in some of which
the embers were still smouldering. As the summit of the mountain was
gained, the Khamírs were perceived disappearing on the other side of it.
Three hundred head of cattle, however, fell into the hands of the
troops. At eleven o’clock A.M. the General arrived at the _marabout_
itself, where he was received by a very old and dirty Khamír, who
declared he was the guardian of the place, which was of the meanest
description, although revered for a long distance on both sides of the
frontier. With the exception of this solitary ecclesiastic, not another
living soul was visible. The immediate vicinity of the _kouba_ seemed to
be the necropolis of all Khamír-land. The corpses were covered with the
thinnest layer of earth, and an opening was actually left above the
head. Many of the unfortunate victims of the 26th April had evidently
been buried there in the odour of sanctity, and the poisoned atmosphere
about the spot rendered the _marabout_ a most undesirable abiding place.
While the flying column under General Delebecque was climbing up to the
great Khamír shrine, bent on the hopeless _chasse aux Khamírs_, General
Logerot had pushed on to a position about seven miles north-east of
Fernana, in the direction of Ben or Bou Matir, but found that it would
be necessary to carry out somewhat extensive works before the country
could be made accessible to cavalry and artillery. Then followed another
series of _reconnaissances_, but all attempts to come up with any number
of Khamírs seemed fruitless. One day a few of them were dislodged from a
ravine by firing the brushwood, but on the morrow (May 10th) they came
back close to the camp and killed three soldiers before their presence
was discovered. On the following morning the French moved to a position
between Sidi Abdallah and the Meridj mountain, in the direction of Ain
Drahan (“the silver spring”), where a junction with General Logerot was
to be effected. “Our soldiers,” writes M. De la Berge, “found the dead
bodies of some Khamírs in the forest, several deserted huts were burned,
the barley crops on the march were reaped, _and the engineers received
orders to destroy the marabout of Sidi Abdallah_.” The same afternoon
General Logerot reached El Fedj, and while the camp was being pitched,
the Algerian irregular cavalry were sent ahead towards Ben Matir. They
suddenly came upon the enemy, and although strong reinforcements were
sent to the front, the Khamírs for a long time managed to hold their
own, till dislodged from their position by the fire of the mountain
guns. Ten soldiers were placed _hors de combat_ on the side of the
French, of whom five were killed. Stations were now permanently
established at Ain Drahan and Fernana, and strongly garrisoned. On the
14th May the columns Caillot and Vincendon marched towards Ben Matir,
which was evidently the strategic stronghold of that country. The way
lay through woody defiles, which the Khamírs had endeavoured to make
impregnable by throwing down huge oak-trees across the paths, and the
passage was undoubtedly a task of serious difficulty. It was however
accomplished, with the loss of some of the baggage mules, and a junction
effected with General Logerot’s troops coming from El Fedj. The column
commanded by Colonel O’Neill sustained an engagement with the Khamírs in
the woods during some hours, but with the exception of this
comparatively unimportant resistance, the rich valley of Ben Matir, the
most fertile spot in the whole country, was occupied without a blow
being struck. Here a certain number of tribes made their formal
submission, but other clans continued to hold out. The Mekna only
yielded after two engagements, and the Ouled Yahia never asked for the
_aman_ till they had lost both homes and herds (June 1st).
This is a brief outline of the operations which the summer heat now
brought abruptly to a close. The _razzias_ and _reconnaissances_ which
were necessary up to the very day of their termination, afford the best
proof of their incompleteness and insufficiency, except so far as to
give a tangible colour to the invasion of the country. The plague-
stricken post at Fernana has been abandoned, and French garrisons now
only remain at Ain Drahan and Tabarca. As far as I could ascertain from
M. Panariello, during my visit to La Calle four months later, the
practical result of the campaign has been to give the Khamírs at least a
semi-independence. In September they were in a position to declare that
unless an obnoxious _Caid_ was removed, they would no longer pay any
taxes, and Sidi Yusef (Colonel Allegro) has never even attempted to join
his post as their governor. M. Panariello declares that the entire
subjugation of the frontier tribes must be the gradual task of years,
and will require engineering works upon a large scale before it can be
completed.
By the 20th June only about 6000 men remained in the country, comprising
the garrisons at Bizerta, Kef, Tabarca, Manouba, Ghardimaou, Fernana,
and Ain Drahan. It now only remained for General Farre to congratulate
the country, the army, and himself—a task which he hastened to perform
in the following “order of the day:”—
Officers, non-commissioned officers, and soldiers,—At the moment when
the operations on the frontiers have ceased, I am happy to recognise the
services which the troops engaged in them have rendered, and to
congratulate them on the results obtained.
They have amply justified the confidence expressed by the President of
the Republic when not a year ago he presented their colours to each army
corps.
In all ranks unrivalled zeal and patriotism have been displayed during
this arduous campaign. The soldiers have endured untold privations in
the midst of an impenetrable country and under the disadvantages of an
unfavourable climate and constant bad weather. Nevertheless, their
ardour has surmounted all obstacles, and I am rejoiced to congratulate
them.
But I must not the less congratulate their chiefs,—the officers of all
grades, the functionaries of all classes, the zeal, intelligence,
ardour, and capacity of whom have contributed to obtain such
satisfactory results from our young troops.
Their incessant care and paternal vigilance _have preserved sanitary
conditions which are really surprising_, when the circumstances and
difficulties of the operations themselves are considered.
I must address special congratulations to General Forgemol, whose
supreme command has been exercised with rare wisdom; to General
Delebecque, who led the column which took the principal part in the
operations; to General Logerot, who knew how to give _une energigue
impulsion_ to his soldiers; to General Bréart, who represented our
country under _difficult circumstances_, as well as to the generals and
superior officers under their orders.
These services will not be forgotten. Every one who has taken part in
the campaign has earned the gratitude of the Republic.
The Minister of War,
(Signed) FARRE.
At the very time when General Farre’s proclamation was issued, the
streets of Marseilles were witnessing the unedifying spectacle of a
_chasse aux Italiens_ as a melancholy sequel to the _chasse aux
Khamírs_. On the evening of the 17th June, as a portion of the
expeditionary corps were defiling in triumphal procession through the
“capital of the South,” General Vincendon heard, or thought he heard,
furtive hisses issue from the Italian Club. Turning towards the building
he exclaimed aloud, “_Merci, Messieurs les Italiens_.” This incautious
expression bore disastrous fruit, and for three days not an Italian’s
life was safe in Marseilles. It was afterwards proved that the Italian
hisses were as imaginary as the _Khamír_ raids. A French gentleman, who
was on the balcony of the building in question at the time (M. Gibon),
hastened to publish an emphatic refutation of General Vincendon’s ill-
timed accusation in the following terms:—
I, the undersigned, a Frenchman standing on the balcony of the Italian
National Club on the afternoon of the 17th, when the troops passed,
formally protest, out of respect for the truth, against the accusation
that the hisses were given from that balcony. Neither I nor any other
person in my company made any manifestation hostile to our valorous
soldiers, and I should have been the first to repress any such act, and
to denounce its author. I declare that the rooms of the Club were empty
at that moment, and that the only persons present were Signor Tonietti
and his son Enrico Pierruzzini and Raffaello Pirri, who were on the
balcony with me.
But it was too late. Signor Oddo, an unoffending Italian dentist, who,
after a quarter of a century passed in curing the toothache of
successive Beys of Tunis, had come to settle in Marseilles, was one of
the first to be knocked down and brutally kicked. He at last escaped
with his life by a miracle, but only to break up his establishment and
seek refuge in Naples. Several Italians and Frenchmen were killed, and
Italy’s cup of vengeance fairly ran over. Anti-French demonstrations
spread from one end of the Peninsula to the other; and the word
“Marseilles” has become the watchword of Italian _vendetta_, effacing
the memory of half a century of friendship, and blotting out the
recollection of Magenta and Solferino. Behind the real grievance of the
riots of Marseilles the militant policy of Signor Maccio will be
forgotten. Two weeks later the French fleet was bombarding the city of
Sfax in Southern Tunis, and three parts of the Regency were in open
revolt.
The French papers were not the only ones to realise the grim humour of
the whole business. A few verses from _Punch_, in explanation of a
cartoon in which the Republic of Peace is seen trying on the garb of
war, sums up the first epoch of the French Invasion with caustic
correctness:—
_France (trying on Casque) loquitur_—
BECOMES me! _La République c’est la paix?_
Oh yes, precisely.
And yet this Mars-like headpiece, I must say,
Fits rather nicely.
_Revanche? La Guerre? La Gloire?_ Powder and Steel?
Oh never, never!
I do thank Heaven that I no longer feel
War’s scarlet fever.
I chose this fashion, and have no desire
For hasty changing,
Only just now and then dress does require
Some re-arranging.
_I_ grow pugnacious? Such reports are wild,
Mendacious rumours;
Although of course I’m not to be reviled
By rascal Kroumirs.
Fancy! I’m not a _Caquet Bonbec_ quite,
A barnyard scratcher;
And if _la France_ had a desire to fight,
How few could match her!
That Bey’s a bit too bounceable; he’ll find
Swelling brings dizziness.
The Powers? Perhaps they will be pleased to mind
Their proper business.
Confound—— But stay—no temper; that an old
Imperial lune is,
But which of them will have the cheek to scold
Concerning Tunis?
The notion stirs my blood, makes my tint turn,
My voice swell louder;
They think me tame? Then I _shall_ have to burn
A little powder;
A shot or two perhaps might tend to strengthen
My moral fibres,
And cause the physiognomies to lengthen
Of foreign gibers.
Eh? What? That Circular of SAINT-HILAIRE
Causes hilarity?
Disgusting! Foreign critics, I declare,
Are void of charity.
I’ve been a Saint in patience all men know—
Almost _too_ saintly;
Astonished Europe thinks my blood must flow
Feebly and faintly—
Let those who doubt me read the declaration
Of _mon cher_ FERRY.
“Respect for law, strict justice, moderation”—
True, true—oh, very!
Annex? _Fi donc!_ I solemnly proclaim
’Tis false, completely.
But—— Well this jaunty head piece, all the same,
Becomes me sweetly.
(_Left admiring herself._)
END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.
* * * * *
PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE, HANSON AND CO.
EDINBURGH AND LONDON.
_CORRIGENDA, VOL. I._
* * * * *
Page 2, quotation from M. Villot’s book to end, line 2, page 3.
„ 13, line 17, _for_ “Gassa” _read_ “Gafsa.”
„ 23, line 24, _for_ “_farik_” _read_ “_thrik_.”
„ 30, line 14, _for_ “Soussa” _read_ “Susa.”
„ 30, line 15, _for_ “Zorbir” _read_ “Zobir.”
„ 30, line 15, _for_ “Febri” _read_ “Fehri.”
„ 34, line 7, _for_ “Menákin” _read_ “Menákir.”
„ 42, line 2, _for_ “Cossier” _read_ “Copier.”
„ 45, line 14, _for_ “Galibra” _read_ “Galippia.”
„ 48, lines 3 and 16, _for_ “Sinau” _read_ “Sinan.”
„ 89, line 21, _for_ “Jurieu” _read_ “Jurien.”
„ 128, line 13, _for_ “Consul” _read_ “Vice-Consul.”
„ 148, line 6, _for_ “Rolfs” _read_ “Rohlfs.”
„ 148, line 14, _et passim, for_ “Botmilian” _read_ “Botmiliau.”
„ 158, line 23, _for_ “Le blunt” _read_ “Leblant” _et passim_.
[Illustration: MAP OF TUNIS]
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 1: “Ego comperio illum Punicâ fide egisse.”—_Sallust_.]
[Footnote 2: Description Géographique de Tunis et de la Régence. Paris:
Challamel Ainé, 1881. P. 14.]
[Footnote 3: Volume xvi. of the Exploration Scientifique de l’Algérie.
Paris: Imprimerie Impériale, 1853. P. 11.]
[Footnote 4: Tempest.]
[Footnote 5: Description Géographique de Tunis et de la Régence. Paris:
Challamel Ainé, 1881. Pp. 43, 44.]
[Footnote 6: Carthage and Tunis: Past and Present. By Amos Perry, late
United States Consul for the City and Regency of Tunis. Providence,
R.I., 1869. P. 4.]
[Footnote 7: Recherches sur l’Origine et l’Emplacement des Emporias
Phéniciens. Par A. Daux. Paris: Imprimerie Impériale, 1859.]
[Footnote 8: La Question des Chotts Algériens. Par Sir Richard Wood.
Marseilles, 1878.]
[Footnote 9: Annales Tunisiennes. Par Alphonse Rousseau. Paris:
Challamel Ainé, 1864.]
[Footnote 10: Les Khouans. Ordres Religieux chez les Musulmans de
l’Algérie. Paris: Guyot, 1845. P. 10.]
[Footnote 11: État des Royaumes de Barbarie, Tripoli, Tunis, et Alger. À
la Haye, 1704. Pp. 80-175.]
[Footnote 12: See Chapter XXXVII.]
[Footnote 13: Mémoires Historiques et Géographiques sur l’Algérie. Par
E. Pellissier. Exploration Scientifique de l’Algérie, vol. vi. Paris:
Imprimerie Royale, 1844. P. 200.]
[Footnote 14: Koran, ch. xxxi. 11, 12.]
[Footnote 15: The Angels of Death.]
[Footnote 16: Letters of Pierre de Condé.]
[Footnote 17: History of Pottery and Porcelain. By Joseph Marryat.
London: John Murray, 1857. Fig. 38.]
[Footnote 18: Appendix A.]
[Footnote 19: Pellissier says “that the French saw in the Turks useful
allies, and sent an emissary to Kheir-ed-Din.”—_Mémoires Historiques_,
p. 47.]
[Footnote 20: Order of St. John.]
[Footnote 21: Appendix B.]
[Footnote 22: Études Politiques sur le Royaume de Tunis. Par le Comte
Alphonse O’Kelly. Paris, 1871. P. 13. Count O’Kelly’s little work gives
some curious details of Mouley Hasan’s visit to Brussels in 1534, as a
suppliant for Charles’ aid, and in 1550-53, when he was an exile and had
been deprived of sight and blinded by his own children. The kindness of
the Emperor to his unfortunate ally affords eloquent testimony to his
really noble nature. He refused to allow Mouley Hasan to do him homage,
and in the forest of Soignes made him sit at table with six crowned
heads.]
[Footnote 23: Appendix E.]
[Footnote 24: Annales Tunisiennes, p. 103.]
[Footnote 25: Appendix F.]
[Footnote 26: Pellissier. Mémoires Historiques, p. 292.]
[Footnote 27: Appendix G.]
[Footnote 28: Rousseau, p. 167.]
[Footnote 29: Appendix H.]
[Footnote 30: These letters are dated precisely one hundred years prior
to the entry of the French troops into Tunis territory on April 26,
1881.]
[Footnote 31: Appendix I.]
[Footnote 32: See page 24.]
[Footnote 33: Appendix K.]
[Footnote 34: Appendix L.]
[Footnote 35: This surmise now turns out to have been correct. The lucky
monopolists were none other than the Société Bône-Gulema, represented by
M. Géry.]
[Footnote 36: Appendix M.]
[Footnote 37: Appendix N.]
[Footnote 38: The Khamírs are subdivided into the Slouls, the Dedmaka,
the Meselma, and the Shihia. The kindred tribe of the Rekba comprises
the Ouchetetas, the Ouled-Sebira, the Merassen, the Ouled Ali Mefedda,
the Fzours, the Beni Mazen, the Ouled Sultan, the Hakim, and the
Razouán.]
[Footnote 39: _Vide_ Chapter XX.]
[Footnote 40: The Tunisian Question and Bizerta. By Montague Guest,
Esq., M.P. F. Chifferril & Co. London, 1881.]
[Footnote 41: Taib was at length released through the mediation of M.
Cambon on the 20th April 1882.]
Transcriber's note:
Changes in the CORRIGENDA have been done.
pg 157, changed: "a local legal practioner" to: "practitioner"
pg 205, changed: "no sympatly for each other" to: "sympathy"
pg 236, changed: "force will be amply sufficent" to: "sufficient"
pg 279, changed: "IMP CAFS" to: "IMP CAES"
pg 290, changed: "of Ain Ismaïn on the 26th" to: "Aïn Ismain"
Text with overline is surrounded by "~".