Chapter XVII: Fruitless Appeals

Another day passed away in feverish suspense, but at noon on Monday, the 25th of April, a messenger arrived from the governors of Kef and Beja, and rode in hot haste to the Bardo Palace. An hour later, and all Tunis knew that the invasion had begun. Shortly afterwards, an urgent message called me to the Prime Minister’s city house. I found Mustapha in his favourite sitting-room over the great gateway. The corridors leading to it were crowded with Arabs, but nobody seemed to know what to advise. The _boudoir_ of the Tunisian Premier was arranged, as I soon found out, with an evident view to Oriental diplomacy. A long sofa lined the side of the room, which was almost entirely occupied by the grated window looking into the court below, upon which Mustapha habitually sat and smoked. Opposite the entrance was a handsome walnut-wood wardrobe with a long looking-glass, and a similar piece of furniture faced the window. I remember nothing else in the apartment except a coloured print of the King of Italy, half-a-dozen clocks all indicating a different hour, and a horrible mechanical toy which represented over and over again the death of Cleopatra. I found General Muhamed Bacouch, Director of the Tunisian Foreign Office, in consultation with the Prime Minister, who had before him the letters received that morning from the interior, as well as two or three of the memoranda of Sy Ali Bey. Holding up the latter, Mustapha said, “Here are the proofs of the Khamírs having entirely submitted, and yet you see the invasion has taken place? Is it possible that war can be made against us without notice? What is to be done?” I very naturally suggested that what had happened was as yet unknown in Europe, and that the time had now come to make another protest, and address an appeal to the Powers. Just at this moment an energetic knocking was heard at the outer door, and the servant announced that General Musalli had brought a communication from M. Roustan. Mustapha said quite collectedly, “Prepare a protest for us while I get rid of him;” and touching a spring, the wardrobe door opened and disclosed a passage leading to a second chamber, which seemed also to contain nothing but sofas and clocks. I had barely time to draft the papers he required with a pencil in a note-book, when General Bacouch called me back to the Minister’s room. What had passed in the meantime seemed to have strengthened Mustapha’s determination to resist, and he summoned M. Conti to translate the protests. “This will do very well,” he said, “but we must show them to the Council.” Taking my hand, he opened the glass door of the second wardrobe, and we entered the large drawing-room, to which the Cabinet had adjourned its meeting from Kasr- es-Said. Here there was a large console table, around which General Bacouch, General Arbi Zerouck, Sidi El Aziz, General Muhamed Khaznadar, and two other members, were sitting in the midst of a wilderness of gilding, looking-glasses, and ruby velvet. The Prime Minister took his seat, and the state of affairs was discussed at length. A messenger was sent to the office of the Rubattino Steamboat Company, and the agent, Signor Ravasini, agreed to get one of the packets under steam at Goletta by ten o’clock. The protests were adopted, and M. Conti never left his seat till copies had been prepared for Constantinople, London, Vienna, Berlin, St. Petersburg, and Rome. At last all was ready, and a special train conveyed the packet containing the messages to Goletta. As we parted, General Bacouch said to me, “Now at any rate England must say something, she cannot remain silent, and we shall at least know our fate.” Sy Arbi Zerouck answered, “England has always protected us, she will not abandon us now.” They were both doomed to be disappointed. After a brief gleam of sunshine under the new _régime_, General Bacouch was “placed upon the retired list;” General Sy Arbi Zerouck was banished from Tunis within a month of the anxious evening we spent together at Mustapha’s palace, and the faithful and honest Antonio Conti was dismissed from the Government service before the Kasr-es-Said Treaty was hardly a week old, because he had done his duty to the prince he served.

Next morning the following protest was tendered to M. Roustan:—

“Our Governor of Kef informs us that a French military column has entered the territory of the Tunisian tribe of Sharen, and threatens the city of Kef. The Governor of Beja informs us likewise that another French column has penetrated into the Khamír territory. The invasion of our Regency has taken place without any notice to our Government, and at a time when you yourself admit that peace exists between Tunis and France. We declare this invasion of our territory to be a violation of the law of nations. We, therefore, solemnly protest against it, in our own name and that of His Majesty the Sultan, of whose empire Tunis is an integral part, and must appeal to the justice of the Great Powers. We declare the French Republic to be solely responsible for the consequences which may ensue from this invasion of our state.”

The text of the telegram sent to England from Trapani by the steamer which left Tunis on the night of the 25th April is as follows:—

_The Bey of Tunis to Lord Granville, Foreign Office, London._

His Highness the Bey of Tunis begs your Excellency to lay the following message before Her Majesty the Queen of England and the British Government. In spite of the protestations which we have made in our own name and in that of our suzerain the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, and notwithstanding the proofs we have given of our ability to repress any excesses of the Khamír frontier tribe which may have given cause for complaint, and the fact that the troops commanded by our brother and heir now occupy that portion of our dominions which they inhabit, the Government of the French Republic has caused its troops to invade our country, and, not content with entering that portion of the Regency where the Khamírs reside, have occupied a part of our territory far distant from the locality in question, and entirely unconnected with it. The repeated protests which we have made, both in our own name and in that of our suzerain, have been disregarded, and our territory has been violated without a declaration of war, either against ourselves or our political superior, and this with a total disregard of the usual rules and observances prescribed under circumstances by the law of nations. We are at a loss to understand the reason why we are so treated by a great and powerful Government, with which we have always been on the most cordial terms, and whose interests in our Regency we have studiously and constantly endeavoured to promote. We are the more astonished at the measures resorted to against us because the French representative has not interrupted his relations with us, and only two days ago he assured us that as peace prevailed between the Republic and ourselves, a landing of French soldiers on our coast could only take place with our own consent and concurrence. Under these circumstances we appeal to our august ally, Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain, as well as to all the Governments, signataries of the Treaty of Berlin. We do this the more readily because the country which we govern is, as an integral part of the Ottoman Empire, entitled to the protection sought for. We are willing to submit unreservedly all complaints brought against us to their friendly arbitration. We feel assured that the Great Powers of Europe will take into consideration the treaties they have entered into with my predecessors and myself, and will not ignore our constant endeavours to guarantee equal privileges and impartial justice to all European subjects residing in our state. In our hour of dire distress we implore the Great Powers to interpose their friendly offices on our behalf. We believe that justice is on our side, but we leave the consideration of our position, as well as our own interests and those of our suzerain, to the justice, impartiality, and generosity of the Great Powers.

(Signed) MUHAMED ES SADEK.

The invasion of the Regency was begun by three military movements—viz., the taking of Kef, the bombardment of Tabarca, and the advance into the Khamír mountains. On the 26th of April the citadel of Kef was surrendered by its governor to General Logerot. There had at first been some ideas of resistance, and the French cannons were already in position on one of the adjoining hills, but the Bey’s orders were at last acted upon, and the French flag floated over the Tunisian standard on one of the oldest and most renowned fortresses of the Regency. The fall of Kef opened the whole of the Medjerdah valley to the column Logerot.

The taking of Tabarca gave rise to a number of exaggerations. The Arabs reported some hundreds of deaths to have been caused by the shells of the besiegers, while the French affirmed that the resistance was confined to “a little skirmishing with sharpshooters.” A few weeks later I met in Tunis Colonel Taib Masmuri, the defender of the old stronghold of the Lomellini. Although he was prudently reticent as to whether he had or had not returned the French fire, he showed no disinclination to tell the tale of his adventures. “It is untrue,” says Masmuri, “that any one ever fired at the French gun-boat. On the 25th April a French captain landed and _offered me many inducements_ to surrender the fort. I refused to do so, and in the evening the Admiral himself sent me a letter reiterating the demand, and telling me that, if necessary, force would be used. I cannot write myself, but I got a notary to frame an answer saying that I had referred the matter to Sy Ali Bey. On the 26th April about two P.M., suddenly and without any notice a heavy fire was opened on the fort from the ironclads. The second shot killed three of my soldiers, and in a few minutes a piece of falling wall brought me to the ground and wounded me in the thigh. When I managed to rise I saw several dead soldiers near me. Meanwhile some of the Khamírs had crossed from the shore, and managed to get twelve barrels of powder from the magazine. I contrived to swim to the land, and after wandering about for three days reached Ali Bey’s camp.” After the bombardment the Khamírs were greatly frightened by an exhibition of the electric light, which has never been quite forgotten. The details of the advance across the frontier will be found in Mr. Perkins’ journal of the fortnight he spent in the heart of the seat of war.