Chapter XXIII: How the French Took Mater

The history of the first French expedition to Tunis contains so much diplomacy and so little fighting, that I have decided to give Mater and General Maurand a chapter to themselves. An additional reason for my doing this is my being able to ask somebody else to tell the story. Mr. Thorwald Llewyllen Smith is an Englishman and a farmer. For some years he has cultivated some of the rich pasture-land between Mater and the Gebel Ishkel Lake, and has naturally acquired considerable influence amongst the Arabs of the neighbourhood, whose language he fluently speaks, whose petty disputes he has sometimes settled, and whose bodily ailments he has often cured. Mr. Smith’s white house, cattle-sheds, and trim hedge-rows, standing in the midst of his corn-fields, are all visible from the low hill on which the town of Mater is built. “The Arabs take very little notice of date,” writes Mr. Smith in answer to my appeal to describe the taking of Mater, “and consequently, although they may remember that the French invasion began in the spring-time, during the year of the Flight 1298, they would certainly not be able to say that the 8th of May 1881 was an ill-fated day for the inhabitants of Mater. It was on that day that Sheikh Hmed Ben Yusef of the Algerian clan of the Mukranees, but born and bred on Tunisian territory, came over to Mater from Bizerta as an envoy of the French. I cannot pretend to say what his real instructions were, but it is certain that if he had been specially commissioned to stir up all the mountain tribes of the vicinity to rebellion, he could not have done his work better. The Arabs were already more or less excited and indignant at the way in which Bizerta had been occupied the previous week without a blow being struck in its defence, as well as at the free and easy way in which the French were walking over their country; and, in the innocence of their hearts, they were anxiously awaiting definite instructions from the Bey, through the Caid of their district, to prepare to resist and turn out the invaders.

“On the 29th April (two days prior to the occupation of Bizerta), men had come running to Mater from the coast between Tabarca and Bizerta, saying that the French fleet, consisting of two hundred vessels at least, had appeared in the offing, that a landing had been effected, and that fortifications were being built! The chief people in Mater at once sent letters to the heads of the surrounding tribes, summoning them to collect all the cavalry and fighting men they could, and come to Mater for the purpose of opposing the invaders. They also sent off letters to Tunis, asking the Caid, who resides there, for his orders. They were very enthusiastic and anxious to begin, and on a man crying out, ‘It seems that though the thief is at the door, the watch-dog is chained up,’ his simile was very much applauded. These simple, ignorant, but courageous people could not be made to comprehend that they had no chance against their well-armed and disciplined foes. A day or two later it transpired that the ‘black crow’ which had given rise to the story of the landing, was the shipwreck on the coast of a little Corsican brig laden with empty barrels. The captain and owner of the boat was brought to Mater. He spoke Italian and claimed that nationality. The Arabs treated him well and sent him on to Tunis, while guards went to the coast to see that the remainder of the crew were well cared for, and that the ship and its cargo were not meddled with.

“I do not say that if these people had been recognised as Frenchmen, they would not have been, under the existing provocation, ill-treated, or possibly killed. Every Arab in Mater knew what had been done at Tabarca and was being done amongst the Khamírs. As it happened, however, both captain and crew escaped unhurt, and according to their own showing had nothing to complain of. Nevertheless, when some days later Mater was occupied, the tribes adjoining the scene of the disaster were given up to indiscriminate pillage; their huts were burned, their women’s bracelets taken away, and their cattle confiscated. The punishment was as severe as it was unmerited, unless it was a crime for these poor people to have allowed a French vessel to be wrecked on their coast.

“As days passed by, the Arabs were in an increasing state of uncertainty as to the course they ought to pursue, but were fully determined to be loyal to their Bey, if he proved true to his trust, and in any case and under all circumstances not to allow the French to conquer them without a struggle. The sensation produced, therefore, can be very well imagined, when Hamed Ben Yusef appeared suddenly on the scene, loudly declaring that the Bey’s dynasty had passed away for ever, and that those who did not side with the French must be prepared to fight for their independence and their homes.

“Their first idea was to kill the envoy, who by the insolent way he spoke almost seemed to court death; but luckily for him the Khalifa, or sub-governor, Hamda El Kateb, who possessed considerable influence over the tribesmen, refused to leave his side. During the darkness of the following evening Sidi Hamda managed to smuggle the emissary out of the place, but in doing so he ran considerable risk, as many of the Arabs rushed wildly about the town calling out that the Khalifa had been bribed to facilitate the man’s escape.

“Soon after the arrival in Mater of Hamed Ben Yusef the heads of the tribes came in a body to consult me, and ask me if I knew the truth about what was going on between the French and the Bey. I naturally answered, that not having been in Tunis for some time, I was as ignorant as they were. They then entreated me to go on their behalf to the Prime Minister; and I accordingly started the same afternoon and rode to Tunis, a distance of some fifty miles: this was on the 8th of May. Early the next morning I went to see Mustapha, and told him all that had happened. He promised to send a letter by a special messenger, but could not give me any satisfactory answer for the tribes, merely repeating over and over again, ‘that they should not oppose the entry of the French into Mater if they came there.’ When I returned with this message on the afternoon of the 9th May, I found most of the chiefs assembled about a mile on the Tunis side of the town awaiting my arrival. They were not at all pacified by Mustapha’s answer, and declared that Mater did not belong to the Bey, but to the Arabs, and that they would not give it up. About 8000 of them were now assembled about six miles on the Bizerta road, and they appeared to be determined to march on Bizerta itself.

“It was with the greatest difficulty, and after employing every means of persuasion in my power, that I prevented this rabble army of half-mad fanatics from marching to certain destruction. They at last came back to Mater, and made night hideous by repeated false alarms that the French were upon us; each of these scares being accompanied by a rush for their horses, and a general stampede in the direction of a bridge which crosses a little river outside the town. This bridge is in a hollow, and the foolish people thought they could defend it, although, of course, it would have been quite untenable. Fortunately enough for the Arabs, the French did not arrive till the 18th May, when most of the mountaineers, tired out with waiting, had gone to their homes. General Maurand’s task was consequently a very easy one, for he was only opposed by a handful of horsemen and a rabble of the countryfolk mostly armed with bludgeons, amongst whom, unorganised as they were and totally ignorant of the methods of modern warfare, it was not difficult to create a panic. A few well-directed shells soon put them to flight, and as soon as they heard the projectiles exploding behind them, they imagined they were entirely surrounded, and fled in all directions. Very few lives were lost: one or two only of the most hardy horsemen who rode right up to the enemy’s ranks were shot, and the French did not lose a single man. Having now met their foes face and face, the Arabs were better able to form an accurate idea of the immeasurable superiority of the invading forces, and it was quite sufficient that one tribe should lay down its rusty swords and gaspipe-looking guns, for all the rest to follow the example.

“As soon as the tribes had consented to obey the French, detachments were sent round to collect their arms. I do not suppose that there were many weapons given up that would be considered worthy of a place in the _Musée d’Artillerie_, for every man who had a decent gun hid it away, in expectancy of the arrival of the Sultan’s troops, and surrendered some venerable Belgian flint-lock instead. These from their enormous length look as if they were sold by the yard, and are only preserved from bursting by the fact that the powder usually sold in the Regency is about two-thirds charcoal, and consequently not very strong.

“I was now to reap the reward of my honest endeavours to preserve the Arabs from a helpless struggle, and give the French the most bloodless of victories. No sooner had the French occupied Mater, than fifty cavalry made a sortie and galloped all over my property, treading down the ripe corn and frightening the horses. After devastating the kitchen- garden, they rode up to my labourers’ huts, the inmates of which immediately fled. I then went to Mater and expressed a hope that General Maurand would prevent the destruction of my property. The General conducted me outside his tent, and addressed me in a loud voice before all his troops as follows:—‘The French forces have behaved in a magnificent manner throughout the campaign (they had only marched fifteen miles from Manouba), and I am astonished that a member of a civilised nation, as you appear to be, could complain of anything the French might do for the furtherance of civilisation; and learn, once and for all, that in time of war the French do not confine themselves to roads, but always take the shortest cut to victory and glory!’ The next day, however, I had another visit from the troopers, and a corporal held a revolver at my servant’s head.

“I soon perceived that it would be impossible for me to remain in Mater under the reign of terror. My property had already been greatly damaged, and it was very necessary that I should protect the rest of it. Several of the Arabs of course came to me, as an old friend, to ask my advice, which was invariably ‘to obtain the French _aman_ as soon as possible.’ A day or two after a Maltese horse-dealer and a Greek tobacco-merchant called at my house, to ask my influence and good offices to get them some custom from the troops. After this the attitude of the General became so menacing that I felt I was no longer safe in Mater; and although I was in the midst of my reaping and harvesting, I was compelled to come to Tunis to place the matter before my own authorities. The same day my friend the General wrote the following letter concerning me to General Bréart:—

“‘MATER, _May 24_.

“‘MY GENERAL,—I had the honour to report to you in my despatch of yesterday the arrival at Mater of the English and Italian Consuls of Bizerta, as well as the almost arrogant attitude of Mr. Smith, an English subject and a large landowner of Mater. The relations between these three persons are a mystery to no one here. I learn to-day that Mr. Smith has supplied powder and bullets to the Arabs who fought against you on the 18th. He possesses within about three kilometres to the north-west of the camp, in the midst of a _douar_, a residence which is said to be a meeting-place of Arab emissaries and others, and a centre of intrigues against us. Perhaps he keeps our enemies informed of all our movements, and it may be that it is to him we owe the shots which are fired at our patrols. The presence of such a person close to Mater is really intolerable. But for his being an English subject I should have already taken rigorous measures against him, and I cannot leave you in ignorance how much this situation adds to the difficulties which I have already to overcome here, in order to rally by degrees the mountain Sheikhs, and I hope, that in concert with the Minister of France at Tunis, you will find means to secure us against his proceedings. I have just learnt that Mr. Smith has left for Tunis.

(Signed) MAURAND.’

“I had no sooner arrived at Tunis than M. Roustan made an official complaint against me to the British Consul-General, but very fortunately he enclosed the above copy of General Maurand’s report. The Italian Consul at Bizerta turned out not to have been at Mater for eight years, while his colleague of England, a timorous mortal, had never quitted his house since the taking of Bizerta! The other charges in the letter are not less apocryphal. Even M. Roustan was obliged to declare that he would not support the accusation, and after a fortnight I returned to my farm. Of course I duly made a claim for all my losses, but I have never heard anything more of it from that day to this, and I suppose it is peacefully reposing in some pigeon-hole in Downing Street. General Maurand was, I believe, severely reprimanded, but he took his revenge. I was boycotted at Mater, and no Frenchman was ever allowed to hold any communication with _Smeet le Kroumir_. My punishment extended even to Bizerta, where a month later, the hotelkeeper told me my polluting presence would lose him the custom of _MM. les Officiers_, and begged me to decamp. I am not sorry, however, that I was the means of preventing a great loss of life by a little good advice given in season to the brave but ignorant natives of the Mater district.”