The French carefully conceal their official news from Tanis, but
it is known to be very bad. Scarcely a day passes without 1,000, or on some days 2,000, French troops crossing the Mediterranean, till the force in Algeria and Tunis must be approaching 60,000 men,—our whole Indian garrison. M. Roustan, indeed, the Vice-Bey of Tunis, demands 100,000 men. The Arabs, however, are not alarmed, and are practically be- sieging Tunis. They have repeatedly defeated French detach- ments sent to Zaghouan, from whence Tunis receives its water, and have succeeded in cutting the canal which supplies the city. The French accuse the Bey of imbecility—he is a very old man—have removed his Vizier, and threaten to supersede himself ; but they are confronted by the old Afghan difficulty. An able man who hates them is a danger ; an able man who serves them, instantly loses all authority with his countrymen. It will be necessary to annex Tunis, as well as reconquer south- west Algeria, and we see reasons to suspect that the Army is either in bad hands or bad order. No small expedition succeeds, the number of men employed is preposterously large, and the soldiers go into hospital in unusual numbers. All that looks as if the young soldiers either did not like the work, or were ill- fitted for it
Previous page
