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The most formidable foe of Abd-el-Kader reached the
scene of action in October, 1845, bringing fresh forces, and in a week
he took the field at the head of a hundred twenty thousand men. This
fact is the highest eulogy that can be accorded to the military prowess
of a man who so long defied the power of France.
The end of the great career was rapidly coming. After another vain
appeal to the Moorish ruler even Abd-el-Kader felt that all was lost. A
French writer in the _Biographie generale_ truly declares:
"The greatness of the man was strikingly displayed in the very hour of
his downfall. Destitute of resources, surrounded by foes, at open enmity
with the Emperor of Morocco, wandering like a hunted lion, with hardly
any comrade but his horse, no shelter except his tent, Abd-el-Kader
still inspired a terror which forced his enemies to keep a great army on
foot in Algeria for protection against possible attacks at his hand."
In his deira, at this time, all was despondency and grief.


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