line, and the
_Alexandria_ took her place, while the _Swiftsure_ attacked the
_Franklin_. The _Leander_, seeing how hard was the fight, relinquished
her attempt to get the _Culloden_ afloat, and, sailing in, engaged in
the battle.

[Illustration: Battle of THE NILE

1st. August 1798.]

For a time the issue was doubtful. The three English seventy-four-gun
ships were matched against one of a hundred and twenty and two of
eighty-four. Darkness did not put a stop to the engagement, which
continued to rage with unabated fury, the battle being practically
between twelve British ships and eight French ships of the line and
their four frigates and gun-boats. By ten o'clock five of the French van
had surrendered, and the great hundred-and-twenty-gun ship, the
_Orient_, was in flames. The excitement of the Arabs as the battle
continued was unbounded. It seemed to them that mortal men could not
sustain so terrible a conflict, and exclamations of wonder and
admiration rose constantly among them.

The light of the burning vessel enabled the whole of the terrible scene
to be clearly witnessed. Half the ships were partly or wholly dismasted,
the rigging was cut to pieces, and the sails were riddled with balls.
The splintered sides, bulwarks shot away, and port-holes blown into one,
showed how terrible was the damage inflicted on both sides. Higher and
higher rose the flames on board the _Orient_. Men could be seen leaping
overboard into the water from the burning ship, and soon after ten she
blew up with a tremendous explosion, the concussion of which was so
great that many of the Arabs were thrown to the ground. For ten minutes
a dead silence succeeded the roar of battle, not a gun was fired on
either side. The British vessels near the spot where the _Orient_ had
lately floated lowered what boats there were uninjured and set to work
to rescue the survivors, who were either clinging to spars or were
swimming. Several of these, too, were hauled in at the lower port-holes
of the ships.

The French ship _Franklin_ was the first to recommence firing, but after
a few more broadsides from the _Swiftsure_ she hauled down her colours.
The firing continued without any abatement until three o'clock in the
morning. It then died away for a time, but recommenced at six o'clock
with fresh fury, and it was not until two in the afternoon that it came
to an end. Villeneuve, seeing that all was lost, now woke up and cut his
cables. Three of his