day,
and prevent them obtaining supplies of any sort. I am afraid that
nothing of that kind will be done. The Mamelukes have been spoilt, and
they are so puffed up that they believe themselves to be invincible, and
that they have only to make a grand charge to sweep the French away.

"However, it will make no great difference to us when we are once
fairly away, for of course I shall not think of returning here until
matters have settled down again. The French traders have had a bad time
of it since the war began, and most of them left long ago, for it was so
seldom that a vessel got through our cruisers that they could not rely
upon any regular supplies of goods. Of course, there are many small
shopkeepers who take their goods of me, and retail them out to the
natives, but all the importers left. I am afraid it is going to be our
turn now; that is, unless Nelson manages to intercept their fleet--no
very easy matter, for they might land anywhere along the coast between
this and Syria. But I imagine that their descent will take place near
this town, for from it they could follow the fresh-water canal to the
point where it flows from the Nile, and so on to Cairo.

"They may, however, land at either the Damietta or Rosetta mouths of the
river; still, I think that they are more likely to come here, seeing
that the ships could more closely approach the shore."

The British fleet remained but a few hours off Alexandria. The short
Peace of Campo-Formio had caused the greater portion of the British
fleet to be recalled from the Mediterranean; and it was not until the
French preparations were almost complete that the news reached England
that a vast number of transports had been collected by the French at
various ports, that provisions of all kinds were being put on board, and
it was rumoured that an army was about to embark for some unknown
destination.

Nelson was at once sent off with a fleet to blockade Toulon, from which
port it was evident that the men-of-war intended to guard this great
fleet of transports would start. It arrived there on the first of June,
only to learn that the French fleet had set out three days previously.
The idea that Egypt was its destination had not entered the minds of the
British ministers, and although Nelson had been furnished with
instructions as to the course to be taken in the case of almost every
contingency, this had never been even discussed.

The French fleet consisted of 13 vessels