and then fled. As they approached the great
Pyramids of Gizeh, they found an enemy more formidable than these
scattered bands. Amurath Bey was encamped with twelve thousand Mamelukes
and eight thousand mounted Bedouins, on the west bank of the Nile, and
opposite Cairo.

The French looked upon the great entrepot, where the soldiers expected
to find the gorgeous palaces and the rich bazaars of which some had read
in Galland's _Arabian Nights_, whose tales they had recounted to their
comrades on their dreary march under a burning sun. They had to sustain
the attack of Amurath and his Mamelukes, who came upon them with the
fury of a tempest. In the East, Bonaparte was ever in his altitudes; and
he now pointed to the Pyramids, and exclaimed to his soldiers, "Forty
centuries look down upon you." The chief attack of the Mamelukes was
upon a square which Desaix commanded. In spite of the desperate courage
of this formidable cavalry, the steadiness of the disciplined soldiery
of the army of Italy repelled every assault; and after a tremendous loss
Amurath Bey retreated toward Upper Egypt. His intrenched camp was
forced, amid a fearful carnage. The conquerors had no difficulty in
obtaining possession of Cairo.

Ibrahim Bey evacuated the city, which on July 25th Bonaparte entered.
His policy now was to conciliate the people instead of oppressing them.
He addressed himself to the principal sheiks, and obtained from them a
declaration in favor of the French. It went forth with the same
authority among the Mussulmans as a brief of the pope addressed to Roman
Catholics. In the grand mosque a litany was sung to the glory of "the
Favorite of Victory, who at the head of the valiant of the West has
destroyed the infantry and the horse of the Mamelukes." A few weeks
later "the Favorite of Victory" was seated in the grand mosque at the
"Feast of the Prophets," sitting cross-legged as he repeated the words
of the _Koran_, and edifying the sacred college by his piety.

From the beginning to the end of July, Mr. Pitt was waiting with anxious
expectation for news from the Mediterranean. During this suspense he
wrote to the Speaker that he "could not be quite sure of keeping any
engagement he might make." It was not till September 26th that the
English Government knew the actual result of the toils and
disappointments to which Nelson had been subjected. When it was known in
England that he had been to Egypt and had returned to Sicily, the
jo