of stones and darts. [81] In the space
of seven weeks much labor and blood were expended, and some progress,
especially by Count Raymond, was made on the side of the besiegers. But
the Turks could protract their resistance and secure their escape, as
long as they were masters of the Lake [82] Ascanius, which stretches
several miles to the westward of the city. The means of conquest were
supplied by the prudence and industry of Alexius; a great number of
boats was transported on sledges from the sea to the lake; they were
filled with the most dexterous of his archers; the flight of the sultana
was intercepted; Nice was invested by land and water; and a Greek
emissary persuaded the inhabitants to accept his master's protection,
and to save themselves, by a timely surrender, from the rage of the
savages of Europe. In the moment of victory, or at least of hope, the
crusaders, thirsting for blood and plunder, were awed by the Imperial
banner that streamed from the citadel; [821] and Alexius guarded with
jealous vigilance this important conquest. The murmurs of the chiefs
were stifled by honor or interest; and after a halt of nine days, they
directed their march towards Phrygia under the guidance of a Greek
general, whom they suspected of a secret connivance with the sultan.
The consort and the principal servants of Soliman had been honorably
restored without ransom; and the emperor's generosity to the miscreants
[83] was interpreted as treason to the Christian cause.

[Footnote 80: His Mussulman appellation of Soliman is used by the
Latins, and his character is highly embellished by Tasso. His Turkish
name of Kilidge-Arslan (A. H. 485-500, A.D. 1192-1206. See De Guignes's
Tables, tom. i. p. 245) is employed by the Orientals, and with some
corruption by the Greeks; but little more than his name can be found in
the Mahometan writers, who are dry and sulky on the subject of the first
crusade, (De Guignes, tom. iii. p. ii. p. 10-30.) * Note: See note,
page 556. Soliman and Kilidge-Arslan were father and son--M.]

[Footnote 81: On the fortifications, engines, and sieges of the middle
ages, see Muratori, (Antiquitat. Italiae, tom. ii. dissert. xxvi. p.
452-524.) The belfredus, from whence our belfrey, was the movable tower
of the ancients, (Ducange, tom. i. p. 608.)]

[Footnote 82: I cannot forbear remarking the resemblance between the
siege and lake of Nice, with the operations of Hernan Cortez before
Mexico. See Dr. Robertson,