nd over the
mouths of the Nile, so that the great cities, Pelusium, Tanis, Sais,
Bubastis, Memphis, might be blockaded both by land and water. Persia, up
to the accession of Cambyses, had (so to speak) no fleet. Cambyses, by
threatening the Phoenician cities on the land side, succeeded in inducing
them to submit to him; he then, with their aid, detached Cyprus from her
Egyptian masters, and obtained the further assistance of a Cypriote
squadron. Some Greek ships also gave their services, and the result was
that he had the entire command of the sea, and was able to hold
possession of all the Nile mouths, and to bring his fleet up the river
to the very walls of Memphis.

Still, there were difficulties to overcome in respect of the passage of
an army. Egypt is separated from Palestine by a considerable tract of
waterless desert and it was necessary to convey by sea, or on the backs
of camels, all the water required for the troops, for the
camp-followers, and for the baggage animals. A numerous camel corps was
indispensable for the conveyance, and the Persians, though employing
camels on their expeditions, are not likely to have possessed any very
considerable number of these beasts. At any rate, it was extremely
convenient to find a fresh and abundant supply of camels on the spot,
together with abundant water-skins. This good fortune befell the Persian
monarch, who was able to make an alliance with the sheikh of the most
powerful Bedouin tribe of the region, who undertook the entire
responsibility of the water supply. He thus crossed the desert without
disaster or suffering, and brought his entire force intact to the
Pelusiac branch of the Nile, near the point where it poured its waters
into the Mediterranean Sea.

At this point he found a mixed Egyptian and Graeco-Carian army prepared
to resist his further progress. Amasis had died about six months
previously, leaving his throne to his son, Psamatik the Third. This
young prince, notwithstanding his inexperience, had taken all the
measures that were possible to protect his kingdom from the invader. He
had gathered together his Greek and Carian mercenaries, and having also
levied a large native army, had posted the entire force not far from
Pelusium, in an advantageous position. On his Greeks and Carians he
could thoroughly depend, though they had lately seen but little service;
his native levies, on the contrary, were of scarcely any value; they
were jealous of the merce