ed of its slowest member. On
the 28th the squadron itself was off the town, when the admiral to his
dismay found that not only the French had not appeared, but that no
certain news of their destination was to be had.

Preoccupied as his mind had been with the fear that the enemy had so
far the start that their army would be out of the transports before he
overtook them, the idea that he might outstrip them does not seem to
have entered his head. Only three vessels had been spoken since Sicily
was left behind,--two from Alexandria and one from the Archipelago;
but these knew nothing of the French, being doubtless, when met, ahead
of the latter's advance. That Nelson again consulted with his captains
seems probable--indeed almost certain, from casual mention; but if
so, their opinion as to the future course does not appear. The
unremitting eagerness of his temperament, the singleness of his
purpose, which saw the whole situation concentrated in the French
fleet, had worked together up to the present to bring him to the true
strategic point just ahead of time; although, by no fault of his own,
he had started near three weeks late.[62] These two high qualities now
conspired to mislead him by their own excess. "His active and anxious
mind," wrote Captain Berry, "would not permit him to rest a moment in
the same place; he therefore shaped his course to the northward, for
the coast of Caramania [in Asia Minor], to reach as quickly as
possible some quarter where information could probably be obtained."

To say that this was a mistake is perhaps to be wise only after the
event. Had Nelson known that the French, when leaving Malta, had but
three days' start of him, instead of six, as the Genoese had reported,
he might have suspected the truth; it is not wonderful that he failed
to believe that he could have gained six days. The actual gain _was_
but three; for, departing practically at the same time from points
equidistant from Alexandria, Bonaparte's armament appeared before that
place on the third day after Nelson arrived. The troops were landed
immediately, and the transports entered the port, thus making secure
their escape from the British pursuit. The ships of war remained
outside.

Meanwhile Nelson, "distressed for the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies,"
was beating back to the westward against the wind which had carried
him rapidly to the coast of Egypt. Rightly or wrongly, he had not
chosen to wait at the point which mature