lry. Bonaparte,
who had been making a rapid march to join Kleber, suddenly made his
appearance on the field of battle. A tremendous fire, discharged
instantaneously from the three points of this triangle, assailed the
Mamluks who were in the midst, drove them in confusion upon one another,
and made them flee in disorder in all directions. Kleber's division,
fired with fresh ardour at this sight, rushed upon the village of Eouli,
stormed it at the point of the bayonet, and made a great carnage among
the enemy. In a moment the whole multitude was gone, and the plain was
left covered with dead. During this interval the besiegers had never
ceased mining and countermining about the walls of St. Jean d'Acre. The
siege of Acre lasted for sixty-five days. Bonaparte made eight desperate
but ineffectual assaults upon the city, which were repulsed by eleven
furious sallies on the part of the besieged garrison. It was absolutely
necessary to relinquish the enterprise. The strategic point in the East
was lost.

[Illustration: 116b.jpg Cairo--Eskibieh Quarter]

For two months the army had been before Acre; it had sustained
considerable losses, and it would have been imprudent to expose it to
more. The plague was in Acre, and the army had caught the contagion at
Jaffa. The season for landing troops approached, and the arrival of a
Turkish army near the mouths of the Nile was expected. By persisting
longer, Bonaparte was liable to weaken himself to such a degree as
not to be able to repulse new enemies. The main point of his plan was
effected, since he had rendered the enemy in that quarter incapable of
acting. He now commenced his march to recross the desert.

Bonaparte at length reached Egypt after an expedition of nearly
three months. It was high time for him to return; for the spirit
of insurrection had spread throughout the whole Delta. His presence
produced everywhere submission and tranquillity. He gave orders for
magnificent festivities at Cairo to celebrate his triumphs in Syria. He
had to curb not only the inhabitants, but his own generals and the army
itself. A deep discontent pervaded it. They had been for a whole year
in Egypt. It was now the month of June, and they were still ignorant of
what was passing in Europe, and of the disasters of France. They
merely knew that the Continent was in confusion, and that a new war was
inevitable. Bonaparte impatiently waited for further particulars, that
he might decide what course