was carried for the troops in skins.
At times portions of the army, almost perishing with thirst, surrendered
themselves to despair. The presence of Napoleon, however, invariably
reanimated hope and courage. The soldiers were ashamed to complain when
they saw their youthful leader, pale and slender, and with health
seriously impaired, toiling along by their side, sharing cheerfully all
their privations and fatigues. The heat of these glowing deserts, beneath
the fierce glare of a cloudless sun, was almost intolerable. At one time,
when nearly suffocated by the intense heat, while passing by some ruins, a
common soldier yielded to Napoleon the fragments of a pillar, in whose
refreshing shadow he contrived, for a few moments, to shield his head.
"And this," said Napoleon, "was no trifling concession." At another time a
party of the troops got lost among the sand hills and nearly perished.
Napoleon took some Arabs on dromedaries, and hastened in pursuit of them.
When found they were nearly dead from thirst, fatigue, and despair. Some
of the younger soldiers, in their frenzy, had broken their muskets and
thrown them away. The sight of their beloved general revived their hopes,
and inspired them with new life. Napoleon informed them that provisions
and water were at hand. "But," said he, "if relief had been longer
delayed, would that have excused your murmurings and loss of courage? No!
soldiers, learn to die with honor."

After a march of five days they arrived before El Arish, one of those
small, strongly fortified military towns, deformed by every aspect of
poverty and wretchedness, with which iron despotism has filled the once
fertile plains of Syria. El Arish was within the boundaries of Egypt. It
had been captured by the Turks, and they had accumulated there immense
magazines of military stores. It was the hour of midnight when Napoleon
arrived beneath its walls. The Turks, not dreaming that a foe was near,
were roused from sleep by the storm of balls and shells, shaking the walls
and crushing down through the roofs of their dwellings. They sprang to
their guns, and, behind the ramparts of stone, fought with their
accustomed bravery. But after a short and bloody conflict, they were
compelled to retire, and effected a disorderly retreat. The garrison, in
the citadel, consisting of nearly two thousand men, were taken prisoners.
Napoleon was not a little embarrassed in deciding what to do with these
men. He had but ten th