nalized the
enemy's fleet at anchor in Aboukir Bay. No time was lost by Nelson
in preparing for action: he had sought them with eagerness, and he
determined to conquer them now that they were discovered. Signals were
given for battle: to attack the enemy's van and centre, as they lay at
anchor. Nelson had scarcely taken rest or food for some days, but he now
ordered dinner to be served up; and he observed to his officers as they
rose from the table: "Before this time to-morrow I shall have gained a
peerage or Westminster Abbey." The enemy's ships were moored in compact
line of battle, describing an obtuse angle, close in with the shore,
flanked by gunboats, four frigates, and a battery of guns and mortars
on an island in their van. This was a formidable position, and to some
commanders one which would have deterred from an attack. But it was
not so with Nelson. As soon as he discovered the enemy's position, his
genius dictated what should be done. Where an enemy's ship could swing,
he reasoned, there was room for a British ship to anchor. Acting upon
this thought, therefore, he determined to station his ships on the
inner side of the French line. In this way the two fleets joined battle.
Minutely to describe this great sea-fight would require many pages, it
will be sufficient therefore to say, that the victory on the part of the
English was complete. Of the thirteen French ships of the line, eight
surrendered, two struck on the shore and were afterwards captured, one
blew up, and two only escaped. Had Nelson not received a severe wound in
the head in the very hottest of the battle, it is probable that not one
of the enemy's fleet would have left Aboukir Bay. The British loss in
killed and wounded was 895; the French, 8330 in killed, wounded, and
captured. "Victory," said Nelson, "is not a word strong enough for such
a scene: it is a conquest."

The effects of this battle were soon seen in Egypt. The Sultan issued
an indignant manifesto, declaring war against France for invading one of
his provinces in a time of peace and amity; and called upon the Pashas
of Syria to collect their forces. The destruction of the French fleet
was announced far and wide by fires kindled by the Arabs; and on the
22nd of September, the people of Cairo killed a great number of the
French in the streets. This insurrection was put down by a dreadful
massacre of the inhabitants; but the blood of the Moslems thus slain,
and many of them in the gre