HISTORY OF EUROPE. [217 



coast was sounded; the pass to Da- 

 inietta was marked by buoys and 

 gun-boats, and gun-boats were 

 planted across the line of entrance. 

 The Turkish army took possession of 

 a tower «t the mouth of the Nile, 

 and formed it into a post, defended 

 with a piece of artillery. Thus 

 protected, the army, amounting to 

 four thousand men, made good its 

 landing, the first of November, and 

 began to entrench themselves on the 

 point, situated between the right 

 side of the Nile, the sea, and the 

 lake Menzala. 



Buonaparte, perceiving from the 

 movements of the grand vizier's ar- 

 my, as well as those of Mourad 

 Bey, had, about the middle of Au- 

 gust, 1799> immediately before his 

 departure from Egypt, dispatched a 

 force, not less than fifty thousand 

 "Strong, under general Dessaix ; of 

 •which six thousand seven hundred 

 were French infantry and cavalry, 

 towards the Syrian coast, to observe 

 and oppose them. 



The Turks had no sooner esta- 

 blished themselves in the post just 

 -mentioned, than general Verdier, 

 who was encamped between Lesbe, 

 and the coast, marched against 

 them with the detachment, under 

 his command, of one thousand 

 French, without waiting for any 

 reinforcement from the main army, 

 attacked, and destroyed three thou- 

 sand, and made eight hundred pri- 

 soners,among whom wasIsmaelBey, 

 the second in command ; and took 

 thirty-two stand of colours, and five 

 ■pieces of artillery. This division 

 made part of an army of eight thou- 

 sand Janissaries, wrhich had sailed 

 from Constantinople. The vessels 

 remained sometime longer on the 

 coast, which they were at last 

 obliged to quit, on account of bad 

 wt-alher. The French continued 



their preparations against a more 

 numerous and formidable army, 

 which was about to pour on them 

 across the deserts of Syria. 



While the Turks were engaged 

 in attempts to expel the French 

 from Egypt, the grand signior con- 

 cluded a treaty with the British 

 monarch : the principal article of 

 which was, that the Turks should 

 continue the war against the French 

 republic, even after the recovery of 

 Egypt. Towards the end of No- 

 vember, an attack was made on the 

 French post, at the mouth of the 

 Damietta branch of the Nile, by 

 Seyd Ali, at the head of a Turkish 

 detachment, and by sirSidney Smith, 

 with the fleet. The Turks who 

 landed, soon routed by their impe- 

 tuosity, the first line of the French; 

 but the remaining force of the ene- 

 my changed the scene, and repelled 

 the Mahommedans ; of whom two 

 thousand were killed, or made 

 prisoners. — Near the close of 

 1799> the grand vizier, whose 

 army had rested for some time at 

 Gaza, having crossed the desert, 

 formed the siege of El Arish. It 

 was conducted by major Douglas, 

 and other British officers : and the 

 fort was taken by storm, on the twen- 

 ty-ninth of December. Three hun- 

 dred of the defenders were put to 

 the sword, by the brutal fury of the 

 assailants, after the French had laid 

 down their arms. Buonaparte, sen- 

 sible that such a loss as that which 

 had been sustained at Aboukir, was 

 but trifling to a great nation, and 

 whose pride and interest were 

 equally wounded by the invasion of 

 the finest province in their empire, 

 dispatched a letter to the grand vi- 

 zier, fraught with sentiments of 

 conciliation, and expressive of a 

 strong desire of peace. This letter, 

 written at the moment of victory. 



