332 FROM ASIA MINOR 
taken place ; and it was afterwards known, that 
the sounds we then heard proceeded from an 
attack made by our troops against the fortress 
of Rachmanie upon the Nile beyond Rosetta: this 
had commenced upon that day, and hence alone 
the noise of guns could have originated. The 
distance of Rachmanie from the coast, in a direct 
line, is about ten leagues : this allows one hun^ 
dred and thirty miles for the space through 
which the sound had been propagated, when it 
reached our ears. 
On the sixteenth of April, towards sun-set, 
we first made the fleet off Alexandria from the 
mast-head of the Taurida. Our Captain, being 
out of his course, mistook it for the fleet of 
troop ships and other transports. Evening 
coming on, we steered for the harbour of 
Alexandria, believing it to be Ahoukir Bay, and 
wishing to get in before it grew dark; an in- 
tention which would soon have been interrupted 
by the guns of our fleet, if we had persevered ; 
but the boatswain at length perceiving our 
error, we lufled up, and lay-to all night. In 
the morning of April the seventeenth, we saw 
Alexandria very distinctly, with the French ships 
lying in the harbour; and had a fine view of 
the famous Column called Pompeys Pillar, as 
well as of the Obelisk to which mariners give 
