Obstacles 
©ncoun- 
338 EGYPT. 
circumstance of disadvantage, and yet drove 
from their posts, with the bayonet, the veteran 
legions o^ Buonapartts army; a mode of fighting 
the'^Ex^. 1^ which the French were supposed, at that 
undo" s'r ti'^^^' ^^ ^^ superior to every other nation. It 
Ralph ^ras there manifested, as it has since been so 
Abcrcrom- 
i>'e- decidedly proved, that, man to man, they have 
no chance of success when opposed to British 
soldiers. The laurels gained by our army in 
Egypt can never fade'. Posterity will relate 
the heroism, which, on these remote and almost 
unknown deserts, enabled an inexperienced 
army to vanquish an enemy, not only in pos- 
session of the territory, but also inured to the 
climate, and well acquainted with the country. 
The obstacles encountered by our troops were 
greater than have ever been described, the 
most powerful of which originated in their want 
of information. Never did so much ignorance 
characterize an expedition. The maps they 
brought with them would have disgraced a 
Chinese Atlas. The instruction which they had 
received was a mere mass of error; and their 
guides were unable to direct them. It is said, 
Sir Ralph Abercromhie lamented, in his last 
moments, the false notions he had been taught to 
(1) " The meanest soldier of that army," said Mr. Sheridan, "ought t© 
b^ covered with laurels," 
