TO ALEXANDRIA. 329 
close to the fortifications of the place, chal- chap. 
lenged us ; and having- given them the word, . ^^^' , 
we were suffered to pass on. As we approached 
the gates of the city, we saw a vast number of 
Arabs, who were stationed on the outside of 
the walls, with baskets of poultry and other 
provisions, waiting for permission from the 
English to supply the inhabitants, who were 
then greatly distressed for want of food. At 
the gates, a French sentinel received our pass- Entrance 
port, and conducted us to an officer for its exa- French 
mination; who directed us to present it again, 
when we should arrive at head-quarters, within 
the city. In the desolate scene of sand and 
ruins which intervenes between the outer gates 
and the interior fortifications, we met a party of 
miserable Turks, who were endeavouring, lite- 
rally, to crawl towards their camp'. They had 
been liberated that morning from their dun- 
geons. The legs of these poor creatures, swoln 
to a size that was truly horrible, were covered 
with large ulcers ; and their eyes were terrible, 
from inflammation. Some, too weak to advance. 
(l) Some repetition will perhaps be noticed of observations made 
in a former work {Tomb of Alexatider, p. 38.); but the author did not 
consider any thing which occurred in a preceding publication as 
authorizing the omission of a part of his Journal upon the present 
occasion. 
