Nelson, on the other hand, not finding the
enemy where he had expected, turned back and traversed the sea in quest
of him, to Rhodes--and thence to Syracuse. It is supposed that on the
20th of June the fleets almost touched each other; but that the
thickness of the haze, and Nelson's want of frigates, prevented an
encounter. Napoleon, reconnoitring the coast, ascertained that there was
no longer any fleet off Alexandria, and in effect reached his
destination undisturbed on the 1st of July. At that moment a strange
sail appeared on the verge of the horizon. "Fortune," exclaimed he, "I
ask but six hours more--wilt thou refuse them?" The vessel proved not to
be English; and the disembarkation immediately took place, in spite of a
violent gale and a tremendous surf. The Admiral Brueyes in vain
endeavoured to persuade Buonaparte to remain on board until the weather
should be more calm. He sternly refused, and landed at Marabout, three
leagues to the eastward of Alexandria, about one in the morning of the
2nd July--having lost many by drowning.

Egypt, a province of the Ottoman empire, then at peace with France, was
of course wholly unprepared for this invasion. The Turks, however,
mustered what force they could, and, shutting the gates of the city,
held out--until a division, headed by Napoleon in person, forced their
way, at three in the morning, through the old crumbling walls, and it
was no longer possible to resist at once superior numbers and European
discipline. Two hundred French died in the assault; the Turkish loss was
much greater: and, if we are to believe almost all who have written
concerning this part of his history, Buonaparte, after taking
possession, abandoned the place for three hours to the unbridled licence
of military execution and rapine--an atrocity for which, if it really
occurred, there could have been only one pretext; namely, the urgent
necessity of striking awe and terror into the hearts of the population,
and so preventing them from obeying the call of their military
chieftains, to take arms in defence of the soil. De Bourienne and
Berthier, however, wholly deny this story.

If Napoleon's conduct on this occasion was as it has been commonly
represented, it was strangely contrasted with the tenor of his _General
Order_ to the army, issued immediately before their disembarkation.
"The people," he then said, "with whom we are about to live, are
Mahometans; the first article of their faith is, _The