of independence. We shall not be astonished to know that amidst this
prodigious diversity of races Syria is more easy to conquer than to keep
possession of. With the exception of the Ansarich, who inhabit the north
of Syria, all of them obeyed, at the moment when the war broke out, the
Emir Bechir, a Druse, prince of the family of the celebrated Fakr el
Din, who revolted against Amurath the Fourth. The Emir Bechir, when
Abdallah raised the standard of revolt in 1822, sought the protection of
Mehemet Ali, who re-established him in his government.

Let us now follow Ibrahim in his march. At the head of 32,000 regular
troops, and four or five thousand Bedouin Arabs and Hassouras, he took
the same route as Bonaparte, and rapidly advanced against Saint Jean
d'Acre. Without firing a shot, he made himself master of Jaffa, Caipha,
Jerusalem, Naplonsia. Tabaneh and all the country between Gaza and
Acre submitted at his approach. Master of the sea, by which he expected
reinforcements both in men and material, he made haste to occupy the
whole line of coast as far as Ladikich, and set down on the 27th of
November, before Saint Jean d'Acre, with a corps of 15,000 regular
infantry, two regiments of lancers, 1,000 Bedouins, two companies of
sappers, one of cannoniers, one of bombardiers, and a train of field
and siege artillery. The place is situated on a promontory surrounded on
three sides by the sea, and defended on the fourth by a fort, crowned
by a tower, which serves as a citadel. This last fort, the bastions
of which, from their retiring flanks being too short, is the only one
accessible on the land side, but it was enfiladed from a neighbouring
height. Bonaparte, at the siege of Saint Jean d'Acre, was destitute of
siege artillery, and was not master of the sea. He had, therefore, many
more obstacles to encounter than Ibrahim.

During the first ten days the cannonade of the besiegers was not very
vigorous, but on the 9th of December, five frigates having cast anchor
before the place, with some gun-boats under sail, a general attack was
made, and from eight in the morning until four in the afternoon the
fleet and the batteries on shore kept up a well-directed fire. The
besieged on their side were not inactive. The Egyptians experienced a
heavy loss, and several of their ships were much cut up. From the 9th
to the 18th the bombardment lasted night and day. On the 10th some heavy
guns were placed in battery. The operations of the