eld of battle.

"Hardly were these dispositions completed, when the Saracens, with
loud cries, descended from the mountains, and, as soon as they
arrived within bowshot, let fall a shower of arrows upon the
Christians. This discharge did little injury to the knights,
defended as they were by their armour and shields; but a great
number of horses were wounded, and, in their pain, introduced
disorder into the ranks. The archers, the slingers, the
crossbow-men, scattered along the flanks of the Christian army, in
vain returned the discharge with their stones and javelins; their
missiles could not reach the enemy, and fell on the ground without
doing any mischief. The Christian horse, impatient at being
inactive spectators of the combat, charged across the river and
fell headlong with their lances in rest on the Saracens; but they
avoided the shock, and, opening their ranks, dispersed when the
formidable mass approached them. Again rallying at a distance in
small bodies, they let fly a cloud of arrows at their ponderous
assailants, whose heavy horses, oppressed with weighty armour,
could not overtake the swift steeds of the desert.

"This mode of combating turned entirely to the advantage of the
Turks. The whole dispositions made by the Christians before the
battle became useless. Every chief, almost every cavalier, fought
for himself; he took counsel from his own ardour, and it alone. The
Christians combated almost singly on a ground with which they were
unacquainted; in that terrible strife, death became the only reward
of undisciplined valour. Robert of Paris the same who had sat on
the imperial throne beside Alexis, was mortally wounded, after
having seen forty of his bravest companions fall by his side.
William, brother of Tancred, fell pierced by arrows. Tancred
himself, whose lance was broken, and who had no other weapon but
his sword, owed his life to Bohemond, who came up to the rescue,
and extricated him from the hands of the Infidels.

"While victory was still uncertain between force and address,
agility and valour, fresh troops of the Saracens descended from the
mountains, and mingled in overwhelming proportion in the conflict.
The Sultan of Nice took advantage of the moment when the cavalry of
the Crusaders withstood with difficulty