o possess
himself of the rights of the Mamluks, and to appoint a commissioner to
levy the accustomed imposts. He caused a divan, or municipal council,
composed of the sheikhs and principal persons of Alexandria, to be
formed, in order to consult them on all the measures which the French
authority would have to take. He left three thousand men in garrison in
Alexandria, and gave the command of it to Kleber, whose wound was liable
to keep him in a state of inactivity for a month or two. He directed a
young Frenchman of extraordinary merit, and who gave promise of becoming
a great engineer, to put Alexandria in a state of defence, and to
construct there all the necessary works. This was Colonel Cretin,
who, in a short time, and at a small expense, executed superb works at
Alexandria. Bonaparte then ordered the fleet to be put in a place of
security. It was a question whether the large ships could enter the port
of Alexandria. A commission of naval officers was appointed to sound the
harbour and make a report. Meanwhile, the fleet was anchored in the road
of Abukir, and Bonaparte ordered Brueys to see to it that this question
should be speedily decided, and to proceed to Corfu if it should be
ascertained that the ships could not enter the harbour of Alexandria.

After he had attended to all these matters, he made preparations for
marching. A considerable flotilla, laden with provisions, artillery,
ammunition, and baggage, was to run along the coast to the Rosetta
mouth, enter the Nile, and ascend the river at the same time as the
French army. He then set out with the main body of the army, which,
after leaving the two garrisons in Malta and Alexandria, was about
thirty thousand strong. He had ordered his flotilla to proceed as high
as Ramanieh, on the banks of the Nile. There he purposed to join it, and
to proceed up the Nile parallel with it, in order to quit the Delta and
to reach Upper Egypt, or Bahireh. There were two roads from Alexandria
to Ramanieh; one through an inhabited country, along the sea-coast and
the Nile, and the other shorter and as the bird flies, but across the
desert of Damanhour. Bonaparte, without hesitation, chose the shorter.
It was of consequence that he should reach Cairo as speedily as
possible. De-saix marched with the advanced guard, and the main body
followed at a distance of a few leagues. They started on the 6th of
July. When the soldiers found themselves amidst this boundless plain,
with a