ich were brought to them from other quarters; and when a fresh
Mahometan force appeared, which was vastly greater than their own, they
found themselves shut in between it and the garrison of the castle,
which they had not been able to take when they took the city.

Their distress was now greater than before, and their case seemed to be
almost hopeless, when their spirits were revived by the discovery of
something which was supposed to be the lance by which our blessed Lord's
side was pierced on the cross. They rushed, with full confidence, to
attack the enemy on the outside; and the victory which they gained over
these was soon followed by the surrender of the castle. But a plague
which broke out among them obliged them to remain nearly nine months
longer at Antioch.

Having recruited their health, they moved on towards Jerusalem, although
their numbers were now much less than when they had reached Antioch.
When at length they came in sight of the holy city, a cry of "Jerusalem!
Jerusalem! God wills it!" ran through the army, although many were so
moved that they were unable to speak, and could only find vent for their
feelings in tears and sighs. All threw themselves on their knees and
kissed the sacred ground (June, 1099). The siege of Jerusalem lasted
forty days, during which the Crusaders suffered much from hunger, and
still more from thirst: for it was the height of summer, when all the
brooks of that hot country are dried up; the wells, about which we read
so much in holy Scripture, were purposely choked with rubbish, and the
cisterns were destroyed or poisoned. Water had to be fetched from a
distance of six miles, and was sold very dear; but it was so filthy that
many died after drinking it. The besiegers found much difficulty in
getting wood to make the engines which were then used in attacking the
walls of cities; and when they had at length been able to build such
machines as they wanted, the defenders tried to upset them, and threw at
them showers of burning pitch or oil, and what was called the Greek
fire, in the hope that they might set the engines themselves in flames,
or at least might scald or wound the people in them. We are even told
that two old women, who were supposed to be witches, were set to utter
spells and curses from the walls; but a stone from an engine crushed the
poor old wretches, and their bodies tumbled down into the ditch which
surrounded the city. The Crusaders were driven back in one