as banished from the camp, and
that, instead of waiting till the morning's dawn to recommence their
march, they set out shortly after midnight, full of hope and
enthusiasm. For upwards of four hours the mail-clad legions tramped
steadfastly forward in the dark, and when the sun arose in unclouded
splendour, the towers and pinnacles of Jerusalem gleamed upon their
sight. All the tender feelings of their nature were touched; no longer
brutal fanatics, but meek and humble pilgrims, they knelt down upon the
sod, and with tears in their eyes, exclaimed to one another,
"Jerusalem! Jerusalem!" Some of them kissed the holy ground, others
stretched themselves at full length upon it, in order that their bodies
might come in contact with the greatest possible extent of it, and
others prayed aloud. The women and children who had followed the camp
from Europe, and shared in all its dangers, fatigues, and privations,
were more boisterous in their joy; the former from long-nourished
enthusiasm, and the latter from mere imitation, [Guibert de Nogent
relates a curious instance of the imitativeness of these juvenile
crusaders. He says that, during the siege of Antioch, the Christian and
Saracen boys used to issue forth every evening from the town and camp
in great numbers under the command of captains chosen from among
themselves. Armed with sticks instead of swords, and stones instead of
arrows, they ranged themselves in battle order, and shouting each the
war-cry of their country, fought with the utmost desperation. Some of
them lost their eyes, and many became cripples for life from the
injuries they received on these occasions.] and prayed, and wept, and
laughed till they almost put the more sober to the blush.

The first ebullition of their gladness having subsided, the army
marched forward, and invested the city on all sides. The assault was
almost immediately begun; but after the Christians had lost some of
their bravest knights, that mode of attack was abandoned, and the army
commenced its preparations for a regular siege. Mangonels, moveable
towers, and battering rams, together with a machine called a sow, made
of wood, and covered with raw hides, inside of which miners worked to
undermine the walls, were forthwith constructed; and to restore the
courage and discipline of the army, which had suffered from the
unworthy dissensions of the chiefs, the latter held out the hand of
friendship to each other, and Tancred and the Count o