On this the Saracens gave him some water in a cup; but he no sooner put
it to his lips, than the water began to run back through his nostrils.
'Having an imposthume in my throat,' says he, 'imagine what a wretched
state I was in; and I looked more to death than life.'

When Joinville's attendants saw the water running through his nostrils,
they began to weep; and the good Saracen who had saved him asked them
why they were so sorrowful.

'Because,' they replied, 'our lord is nearly dead.'

And thereupon the good Saracen, taking pity on their distress, ran to
tell the emirs; and one of them coming, told Joinville to be of good
cheer, for he would bring a drink that should cure him in two days.
Under the influence of this beverage, the seneschal ere long recovered;
and when he was well, he was sent for by the admiral, who commanded the
sultan's galleys.

'Are you,' asked the admiral, 'the king's cousin, as was reported?'

'No,' answered Joinville, 'I am not;' and he informed the admiral why it
had been stated.

'You were well advised,' said the admiral; 'for otherwise you would have
been all murdered, and cast into the river. Have you any acquaintance
with the Emperor Frederic, or are you of his lineage?'

'Truly,' replied Joinville, 'I have heard my mother say that I am the
emperor's second cousin.'

'Ah,' said the admiral, 'I rejoice to hear it; and I love you all the
better on that account.'

It appears that Joinville became quite friendly with the admiral, and
was treated by him with kindness; and, on Sunday, when it was ordered
that all the Crusaders who had been taken prisoners on the Nile should
be brought to a castle on the banks, Joinville was invited to go thither
in the admiral's company. On that occasion, the seneschal had to endure
the horror of seeing his chaplain dragged from the hold of his galley
and instantly killed and flung into the water; and scarcely was this
over when the chaplain's clerk was dragged out of the hold, so weak that
he could hardly stand, felled on the head with a mortar, and cast after
his master. In this manner the Saracens dealt with all the captives who
were suffering from sickness.

Horrorstruck at such a destruction of human life, Joinville, by means of
the good Saracen who had saved his life, informed them that they were
doing very wrong; but they treated the matter lightly.

'We are only destroying men who are of no use,' said they; 'for they are
much too ill wit