MORTIFICATIONS AND MISERIES.
NO longer could the armed pilgrims, so recently buoyed up with the hope
of making themselves famous as the conquerors of Egypt, delude their
imaginations with the project of advancing to Cairo.
'It is necessary to retreat to Damietta,' said the wise and prudent.
'A retreat to Damietta in the face of the foe is more than our pride can
brook,' exclaimed the haughty and obstinate.
'Let us remain at Djedile, and trust to the course of events,' suggested
the reckless and the irresolute.
At Djedile, accordingly, the Crusaders remained; and ere long, their
calamities began in earnest, and daily increased in magnitude. First
came disease; then came famine; and death and despair soon did more than
the Saracens could with the utmost efforts have hoped to accomplish.
It appears that, after the two battles fought on the plains of
Mansourah, the Crusaders had neglected to bury the slain; and the bodies
thrown confusedly into the Achmoun, and floating on the water, stopped
before the wooden bridge, and infected the atmosphere. A contagious
disease was the consequence; and this, being increased by the abstinence
during Lent, wrought such havoc, that nothing was heard in the camp but
mourning and lamentation. Louis, sad, but still not in despair, exerted
himself to mitigate the sufferings of his army. At length he also fell
sick, and, every day, affairs wore a gloomier aspect.
'It seems,' said Guy Muschamp, who lay prostrate with sickness in the
tent of the Lord of Joinville, 'it seems that Heaven has abandoned the
soldiers of the Cross.'
'Hem,' replied Bisset, to whom this was addressed, 'I see not why Heaven
should be blamed for the evils which men bring on themselves by their
own folly. I warned you at Damietta what would be the end of all the
boastings which were uttered hourly. A haughty spirit goes before a
fall. Trust me, we have not yet seen the worst. By the might of Mary, we
armed pilgrims may yet find ourselves under a necessity similar to that
which made cannibals of the soldiers of King Cambyses when he made war
in Egypt!'
'King Cambyses?' repeated Guy, enquiringly.
'Ay,' replied Bisset, 'he was King of Persia, and almost as great a
monarch as King Louis; and when he was in this country his provisions
ran short. At first his soldiers lived on herbs, roots, and leaves; when
they could not get even these, they ate their horses and beasts of
burden; and, when the horses and beasts of burden were finished, they
began to devour one another; and every tenth man, on whom the lot fell,
was doomed to serve as a meal for his companions. Marry, we are like to
be in a similar plight; for famine begins to stare us in the face!'
Guy groaned aloud, and wondered why he had left England; and, at that
time, indeed, the new and terrible danger daunted every heart. Resolved
to cut off all communication between Damietta and the camp of the
Crusaders, the sultan ordered a number of galleys to be transported
overland, to form an ambuscade; and many French vessels were
intercepted. For a time, Louis could not comprehend how no arrivals took
place, and felt the gravest alarm. Ere long, however, one vessel,
belonging to the Count of Flanders, escaped the vigilance of the
galleys, and brought tidings that the sultan's flag was displayed all
along the Nile. The Crusaders received this intelligence with horror;
and, in a few days, the evil of famine was added to that of pestilence.
'What is to be done now?' asked they, giving way to despondency.
'It is quite clear,' said Louis, 'that, in order to save ourselves, we
must treat with our enemies.'
No time was lost. Philip de Montfort, a knight of renown, was despatched
as ambassador to the sultan, and was led to cherish hopes of success.
The sultan not only expressed his readiness to treat, but actually
nominated commissioners. At first everything went smoothly, and the
Saracens appeared reasonable in their demands. But when the question of
hostages came to be discussed, a difficulty arose.
'I am empowered to offer the Counts of Poictiers and Anjou as hostages,'
said De Montfort.
'No,' replied the Saracens, 'the sultan requires the King of France.'
'You ought to know Frenchmen better,' exclaimed Geoffrey de Segrines,
one of the commissioners; 'they would rather die than leave their king
in pledge.'
After this, the negotiation was broken off; and the French prepared to
cross the Achmoun by the bridge, and deliberate on the propriety of
marching back to Damietta. But even the passage of the bridge was not
effected without terrible danger and heavy loss. No sooner did the
Crusaders begin to move, than the Saracens came down upon them, and made
a furious attack; but Walter de Chatillon, a French baron of great fame,
led on his companions to the encounter, and after being seconded by the
Count of Anjou, succeeded in repulsing the foe. The Crusaders, however,
after remaining some days in their old camp, found that they were a prey
to the worst calamities, and, no longer hesitating, decided on a day for
returning to Damietta.
Unfortunately for the armed pilgrims, their resolution was no secret to
the Saracens, and when Touran Chah became aware of their intended
movement down the Nile, he devised measures to intercept them. He
himself harangued his soldiers, distributed money and provisions,
reinforced them with Arabs attracted to his standard by the prospect of
booty, and ordered boats with troops on board to descend the river, and
join the fleet already there; while bodies of light horse were placed on
all the roads by which the Crusaders were likely to make good their
retreat.
Nevertheless, the Crusaders, finding their present position desperate,
persevered in their resolution, and Tuesday, the 5th of April, was
appointed for the perilous enterprise. On the arrival of that day, the
sick, the wounded, the women, and the children, were embarked on the
Nile, and, at the same time, several French nobles, and the papal
legate, got on board a vessel. No doubt seems to have existed that Louis
might have saved himself. Even the Arabian historians admit that the
French king might have escaped, either in a boat or on horseback, if he
would have abandoned his army. But, with characteristic generosity, he
distinctly refused to separate his fate from theirs. Anxious about his
safety, the soldiers ran along the bank, shouting to the boatmen not to
set sail till the king embarked.
'Wait for the king--wait for the king!' cried they.
'No,' said Louis, his heart touched, but his resolution firm; 'go on. I
will share weal or woe with my soldiers. I am not such a niggard of
life, that I grudge to risk it in such company, and in such a cause.'
And now the boats began to descend the Nile; and at the same time the
Duke of Burgundy, having broken up his camp, about nightfall commenced a
retreat towards Damietta. But at this stage, the French were guilty of a
piece of negligence that was destined to cost them dear. The king had
ordered the wooden bridge over the Achmoun to be destroyed. In their
agitation and haste, the French paid no attention to the order. In vain
Bisset, the English knight, protested against such insane indifference
to a manifest peril.
'My masters,' said he, bluntly, 'we can hardly be deemed otherwise than
madmen, if we leave that bridge standing as it is, to afford the
Saracens a safe passage over the canal, to attack us in the rear.'
'Sir knight,' replied the French drily, for they did not relish an
Englishman's interference, 'it is not from that quarter that danger is
most to be apprehended.'
'Nevertheless,' urged Bisset.
'We are wasting time to no purpose,' said the French; 'and this day,
time is more precious than your counsel.'
'As you will, my masters,' replied Bisset; 'only credit me, that if you
leave that bridge behind you to facilitate the operations of your
enemies, you will place your army in such a predicament, that neither
the craft of Alexander of Macedon, nor William the Norman--could either
come from their graves to lead--would avail to save it from destruction
ere reaching Damietta.'
And having administered this warning, Bisset withdrew, with the
consolation of a man who has done at least his duty, and with the air
also of a man much too reckless as to his personal safety to fear much
on his own account from the consequences of the blunders and incapacity
of others; then, arming himself, he saddled his steed, girded on his
sword, hung his battle-axe at his saddle-bow, and went to attend King
Louis during the perilous enterprise of marching through a country, with
armed foes posted at the turn of every road.
'Hearken to that English tail,' said the French one to another, as
Bisset withdrew; 'these islanders are so timid, that they will next be
afraid of their own shadows.'
'By the head of St. Anthony,' said a knight, who had been attached to
the Count of Artois, 'I hate the tailed English so, that I would leave
the bridge as it is, if only to mortify one of them.'