XXV. THE BATTLES OF THE PYRAMIDS AND OF
ABOUKIR.

6

4

1

15

On the twenty-first of July the army came within sight of the Pyramids, which, but for the regularity of the outline, might have been taken for a distant ridge of rocky mountains. While every eye was fixed on these hoary monuments of the past, they gained the brow of a gentle eminence, and saw at length spread out before them the vast army of the Beys', its right posted on an intrenched12 camp by13 the Nile, its centre' and left composed of that brilliant cavalry 16 with which they were by this time 17 acquainted. Napoleon, riding forwards 18 to reconnoitre1", perceived, (what escaped the observation of all his staff 20), that the guns on the intrenched camp were not provided with carriages, and instantly decided on his plan of attack.22 He prepared 23 to throw his force? on 25 the left, where the guns could not be available.o 6 Mourad Bey, who commanded in chief27, speedily penetrated his design, and the Mamelukes advanced 30 gallantly to the encounter. 34 "Soldiers," said Napoleon, "from the summit 32 of yonder (jene) pyramids forty ages 33 behold3 you;" and the battle began.

2

1

The French formed 35 into separate 36 squares 37, and

1 Schlacht.

2 Pyramide, f. 3zu Gesicht bekommen. Asay, had Umriß. grau. 7Spige, f. mäßig. 9ausbreiten. 13 an. 14 die Mitte.

there not been. 10 Bey, pl. Beys. 11lehnen an. 1 2 verschanzen. 15bilden aus. 16 Reiterei. 17nunmehr. 18vorreiten. 19besichtigen, and add the camp. 20Stab, m. 21 entwerfen. 22 Angriffsplan, m. 23An= stalten treffen. 24 Macht. 25auf. 26benußt werden. 27den Ober= befehl haben. 28errathen; design Absicht. 29 Mameluck, m. (G.—en). 30rücken in. 31Treffen. 32Gipfel, m. 33 Jahrhundert, n. 34herabschen auf. 35sich ordnen. 36 einzeln. 37Quarré, n. (pl.—§).

7

55

52

2

50

They

awaited 38 the assaults 39 of the Mamelukes. These came on with impetuous speed and wild cries1o, and practised every means to force their passage13 into the serried ranks45 of their new opponents. 46 They rushed on the line of bayonets, backed 48 their horses upon them, and at last, maddened by the firmness which they could not shake 5o, dashed their pistols and carabines into the faces of the men. 3 who had fallen wounded from their seats, would 5 4 crawl along the sand, and hew at the legs of their enemies with their scymitars.57 Nothing could move the French: the bayonet, and the continued 58 roll 59 of musketry, by degrees thinned the host 3 around them; and Buonaparte at last advanced. Such were the confusion and terror of the enemy when he came near the camp, that they abandoned their works, and flung themselves by67 hundreds into the Nile. The carnage was prodigious. 69 Multitudes more11 were drowned. 72 Mourad and a remnant 3 of his Mamelukes retreated on Upper Egypt.75 Cairo surrendered76: Lower Egypt was entirely conquered.

8

1

Such were the immediate consequences of "The Battle of the Pyramids." The name of Buonaparte now

38 erwarten. 39 Angriff. 40 oGeschrei, n., only in sing 'versuchen. 42erzwingen. 43 Bruch. 44 geschlossen. 45 Reihe, f. 46 Gegner. 47fich stürzen; bayonet das Bayonett (pl.-e). 48rücklings treiben. 49zur Verzweiflung bringen. 50erschüttern. 51schleudern. 52 Karabiner, m. 53 say, to the men into the face; and man is here Soldat. 54 mögen. 55 friechen. 56hauen nach. 57frummer Säbel. 58 fortseßen. 59 Rollen. 60 Musketenfeuer, n. 61 allmählig. 62lichten. 63 Schaar, f. 64 vor= rücken. 65 sich nähern, with Dat. 66 stürzen. 67zu. 68 Blutbad, n. 69 ungeheuer. 70 Masse, f. 71say, besides, außerdem noch. 72ertrinken. 73Ueberbleibsel. 74nach. 75Ober-Aegypten. 76sich ergeben. 77 Unter

8

1

82

spread panic through the East; and the "Sultan Kebir" (or king of fire, as he was called from 8 the deadly effects of the musketry in this engagement 8 2 ), was considered as the destined 83 scourges of God, whom it was hopeless to resist.

9

94

97

The French now had recompense8 for the toils 8 6 they had undergone. 87 The bodies of the slain 88 and drowned Mamelukes were rifled89, and it being the custom for these warriors to carry their wealth abouto1, them, a single corpse 2 often made a soldier's fortune. In the deserted93 harems 4 of the chiefs at Cairo, and in the neighbouring villages, men at length formed 95 proofs that "eastern luxury"96 is no empty name. The Savans ransacked99 the monuments 100 of antiquity, and founded collections which will ever reflect10 honour102 on their zeal and skill. Napoleon himself visited the interior of the great Pyramid, and on entering the secret chamber, in which, 3,000 years before, some Pharaoh had been inurned 103, repeated once more his confession of faith 104 "There is no God but God, and Mahomet is his prophet." The bearded Orientals 105, who accompanied him, concealed their doubts 106 of his orthodoxy 107, and responded 108 very solemnly: "God is merciful.109 Thou hast spoken like the most learned of the prophets." While Napoleon was thus pursuing 10 78verbreiten. 79 Feuerkönig. 8owegen. 81 Wirkung, sing. 82 Kampf, m. 83 bestimmen. 84 Geißel, f. 85 belohnt sein. 86 Anstrengung. 87 sich unterziehen, with Dat. 88erschlagen. 89 berauben. 90 Reichthum, m. 91um, with the Pronoun reflective. 92 Leichnam, m. 93 verlassen. 91Frauengemach, n. (pl.—ächer). 95erhalten, Beweis. ländische Pracht. 97 beer. 98 Gelehrt.

96 morgen=

99plündern. 100 Denkmal, n.

2ein ehrenvolles Licht. 3 einfargen. 4 Glaubensbekennt= "Zweifel, m., an, with Dat. 7 Recht= 9barmherzig. 1overfolgen.

1werfen.

niß, n. 5Orientale, m. gläubigkeit. santworten.

1.4

army

his career of victory in the interior13, Nelson, having scoured the Mediterranean in quest of him115, once more returned to the coast of Egypt. He arrived within sight of the towers of Alexandria on the first of August ten days after the battle of the Pyramids had been fought and won - and found Brueyes still at his moorings 118 in the Bay of Abukir. Nothing seems to be more clear than that the French admiral ought to have made the best of his way119 to France, or at least to Malta, the moment 120 the had taken possession of Alexandria. Napoleón constantly asserted that he had urged Brueyes to do so. Brueyes himself lived not to give his testimony, but Gantheaume, the vice-admiral, always persisted in stating! 23, in direct contradiction 125 to Buonaparte, that the fleet remained by the general's express 27 desire. The testimonials being thus balanced 28, it is necessary to consult 129 other materials 130 of judgment; and it appears extremely difficult to doubt (bezweiflen) that the French admiral, who, it132 is acknowledged on all hands, dreaded the encounter 133 of Nelson, remained off134 Alexandria for the sole purpose of aiding 136 the motions 137 of the army, and in consequence of 38 what he at least conceived 139 to be the wish of its general. However this might have been140, the results of his delay were terrible,

1

4 1

126

11 Laufbahn, f. 12say, victorious siegreich. 13das Innere. 14durch= streifen. 15say, after him. 16ins Bereich kommen. 17 kämpfen. 18 vor Anker.

20say, as soon as. 25 Widerspruch, mit. 29um Rath fragen.

19 say, returned as soon as possible. 21 drängen. 22bestehen auf. 23 Aussage. 24gerade. 26 auf. 27 ausdrücklich. 28 sich die Wage halten. 30Quelle, f. 31say, in order to form a judgment; Urtheil fällen. 32say, as it is. 33 Zusammentreffen mit. 34 vor. 35einzig um. stüßen. 37 Bewegung. 38say, of that in Gemäßheit mit dem. 39halten für. 4owie dem auch gewesen sei, die Folgen 2. 41 Verzug.

3 Gunter

The French fleet were moored in a semicircle 14 3 in the bay of Abukir, so near the shore, that, as their admiral believed, it was impossible for the enemy to come between him and the land. He expected, therefore, to be attacked on one side only, and thought himself sure, that the English could not renew 145 their favourite manœuvre 146 of breaking the line, and so at once dividing the opposed 147 fleet, and placing148 the ships individually 149 between two fires. But 150 Nelson daringly judged 152 that his ships might force a pas1 5 1 sage 153 between the French and the land, and succeeding in this attempt, instantly brought on the conflict 155 in the same dreaded 16 form157 which Brueyes had believed impossible. The details 158 of this great seafight belong to the history of the English hero. The battle was obstinate1o; it lasted more than twenty hours, 161 pause 6 3 including the whole night. A solitary 162

1.

61

occurred 164 at midnight, when the French admiral's ship165, L'Orient, a superb166 vessel of one hundred and twenty guns, took fire167, and blew up168 in the heart69 of the conflicting squadrons 170, with an explosion 171 that for a moment silenced 172 rage in awe. The admiral himself perished. Next morning two shattered 17 173 ships, out of all the French fleet, with difficulty made their escape174 to the open sea. The rest

6

42vor Anker liegen. 43 Halbkreis, m. 44e8 für gewiß halten. 45wiederholen. 46 Lieblingsverfahren. 47 feindlich. 48 seßen. 49 einzeln. 5oin= deffen. 51voller Kühnheit. 52dafür halten. 53 Weg, m. 54veranlassen. 55 Kampf. 56 furchtbar. 57 Weise, f. 58 besonderer Umstand. 59 Seeschlacht. 6ohartnäckig. Leinschließen; use the Past Part., and put it after night. 62einzig. 63 Pause, f. 64 Statt finden. 65 Admiralschiff, n. 66herrlich. 67in Feuer gerathen. 68 in die Luft springen. 69 Mitte, f. 70 Geschwader, n. 71Knall, m. 72say, turned rage into silent awe; to turn verwandeln, awe Ehrfurchtsstaunen. 73zertrümmert. 74entkommen.