CHAPTER XXV.
MORTIFICATIONS AND MISERIES.
NO longer could the armed pilgrims, so recently buoyed up with the hopeof making themselves famous as the conquerors of Egypt, delude theirimaginations 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 canbrook,' exclaimed the haughty and obstinate.
'Let us remain at Djedile, and trust to the course of events,' suggestedthe reckless and the irresolute.
At Djedile, accordingly, the Crusaders remained; and ere long, theircalamities began in earnest, and daily increased in magnitude. Firstcame disease; then came famine; and death and despair soon did more thanthe Saracens could with the utmost efforts have hoped to accomplish.
It appears that, after the two battles fought on the plains ofMansourah, the Crusaders had neglected to bury the slain; and the bodiesthrown confusedly into the Achmoun, and floating on the water, stoppedbefore the wooden bridge, and infected the atmosphere. A contagiousdisease was the consequence; and this, being increased by the abstinenceduring Lent, wrought such havoc, that nothing was heard in the camp butmourning and lamentation. Louis, sad, but still not in despair, exertedhimself to mitigate the sufferings of his army. At length he also fellsick, and, every day, affairs wore a gloomier aspect.
'It seems,' said Guy Muschamp, who lay prostrate with sickness in thetent of the Lord of Joinville, 'it seems that Heaven has abandoned thesoldiers of the Cross.'
'Hem,' replied Bisset, to whom this was addressed, 'I see not why Heavenshould be blamed for the evils which men bring on themselves by theirown folly. I warned you at Damietta what would be the end of all theboastings which were uttered hourly. A haughty spirit goes before afall. Trust me, we have not yet seen the worst. By the might of Mary, wearmed pilgrims may yet find ourselves under a necessity similar to thatwhich made cannibals of the soldiers of King Cambyses when he made warin Egypt!'
'King Cambyses?' repeated Guy, enquiringly.
'Ay,' replied Bisset, 'he was King of Persia, and almost as great amonarch as King Louis; and when he was in this country his provisionsran short. At first his soldiers lived on herbs, roots, and leaves; whenthey could not get even these, they ate their horses and beasts ofburden; and, when the horses and beasts of burden were finished, theybegan 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 tobe 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 thattime, indeed, the new and terrible danger daunted every heart. Resolvedto cut off all communication between Damietta and the camp of theCrusaders, the sultan ordered a number of galleys to be transportedoverland, to form an ambuscade; and many French vessels wereintercepted. For a time, Louis could not comprehend how no arrivals tookplace, and felt the gravest alarm. Ere long, however, one vessel,belonging to the Count of Flanders, escaped the vigilance of thegalleys, and brought tidings that the sultan's flag was displayed allalong 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, wemust treat with our enemies.'
No time was lost. Philip de Montfort, a knight of renown, was despatchedas ambassador to the sultan, and was led to cherish hopes of success.The sultan not only expressed his readiness to treat, but actuallynominated commissioners. At first everything went smoothly, and theSaracens appeared reasonable in their demands. But when the question ofhostages 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 kingin pledge.'
After this, the negotiation was broken off; and the French prepared tocross the Achmoun by the bridge, and deliberate on the propriety ofmarching back to Damietta. But even the passage of the bridge was noteffected without terrible danger and heavy loss. No sooner did theCrusaders begin to move, than the Saracens came down upon them, and madea furious attack; but Walter de Chatillon, a French baron of great fame,led on his companions to the encounter, and after being seconded by theCount of Anjou, succeeded in repulsing the foe. The Crusaders, however,after remaining some days in their old camp, found that they were a preyto the worst calamities, and, no longer hesitating, decided on a day forreturning to Damietta.
Unfortunately for the armed pilgrims, their resolution was no secret tothe Saracens, and when Touran Chah became aware of their intendedmovement down the Nile, he devised measures to intercept them. Hehimself harangued his soldiers, distributed money and provisions,reinforced them with Arabs attracted to his standard by the prospect ofbooty, and ordered boats with troops on board to descend the river, andjoin the fleet already there; while bodies of light horse were placed onall the roads by which the Crusaders were likely to make good theirretreat.
Nevertheless, the Crusaders, finding their present position desperate,persevered in their resolution, and Tuesday, the 5th of April, wasappointed for the perilous enterprise. On the arrival of that day, thesick, the wounded, the women, and the children, were embarked on theNile, and, at the same time, several French nobles, and the papallegate, got on board a vessel. No doubt seems to have existed that Louismight have saved himself. Even the Arabian historians admit that theFrench king might have escaped, either in a boat or on horseback, if hewould have abandoned his army. But, with characteristic generosity, hedistinctly refused to separate his fate from theirs. Anxious about hissafety, the soldiers ran along the bank, shouting to the boatmen not toset 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. Iwill share weal or woe with my soldiers. I am not such a niggard oflife, 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 theDuke of Burgundy, having broken up his camp, about nightfall commenced aretreat towards Damietta. But at this stage, the French were guilty of apiece of negligence that was destined to cost them dear. The king hadordered the wooden bridge over the Achmoun to be destroyed. In theiragitation and haste, the French paid no attention to the order. In vainBisset, the English knight, protested against such insane indifferenceto a manifest peril.
'My masters,' said he, bluntly, 'we can hardly be deemed otherwise thanmadmen, if we leave that bridge standing as it is, to afford theSaracens a safe passage over the canal, to attack us in the rear.'
'Sir knight,' replied the French drily, for they did not relish anEnglishman's interference, 'it is not from that quarter that danger ismost 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 youleave that bridge behind you to facilitate the operations of yourenemies, you will place your army in such a predicament, that neitherthe craft of Alexander of Macedon, nor William the Norman--could eithercome from their graves to lead--would avail to save it from destructionere reaching Damietta.'
And having administered this warning, Bisset withdrew, with theconsolation of a man who has done at least his duty, and with the airalso of a man much too reckless as to his personal safety to fear muchon his own account from the consequences of the blunders and incapacityof others; then, arming himself, he saddled his steed, girded on hissword, hung his battle-axe at his saddle-bow, and went to atte
nd KingLouis during the perilous enterprise of marching through a country, witharmed foes posted at the turn of every road.
'Hearken to that English tail,' said the French one to another, asBisset withdrew; 'these islanders are so timid, that they will next beafraid of their own shadows.'
'By the head of St. Anthony,' said a knight, who had been attached tothe Count of Artois, 'I hate the tailed English so, that I would leavethe bridge as it is, if only to mortify one of them.'
Boy Crusaders: A Story of the Days of Louis IX. Page 26