ASPECT OF DAMIETTA. 75

thusiasm, ‘it is so pleasant to the eye, that I could
aimost persuade myself I am looking upon that ter-
restrial paradise in which the father and mother
of mankind lived so happily before eating the fatal
apple.’

No wonder, when such was the aspect of the country
around Damietta, that the armed pilgrims were im-
patient to land.

And no time was lost; for, of all the armed pil-
erims, King Louis was perhaps the most eager to
encounter the enemies of his religion; and, soon
aiter daybreak, on the morning of I'riday, a signal
was given for the fleet to weigh anchor and draw
near to the shore.

Meanwhile the Saracens, under the Emir Fak-
reddin, were on the alert; and while a bell, that had
remained in the great mosque of Damietta ever
since John de Brienne seized the city in 1217, tolled
loudly to warn the inhabitants of the danger, the
Moslem warriors got under arms, and with cavalry
and infantry occupied the whole of that part of the
strand at which the Crusaders had resolved to dis-
embark.

But the armed pilgrims were nothing daunted by
the sight of the formidable preparations made to
oppose their landing. Getting into barques which
had been provided for the purpose, they prepared to
fight their way ashore, in defiance of all dangers.
Ranging themselves in two lines, with their lances in
their hands, and their horses by their sides, the
knights and nobles stood erect in their boats, while
in front, and on the wings of the armament, were