CHAP. IX. FROM ASIA MINOR TO EGYPT. The Tauride sails for Egypt - Vigilance of the English Cruizers- THE impatience of our Captain to get forward with his made sails for made us eager to leave Macri. Having got in our stock CHAP. IX. of water, and our sheep from Abercrombie's Isle, a contrary wind prevailing, we beat out of the Gulph, and made our The Tauride course for Egypt. The wide surface of the Libyan Sea Egypt. was before us. We entertained anxious thoughts concerning the safety of our little bark, deeply laden, and illsuited, either in her complement of mariners or style of construction, to encounter the deadly gales and the calms of the Mediterranean. Landsmen, however, are generally erroneous in their calculations at sea. The success of the voyage surpassed our most sanguine expectations. A land-breeze came on soon after we had cleared the Gulph: the sea was unruffled: we stole along, almost imperceptibly, with hardly wind or sensible motion, over a surface so tranquil, that a glass full of water might have remained upon deck without spilling a drop. During this voyage, which continued only five days, the most surprising vigilance was manifested by our cruizers, who had the guardianship of the coast of Egypt. Over an expanse comprehending six degrees of latitude, it might have been supposed a vessel lying so low in the water, and so small as that wherein we sailed, would escape observation; but we were spoken to at least half-a-dozen times; and the master of one of the ships actually boarded the Tauride, believing, from her French aspect, that he should take possession of her as a prize. A very remarkable circumstance occurred, which Extraordinary may convey notions of the propagation of sound by means of water, greater than will perhaps be credited. I can Vigilance of the English Cruizers. Instance of the Propagation of Sound. VOL. II. 2 M appeal CHAP. IX. appeal to the testimony of those who with me were witnesses of the fact, for the truth of what I now relate. By observation of latitude, we were an hundred miles from the Egyptian coast: the sea was perfectly calm, with little or no swell, and scarcely a breath of wind stirring: suddenly, Captain Castle called our attention to the sound as of distant artillery, vibrating in a low, gentle murmur upon the water, and distinctly heard at intervals during the whole day. He said it was caused by an engagement at sea, and believed the enemy had attacked our fleet off Alexandria. No such event had, however, taken place; and it was afterwards known, that the sounds we then heard proceeded from an attack made by our troops against the fortress of Rachmanie upon the Nile, beyond Rosetta: this had commenced upon that day, and hence alone the noise of guns could have originated. The distance of Rachmanie from the coast, in a direct line, is about ten leagues; allowing a distance of one hundred and thirty miles for the space through which the sound had been propagated when it reached our ears. On the sixteenth of April, towards sun-set, we first made the fleet off Alexandria from the mast head of the Tauride. Our Captain, being out of his course, mistook it for the fleet of troop ships and other transports. Evening coming on, we steered for the harbour of Alexandria, believing it to be Aboukir Bay, and wishing to get in before it grew dark; an intention which would soon have been interrupted by the guns of our fleet, if we had persevered; but the boatswain at length perceiving our error, we luffed up, up, and lay-to all night. CHAP. IX. Astonishing the British In the morning of April the seventeenth, we saw Alexandria very distinctly, with the French ships lying in the harbour; and had a fine view of the famous Column of Diocletian, then called Pompey's Pillar, as well as of the Obelisk, to which mariners give the name of Cleopatra's Needle. A stiff gale coming on, we steered along the coast for Aboukir. About nine o'clock A. M. we made Nelson's Island, and presently saw the whole fleet of troop ships, transports, with all the Turkish frigates, merchant vessels, and other craft, belonging to the Expedition. It was the grandest naval sight I had ever beheld; much more surprising in its appearance than the presented by famous Russian armament, prepared during a former war. Innumerable masts, like an immense forest, covering the sea; swarms of sailing-boats and cutters, plying about in all directions between the larger vessels; presented a scene which it is not possible to describe. We stood on, for a considerable distance, to the eastward of Nelson's Island, in order to avoid the shoal where the Culloden struck before the action of the Nile; our course being precisely the same pursued by the British fleet previous to that memorable engagement; and the fleet of transports lying at anchor afforded a correct representation of the position of the French armament upon that occasion. Bearing down at last upon the fleet, we passed under the stern of the Delft frigate. Unmindful of the temerity of such proceeding, I seized the trumpet, hailing a young officer upon the poop, and inquired for the Captain Castle immediately warned situation of the Braakel. Fleet. CHAP. IX. Spectacle warned us to beware of repeating the question; saying, that a man |