Putting to sea with a portion of the fleet, and with troops to the number of three thousand, and sailing northward till they could no longer be seen from the shore, they then, probably at nightfall, changed their course, and steering south-west, made for the Mendesian mouth of the Nile, which was only guarded by the twin forts with their connecting bridge.  Here they landed without opposition, and proceeded to reconnoitre the forts.  The garrison gave them battle outside the walls, but was defeated with great loss; and the forts themselves were taken.  The remainder of the force conveyed by the ships, was then landed without difficulty; and the invaders, having the complete mastery of one of the Nile mouths, had it in their power to direct their attack to any point that might seem to them at once most important and most vulnerable.

Under these circumstances the Athenian general, Iphicrates, strongly recommended a dash at Memphis.  The main strength of the Egyptian army had been concentrated at Pelusium.  Strong detachments held the other mouths of the Nile.  Memphis, he felt sure, must be denuded of troops, and could probably be carried by a coup de main; but the advice of the rapid Greek was little to the taste of the slow-moving and cautious Persian.  Pharnabazus declined to sanction any rash enterprise—­he would proceed according to the rules of art.  He had the advantage of numbers—­why was he to throw it away?  No, a thousand times no.  He would wait till his army was once more collected together, and would then march on Memphis, without exposing himself or his troops to any danger.  The city would be sure to fall, and the object of the expedition would be accomplished.  In vain did Iphicrates offer to run the whole risk himself—­to take no troops with him besides his own mercenaries, and attack the city with them.  As the Greek grew more hot and reckless, the Persian became more cool and wary.  What might not be behind this foolhardiness?  Might it not be possible that the Greek was looking to his own interests, and designing, if he got possession of Memphis, to set himself up as king of Egypt?  There was no knowing what his intention might be; and at any rate it was safest to wait the arrival of the troops.  So Pharnabazus once more coolly declined his subordinate’s offer.

Nectanebo, on his side, having thrown a strong garrison into Memphis, moved his army across the Delta from the Pelusiac to the Mendesian branch of the Nile, and having concentrated it in the neighbourhood of the captured forts, proceeded to operate against the invaders.  His troops harassed the enemy in a number of petty engagements, and in the course of time inflicted on them considerable loss.  In this way midsummer was reached—­the Etesian winds began to blow, and the Nile to rise.  Gradually the abounding stream spread itself over the broad Delta; roads were overflowed, river-courses obliterated; the season for military operations was clearly past.  There was no possible course but to return to Asia.  Iphicrates and Pharnabazus took their departure amid mutual recriminations, each accusing the other of having caused the expedition to be a complete failure.