CHAPTER XX.

1799.

Murat and Moarad Bey at the Natron Lakes—­Bonapartes departure for the Pyramids—­Sudden appearance of an Arab messenger—­News of the landing of the Turks at Aboukir—­Bonaparte marches against them—­They are immediately attacked and destroyed in the battle of Aboukir—­Interchange of communication with the English—­Sudden determination to return to Europe—­Outfit of two frigates—­ Bonaparte’s dissimulation—­His pretended journey to the Delta—­ Generous behaviour of Lanusee—­Bonaparte’s artifice—­His bad treatment of General Kleber.

Bonaparte had hardly set foot in Cairo when he was, informed that the brave and indefatigable Mourad Bey was descending by the Fayoum, in order to form a junction with reinforcements which had been for some time past collected in the Bohahire’h.  In all probability this movement of Mourad Bey was the result of news he had received respecting plans formed at Constantinople, and the landing which took place a short time after in the roads of Aboukir.  Mourad had selected the Natron Lakes for his place of rendezvous.  To these lakes Murat was despatched.  The Bey no sooner got notice of Murat’s presence than he determined to retreat and to proceed by the desert to Gizeh and the great Pyramids.  I certainly never heard, until I returned to France, that Mourad had ascended to the summit of the great Pyramid for the propose of passing his time in contemplating Cairo!

Napoleon said at St. Helena that Murat might have taken Mourad Bey had the latter remained four-and-twenty hours longer in the Natron Lakes:  Now the fact is, that as soon as the Bey heard of Murat’s arrival he was off The Arabian spies were far more serviceable to our enemies than to us; we had not, indeed, a single friend in Egypt.  Mourad Bey, on being informed by the Arabs, who acted as couriers for him, that General Desaix was despatching a column from the south of Egypt against him, that the General-in-Chief was also about to follow his footsteps along the frontier of Gizeh, and that the Natron Lakes and the Bohahire’h were occupied by forces superior to his own, retired into Fayoum.

Bonaparte attached great importance to the destruction of Mourad, whom he looked upon as the bravest, the most active, and most dangerous of his enemies in Egypt.  As all accounts concurred in stating that Mourad, supported by the Arabs, was hovering about the skirts of the desert of the province of Gizeh, Bonaparte proceeded to the Pyramids, there to direct different corps against that able and dangerous partisan.  He, indeed, reckoned him so redoubtable that he wrote to Murat, saying he wished fortune might reserve for him the honour of putting the seal on the conquest of Egypt by the destruction of this opponent.