volume one

4G8 KISTOEY OE THE CKrSAJ)ZS.
Spies, wliicli overlooked and dominated tlie port of Ptoiemais.
A vessel, upon which was placed a wooden tower,
advanced towards the fort thev wished to attack, whilst a
bark tilled with combustible matters, to which fire had been
set. was laimched into the port among the ^lussulmau fleet.
Evervthing seemed to promise success to this attempt, when,
all at once, the wind changed, and drove the blazing fire-ship
full upon the wooden tower, which was rapidly consumed by
the flames. The duke of Austria, who commanded this
perilous expedition, followed by several of the bravest of his
warriors, had mounted the tower of the infidels sword in
liand ; but at the sight of the conflagration which was
devourins: the vessel he came on, he cast himself into the
sea, covered with his own blood and that of the Saracens,
and 2:ained the shore almost alone.
• "Whilst the duke of Austria attacked the tower, the army
left their camp to make an assault upon the city. The
besiegers performed prodigies of valour without success, and
were obliged to return in haste to defend their own tents,
underscoing fire and pillage by the army of Saladin.
It was amidst this double defeat that Frederick, duke of
Swabia, arrived under the walls of Ptolemais with five
thousand men, the deplorable remains of a numerous army.
When the Christians in Syria had heard of the preparations
of the Grermans, their invincible powers were the theme of
ever\' tonsfue, and the Crusaders before Ptolemais were
animated by the most sangidne expectations ; but when
they arrived, and related the disasters they had undergone,
their presence spread mourning and depression throughout
the army.
Frederick wished to sisTialize his arrival bv an attack
upon the Saracens. " The Christians," say the Arabian
writers, " issued from their camp like ants swarming to
their prey, and covered the valleys and hills." They
attacked the advanced post of the Mussulman army, encamped
upon the heights of Aiadhiat, not far from the
mountains of Galilee. Saladin, whom a serious illness prevented
from mounting on horseback, caused himself to be
carried to Mount Karouba, from whence he could overlook
all that went on, and issue his orders. The Christians
renewed their attacks several times without producing any