volume one

effect upon their enemies ;
HISTOEY OF THE CEUSADES. 469
and after having- fought the whole
day, they renounced the hope of a triumph, and returned to
their camp, \Yhere the famine, which was beginnmg to be
severely felt, allowed them nothing wherewith to recruit
their exhausted strength.
Every leader of this multitude of Crusaders was obliged
to feed the troops that he commanded, and they at no
thne were possessed of more than provisions for one week.
"When a Christian fleet arrived, they enjoyed abundance ; but
when no vessels appeared for a time, they were destitute of
the commonest necessaries of life. As winter approached,
and the sea became more stormy, \\ant was necessarily
proportionately increased.
"When the Crusaders made incursions upon neighbouring
lands to procure provisions, they fought amidst the ambuscades
of the Saracens. Animated by despair, they several
times attacked the enemy in their intrenchments, but were
always repulsed. At length famine began to make frightful
ravages in the Cliristian army ; a measure of flour, that
weighed two hundi'ed and fifty pounds, was sold for ninetysix
crowns, a sum so exorbitant that not even princes could
pay it. The leaders insisted upon fixing the prices of all
provisions brought to the camp ; the venders then hid them
in the earth, and the scarcity was increased by the very
measures adopted to lessen it.* The Crusaders v/ere obliged
to feed upon their horses ; next they devoured leather,
harness, and old skins, which were sold for their weight in
gold. Many Christians, driven from their camp by famine,
took refuge in that of Saladin ; some embraced Islamism to
obtain relief in their misery ; whilst others, going on board
* Florentinus, bishop of Ptolemais, relates, that when the famine began
to reign among the besiegers, to put a check upon the greediness of those
who sold provisions at too high a price
—
Barones constituunt uno prorsus ore
Ut deiitur cibaria precio minore.
Sed enornovissimus pejor fit priore
Dum non audent vendere coiisueto more.
Non enim tiim cibaria inveniuntur
Per forum venalia ; sed effodiuntur
Paviraenta, domini recluduntur.
Sic inops et locuples famem patiuntur.