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THE HISTORY OE THE ORDER OF [book I.

Christian army) could not but admire the hilarityof the soldiers at the approach of their formidableadversaries, and expressing his surprise to Godfrey,swore, taking him as a witness, to embrace thereligion that inspired its followers with suchstrength and bravery. At length they got into theplain, all decorated with the Saracen flags andtents, stretching for a league eastward. Leaningback on the sand-hills to the south, were theEgyptian forces drawn up in form of a crescent,like a young stag presenting its long, unweatheredhorns. Nor the crusaders came without the wildherds spoken of, who, allured by the sound oftheir trumpets, raised clouds of dust as they keptwheeling round them, like charges of squadronsof cavalry, with a noise of strange confusion.Until then, the Saracen troops had been taughtto believe that the Latins would not even dare towait for them within the walls of Jerusalem, butwould decamp for Europe at hearing of their ap-proach, and now, seeing the direct contrary, themore they had shown security hitherto, the morethey were struck with a sudden panic terror,and were sure that millions of crusaders had comefresh from beyond sea. The battle itself was notlong. The new levies first, and the rest of theMahometans ran away soon. Little resistance, but