214 THE HISTORY OF THE ORDER OF [book ii.

hearer, with, it is difficult to say, what deepmelancholy.

In the interim, Kelaoun was expiring; yet beforeit, had an interview with his son Chalil, and inpresence of many of his emirs, charged him topromise he would not celebrate his father’s funeralrites until after he had taken Acre, and put itsinhabitants to the sword; and Chalil swore so-lemnly to execute the paternal commands. Hethereupon urged his emirs to serve his son as faith-fully as they had him, and then breathed his last,with devout peace of mind, as they said . 1

As soon as he was a corpse, the ulemas andimams placed him in the middle of a lighted chapel,and kept reciting prayers over his remains, readingverses from the Koran the whole night, to invoketheir Prophet against the Giaours ; and it may beunderstood that the same mode was to continueuntil when the regular funeral should ensue afterChalil’s return from Acre, for the which he instantlyset out with his entire army according to his oath . 2Tremendous were the battering engines now ready,the several pieces of one of which were hardly con-tained in a hundred waggons. And, had cannonsbeen among them, it would not have astonished

1 Bosio.—Ycrtot: iii. 545.—Arab, Chron., 569.

2 Michaud : Hist., y. 127.