CHAPTER XIV.
1798.
The mirage--Skirmishes with the Arabs--Mistake of General Desaix's division--Wretchedness of a rich sheik--Combat beneath the General's window--The flotilla on the Nile--Its distress and danger--The battle of Chebreisse--Defeat of the Mamelukes--Bonaparte's reception of me--Letter to Louis Bonaparte--Success of the French army-- Triumphal entrance into Cairo--Civil and military organisation of Cairo--Bonaparte's letter to his brother Joseph--Plan of colonisation.
On the 7th of July General Bonaparte left Alexandria for Damanhour.

In the vast plains of Bohahire'h the mirage every moment presented to the eye wide sheets of water, while, as we advanced, we found nothing but barren ground full of deep cracks.

Villages, which at a distance appear to be surrounded with water, are, on a nearer approach, discovered to be situated on heights, mostly artificial, by which they are raised above the inundations of the Nile.

This illusion continually recurs; and it is the more treacherous, inasmuch as it presents to the eye the perfect representation of water, at the time when the want of that article is most felt.

This mirage is so considerable in the plain of Pelusium that shortly after sunrise no object is recognisable.