He had disengaged himself from the stirrups and was seen fighting for a moment on foot; but he had soon disappeared in a general volley at close quarters.
Bonaparte sighed, shed a tear and murmured: "Another!" and apparently thought no more about it.

But he did inquire to what tribe belonged these Bedouins, who had just killed two of the men he loved best.

He was told that they were an independent tribe whose village was situated some thirty miles off.

Bonaparte left them a month, that they might become convinced of their impunity; then, the month elapsed, he ordered one of his aides-de-camp, named Crosier, to surround the village, destroy the huts, behead the men, put them in sacks, and bring the rest of the population, that is to say, the women and children, to Cairo.
Crosier executed the order punctually; all the women and children who could be captured were brought to Cairo, and also with them one living Arab, gagged and bound to his horse's back.
"Why is this man still alive ?" asked Bonaparte.

"I ordered you to behead every man who was able to bear arms." "General," said Crosier, who also possessed a smattering of Arabian words, "just as I was about to order his head cut off, I understood him to offer to exchange a prisoner for his life.