The chargers, saddled, with their long comparisons dragging on the ground, were embarked in the flat _palanders_; [60] and the knights stood by the side of their horses, in complete armor, their helmets laced, and their lances in their hands.

The numerous train of sergeants [61] and archers occupied the transports; and each transport was towed by the strength and swiftness of a galley.

The six divisions traversed the Bosphorus, without encountering an enemy or an obstacle: to land the foremost was the wish, to conquer or die was the resolution, of every division and of every soldier.

Jealous of the preeminence of danger, the knights in their heavy armor leaped into the sea, when it rose as high as their girdle; the sergeants and archers were animated by their valor; and the squires, letting down the draw-bridges of the palanders, led the horses to the shore.

Before their squadrons could mount, and form, and couch their Lances, the seventy thousand Greeks had vanished from their sight: the timid Alexius gave the example to his troops; and it was only by the plunder of his rich pavilions that the Latins were informed that they had fought against an emperor.