the south brought them into the Holy Land, and pressing forward, they
came at last within sight of Jerusalem itself.

"So fearful had been the losses of the Crusaders that of seven hundred
thousand who crossed the Hellespont, not more than forty thousand
reached the end of the pilgrimage. This fragment of an army, which had
appeared before a very strongly fortified town, possessed no means of
capturing the place--none of the machines of war necessary for the
purpose, no provisions or munitions of any kind. Water was scarce also;
and it appeared as if the remnant of the great army of Godfrey de
Bouillon had arrived before Jerusalem only to perish there.

"Happily just at this time a further band of Crusaders from Genoa, who
had reached Jaffa, made their appearance. They were provided with
stores, and had skilled workmen capable of making the machines for the
siege. On July 14, 1099, the attack was made, and after resistance
gallant and desperate as the assault, the Crusaders burst into the city,
massacred the whole of the defenders and inhabitants, calculated at
seventy thousand in number, and so became masters of the holy sepulcher.

"The Sultan of Egypt was meanwhile advancing to the assistance of the
Mohammedans of Syria; but Godfrey, with twenty thousand of his best men,
advanced to meet the vast host, and scattered them as if they had been
sheep. Godfrey was now chosen King of Jerusalem, and the rest of his
army--save three hundred knights and two hundred soldiers, who agreed to
remain with him--returned to their home. The news of the victory led
other armies of Crusaders to follow the example of that of Godfrey; but
as these were almost as completely without organization or leadership as
those of Peter the Hermit, they suffered miserably on their way, and few
indeed ever reached the Holy Land. Godfrey died in 1100, and his brother