leaders, and Count Baldwin, brother of Duke Godfrey, left the main body
with about 1500 men, and founded a kingdom for himself in Mesopotamia.

"The main body, slowly and painfully, and suffering from disease, famine,
and the heat, made its way south. Antioch, a city of great strength and
importance, was besieged, but it proved so strong that it resisted for
many months, and was at last only taken by treachery.

"After the capture of this place the sufferings of the crusaders so far
from being diminished were redoubled. They themselves during the siege
had bought up all the food that could be brought from the surrounding
country, while the magazines of the town were found, when an entry was
effected, to be entirely deserted. The enemy, aided by a great Persian
host, came down, and those who had been the besiegers were now besieged.
However, when in the last strait the Christian army sallied out, and
inspired with supernatural strength, defeated the Turks and Persians,
with a slaughter of 100,000 men. Another slow movement to 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 700,000 who
crossed the Hellespont, not more than 40,000 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