roger of wendover. [A.D . 1099. security, Raimond Pilet, and William de Sabran, with five hundred cavalry, who, arriving in the plain country near the cities of Lydda and Ramula, encountered there six hundred Turks ; an engagement took place, in which four of our knights and several foot-soldiers were slain ; but our troops finally prevailed ; two hundred of the Turks were slain, and the rest put to flight. There fell, however, on our side, two noblemen, Gilbert de Treva, and Aicard de Monte Merla; the rest reached Joppa in .safety, and so the convoy was escorted safely to Jerusalem, where they were received with much joy, and were of no small benefit to the Christian army. The machines being completed, the city is again assaulted. At the end of one month the machines were completed, and the bishops and elders of the army gave orders for a general reconciliation to take place among the soldiers, with fasting, solemn processions, and prayers to God. All this wa3 accordingly done, and on a fixed day the whole multitude of the pilgrims came together in arms, animated with one purpose, either to lay down their lives for Christ, or to restore his city to Christian liberty. All of them then advancing towards the walls, did their best to bring up and place the machines, that they might the better attack the Turks who fought from the towers and battlements ; but the enemy resisted bravely, throwing back upon us, with horrid noise, darts, arrows, and stones from their engines ; whilst our men, covered by their shields and hurdles, shot on the Turks with long bows and cross-bows, and throwing massive stones, advanced nearer and nearer to the walls, allowing no rest to the garrison upon the walls. Others of our soldiers, placed within the machines and towers, aimed large stones from their petrariaa and trubucles against the walls, which it was their object to shake and cause to fall ; whilst others again from some smaller engines aimed lighter stones against those who were on the walls, in this way distracting their attention from our men who were advancing below. But still they made little progress ; for the Turks who were within let down from the walls bags of straw, carpets, beams of wood, and cushions filled with tow, the softness of which broke the force of the engines and mocked the toil of our men ; besides which, the stones and darts thrown from