•whom they had to deal ; Saladin, who appears throughout to have possessed the fullest information respecting their movements, sent orders to his son, El Afdhal, at Damascus, to prepare for their reception. Accordingly, when they reached the sea coast of Syria they found Beirut occupied by the Damascene troops, and a large army awaiting them in the Merj 'Ayun, which prevented the Franks in Acre from coming to the assistance of their comrades. Taking advantage, also, of their absence, Saladin bore down upon Jaffa, which, in the absence of King Bichard, could not hold out for long. The Muslims had already effected an entry into the city, and were about to take possession of the fortress, when Saladin, who could never refuse a petition for quarter, and whose experience of the Crusaders' good faith had not yet taught him prudence, allowed himself to be prevailed upon by promises of submission on the part of the patriarch and other chief men of the town to grant a day's delay and treat about the terms of capitulation. Of this concession the Christians, as usual, took a mean advantage, and while they deluded the Sultan with false oaths and promises, they were sending express messengers to hasten the return of Bichard, who unexpectedly arrived by sea in the very midst of the negotiations and took possession of the citadel. The Muslims thus lost much of the advantage which their victory gave them, but they still retained possession of the town itself, and recovered the greater part of the property which had been plundered from the Egyptian contingent. Both parties were now at a dead lock ; the Franks on their side could not hope to take Jerusalem, and the Muslims on theirs were unable to drive the Christians out of the country. Bichard was the first to propose an armistice; but Saladin still held out, and strenuously urged upon his officers the necessity for continuing the jehad, or "Holy War." But the Mohammedan chiefs were weary of continued fighting without decisive results,