On June 10th, 1099, the Crusaders marched up the gloomy steeps to Emmaus, and looking over its barren edges caught their first sight of Zion. The cry of "Jerusalem, Jerusalem," rang out and down the slopes, and as the rear columns came up the war cry "It is the will of God," resounded throughout the whole army until reëchoed by the slopes of the Mount of Olives and heard in the City of David. Horsemen dismounted and walked barefoot, thousands bent their knees and kissed the earth. Hallelujahs arose, petitions went up for the remission of their sins, tears were shed over the death of Christ, and the profanation of His tomb. Pious fervor soon changed into fierceness and wrath as oaths were resworn to rescue the Holy City from the sacrilegious hands of the followers of Mohammed. They found a fierce and valiant memory awaiting them. The surrounding villages had been destroyed, cisterns and wells filled up or poisoned, the land made a desert. The siege began at once; but their situation grew desperate. They were suffering under a scorching heat and the sand storms out of the southern deserts. Plants and animals perished. Kedron ran dry. The army became a prey to raging thirst. Water brought in skin bottles a distance of nine miles was worth its weight in silver. The old historians paint in most frightful colors the misery of the Crusaders at this juncture; and had the Mussulmen made a determined sortie upon the staggering hosts, the army must have perished. Their strength and courage revived by the arrival of a Genoese fleet at Jaffa laden with provisions. A Syrian pointed out a mountain thirty miles away that was forest-clad. Every body wrought with unceasing energy. Water was brought long distances by the women and children; machines of war towers, catapults and battering rams were erected and pushed up close under the walls of Jerusalem. The priests exhorted to peace and harmony. The hermit of the Mount of Olives led a penitential march around the city. On their return to camp as the Christian army marched by the tomb of David, and Mt. Zion they chanted "The nations of the West shall fear the Lord; and the nations of the East shall see His glory." On the morning of July 14, 1099, all the Crusaders flew to arms at the sound of the trumpets to make their first grand assault. The great war machines were pushed close to the walls. Showers of stones were hurled upon the ramparts. Archers and crossbowmen kept up a continual fire from their towers. Scaling ladders were planted. The great leaders were everywhere. For twelve long hours the Crusaders maintained the unequal fight, and then nightfall covered their first repulse. The morning saw the renewal of the conflict more furious and desperate than before. It was carried on with demoniac obstinacy for half a day. Their courage began to fail; nearly all their machines were on fire and there was no water to quench the flames; even their leaders began to waver.