10. The results of Nelson's victory were highly important. In giving England the command of the Mediterranean, it utterly spoiled Bonaparte's design. He came to conquer Egypt, because he regarded that country as the gate to India and as a kind of jumping-off place from which to attack our Eastern possessions. But the loss of the French fleet left him and his army stranded in Egypt without the means of drawing supplies from France. Bonaparte did not at once give up all hope of reaching India. He crossed the desert into Syria, but was brought to a standstill before the walls of Acre. And on trying to take the place by storm, his troops were hurled back by the Turkish garrison, with the aid of a small British squadron under Sir Sidney Smith. Bonaparte was wont to say, in later days, that but for Sidney Smith, he might have died Emperor of the East. 11. To the victory of the Nile we also owe our possession of Malta; for the destruction of the French Mediterranean fleet left our ships free to blockade, without serious hindrance, the harbour of Valetta, and to starve out the French garrison by whom it was held. Thus fell into our hands one of the strongest links of the chain that binds India to England, and what is regarded--from its strong fortress, excellent harbour, and central situation---the best naval station in the Mediterranean. (8) NELSON'S CROWNING VICTORY. 1. Napoleon hastened back from Egypt to France at the first opportunity, and being raised to supreme power took measures for building a strong fleet. This he viewed as the first step towards the invasion of England. He next collected an immense flotilla of flat-bottomed boats at Boulougne, to transport an invading army across the Channel. His troops were eagerly awaiting the signal to embark, like hounds straining at the leash with the hare in sight. 2. Napoleon knew that the only chance of getting his army across "the silver streak" was to get command of the Channel for at least a few hours. With this end in view, he had induced Spain to join him, and devised a scheme for the union of all the French and Spanish men-of-war and their sudden appearance in the Channel. But the best-laid schemes often go awry, and so did this one. The allied fleets did, indeed, come together, but not in the Channel. They were encountered by a British fleet under Nelson, off Cape Trafalgar.