On the morning of the 9th our regiment, along with a party of Corsican riflemen, advanced along the peninsula about three miles from where we landed, to a place where it was contracted into less than half a mile in breadth. Here was a redoubt and a flag-staff, for communicating signals betwixt Aboukir castle and Alexandria: but the enemy had left it, and thrown a large gun, intended to be mounted on it, into the ditch. In the course of the day, the 42d regiment and others, came and occupied this position, and we returned to our former one, where we remained until the morning of the 12th, waiting for the landing of some horses, ammunition, and provisions, from the fleet. We made booths of the branches of the date (or palm tree), to shelter ourselves from the dew, which fell very copiously, and we had sometimes heavy showers of rain and hail, which made it pretty cold. The thermometer was frequently below 50. On the morning of the 12th, having filled our canteens with water, and furnished ourselves with three days provisions, the whole army advanced. Having proceeded a little beyond the narrow neck of the peninsula, the enemy's cavalry began to skirmish; our march was slow and often interrupted; the surface of the ground being very uneven, the sand very deep, and the day very warm, parties were frequently sent to assist the seamen with the guns, and even those guns which had horses to draw them, were unable to get forward, for the horses had never been used to the draught, and were often unmanageable.--Before evening we came within sight of the enemy's army posted on a height. Their strength was about 6000 men, of which 600 were cavalry, with 20 to 30 pieces of cannon. As it was too late to engage them that night, we halted, and began to dig for water; for we had made use of all that we had, and were now very thirsty. The place where we began to dig, was a deep soil of black earth, and below it a clayish mixture. About four or five feet from the surface, water began to appear in small quantities; each company dug a well; but before the one to which I belonged had found water, the regiment was ordered upon picquet. There was no help for it. We were posted along the front of the army, only those who were blind were not put on sentry, but left in groupes, a little in the rear. There were nearly twenty of a company in this condition. We felt very unhappy; for we had to remain in the spot where we were, until, when it was necessary to shift our position, some one who had sight came to conduct us to another place: we then took hold of one another, and were led in a string; and, had a party of the enemy made a dash at the place where we were, we were unable either to have resisted or fled.