Philip, the French king, had already arrived, and he exerted himself to the utmost to take the town before Richard should come. But he could not succeed. The town resisted all the attempts he could make to storm it, and, in the mean time, his position and that of the other Crusaders in the camp was becoming very critical, on account of the immense numbers of Saracens in the mountains behind them, who were gradually advancing their posts and threatening to surround the Christians entirely. Philip, therefore, and the forces joined with him, were beginning to feel very anxious to see Richard's ships drawing near, and from their encampment on the plain they looked out over the sea, and watched day after day, earnestly in hopes that they might see the advanced ships of Richard's fleet coming into view in the offing. In the mean time, Richard, having sailed from Cyprus, was coming on, though he was delayed on his way by an occurrence which he greatly gloried in, deeming it doubtless a very brilliant exploit. The case was this: In sailing along with his squadron between Cyprus and the main land, he suddenly fell in with a ship of very large size. At first Richard and his men wondered what ship it could be. It was soon evident that, whatever she was, she was endeavoring to escape. Richard ordered his galleys to press on, and he soon found that the strange ship was full of Saracens. He immediately ordered his men to advance and board her, and he declared to his seamen that if they allowed her to escape he would crucify them. The Saracens, seeing that there was no possibility of escape, and having no hope of mercy if they fell into Richard's hands, determined to scuttle the ship, and to sink themselves and the vessel together. They accordingly cut holes through the bottom as well as they could with hatchets, and the water began to pour in. In the mean time, Richard's galleys had surrounded the vessel, and a dreadful combat ensued. Both parties fought like tigers. The Crusaders were furious to get on board before the ship should go down, and the Saracens, though they had no expectation of finally defending themselves against their enemies, still hoped to keep them back until it should be too late for them to obtain any advantage from their victory.