When Cæsar arrived on the northern shores of France, he began to inquire of all the travelling merchants whom he met, and who in those days journeyed from one nation to another to buy and sell goods, about the best manner of crossing the channel, and regarding the people on the English side of the water. But the merchants could give him little information, and so he fitted out a galley, manned with many oarsmen, and placing it under the command of an officer, he directed him to cross the channel and discover the best harbors to land on the other side, and then to return and report. This officer was gone five days, and upon his return, Cæsar determined to transport his troops across the channel. Cæsar had collected a large number of sailing vessels upon which he embarked his forces, and upon a given day, at one o’clock in the morning, the fleet set sail. The Britons had in the meantime learned of Cæsar’s intended invasion, and they collected in vast numbers to guard the shore. When the Roman fleet approached the land, the cliffs were everywhere lined with troops of Britons, and every available point was well guarded. Cæsar now proceeded with his fleet along the shore, the Britons following on the land until a level plain was reached. Here Cæsar determined to attempt to disembark. A dreadful struggle ensued. The Britons plunged into the water, and the Romans shot darts and arrows from the decks of the vessels upon the assailants of their comrades, who were endeavoring to make the landing. The Britons were at last driven back, and Cæsar succeeded in obtaining possession of the shore. These campaigns of Cæsar, in a military point of view, were a succession of magnificent exploits. The people at Rome were unbounded in their enthusiastic praise, and decreed him triumph after triumph, and were prepared to welcome him with high honors when he should return. Plutarch says of these eight years of foreign conquest, that Cæsar took eight hundred cities, conquered three hundred nations, fought pitched battles, at separate times, with three millions of men, took one million of them prisoners, and killed another million on the field. [Illustration: THE LANDING OF JULIUS CÆSAR IN BRITAIN.]