As day closed, the outlying ships had all returned to their moorings, the accidents of the late gale were repaired, and the soaked sails hung flapping in the evening breeze to dry; while the decks swarmed with moving figures, all eagerly engaged in preparation for that event which each well knew could not now be distant. How many a heart throbbed high with ecstasy and hope, that soon was to be cold; how many an eye wandered over that strong line of defences along the shore, that never was to gaze upon another sunset! And yet, to mark the proud step, the flashing look the eager speech of all around, the occasion might have been deemed one of triumphant pleasure rather than the approach of an enterprise full of hazard and danger. The disappointments which the storm had excited, by delaying the landing, were forgotten altogether, or only thought of to heighten the delight which now they felt. The rapid exchange of signals between the line-of-battle ships showed that preparations were on foot; and many were the guesses and surmises current as to the meaning of this or that ensign, each reading the mystery by the light of his inward hopes. On one object, however, every eye was fixed with a most intense anxiety. This was an armed launch, which, shooting out from beneath the shadow of a three-decker, swept across the bay with muffled oars. Nothing louder than a whisper broke the silence on board of her, as they stole along the still water, and held on their course towards the shore. Through the gloom of the falling night, they were seen to track each indenture of the coast,--now lying on their oars to take soundings; now delaying, to note some spot of more than ordinary strength. It was already midnight before “the reconnoissance” was effected, and the party returned to the ship, well acquainted with the formidable preparations of the enemy, and all the hazard that awaited the hardy enterprise. The only part of the coast approachable by boats was a low line of beach, stretching away to the left, from the castle of Aboukir, and about a mile in extent; and this was commanded by a semicircular range of sand-hills, on which the French batteries were posted, and whose crest now glittered with the bivouac fires of a numerous army. From the circumstances of the ground, the guns were so placed as to be able to throw a cross-fire over the bay; while a lower range of batteries protected the shore, the terrible effect of whose practice might be seen on the torn and furrowed sands,--sad presage of what a landing party might expect! Besides these precautions, the whole breastwork bristled with cannon and mortars of various calibre, embedded in the sand; nor was a single position undefended, or one measure of resistance omitted, which might increase the hazard of an attacking force.