In the mean time, Richard, earl of Cornwall, the brother of Henry III., king of England, having assumed the cross, arrived in Palestine, and proceeded with a small force of English pilgrims, knights, and foot soldiers, to the camp of the Templars at Jaffa. With this welcome reinforcement the Grand Master of the Temple marched at once upon Ascalon, re-constructed the castle and restored the fortifications to the state in which they were left by Richard Cœur de Lion. The Templars then endeavoured to obtain possession of their ancient fortress of Gaza, (ante, p. 49,) a place of very great importance. An invading army from the south could approach Jerusalem only by way of Gaza, or by taking a long and tedious route through the desert of Arabia Petræa, to Karac, and from thence to Hebron, by the southern extremity of the Dead Sea. The want of water and forage presented an insuperable obstacle to the march of a large body of forces in any other direction. Towards the close of autumn, the Templars marched against Gaza in conjunction with Saleh Ismael, sultan of Damascus; they drove out the Egyptians, and obtained possession of the dismantled fortifications. Large sums of money were expended in the re-construction of the walls of the castle, a strong garrison was established in the important post, and the Templars then marched upon Jerusalem. The fortifications of the Holy City had been dismantled by Malek Kamel, at the period of the siege of Damietta, when alarmed at the military success of the Franks in Egypt, he was anxious to purchase the safety of the country by the cession of Jerusalem. The Templars, consequently, entered the Holy City without difficulty or resistance; the Mussulman population abandoned their dwellings on their approach, and the military friars once more entered the city of David, bare-footed and bare-headed, singing loud hymns and songs of triumph. They rushed to the church of the Resurrection, and fell prostrate on their knees before the shrine of the Holy Sepulchre; they ascended Mount Calvary, and visited the reputed scene of the crucifixion, and then hastened in martial array, and with sound of trumpet, through the forlorn and deserted streets of the city of Zion, to take possession of their ancient quarters on Mount Moriah.