The Carizmians were encamped on the left bank of the Euphrates, pasturing their cavalry in the neighbouring plains, when their chief, Barbeh Khan, received a deputation from the sultan of Egypt, inviting their co-operation and assistance in the reduction of Palestine. Their cupidity was awakened by an exaggerated account of the fertility and the wealth of the land, and they were offered a settlement in the country as soon as it was rescued from the hands of the Franks. The messengers displayed the written letters of the sultan of Egypt; they presented to the Carizmian chief some rich shawls and magnificent presents, and returned to their master at Grand Cairo with promises of speedy support. The Carizmians assembled together in a body; they crossed the Euphrates (A. D. 1244) in small leathern boats, ravaged the territories of the sultan of Aleppo, and marched up the plain of the Orontes to Hems, wasting all the country around them with fire and the sword. The intelligence of these events reached the Grand Master of the Temple when he was busily engaged in rebuilding the vast and extensive fortifications of the Holy City. A council of war was called together, and it was determined that Jerusalem was untenable, and that the Holy City must once again be abandoned to the infidels. The Hospitallers in their black mantles, and the Templars in their white habits, were drawn up in martial array in the streets of Jerusalem, and the weeping Christians were exhorted once again to leave their homes and avail themselves of the escort and protection of the military friars to Jaffa. Many gathered together their little property and quitted the devoted city, and many lingered behind amid the scenes they loved and cherished. Soon, however, frightful reports reached Jerusalem of the horrors of the Carizmian invasion, and the fugitives, who had fled with terror and astonishment from their destructive progress, spread alarm and consternation throughout the whole land. Several thousand Christians, who had remained behind, then attempted to make their escape, with their wives and children, through the mountains to the plain of Ramleh and the sea-coast, relying on the truce and treaty of alliance which had been established with Nasser Daoud, lord of Carac, and the mountaineers. But the inhabitants of the mountain region, being a set of lawless robbers and plunderers, attacked and pillaged them. Some were slain, and others were dragged away into captivity. A few fled back to Jerusalem, and the residue, after having been hunted through the mountains, descended into the plain of Ramleh, where they were attacked by the Carizmians, and only three hundred out of the whole number succeeded in reaching Jaffa in safety. All the women and children had been taken captive in the mountains, and amongst them were several holy nuns, who were sent to Egypt and sold in the common slave-markets.