On the 1st of May, A. D. 1267, Bendocdar collected together a strong body of cavalry, divided them into two bodies, and caused them to mount the banners and emblems of the Hospital and Temple. By this ruse he attempted to penetrate the east gate of Acre, but the cheat was fortunately discovered, and the gates were closed ere the Arab cavalry reached them. The infidels then slaughtered five hundred people outside the walls, cut off their heads and put them into sacks. Amongst them were some poor old women who gained a livelihood by gathering herbs! The ferocious Mamlooks then pulled down all the houses and windmills, plucked up the vines, cut down all the fruit trees and burnt them, and filled up the wells. Some deputies, sent to sue for peace, were introduced to Bendocdar through a grim and ghastly avenue of christian heads planted on the points of lances, and their petition was rejected with scorn and contempt. “The neighing of our horses,” said the ferocious sultan, “shall soon strike you with deafness, and the dust raised by their feet shall penetrate to the inmost chambers of your dwellings.” On the 7th of March, A. D. 1268, the sultan stormed Jaffa, put the garrison to the sword, set fire to the churches, and burnt the crucifixes and crosses and holy relics of the saints. “He took away the head of St. George and burnt the body of St. Christina,” and then marched against the strongly fortified city of Beaufort, which belonged to the order of the Temple. Twenty-six enormous military engines were planted around the walls, and the doctors of the law and the _Fakirs_, or teachers of religion, were invited to repair to the Moslem camp, and wield the sword in behalf of Islam. The town was defended by two citadels, the ancient and the new one. The former was garrisoned by the Templars, and the latter by the native militia. These last, after sustaining a short siege, set fire to their post and fled during the night. “As for the other citadel,” says the cadi Mohieddin, “it made a long and vigorous defence,” and Bendocdar, after losing the flower of his army before the place, was reluctantly compelled to permit the garrison to march out, sword in hand, with all the honours of war. The fortress was then razed to the ground so effectually that not a trace of it was left.