THE BOMBARDMENT OF ALEXANDRIA. 289 day the Khedive shifted his quarters to his palace! at Ramleh, lying some four miles east of Alexandrisif on the ground that, in the event of the bombardment taking place, the palace of Ras-el-Tin lay in the line of fire.

The British fleet opened fire soon after daybreak] on the following morning. The first shot was directed against the fort of Ras-el-Tin. The Egyptian forts; replied, and it was not till late in the afternoon thatr they were all reduced to silence. Very little harm to 1 the town itself had been done by the bombardment.

Arabi, it appeared, sent various messages to the Khedive at Ramleh, describing the gallantry of the Egyptian troops, and foretelling their success. The Khedive in return offered his congratulations ; so, at least, Arabi was in the habit of asserting. In the evening Arabi arrived at Ramleh, and informed his Highness that the forts were silenced, and no further defence was possible. He recommended that negotia- ; tions should be set on foot for the conclusion of a truce. The advice was adopted, and the greater part of the day, following the bombardment, was taken up by abortive negotiations, whose main object appeared to be to gain time. In the course of the afternoon\ Arabi withdrew the whole of his army to Kafr-Douar,j • and left Alexandria at the mercy of a lawless, panic-5j stricken and infuriated mob. The rioters set fire to the European quarter, broke open the shops, destroyed everything they could not carry away ; maltreated, maimed, or murdered all Europeans they came across, u