TEL-EL-KEBIR The British fleet enters the Canal — Occupation of Port Said and Ismailia—Battle of Tel-el-Kebir — Rapid advance on Cairo — Termination of the war.

The story of the campaign may be told briefly. On the 1 8th of August the fleet sailed from Alexandria with the transports conveying the troops. The enemy had been led to believe that its destinatio was Aboukir. Probably this belief was confirmed by M. de Lesseps representations that, owing to his opposition, the British forces would not be * allowed to enter the Canal at Port Said. The insurgent army was collected on the shore to oppose the landing at Aboukir, but our fleet sailed past the bay, where Nelson fought and won the battle of the Nile, and made straight for Port Said, where they arrived thej following morning. Port Said and Ismailia were seized and occupied without resistance. By the 22nd the bulk of the British forces were landed at Ismailia, ; the point from which General Wolseley had arranged toj, advance on Cairo. The chief difficulty of the advance lay in the fact, that for some thirty-seven miles west