Note 228 — Chapter X
Reading edition
Of all obstacles that can cover the frontiers of an empire, a desert like that of Suez is indisputably the greatest. It is easy to understand that a fort at El Arish, which would prevent an enemy from using the wells and encamping under the palm-trees, would be very valuable.—Commentaires de Napoléon, vol. iii. p. 16.