"Sir Ralph Abercrombie will be glad to learn from you all the information that you can give him respecting the country round Alexandria, and also what you can tell him of the route between that place and Cairo. As we were in the Mediterranean when we received orders to undertake the invasion of Egypt, we have no maps of the country, and practically know nothing whatever about it. However, of course, in the first place the most important part of the affair is to learn the positions round Alexandria."