ions, until the city should be taken. The hardships of life. The powerful escorts drew merchants and of the siege caused a fearful waste of life, but the artificers from all parts, to repair, as if in caravans, supply of men was the least difficult part of her un- to this great military market. In a little while, the dertaking. So beloved was the queen by the chivalry camp abounded with tradesmen and artists of all of Spain, that on her calling on them for assistance, kinds, to administer to the luxury and ostentation of not a grandee or cavalier that yet lingered at home, the youthful chivalry. Here might be seen cunning but either repaired in person or sent forces to the artificers in steel, and accomplished armorers, achievcamp; the ancient and warlike families vied with ing those rare and sumptuous helmets and cuirasses, each other in marshalling forth their vassals, and richly gilt, inlaid, and embossed, in which the Spanthus the besieged Moors beheld each day fresh troops ish_cavaliers delighted. Saddlers and harnessarriving before their city, and new ensigns and pen-makers and horse-milliners, also, were there, whose nons displayed, emblazoned with arms well known tents glittered with gorgeous housings and caparito the veteran warriors. sons. The merchants spread forth their sumptuous

But the most arduous task was to keep up a regu-silks, cloths, brocades, fine linen, and tapestry. The lar supply of provisions. It was not the army alone tents of the nobility were prodigally decorated with that had to be supported, but also the captured towns all kinds of the richest stuffs, and dazzled the eye and their garrisons; for the whole country around with their magnificence: nor could the grave looks them had been ravaged, and the conquerors were in and grave speeches of king Ferdinand prevent his danger of starving in the midst of the land they had youthful cavaliers from vying with each other in the desolated. To transport the daily supplies for such splendor of their dresses and caparisons, on all ocimmense numbers, was a gigantic undertaking, in a casions of parade and ceremony. country where there was neither water conveyance nor roads for carriages. Every thing had to be borne by beasts of burthen over rugged and broken paths of the mountains, and through dangerous defiles, exposed to the attacks and plunderings of the Moors.

The wary and calculating merchants, accustomed to supply the army, shrunk from engaging, at their own risk, in so hazardous an undertaking. The queen therefore hired fourteen thousand beasts of burthen, and ordered all the wheat and barley to be bought up in Andalusia, and in the domains of the knights of Santiago and Calatrava. She distributed the administration of these supplies among able and confidential persons. Some were employed to collect the grain; others, to take it to the mills; others, to superintend the grinding and delivery; and others, to convey it to the camp. Te every two hundred animals a muleteer was allotted, to take charge of them on the route. Thus, great lines of convoys were in constant movement, traversing to and fro, guarded by large bodies of troops, to defend them from hovering parties of the Moors. Not a single day's intermission was allowed, for the army depended upon the constant arrival of these supplies for daily food. The grain, when brought into the camp, was desposited in an immense granary, and sold to the army at a fixed price, which was never either raised or lowered.

Incredible were the expenses incurred in these supplies; but the queen had ghostly advisers, thoroughly versed in the art of getting at the resources of the country. Many worthy prelates opened the deep purses of the church, and furnished loans from the revenues of their dioceses and convents; and their pious contributions were eventually rewarded by Providence an hundred fold. Merchants and other wealthy individuals, confident of the punctual faith of the queen, advanced large sums on the security of her word; many noble families lent their plate, without waiting to be asked. The queen also sold certain annual rents in inheritance at great sacrifices, assigning the revenues of towns and cities for the payment. Finding all this insufficient to satisfy the enormous expenditure, she sent her gold and plate and all her jewels to the cities of Valentia and Barcelona, where they were pledged for a great amount of money, which was immediately appropriated to keep up the supplies of the army.

Thus, through the wonderful activity, judgment, and enterprise of this heroic and magnanimous woman, a great host, encamped in the heart of a warlike country, accessible only over mountain roads, was maintained in continual abundance. Nor was it supplied merely with the necessaries and comforts

CHAPTER XXXIII.

OF THE DISASTERS WHICH BEFELL THE CAMP.

WHILE the christian camp, thus gay and gorgeous, spread itself out like a holyday pageant before the walls of Baza-while a long line of beasts of bur then, laden with provisions and luxuries, were seen descending the valley from morning till night, and pouring into the camp a continued stream of abundance,-the unfortunate garrison found their resources rapidly wasting away, and famine already began to pinch the peaceful part of the community."

Cidi Yahye had acted with great spirit and valor, as long as there was any prospect of success; but he began to lose his usual fire and animation, and was observed to pace the walls of Baza with a pensive air, casting many a wistful look towards the christian camp, and sinking into profound reveries and cogitations. The veteran alcayde, Mohammed ben Hassan, noticed these desponding moods, and endeavored to rally the spirits of the prince. "The rainy season is at hand," would he cry; "the floods will soon pour down from the mountains; the rivers will overflow their banks, and inundate the valleys. The christian king already begins to waver; he dare not linger, and encounter such a season, in a plain cut up by canals and rivulets. A single wintry storm from our mountains would wash away his canvas city, and sweep off those gay pavilions like wreaths of snow before the blast."

The prince Cidi Yahye took heart at these words, and counted the days as they passed until the stormy season should commence. As he watched the christian camp, he beheld it one morning in universal commotion: there was an unusual sound of hammers in every part, as if some new engines of war were constructing. At length, to his astonishment, the walls and roofs of houses began to appear above the bulwarks. In a little while, there were above a thousand edifices of wood and plaister erected, covered with tiles taken from the demolished towers of the orchards, and bearing the pennons of various commanders and cavaliers; while the common soldiery constructed huts, of clay and branches of trees, thatched with straw. Thus, to the dismay of the Moors, within four days the light tents and gay pavilions which had whitened their hills and plains, passed away like summer clouds; and the unsubstantial camp assumed the solid appearance of a city

laid out into streets and squares. In the centre rose a large edifice which overlooked the whole; and the royal standard of Arragon and Castile, proudly floating above it, showed it to be the palace of the king.*

ENCOUNTERS

CHAPTER XXXIV.

BETWEEN THE CHRISTIANS AND MOORS, BEFORE BAZA; AND THE DEVOTION OF THE INHABITANTS TO THE DEFENCE OF THEIR CITY.

Ferdinand had taken the sudden resolution thus to turn his camp into a city, partly to provide against the approaching season, and partly to convince the WHEN King Ferdinand beheld the ravage and Moors of his fixed determination to continue the confusion produced by a single autumnal storm, and siege. In their haste to erect their dwellings, how-bethought him of all the maladies to which a be ever, the Spanish cavaliers had not properly consid- sieging camp is exposed in inclement seasons, he ered the nature of the climate. For the greater part began to feel his compassion kindling for the suffering of the year, there scarcely falls a drop of rain on the people of Baza, and an inclination to grant them thirsty soil of Andalusia. The ramblas, or dry chan- more favorable terms. He sent, therefore, several nels of the torrents, remain deep and arid gashes and messages to the alcayde Mohammed ben Hassan, clefts in the sides of the mountains; the perennial offering liberty of person and security of property streams shrink up to mere threads of water, which, for the inhabitants, and large rewards for himself, if tinkling down the bottoms of the deep barrancas or he would surrender the city. ravines, scarce feed and keep alive the rivers of the valleys. The rivers, almost lost in their wide and naked beds, seem like thirsty rills, winding in serpentine mazes through deserts of sand and stones; and so shallow and tranquil in their course, as to be forded in safety in almost every part. One autumnal tempest of rain, however, changes the whole face of nature:-the clouds break in deluges among the vast congregation of mountains; the ramblas are suddenly filled with raging floods; the tinkling rivulets swell to thundering torrents, that come roaring down from the mountains, tumbling great masses of rocks in their career. The late meandering river spreads over its once naked bed, lashes its surges against the banks, and rushes like a wide and foaming inundation through the valley.

The veteran Mohammed was not to be dazzled by the splendid offers of the monarch; he had received exaggerated accounts of the damage done to the christian camp by the late storm, and of the sufferings and discontents of the army in consequence of the transient interruption of supplies: he considered the overtures of Ferdinand as proofs of the desperate state of his affairs. "A little more patience, a little more patience," said the shrewd old warrior, "and we shall see this cloud of christian locusts driven away before the winter storms. When they once turn their backs, it will be our turn to strike; and with the help of Allah, the blow shall be decisive." He sent a firm though courteous refusal to the Castilian monarch, and in the mean time animated his companions to sally forth with more spirit than ever, to attack the Spanish outposts and those laboring in the trenches. The consequence was, a daily occurrence of the most daring and bloody skirmishes, that cost the lives of many of the bravest and most adventurous cavaliers of either army.

Scarcely had the christians finished their slightly built edifices, when an autumnal tempest of the kind came scouring from the mountains. The camp was immediately overflowed. Many of the houses, undermined by the floods or beaten by the rain, crumbled away and fell to the earth, burying man and In one of these sallies, nearly three hundred horse beast beneath their ruins. Several valuable lives and two thousand foot mounted the heights behind were lost, and great numbers of horses and other the city, to capture the christians who were employanimals perished. To add to the distress and con-ed upon the works. They came by surprise upon a fusion of the camp, the daily supply of provisions suddenly ceased; for the rain had broken up the roads, and rendered the rivers impassable. A panic seized upon the army, for the cessation of a single day's supply produced a scarcity of bread and provender. Fortunately, the rain was but transient: the torrents rushed by, and ceased; the rivers shrunk back again to their narrow channels, and the convoys that had been detained upon their banks arrived safely in the camp.

No sooner did queen Isabella hear of this interruption of her supplies, than, with her usual vigilance and activity, she provided against its recurrence. She dispatched six thousand foot-soldiers, under the command of experienced officers, to repair the roads, and to make causeways and bridges, for the distance of seven Spanish leagues. The troops, also, who had been stationed in the mountains by the king to guard the defiles, made two paths,-one for the convoys going to the camp, and the other for those returning, that they might not meet and impede each other. The edifices which had been demolished by the late floods were rebuilt in a firmer manner, and precautions were taken to protect the camp from future inundations.

Cura de los Palacios, Pulgar, &c.

body of guards, esquires of the count de Ureña, killed some, put the rest to flight, and pursued them down the mountain, until they came in sight of a small force under the count de Tendilla and Gonsalvo of Cordova. The Moors came rushing down with such fury, that many of the men of the count de Tendilla betook them selves to flight. The brave count considered it less dangerous to fight than to fly. Bracing his buckler, therefore, and grasping his trusty weapon, he stood his ground with his accustomed prowess. Gonsalvo of Cordova ranged himself by his side, and, marshalling the troops which remained with them, they made a valiant front to the Moors.

The infidels pressed them hard, and were gaining the advantage, when Alonzo de Aguilar, hearing of the danger of his brother Gonsalvo, flew to his assistance, accompanied by the count of Ureña and a body of their troops. A hot fight ensued, from cliff to cliff and glen to glen. The Moors were fewer in number, but they excelled in the dexterity and lightness requisite for their scrambling skirmishes. They were at length driven from their vantage-ground, and pursued by Alonzo de Aguilar and his brother Gonsalvo to the very suburbs of the city, leaving many of the bravest of their men upon the field.

Such was one of innumerable rough encounters which were daily taking place, in which many brave cavaliers were slain, without any apparent benefit to either party. The Moors, notwithstanding repeated defeats and losses, continued to sally forth daily, with astonishing spirit and vigor, and the obstinacy

of their defence seemed to increase with their suffer- | the sumptuous trappings of which were resplendent ings.

At the request of prince Cidi Yahye, a parley was | lah Acbar!" exclaimed he, "God is great; there is granted, and the Master commander of Leon, Don but one God, and Mahomet is his prophet. Return Gutiere de Cardenas, was appointed to confer with to my cousin, Cidi Yahye; tell him it is out of my the veteran alcayde Mohammed. They met at an power to aid him; he must do as seems to him for appointed place, within view of both camp and city, the best. The people of Baza have performed deeds honorably attended by cavaliers of either army. worthy of immortal fame; I cannot ask them to enTheir meeting was highly courteous, for they had counter further ills and perils, in maintaining a hopelearnt, from rough encounters in the field, to admire less defence." each other's prowess. The commander of Leon, in an earnest speech, pointed out the hopelessness of any further defence, and warned Mohammed of the ills which Malaga had incurred by its obstinacy. "I promise, in the name of my sovereigns," said he, that if you surrender immediately, the inhabitants shall be treated as subjects, and protected in property, liberty, and religion. If you refuse, you, who are now renowned as an able and judicious commander, will be chargeable with the confiscations, captivities, and deaths, which may be suffered by the people of Baza."

The reply of El Zagal determined the fate of the city, Cidi Yahye and his fellow commanders immediately capitulated, and were granted the most favorable terms. The cavaliers and soldiers who had come from other parts to the defence of the place, were permitted to depart freely with their arms, horses, and effects. The inhabitants had their choice, either to depart with their property, or to dwell in the suburbs, in the enjoyment of their religion and laws, taking an oath of fealty to the sovereigns, and paying the same tribute they had paid to the Moorish kings. The city and citadel were to be delivered The commander ceased, and Mohammed returned up in six days, within which period the inhabitants to the city to consult with his companions. It was were to remove all their effects; and in the mean evident that all further resistance was hopeless; but time, they were to place, as hostages, fifteen Moorish the Moorish commanders felt that a cloud might youths, sons of the principal inhabitants, in the hands rest upon their names, should they, of their own dis- of the commander of Leon. When Cidi Yabye and cretion, surrender so important a place without its the alcayde Mohammed came to deliver up the hoshaving sustained an assault. Prince Cidi Yahye re- tages, among whom were the sons of the latter, they quested permission, therefore, to send an envoy to paid homage to the king and queen, who received Guadix, with a letter to the old monarch El Zagal, | them with the utmost courtesy and kindness, and ortreating of the surrender; the request was granted, dered magnificent presents to be given to them, and a safe-conduct assured to the envoy, and the veteran likewise to the other Moorish cavaliers, consisting alcayde Mohammed ben Hassan departed upon this of money, robes, horses, and other things of great momentous mission. value.

CHAPTER XXXVI.

SURRENDER OF BAZA.

the kingdom of Granada.

The prince Cidi Yahye was so captivated by the grace, the dignity, and generosity of Isabella, and the princely courtesy of Ferdinand, that he vowed never again to draw his sword against such magnanimous Sovereigns. The queen, charmed with his gallant bearing and his animated professions of devotion, assured him, that, having him on her side, she already THE old warrior king was seated in an inner cham-considered the war terminated which had desolated ber of the castle of Guadix, much cast down in spirit, and ruminating on his gloomy fortunes, when an envoy from Baza was announced, and the veteran alcayde Mohammed stood before him. El Zagal saw disastrous tidings written in his countenance: "How fares it with Baza?" said he, summoning up his spirits to the question. "Let this inform thee," replied Mohammed; and he delivered into his hands the letter from the prince Cidi Yahye.

Mighty and irresistible are words of praise from the lips of sovereigns. Cidi Yahye was entirely subdued by this fair speech from the illustrious Isabella. His heart burned with a sudden flame of loyalty towards the sovereigns. He begged to be enrolled amongst the most devoted of their subjects; and, in the fervor of his sudden zeal, engaged not merely to dedicate his sword to their service, but to exert all his influence, which was great, in persuading his

This letter spoke of the desperate situation of Baza; the impossibility of holding out longer, with-cousin, Muley Abdalla el Zagal, to surrender the out assistance from El Zagal; and the favorable terms held out by the Castilian sovereigns. Had it been written by any other person, El Zagal might have received it with distrust and indignation; but he confided in Cidi Yahye as in a second self, and the words of his letter sunk deep in his heart. When he had finished reading it, he sighed deeply, and remained for some time lost in thought, with his head drooping upon his bosom. Recovering himself, at length, he called together the alfaquis and the old men of Guadix, and, communicating the tidings from Baza, solicited their advice. It was a sign of sore trouble of mind and dejection of heart, when El Zagal sought the advice of others; but his fierce courage was tamed, for he saw the end of his power approaching. The alfaquis and the old men did but increase the distraction of his mind by a variety of counsel, none of which appeared of any avail; for unless Baza were succored, it was impossible that it should hold out; and every attempt to succor it had proved ineffectual.

El Zagal dismissed his council in despair, and summoned the veteran Mohammed before him. "Al

cities of Guadix and Almeria, and to give up all further hostilities. Nay, so powerful was the effect produced upon his mind by his conversation with the sovereigns, that it extended even to his religion; for he became immediately enlightened as to the heathenish abominations of the vile sect of Mahomet, and struck with the truths of christianity, as illustrated by such powerful monarchs. He consented, therefore, to be baptized, and to be gathered into the fold of the church. The pious Agapida indulges in a triumphant strain of exultation, on the sudden and surprising conversion of this princely infidel: he considers it one of the greatest achievements of the Catholic sovereigns, and indeed one of the marvellous occurrences of this holy war: "But it is given to saints and pious monarchs," says he, "to work miracles in the cause of the faith; and such did the most Catholic Ferdinand, in the conversion of the prince Cidi Yahye."

Some of the Arabian writers have sought to lessen the wonder of this miracle, by alluding to great revenues granted to the prince and his heirs by the Castilian monarchs, together with a territory in Marche

na. witn towns, lands, and vassals; but in this (says Agapida) we only see a wise precaution of king Ferdinand, to clinch and secure the conversion of his proselyte. The policy of the Catholic monarch was at all times equal to his piety. Instead also of vaunt- | ing of this great conversion, and making a public parade of the entry of the prince into the church, king Ferdinand ordered that the baptism should be performed in private, and kept a profound secret. He feared that Cidi Yahye might otherwise be denounced as an apostate, and abhorred and abandoned by the Moors, and thus his influence destroyed in bringing the war to a speedy termination.*

security. These fortresses, therefore, most potent sovereigns, are yours, whenever you will send to take possession of them."

Large sums of gold were immediately ordered by Ferdinand to be delivered to the alcayde, as a recompense for so important a surrender. The Moor, however, put back the gift with a firm and haughty demeanor: "I came not," said he, "to sell what is not mine, but to yield what fortune has made yours, and your majesties may rest assured that, had I been properly seconded, death would have been the price at which I would have sold my fortresses, and not the gold you offer me."

The Castilian monarchs were struck with the lofty and loyal spirit of the Moor, and desired to engage a man of such fidelity in their service; but the proud Moslem could not be induced to serve the enemies of his nation and his faith.

"Is there nothing then," said queen Isabella,

The veteran Mohammed ben Hassan was likewise won by the magnanimity and munificence of the Castilian sovereigns, and entreated to be received into their service; and his example was followed by many other Moorish cavaliers, whose services were generously accepted and magnificently rewarded. Thus, after a siege of six months and twenty days," that we can do to gratify thee, and to prove to the city of Baza surrendered on the 4th of Decem- thee our regard?" "Yes," replied the Moor; "I ber, 1489; the festival of the glorious Santa Barbara, have left behind me, in the towns and valleys which I who is said, in the Catholic calendar, to preside over have surrendered, many of my unhappy countrymen, thunder and lightning, fire and gunpowder, and all with their wives and children, who cannot tear themkinds of cumbustious explosions. The king and selves from their native abodes. Give me your royal queen made their solemn and triumphant entry on word that they shall be protected in the peaceable the following day; and the public joy was heighten- enjoyment of their religion and their homes." "We ed by the sight of upwards of five hundred christian promise it," said Isabella; "they shall dwell in peace captives, men, women, and children, delivered from and security. But for thyself-what dost thou ask the Moorish dungeons. for thyself?" "Nothing," replied Ali, "but permission to pass unmolested, with my horses and effects, into Africa."

The loss of the christians in this siege amounted to twenty thousand men, of whom seventeen thousand died of disease, and not a few of mere cold,— a kind of death (says the historian Mariana) peculiarly uncomfortable; but (adds the venerable Jesuit) as these latter were chiefly people of ignoble rank, baggage-carriers and such like, the loss was not of great importance.

The Castilian monarchs would fain have forced upon him gold and silver, and superb horses richly caparisoned, not as rewards, but as marks of personal esteem; but Ali Aben Fahar declined all presents and distinctions, as if he thought it criminal to flourish individually during a time of public distress; and disdained all prosperity that seemed to grow out of the ruins of his country.

The surrender of Baza was followed by that of Almunecar, Tavernas, and most of the fortresses of the Alpuxarra mountains; the inhabitants hoped, by Having received a royal passport, he gathered toprompt and voluntary submission, to secure equally gether his horses and servants, his armor and weapfavorable terms with those granted to the captured ons, and all his warlike effects; bade adieu to his city, and the alcaydes to receive similar rewards to weeping countrymen with a brow stamped with anthose lavished on its commanders; nor were either guish, but without shedding a tear; and, mounting of them disappointed. The inhabitants were per- his Barbary steed, turned his back upon the delightmitted to remain as Mudexares, in the quiet enjoy-ful valleys of his conquered country, departing on his ment of their property and religion; and as to the lonely way, to seek a soldier's fortune amidst the alcaydes, when they came to the camp to render up burning sands of Africa.* their charges, they were received by Ferdinand with distinguished favor, and rewarded with presents of money in proportion to the importance of the places they had commanded. Care was taken by the politic monarch, however, not to wound their pride or shock their delicacy; so these sums were paid under color of arrears due to them for their services to the former government. Ferdinand had conquered by dint of sword, in the earlier part of the war; but he found gold as potent as steel, in this campaign of Baza.

With several of these mercenary chieftains came one named Ali Aben Fahar, a seasoned warrior, who had held many important commands. He was a Moor of a lofty, stern, and melancholy aspect, and stood silent and apart, while his companions surrendered their several fortresses and retired laden with treasure. When it came to his turn to speak, he addressed the sovereigns with the frankness of a soldier, but with a tone of dejection and despair.

"I am a Moor," said he, "and of Moorish lineage, and am alcayde of the fair towns and castles of Purchena and Paterna. These were intrusted to me to defend; but those who should have stood by me have lost all strength and courage, and seek only for

*Conde, tom. 3, cap. 10.

CHAPTER XXXVII.

SUBMISSION OF EL ZAGAL TO THE CASTILIAN

SOVEREIGNS.

EVIL tidings never fail by the way, through lack of messengers; they are wafted on the wings of the wind, and it is as if the very birds of the air would bear them to the ear of the unfortunate. The old king El Zagal buried himself in the recesses of his castle, to hide himself from the light of day, which no longer shone prosperously upon him; but every hour brought missives, thundering at the gate, with the tale of some new disaster. Fortress after fortress had laid its keys at the feet of the christian sovereigns: strip by strip, of warrior mountain and green fruitful valley, was torn from his domains, and added to the territories of the conquerors. Scarcely a remnant remained to him, except a tract of the Alpuxarras, and the noble cities of Guadix and Almeria. No one any longer stood in awe of the fierce old monarch; the terror of his frown had de

Pulgar. Caribay, lib. 40. cap. 40. Cura de los Palacios.