38. CHAPTER XXXVIII.
How King Ferdinand held a council of war, at the Rock
of the Lovers.
The royal army, on its march against Loxa, lay
encamped, one pleasant evening in May, in a meadow
on the banks of the river Yeguas, around the foot of
a lofty cliff called the Rock of the Lovers. The
quarters of each nobleman formed as it were a separate
little encampment; his stately pavilion, surmounted
by his fluttering pennon, rising above the
surrounding tents of his vassals and retainers. A
little apart from the others, as it were in proud reserve,
was the encampment of the English earl. It
was sumptuous in its furniture, and complete in all
its munitions. Archers, and soldiers armed with
battle-axes, kept guard around it; while above, the
standard of England rolled out its ample folds, and
flapped in the evening breeze.
The mingled sounds of various tongues and nations
were heard from the soldiery, as they watered their
horses in the stream, or busied themselves round the
fires which began to glow, here and there, in the
twilight: the gay chanson of the Frenchman, singing
of his amours on the pleasant banks of the Loire, or
the sunny regions of the Garonne; the broad guttural
tones of the German, chanting some doughty krieger
lied, or extolling the vintage of the Rhine; the wild
romance of the Spaniard, reciting the achievements
of the Cid, and many a famous passage of the Moorish
wars; and the long and melancholy ditty of the
Englishman, treating of some feudal hero or redoubtable
outlaw of his distant island.
On a rising ground, commanding a view of the
whole encampment, stood the ample and magnificent
pavilion of the king, with the banner of Castile and
Arragon, and the holy standard of the cross, erected
before it. In this tent were assembled the principal
commanders of the army, having been summoned by
Ferdinand to a council of war, on receiving tidings
that Boabdil had thrown himself into Loxa with a
considerable reinforcement. After some consultation,
it was determined to invest Loxa on both sides:
one part of the army should seize upon the dangerous
but commanding height of Santo Albohacen, in front
of the city; while the remainder, making a circuit,
should encamp on the opposite side.
No sooner was this resolved upon, than the marques
of Cadiz stood forth and claimed the post of
danger in behalf of himself and those cavaliers, his
companions in arms, who had been compelled to relinquish
it by the general retreat of the army on the
former siege. The enemy had exulted over them,
as if driven from it in disgrace. To regain that
perilous height, to pitch their tents upon it, and to
avenge the blood of their valiant compeer, the Master
of Calatrava, who had fallen upon it, was due to their
fame; the marques demanded therefore that they
might lead the advance and secure that height, engaging
to hold the enemy employed until the main
army should take its position on the opposite side of
the city.
King Ferdinand readily granted his permission;
upon which the count de Cabra entreated to be admitted
to a share of the enterprise. He had always
been accustomed to serve in the advance; and now
that Boabdil was in the field, and a king was to be
taken, he could not content himself with remaining
in the rear. Ferdinand yielded his consent, for he
was disposed to give the good count every opportunity
to retrieve his late disaster.
The English earl, when he heard there was an enterprise
of danger in question, was hot to be admitted
to the party; but the king restrained his ardor.
“These cavaliers,” said he, “conceive that they
have an account to settle with their pride; let them
have the enterprise to themselves, my lord; if you
follow these Moorish wars long, you will find no lack
of perilous service.”
The marques of Cadiz, and his companions in
arms, struck their tents before daybreak; they were
five thousand horse and twelve thousand foot, and
marched rapidly along the defiles of the mountains;
the cavaliers being anxious to strike the blow, and
get possession of the height of Albohacen, before the
king with the main army should arrive to their assistance.
The city of Loxa stands on a high hill, between
two mountains, on the banks of the Xenel. To attain
the height of Albohacen, the troops had to pass
over a tract of rugged and broken country, and a
deep valley, intersected by those canals and water-courses
with which the Moors irrigated their lands:
they were extremely embarrassed in this part of their
march, and in imminent risk of being cut up in detail
before they could reach the height.
The count de Cabra, with his usual eagerness, endeavored
to push across this valley, in defiance of
every obstacle: he, in consequence, soon became
entangled with his cavalry among the canals; but his
impatience would not permit him to retrace his steps,
and choose a more practicable but circuitous route.
Others slowly crossed another part of the valley, by
the aid of pontoons; while the marques of Cadiz,
Don Alonzo de Aguilar, and the count de Ureña,
being more experienced in the ground from their
former campaign, made a circuit round the bottom
of the height, and, winding up it, began to display
their squadrons and elevate their banners on the redoubtable
post, which, in the former siege, they had
been compelled so reluctantly to abandon.
