12. CHAPTER XII.
Siege of Malaga continued.—Stratagems of various
kinds.
Great were the exertions now made, both by the
besiegers and the besieged, to carry on this contest
with the utmost vigor. Hamet el Zegri went the
rounds of the walls and towers, doubling the guards,
and putting every thing in the best posture of defence.
The garrison was divided into parties of a hundred,
to each of which a captain was appointed. Some
were to patrol, others to sally forth and skirmish with
the enemy, and others to hold themselves armed and
in reserve. Six albatozas, or floating batteries, were
manned and armed with pieces of artillery, to attack
the fleet.
On the other hand, the Castilian sovereigns kept
open a communication by sea with various parts of
Spain, from which they received provisions of all
kinds; they ordered supplies of powder also from
Valencia, Barcelona, Sicily, and Portugal. They
made great preparations also for storming the city.
Towers of wood were constructed, to move on
wheels, each capable of holding one hundred men;
they were furnished with ladders, to be thrown from
their summits to the tops of the walls; and within
those ladders, others were encased, to be let down
for the descent of the troops into the city. There
were gallipagos or tortoises, also, being great wooden
shields, covered with hides, to protect the assailants,
and those who undermined the walls.
Secret mines were commenced, in various places;
some were intended to reach to the foundations of
the walls, which were to be propped up with wood,
ready to be set on fire; others were to pass under
the walls, and remain ready to be broken open so as
to give entrance to the besiegers. At these mines the
army worked day and night; and during these secret
preparations, the ordnance kept up a fire upon the
city, to divert the attention of the besieged.
In the mean time, Hamet el Zegri displayed wonderful
vigor and ingenuity in defending the city, and
in repairing or fortifying, by deep ditches, the breaches
made by the enemy. He noted, also, every place
where the camp might be assailed with advantage,
and gave the besieging army no repose night or day.
While his troops sallied on the land, his floating batteries
attacked the besiegers on the sea; so that there
was incessant skirmishing. The tents called the
Queen's Hospital were crowded with wounded, and
the whole army suffered from constant watchfulness
and fatigue. To guard against the sudden assaults
of the Moors, the trenches were deepened, and palisadoes
erected in front of the camp; and in that part
facing Gibralfaro, where the rocky heights did not
admit of such defences, a high rampart of earth was
thrown up. The cavaliers Garcilasso de la Vega,
Juan de Zuñiga, and Diego de Atayde, were appointed
to go the rounds, and keep vigilant watch that
these fortifications were maintained in good order.
In a little while, Hamet discovered the mines secretly
commenced by the christians: he immediately
ordered counter-mines. The soldiers mutually worked
until they met, and fought hand to hand, in these
subterranean passages. The christians were driven
out of one of their mines; fire was set to the wooden
framework, and the mine destroyed. Encouraged
by this success, the Moors attempted a general attack
upon the camp, the mines, and the besieging fleet.
The battle lasted for six hours, on land and water,
above and below ground, on bulwark, and in trench
and mine; the Moors displayed wonderful intrepidity,
but were finally repulsed at all points, and obliged
to retire into the city, where they were closely invested,
without the means of receiving any assistance
from abroad.
The horrors of famine were now added to the
other miseries of Malaga. Hamet el Zegri, with the
spirit of a man bred up to war, considered every
thing as subservient to the wants of the soldier, and
ordered all the grain in the city to be gathered and
garnered up for the sole use of those who fought.
Even this was dealt out sparingly, and each soldier
received four ounces of bread in the morning, and
two in the evening, for his daily allowance.
The wealthy inhabitants, and all those peacefully
inclined, mourned over a resistance which brought
destruction upon their houses, death into their families,
and which they saw must end in their ruin and
captivity: still none of them dared to speak openly
of capitulation, or even to manifest their grief, lest
they should awaken the wrath of their fierce defenders.
They surrounded their civic champion, Ali
Dordux, the great and opulent merchant, who had
buckled on shield and cuirass, and taken spear in
hand, for the defence of his native city, and, with a
large body of the braver citizens, had charge of one
of the gates and a considerable portion of the walls.
Drawing Ali Dordux aside, they poured forth their
griefs to him in secret. “Why,” said they, “should
we suffer our native city to be made a mere bulwark
and fighting-place for foreign barbarians and desperate
men? They have no families to care for, no
property to lose, no love for the soil, and no value
for their lives. They fight to gratify a thirst for
blood or a desire for revenge, and will fight on until
Malaga become a ruin and its people slaves. Let us
think and act for ourselves, our wives and our children.
Let us make private terms with the christians
before it is too late, and save ourselves from destruction.”
The bowels of Ali Dordux yearned towards his
fellow-citizens; he bethought him also of the sweet
security of peace, and the bloodless yet gratifying
triumphs of gainful traffic. The idea also of a secret
negotiation or bargain with the Castilian sovereigns,
for the redemption of his native city, was more conformable
to his accustomed habits than this violent
appeal to arms; for though he had for a time assumed
the warrior, he had not forgotten the merchant.
Ali Dordux communed, therefore, with the citizen-soldiers
under his command, and they readily conformed
to his opinion. Concerting together, they
wrote a proposition to the Castilian sovereigns, offering
to admit the army into the part of the city
intrusted to their care, on receiving assurance of
protection for the lives and properties of the inhabitants.
This writing they delivered to a trusty emissary
to take to the christian camp, appointing the
hour and place of his return, that they might be ready
to admit him unperceived.
The Moor made his way in safety to the camp,
and was admitted to the presence of the sovereigns.
Eager to gain the city without further cost of blood
or treasure, they gave a written promise to grant the
conditions; and the Moor set out joyfully on his return.
As he approached the walls where Ali Dordux
and his confederates were waiting to receive
him, he was descried by a patrolling band of Gomeres,
and considered a spy coming from the camp
of the besiegers. They issued forth and seized him,
in sight of his employers, who gave themselves up
for lost. The Gomeres had conducted him nearly
to the gate, when he escaped from their grasp and
fled. They endeavored to overtake him, but were
encumbered with armor; he was lightly clad, and
he fled for his life. One of the Gomeres paused,
and, levelling his cross-bow, let fly a bolt, which
pierced the fugitive between the shoulders; he fell,
and was nearly within their grasp, but rose again
and with a desperate effort attained the christian
camp. The Gomeres gave over the pursuit, and
the citizens returned thanks to Allah for their deliverance
from this fearful peril. As to the faithful
messenger, he died of his wound shortly after reaching
the camp, consoled with the idea that he had
preserved the secret and the lives of his employers.
