CHAPTER XLVIII.
How King Ferdinand and his army were exposed
to imminent peril before Velez Malaga.
While the standard of the cross waved
on the hills before Velez Malaga, and
every height and cliff bristled with hostile
arms, the civil war between the factions
of the Alhambra and the albaycen, or
rather between El Zagal and El Chico,
continued to convulse the city of Granada.
The tidings of the investment of Velez
Malaga at length roused the attention of
the old men and the alfaquis, whose
heads were not heated by the daily broils.
They spread themselves through the city,
and endeavoured to arouse the people to
a sense of their common danger.
"Why," said they, "continue these
brawls between brethren and kindred?
What battles are these, where even
triumph is ignominious, and the victor
blushes and conceals his scars? Behold
the Christians ravaging the land won by
the valour and blood of your forefathers,
dwelling in the houses they have built,
sitting under the trees they have planted,
while your brethren wander about, houseless
and desolate. Do you wish to seek
your real foe? He is encamped on the
mountains of Bentomiz. Do you want a
field for the display of your valour? You
will find it before the walls of Velez
Malaga."
When they had roused the spirit of the
people, they made their way to the rival
kings, and addressed them with like remonstrances.
Hamet Aben Zarrax, the
inspired santon, reproached El Zagal
with his blind and senseless ambition.
"You are striving to be king," said he
bitterly, "yet suffer the kingdom to be
lost."
El Zagal found himself in a perplexing
dilemma. He had a double war to wage,
with the enemy without and the enemy
within. Should the Christians gain possession
of the sea-coast, it would be ruinous
to the kingdom; should he leave
Granada to oppose them, his vacant
throne might be seized on by his nephew.
He made a merit of necessity: and, pretending
to yield to the remonstrances of
the alfaquis, endeavoured to compromise
with Boabdil. He expressed deep concern
at the daily losses of the country,
caused by the dissensions of the capital;
an opportunity now presented itself to
retrieve all by a blow. The Christians
had, in a manner, put themselves in a
tomb between the mountains; nothing
remained but to throw the earth upon
them. He offered to resign the title of
king, to submit to the government of his
nephew, and fight under his standard;
all he desired was to hasten to the relief
of Velez Malaga, and to take full vengeance
on the Christians.
Boabdil spurned his proposition as the
artifice of a hypocrite and a traitor.
"How shall I trust a man," said he,
"who has murdered my father and my
kindred by treachery, and repeatedly
sought my own life, both by violence
and stratagem?"
El Zagal foamed with rage and vexation;
but there was no time to be lost.
He was beset by the alfaquis and the
nobles of his court; the youthful cavaliers
were hot for action; the common
people loud in their complaints that the
richest cities were abandoned to the
enemy. The old warrior was naturally
fond of fighting; he saw also, that to
remain inactive would endanger both
crown and kingdom, whereas a successful
blow would secure his popularity in
Granada. He had a much more powerful
force than his nephew, having lately
received reinforcements from Baza,
Guadix, and Almeria; he could march,
therefore, with a large force, and yet
leave a strong garrison in the Alhambra.
He formed his measures accordingly, and
departed suddenly in the night, at the
head of one thousand horse and twenty
thousand foot. He took the most unfrequented
roads along the chain of mountains
extending from Granada to the
height of Bentomiz, and proceeded with
such rapidity, as to arrive there before
King Ferdinand had notice of his approach.
The Christians were alarmed one evening
by the sudden blazing of great fires
on the mountain, about the fortress of
Bentomiz. By the ruddy light they beheld
the flash of weapons and the array
of troops, and they heard the distant
sound of Moorish drums and trumpets.
The fires of Bentomiz were answered by
fires on the towers of Velez Malaga.
The shouts of "El Zagal! El Zagal!"
echoed along the cliffs and resounded
from the city, and the Christians found
that the old warrior-king of Granada was
on the mountain above their camp.
The spirits of the Moors were suddenly
raised to a pitch of the greatest exultation,
while the Christians were astonished to
see this storm of war ready to burst upon
their heads. The Count de Cabra, with
his accustomed eagerness when there was
a king in the field, would fain have scaled
the heights, and attacked El Zagal before
he had time to form his camp; but Ferdinand,
who was more cool and wary,
restrained him. To attack the height
would be to abandon the siege. He
ordered every one, therefore, to keep
vigilant watch at his post, and to stand
ready to defend it to the utmost, but on
no account to sally forth and attack the
enemy.
All night the signal-fires kept blazing
along the mountains, rousing and animating
the whole country. The morning
sun rose over the lofty summit of Bentomiz
on a scene of martial splendour.
As its rays glanced down the mountain,
they lighted up the white tents of the
Christian cavaliers, cresting its lower
prominences, their pennons and ensigns
fluttering in the morning breeze. The
sumptuous pavilion of the king, with the
holy standard of the cross, and the royal
banners of Castile and Aragon, dominated
the encampment. Beyond lay the
city, its lofty castle and numerous towers
glistening with arms; while above all,
and just on the profile of the height, in
the full blaze of the rising sun, were
descried the tents of the Moor, his turbaned
troops clustering about them, and his
infidel banners floating against the sky.
Columns of smoke rose where the night-fire
had blazed, and the clash of the
Moorish cymbal, the bray of the trumpet,
and the neigh of steeds, were faintly
heard from those airy heights. So pure
and transparent is the atmosphere in this
region, that every object can be distinctly
seen at a great distance, and the Christians
were able to behold the formidable
hosts of foes that were gathering on the
summits of the surrounding mountains.
One of the first measures of the Moorish
king was to detach a large force
under Rodovan de Vanegas, alcayde of
Granada, to fall upon the convoy of
ordnance, which stretched for a great
distance through the mountain defiles.
Ferdinand had anticipated this attempt,
and sent the commander of Leon with a
body of horse and foot to reinforce the
master of Alcantara. El Zagal, from
his mountain height, beheld the detachment
issue from the camp, and immediately
recalled Rodovan de Vanegas.
The armies now remained quiet for a
time, the Moor looking grimly down
upon the Christian camp, like a tiger
meditating a bound upon his prey. The
Christians were in fearful jeopardy; a
hostile city below them, a powerful army
above them, and on every side mountains
filled with implacable foes.
After El Zagal had maturely consulted
the situation of the Christian camp, and
informed himself of all the passes of the
mountain, he conceived a plan to surprise
the enemy, which he flattered himself
would ensure their ruin, and perhaps
the capture of King Ferdinand. He wrote
a letter to the alcayde of the city, commanding
him, in the dead of the night,
on a signal-fire being made from the
mountain, to sally forth with all his
troops, and fall furiously upon the camp.
The king would, at the same time, rush
down with his army from the mountain,
and assail it on the opposite side, thus
overwhelming it at the hour of deep repose.
This letter he despatched by a
renegado Christian, who knew all the
secret roads of the country, and, if taken,
could pass himself for a Christian who
had escaped from captivity.
The fierce El Zagal, confident in the
success of his stratagem, looked down
upon the Christians as his devoted victims.
As the sun went down, and the
long shadows of the mountains stretched
across the vega, he pointed with exultation
to the camp below, apparently unconscious
of the impending danger.
"Allah achbar!" exclaimed he, "God is
great! Behold, the unbelievers are delivered
into our hands! their king and
choicest chivalry will soon be at our
mercy. Now is the time to show the
courage of men, and by one glorious
victory retrieve all that we have lost.
Happy he who falls fighting in the cause
of the prophet: he will at once be transported
to the paradise of the faithful, and
surrounded by immortal houries! Happy
he who shall survive victorious: he will
behold Granada, an earthly paradise,
once more delivered from its foes, and
restored to all its glory!" The words
of El Zagal were received with acclamations
by his troops, who waited impatiently
for the appointed hour to pour
down from their mountain-hold upon the
Christians.
