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 Albaycin, 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, and they endeavored 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 valor and blood of your forefathers, dwelling in the houses
they built, sitting under the trees they planted, while your brethren
wander about houseless and desolate. Do you wish to seek your real
foe?--he is encamped on the mountain of Bentomiz. Do you want a field
for the display of your valor?--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
Zarraz, 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, endeavored 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 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 has repeatedly sought my own life both
by violence and stratagem?”
El Zagal boiled with rage and vexation, but there was no time to be
lost. He was beset by the alfaquis and the nobles of his count; the
youthful cavaliers were hot for action, the common people loud in their
complaints that the richest cities were abandoned to the mercy of 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 might 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 with a
large force, therefore, to the relief of Velez Malaga, and yet leave a
strong garrison in the Alhambra. He took his measures accordingly, and
departed suddenly in the night at the head of one thousand horse and
twenty thousand foot, and urged his way rapidly by the most unfrequented
roads along the chain of mountains extending from Granada to the heights
above Velez Malaga.
The Christians were alarmed one evening by the sudden blazing of great
fires on the mountains 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 the camp.
The spirits of the Moors were suddenly raised to a pitch of the greatest
exultation, while the Christians were astonished to see the 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, more cool and wary, restrained him. To attack the height
would be to abandon the siege. He ordered every one, therefore, to keep
a vigilant watch at his post and 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 splendor. 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 pavilions 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 troops clustering about them and his
infidel banners floating against the sky. Columns of smoke rose where
the night-fires had blazed, and the clash of the Moorish cymbal, the
bray of trumpet, and the neigh of steed were faintly heard from the 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 fires gathering
on the summits of the surrounding mountains.
One of the first measures of the Moorish king was to detach a large
force, under Reduan 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 Reduan. 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 considered 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 Christian 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.
El Zagal, confident in 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. “Behold,”
said he, “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 houris. 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.