The banquet ended, El Zagal took courteous leave of Ferdi. nand, and sallied from the pavilion attended by the cavaliers who had been present. Each of these now made himself known to the old monarch by his name, title, or dignity, and each received an affable gesture in reply. They would all have escorted the old king back to the gates of Almeria, but he insisted on their remaining in the camp, and with difficulty could be persuaded upon to accept the honorable attendance of the marques of Villena, the commander, Don Gutierrez de Cardenas, the count de Cifuentes, and Don Luis Puertocarrero.

and a corps

marched

On the following morning (22d December), the troops were all drawn out in splendid array in front of the camp, awaiting the signal of the formal surrender of the city. This was given at mid-day, when the gates were thrown open in, led by Don Gutierrez de Cardenas, who had been appointed governor. In a little while the gleam of Christian warriors was seen on the walls and bulwarks; the blessed cross was planted in place of the standard of Mahomet, and the banner of the sovereigns floated triumphantly above the Alcazar. At the same time a numerous deputation of alfaquis and the noblest and wealthiest inhabitants of the place sallied forth to pay homage to king Ferdinand.

On the 23d of December, the king himself entered the city with grand military and religious pomp, and repaired to the mosque of the castle, which had previously been purified and sanctified and converted into a Christian temple; here grand mass was performed in solemn celebration of this great triumph of the faith.

These ceremonies were scarcely completed, when joyful notice was given of the approach of the queen Isabella, with the rearguard of the army. She came accompanied by the princess Isabella, and attended by her ghostly counsellor the cardinal

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Mendoza, and her confessor Talavera. The king sallied forth to meet her, accompanied by El Zagal, and it is said the reception of the latter by the queen was characterized by that deference and considerate delicacy which belonged to her magnanimous

nature.

The surrender of Almeria was followed by that of Almuñe car, Salobriña, and other fortified places of the coast and the interior, and detachments of Christian troops took quiet posses. sion of the Alpuxarra mountains and their secluded and fertile valleys.*

* Cura de los Palacios, cap. 93, 94. Pulgar, Cron., part 3. cap. 124 Garibay, comp. Hist., lib. 18, cap. 87, &c., &c.

CHAPTER LXXXIII.

Events at Granada, subsequent to the submission of El Zagal.

WHO can tell when to rejoice, in this fluctuating world? Every wave of prosperity has its reacting surge, and we are often over whelmed by the very billow on which we thought to be wafted into the haven of our hopes. When Yusef Aben Commixa, the vizier of Boabdil, surnamed El Chico, entered the royal saloon of the Alhambra and announced the capitulation of El Zagal, the heart of the youthful monarch leaped for joy. His great wish was accomplished; his uncle was defeated and dethroned, and he reigned without a rival, sole monarch of Granada. At length, he was about to enjoy the fruits of his humiliation and vassalage. He beheld his throne fortified by the friendship and alliance of the Castilian monarchs; there could be no question, therefore, of its stability. "Allah Achbar! God is great!" exclaimed he, 'Rejoice with me, oh Yusef; the stars have ceased their persecution. Henceforth let no man call me El Zogoy bi."

In the first moment of his exultation, Boabdil would have ordered public rejoicings; but the shrewd Yusef shook his head. "The tempest has ceased, from one point of the heavens," said he, "but it may begin to rage from another. A troubled sea is beneath us, and we are surrounded by rocks and quicksands: let my lord the king defer rejoicings, until all has settled into a calm " El Chico, however, could not remain tranquil in this

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day of exultation: he ordered his steed to be sumptuously ca parisoned, and issuing out of the gate of the Alhambra, descended, with glittering retinue, along the avenue of trees and fountains, into the city, to receive the acclamations of the populace. As he entered the great square of the Vivarrambla, he beheld crowds of people in violent agitation; but, as he approached, what was his surprise, to hear groans and murmurs and bursts of execration! The tidings had spread through Granada, that Muley Abdallah El Zagal had been driven to capitulate, and that all his territories had fallen into the hands of the Christians. No one had inquired into the particulars, but all Granada had been thrown into a ferment of grief and indignation. In the heat of the moment, old Muley was extolled to the skies as a patriot prince, who had fought to the last for the salvation of his country as a mirror of monarchs, scorning to compromise the dignity of his crown by any act of vassalage. Boabdil, on the contrary, had looked on exultingly at the hopeless yet heroic struggle of his uncle; he had rejoiced in the defeat of the faithful, and the triumph of unbelievers; he had aided in the dismemberment and downfall of the empire. When they beheld him riding forth in gorgeous state, on what they considered a day of humiliation for all true Moslems, they could not contain their rage; and amidst the clamors that met his ears, Boabdil more than once heard his name coupled with the epithets of traitor and renegado.

Shocked and discomfited, the youthful monarch returned in confusion to the Alhambra; shut himself up within its innermost courts, and remained a kind of voluntary prisoner until the first burst of popular feeling should subside. He trusted that it would soon pass away; that the people would be too sensible of the sweets of peace, to repine at the price at which it was ob tained; at any rate, he trusted to the strong friendship of the

Christian sovereigns, to secure him even against the factions of

his subjects

The first missives from the politic Ferdinand showed Boabdil the value of his friendship. The Christian monarch reminded him of a treaty which he had made when captured in the city of Loxa. By this, he had engaged, that, in case the Catholic sove. reigns should capture the cities of Guadix, Baza, and Almeria. he would surrender Granada into their hands within a limited time, and accept in exchange certain Moorish towns, to be held by him as their vassal. Guadix, Baza, and Almeria, had now fallen; Ferdinand called upon him, therefore, to fulfil his engage

ment.

If the unfortunate Boabdil had possessed the will, he had not the power to comply with this demand. He was shut up in the Alhambra, while a tempest of popular fury raged without. Granada was thronged by refugees from the captured towns, many of them disbanded soldiers, and others broken-down citizens, rendercd fierce and desperate by ruin. All railed at him, as the real cause of their misfortunes. How was he to venture forth in such a storm ?-above all, how was he to talk to such men of surrender? In his reply to Ferdinand, he represented the difficulties of his situation, and that, so far from having control over his subjects, his very life was in danger from their turbulence. He entreated the king, therefore, to rest satisfied for the present with his recent conquests, promising that should he be able to regain full empire over his capital and its inhabitants, it would be but to rule over them as vassal to the Castilian crown.

Ferdinand was not to be satisfied with such a reply. The time was come to bring his game of policy to a close, and to consummate his conquest, by seating himself on the throne of the Alhambra. Professing to consider Boabdil as a faithless ally, who had broken his plighted word, he discarded him from his