CHAPTER LVII

Chronicle of the Conquest of Granada

by Washington Irving

CHAPTER LVII, CHRONICLE OF THE CONQUEST OF GRANADA by Washington Irving

SIEGE OF MALAGIA CONTINUED.--STRATAGEMS OF VARIOUS KINDS.


Great were the exertions now made, both by the besiegers and the
besieged, to carry on the contest with the utmost vigor. Hamet went
the rounds of the walls and towers, doubling the guards and putting
everything 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 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
Zuniga, 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, with the spirit of a man bred up to war, considered
everything 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 becomes 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 toward 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 entrusted 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 condition, 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 crossbow, 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.*

*Pulgar, Cronica, p. 3, c. 80.