ngdom. On the
northeast he held the cities of Baza and Guadix, situated in the midst
of fertile regions. He had the important seaport of Almeria also, which
at one time rivalled Granada itself in wealth and population. Besides
these, his territories included a great part of the Alpuxarras
mountains, which extend across the kingdom and shoot out branches toward
the sea-coast. This mountainous region was a stronghold of wealth and
power. Its stern and rocky heights, rising to the clouds, seemed to set
invasion at defiance, yet within their rugged embraces were sheltered
delightful valleys of the happiest temperature and richest fertility.
The cool springs and limpid rills which gushed out in all parts of the
mountains, and the abundant streams which for a great part of the year
were supplied by the Sierra Nevada, spread a perpetual verdure over the
skirts and slopes of the hills, and, collecting in silver rivers in the
valleys, wound along among plantations of mulberry trees and groves
of oranges and citrons, of almonds, figs, and pomegranates. Here was
produced the finest silk of Spain, which gave employment to thousands
of manufacturers. The sunburnt sides of the hills also were covered with
vineyards; the abundant herbage of the mountain-ravines and the rich
pasturage of the valleys fed vast flocks and herds; and even the arid
and rocky bosoms of the heights teemed with wealth from the mines
of various metals with which they were impregnated. In a word, the
Alpuxarras mountains had ever been the great source of revenue to the
monarchs of Granada. Their inhabitants also were hardy and warlike,
and a sudden summons from the Moorish king could at any time call forth
fifty thousand fighting-men from their rocky fastnesses.

Such was the rich but rugged fragment of an empire which remained under
the sway of the old warrior-monarch El Zagal. The mountain-barriers by
which it was locked up had protected it from most of the ravages of the
present war. El Zagal prepared himself by strengthening every fortress
to battle fiercely for its maintenance.

The Catholic sovereigns saw that fresh troubles and toils awaited
them. The war had to be carried into a new quarter, demanding immense
expenditure, and new ways and means must be devised to replenish their
exhausted coffers. "As this was a holy war, however," says Fray Antonio
Agapida, "and peculiarly redounded to the prosperity of the Church, the
clergy were full of zeal, and con