field argent, was portrayed
the red cross of Calatrava, which he also bore on his breast, and which
was surrounded with the following device--"_Por esta y por mi Rey._"[4]

Don Manuel Ponce de Leon next fixed the attention of the spectators; his
armour was the same as the _Mantenedor_'s, excepting that the _ropa_[5]
which hung from his shoulder was crimson. On his ample buckler were
emblazoned the bars of the arms of Arragon, granted to his warlike
ancestors by the kings of that country; and likewise quartered thereon,
was a lion rampant, in field argent, a device which, tradition says, was
adopted by the famous Trojan, Hector, from whom the old French
chroniclers assert the Ponces de Leon to be descended. Beneath the arms
was legible in red letters the motto--"_Soy como mi nombre._"[6]

The armour of the other knights was made to correspond with that of the
_Mantenedor_, the only distinguishing mark being the colour of the
_ropas_, and the different device which each bore upon his shield,
either as indicative of his feelings, or from the armorial bearings of
his family. The colour of the spirited chargers of these challengers was
snow white. Nothing could exceed the beauty of their proportions and the
splendour of their trappings. They beat the ground with short quick
tramp, and shook the white foam from their mouths, as they fretted at
the discipline by which their fiery ardour was restrained. They were
caparisoned with long housings of costly brocade, and ornamented with
gold or silver, according to the colour of the rider's dress, and their
manes and tails were decorated with knots of gay ribbons.

The five challengers now advanced at a stately pace, till they arrived
before the queen, when, with a graceful and simultaneous motion, they
made their horses kneel down; and after saluting the courtly retinue
with their lances, they caracolled round the lists, as if to reconnoitre
their dominions. At last, after various martial evolutions, in which
they were accompanied by the animating strains of the music, they
proceeded to the middle of the lists--there they halted, and, throwing
down their gauntlets, retreated to the castle in the same order in which
they had advanced. The trumpets then sounded, and immediately there was
a rush of gallant knights, who pricked into the lists, all eager to take
up these tokens of defiance. So upon retiring, five of their number, who
had succeeded in securing the gage, came forward fro