Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. I.djvu/302

158 158 ACCESSlOiN OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA. lion. PART sued their march along the southern side of the — ^ — Douro, and reached Zamora, distant only a few leagues, before the dawn.^^ At break of day, the Castilians were surprised by the array of floating banners, and martial pan- oply glittering in the sun, from the opposite side of the river, while the discharges of artillery still more unequivocally announced the presence of the ene- my. Ferdinand could scarcely believe that the Portuguese monarch, whose avowed object had Absurd posi- been the relief of the castle of Zamora, should have selected a position so obviously unsuitable for this purpose. The intervention of the river, be- tween him and the fortress situated at the northern extremity of the town, prevented him from reliev- ing it, either by throwing succours into it, or by annoying the Castilian troops, who, intrenched in comparative security within the w^alls and houses of the city, were enabled by means of certain elevated positions, well garnished with artillery, to inflict much heavier injury on their opponents, than they could possibly receive from them. Still Ferdinand's men, exposed to the double fire of the fortress and the besiegers, would willingly have come to an engagement with the latter ; but the river, swollen by winter torrents, was not fordable, and the bridge, the only direct avenue to the city, 21 Carbaial, Analos, MS., aiios fol. 156. — Faria y Sousa, Europa 75, 76. — lliiy do Pina,Chr6n. d' Porlupuesa, torn. ii. pp. 401, 404. el Rey Alfonso V., cap. 187, 189. — Several of the contemporary — Bernaklez, Reyes Catolicos, Castilian historians compute the MS., cap. 20, 22. — Pulgar, Portuguese army at double the Reyes Cat6iicos, pp. 63-78. — amount given in thp ♦"-♦ L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, ,