Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. I.djvu/482

336 336 WAR OF GRANADA. PART the temerity of the enterprise, and its incompeten- '- — cy to any good result, even should he succeed, with the small force of which he was master. On re- ceiving intelligence that the siege was raised, he returned to Cordova, where he was joined by the queen towards the latter part of April. Isabella had been employed in making vigorous preparation for carrying on the war, by enforcing the requisite supplies, and summoning the crown vassals, and the principal nobility of the north, to hold themselves in readiness to join the royal standard in Andalusia. After this, she proceeded by rapid stages to Cor- dova, notwithstanding the state of pregnancy, in which she was then far advanced. Aihamain- Hcrc thc sovcrcigns received the unwelcome in- vested again ^ Moors. formation, that the king of Granada, on the retreat of the Spaniards, had again sat down before Alha- ma ; having brought with him artillery, from the want of which he had suffered so much in the pre- ceding siege. This news struck a damp into the hearts of the Castilians, many of whom recom- mended the total evacuation of a place, " which " they said, " was so near the capital that it must be perpetually exposed to sudden and dangerous assaults ; while, from the difficulty of reaching it, it would cost the Castilians an incalculable waste of blood and treasure in its defence. It was expe- rience of these evils, which had led to its abandon- ment in former days, when it had been recovered by the Spanish arms from the Saracens." tumnetl'! Isabella was far from being shaken by these arguments. " Glory, " she said, " was not to be