Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. I.djvu/489

343 ROUT IN THE AXARQUIA. 343 the intrenchment could be fully completed, Ali chapter Atar, discerning the importance of this command- '. — ing station, made a sortie from the town, for the purpose of dislodging his enemies. The latter poured out from their works to encounter him ; but the Moslem general, scarcely waiting to receive the shock, wheeled his squadrons round, and began a precipitate retreat. The Spaniards eagerly pur- sued ; but, when they had been drawn to a suf- ficient distance from the redoubt, a party of Moorish ginetes, or light cavalry, who had crossed the river unobserved during the night and lain in ambush, after the wily fashion of Arabian tactics, darted from their place of concealment, and galloping into the deserted camp, plundered it of its contents, including the lombards, or small pieces of artillery, with which it was garnished. The Castilians, too late perceiving their error, halted from the pursuit, and returned with as much speed as possible to the defence of their camp. Ali Atar, turning also, hung close on their rear, so that, when the Chris- tians arrived at the summit of the hill, they found themselves hemmed in between the two divisions of the Moorish army. A brisk action now ensued, and lasted nearly an hour ; when the advance of reinforcements from the main body of the Spanish army, which had been delayed by distance and impediments on the road, compelled the Moors to a prompt but orderly retreat into their own city. The Christians sustained a heavy loss, particularly in the death of Rodrigo Tellez Giron, grand master of Calatrava. He was hit by two arrows, the last