Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. I.djvu/495

349 X. ROUT IN THE AXARQUIA. 349 fortress of the Alhambra, however, remained faith- chapter ful to him. A war now burst forth in the capital which deluged its streets with the blood of its citizens. At length the sultana triumphed ; Abul Haccn was expelled from Granada, and sought a refuge in Malaga, which, with Baza, Guadix, and some other places of importance, still adhered to him ; while Granada, and by far the larger portion of the kingdom proclaimed the authority of his elder son, Abu Abdallah, or Boabdil, as he is usually called by the Castilian writers. The Span- ish sovereigns viewed with no small interest these proceedings of the Moors, who were thus wantonly fighting the battles of their enemies. All proffers of assistance on their part, however, being warily rejected by both factions, notwithstanding the mu- tual hatred of each other, they could only await with patience the termination of a struggle, which, whatever might be its results in other respects, could not fail to open the way for the success of their own arms. ^ Marmol, Rebelion de Moriscos, lib. Boabdil was surnamed " el Chi- 1, cap. 12. — Bernaldez states that co," the Little, by the Spanish great umbrage was taken at the writers, to distinguish him from an influence which the king of Gra- uncle of the same name ; and " el nada allowed a person of Christian Zogoybi," the Unfortunate, by the lineage, named Venegas, to exer- Moors, indicating that he was the cise over him. Pulgar hints at the last of his race destined to wear the bloody massacre of the Abencer- diadem of Granada. The Arabs, rages, which, without any better with great fehcity, frequently se- aathority that I know of, forms the lect names significant of some qual- burden of many an ancient ballad, ity in the objects they represent, and has lost nothing of its roraan- Examples of this may be readily tic coloring under the hand of Gi- found in the southern regions of n6s Perez de Hyta. the Peninsula, where the Moors 8 Cardonne, Hist. d'Afrique et lingered the longest. The etymo- d'Espagne, ubi supra. — Conde, logy of Gibraltar, Gebal Tarik, Dominacion de los Arabes, ubi sup. Mount of Tarik, is well known.