Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. II.djvu/110

86 86 WAR OF GRANADA. PART I n-ncamps iii Jlte vega. Position of Granada. with the contest, contented themselves with send- — ing their quotas, while many others, as the mar- quises of Cadiz, Villena, the counts of Tendilla, Cabra, Urena, and Alonso de Aguilar, appeared in person, eager, as they had borne the brunt of so many hard campaigns, to share in the closing scene of triumph. On the 26th of the month, the army encamped near the fountain of Ojos de Huescar, in the vega, about two leagues distant from Granada. Ferdi- nand's first movement was to detach a considerable force, under the marquis of Villena, which he sub- sequently supported in person with the remainder of the army, for the purpose of scouring the fruit- ful regions of the Alpuxarras, which served as the granary of the capital. This service was performed with such unsparing rigor, that no less than twenty- four towns and hamlets in the mountains were ransacked, and razed to the ground. After this, Ferdinand returned loaded with spoil to his former position on the banks of the Xenil, in full view of the Moorish metropolis, which seemed to stand alone, like some sturdy oak, the last of the forest, bidding defiance to the storm which had prostrated all its brethren. Notwithstanding the failure of all external re- sources, Granada was still formidable from its local position and its defences. On the east it was fenced in by a wild mountain barrier, the Sierra Nevada, whose snow-clad summits diffused a grate- ful coolness over the city through the sultry heats of summer. The side towards t^'> —