Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. II.djvu/71

47 SIEGE OF BAZA. 47 duke of Cadiz suffered itself to be drawn here into chapter XIV an ambuscade by the wily old monarch El Zagal, '- — who lay in Baza with a strong force. After extri- cating his troops with some difficulty and loss from this perilous predicament, Ferdinand retreated on his own dominions by the way of Huescar, where he disbanded his army, and withdrew to offer up his devotions at the cross of Caravaca. The cam- paign, though signalized by no brilliant achieve- ment, and indeed clouded with some slight reverses, secured the surrender of a considerable number of fortresses and towns of inferior note.^ The Moorish chief. El Zagal, elated by his re- Border war. cent success, made frequent forays into the Chris- tian territories, sweeping off the flocks, herds, and growing crops of the husbandman ; while the gar- risons of Almeria and Salobrena, and the bold in- habitants of the valley of Purchena, poured a similar devastating warfare over the eastern borders of Granada into Murcia. To meet this pressure, the Spanish sovereigns reinforced the frontier with additional levies under Juan de Benavides and Garcilasso de la Vega ; while Christian knights, whose prowess is attested in many a Moorish lay, flocked there from all quarters, as to the theatre of war. During the following winter, of 1488, Ferdinand and Isabella occupied themselves with the interior government of Castile, and particularly the admin- 2 Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, donne, Hist. d'Afrique et d'Es- tom. viii. p. 76. — Pulsar, Reyes pagne, torn. iii. pp. 298, 299. — Catolicos, cap. 98. — Zuiiiga, An- Carbajal, Anales, MS., aiio 1488. nales de Sevilla, p. 402. — Car-