Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. III.djvu/331

305 UNIVERSITY OF ALCAL.4. 305 least regard to the commands or menaces of their chapter officers ; a circumstance which might liave proved fatal, had the Moors had strength or discipline to rally. As it was, the scattered numbers of the Christians, magnifying to the eye their real force, served only to increase the panic, and accelerate the speed of the fugitives. ^' While this was coin"; on, the fleet had anchored i''cciiy before the city, and opened a very heavy cannon- ade, which was answered with equal spirit from sixty pieces of artillery which garnished the fortifi- cations. The troops on board, however, made good their landing, and soon joined themselves to their victorious countrymen, descending from ^e sierra. They then pushed forward in all haste towards Oran, proposing to carry the place by escalade. They were poorly provided with ladders, but the desperate energy of the moment overleaped every obstacle ; and planting their long pikes against the walls, or thrusting them into the crevices of the stones, they clambered up with incredible dexterity, although they were utterly unable to repeat the feat the next day in cold blood. The first who gained the summit was Sousa, captain of the cardi- nal's guard, who, shouting forth " St. Jago and Ximenes," unfurled his colors, emblazoned with the primate's arms on one side, and the Cross on the other, and planted them on the battlements. Six other banners were soon seen streaming from the 11 Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., Do Rebus Gestis, fol. 110, 111. — cpist. 418. — Bernaldez, Reyes Ca- Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, torn. ii. tolicos, MS., cap. 218. — Gomez, ray 30, cap. 18. VOL. III. 39