SURPRISE OF ALHAMA. 327 were usually conducted, we may be justified in re- chapter garding it as an invention of the enemy. ^ '- — Alhama was now delivered up to the sack of FaiiofAi- ■■• hama. the soldiery, and rich indeed was the booty which fell into their hands, — gold and silver plate, pearls, jewels, fine silks and cloths, curious and costly furniture, and all the various appurtenances of a thriving, luxurious city. In addition to which, the magazines were found well stored with the more substantial, and at the present juncture, more ser- viceable supplies of grain, oil, and other provisions. Nearly a quarter of the population is said to have perished in the various conflicts of the day, and the remainder, according to the usage of the time, became the prize of the victors. A considerable number of Christian captives, who were found immured in the public prisons, were restored to freedom, and swelled the general jubilee with their grateful acclamations. The contemporary Castilian chroniclers record also, with no less satisfaction, the detection of a Christian renegade, notorious for his depredations on his countrymen, whose mis- deeds the marquis of Cadiz requited by causing him to be hung up over the battlements of the castle, in the face of the whole city. Thus fell the ancient city of Alhama, the first conquest, and achieved with a gallantry and daring unsurpassed by any other during this memorable war. ^ 8 Conde, Dominacion de los Ara- 9 Bernaldez, Reyes Catolicos, bes, ubi sup. — Piilgrar, Reyes Ca- MS., cap. 52. — Pulgar, Reyes Ca- tolicos, pp. 182, 183. — Mariana, tolicos, ubi sup. — Cardonne, Hist. Hist, de Espaiia, torn. ii. pp. 545, d'Afrique et d' Espagne, torn. iii. 546. p. 254.
