treat, imputing it to the small number of his forces, and the
circumstance that many of them were quotas sent from various cities,
and not in royal pay; in the mean time, to console his troops for their
disappointment and to keep up their spirits, he led them upon another
inroad to lay waste the Vega of Granada.

CHAPTER XI.

HOW MULEY ABUL HASSAN MADE A FORAY INTO THE LANDS OF MEDINA SIDONIA, AND
HOW HE WAS RECEIVED.

Muley Abul Hassan had mustered an army and marched to the relief of
Loxa, but arrived too late; the last squadron of Ferdinand had already
passed over the border. "They have come and gone," said he, "like a
summer cloud, and all their vaunting has been mere empty thunder." He
turned to make another attempt upon Alhama, the garrison of which was
in the utmost consternation at the retreat of Ferdinand, and would have
deserted the place had it not been for the courage and perseverance
of the alcayde, Luis Fernandez Puerto Carrero. That brave and loyal
commander cheered up the spirits of his men and kept the old Moorish
king at bay until the approach of Ferdinand, on his second incursion
into the Vega, obliged him to make an unwilling retreat to Malaga.

Muley Abul Hassan felt that it would be in vain, with his inferior
force, to oppose the powerful army of the Christian monarch, but to
remain idle and see his territories laid waste would ruin him in the
estimation of his people. "If we cannot parry," said he, "we can strike;
if we cannot keep our own lands from being ravaged, we can ravage the
lands of the enemy." He inquired and learnt that most of the chivalry
of Andalusia, in their eagerness for a foray, had marched off with the
king, and left their own country almost defenceless. The territories of
the duke of Medina Sidonia were particularly unguarded: here were vast
plains of pasturage covered with flocks and herds--the very country for
a hasty inroad. The old monarch had a bitter grudge against the duke for
having foiled him at Alhama. "I'll give this cavalier a lesson," said
he, exultingly, "that will cure him of his love of campaigning." So he
prepared in all haste for a foray into the country about Medina Sidonia.

Muley Abul Hassan sallied out of Malaga with fifteen hundred horse and
six thousand foot, and took the way by the sea-coast, marching through
Estiponia, and entering the Christian country between Gibraltar and
Castellar. The only person that was likely to molest him on this rou