ire. The captives had obtained permission that several of their
number should go about among the Moorish towns of the kingdom of Granada
collecting contributions to aid in the purchase of their liberties, but
these towns were too much impoverished by the war and engrossed by their
own distresses to lend a listening ear; so the time expired without the
residue of the ransom being paid, and all the captives of Malaga, to the
number, as some say, of eleven, and others of fifteen, thousand, became
slaves. "Never," exclaims the worthy Fray Antonio Agapida in one of his
usual bursts of zeal and loyalty,--"never has there been recorded a more
adroit and sagacious arrangement than this made by the Catholic monarch,
by which he not only secured all the property and half of the ransom
of these infidels, but finally got possession of their persons into the
bargain. This truly may be considered one of the greatest triumphs of
the pious and politic Ferdinand, and as raising him above the generality
of conquerors, who have merely the valor to gain victories, but lack the
prudence and management necessary to turn them to account."*

* The detestable policy of Ferdinand in regard to the Moorish
captives of Malaga is recorded at length by the curate of Los Palacios
(c. 87), a contemporary, a zealous admirer of the king, and one of
the most honest of chroniclers, who really thought he was recording a
notable instance of sagacious piety.

CHAPTER LXVII.

HOW KING FERDINAND PREPARED TO CARRY THE WAR INTO A DIFFERENT PART OF
THE TERRITORIES OF THE MOORS.

The western part of the kingdom of Granada had now been conquered by
the Christian arms. The seaport of Malaga was captured; the fierce and
warlike inhabitants of Serrania de Ronda and the other mountain-holds
of the frontier were all disarmed and reduced to peaceful and laborious
vassalage; their haughty fortresses, which had so long overawed the
valleys of Andalusia, now displayed the standard of Castile and Aragon;
the watch-towers which crowned every height, whence the infidels had
kept a vulture eye over the Christian territories, were now either
dismantled or garrisoned with Catholic troops. "What signalized and
sanctified this great triumph," adds the worthy Fray Antonio Agapida,
"were the emblems of ecclesiastical domination which everywhere
appeared. In every direction rose stately convents and monasteries,
those fortresses of the faith garrisoned by its spiritual