was
eagerly thrown open to receive them.

The garrison, roused to new spirit by this unlooked-for reinforcement,
was enabled to make a more vigorous resistance. The Moors, however, who
knew there was a great scarcity of water in the castle, exulted in the
idea that this additional number of warriors would soon exhaust the
cisterns and compel a surrender. Pulgar, hearing of this hope, caused
a bucket of water to be lowered from the battlements and threw a silver
cup in bravado to the Moors.

The garrison, in truth, suffered intensely from thirst, while, to
tantalize them in their sufferings, they beheld limpid streams winding
in abundance through the green plain below them. They began to fear
that all succor would arrive too late, when one day they beheld a little
squadron of vessels far at sea, but standing toward the shore. There
was some doubt at first whether it might not be a hostile armament from
Africa, but as it approached they descried, to their great joy, the
banner of Castile.

It was a reinforcement, brought in all haste by the governor of the
fortress, Don Francisco Ramirez. The squadron anchored at a steep
rocky island which rises from the very margin of the smooth sandy beach
directly in front of the rock of Salobrena and stretches out into the
sea. On this island Ramirez landed his men, and was as strongly posted
as if in a fortress. His force was too scanty to attempt a battle, but
he assisted to harass and distract the besiegers. Whenever King Boabdil
made an attack upon the fortress his camp was assailed on one side by
the troops of Ramirez, who landed from their island, and on another by
those of Don Francisco Enriquez, who swept down from their rock,
while Hernan del Pulgar kept up a brave defence from every tower and
battlement of the castle.

The attention of the Moorish king was diverted also, for a time, by
an ineffectual attempt to relieve the little port of Adra, which had
recently declared in his favor, but which had been recaptured for the
Christians by Cid Hiaya and his son Alnayar. Thus, the unlucky Boabdil,
bewildered on every hand, lost all the advantage that he had gained by
his rapid march from Granada. While he was yet besieging the obstinate
citadel, tidings were brought him that King Ferdinand was in full march
with a powerful host to its assistance. There was no time for further
delay: he made a furious attack with all his forces upon the castle, but
was again repulsed by Pulga