dual conquest of the land.
All that remained of high-born and high-bred chivalry was here; all that
was loyal and patriotic was roused to activity by the common danger; and
Granada, that had so long been lulled into inaction by vain hopes of
security, now assumed a formidable aspect in the hour of its despair.

Ferdinand saw that any attempt to subdue the city by main force would be
perilous and bloody. Cautious in his policy, and fond of conquests gained
by art rather than valor, he determined to reduce the place by famine.
For this purpose, his armies penetrated into the very heart of the
Alpujarras, and ravaged the valleys and sacked and burned the towns upon
which the city depended for its supplies. Scouting parties, also,
ranged the mountains behind Granada and captured every casual convoy of
provisions. The Moors became more daring as their situation became more
hopeless. Never had Ferdinand experienced such vigorous sallies and
assaults. Musa[1], at the head of his cavalry, harassed the borders of
the camp, and even penetrated into the interior, making sudden spoil and
ravage, and leaving his course to be traced by the slain and wounded.

To protect his camp from these assaults, Ferdinand fortified it with deep
trenches and strong bulwarks. It was of a quadrangular form, divided into
streets like a city, the troops being quartered in tents, and in booths
constructed of bushes and branches of trees. When it was completed, Queen
Isabella came in state, with all her court, and the Prince and Princess,
to be present at the siege. This was intended to reduce the besieged to
despair by showing the determination of the sovereigns to reside in the
camp until the city should surrender. Immediately after her arrival, the
Queen rode forth to survey the camp and its environs: wherever she went
she was attended by a splendid retinue; and all the commanders vied with
each other in the pomp and ceremony with which they received her. Nothing
was heard, from morning until night, but shouts and acclamations and
bursts of martial music; so that it appeared to the Moors as if a
continual festival and triumph reigned in the Christian camp.

The arrival of the Queen, however, and the menaced obstinacy of the siege
had no effect in damping the fire of the Moorish chivalry. Musa inspired
the youthful warriors with the most devoted heroism. "We have nothing
left to fight for," said he, "but the ground we stand on; when this is
lost, we