a, the holy city, the rival of Mecca in the West--Cordova was in
the possession of the Christians, and the Moors believed that all was
lost.

But the hopes of these despairing followers of Islam were rekindled by
the almost magical influence of a single individual, a scion of the
tribe of the _Alhamars_, named Mohammed Aboussaid, who came originally
from the celebrated Arabian city of Couffa.

Several historians, who speak of Mohammed under the title of _Mohammed
Alhamar_, assure us that he commenced his career as a simple shepherd,
and that, having afterward borne arms, he aspired to the attainment of
royal power in consequence of his martial exploits. Such an incident
is not extraordinary among the Arabs, where all who are not descended
either from the family of the Prophet or from the royal race,
possessing none of the privileges of birth, are esteemed solely
according to their personal merits.

But, be that as it may, Mohammed Aboussaid {120} possessed sufficient
intellectual powers to reanimate the expiring courage of the vanquished
Moslems. He assembled an army in the city of Arjona, and, well knowing
the peculiar character of the nation that he wished to control,
proceeded to gain over to his interests a _santon_, a species of
religious character highly venerated among the Moors. This oracular
individual publicly predicted to the people of Algarva that Mohammed
Alhamar was destined speedily to become their king. Accordingly, he
was soon proclaimed by the inhabitants, and several other cities
followed the example thus set them.

Mohammed now filled the place of Benhoud, to whom he possessed similar
talents for government; and, feeling the necessity of selecting a city
to replace Cordova in the affections of the Moors, to become the sacred
asylum of their religion, and the centring point for their military
strength, he founded a new kingdom, and made the city of Grenada its
capital, A.D. 1236, Heg. 634.

This city, powerful from the remotest times, and supposed to be the
ancient Illiberis of the Romans, was built upon two hills, not far
distant from the Sierra Nevada, a chain of {121} mountains whose
summits are covered with perpetual snow. The town was traversed by the
river Darra, and the waters of the Xenil bathed its walls. Each of the
two hills was crowned by a fortress: on the one was that of the
Alhambra, and on the other that of the Albayzin. These strongholds
were either of them sufficient in