ROYAL EXPEDITION AGAINST LOXA.


King Ferdinand held a council of war at Cordova, where it was
deliberated what was to be done with Alhama. Most of the council
advised that it should be demolished, inasmuch as, being in the
centre of the Moorish kingdom, it would be at all times liable to
attack, and could only be maintained by a powerful garrison and
at a vast expense. Queen Isabella arrived at Cordova in the midst
of these deliberations, and listened to them with surprise and
impatience. "What!" said she, "destroy the first fruits of our
victories? Abandon the first place we have wrested from the Moors?
Never let us suffer such an idea to occupy our minds. It would argue
fear or feebleness, and give new courage to the enemy. You talk of
the toil and expense of maintaining Alhama. Did we doubt on
undertaking this war that it was to be one of infinite cost, labor,
and bloodshed? And shall we shrink from the cost the moment a
victory is obtained and the question is merely to guard or abandon
its glorious trophy? Let us hear no more about the destruction of
Alhama; let us maintain its walls sacred, as a stronghold granted
us by Heaven in the centre of this hostile land; and let our only
consideration be how to extend our conquest and capture the
surrounding cities."

The language of the queen infused a more lofty and chivalrous spirit
into the royal council. Preparations were made to maintain Alhama at
all risk and expense, and King Ferdinand appointed as alcayde Luis
Fernandez Puerto Carrero, senior of the house of Palma, supported
by Diego Lopez de Ayala, Pero Ruiz de Alarcon, and Alonso Ortis,
captains of four hundred lances and a body of one thousand foot,