them all in the course of the year, says the Curate of Los Palacios, into
very good Christians. Fifty of the most beautiful Moorish girls were
presented by Isabella to the queen of Naples, thirty to the queen of
Portugal, others to the ladies of her court; and the residue of both sexes
were apportioned among the nobles, cavaliers, and inferior members of the
army, according to their respective rank and services. [29]

As it was apprehended that the Malagans, rendered desperate by the
prospect of a hopeless, interminable captivity, might destroy or secrete
their jewels, plate, and other precious effects, in which this wealthy
city abounded, rather than suffer them to fall into the hands of their
enemies, Ferdinand devised a politic expedient for preventing it. He
proclaimed that he would receive a certain sum, if paid within nine
months, as the ransom of the whole population, and that their personal
effects should be admitted in part payment. This sum averaged about thirty
doblas a head, including in the estimate all those who might die before
the determination of the period assigned. The ransom, thus stipulated,
proved more than the unhappy people could raise, either by themselves, or
agents employed to solicit contributions among their brethren of Granada
and Africa; at the same time, it so far deluded their hopes, that they
gave in a full inventory of their effects to the treasury. By this shrewd
device, Ferdinand obtained complete possession both of the persons and
property of his victims. [30]

Malaga was computed to contain from eleven to fifteen thousand
inhabitants, exclusive of several thousand foreign auxiliaries, within its
gates at the time of surrender. One cannot, at this day, read the
melancholy details of its story, without feelings of horror and
indignation. It is impossible to vindicate the dreadful sentence passed on
this unfortunate people for a display of heroism, which should have