Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. I.djvu/485

the queea SURPRISE OF ALHAMA. 339 Isabella in the mean while was engaged in active cmai'ter measures for prosecuting the war. She issued or- '■ — r /-^ '1 IT Vigorous ders to the various cities of Castile and Leon, as i^.t^'f"':'^!"^ far as the borders of Biscay and Guipuscoa, pre- scribing the repartimiento, or subsidy of provisions, and the quota of troops, to be furnished by each district respectively, together with an adequate sup- ply of ammunition and artillery. The whole were to be in readiness before Loja, by the 1st of July ; when Ferdinand was to take the field in person at the head of his chivalry, and besiege that strong post. As advices were received, that the Moors of Granada were making efforts to obtain the cooper- ation of their African brethren in support of the Mahometan empire in Spain, the queen caused a fleet to be manned under the command of her two best admirals, with instructions to sweep the Med- iterranean as far as the Straits of Gibraltar, and thus effectually cut off all communication with the Bar- bary coast. ^° 20 Pulgar, Reyes Catdlicos, pp. 188, 189.