Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. I.djvu/513

ROUT IN THE AXARQUIA. 367 valley at some distance from the scene of action, chapter where he determined to wait the coming up of his : — . friends, who he confidently expected would follow on his track. ^^ But the grand master and his associates, missing Difficulties o ' ^ of the as- this track in the darkness of the night, or perhaps ' preferring another, breasted the sierra in a part where it proved extremely difficult of ascent. At every step the loosened earth gave way under the pressure of the foot, and, the infantry endeavouring to support themselves by clinging to the tails and manes of the horses, the jaded animals, borne down with the weight, rolled headlong with their riders on the ranks below, or were precipitated down the sides of the numerous ravines. The Moors, all the while, avoiding a close encounter, contented them- selves with discharging on the heads of their oppo- nents an unintermitted shower of missiles of every description. ^^ It was not until the following morning, that the Dreadful Castilians, having surmounted the crest of the emi- nence, began the descent into the opposite valley, which they had the mortification to observe was commanded on every point by their vigilant adver- sary, who seemed now in their eyes to possess the powers of ubiquity. As the light broke upon the troops, it revealed the whole extent of their 28 Pulgar, Reyes Cat61icos, loc. Granada," states that the scene of cit. — Bernaldez, Reyes Catolicos, the greatest slaughter in this rout MS., cap. 60. is still known to the inhabitants of 29 Pulgar, Reyes Catolicos, p. the Axarquia by the name of La 206. Ciiesta de la Matanza, or "The Mr. Irving, in his " Conquest of Hill of the Massacre."