Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. I.djvu/516

370 WAR OF GRANADA. PART supplied with a fresh horse, accomplished his es- ' cape, after traversing the wildest passages of the Axarquia for the distance of four leagues, and got into Antequera with but little interruption from the enemy. But, although he secured his personal safety, the misfortunes of the day fell heavily ou his house; for two of his brothers were cut down by his side, and a third brother, with a nephew, fell into the hands of the enemy. ^^ Losses of the Thc amouut of slain in the two davs' actions, is Christians. *' admitted by the Spanish writers to have exceeded eight hundred, with double that number of prisoners. The Moorish force is said to have been small, and its loss comparatively trifling. The numerical es- timates of the Spanish historians, as usual, appear extremely loose; and the narrative of their enemies is too meagre in this portion of their annals, to al- low any opportunity of verification. There is no reason, however, to believe them in any degree ex- aggerated. The best blood of Andalusia was shed on this occasion. Among the slain, Bernaldez reckons two hundred and fifty, and Pulgar four hundred persons of quality, with thirty commanders of the military fraternity of St. James. There was scarcely a family in the south, but had to mourn the loss of some one of its members by death or captivity; and the distress was not a little aggravated by the uncertainty which hung over the fate of the absent, 32 Bernaldez, Reyes Catolicos, of the marquis, whose names he MS., cap. 60. — Marmol says that {jives, were all slain. Rebelioii three brotliers and two nephews de Moriscos, lib. 1, cap. 12.