as well as for the healthfulness of the air, which is continually refreshed by running streams of limpid water. This garden is only separated from the royal residence by a high and strong wall, defended by a deep moat. In this place the Sultán was suddenly awakened by the clatter of arms, the cries of the assailants, and the beating of drums in the distance. Not knowing what caused the tumult, Mohammed went out in the direction of the Alhambra; but, finding that the conspirators occupied all the avenues, he retraced his steps, and Allah was pleased to provide for his salvation; for, having mounted a fleet horse, which was always kept saddled and prepared for him, he galloped off to Guadix, where he arrived safely the same morning, and presented himself to the governor of the castle, who was very far from suspecting what had happened. Mohammed was immediately waited upon by the chief inhabitants of the place who all swore to protect him, so that he not only reigned undisturbed over Guadix and its immediate neighbourhood, but soon found himself at the head of devoted followers who hastened to him from all parts.”
Meanwhile, his brother, the usurper, despatched an embassy to the King of Castile, offering to renew the treaty of peace then existing between the two countries. The Castilian King (Pedro I.), happening then to be at war with the people of Barcelona, readily assented to the proposal, and ratified the usurper’s occupation of Granada. Isma’il, however, did not long enjoy the power he had seized. He was besieged in the Alhambra by Abú ’Abdillah, afterwards Mohammed VI., taken prisoner, and put to death, together with his brother, Kayes, in 1360.
The history of the dethroned king, Mohammed V., is particularly interesting for the reason that he it was who put the finishing touches to the decoration of the Alhambra, after the work was interrupted by the assassination of his father, Yúsuf I.
Immediately upon the death of Isma’il, Mohammed VI. was proclaimed king, and reigned for about two years, at the end of which period, seeing himself pressed on the one side by the rightful sovereign who burned to revenge the outrage done to him and recover the throne of his ancestors; and harassed, on the other hand, by Pedro, King of Castile; he formed the strange
A VIEW OF THE ROYAL VILLA OF THE GENERALIFE AT GRANADA.
TRANSVERSE SECTION OF THE ROYAL VILLA OF THE GENERALIFE AT GRANADA.