Their cimeters were of the keenest Damascus
blades, with sheaths richly wrought and enamelled, and belts of golden
filagree studded with gems. Their daggers of Fez had jewelled hilts,
and their lances were set off with gay banderoles. Their horses were
caparisoned in correspondent style, with velvet and embroidery.
All this minute description, given by a contemporary, and an
author of distinction, verifies those gallant pictures in the old
Morisco Spanish ballads which have sometimes been deemed apocryphal,
and gives a vivid idea of the brilliant appearance of the chivalry
of Granada, when marshalled forth in warlike array, or when
celebrating the chivalrous fetes of the Vivarrambla.
The Generalife.
HIGH ABOVE the Alhambra, on the breast of the mountain, amidst
embowered gardens and stately terraces, rise the lofty towers and
white walls of the Generalife; a fairy palace, full of storied
recollections. Here is still to be seen the famous cypresses of
enormous size which flourished in the time of the Moors, and which
tradition has connected with the fabulous story of Boabdil and his
sultana.
Here are preserved the portraits of many who figured in the romantic
drama of the Conquest. Ferdinand and Isabella, Ponce de Leon, the
gallant marquis of Cadiz, and Garcilaso de la Vega, who slew in
desperate fight Tarfe the Moor, a champion of Herculean strength.
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