THE CITY OF THE MOOR 15 



vanquished, plunged on horseback into the depths 

 of a ravine. At last, however, the distracted 

 Ibn Ismail obtained peace for his wretched 

 country by a personal interview with Enrique, 

 outside the walls of Granada. He devoted the 

 remainder of his reign to the encouragement of 

 commerce, industry, and agriculture in his do- 

 minions labour that did not benefit even those 

 who were to succeed him ; and died at Almeria 

 in the year 1465. The knell of the Moorish 

 Empire in Europe was sounded over his bier. 



The reigns of Ali Abu-1-Hassan, Mohammed 

 XI. (Boabdil), and Mohammed XII. (Az- 

 Zaghal) covered the years 1465-1492, during 

 which the downfall and extinction of the kingdom 

 were accomplished. The history of these events 

 has already filled many bulky tomes, and has been 

 made familiar to English readers by the works 

 of Prescott. Even our brief survey, however, 

 cannot be concluded without a summary of the 

 last chapter of the story of Granada. 



The character of Muley Ali Abu-1-Hassan was 

 the reverse of his predecessor's. He was arrogant, 

 impetuous, and warlike, a fanatical hater of the 

 Christians, and a zealous Muslim. In the first 

 years of his reign he gained some successes 

 over the feeble Enrique IV., and proved himself 

 strong enough to quell a revolt at Malaga. But 

 he let slip the opportunity of attacking the new 



