52 CALIPHS OF SPAIN. 



pious and minute Fray Agapida, " took place in the 

 beginning: of January "in the year of our Lord 1492, 

 being 3655 years from the population of Spain by 

 the patriarch Tubal ; 3797 from the general deluge ; 

 5453 from the creation of the world; and in the 

 month Rebiah, in the 897th year of the Hejira, or 

 flight of Mohammed, whom God confound !"* 



This detested nation, whose conquest and expul- 

 sion were attended with such atrocities, and such 

 triumphs to the Catholic church, Avere by far the 

 most industrious and skilful part of the Spanish popu- 

 lation ; and their loss was a blow to the greatness 

 and prosperity of that kingdom, from which it lias 

 never recovered. The literary activity and com- 

 mercial enterprise of the Arabs, which the wise policy 

 of their caliphs encouraged, contributed both to en- 

 rich and adorn their adopted country. Cordova, the 

 seat of the Ommiades, was scarcely inferior in point 

 of wealth and magnitude to its proud rival on the 

 banks of the Tigris. A space of twenty-four miles 

 in length and six in breadth, along the margin of the 

 Guadalquiver, was occupied with palaces, streets, 

 gardens, and public edifices ; and for ten miles the 

 citizens could travel by the light of lamps along an 

 uninterrupted extent of buildings. In the reign of 

 Almansor it could boast of 270,000 houses, 80,455 

 shops, 911 baths, 3877 mosques, from the minarets 

 of which a population of 800,000 were daily sum- 

 moned to prayers. The seraglio of the caliph,— his 

 wives, concubines, and black eunuchs, amounted to 

 0300 persons ; and he was attended to the field by a 

 guard of 12,000 horsemen, Avhose belts and scimitars 

 were studded with gold. Granada was equally cele- 

 brated for its luxury and its learning. The royal 

 demesnes extended to the distance of twenty miles, 

 the revenues of which were set apart to maintain 

 the fortifications of the city. Of the duty on grain, 



* Conquest of Granada by Washington Irving. 



