and when he had discovered it, he began to build a square edifice. The materials were of white stone, and the place chosen for its erection a sandy desert on the sea shore. In order to give sufficient solidity to the building, the architect sunk the foundations as deep into the earth as the building itself rose above the surface; and when he had completed it, he placed on the top a statue of melted copper and iron, mixed together by dint of his science, to which he further gave the look and appearance of a Berber, with a long beard; his hair, which was exceedingly coarse, stood upright on his head, and he had besides a tuft hanging over his forehead.42 His garment consisted of a tunic, the ends of which he held on the left arm; he wore sandals on his feet, and the most extraordinary thing about him was that, although the dimensions of the figure were excessive, and he stood up in the air at a distance of more than sixty or seventy cubits, no other support was seen but the natural one at his feet, which were at most one cubit in circumference. He had his right arm extended, and in his hand were visible some keys with a padlock;43 with his right hand he pointed towards the sea, as if he were saying, No one is to pass "this way; way;" and such was the magic virtue contained in this figure, that as long as it kept its place, and held the keys in its hand, no ship from Barbary could ever sail into the strait, on account of its stormy and fearful waters.** However, each of the kings worked with uncommon activity at his task, hoping that whichsoever of the two accomplished his first stood a good chance of gaining the heart of the princess. The constructor of the aqueduct was the first to finish his, for he contrived so as to keep it secret from the other, in hopes that if he did his work first, the talisman would not be completed, and the victory would remain to him: and so it happened, for he measured his time so well, that on the very same day on which his rival's work was to be accomplished water began to run in the island, and the wheel to move; and when the news of his success reached his competitor, who was then on the top of the monument giving the last polish to the face of the figure, which was gilt, he took it so much to heart that he threw himself down, and fell dead at the foot of the tower; by which means the other prince, freed from his rival, became the master of the lady, of the wheel, and of the charm. The author from whom the preceding narrative is borrowed does not acquaint us in what manner the spell acted against Africans, nor how its virtue came to be impaired, but we here subjoin another writer's version of this story. In times of old the Greek kings who reigned in Andalus were terribly afraid of an invasion on the part of the Berbers, on account of the prophecy that we have recorded. To avoid this they constructed different spells, and, among others, one which they put inside a marble urn and placed in a palace at Toledo in order to ensure its custody and preservation they placed a padlock on the gate of the palace, leaving instructions for every succeeding king to do the same. This injunction having been faithfully complied with, it came to pass that after the lapse of a great many years twenty-seven padlocks were appended to the gate of the building, -that number of kings having reigned in Andalus, each of whom had put his padlock as ordained. Some time previous to the invasion of the Arabs, which, as is well known, was the cause of the overthrow of the Gothic dynasty and of the entire conquest of Andalus, a king of the Goths, Roderic by name, ascended the throne. Now this king, being young and fond of adventure, once assembled his Wizírs, great officers of the state, and members of his council, and spoke to them thus :"I have been thinking a long time about this house with its seven-and-twenty padlocks, and I am determined to have it opened, that I may see what it contains, "for I am sure it is a mere jest." "It may be so, O King!" answered one of the Wizírs; "but honesty, prudence, and policy demand that thou shouldst not do it ; " and that, following the example of thy father, of thy grandfather, and of thy " ancestors,-none of whom ever wished to dive into this mystery,-thou shouldst "add a new padlock to the gate." When the Wizír had done speaking, Roderic replied,-"No: I am led by an irresistible impulse, and nothing shall make me change my resolution. I have an ardent wish to penetrate this mystery, and my curiosity must be satisfied." "O King! answered the Wizírs, "if thou doest it "under a belief that treasures are concealed in it, let us hear thy estimation of them, and we will collect the sum among ourselves and deposit it in thy royal "treasure, rather than see ourselves and thee exposed to frightful calamities and misery." But Roderic being a man of undaunted spirit, stout of heart, and strong of determination, was not easily persuaded. He remained deaf to the entreaties of his counsellors and proceeded immediately towards the palace, and when he arrived at the gate, which, as we have already observed, was furnished with several locks, each of them having its key hanging to it, the gate was thrown open, and nothing else was to be seen but a large table made of gold and silver and set with precious stones, upon which was to be read the following inscription :-" This is the table of Suleymán, son of Dáúd, (upon whom be peace!)" Another object, besides the table, was to be seen in another apartment of the palace, provided. also with a very strong padlock, which being removed allowed Roderic to look into it. But what was his astonishment on entering the apartment when nothing was to be seen but the urn, and inside it a roll of parchment and a picture representing in the brightest colours several horsemen looking like Arabs, dressed in skins of animals, and having, instead of turbans, locks of coarse hair; they were mounted on fleet Arabian steeds, bright scimitars 946 hung by their sides, and their right hands were armed with spears. Roderic ordered his attendants to unroll the parchment, when lo! what did he see but the following inscription written in large letters upon it :-" Whenever this asylum is violated, and "the spell contained in this urn broken, the people painted on this urn shall invade "Andalus, overturn the throne of its kings, and subdue the whole country.' They say that when Roderic read this fatal prognostic he repented of what he had done, and was impressed with a strong belief of his impending ruin. He was not mistaken, for tidings soon reached him of an army of Arabs, which the emperor of the East sent against him. This is the enchanted palace and the picture to which Roderic is said to have alluded afterwards, on the day of the battle of Guadalete, when, as he was advancing upon the Moslems, he saw for the first time before his eyes the very men whose representations were upon the parchment. Of this more will be said hereafter. But whether this account is a true one or not, God only knows, for we find it related in various ways by the historians, as we shall have further occasion to observe when we come to treat about the famous table of Suleyman and other particulars connected with this case, and that we shall do by taking our information from the best and purest sources. As to the other story, namely, that of the sage king making a contrivance to bring sweet water from Africa into Andalus, it is scarcely credible, for Andalus happens just to be one of the countries most abounding in waters and rivers; and therefore we do not see the necessity of bringing water from the opposite shore, unless, as some pretend, the princess only did it to puzzle her admirer and try his skill by imposing upon him this extraordinary and most difficult task. But I again repeat, God only knows; for he is the creator and master of all science! see Músa. CHAPTER II. Ilyán goes to see Músa-Makes a successful incursion-Músa acquaints Al-walid with the victory-Sends Tarif Abú Zar'ah-His landing at Tarifa-Músa sends Tárik Ibn Zeyád-He lands at Gibraltar-Is attacked by Theodomir-Roderic hastens to the defence of his kingdom-Arrives in Cordova-Writes to the sons of Wittiza-Tárik sends to Africa for reinforcements-Discontent of the Gothic nobles— Treason of the sons of Wittiza-Roderic encamps on the banks of the Guadalete-Tárik addresses his men-Battle of Guadalete-Roderic's fate-Taking of Sidonia, Carmona, and Ezija. Ilyán goes to No sooner did Ilyán, the Lord of Ceuta, arrive safely in his dominions, than he went to see the Amír Músa Ibn Nosseyr, and proposed to him the conquest of Andalus, which he described as a country of great excellence and blessings; he told him that it was a land abounding in productions of all kinds, rich in grain of all sorts, plentiful in waters renowned for their sweetness and clearness; he proceeded afterwards to draw the picture of the inhabitants, whom he affirmed to be enervated by long peace, and destitute of arms. This account awakened the ambition of the Amír, who, after a mature deliberation on the proposition made to him, came to the following agreement with Ilyán,—that he should desert the cause which he was then defending 2 and pass over to the Moslems, and that by way of proving his enmity towards his own countrymen, professing the same religion as himself, he should first of all make an incursion into their country. This Ilyán immediately put into execution, and, collecting some troops in the districts subject to his rule, he embarked in two vessels and landed on the coast of Algesiras, whence he overran the country, and after killing and making a number of captives he and his companions returned safe to Africa, loaded with spoil, on the following day. Makes a successful incursion. No sooner did the news of this first expedition, which took place at the close of the year ninety, become known in Africa, than a great many Moslems flocked under the banners of Ilyán and trusted him. As for the Amír Músa, he wrote Músa acquaints immediately to the Khalif Al-walíd, informing him of what Ilyán proposed to him to undertake against Andalus, and asking his leave to try the conquest,5 and the answer of the Khalif was conceived in the following terms:-" Let Al-walid with the victory. "the country be first explored by light troops, to overrun it and bring thee "news of what it contains; be prudent, and do not allow the Moslems to be "lost in an ocean of dangers and horrors." To which Músa replied, "It is "not an ocean, but only a narrow channel, whose shores are every where distinct "to the eye." "Never mind," answered Al-walíd; "even if it be so, let the "country be first explored." 6 Abú Zar'ah. Accordingly Músa sent a freedman of his, a Berber, whose name was Tarif Abú Sends Tarif Zar'ah, with four hundred foot and one hundred horsemen,8 with instructions to make an incursion into Andalus. Taríf and his small army embarked in four vessels, and landed on an island situated opposite to another island close to Andalus, and known by the name of Jezírah Al-khadhrá (the green island), where the Arabs of the present days keep their ships and their naval stores,10 it being their principal port to cross over to Africa. In this island, which has since taken the name of Taríf, on account of his landing on it," the Berber general stayed a whole day, until all his men were with him ;12 he then moved on and made several inroads into the main land, which produced a rich spoil and several captives, who were so handsome that Músa and his companions had never seen the like of them.13 This took place in the month of Ramadhan of the year ninety-one (Aug.-Sept. A. D. 710),1 and when it was made known every one wished to go to Andalus. Tarif. The number of troops that accompanied Taríf in this expedition is not satis- Landing of factorily ascertained. Some authors make it amount to one thousand men; others give him only half that number, as above stated. But we must observe that the whole of these accounts are very doubtful, since there are not wanting historians who make Tarif a different person from Abú Zar'ah, as these words of one of them seem to purport. Taríf returned from this expedition loaded with spoil, and bringing a great number of captives; another incursion was made by a Sheikh of the Berbers, whose name was Abú Zar'ah,15 who landed with one thousand "men of his nation on the island of Algesiras, and finding that the inhabitants had deserted the island he set fire to their houses and fields, and burnt also " a church 16 very much venerated amongst them. He then put to the sword such of its inhabitants as he met, and, making a few prisoners, returned safe to Africa." But we believe the former account to be the most credible, since it is confirmed by Ar-rází 17 and other historians, who make these two captains to be one and the same person, and call him Abú Zar'ah Taríf Ibn Málik Al-mugháferí,18 for such were his name and patronymic. But to proceed. Ilyán went a second time to Músa Ibn Nosseyr, and apprised him of the happy result of the inroad he had made in Andalus, as well as VOL. I. 2 M |