The King of Granada had sent seventy-four ships
to blockade the city from the sea, and the troops of Fez were forcing
their way into the lower town. Henry was hurriedly sent from Lisbon to
its relief, while Edward and Pedro got themselves ready to follow him,
if needed, from Lagos and the Algarve coast. But Ceuta had already saved
itself. As the first succours were sailing through the Straits of
Gibraltar, Menezes contrived to send them word of his danger; the
Berbers on the land side had mastered Almina, or the eastern part of the
merchant town, while the Granada galleys had closed in upon the port
itself. At this news Henry made the best speed he could, but he was only
in time to see the rout of the Moors. Menezes and the garrison made a
desperate sally directly they sighted the relief coming through the
straits; the same appearance struck a panic into the enemy's fleet, and
only one galley stayed on the African coast to help their landsmen, who
were thus left alone and without hope of succour on the eastern hills of
the Ceuta peninsula, cut off by the city from their Berber allies. When
Henry landed, Almina had been won back and the last of the Granada
Moslems cut to pieces.
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