rather into pure-blooded Arabs and Muwallads or half-breeds. [Illustration: SEVILLE--THE ACEITE GATE] Here at Seville the young Abd-er-Rahman arrived, to restore the empire of his forefathers, the Umeyyas, and under these walls the horde of the Abbassides was cut to pieces. Yet despite the prosperity she enjoyed under the Western Khalifate, the city murmured against Cordova, and more than once essayed to throw off the yoke. In Abdullah's reign (888-912) a chief named Ibrahim Ibn Hajjaj assumed semi-regal state at Ishbiliyah. When he rode forth he was attended by five hundred cavaliers, and he ventured to wear the tiraz, the official insignia of the amirs. He was a liberal patron of the arts and letters. "In all the West," exclaimed a delighted bard, "I found no noble man but Ibrahim, and he was nobility itself! When you have once lived within his shadow, to live elsewhere is misery." Such flattery did not delude Ibrahim into too great a confidence in his own power. He readily submitted to the great khalifa, Abd-ur-Rahman III., by whom the city was greatly favoured. The channel of the Guadalquivir was narrowed and deepened, the palm-tree introduced from Africa, and the city adorned with gardens and fine edifices. The splendour of the court of Cordova was reflected on Seville, which became famous as a seat of learning. In those days flourished Ahmed Ben Abdallah, surnamed "El Beji," or "The Sage," the author of an Encyclopædia of Sciences which was long esteemed a piece of marvellous erudition. Some strange and unexpected figures about this time flit across the stage of Andalusian history. The Northmen, or "Majus" as they were called by the Arabs, appeared in the year 844 off Lisbon. After spreading dismay through Lusitania they sailed their long ships southwards to Cadiz, and disembarked. They vanquished the khalifa's troops in three pitched battles, and penetrating into Seville sacked the rich city from end to end. Luckily they remained but a day and a night, and after sustaining several desperate attacks from the inhabitants of the country, with varying results, they retired overland to Lisbon, where they re-embarked. They came again fifteen years later, and this time sailed up the Guadalquivir, burnt the principal mosque, and threw down the Roman walls. Then they made sail for the eastern coasts of Spain, where they were attacked and routed by the Saracen fleet. An army of demons must these strange uncouth pirates have seemed to the Andalusians, who knew not whence they came nor to what race of men they belonged.