This monarch, the son of the first Abbadite amir, could do other things than make verses. He was a mighty warrior in Islam, and kept a kind of garden planted with the skulls of his enemies, in the contemplation of which he took great delight. With a view to adding to his collection he made extensive conquests in what are now the provinces of Ciudad Real, Badajoz, and Alemtejo, and undertook successful expeditions against Cordova and Ronda. It was the misfortune of his son and successor, Mote'mid, to be the contemporary of those great and vigorous Castilian kings, Fernando el Magno and Alfonso VI. Conscious of the weakness of his little State, the Amir of Ishbiliyah neglected no means of humouring his powerful neighbour. Fernando sent an armed mission to his court to demand the body of the holy martyr, Justa. But though Mote'mid eagerly extended all the assistance in his power, no trace of the relics could be obtained. The mission would have been obliged to return empty-handed had not St. Isidore (the brother of St. Leander) appeared in a dream to one of the Christian envoys and commanded him to convey his remains to Leon, instead of St. Justa's. The venerable prelate's body was discovered at Italica and carried off to the north, fragrant with balsamic odours and wrapped in costly silks. Mote'mid loudly lamented the loss of the remains. "Oh! venerable brother," he was heard to exclaim, "dost thou then leave me? Thou knowest what has passed between me and thee, and the love I bear thee. I pray thee to forget me never." Very remarkable words indeed, to fall from the lips of a Mohammedan sovereign in reference to a Catholic saint. [Illustration: SEVILLE--A COURTYARD]