The terrible news reached the Almojarife[35] of Minorca. His consternation was great, for the danger was imminent. The impulsive young king cared less than nothing for the written grant given by En Jayme to the Moorish chief. The Almojarife sent to Barbary to entreat for help from the chiefs of Bugia, Bona, Tremecen, and Constantia. In a short time 900 cavalry and 5,000 foot soldiers arrived from Africa, which would enable the Moors to face their enemies with a respectable force. The King of Aragon left Salou with his fleet, arriving at Majorca on December 2, 1285, where he passed Christmas. Muntaner tells us that the cold of that winter was intense, and that a man might as well have been in the frozen steppes of the Don. The hands of some of the oarsmen were frostbitten, and the troops suffered from the severity of the winter. After the Christmas festivities were over, the King ordered the fleet to make sail in the worst possible weather. The ships were scarcely clear of the land when a furious gale sprang up and scattered the fleet. Alfonso arrived at Port Mahon with only twenty galleys, and occupied one of the rocky islands in the harbour, waiting for the rest of his forces. The Moors were ready to receive him. They had a large army, composed partly of the auxiliaries sent from Africa and partly of natives of the island. Seeing them drawn up in battle array, the impetuous young King resolved to attack them without waiting for reinforcements. He had a few companies of _almogavares_ and four hundred horse. A very desperate and well-contested battle was the result. Alfonso was in the thick of the fight, giving many proofs of valour and dexterity as a swordsman. In spite of the great inferiority in numbers, the Catalans were victorious, the Moors retreating in confusion to a hill which, owing to the great slaughter, received the name of ‘El Degollador.’ The battlefield was situated on a plain a little to the westward of the present castle of San Felipe. A day or two afterwards there was another fight, owing to the conduct of a young knight named Berenguer de Tornamira, who, to show his own valour, attacked the Moors without orders with a small force. If succour had not been promptly despatched he would certainly have been overwhelmed. As it was, the Moors were driven back. The Almojarife then took refuge, with the remnant of his forces, in the castle on Mount Santa Agueda. Alfonso, always hasty and violent, ordered Tornamira’s head to be cut off; but he afterwards yielded to the prayers and remonstrances of his nobles and consented to spare the young knight’s life. The losses in these two battles were very heavy, especially on the side of the Moors. By this time the rest of the fleet, with troops on board, had arrived at Port Mahon.