Once  more,  the  sons  of  Ignatius  played  a  little  game  in  St.
Fe,  not  far  from  Granada  in  Spain,  by  means  of  a  contrivance

24


370  HISTORY   OF   THE   JESUITS.
■which  would  have  done  honour  to  the  most  cunning  swindler,
and  on  that  account  I  cannot  pass  it  over  in  silence.  The
inhabitants  of  St.  Fe,  so  far  back  as  the  15th  century,  had
obtained,  from  the  royal  pair  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  the  right
to  conduct  a  canal  from  the  river  Genii,  and  this  canal  was  for
them  of  incalculable  value,  as  it  served  for  the  irrigation  of  their
lands,  which  would  otherwise  have  yielded  no  produce.  Now,
it  so  happened  that  the  sons  of  Loyola  had  also,  in  the  1 7th
century,  acquired  a  large  piece  of  land  in  the  immediate  neigh-
bourhood for  quite  a  ridiculous  price,  as  this  land  possessed  no
water  right,  and  was,  consequently,  dry  during  the  summer
time ;  and  one  knows  what  a  rainless  summer  in  Granada  means.
On  this  account  they  made  strenuous  exertions  to  be  allowed  to
participate  in  the  privilege  as  regards  the  water  permitted  to  the
inhabitants  of  St.  F6,  and  they  urged  to  the  utmost  in  order
to  obtain  this  liberty.  The  St.  r6ans  did  not,  however,  at  all
allow  themselves  to  be  talked  over,  as  they  were  unable  to  spare
even  the  smallest  portion  of  their  water  without  inflicting  the
greatest  injury  upon  themselves ;  and  at  length  the  sons  of
Loyola  perceived  that  they  could  not  prevail  in  a  friendly  way,
and  by  persuasion,  in  arranging  the  affair.
