On the other hand, as being a Lisbonian born and bred – and specifically, an inhabitant of Lisbon's Old City, which had been the Moorish city and stood the Christian siege – he is very much in sympathy with the Moorish people of Lisbon, who were attacked by what was for them an alien and cruel conquering army, who starved under the siege and were reduced to eating dogs (a point which is repeatedly referred to in the book) and were subjected to a massacre when the city finally fell.