t\H A SPRING TOUR IN PORTUGAL. 



form any decided opinion ; though, strangely mixed up 

 with a great deal of gross superstition and irreverence, 

 they certainly sliowed upon occasion a considerable aryiount 

 of earnestness and devotion ; and the churclics were often 

 crowded with worshippers of both sexes, so that, as regards 

 the male population, outwardly at least, they appeared far 

 more attentive to their religious duties than the men of 

 Spr-in. Neither are they so bloodthirsty and cruel as the 

 Spaniards, and in proof of this I would adduce the bull- 

 lights of the respective nations. I did not indeed witness 

 a bull-fight at Lisbon, though the season began soon after 

 our arrival, and several fiestas took place during our stay ; 

 but I had seen enough of that horrible exhibition in former 

 years at Madrid, and did not desire to renew my expe- 

 riences. But the Portuguese bull-fight is far less brutal, 

 inasmuch as the baited animals are not killed; neither, as 

 their horns are tipped with large wooden balls padded and 

 covered with leather, are the horses mangled and slain, 

 which is the most sickening spectacle in the Spanish arena. 

 Still, even under these more humane conditions, which 

 declare at once the more gentle spirit of the people, (for 

 hov-' -^'ould Spanish spectators endure such emasculation cf 

 sport !) serious accidents do sometimes occur. A friendy 

 wh attended a fiesta, saw one of the chulos badly hurt ; at 

 another time a matador was reported mortally wounded ; 

 and on several occasions the maddened bulls leaped the 

 barriers which divided them from the spectators. Still, 

 these were only legitimate accidents, which must occa- 

 sionally attend such rough sport, and there was nothing 

 here of the deliberate cruelty, the brutalisiug, demoralising 

 shedding of blood, which is the necessary accompaniment 

 of the Spanish bull-fight, and without which indeed the 

 Spanish popidace would not be content. So that, whether 

 or no the fiesta de toros, as practised in the latter country, 

 tends to render its inhabitants savage and bloodthirsty, as 



