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BULL-FIGHTS. 



Bull-fights, companion they expose themselves to equal peril : 



' ^ ri T the bull pursues them with amazing impetuosity ; 



and if they cannot deceive him by dropping the ban- 

 ner which they hold in their hand, their only resource 

 is to leap over the barrier which forms the interior of 

 the circle ; and which, though six feet high, is some- 

 times cleared at the same moment by the torreador 

 and his adversary. As soon 4fc the picadore has re- 

 covered himself, and has mounted a fresh horse, 

 he again presents himself before the bull, and the 

 combat is renewed in the same manner as before ; or 

 if he has been disabled by his wounds, he is succeed- 

 ed by another champion, who, approaching with cau- 

 tion, and dextrously avoiding the animal's thrusts, 

 waits an opportunity of striking an effectual wound. 

 At length, when the poor animal begins to stag- 

 ger through loss of blood, and its rage increases as 

 its strength is diminished, a signal is given for the 

 horseman to retire, and he is resigned to the bande- 

 rilleros, or foot- combatants, who torment him with a 

 more refined species of cruelty. The office of these 

 banderilleros seems to require much greater address 

 than that of the horseman. They are active young 

 men, generally eight in number, each armed with a 

 bundle of banderillas, or little arrows, barbed like a 

 fish-hook, and ornamented with streamers of stained 

 paper. These they fix in the neck of the bull, ne- 

 ver attacking him, however, from behind, but meet- 

 ing him in front. By the pain which the arrows in- 

 flict, his fury is redoubled ; the amphitheatre is sha- 

 ken by his roaring ; and his torture is rendered more 

 acute by his vain efforts to dislodge the weapons which 

 gall him. A fine opportunity is now afforded to his 

 antagonists for displaying their activity and address. 

 When he has singled out one object of vengeance, 

 and is preparing to pierce him with his horns, at the 

 very moment when he pauses and shuts his eyes, his 

 , opponent fixes his banderillas and escapes. If he 



hesitates, and seems afraid to make the attack, they 

 present their moleta, or little banner, which they al- 

 ways carry in their left hand, and provoking him to 

 push at that, pass by him in security. He frequent- 

 ly, however, turns quick upon his assailants, and 

 then their only safety is in flight. To amuse him, 

 they let fall their moleta, on which he sometimes 

 spends his fury, trampling it under his feet ; but as 

 frequently he keeps his eye fixed on the man who 

 dropt it, and pursues him with such velocity j that 

 he has scarcely time to leap over the fence before he 

 is overtaken by his irritated pursuer, whose wrath, 

 on these occasions, is deadly. 



When he has endured these varied torments, till he 

 is almost exhausted, the president gives the signal for 

 his death, which is announced by the sound of drums 

 and trumpets. This is by far the most interesting part 

 of the scene, and affords a subject which an able paint- 

 er might not disdain to delineate. The matador ap- 

 pears alone in the circle, holding in one hand a long 

 two-edged sword, in the other a kind of flag, which 

 he waves before his adversary. The animal sometimes 

 remains immoveable, pawing the ground, lashing his 

 sides with his tail, and seeming to meditate vengeance. 

 His antagonist advances towards him with extreme 

 caution, carefully studying his character, and watch- 

 ing all his motions, A kind of awful suspense pre- 



vails throughout the assembly, and anxiety is paint- Bull-fight. 

 ed on every countenance, till the matador raises his '" v ' 

 sword, and aims the fatal blow. If !.e succeed in 

 penetrating to the spinal marrow, the animal instant- 

 ly falls, and loud and reiterated exclamations cele- 

 brate the triumph of the conqueror. But if the bull 

 survives the blow, he instantly becomes the assailant; 

 and the matador, disconcerted by the hisses and mur- 

 murs of the crowd, is not always able to escape from 

 his fury. It is recorded of a matador, named Pepillo, 

 who was uncommonly active and cool, that when 

 pursued close to the barrier, at the instant when the 

 animal had closed his eyes to toss him, he put his 

 foot between the horns, and with this borrowed mo- 

 tion cleared the fence, and alighted upon his feet. 

 In his eagerness to recover his character, the mata- 

 dor sometimes rushes on with a headlong fury, which 

 makes the spectators tremble for his safety. Even 

 the most experienced and active matador may hap- 

 pen to fail in reaching, at the first blow, the vital 

 part. Costillario, whose dexterity is still celebrated 

 in Spain, one day missed his aim, and the bull re- 

 ceived him on his horns, and tossed him twice before 

 he could be delivered. He was not much hurt ; but 

 his honour had received a stain, till on measuring the 

 horns after the animal was slain, he shewed the spec- 

 tators that the horn by which he had suffered was 

 two inches longer than the other ; and upon this dis- 

 covery, the murmurs and hisses which his failure 

 had occasioned, were succeeded by tumults of ap- 

 plause. 



When the poor victim has fallen at the feet of the 

 matador, the trumpet sounds, and three mules drag 

 him off the stage to make way for his successor. 

 These barbarous spectacles were exhibited every 

 week during summer, and frequently twice in the week ; 

 and on every day of entertainment, six bulls were 

 sacrificed in the morning, and twelve in the evening. 

 The combatants of each were announced in previous 

 advertisements, as among us the different performers 

 in a play. The three last of the bulls to be slain 

 were exclusively left to the matador, who employed 

 all his skill to vary the pleasures 'of the spectators. 

 The last bull was particularly devoted to the enter- 

 tainment of the crowd, and his torments were great- 

 er than those of any of his predecessors. The points 

 of his horns were covered with a round case ; he is 

 then called embolado ; and in this state he loses the 

 power of lacerating his tormentors. The spectators 

 then rush in crowds to the arena; and each exercises 

 his ingenuity in torturing the poor animal, which, 

 notwithstanding the sheathes on his horns, makes 

 them sometimes expiate their cruelties by violent 

 contusions. To a stranger, the apparently uniform 

 barbarity of these scenes becomes extremely disgust- 

 ing ; but connoisseurs, who have studied the charac- 

 ters of the bulls, as well as the different methods of 

 alluring, deceiving, and tormenting them, find no 

 one combat exactly similar to another, and pity ig- 

 norant and superficial observers, who cannot distin- 

 guish their variety. 



It sometimes happens that the bulls, either desti- 

 tute of spirit, or startled at the view of so many 

 human beings, decline the combat, and fly from their 

 persecutors around the arena. Murmurs and hiss* 

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