IV.] A BULL -FIGHT. 71 



every available point of observation ; flags fluttered from the tops 

 of a hundred bamboos, and the few ladies whose unlucky fate had 

 condemned them to a residence in Jolo came out in the dernid7-es 

 nouveauUs from Madrid. The boxes were beautifully decorated 

 with flowers, the uprights being covered with palm-leaves, with a 

 single blossom of the frangipane impaled upon each leaflet of the 

 frond. 



Bull-fighting is a form of amusement to which I have never as 

 yet succeeded in accustoming myself, and of this particular per- 

 formance the less said the better. It was, I think, the cruellest I 

 ever saw. The pretty little Sulu bulls are such as can safely be 

 approached and patted, and are without a particle of fight in their 

 whole composition. Could we only have substituted the Pangiima 

 Dammang and half a dozen of his chief warriors for them, we might, 

 no doubt, have had some good sport and benefited the island at 

 large. Maddened with the pain of the darts and impelled by the 

 sole idea of escaping from its tormentors, the first bull rushed 

 round and round the ring seeking for some place of exit, and from 

 this arose the only amusing incident of the performance. At the 

 corners were erected barriers to serve for the protection of the 

 intrepid handerilleros, — fahlas, I believe, in the phraseology of the 

 bull-ring. It soon became evident that they were unnecessary, 

 and crowds of natives accordingly took possession, some perched 

 on the top and others peeping between the boards. Behind one of 

 these the bull, in his frantic efforts to escape, succeeded in forcing 

 his way. A scene of dire confusion followed. A heaving mass, 

 from which legs and arms, horns and tail, protruded, was all that 

 was to be seen by the spectators. At length some bold individual 

 succeeded in obtaining possession of the animal's tail, and by 

 bringing it up with a sharp turn against the corner of the Ijarrier, 

 his further progress was temporarily checked and the people extri- 

 cated. Finally, however, he effected his escape, and his murder 

 happily took place out of sight. 



T need not describe the details of the rest of the entertainment. 



