shorter than the Former 



reared and fell backwards with his rider all of a heap. 

 The chulos did not come readily enough to distract the 

 bull's attention, and he trampled and gored his victim at 

 leisure. 



The wretches near us cried, " Bravo toro — rrialegro. It 

 serves you rightly for pricking so badly." But when the 

 picador was taken up ^nseless, with his face covered with 

 blood, and carried round on a shutter, they, thinking he 

 would probably die shortly, reconsidered the poor man's 

 feelings a little, and how unpleasant it must be to perish in 

 the hour of his ill success, in the midst of outcries and 

 execrations on his want of skill and courage ; so they 

 changed their cries of nialegro for " Que lastima ! " (what a 

 pity), a mildish reparation under the circumstances. 



The whole affair, from beginning to end, was infinitely 

 more bloody and horrid than anything in the sample at 

 Seville, which I remember describing with tolerable accuracy. 

 It has quite satisfied us that bull-fights are not to our taste, 

 and we never intend to go again. One of the bulls had a 

 marked objection to fight, though he was strong and active, 

 as plainly appeared, by his jumping over the barrier (about 

 six feet high) five times in rapid succession. However, 

 when he found he could not get away, he fought 

 buUfully. 



There was another bull-fight yesterday, in which two men 

 were killed. All Madrid is saying, " Que lastima ! " about 

 it to-day. They say the bulls are in a very exceptionally- 

 dangerous frame of mind this season. 



It is bedtime, and I must end this letter, which you will 

 think a very short and shabby one, though it covers a 

 closely-written sheet of letter-paper. But the gigantic 

 proportions of my ordinary paquets must have distended 

 your capacities of letter-reading to an exorbitant pitch. 



308 



