THE BULL-FIGHT. 77 



through the same, without hurt ; that none have any iron 

 upon their bull-clubs, or other staff, which they pursue the 

 bull with. Which proclamation made, and the gates all 

 shut up, the bull is turned out of the alderman's house ; 

 and then, hivie-skivy, tag and rag, men, women and chil- 

 dren, of all sorts and sizes, with all the dogs in the town, 

 promiscuously running after him with their bull-clubs, 

 spattering dirt in each other's faces, that one would think 

 them to be so many furies started out of hell for the pun- 

 ishment of Cerberus, &c. And, which is the greater 

 shame, I have seen persons of rank and family, of both 

 sexes, following this bulling business." 



We will now close our account of cattle, by giving the 

 following animating description of a wild bull-hunt in 

 Spain. (Sw Plate 9.) 



The Spanish bull-fight has been often described, but 

 that species of bull-fight which, while it affords pastime 

 to the people, subdues the noble animal to be a partaker 

 of the labors of the husbandman, is, we believe, little or 

 not at all known in this country. Spain abounds with 

 extensive forest-lands, which, though reaching over a wide 

 extent of country, is sufficiently open to afford pasture and 

 food to herds of wild cattle who roam almost unmolested 

 amongst their shades. The great forest of the Alerntejo 

 is an apt illustration. In this, some hundreds of square 

 miles of country are occupied by growing timber ; but, 

 within its bounds, large open spaces exist, which serve 

 for pasturages, and occasionally a farm, a vineyard, or an 

 olive-grove may be seen struggling, as it were, for exist- 

 ence amidst the vast solitudes. But though occasional 

 glimpses of culture appear, they are far too " few and far 

 between" to offer any serious check to the increase and 

 independence of the herds which roam around them un- 

 disturbed. It was in this forest that I witnessed for the 

 first time the method of capturing the wild bulls. I had 

 received intimation that the village of Alcoxete, on the 



