HISTORY. . 249 



steps she faltered in her pace : the attendants tried to coax 

 her on, but in vain : she stopped, and at length lay down as 

 if to die. An old herdsman soon divined the cause : he 

 brought from the house a bell and collar, such as she had 

 been used to bear : she no sooner felt the well-known appen- 

 dage at her neck than she rose from the ground, bounded 

 gaily, as if in possession of her usual health, and, taking her 

 place in the van, was, from that moment, as well as ever. 

 It is known, that a practice of the mountain peasants of 

 Switzerland, is to collect the herds by sounding a long wooden 

 pipe, whose deep and simple tones, mellowed by distance, 

 delight the ear. No sooner does the well-known sound reach 

 the herd, than they all obey the signal, and hasten to the 

 place of rendezvous. Should one, from any cause, as from 

 falls or weakness, be unable to keep pace with her fellows, 

 she utters loud and painful lowings, as if calling for assist- 

 ance, and testifying that it is want of power, and not of will, 

 that makes her linger behind her comrades. The simple 

 tones of the herdsman's pipe form the well-known air of the 

 Ranz de Yaches, which is known to thrill like a charm to the 

 heart of the mountain Swiss, when distant from his beloved 

 land. 



Such is the creature which reason and conscience teach us 

 to treat with humanity and justice. It is painful to say that , 

 it is too often made the victim of wanton cruelty. Who has 

 not heard of those barbarous sports which are yet practised 

 in the southern countries of Europe, where the bull, brought 

 into the arena, is roused to phrensy, and put to a cruel 

 death I The bull-fights of Spain and Italy are yet the de- 

 light of all conditions of people in those countries, and afford 

 the evidence of the power of habit to blunt the most natural 

 feelings, and reconcile us to the most revolting spectacles. 



Throughout the kingdoms of Spain and Portugal are ex- 

 tensive forests, in^which large herds of cattle find support, 

 almost in a state of natural wildness. It is from these herds 

 that the fiercest and strongest bulls are obtained, by a kind 



