62 



WILD SPAIN. 



young bloods, — generation after generation, revel in feats 

 of skill, courage, and horsemanship. Both good riding and 

 staying power are often called into requisition by those 

 taking an active part in the operations. 



The night before the trials take place, the usually quiet 

 and sequestered Estancia (or rancho) is a scene of 

 unwonted revelry. The owners of the herd and many 

 friends — all aficionados of the sport — have come up from 

 the distant town to take part in the selection of the 

 morrow — as this work commences at early dawn, the night 

 must be spent on the spot. The rude walls of the rancho 

 resound with boisterous hilarity, dance and song succeed 

 each other, to the vigorous notes of the guitar— sleep is 

 not to be thought of, good humour, gaiety, and no 

 small admixture of practical joking pass away the night, 

 and by the first of the daylight all are in the saddle. The 

 two-year-old-bulls have previously been herded upon a 

 part of the estate which affords the best level ground for 

 smart manoeuvre and fast riding, and here the duty of 

 keeping the impetuous beasts together — no easy task — is 

 allotted to skilled herdsmen armed with long garrochas — 

 lances of some four yards in length, with short steel tips. 

 As just mentioned, it is no easy work to keep the young 

 bulls together, for they are anxious to break away and dart 

 off to join their friends in the distance. When all is ready 

 the herdsmen allow one bull to escape across the flat open 

 country, pursued by two horsemen who are awaiting the 

 moment, garrocha in hand. These men rival each other to 

 place the first lance and to turn the bull over. This 

 is effected by planting a blunt-tipped garrocha on the 

 bull's off-flank, near the tail, when a powerful thrust, 

 given at full speed, overthrows him : but obviously the feat 

 requires a good eye, a firm seat, and a strong arm. 

 Immediately the bull is over, with his four feet in the air, 

 another horseman, who has ridden close behind, comes up. 

 He is armed with a more pointed lance, and is called el 

 tentador. On rising, the bull finds this man between him 

 and his companions in the rodeo, to whom he would 

 now fain return. He immediately charges the obstacle, 



