64 



WILD SPAIN. 



disadvantage, are adepts in the use of their jackets, with 

 which they give " passes " to the bull, who always follows 

 the moving object. A smart fellow, when caught in the 

 open, can thus keep a bull off him for several moments, 

 giving time for the horsemen to come . up to the rescue. 

 Even then it is no unusual occurrence to see horsemen, 

 horse and bull all rolling together on the turf in one com- 

 mon ruin. A bright-coloured scarf or mantle will always 

 draw away the bull from his prostrate foe ; otherwise there 

 would soon be an end of tentadores, bull-branders, and bull- 

 fighters too, for the matter of that. 



Each animal in the herd is put through the tests we 

 have described, the proportion selected varying accord- 

 ing to the excellence and purity of the strain : and then, for 

 three years longer, the selected bulls continue to lead a life 

 of ease and abundance upon the smiling Andalucian vega* 



Skill in handling the garrocha, and the ability to turn 

 over a running bull, are accomplishments in high esteem 

 amongst Spanish youth. Names now famous in politics 

 or diplomacy (Don Luis Albereda, for example, late 

 Spanish Minister at St. James's, the Duke of San Lorenzo, 

 and many more), are still mentioned in Andalucia as past 

 experts in the records of this southern diversion — a fame 

 analogous to that of our foremost steeple-chase riders at 

 home.t 



The tentadero at the present day affords opportunity for 

 aristocratic gatherings, that recall the tauromachian 

 tournaments of old. Even the Infantas of Spain enter 

 into the spirit of the sport, and have been known them- 

 selves to wield the garrocha with good effect, as was, 

 a few months ago, the case at a brilliant fete ckampetre on 

 the Sevillian vegas, when the Condesa de Paris and her 



* The better-bred animals are always the more harmless, if not 

 molested. 



+ The following are some of the best known garrochistas of recent 

 years : Senores Don Antonio Miura, Don Faustino Morube, Don 

 Miguel Garcia, Don Guillermo Ochoteco, Don Jos4 Silva, Don Fer- 

 nando Concha, Don Agusto Adalid, Don Angel Zaldos, Don Manuel 

 Sanchez -Mira, Marques de Bogaraya, Marques de Guadalest, Don 

 Frederico Huesca, Marques de Castellones, &c. 



