The Spanish Fighting-Bull 201 
Nowhere can the exciting scenes of the Tentadero be witnessed 
to greater advantage than on those wide level pasturages that 
extend from Seville to the Bay of Cédiz. Here, far out on 
spreading vega ablaze with wild flowers, where the canicular 
sun flashes yet more light and fire into the fiery veins of the 
Andaluz—here is enacted the first scene in the drama of the 
Toréo. For ages these flower-strewn plains have formed the 
scene of countless tentaderos, where the young bloods of 
Andalucia, generation after generation, rival each other in feats 
of derring-do, of skill, and horsemanship. 
The remote estancia presents a scene of unwonted revelry. 
All night long its rude walls resound with boisterous hilarity— 
good-humour, gaiety, and a spice of practical joking pass away 
the dark hours and by daylight all are in the saddle. The young 
bulls have previously been herded upon that part of the estate 
which affords the best level ground for smart manceuvre and 
fast riding, and the task of holding the impetuous beasts together 
is allotted to skilled herdsmen armed with long garrochas—four- 
yard lances, with blunt steel tip. All being ready, a single bull 
is allowed to escape across the plain. Two horsemen awaiting 
the moment, spear in hand, give chase, one on either flank. The 
rider on the bull’s left assists his companion by holding the 
animal to a straight course. Presently the right-hand man, rising 
erect in his stirrups, plants his lance on the bull’s off-flank, near 
the tail, and by one tremendous thrust, delivered at full speed, 
overthrows him—a feat that bespeaks a good eye, a firm seat, 
and astrong arm. Some young bulls will take two or more falls ; 
others, on rising, will elect to charge. The infuriated youngster 
finds himself faced by a second foe—-a horseman armed with a 
more pointed lance and who has been riding close behind. This 
man is termed el Tentador. Straightway the bull charges, 
receiving on his withers the garrocha point; thrown back thus 
and smarting under this first check to his hitherto unthwarted will, 
he returns to the charge with redoubled fury, but only to find 
the horse protected as before. ‘The pluckier spirits will essay 
a third or a fourth attack, but those that freely charge twice are 
passed as fit for the ring. 
Should a young bull twice decline to charge the Tentador,, 
submitting to his overthrow and only desiring to escape, he is con- 
demned—doomed to death, or at best to a life of agricultural toil. 
