BULL-FIGHTS AT VALPARAISO. 



constructed of posts driven into the ground, wattled 

 across with green boughs, and roofed with planks. 

 Over two sides of the square there was erected a 

 second story, divided into separate compartments 

 by flags and various-coloured cloths, and left open 

 at top, and in front. These were crowded with 

 ladies and children, all in their gayest attire, and 

 seated with much formality and decorum to witness 

 the show. The scene in the ground-floor, which 

 was divided into booths called ramadas, was of a 

 very different description : here was dancing, 

 singing, drinking, and all kinds of noise and bustle. 

 Previous to the commencement of the bull-fight, 

 the area was filled with people, some lounging 

 about smoking their segars, and admiring the ladies' 

 dresses; and some risking their money at rouge- 

 et-noir, for which there were many tables brought 

 from the booths into the open air. But the prin- 

 cipal amusement was within the ramadas, in each 

 of which was to be found a band of musicians and 

 dancers hired to attract company. The musical 

 instruments were invariably a harp, a guitar, and 

 a sort of drum. The harp, which is small and 

 light, is held in a different manner from ours ; for, 

 instead of standing erect, it is kept in a horizontal 

 position, the top of the instrument resting on the 

 lap of the player, who is seated on a low stool. 

 The drum is made of a piece of wood hollowed out, 

 and covered at one end with raw hide. This stands 

 on the ground, and is patted with the fingers, while 

 the wrists rest upon the rim. At times the end 

 of the harp, the empty guitar-box. or anything, 

 indeed, which gives a clear hollow sound, is used 

 as a substitute for the drum. The performers in 

 general are also singers ; and the voice mingles 

 more or less, at all times, with the instrumental 

 music. They sing mostly in a high shrill tone, 

 disagreeable at first to a stranger ; but in the 

 course of a little time it recommends itself to his 

 ear, in a manner which his judgment scarcely 

 allows to be just. Occasionally, when they sing 

 in a lower tone, their notes are very sweet and 

 pleasing ; this, however, is perhaps owing to the 

 accidental good taste of the singer, rising superior 

 to the general practice of the country ; for it is 

 not frequent, and when it does occur is seldom 

 applauded. 



The bull-fights were very boyish exhibitions, 

 and deserve no particular description. The 

 animals, in fact, were never killed, but merely 

 teased by horsemen, who goaded them with blunt 

 spears ; or they were distracted by men on foot, 

 who waved flags in their faces, and, as soon as the 

 bulls were irritated and ran after them, escaped 

 over the railings into the ramadas. 



The chief interest, to us at least, lay in the 

 people, whose various dresses we were never tired 

 of looking at, while the interpretation of their 

 strange language gave us ample occupation ; for 

 although they all professed to speak Spanish, their 

 dialect was strongly marked with a local idiom and 

 pronunciation. Everything indeed was new to us, 

 and partook more or less of a characteristic air ; 

 but it is not easy to describe such scenes ; chiefly 

 from their want of resemblance to anything we 

 have before witnessed. 



In the course of the first evening of these fes- 

 tivities, while I was rambling about the streets 

 with one of the officers of the ship, our attention 

 was attracted by the sound of music, to a crowded 



pulperia, or drinking-house. We accordingly 

 entered, and the people immediately made way, 

 and gave us seats at the upper end of the apart- 

 ment. We had not sat long before we were 

 startled by the loud clatter of horses' feet, and, in 

 the next instant, a mounted peasant dashed into 

 the company, followed by another horseman, who, 

 as soon as he reached the centre of the room, 

 adroitly wheeled his horse round, and the two 

 strangers remained side by side, with their horses' 

 heads in opposite directions. Neither the people 

 of the house, nor the guests, nor the musicians, 

 appeared in the least surprised by this visit ; the 

 lady who was playing the harp merely stopped 

 for a moment, to remove the end of the instru- 

 ment a few inches further from the horses' feet, 

 and the music and conversation went on as before. 

 The visitors called for a glass of spirits, and having 

 chatted with their friends around them for two 

 minutes, stooped their heads to avoid the cross 

 piece of the door-way, and, putting spurs to their 

 horses' sides, shot into the streets as rapidly as 

 they had entered ; — the whole being done without 

 discomposing the company in the smallest degree. 



I met at the Ramadas, upon another occasion, 

 a family to whose kind attentions we are all much 

 indebted, especially for their assistance in explain- 

 ing the native customs. We visited together many 

 of the booths, and had an opportunity of seeing 

 more of the dancing than on the first night. One 

 of the most favourite figures begins in a manner 

 not unlike our minuet, with slow and apparently 

 unpremeditated movements, the parties approach- 

 ing and receding from each other, occasionally 

 joining hands, swinging themselves round and 

 sometimes stooping, so as to pass under each 

 other's arms. These figures, while they admit 

 of the display of much ease and grace, inevitably 

 betray an awkwardness of manner. The slow 

 movements last a minute or two, after which the 

 measure suddenly changes from a dull monotonous 

 tune to a quick and varied air, loudly accompanied 

 by the drum and a full chorus of shrill voices. At 

 this instant the two dancers commence a sort of 

 shuffling step, during which the feet do not slide, 

 but rather stamp with great rapidity on the ground. 

 The dancers then dart forward towards each other, 

 waving their handkerchiefs affectedly before them. 

 They do not actually meet, but, when almost touch- 

 ing, pass, and continue to revolve round each other, 

 in circles larger or smaller, according to the space 

 allowed ; accompanying these rotatory motions by 

 various gesticulations, especially that of waving 

 their handkerchiefs over their partners' heads. 

 There was a striking difference between the man- 

 ner in which these dances were performed by 

 the town's- people and by the guassos or country- 

 men ; the latter having always the advantage both 

 in skill and elegance. 



These amusements lasted throughout the night, 

 and, although the people are naturally temperate, 

 it was evident, that towards morning the dances 

 were apt to acquire a more savage character, 

 and the songs to become licentious. But there 

 were very few instances of intoxication or riotous 

 behaviour. No women, except those profession- 

 ally attached to the bands of music, ever dance in 

 public ; but as the men of all classes join occasion- 

 ally, the floor is seldom long unoccupied. More 

 than one couple never stand up at the same time. 



