221 
BULL-FIGHTING. 
bull, who, stumbling at every step* thinks rather of his own safety 
than of revenge, and besides, soon falls under the blows given him 
from all quarters. Except in such caseSj which are very rare, he 
immediately returns. His adversary has now had time to get 
up j he immediately remounts his horse, provided he is not killed or 
rendered unfit for service, and the attack commences ; but he is often 
obliged to change his horse several times. Expressions cannot then 
be found to celebrate these acts of prowess, which, for several days, 
become the favourite topic of conversation. The horses are very 
affecting models of patience, courage, and docility, and may be seen 
treading under their feet their own bloody entrails, w'hich drop from 
their sides half torn open, and yet obeying, for some time after, the 
hand which conducts them to new tortures. Spectators of delicacy 
are then filled with disgust, which converts their pleasure into pain. 
A new act, however, is preparing, which reconciles them to the enter- 
tainment. As soon as the bull has been sufficiently tormented by 
the combatants on horseback, they retire, and leave him to be irritated 
by some on foot. The latter, which are called banderilleros, go 
before the animal; and the moment he darts upon them, they plunge 
into his neck, two by two, a kind of dart called banderillas, the points 
of which are hooked, and which are ornamented with small streamers 
made of coloured paper. 
The fury of the bull is now redoubled ; he roars and tosses his head, 
while his vain efforts serve only to increase the pain of his wounds. 
This last scene calls forth all the agility of his adversaries. The 
spectators at first tremble for them, when they behold them braving 
so near the horns of this formidable animal ; but their hands, well 
exercised, aim their blows so skilfully, and they avoid the danger so 
nimbly, that after having seen them a few times, one neither pities 
nor admires them, and their address and dexterity seem only to be a 
small episode of the tragedy. When the vigour of the bull appears 
to be almost exhausted by the blood running from his neck and 
sides, and when the people, tired of one object, demand another 
victim, the president of the entertainment gives the signal of death, 
which is announced by the sound of trumpets. The matador then 
advances, and all the rest quit the arena ; with one hand he holds a 
long dagger, and with the other a kind of flag, which he waves back- 
wards and forwards before his adversary. They both stop and gaze 
at one another, and while the agility of the matador deceives the im- 
petuosity of the bull, the pleasure of the spectators, which was for 
gome time suspended, is now awakened into life.^ — Sometimes the bull 
remains motionless, throws up the earth with his feet, and appears as 
if meditating revenge. The bull in this condition, and the matador 
who calculates his motions and divines his projects, form a group 
which an able pencil might not disdain to delineate. The matador, 
at length gives the mortal blow ; and if the animal immediately falls, 
a thousand voices proclaim with loud shouts the triumph of the con- 
queror ; but if the blow is not decisive, if the bull survives, and seeks 
still to brave the fatal steel, murmurs succeed to applause, and the 
matador, whose glory was about to be raised to the skies, is consi- 
dered only as an unskilful butcher. He endeavours to be soon 
