A SPANISH-BULL FIGHT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 8360, 13 September 1890, Page 2 (Supplement)

A SPANISH-BULL FIGHT.

The following extracts from litters written by General Campbell, to a relative in Christchurch, have been published : —

Seville. April 6, 1890. On Easter Sunday the first bull-fight of the season took place, and of course I went. I did not expect to like it, but had always a desire to see a bull-fight, and I am glad I went, now that it is oyer, though I was disgusted to a degree that I could not have imagined. I would have taken Q., had she wished to go, but I was not sorry when she declined, and very thankful indeed afterwards, for I think the sight would have oppressed her for a long time—like a horrid nightmare. And now let me try to describe Vhe performance.

A NATIONAL PASTIME.

There is no doubt about the popularity of the pastime—l cannot bring myself to call it sport— among women as well as men, but I was pleased to see that the women were in the minority, not more, perhaps, than one to fifty men. To givo a complete history of the performance I should perhaps say that the bulls are bred at some distance, and permitted to run as wild as possible. Six are required for each bull-fight, and one extra is added in caso of accident, and tho seven selected are driven up to Seville in company with some tame cattle, taking three or four days on the road. VIEWING THE HULLS. On Saturday afternoon they were on view in a field some three miles outside tho town, where all tho world flocked out in carriages, or on horseback, to inspect them, we among the number. It was a curious sight. The seven beautiful black bulls, with some ten or twelve other beasts, standing sleepily in a group ; watched and surrounded by half-a-dozen men on horseback, armed with spears, and the ruck of carriages just outside, many of the occupants of which dismounted to walk about and inspect the bulls. I could not help thinking what a skedaddle there would have been had a bull charged, when all the rest would probably have followed his example, but they did not seem in the least inclined for any such amusement, and the horsemen checked any movement. Late at night they are driven to the amphitheatre, and confined in dark cells outside the ring, where, I believe, they get uo food nor water till tho fight begins.

THE OPENING CEREMONY. To return now to tho performance. Punctually at 3.30 the gate was thrown open, and two men in black mounted on grey horses rode in, saluted the royal box and then the city box opposite* apparently asking permission to begin the fight. Then they retired, and at once reappeared leading the performers in two lines, each headed by a matador, and after him several tanreadors and banderillas, on foot, all gorgeously dressed in the picturesque costumes one knows so well in pictures, or at fancy balls. After these come eight or ten picadores or • horsemen armed with spears, and lastly two teams of mules, three in each, decorated with ribbons, whose duty it is drag out the dead carcase after each fight. These two lines marched across the ring and saluted the two distinguished boxes, and they certainly made a brave show and a pretty sight. This being over, the two leaders on the grey horses disappear, followed by the mule teams; the others post themselves round the ring. A bugle sounds, the bull entrance door is thrown open, and after more or less delay, a bull rushes out, and the fight begins.

HOW THE BULLS ACT. The demeanour of different bulls varies greatly. One will walk in and look stupidly round, apparently dazzled and confused by tho bright light and the strange spectacle. Another will come in with a rush, and immediately make for one of the men, who instantly dodges into a refuse, outside which the baffled bull will remain with his head down, dodging from side to side like a terrier at a rat's hole. Now begins the fun, and this preliminary part of the performance is the only part to which the words fun or sport can possibly be applied by anyone of any humanity. TANTALISING THE VICTIM. The taureadors arm themselves with great-cloaks or mantles of different colours, but none very bright, which they flaunt in the bull's face, inciting him to charge, which he does in short rushes, tossing the cloaks wildly. He never seems to think of the men, and their risk is very slight indeed. They either dodge aside, dropping tho cloak if necessary, or run to the palisade •with the cloak trailing behind, and. the bull in full pursuit, goring and plunging at the cloak, which the man leaves behind him on the ground as he vaults over. This is very pretty and amusing, and all the mora so as the bull gets more roused and angry under the persecution to which he is subjected. But it does not last long, and soon gives place to the most revolting and brutal phase of the whole affair. GREAT CRUELTr.

This is when the picadores come to the front. These men are so swathed in padded clothes as to appear clumsy to a degree when in the saddle, and when thrown, they can hardly get on their feet again without assistance. They carry lances with sharp points, only projecting about an inch from the wooden shaft, so that they cannot really hurt the bull, but only goad him into fury.

SORRY STEEDS. The horses are the most pitiable wretched screws, probably not worth more than a few shillings a head, and only brought there to be killed. In many instances they can only be urged into a sort of shamble round the ring by men running behind and belabouring them with sticks. They are always blindfolded on the offside, and sometimes over both eyes, while many of them, I believe, are actually blind. The bull having been sufficiently baited, a picador approaches him, and if very savage, he will make a rush at the horse, but with very little intention, so far as I could judge, of hurting him, as he has no quarrel with the poor horse. Sometimes it is difficult to get him to charge the horse at all ; but as he does come up, the picador prods him about the withers, and the result is that he really does attack the horse, knocking him over and goring him more or less severely.

THERE TO BE KILLED. This process is repeated, the bull each time becoming more and more inclined to attack the horse, as he connects him with the severe stabs he receives as he approaches, while he never thinks of the man on his back. There are generally three or four picadores in the ring, and their task is continued until all the horses are streaming with blood and one or more are lying dead on the sand.

HORRIBLE BRUTALITY. Two dead horses in the ring is about the average for each bull, while the survivors are generally just able to leave the ring to die outside. I saw one horse badly gored all about his chest and shoulders and with his entrails hanging out, still standing up in front of the bull and being flogged by two men, to induce him to move forward, so as to incite: the bull to charge again. Anything mo.e horribly and revoltingly brutal! cannot imagine, and at this and many subsequent stages of the "game" one felt as if one could have shouted with joy to see one of the men caught and gored to death. There was no attempt at horsemanship in order to save the horse. The poor brute was only brought there to be tortured to death, and the sole object of his rider was to excite the bull to attack him as savagely as possible. The horses were sometimes tossed fairly over the bull's head, when the men, of course, got nasty falls, but they were, as I have said, encased in pads, and the ground was very soft, and I never saw any appearance of one being hurt. Occasionally the bull continued to vent his fury on the poor horse while on the ground, and then the rider would have been in danger if it had not been for all the other men, who came to his rescue and diverted the bull's attention. MORE TORTURE. When the horses are nearly all disabled a bugle sounds, the survivors leave the ring, and the next stage in the fight begins. The bull by this time is pretty well blown and (streaming with blood. One of the men (a banderiUa) puts aside his flag, and arms himself with two banderillas, i.e , gaudilycoloured sticks, about three feet in length, each armed with a sharp barbed point. With one of these in each hand he approaches in front of the bull, and provokes a charge, and as the bull approaches with his head down, he plants the two banderillas in his withers, at) the same instant stepping aside to avoid the rush. This is repeated three or four times until the poor bull has six or eight of the banderillas sticking in bis

shoulders, standing erect or hanging down, According to the force and precision with which they have been planted,

THE CLOSING SCENE. The poor beast Is now literally dancing mad with pain, and appears a mass of gore, but he is getting so exhausted as to be easily avoided in his rushes, and is ready for the last act.

Tho matador, the hero of the fight, now comes on the scene, carrying a sharp pointed rapier and a blood-red flag, by which lost tho poor exhausted bull is incited into renewed charges and rushes, all directed against the flag, and easily avoided by tho man, who is aided by all the taureadors, who, with their cloaks, have never ceased their persecution of poor '* toro" throughout tho performance. When it is at last considered timo to kill tho bull, the matador, standing in front of him with his rapier ready, provokes a last charge, and as the bull comes up with his head down, drives the blade into him downwards through his withers, and steps aside. The thrust should just avoid the spine, and, reaching tho heart, kill the bull almost instantly, but this I never saw done. The matadors were not skilful, and the rapier had to be recovered and the whole performance repeated, sometimes several times.

UNSKILFUL THRUSTS. It seemed a point of honour to complete the business with the same weapon, and its recovery was sometimes the work of minutes, for if it were so deeply imbodded that the bull did not shake it out, it could only be withdrawn by one of the taureadors twisting his cloak round it ; or sometimes, when the bull was very near his end, the matador ventured to seize the handle with his hand. And so the horrid scene went on, the poor brute being driven to lower his head in the attempt to charge, so that the correct thrust could be delivered, until at the last tho end came, and the gallant beast, after rooking to and fro for a few seconds on outstretched legs, rolled over ou his side to rise no more.

Then, and never till then, was the coup de grace administered by a short knife between tho horns, and the disgusting spectacle was over, so far as that bull was concerned.

Tho bugle was now sounded, the door flung open, and in galloped the teams of mules ; one dragged out the carcase of tho bull and the other tho dead horses.

Twenty minutes to half an hour was the average time occupied in killing a bull. A THOROUGHLY DISGUSTING. SHOW. The whole performance is an utterly disgusting piece of brutal cruelty, without, as Far as I could, one single redeeming feature or excuse. I went expecting to witness a certain ilogreo of suffering on the part of the bull, while I also expected to sea great pluck and activity on the part of the men and horses in the avoidance of constant danger, which would distract one's attention from the cruelty of the affair. Dub I was sorely disappointed. The wretched horses are only introduced in order to be done to death, apparently merely to gratify the appetite for wanton cruelty, as they can hardly be said to add to the spectacle in any way. The men on foot certainly do show activity and nerve, but they never appeared to me to be in any real danger. The bull invariably attacked the flags, and I could nob discover that he ever appeared to notice the man who carried them. Tho banderillas and matadors run more risk than the others, but they do not appear until the bull is greatly winded, and his activity impaired. If a bull-fight wore to bo attempted in England or America, before the lowest audience that could be collected together, I believe the ring would be rushed, and tho performance stopped the instant the first horse, was touched. I cannot imagine anyone having once seen one, wishing to see another. I sat through the whole performance, and I saw six bulls killed, chiefly because I could hardly believe that something better and less disgusting was not in store with each fresh one, but I felt all the time a brute for being there, and some of the scenes have have haunted me ever since.