A DELAGOA SABBATH.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 11541, 28 November 1900, Page 6

A DELAGOA SABBATH.

* "\ MifiS AND BULL-FIGHTING ' LobkhzolMahqukz, October I.—l experienced ye4rday a Continental Sabbath. We heard Mtl in the morning at the Cathedral, where I fifand, to my disappointment a g«r! vice badljWng, and the ritual slurred, although th.|congregation was unquestionably devout. J l|m something of an authority on ritual, so ]|hould know, and I have seldom heard HigiVMass sung worse. In the adbrnoQc I repaired to the bullfight, and <rKved at tho outside of a large amphitheatij built of wood and iron. J cannot talk Portuguese, and the Portuguese do not talk English, at least, many of them don't. Ihi been told I would have to pay 6s for a front seat, and held up tho 6, to the man « the ticket-box, who gav 0 mo in return a ticket. Evervone was most polite. I wn| bowed round' tho building and at last Relied a most uncomfortable bench in fronipf the arena, A brass band which was an Improvement on most circus bands, playecf exhilarating tunes, arid a gentleman on tho other side of the arena wielded a trunftet with some success. After quite a long w®, there was what Shakespcro would describees "alarms and excursions," and a numberfef gentlemen dressed in the style of a comb opera company arrived in the centre of %e arena. I sat next to a gentleman wM'ltuld not speak English very well, but wjp-ita kind enough to explain the proceeiijr ft me. He pointed out tta picadores, matt wics, and other people with strange nameVjrhieh reminded me of the old nonsense tijrnie about the people who were present at the wedding. THE Preliminaries. x'hen the rim; [was cleared, with tho exception of one <tl two bandilleros, who carried gaudy silk doaks, and each a couple of darts, much be-tnsellod. There were more ''alarms and exprsions," and then a meek bull appeared, hying prodded into the ring by men with loig bamboos, with points attached to the end of them. Tho bull endeavoured to gr«e in one corner of the rinp, and was apparently desirous of being left alone. In this! he was frustrated by the gentlemen with ihe long bamboos and sticks, who were careful to keep outside the! barrier. Th? bandilleros approached him flourishing their cloaks, and darts, but the bull was not/in the least interested in the performance , f He was evidently wondering if the bandiilero was out of his mind. The crowd got Recited, and made some rude remarks to the performers. Then the bull made a feeble rush at one of the bandilleros, who clevef.y placed a dart in his shoulder, and nimbi/ stepped aside to avoid the rush. The band/then played several chords, as it does in a/circus when the clown has made a joke, and! the crowd greebed the bandillero with a riund of applause. The dart must have • irrigated the bull a great deal, but ho made nojmore endeavours to remove it from his shouner than to revenge himself on tha man whd stuck it there. More feeble rushes followed at the various gentlemen in tho comic oyjera costumes, and more darts were stuck into the bull until his shoulder bled, after which he was driven out triumphantly amidst/ the enthusiasm of the populace. More Ihills were brought in one after another, which were treated in much the same way. the greatest excitement prevailed amongjt the Portuguese onlookers, though what i was about I never have been able to fin} out. The bulls all appeared to bo themjst harmless, inoffensive creatures, and until naddened by the torture inflicted upon them, only desired to be let alone. Lan intelligent BRUTE. At list, however, a chestnut bull arrived on the scene, which appeared to understand the game, for the moment the gatee were opened he made a dash at the nearost performer, who immediately made an undignified exit over the barrier. The next man was knocked down, and the remainder of the daring bull-fighters leapt over the barriers with an agility worthy of a better cause. The crowd was delighted; they cheered th» bull, and taunted the -performers to; return. One of the bandilloro3 was really! clever-. He was quite the "show" mjm. He stepped into the arena, .poised his darts, and waited for the bull. A lightning-like rush, a shout of delight from the crowd, a flash of scarlet silk, and the bull, bellowing with pain, ran round the ring with two little crimson da.ts placed ncltly on each side of his shoulder, while the bandillero, stepping coolly aside from the rush, sent a cloud of blue smoke from his cigarette. Here was some sport, cruel, if you like, but sport is often cruel, and indeed this was sport. The bull had some chance of defending himself. Here was the real danger, and danger is the very spice of sport. The bull's horns, like all those let into the arena, were carefully padded had they not been, at least one man would have been killed. But our friend, the chestnut, was a bit too much for tho bull-fighters of Lorenzo Marquez. They made haste to get rid of him from the arena, and to deal with some tamci and more easily-tortured animal. The next one was attended to by a gentleman on horseback, known, I believe, as a picadore. He had his darts on the end of a long stick, his • horse was fitted up much too heavily, and he rode in a sort of arm-chair. This man stuck his darts into tho bull from a distance, and from the vantage-ground of his horse.

BULL-FIGHTS AND FOOTBALL. It was a very poor show. I have heard a good deal about the brutality of bullfights, but in the last football match I saw in Capetown there were two broken legs and some smashed ribs, ssid I do not know whether it was not really more brutal than the bull-fight. In Spain there is more brutality and more sport in the arena. There is not the least doubt that very good sport may bo had out of a good bull, and I am not sure if one of the animals did not enjoy the performance as much as the audience, more especially when he succeeded in knocking out one of the bandilleros. Throughout the whole performance the audience kept up a most infernal clatter. They threw their hats into the ring, and shouted advice to the bull and bandilleros. Some puny little policeman attempted to interfere. Englishmen dearly love a row with the police, and Homo of us_ were beginning to hope for a most promising affray, when an officer turned up and called off his men.

In the evening we dined in comfort and coolness at the club, an excellent and benign institution, which boasts a chef of no mean ability. The club is a curiously cosmopolitan institution. At the table at which I sat Portuguese, French, German, and English were being spoken impartially. I made the acquaintance of several charming Portuguese, and what with English and bad French managed to carry on quite an extensive conversation. After dinner we strolled round the town, having cool drinks at various brightly-lighted kiosks. Everybody was about enjoying himself, which is the one thing a foreigner does well. 1 was shown the sights of the town under the guidance of several "young fellows from the depot," who are employed at the Legation in this town upon various duties. They are all nice, clean-cut, young Englishmen, and compared favourably, to my mind, with the swarthy, bearded Portuguese. The cool breeze blew through the trees, and one forgot the heat and dust of the day. Then I was introduced to-roulette, and considered it the most meaning-less game at which I ever gambled. I lost 15s, and so we closed our Continental Sabbath, feeling a delightful sense of having been horribly wicked. To-morrow, back into the heat and dust of camp and canvas, ready foi more work, if work there bound for Pretoria to commence a new life, under a new Government, in what will practically be a new country.