A SPANISH BULL FIGHT.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1179, 5 October 1894, Page 9

A SPANISH BULL FIGHT.

GENERAL YON MOLTKE’S DE- , SCRIPTION.

In Mary Herms’ translation of the letters and biography of the late Count von Moltke there occurs the following graphic description of a Spanish bull fight as contained in a letter written by the General from Spain : We were greatly interested in a bull fight which took place on this day. At three o’clock we (my Frenchman and myself) went to the arena, which is built in a circle. There were twelyo thousand people assembled to see the Corrida de Toros. The spectators are seated on about twenty stone steps, such as the ancient amphitheatres used to have, and over these there.are two rows of boxes; in the centre the royal box for the Queen. The inner space, which is quite bare, the arena proper, is separated from the spectators by a barrier of beams and strong planks 7ft high. A small step enables those who fight on foot to vault over the barrier out of the arena, when there is no other way of escaping the bull. After a few minutes’ waiting the gate was opened, and the alguazil, a magistrate in old-fashioned costume, rode in to announce that the sport would now begin. He was unanimously hissed and laughed at; the reason why I do not know. But he may have expected this reception, for I he did not seem to care much. As the Romans used to mock their consuls and insult their emperors in the circus, so the Spanish people seem to be allowed some license at their bull fights. Then the chulos made their appearance ; they were on foot and carried coloured mantles on their arms. They were followed by six picadores on horseback, who were dressed in leathern jerkins and breeches; their right legs protected by iron greaves ; Spanish hats on their heads, strong lances with iron points not more than an inch long in their hands, and sitting in high saddles which afforded a firm seat. Amid loud applause the matador (literally murderer) whose name was Cuchiera, a celebrated and favourite hero of the arena, rode at their head. This phalanx moved towards the royal box, which was occupied by Queen Christina, consort of Munoz, Duke of Rianzares; they knelt down on one knee and gave her the royal salute, which was followed by the hissing of twelve thousand throats. Now the principal performer came in ; this was a powerful bull with sharp horns and fiery eyes. This animal is kept locked up in a den, the ceiling of which has holes in it through which he is pricked with sharp spikes. The result is that when he comes into the arena he is not in the best of tempers. As soon as the gates are opened he rushes on the scene of action, looks wildly round him, astonished at seeing so many people before him, spurs the sand with his feet, and then attacks the picador who stands nearest him. The latter does not move, but allows the furious animal to rush against his lance point. His horse is blindfolded over the right eye, that it may not see the bull and be frightened. But the attack was so sudden and the horseman sat so firmly in his saddle that both man and horse were lifted up and thrown over backwards ; at the same moment the bull thrust his sharp horns into the horse’s belly, and a stream of blood of the thickness of a finger flowed from its heart.

The picador was thrown under the horse ; his equipment made it impossible for him to disentangle himself, and it would soon have been all over with him if the chulos had not at this moment come to his rescue. The bull immediately left his prey and rushed at them, or rather at the coloured cloaks they carried ; he pursues the bearer of one of these right round the course. The latter escapes over the barrier, which trembles under the stroke of the bull’s horns. He is baffled; his adversary has suddenly disappeared from his sight. A second picador makes an attack and shares the fate of his companion. Before the chulos can come to the rescue a second time, the bull attacks the horse, which lies writhing on the ground, and bears him aloft on his horns half-way round the arena. The third horse had his belly ripped up in a trice, so that he caught his feet in his own entrails and dragged them from his body. And in this condition the wretched animal was urged on by spur and whip, and compelled to withstand another attack of the infuriated bull. But at every rush the animal received a frightful stab in the left shoulder from the sharp lance ; he therefore refused to attack the horseman again, and the banderiUos were now required to do their part. These are foot-runners, who carry in their han 1 a dart two feet long, furnished with a barbed point, to the other end of which are attached pennons, tinsel, squibs, and even lit;tie..bird cages, out of which fly birds gaily decked with, ribbons. With' these darts they make straight for the bull, and, when he prepares to make a rush, spring sideways, and plant their darts in his neck, between his ears and his horns. The animal is now frantic with rage, and often drives a whole troop of chulos over the barrier, amid the hoots oi the spectators. Once the bull himself half-climbed on to the barrier; there are occasions when he gets right over it. One of the chulos was bold enough to wrap his coloured cloak round his body, so that the bull rushed straight at him. He waited till the animal lowered his head and rughed on with closed eyes, and then sprang on one side. At last, when the rage of the animal is at its height, but his strength has begun to fail, the matador comes forward to encounter him in single combat. This is the most dangerous part of the whole performance, and is watched in perfect silence, with the keenest attention. The matador , a handsome man, dressed in shoes, white stockings, light blue jacket and breeches, with a net over his hair, carries in his left hand a small red cloak, and in his right a two-edged Toledo rapier 4ft long. This must be plunged into the bull’s neck at a certain well-defined place. If this place bo missed, the bull throws the sword from him, or breaks it. Rut in order that the right spot may be struck, the bull, as he rushes past, must not be more than two or, at the most, three inches from the man. Everything is calculated on the assumption that the bull always rushes at the red cloth rather than at the man who carries it, and that he plunges blindly forward in a straight line. As a rule this is what he does, but there are exceptions, and then the matador is lost. The cdbullero approached his black adversary with coolness and deliberation, and held out the red cloak.;. Twice he allowed the bull to pass on beneath his arm, the third time he thrust his sword up to the hilt in the animal’s neck." The latter rushed about furiously for another minute, but soon began to bleed from the mouth, staggered, and fell in a heap. A kind of executioner now crept up from behind, and, plunging a stiletto into the animal’s neck, killed him on the spot. Five mules decked with gay ribbons and bells now appeared in the arena, and dragged off at a gallop first the fallen horses, and lastly the bull. Sand was sprinkled over the bloodstains, and then it was the turn for another bull. In this way eight bulls were hunted to death, one after the other. Twenty horses were killed before our eyes, and several led away horribly wounded. One bull alone killed eight horses. No msn were injured. It is true the horses were of such a quality that, if the bull had spared them, they would have been taken next day to the knacker. Good horses would be too costly for the purpose, and, even with one eye bandaged, could never be induced to withstand the onslaught of the bull, without either shying or defending themselves. The more horses the bull kills, and the more dangerous he* is to the men, the louder is the applause. One bull absolutely refused to make any attack. Amid a storm of curses and abuse he ran round the course like a coward. All joined in the cry, “ Los psrros 1" the dogs. Directly - these were led on to the arena they became unmanageable, and rushed furiously at the bull, who immediately gored one of them and tossed him high in the air. The rest, however, fastened on him, one of them seized the bull’s tongue, and held fast while being jerked up and down. He would have been torn in pieces sooner than relax his hold. At length the dogs had the bull so completely in their power that the matador was able to give the finishing stroke.

In the midst of this butchery the young Queen entered with the Infanta, Don Franzesco, her consort, and the Duke de Montpensier. The Duke d’Aumale was there already. The Queen looked very cheerful, and is by no means as hideous as the newspapers make her. She is fair, rather fat, and not plain. The Infanta i short, very dark, and thin. The Queen was greeted by the matador with the same salutation as her mother, but by the public with great enthusiasm. When the

eighth bull was killed it began to be dark, but the spectators shouted again, “ Un otro toro,“ and the ninth bull was hunted almost in the dark, which is very dan gerous for the matador.

And this is the spectacle that the Spaniards enjoy more than anything, which is attended by the tenderest women, and at the sight of which the newly married Queen smiled. For my part, one bull fight was quite enough for me to see, and perhaps you will think the same of the description.