Monmouth weekly herald. [volume] (Freehold, N.J.) 1854-1860, 1858-11-06

- 60"4
seed. Plant them, and the harvest will
come in blessings"
A VOLUNTEER BULL FIGHT.
| remember once seeing, when a lad at
school, a fight between two bulls. AL
though | could not have been more than
eight years of age, / shall never forget
the spectacle. 1t happened in this wise :
Close by the school house, a very un-
pretending edi6ce, it was, ran a deep and
rapid river. Across it had been thrown
a high wooden bridge, the haLd railing
of which time and the winds and the
weather. had entirely destroyed. The
land on the opposite side of the stream,
was owned by several different persons.
and farmed by them respectively. One
bright summer day remember it as if
it were but yesterday-the hour of moor
had arrived, and a frolicsome, fun.seeking
troop of school boys were let loose for an
hours recreation.
All at nee the believing and roaring
of two bulls, that had broken out Of their
enclosure on each side of the river, at
tracted DER attention. The animals were
not yet in sight of each other, but were
approaching along in the highway at a
rate of speed which would cause them to
meet ear the center of the high bridge
whichH | have described, and beneath
which at some thirty feet, ran the river,
between steep banks. The most daring
of us gathered near the bridge, lining it
to see the anticipated fight. We were
not disappointed. Nearer and nearer,
they approached, the proud, paving com.
batents. Bashan never produced two
brutes of fercer aspect. They dashed
their sides with their tails, they tore the
ground with their feet. Occasionally
they kneeled down, trying to gore the
earth with their horns. And as yet they
were concealed, each from the other, by
the ascent to the bridge at either end.
Presently, as they simultaneously as.
cended the respective abutments, they
came full in sight of each other. The
roar vas mutual and actually tremendous.
Every urchin of US sprang into the fields
and ran. Finding, however, that we were
not pursued, we hastily retraced our steps.
There they were, the ferocious duellists,
quite as sensibly employed as ONE OF
their human imitators. Front to front,
their horns locked, every muscle strained,
they were fighting as only bulls can fight.
1t seemed an even match. Now one would
press back his opponent a few PAGES, and
presently you would hear quick, sharp,
short steps, and his adversary would be
pressed back in return. The struggling
was hard, was long and savage.
Hitherto, they had been pushing each
other l~engthwise of the bridge, which
shook and creaked, and rocked again
with their stamping and terrible strife
1t was the work of a single moment ; one
of the beasts-I could not tell which
one of them however, as if conscious of
his position, made a violent, a desperate
plunge forward and pressed his antago-
mist back -back-hack-til there was
but n step of the plank behind him
between him and nothing The moment
was one of intense interest to us Juvenile
spectators. Never was the amphltheatre
OF Rome the scene of a more exciting
combat. Another step backward-yes,
the unfortunate bull vas forced to take
it'll Back he is pressed and over he goes !
Such a sight | never saw-I probably
shall never see again. Imagine a bull
pitched backward over a bridge and fall.
ling at least thirty feet, over and ovcr /!
He turned once or twice, probably /; [
thought he turned Fifty times, there seem
ed such a confusion of horns and feet re-
volving, flying through the air. Bnt down
he went the water was deep, and he dis
appeared, leaving a whirlpool Of foam
behind him, and making the river undu-
late far and wide with the conclusion of
his ponderous bulk.
1The other bull did not laugh-merely
because bulls, as | supposed, could not
But we laughed and shouted our applause.
There stood the victor looking directly
down into the abyss below, into which he
had hurried his unlucky foe. He stood,
however, but a moment, and then, as if
frightened at the prospect, he began to
snort and step backward. Back, back,
be retreated, with his head in the same
p%ugnacious attitude as when in combat
-back-still another step back-and
over he went too, on the opposite side of
the bridge, performing just as many and
as ludicrous somersets as his adversary
had done a minute before.
1t was a scene to remember F.; and the
performance called forth an immense APP
plaase from the group Of juvenile amaturs
who witnessed it. In about five minutes
both bulls might be seen, we'll sobered by
their dacking, dripping wet, scratching
up the steep, gravelly banks, each on his
side oil the river. Those bulls will
never light any more" said a boy behind
me. HIS prediction turned out correct ];
Tor two more peaceabiy disposed bulls,
than they We're, ever afterward, could rot
have been found.
BA Now. George, you must divide
the cake hon0rahiy with vour hrofhar