Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1882-04-07

had not long to wait for now the espada
whom he had tossed over the barrier just
after his entrance, advanced with long,
straight, bright sword in one hand and
bright red flag in the other. The espada had
evidently been hurt, for he was lame and
seemed to lack the agility and grace that IS
expected from the chief performer after tt
bull AS soon as the bull saw the red flag he
made furious dash at it. This was repeat
ed two or three times, the espada all the
time waiting for good opportunity to give,
him the coup de grace. Finally, as the bull
was rushing toward the red flag he thrust his
keen, slender sword, two thirds of the way
up to the hilt, into the soft flesh of the bulls
neck. 1t was not good blow, for it should
have been mortal, but the bull did not seem
affected byit. A bandillero sklllfully recover
ed the sword by throwing his cloak so that
it wound itself around the weapon and then
the espada advanced again. Again the bull
rushed at the red flag and again the espada
made thrust and again without effect. A
third effort was successful. The sword en-
tered just between the neck and shoulder,
and penetrated almost to it's full length.
This final blow was dealt with the same neat
ness and apparent ease that the surgeon shows
in the use of his lancet. The bull went
slowly nearly across the ring, then tottered
and fell. AS in the case of the horse, dag
ger was driven into his neck and his suffer-
he had killed two horses and hurt one man.
The mules were now brought in, and the
dead bull and horses were rapidly removed
from the ring.
Immediately the picadores and bandilleros
took their places as before, and another bull
was admitted, but he did not make SO good a
fight as the first one, and only one horse was
killed, and none of the men were hurt. The
third bull was worse yet, and not even one
horse was killed. The fourth and last bull
was best of all. He killed four horses in rap
i'd succession and so well did he do his
work that it took but one thrust of his horns
| to finish each horse. Once he raised horse
| and rider together completely off the ground,
| and they fell in a confused head. He was
preparing to toss them again when he was
lured away by the cloak of bandillero.
] Another horse and rider he threw with such
| fierce against the ring that the latter had
difficulty in walking out of the ring. The
| sspada who killed the first bull did not again
appear in the ring. A second espada is always
| on hand, in case of accidents The man
| who despatched this bull did it at a single
blow. He sheathed his sword in the bulls
| flesh to its very hilt. The performance had
now occupied just an hour and half, which
gives twenty minutes for each fight, after
| making allowance for the time occupied by
| the procession and the short intervals be-
| tween the fights. In this space of time
| four bulls and seven horses had been killed
| and two men had been more Or less injured
| The audience is never still for single in
| staat except when the bull enters. It ex
| presses its approval or disapproval of every
| action as we'll of the horses and bull as of the
| men. The first and last bull received a large
amount of vociferous admiration, while the
| third one was jeered and derided. The en-.
| thusiasm reached it's highest pitch when the
| espada killed the last bull at q single blow
| At critical moments the whole audience
| arose. In summer, when the best bull fights
are given, I am told that they are attended
| by the court and fashionable society of Mad
| rid. Then the bulls are older. and fercer
and eight are killed in day. At this fght
| the audience was almost entirely made up OF
| strangers and of the lowest classes of The
| city. I have not used the names torrero anC
matador, with which almost every one has
| become familiar in accounts of ull-fghts
for they now replaced respectively by the
| terms bandillero and espada. After the bull
fight was over six bulls. one at time, were
| turned loose into the ring with the tips Of
! their horns carefully covered with large
balls SO that they could not gore anyone
| This was done for the amusement of the
| ''aficionados'' All who liked were allowed
to enter the ring and play with the bulls
| with their cloaks, as bandilleros do. Abou
| 200 of them awaited themselves of the OPP
portunity, and afforded amusement for hal
/ an hour to the audience. Several of then
| were pitched and tossed about, and had thu
| horns of the bulls been free some of then
| would surely have been killed. AS it was, ont
| of them seemed considerably hurt
|. At half-past five the performance closed
and the vast audience poured out of the grea
amphitheatre and blaekened the road all thu
| way to Madrid. I walked back to the cit,
i with feeling of mingled sadness and disgust
And so ended my first and, I trust, my las
experience of the most cruel and degrading
| exhibition of modern times.