Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1886-08-27
A MEXICAN BULL FIGHT.
A DESCRIPTION OF THE ARENA AT
CUANTITHAN.

CUANTITHAN.
Details of the "Sport" which, of all
Others, Most Delights the Soul of
Spaniard.
The bul fights which have seen the
most of occur at the city Of Cuantithan,
about fifteen miles north of the City Of
Mexico, and on the line of the Mexican
Central Ra lway. Special trains are run
on the afternoo of the fights, and carry
immense crowds of people. On account
of the Mexican laws, no bull fights are
allowed within the city limits. They
have bull fight every Sunday afternoon,
at which four bulls are killed, and on
feast days, such as Christmas and Easter
they kill sixteen bulls.
! The arena is about twice the size of an
| ordinary circusring, and surrouded by a
/ strong plank wall about ten or twelve
feet in height Above this wall the
seats rise IN four tiers, much like circus
seats, only having backs, and above these
! seats is one row of boxes which are COW
/ ere !, ali the rest of the arena having no
/ covering whatever. There is no extra
charge for the boxes, and you get one or
not, just as you happen to impress the
ushers. As there IS no covering, the great
object is to get on the shady side of the
arena, for which you pny fifty cents
again,t twenty i've cents for the sunny
side
There are two entrances to the arena
about third of the circumference apart,
oae for tho bulls to come in and the
other for men and hoses Midway be-
tween these entrances and in the tier of
boxes, is large box in which sits the
Judge of the fight generally some ex-
governOr) with his family. A bugler
stands behind him, and just below his
box is blnd. AT four equal intervals
on the wall of the arenl there is a p'anked
partition which stands Just far enough
from the main wall to allow man to
step behind and not far ero Ugh to allow
bull to get his head in.
At a signal from the judge the bugle
resounds and all the bull fighters mar h
into the arena There are usually six on
foot and four on horse tback. Those on
foot are dressed very gayly in tights,
etc, and all carry a long cloak of some
DIlR III COlOls lCl udNG llO III llIlc / uJoS
on horseback have their right legs in
ca ed in an immense shield of sole leather,
and the right SIDE of the horse is covered
with the same. The men are armed with
lances VIII ch have point about an inch
long only, as it is meant to tease and
irritate the bulls and not kill them. the
horses are blin1-folded, as otherwise
they could not be managed
The men all salute the judge and then
take their places round the arena. The
door now opens for the bull, and one Of
the men throws his cloak part way in
for a few minutes; the bull makes 6
plunge at it and as he runs in through
the door q man seated above it sticks 6
nall dart with paper streamers directly
between his shoulders and the bull, with
a rear is in the arena. They then begin
to tanta ize him in every manner possible
In short time he seems to get tired ol
running at the men on foot as they easily J
get out of the way. Then he looks a
the horses; pauses to collect himself, anc
makes rush at one. The rider receives
him on his lance and holds him off, maybe
twice; but about the third time the bul
takes the whole run of the arena anC
then over they go, horse, rider and bull
in one immense crash.
But in almost every case the man man
ages to escape unhurt. Not so the poo
hor c, (which is invariably gored to death
After three horses have been about killed
they are all taken from the ring, and tht
bull, now wild with fury, turns his atten
ton once more to the men.
Now a very gayly dressed fellow step
INTO the ring with two darts about eigh
teen inches long and an inch in diameter
in his hands. These darts are covered
W tn long gay streamers and have small
barbed point He waves them in froa
of the bull to attract his attention, anC
when the beast charges at him and JUS
as he is upon him, the fellow makes ,
spring and str kes his two darts in jus
back of the bulls shoulders, one OIL
each side of his body. To do this in th
most approved style, the man springs
into the air, strikes in his darts, anC
vaults over the bull. This is what h
does if he makes a success; if not why
the bull get him on his horns and kill
him. But this very seldom happens.
AS soon as this is done and the bul
tormented some more, this same man o
the darts returns armed with Ion!
stra ght sword and small red flag. At
tracing the attention of the maddenet
animal by the small flag, and waiting TO
good chance, just as the bull is upol
him he jumps to one side, and with on
lunge drives his sword to the hilt in tn
ball. 1t goes in front of the right shoul
der and passes downward and out below
and behind the left shoulder, pas in!
directly through the heart never say
it fail once, and it is certainly as fine
, display of workmanship as one can see
The bulls never moves out of his tracks
but gradually begins to tremble and the
to sink lower until he drops dead.
Then three gayly decked mules ar
brought in, the dead bull hauled out ant
the thing begins again.
All this time the band plays and tn
people shout and cheer. Sometimes be
tween the acts rat er tame-lookin
bull is brought in AMI the men sho'
their skill with the lassoo, bull trailing
etc. Their skill in all this is simpl
wond ,rfuI, but seems a little tame com
ing directly after the fight. Sometime
the horses are left out aud the men tgh
the bull on stills four feet high strappe
to their legs, using small swords. Thi
is apt to be very exciting, as two or thre
men are always killed and as they are ne
horses, and have no need to expose then
selves in that fool hardy way unl' IS the
choose to, one certainly feels more so