till sinking from absolute exhaustion, and not being lifeless enough to be drawn in triumph by mules, amid the sound of trumpets, he was admitted into the passage behind the barrier; where, falling on his knees, he lay panting, faint, and exhausted, among the feet of the spectators, till death or insensibility relieved him from his pain, and he was dragged behind the scenes of this inhuman slaughter-house. The trumpet sounded a fourth time, and the picadors, retiring, were immediately succeeded by the banderillas, so called from a species of arrow with which they are armed. They carried one of these darts, pointed at the end, and ornamented with fireworks, in each hand, and tempted the bull to the attack by flourishing them in his face.

"The animal, a little exhausted by his encounter with the horsemen, now contented himself with keeping his assailants at bay, and eyed them silently and sullenly, until, roused by the boldness of their approach, he singled out the nearest, and erecting his tail rushed onward to the fight. The banderilla remained steady until the horns of the bull were within a few inches of his breast, when, inclining his body a little to the right, he suddenly and dexterously placed a dart on each side of the upper part of his neck, which inducing a sudden and momentary contraction of the bull, he made his own escape, and either procured a new supply of darts, or, having thus performed his duty as banderilla, retreated until the next combat. In a few moments the combustible material contained in the fulminated ornament of the arrow ignited, and by its explosion added terror and agony to the fury of the animal; who, as he attacked each of the banderillas in turn, received in his neck the darts with which they were armed.

"This species of attack, next to the final one of the matador, is the most dangerous; for, as the greatest dexterity and vigour are required in placing, so the slightest failure on the part of the banderilla must be fatal, the points of the horns always passing close to his side. The bull, thus provoked to madness by the anguish occasioned by the dart, rendered still more poignant by the gunpowder, now rushed indiscriminately on all, flew at the spectators, and frequently in the energy of the pain leaped the barrier, to the great terror of those who filled the space beyond it, and who with incredible alacrity jumped into the arena, while the buli

rushed round the space they had just occupied, by turns roaring at the spectators on the one side, and attempting to attack those on the other; till he again entered the arena through the folding gates, which were successively thrown open at his approach. On one of these occasions, the tumult was so great to get over the barrier, that the impetuosity of the bull enabled him to overtake a young man before he could accomplish his escape. He threw him some distance from the ground, and violently gored him afterward with his horns. He was borne senseless and dying from that assembly which he had joined to witness and exult in the destruction of the very animal from whom he was destined to receive his own death-blow. The herald now sounded his trumpet for the fifth time. The banderillas retired, and the arena was left to the bull, who rushed round it foaming with rage and pain; tossing up the dust, lashing his tail, and directing his fury indiscriminately against the Jarrier and the spectators.

"While the bull thus exhausted his impetuous rage, and bellowed with agony, the matador entered calmly into the circus, his head uncovered, his right hand bearing a naked small sword, and a green mantle hanging loosely on his left arm.

"The clamours of the multitude were now succeeded by the silence of listening and intense observation and curiosity. The eye, before distracted and divided among the variety of assailants, who were occupied merely in tormenting and exciting the animal to the utmost fury of his nature, now dwells on two objects alone, -the bull still wildly foaming, but suddenly become stationary, and eying his antagonist with the dark glance of madness; and the matador, who met the fiery look of the animal with the steady and determined gaze of undaunted intrepidity.

"The spectator, with breathless anxiety, seemed to prepare for the contemplation of the mortal contest. The glances of every eye were centred in the same focus, and rested on the same objects. Every movement of the com batants became painfully interesting, as the fate of one or both of them hung upon its influence.

"Several minutes were now spent by the combatants in the contemplation of each other. The matador first approached and waved his mantle in the eyes of the bull,

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whose immediate attack was suspended by the point of the sword which he beheld opposed to his advance. At length, forgetting his danger in his fury, he sprang forward, and was dexterously avoided by the matador, who, leaping on one side, had resumed his defensive position before the attack could be renewed in another direction. The combat continued thus silently for a short period, with no roar on the part of the bull, nor one exclamation from the matador or the spectators. The silence was at length broken by the sound of the trumpet, which knelled the fate of the unfortunate bull by giving the signal to his antagonist for the completion of his work, and for the catastrophe of the combat. He accordingly collected himself for the decisive blow, tempted the bull to make another spring, and plunged his sword into the place where the junction is formed between the head and the neck at the root of the horns. The bull staggered with the thrust, and for a moment receded, but seeing the matador still standing in his front, his bloodshot eye beamed with the last ray of fire, and collecting all his remaining strength he made one more attempt at vengeance. His antagonist this time generally contents himself with avoiding the attack, without repeating his blow. The legs of the animal begin to totter, his head falls on his breast, he reels with the faintness of approaching death; he utters no sound, but reserves his last struggle for another fruitless attempt at revenge.

"At length, unable to move from the spot where he stood, his glazed eyeballs rolled insensibly over the spectators who were gazing at his misery. Life's last struggles became fainter and fainter; his knees alone supported his body, till, unable longer to contend with his fate, he sank in the dust already moistened with his blood, and expired without a groan.

"The instant that the motionless limbs of the unfortunate animal proclaimed that life had departed, the ear was suddenly assailed by the sound of trumpets, the shouts of the multitude, and cries of bravo! bravo! which issued from all sides; while handkerchiefs and mantles waved in the air spoke to the eye the triumph and pleasure of the spectators. In the midst of this tumult, the folding doors were thrown open, and three mules abreast, richly caparisoned and ornamented with flags, were conducted in full gallop. The horns of the deceased bull were attached to

the harness of the mules, and the body was borne round the arena, and from the sight, amid the tumultuous plaudits of the spectators.

"It is at this moment, when the scapulary of the priest is seen flourishing in the air by the side of the soldier's helmet; the white handkerchief of the lady waving close to the black mantilla of her own criada; and the huge cockedhat of the citizen uplifted with the little montero of the peasant, that the coup d'œil of this national spectacle becomes strikingly curious to the stranger.

"In this manner eight bulls were successively sacrificed in the morning, and six in the evening of this day; seven or eight horses fell the victims of this national propensity; and it is impossible to say which excited the greatest degree of astonishment-the dexterity of the men, the intrepidity and vigour of the animals, or the inhuman delight of the spectators.

"To see men crowd together and interest themselves in a scene of human danger and brutal slaughter is sufficiently shocking to the general principles of humanity; but to behold the sex formed by nature to gratify the softest of our feelings, and to become the subjects of our more tender sentiments, to see young and beautiful girls eagerly gazing on a scene where the destruction of life is the object, -to mark the eye whose beams were intended for expressions of delight and love glut itself on blood, and eagerly watch without disgust and horror, the different movements of a mortal strife, to hear a female voice mix in the tumultuous shouts of extravagant pleasure, excited by the struggling agonies of a generous and noble animal, is so contrary to all received and imagined notions of female character and delicacy, that the soul shrinks from them as women; and it is difficult to think of them as the same beings who are calculated by nature for the gratification of our softer passions, and designed as the chief sources of our domestic felicity.

"The bulls used, or rather abused, upon these occasions are bred on the estates of different noblemen, amateurs in the art, or, as they would be called in England, of the fancy. The owners are generally distinguished by the colour of the riband on their horns. The names of these noblemen resound through the theatre at the entrance of a bull; and shouts of applause, superior to those which in England greet the appearance of any favourite performer, always attend the entrance of an arrival of any favourite breed, or of a torero rendered famous by his courage or dexterity.

"Perhaps the battle of Salamanca itself did not create more admiration of English valour than was excited by a Scotch soldier at a bull-fight in the great square of that city. Impelled, it is supposed, by intoxication, this man suddenly leaped into the area of the square, and, attacking the bull with his bayonet, was in a moment precipitated into the air by his horns. Rendered unable from the violence of the concussion to resume his feet, he yet retained his weapon, and met the second attack upon his knees; but, before he could be rescued, became the victim of his own rashness and the fury of the bull, as well as an example that it is dexterity, and not courage, which renders the strength and rage of the animal so impotent against the toreros in these exhibitions. The unfortunate man was borne from the assembly amid the shouts of 'Vivan los Inglezes! bravo los Inglezes! O valorosos Escosezes!"

"Among other instances of the eagerness which was displayed on the occasion at which I was present, the peasants, who filled the passage round the barrier, frequently got into the arena, and tempted the bull to attack them by every means in their power; waving their pocket handkerchiefs, jackets, and caps in his eyes, at the hazard of their lives, and suffering the blows, which the legitimate bullfighters dealt with no small degree of liberality, without exhibiting any signs of indignation.

"The following expression of an old lady of high rank, who occupied a seat near me, will prove that neither age nor sex is free from the influence of this national mania; and that it pervades the upper as well as the lower classes of society. The matador once performed his work so dexterously that the sword completely penetrated the head, and became perceptible under the throat. The consequence was the almost immediate death of the animal, with the loss of only a few drops of blood from his mouth. Oh, the dear creature, I could kiss him for it!" was the exclamation uttered by the old lady, with all the delight of a gratified amateur; but whether the imagined salute was intended for the dying bull or the victorious matador I was at a loss to determine.