spear, held in the middle tight to his side, and passing under his arm
pit, which making a wide gash in the bull’s shoulder, occasioned him to
draw back, the blood running in torrents; the force with which the bull
ran at the man, was so great, that the shock had nearly overset him and
his horse. It was then another man’s turn to wound the bull, as only one
is to cope with it at a time. They are never allowed to attack the bull,
but must wait the animal’s approach. The bull trotted into the middle of
the area, and stared about, frighted by the clapping and hallooing of the
multitude. The man on horseback always facing the beast, and turning when
it turned; it then ran at the horse, and got another wound in the breast,
and a third from the next horseman it attacked. It was now become mad
with pain, the blood issuing from its mouth in streams, and faintness
made it stagger; its eyes ‘flashed fury,’ it pawed up the ground, and
lashed its sides with its tail; its breath was impetuously discharged
like smoke from its nostrils, so that its head appeared as if in a mist.
A drum then sounded, which was a signal for the horsemen to retire; and
the men on foot began their attack, sticking barbed darts into every
part of its body; the torture they inflicted made the bull leap from the
ground, and run furiously at one of the men, who jumped aside; the bull
then turned to another man, who had just stuck a dart into his back; the
man took to his heels, and leaped over the rails, where he was safe; in
this manner all the men continued tormenting the bull, who could hardly
stand through loss of blood. The drum then sounded again, upon which the
matador appeared, with a cloak extended on a short stick in his left
hand, and in his right a two-edged sword, the blade of which was flat,
four inches broad, and a yard long; he stood still, and at the moment the
bull in the agonies of despair and death, made at him, he plunged the
sword into the spine behind the beast’s horns, which instantly made it
drop down dead. If the matador misses his aim, and cannot defend himself
with the cloak, he loses his life, as the bull exerts all its remaining
strength with an almost inconceivable fury. The dead bull was immediately
dragged out of the area by three horses on a full gallop, whose traces
were fastened to its horns. A quarter of an hour was elapsed, which
is the time allowed for the murder of each bull, five minutes to the
horsemen, five to the footmen, and five to the slayer.
Another bull was then let in; this was the wildest and most furious of
any I ever saw. The horseman missed his aim, and the bull thrust his
horns into the horse’s belly, making the bowels hang out; the horse
became ungovernable, so that the man was obliged to dismount and abandon
it to the bull, who pursued it round the area, till the horse fell and
expired. Four other horses were successively killed by this bull, which
till then, had only received slight wounds, though one of the horses had
kicked its jaw to pieces. One of the horsemen broke his spear in the
bull’s neck, and horse and rider fell to the ground; the rider broke
his leg, and was carried off. The footmen then fell to work again, and
afterwards the matador put an end to the life of this valiant animal,
whose strength and courage were unavailing to save it. The third bull
killed two horses, goring them under the belly, so that the intestines
hung trailing on the ground. The seventh bull likewise killed two horses.
In this manner were ten bulls massacred, and the whole concluded in two
hours and a half. The bull’s flesh was immediately sold to the populace
at ten quartos per pound, which is about three pence.
When the last bull had been sufficiently wounded by the horsemen, the
mob were allowed to enter the area; they attacked the bull on all sides,
and killed it with their knives and daggers. The bull sometimes tosses
some of these fellows over its head.’
It should be remembered that in the interior, around the circle, are
double walls of oak, with sally ports to the inner one, and a passage way
between them of three feet wide. These apertures are sufficient to admit
a man, but the _toro_ cannot enter. Through these, when hotly pursued,
the gladiator will escape, and the bull vents his rage on the impregnable
walls.
A powerful black bull was now let in, and made instantly and without a
stop, at the horseman, who stood ready, twenty feet from the door, with
his spear firmly balanced and pointed to receive him. The aim was true,
but the point struck a bone, which threw the horse upon his hind legs,
and a lance twelve feet long, of an arm’s thickness, was shivered to
pieces. The furious animal directly pursued his advantage, and the horse
was overthrown, with the rider underneath him, whose case was at this
time extremely dangerous. Generally, at the first wound of the spear, the
bull will turn off in another direction; but when they push on, as those
of a savage nature sometimes will, the horse is thrown to the ground,
and the spearsman’s situation is, of course, very perilous. Such was the
wonderful strength of the bull in this case, that the struggling horse
was lifted free from the ground by the surprising power of his enemy’s
horns, apparently with the ease that an apple might be raised by a fork.
With difficulty, however, the rider extricated himself, and attempted to
fly. The gladiators on foot ran to his rescue, and attempted, with their
bright colored mantles, to draw off the beast and divert him from his
purpose; but mad with rage, and scorning their efforts, he jumped across
the prostrate horse, (drawing out his horns from his body) and quickly
pursued his biped foe. The latter strained every nerve to reach the
port-hole, and one hand was even within it, but the horns of his pursuer
were the next instant in his ribs, and he was impaled against the wall.
He was an old man, of a dreadful, cruel and relentless countenance; had
committed many unprovoked murders, and was once condemned to be shot;
but he chose rather to hazard his life weekly against wild beasts in the
ring, and at last, having been twenty years so perilously employed, was
thus killed by a brute of a nature nearly akin to his own.
At any feat of dexterity from the gladiator, handfuls of dollars are
sometimes thrown by the rich spectators, which he deliberately picks up
and pockets, amid the shouts of ‘bravo!’ and the waving of handkerchiefs.
A party will sometimes be seated and regaling themselves at a table
opposite the doors in the lists, and a bull will be let out upon them, at
which they take to flight, with their bottles; except one bold fellow,
who leaps from the table, vaulting over the bull’s horns, and lights
straddling upon his back, facing his tail, while chairs, table, &c.,
are tossed about his head. At other times, a solitary fighter will be
stationed on one knee, a few feet from the entrance, with a short thick
pike, very sharp, pointed toward the door, with the butt end firmly fixed
in the ground, and wait the victim’s approach. This is the most ready
way of death; for the bull, driving at the object, makes fiercely for
the recumbent and watchful foe, but drops before he reaches him, for
the pike head is buried in his brain. But enough has been said of such
heart-hardening scenes.
We will now turn to a custom of less savage, and of a wholly different
character—to the three holidays, (which they zealously celebrate) called
the time of ‘Carnival.’ On these days, all business is suspended, and
woe to the landed stranger, of whatever rank, who shall attempt to pass
through the streets of the city. The flat and low roofs of the houses,
are thronged with the women, whose slaves have provided them with a
large supply of water in tubs, and with which they inundate the luckless
passenger below. The field officer on horseback, and the poor _paysano_
from the country, share alike the effects of their deluging streams—the
horsemen will by speed attempt to escape the shower; but tubs are emptied
far in advance, from the watchful throng above, in quick succession.
The men are no less busy in the streets, annoying the other sex, who are
frequently pursued even to their inner chambers. No offence can be or
must be taken, and no redress may be expected for mischief done.
Many of the boys get a few rials, by the carrying about in baskets and
vending of egg shells, filled with scented water and closed with wax,
which the men buy and pocket, and pelt every female with them, who
inconsiderately exposes herself to their attacks. On a time like this,
I once saw from my lodgings, a party of a dozen, who assailed a house a
short distance below, on the opposite side of the street. The windows
have iron gratings from top to bottom, by means of which, a person can
ascend and scale the walls and gain the roof. A part of these sporters
made this attempt, while the women on the terrace, assisted by their
slaves, discharged their torrents and poured a flood on the heads of
the besiegers. They at last gained the terrace, and the women fled to
their lower apartments, pursued by the enemy. Here they made a stand
and beseeched their invaders to proceed no farther, and appealed to
the honor and generosity of cavalleros, not to invade the privacy of a
lady’s chamber. The appeal was effective, and they instantly desisted and
turned to retire; but seeing the enemy’s magazines of water in large,
low hogsheads, and the slaves who had so obstinately repulsed them
standing near, they could not resist the temptation, and seizing at once
the screaming blacks, they deliberately plunged them headlong into the
vessels, and made a speedy retreat.
The Theatre is a low and miserable looking edifice, (though a new one
was remaining unfinished) and the performers at a par with the building.
It is, however, well attended, and the second or upper range of seats
is filled wholly with women. The prompter’s head appears from an
aperture in the centre of the stage, with a lamp before him, and whose
voice is as audible as the players, who repeat after him. I went once
to see Shakspeare murdered, and a scene in the afterpiece furnished a
circumstance that will afford a finishing picture to this brief outline.
The farce was called the ‘Haunted House,’ the possessor of which wished
to get rid of his nocturnal and troublesome visiters. He had summoned a
procession of the holy order to purify the premises; but the number of
players, otherwise fully engaged, being too small for this purpose, they
hit upon a very ready though _outre_ expedient to supply the deficiency.
The church of San Domingo stood on the opposite corner, and application
was there made, upon the pinch, for a supply of its disciples, and a
dozen were engaged at a rial a piece. These shortly appeared upon the
stage, in _propria persona_, with belt and hood, and holy water, which
they sprinkled profusely around, chaunting ‘_Anda te diablo_.’
There is a conveyance—a clumsy vehicle, drawn by six horses—which leaves
here once a month for Chili, proceeding as far as the foot of the Andes.
Here, leaving their horses, the travellers are obliged to mount on
mules, as being more sure footed than horses, and the passages over the
mountains are, at certain places, narrow and dangerous. The mule only can
be here rode with safety, on account of the narrow passages winding along
the sides of these stupendous mountains. The astonished traveller, when
traversing along this ridge of frightful precipices, beholds with dismay
the yawning chasms beneath him, where the least mis-step would infallibly
and irrecoverably plunge him in the fearful abyss below. He follows, in
breathless silence, the slow and steady motions of his guide, who directs
him to slack his reins, to preserve perfect silence, to leave the beast
to its own guidance, and even if tottering with dizziness, to close his
eyes. These injunctions need no repetition. Sometimes, in the lower
places, in thick and misty weather, the guides will lose the track and
wander till they regain it several days in the snow. This a Dutch captain
once told me was his case, and he was much harrassed by the hard riding,
and sick even at the sight of a horse. The passage is generally performed
in about twenty days, and the distance from Buenos Ayres to St. Jago or
Lima, is about four hundred leagues.
During the war with the royalists in the interior, the Buenos Ayrean
troops gained many important victories. On these occasions the public
square was splendidly decorated, having arches formed of large trees,
and on the branches in the centre of each of these, were suspended lamps,
and all the verdant pillars were profusely supplied with large wax
candles, of a yard in length and of an arm’s thickness, as well as the
monument in the centre, which, when lighted in the evening, produce the
brilliancy of a noon-day blaze.
A large platform was erected on one of these occasions, in the midst of
the square, and a grand dance performed by a volunteer party of young
gentlemen, who were arrayed in the fashion of the native Peruvians,
having a flesh colored velvet dress, with a band of large variegated
feathers around their heads, and another about the loins. They went
through the evolutions with much grace and received great applause. The
music was by a superior band, which was placed on an elevated station a
short distance from them.
Horses, bullocks, dogs and sheep, in these vast regions, run wild, in
immense flocks and herds. The swine are of small size, and always black.
The hunters, at certain seasons, form parties to procure the hides and
tallow of the wild cattle, and leave the carcases to be devoured by the
dogs.
These latter animals abound here in infinite variety and numbers.
Here may be seen the bull dog, mastiff, pointer, water dog, terrier,
spaniel, butcher, shepherd, and ship dog, and sometimes all in a company
together. Some of them are of formidable size, and often dangerous to the
traveller, as I once experienced.
On a lovely morning—during my lameness—in the month of February, which
is, in this latitude, mid-summer, I took my fowling piece, and at day
break sauntered along the river side after game. Before the sun rises,
ducks are often plenty about the little ponds at the extremity of the
city. I wanted to try my gun, and a drove of horses passing slowly
along enabled me to approach within shot of a couple of large birds,
like cranes, which were stalking about in the water. I fired and killed
one and wounded the other, who made off with his broken wing into the
water, and the dead one I drew up on the beach and hid him in the grass,
resolving to take him on my return. He measured nearly five feet high,
his legs being two feet long, of a bright red; his neck was very long,
and his body covered with beautiful snow white plumage. Proceeding, I
found the ducks were, at this time, unusually shy, and I had got but
half a dozen. I then put in a heavier charge and larger shot, in hopes
of touching a group of swans which I saw in a small pond far ahead, but
could not get near them, and the sun being now up, I resolved to strike
across the fields and gain the high road to the city, from which I had
wandered nearly two miles. In passing through some olive trees, I was
started by a rustling noise on my left, which caused me to turn round,
when I saw a large dog cutting through the bushes, open mouthed, towards
me! As I knew I must fight, for I could not run, I grounded the breech
of my gun, and in an erect and steady attitude, hoping to dismay him,
awaited his coming up. He soon did so, making directly towards me, and
trying, with great ferocity, to get a bite at my leg behind. This I
found he soon would succeed in, and with a quick movement I altered my
position, and bending down, presented my piece with the muzzle to his
head, and following him round as he endeavored to get behind me, he
being within a few inches, I hastily cocked and fired. He received in
his shoulder the whole charge of swan shot, yet desisted not. Seizing
then the barrel, I gave him a blow with the butt of the gun, and forced
him to yield, when he set up a yell, and went howling upon three legs. I
instantly began to reload, for I saw a second dog, equally formidable,
approaching at full speed, to assist his companion. The latter luckily
fell down as the second dog reached him, who smelt for a moment about his
prostrate comrade, then turned tail and retreated.
The milk is brought in and cried about the city by country boys, from
seven to fourteen years old, on horseback, who have a peculiar song of
their own, which I never could interpret, by which they give notice of
their approach. The milk is contained in earthen jugs, placed in panniers
made of hide, on each side of the horse, holding three jugs each.
Notwithstanding the infinity of horses, I never saw a mare in the streets
of Buenos Ayres; and a person riding one would be subject to derision
and abuse, as much as if he were mounted on a cow, mares being kept only
for breeding. Horses may here be bought from one to twenty dollars, but
mules are much more valuable—not for being less plenty, but because
they are more difficult to tame, and are truly of a most perverse and
obstinate nature. They are sometimes exported to the Cape of Good Hope.
A vessel at sea had once a cargo of these beasts on board, when a
violent storm arose, in which they broke from their fasts in the hold
and ascended upon deck; here they fell to kicking and biting, and drove
the mariners aloft, and the man at the helm also fled. The bark carried
away her masts, and every thing threatened a wreck. At last, by the help
of some spars, they succeeded in pushing a dozen of their mad passengers
overboard; and driving the rest below, regained command of the ship, and
put back for repairs.
Leopards, lions and wild cats are plenty, but I do not think their
natures so savage as those of Africa. The leopards, which they call
_tigres_, are very large, and their beautiful skins are sold very cheap.
The ostriches are very strong birds, and will ride a stout boy on their
backs. They eat the most indigestive substances, such as iron, stone and
wood. They are a coarse and dirty looking bird, and those bright and
tasty feathers they afford, are plucked from their tails, where the long
ones only grow.
Fruits of many kinds are plenty, especially melons, grapes and peaches.
These, as well as every thing else in this most fertile country, are
cultivated with little labor, and the soil, I believe, would produce, in
abundance and perfection, every thing desired, if the natives were not
too careless and indolent to bestow an effort to cultivate them. This
indolence, it has been said, may be attributed to this very fertility of
soil and softness of climate, and as the earth here gives her increase
without much labor, they have not the necessity for toil as those of a
less yielding and more rocky region.
The general character of the people of these vast provinces is mild and
peaceable; they are rather indolent, but hospitable in the extreme.
They are incessant smokers, and fond of a sip from a gourd shell of the
favorite _yerba_, rather than the stronger liquors. This _yerba_ is an
indispensable beverage with all ranks, and is instantly made by merely
pouring hot water (which is ever at hand) to the _matte_, in the shell.
They suck this very hot, through a tube. This liquor is always offered to
visiters, and passed and repassed from guest to guest.
The women are generally below the usual stature, with expressive black
eyes, black hair, flute-like voices, and dress and walk when abroad with
much circumspection, and flirt the fan—their constant appendage—with
exquisite grace and skill. The complexions of some are tinged; but many,
as I before observed, are extremely fair; and some, I have thought,
approached, in form and feature, the nearest to the perfection of beauty
of any I had ever seen. The country girls smoke cigars, and all the sex
are extremely fond of flowers, which they rear in great profusion and
in infinite variety. On entering the hospitable and social dwellings
of the farmers, the matte cup, the cigar and a bunch of flowers, are
always presented. They are remarkably temperate, and I have often seen
the teamsters at a pulperia or shop, passing around a single glass of
_aguadente_, or rum, which they would leisurely sip, and which was amply
sufficient for half a dozen men.
The country carts, in which they transport their produce from the
interior, deserve notice. They are the most awkward, heavy and singular
vehicles ever seen; and one of them passing through our streets, would
attract as much notice as a moving menagerie. The cart is, in fact, about
the height of a two story house, the sides and roof formed of flags and
cane, but the bottom of hard and solid wood, which, with the wheels, are
monstrously clumsy. On the front part of the wagon, under the arched
roof, in an elevated station, sits the driver. Over his head is suspended
and poised, a stout pole, of great length, which extends from the cart to
the foremost of the six yoke of oxen; the end of this is spear-pointed,
and by moving the inner end, he can touch and guide the leading yoke. In
his hand he holds a shorter pole, also pointed, with which he governs the
nearer cattle. Lashed on with hide strings, at the tail of the cart, is
a large earthen jar, of twenty gallons, to contain water. Thus furnished,
the machine moves at a slow pace, and as they never grease the axles, the
creak of the wheels may be heard a mile distant.
When the caravan halts to encamp, they choose a vacant and convenient
place, and making a fire, prepare for supper. They drive stakes into
the ground, on which, against the fire, they stretch a piece of beef
to roast, and then squatting in a circle around, and with a kettle of
matte only, thus eat their simple but plentiful meal, with great relish,
without bread or salt, the remnants of which last them through the next
day.
At the vesper hour in the city, at sun set, the stranger who walks the
streets is amazed at the sudden and simultaneous stop of the passing
multitude at the solemn toll of the bell. Looking around him, he sees
each uncovered passenger standing like a statue, and every sound is
hushed to silence.
In passing a church, all ranks lift the hat; even the milk boy, and the
abovementioned wagoner, will simultaneously raise his _sombrero_.
Another equally superstitious and universal custom deserves a passing
notice. I was once, on a fine afternoon, about sun set, seated at an
extensive table, in the spacious court yard of a coffee house, amidst a
vast number of officers, priests, and citizens, partaking of a cup of
their excellent _cafe solo_, when suddenly was heard, at a distance,
the tinkling of a small bell, of a well known and peculiar sound.
Every one present, even to the waiters, hastily left their seats, and
thronging to the doors and windows, fell upon their knees and awaited
the approach of the sacred host. A heavy, old fashioned coach, profusely
gilt, drawn by four mules, soon slowly appeared, surrounded with a guard
of four soldiers. When abreast of the prostrate devotees, they all fell
to crossing themselves and repeating the _pater noster_. This venerable
carriage contains a holy father, who goes to administer the sacrament
of extreme unction to some departing catholic. Frequently in passing
the street, I have been obliged, at the sound of this reverenced bell,
to step over the heads of the kneeling group at the door, and retreat
from the indignity of kneeling to an old coach and half starved mules.
Obedience to this rite, even from strangers, is rigidly enforced; and an
English naval captain, in full dress for a ball, was once compelled to
get upon his knees, and arose vowing vengeance and leaving his scented
cambric handkerchief in the mud.
There is a nunnery of a very strict order in the lower part of the city,
and I once had lodgings within the sound of its midnight bell, whose
solemn toll, at the dead hour of twelve, summoned the inmates to their
nightly devotions.
The ceremony of taking the veil is extremely impressive and affecting.
The individual, I believe, has her own unbiassed choice, in thus
retreating from the world, and the motives probably are loss of friends,
unhappy attachments, or, perhaps, a melancholy disposition. The parent
or guardian pays a large sum to the institution, and the applicant is
admitted on trial. At the expiration of this term, if she still resolves
to embrace this solitary life, she confirms her purpose in the assembled
church, by taking the veil.
In one case, a modest young creature, about the age of sixteen,
interesting, beautiful, and just blooming into womanhood, was presented
to the gaze of the spectators, and appeared to attest to this mournful
resolution. As her attendants unbound her hair, and the ample tresses
fell upon her shoulders, and the profusion of jetty ringlets were severed
from her reclining and finely formed head, there arose in the mind a
throb of painful feeling, from the contemplation that this fair being was
about taking a last look at the bright scenes around her; and that such
youth and beauty should be immured for life within the cold walls of a
convent, and the ends of creation be thus perverted by the iron sway of
tyrant custom.
These absurd ceremonies are derived from the all pervading influence of
the priests, who blind the eyes of the people, and strive to keep them in
ignorance and error. Even the blessing and privilege of possessing and
reading the bible is denied them; indeed, but few of the lower class can
read at all.
To keep up their power, the priests use every means to prevent the
spread of knowledge; for full well they know, that should the minds
of the people be enlightened, common sense would prevail, and they
would awake to their impositions, and throw off the debasing yoke of
superstition; and priestcraft would expire.