The Bull equals the horse in size, though he is not quite so high; his
form is more bulky, and he is stronger made about the neck and head.
[Illustration:
THE BULL.
]
Bull-baiting is a very cruel sport; this mode of killing Bulls is
derived from one kind of ancient hunting, very like the Spanish
bull-fights of the present day. On notice being given that a wild Bull
would be slain on a certain day, the inhabitants of the neighbourhood
assembled, sometimes to the number of a hundred horsemen, and four or
five hundred foot, all armed with guns or other weapons. Those on foot
stood upon the walls or got into trees, while the horsemen rode off a
Bull from the rest of the herd, until he stood at bay, when they
dismounted and fired. At some of these huntings twenty or thirty shots
have been fired before the animal was killed. This dangerous sport is
now but little practised. There is scarcely any part of the Ox that is
not of some use to mankind. Boxes, combs, knife-handles, and drinking
vessels, are made of the horns. Glue is made of the sinews, gristles,
and the finer pieces of cuttings and parings of the hides, boiled in
water till they become jelly-like, and the parts sufficiently dissolved,
and then dried. The bone is a cheap substitute, in many instances, for
ivory. And the thinnest of the calves-skins are made into vellum.
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