particularly in those of the inhabitants of Cordova, can be detected
unmistakable signs of their Arab ancestry. Their skins are darker, and
the women especially have larger and more lustrous eyes than those
of the other provinces of Spain. Their dialect, full of proverbial
expressions, and unintelligible by its elision of consonants, seems
a barbarous jargon to the Castilian of Salamanca or Valladolid. The
popular cloak is the burnous; the hat of the muleteer a degenerate
turban; the haick, under whose folds Eastern jealousy required the
features of all females to be concealed, survives in the mantilla, that
once covered the face, and does yet in certain towns, as Tarifa, and
which has even travelled to Spanish America as the _tapada_ of Lima.
The sandal is much worn by the poorer classes, and the silken sash,
or girdle, passes yet under its Arab name of _faja_. The irrigating
apparatus, the cart, the plough,--which is nothing but a crooked
stick,--are all Oriental; the mills were either actually built by the
Moors, or modelled after those of that industrious people. Grain is
still tramped out by cattle upon the primitive threshing-floor, and
winnowed by the wind. The charcoal vender, with his panniers and his
scales, is identical in all save costume with the vagrant charbonnier
of Cairo.
The clapping of hands to call servants reminds one of the "Arabian
Nights;" the seclusion of women savors strongly of the restraints of the
harem.
Instances might be indefinitely multiplied to show the derivation of
similar customs interwoven with every act of social and domestic life.
And, notwithstanding the untold advantages and invaluable practical
knowledge--the results of ages of experience--bequeathed by the Saracen
to his conqueror, with the ruins of massive castles, and of palaces
unrivalled in magnificent decoration, scattered all over the land; with
the museums crowded with priceless relics of Arab art; with the fields
watered by an ingenious yet simple system of irrigation, yielding
prodigious returns with but trifling labor; it is the greatest insult
you can offer a Spaniard to call him a "Moor," or insinuate that in his
veins courses a drop of the blood of that despised race whose industry
was once the boast, as its neglected souvenirs are now the glory, of his
country.
THE SPANISH BULL-FIGHT.
JOSEPH MOORE.
["Outlying Europe and the Nearer Orient," by Joseph Moore, Jr.,
a work devoted to descriptive sketches of Egypt, the Holy Land,
and the various countries of Europe, is the source of the
following selection, which excellently delineates that ancient,
though hardly time-honored, institution of Spain, which has
long been its most distinctive form of public recreation.
Happily, no other race than the Spanish has adopted this cruel
sport.]
Nothing in the popular mind is more closely associated with Spain than
the bull-fight. To travel in that country without witnessing the
spectacle would imply the loss of an invaluable opportunity to study
Spanish life. The people of all classes throughout the kingdom are
unremitting in their enthusiasm for this favorite amusement, and no
political or social prerogative could be guarded with more zealous
devotion.
This species of gladiatorial contest took its origin at a remote period,
and long before it assumed its present form exhibition combats of one
bull against another were not uncommon. Pictorial sculptures at Beni
Hassan and Thebes prove the latter to have been among the sports of
the Egyptians nearly three thousand years before the Christian era.
Strabo states that the bulls employed on these occasions were carefully
trained for the purpose, and the encounters generally took place in the
dromos, or avenue of approach to the temples. These displays, however,
were probably abandoned under succeeding dynasties, as no such
representations exist on walls of later periods. We have reasonable
evidence to assume that bull-fights which included men and beasts as
combatants were first instituted by the Thessalians more than three
hundred years before Christ. As a people, they were skilled in
horsemanship, and the spectacle was not unlike that of modern Spain.
Julius Caesar is believed to have noticed such exhibitions in Thessaly,
which led to their appearance in Rome about B.C. 45. In later ages they
were generally prohibited in the Latin empire, both by the emperors and
the popes. Gibbon, however, describes a feast celebrated at Rome in
1332, which included a bull-fight in the Coliseum, with the Roman
nobles as participants. The bull-fight was introduced into the Spanish
peninsula by the Moors in the eighth century, and when those people
were finally expelled in 1492 by Ferdinand and Isabella, Catholic Spain
adopted the cruel sport of her Mohammedan predecessors. In the sixteenth
century Pope Pius V. vainly decreed its extinction, and two hundred
years later Charles III. practically failed to accomplish the same
by persuasion. Late in the last century Charles IV. suppressed the
bull-fight, but Joseph Bonaparte soon after restored the privilege
to ingratiate himself with the nation whose throne he had usurped.
Since then the ancient diversion has flourished despite the unanimous
condemnation of the outer world. The present monarch, Alfonso XII., is
said to favor its abolition, but such an attempt, it is declared, would
be attended with the risk of engendering a revolution.
Bull-fights are popular throughout Spain, but, with the exception of
Madrid, they are more frequent in the southern provinces. In fact,
Seville is regarded as the centre of _tauromachia_. The season extends
from the close of Lent to November, with Sundays and religious _fiestas_
as the favorite days. The Plaza de Toros, or bull-ring, is an extensive
hypaethral amphitheatre resembling the Coliseum on a reduced scale. The
new one at Madrid is located near the driving-park, or Gardens of the
Buen Retiro, and will seat about fifteen thousand people. That at
Seville is an older building, situated near the Guadalquivir, and
estimated to accommodate from ten to twelve thousand spectators. The
stone Plaza de Toros of Jerez is credited with a capacity of thirteen
thousand. The seats are of various grades, and the charges for them
range from ten reales (fifty cents) to forty-six reales (two dollars
and thirty cents). The choicest are those in the shade and in the boxes
which form the upper tier. Not unfrequently during holy week in Seville
the demand for places is such that speculators will realize fifty
pesetas (ten dollars) for a single ticket.
The various breeds of Spanish bulls are easily distinguished by the
practised eye, and the entire interest of the Spaniard is centred on the
movements of the doomed beast. A savage, aggressive _toro_ is an object
of admiration, and one of timid demeanor of corresponding reproach.
The fiercest of all are those of Andalusian blood. The stock of Navarre
and the Castilian bulls on the Jarama, near Aranjuez, are likewise
favorites, and the latter are generally used at Madrid. The proceeds of
the bull-fights are usually devoted to religious or charitable purposes;
those of the capital chiefly supporting the State hospital.
The actors in the bull-fights are of four classes: _matadores_,
_banderilleros_, _picadores_, and _chulos_, their relative importance
being in the order named. The word _torero_ is a general term for
bull-fighters on foot, while _toreador_ is commonly applied to those on
horseback. Before entering the ring a bull-fighter repairs to the chapel
or confessional to be prepared for death should the merciless horns
chance to reach his life.
Four o'clock in the afternoon is the usual time for the commencement of
the spectacle, and but few seats are vacant when that hour approaches.
The cheap circles are replete with boisterous humanity of both sexes,
who loudly vent their impatience in case of delay. During the
performance any failure of skill is greeted by the lower classes with
energetic cries of condemnation, many of the epithets used being of an
extremely vulgar character. The choicer sections contain a brilliant
assemblage, the _senoritas_ in full evening toilettes of delicate tints,
white kid gloves, lace veils, fans, and opera-glasses. The _senores_
wear a suit of black, except a vest of white, and pearl-colored gloves.
Directly on the opposite side of the arena from the _toril_, or
bull-door, is the enclosure reserved for the _autoridad_, or one in
authority presiding on the occasion, just as a Caesar did of old in the
gladiatorial contests. In Madrid the king and his suite occupy this box,
and the nobility cluster in the vicinity.
A few minutes before the performance opens, the floor of the arena is
sprinkled to prevent any disturbance of the dust during the struggle.
When this operation is completed, music by the band follows, and the
king or the president of the day enters the reserved box. The excitement
now becomes intense. A trumpeter stands awaiting the command to
inaugurate the exhibition, and but a few seconds elapse before the
notes are sounded. The band plays a march, a gate swings open, and a
procession advances towards the royal loge. There it halts, and every
performer salutes the occupant. The men on foot are in the Andalusian
costume, richly elaborated,--flat hats, embroidered jackets,
bright-colored knee-breeches, white stockings, and black slippers, and
with the hair confined in nets. The horsemen are arrayed as Spanish
knights of the olden time, with long buckskin breeches, under which the
limbs are protected from injury by cork or tin leggings. The spurs of
these combatants are provided with most cruel rowels to goad the
timorous horses. The lance which the _picador_ carries is of the usual
length for a horseman, but the spear-head is purposely too short to
inflict a very serious wound. The group of performers consists of six
_chulos_ on foot, with gay mantles, which they carry on the arm; two
_matadores_ in green, one with a red-hilted Toledo blade and the other
with a mantle; three _banderilleros_, each with a pair of decorated
barbed darts called _banderillas_; three _picadores_ on blindfolded
horses and armed with the lance; and, finally, some minor characters in
charge of two brightly-caparisoned teams harnessed to crossbars.
After the salutation the teams withdraw, and the actors dispose
themselves at various points in the ring. A horseman clad in black court
costume, who has accompanied the procession and is called an _alguazil_,
now gallops over to the box containing the authorities to receive the
key of the _toril_, or bull-door. This he carries to the person in
charge of that gate, and then hurriedly withdraws. The trumpet again
sounds, the tumult becomes intensified, the toril-door opens, and the
bull dashes into the arena. Upon his flank is a bright rosette with long
ribbons, the _mona_, which is the prize of the victorious _matador_. For
an instant "the lord of lowing herds" halts to survey the situation,
but only an instant, and then the game of death commences. One of the
_picadores_, mounted on a horse whose ears are filled with tow and whose
eye towards the bull is covered, takes a position fronting the enemy,
with his blunt spear in rest. The mighty brute hesitates a second,
lowers his head, and charges. The spear is buried in the bull's
shoulder, and the unprotected horse rears to escape the attack, but the
deadly horns gore him, and all fall together. The bull's violence is
instantly diverted by a _chulo_, who flaunts the red cape, and the
_picador_ is quickly extricated by vigilant satellites. The attention of
a stranger is now instinctively directed to the horse, to discover the
extent of the damage. Perhaps his hip bleeds, or there is a visible rent
in his chest from which the blood jets forth, or a mass of entrails
protrudes as he walks. In the first case the wound is stanched with
clay, and the _picador_ immediately remounts. If either of the latter
happens, the horse is led towards the exit, but before reaching it he
staggers and falls, in all probability dead. A subordinate called a
_cachetero_ then thrusts a stiletto into the brain, as though the bull
had not wholly completed the tragedy.
In the mean while the infuriated bovine has been otherwise engaged. A
_chulo_ or two have flashed their bright-colored mantles in his face to
madden him, or another _picador_ has stood an attack. Then a _chulo_ is
pursued, greatly to the delight of the audience, and hastily retreats
behind a short fence or refuge, built close to the ring and too narrow
to admit the bull. In some _plazas_ the refuges are entirely wanting,
and instead the nimble actors leap the first of the two barriers.
Occasionally the pursuing bull will likewise jump this outer fence, and
must then be driven from the intervening circle back to the arena
through a gate especially opened for the purpose.
Time passes, and the bull is wearied and bleeding. A _banderillero_ now
advances with a pair of the _banderillas_, or barbed darts, before
mentioned. These instruments are rather less than a yard in length, and
when necessary to aggravate a cowardly bull they are sometimes charged
with explosives. The _banderillas_ are whisked in the brute's face until
he charges, which is the result desired. The _banderillero_ quickly
steps aside, the bull passes, and the javelins are thrust deeply into
his shoulders, one on each side of the spine. The movement is as
dexterous as it is dangerous, and never fails to excite a shout of
admiration. The bull struggles to extricate himself from the darts, and
perhaps one falls to the ground. A second adept immediately places a
second pair in the bleeding shoulders, and then still another, making
six in all. Now the bull is furious, and accordingly a _picador_ again
moves into position. A charge is made; all fall, and the horse is
gored,--in all probability killed. The _chulos_ again flaunt their
red lures, and so the struggle continues until the bull retires some
distance for a respite. Perhaps he will rest on his haunches, or lie
upon the ground in utter exhaustion. A cry from the audience at this
juncture is well understood. The skilled _matador_ advances with his
red-hilted Toledo blade and scarlet _muleta_ to ask formal permission
of the authority to despatch the foe. A duel ensues to display the
dexterity and grace of the _espada_. Frequently but a single step is
necessary to remove him from the approaching horns, so great is this
actor's composure, and so thorough his mastery of his movements. The
_matador_, to employ the technical parlance, "knows when the bull is
right to kill;" and finally he deliberately aims a thrust which in an
instant displays the sword transfixed almost to the hilt. If one blade
is not sufficient, another sinks to the appointed spot.
"Where his vast neck just mingles with the spine,
Sheathed in his form the deadly weapon lies.
He stops--he starts--disdaining to decline;
Slowly he falls, amidst triumphant cries,
Without a groan, without a struggle, dies."
The victorious _matador_ salutes the presiding dignitary, and Spain's
sons and daughters unite in one mighty outburst of joy and noise. One
of the teams is summoned; a rope is attached from the crossbar to the
deadly horns; the whips are applied, and the dead monarch of the farm
disappears with the galloping horses. Nothing is left of him save the
blood-stained track which his weighty corse has marked on the soil. The
trumpet again sounds; the toril-door swings on its hinges, and a second
bull rushes into the arena. The entertainment consists of the death of
six bulls, all by the original group of men, and is usually of three
hours duration.
A remarkable fact to be noted is that injuries to the human combatants
are not frequent, though occasionally one is killed and others are
maimed. At Madrid we saw a _matador_ thrown by the bull immediately
after the sword had been fairly driven to the hilt. While the man lay
upon his breast he received three passes from the frantic beast before
the mantles of the _chulos_ could distract the animal's attention.
Strange to relate, the unfortunate performer escaped with no greater
injury than bruises, and, indeed, he evinced a disposition to renew the
contest; but his companions almost forcibly led him from the arena. An
instant afterwards the bull commenced bleeding at the mouth from the
internal sword wound, and in less than a minute dropped dead. In another
case related by a spectator, a _chulo_, in his attempt to escape,
slipped when close to the barrier. Upon falling the man quickly doubled
himself into a ball, and, miraculous as it may seem, the bull's horns
were driven into the wooden fence on each side of the huddled form, and
the actor was saved. In an instant the lure of a brother _chulo_ had
diverted a second attack. Once when we were present a _cachetero_ struck
a dying bull with a stiletto before the tenacious vitality was wholly
exhausted, and so suddenly did the brute resent the wound that the
public butcher had his nether garment rent by the pursuing horns.
Words cannot describe the strange and engrossing excitement which the
bull-fight inspires. The brain is probably in a whirl of agitation,
when suddenly the heart ceases beating for an instant, as rider, horse,
and bull clash in the deliberate encounter. The sympathy for the poor
defenceless horse is without bounds, and with it comes a flush of
indignation that so noble an animal should be cruelly butchered to make
a Spanish holiday. It is true the horses thus devoted to immolation are
of little value; but they are nevertheless horses, and their wanton
slaughter will admit of no justification. The destruction of so many
bulls is equally to be condemned, and charity for the brute should not
be wanting because he employs the weapons and exhibits the propensities
with which the Creator endowed him. The stranger is also impelled to
contemplate the fact that those of the gentler sex, the famed beauty of
Spain, regard these combats with sufficient partiality to insure their
presence, and to behold with the utmost composure a death-stricken horse
trailing his vitals before their very eyes. In extenuation it must be
considered that their training and the traditions of the country
pronounce the bull-fight a legitimate amusement. Travellers, however,
are almost unanimous in their conclusion that pleasure is vainly sought
in frequenting the _corrida de toros_. Yet
"Such the ungentle sport that oft invites
The Spanish maid, and cheers the Spanish swain."
SEVILLE, THE QUEEN OF ANDALUSIA.
S. P. SCOTT.
[We have already given one selection from Scott's "Through
Spain." The work is so worthy that we feel impelled to offer
other extracts from its well-filled pages. Seville, in many
respects the most attractive city in Spain, offers a charm to
the traveller which few can resist, while in respect to the
treasure of Moorish architecture, possessed by many of the
cities of Spain, it has to show its richly-decorated Alcazar,
or citadel, its _Torre del Oro_, or Golden Tower, and its
minaret, the Giralda, whose lofty summit looks down in pride
upon the modern cathedral. But we must leave this story to our
author's pen.]
Of all the cities of Spain, there is none that can compare in general
attractiveness with the beautiful Andalusian capital. In the feudal
towns of old Castile will be found much of interest to the student of
history: in Madrid can be witnessed the pompous ceremonial of the court;
Cordova has her mosque; Merida, her Roman, and Tarragona her Cyclopean,
remains; Granada, her peerless Alhambra. But in Seville--inferior to
none of these in the number and value of her antiquities--alone can be
studied to advantage the singular manners of a society in some respects
highly civilized yet in others manifesting unmistakable traces of
barbarism, more noticeable here than in any other city of the kingdom.
It is a place of wonderful contrasts. On one side are stately avenues
lined with magnificent palaces and gardens; on the other rise gloomy
Moorish habitations, reached by winding passage-ways so narrow that an
ordinary umbrella, when raised, will barely clear the walls. As in
Oriental communities, the different sects are separated; the Jews are
restricted to one quarter, the Moors to another, the gypsies to a third,
and nowhere outside of Cairo and Damascus is exhibited such an array of
outlandish costumes. In the surging crowds of the promenades the uniform
of the soldier and the cowl of the friar are especially conspicuous, the
one the sign of a jealous military despotism, the other the badge of an
order fast passing away.
Seville has the first and grandest bull-fights of the season; her
majos are the most extravagant in dress, her women the most witty and
beautiful, her religious festivals the most expensive and splendid in
the world. It is here, then, that we must look for the characteristic
types of Andalusia, that favored land where the ancients placed their
Elysian Fields and Garden of the Hesperides.
The city lies very low upon the Guadalquivir, which, overflowing with
every freshet, has frequently submerged the streets and seriously
damaged buildings situated a long distance from its banks.
The visitor, wandering along the substantial quays, will not fail to
notice a curious, isolated tower, whose loop-holes and battlements
resemble those of some feudal castle. It is the _Torre del Oro_, or
Golden Tower, one of the landmarks of Moorish Seville, and was named
from the shining yellow tiles that originally incrusted it, and which
Spanish taste has thoroughly "improved" with a coat of plaster. It once
guarded a bridge by which the city was supplied with provisions from the
_Ajarafe_, the rich territory that extended for fifty miles up and down
the river, and was under the most perfect cultivation.
From the Golden Tower, an irregular wall, whose summit is on a level
with the roofs of the surrounding houses, can be traced for nearly a
quarter of a mile, till it terminates in the Alcazar, or citadel. The
date of the foundation of the Alcazar is too remote to be fixed with
certainty, although it is known that a palace stood here about the time
of the first Saracen invasion. The walls are fifty feet high and in
excellent preservation. Within the principal gate is the room where the
kadi, and after him Peter the Cruel,--who has left a deeper impress of
his individuality upon Seville than any other monarch, Christian or
Moslem,--exercised the office of judge. Beyond the grand court, which is
large enough for the review of a considerable body of troops, is a
smaller one enclosing the facade erected by Don Pedro in 1364. This, as
well as much of the interior, was the work of the finest artists of
Granada, sent to Don Pedro by his friend the Moorish king. Successive
and ill-advised alterations have modernized the inner apartments, and
what vandalism and whitewash could not accomplish has been effected by
the stupidity of those intrusted with the repairs, who have awkwardly
tried to imitate the delicate tile-work with paint, and have inserted
many Arabic inscriptions upside down.
The Patio de las Doncellas was the central court of the seraglio, and
the place where the annual tribute of one hundred Christian maidens was
delivered by the vassals of the sultan. Its arches are festooned and
pointed, or ogive, denoting the period of transition between the
horseshoe of Cordova and the symmetrical curves of the Alhambra.
The Hall of the Embassadors, in all probability the most gorgeously
decorated chamber in the world, opens upon this _patio_. Its dazzling
walls are crowned with a carved wooden dome, or _artesonado_, colored in
blue and scarlet, and studded with golden stars. Charles V. and Isabella
of Portugal, mother of Philip II., were married here March 12, 1526....