VARIOUS COMBATS IN THE GUICOWAR'S ARENA
The party remained a week at the palace of the Guicowar, and every day had
a new pleasure or recreation. The king was as familiar with all the members
as though they had belonged to his own household. He was sociable with
them, and they ceased to be embarrassed in his presence. Even Mrs. Blossom
no longer trembled before him, and he was as jolly with the boys as though
he had been one of them.
On the day after the Sowari the gentlemen of the party were conducted to
the arena of the elephants, which was a large enclosure, reminding those
who had seen them of the bull-rings of Spain. It was surrounded by
buildings; and on one side, behind a wall, was a vast area of elevated
ground from which the people of the town could witness the scenes presented
in the arena.
The ladies of the party had made the acquaintance of those of their own sex
in the household, and the sports of the day had been discussed among them.
On this day it was to be an elephant fight. The native women did not
attend, for they never took part in any public affair. Mrs. Belgrave, as
soon as she learned the nature of the entertainment, promptly declined to
be present at it, and the others were of the same mind.
To make the best of it, it was a brutal sport. The elephant is a noble
beast, so intelligent that he deserves the consideration of man; and to
them it seemed barbarous to set them fighting, even if the animals had
belligerent instincts, though they never displayed them in their
domesticated condition unless under strong provocation. Some of the
gentlemen regarded the exhibition as but little better than a prize-fight;
though they all attended the occasion, for the more sensitive ones thought
it would be impolite to decline the invitation, especially as the
exhibition was got up especially for them.
They were ushered into a large apartment, one side of which consisted of
lofty arches, through which the display could be witnessed. At either end
of the arena was chained a monster male elephant. A number of female
elephants were on an elevation near it; and it seemed as though they were
placed there for the same reason that the ladies were admitted to the
tournaments of the knights in England and France. It was said that these
females had a decided taste for such fights, and possibly the sight of them
stimulated the male combatants.
There were a number of men, very slightly clothed, in the ring, who seemed
like the _chulos_ of the Spanish arena, though their functions could
hardly be the same; and there were many openings in the walls through which
they could escape, instead of leaping over the fence, as the bull-fighters
do. Some of them were armed with lances, and others with a stick with
fireworks at the end.
The Guicowar entered the spectators' apartment, which was already well
filled with nobles and the foreigners. He was dressed in white linen, with
an elegant cap on his head. He had a fine athletic form, and wore a short
beard. He was not inclined to take the special arm-chair assigned to him,
but walked about, speaking to his guests, not omitting the boys, to whom he
appeared to have taken a fancy.
His Highness gave a signal, at which the mahouts took their places on the
necks of the big beasts, and the chains which secured the combatants were
cast off. The monsters roared, and, with their trunks elevated, advanced to
the affray. They increased their speed as they came nearer to each other.
They rushed together, as Scott expressed it, "head on," and the strangers
seemed to feel the shock through their nerves. It was so violent the beasts
dropped upon their knees forward.
Then they began to twist their trunks together, and buck with their tusks.
For some minutes the giants wrestled together, but the combat proved to be
of brief duration. The party could see that one of them was getting the
worst of it, and was inclined to "hedge." In fact, he had had enough of it;
but he was too wise to abandon his tactics when it was time for him to
retreat. Mustering all his power, he made a desperate effort, and succeeded
in forcing the other back enough to turn his huge body without exposing his
flank to the tusks of the enemy, and then beat a hasty retreat.
The vanquished brute was removed from the arena, and the victor remained
alone on the field he had won; but he had only come to the beginning of his
troubles, for there was a second act to the affair. The men, who were armed
with whips, fireworks, red cloths, and other instruments of torment,
assailed him. They pricked him with the javelins, shook the red banners in
his face, and fizzed the pyrotechnics before his eyes. They tormented the
poor creature till he was furious. He had no adequate weapon for this
unequal and unfair warfare.
He chased one assailant and then another, being as often turned aside from
his intended victims by the thorning of the other tormentors. As he became
a little more accustomed to the game, he ceased to be diverted from his
victim and confined his attention to only one. The red banners, the blows
from the whips, and the fizzing of the powder, did not affect him. He
pursued his victim till the man was glad to save himself by dodging through
one of the narrow doors in the wall, where the monster could not follow
him. He butted against the wall, and then pounded the earth with his feet
in the fury of his wrath.
If the man had far to run he would inevitably be lost; for the elephant,
clumsy as he appears to be, develops great speed of foot when he is
excited. An incident was related by one of the nobles to Captain Ringgold
as the runner disappeared within the door. A young man who was very swift
of foot was closely pursued by the elephant, and had reached the door, when
he was seized by the arm, tossed in the air, and came down heavily on the
ground. The foot of the infuriate beast was raised to crush his skull, when
another man flashed a Bengal light in his face, with the flame almost in
his eyes, and the giant bellowed and fled.
At the blast of a bugle all the men in the ring suddenly deserted it. The
elephant looked about him for any new assailant, and was immediately
provided with one. A door flew open, and a fine looking fellow, mounted on
a magnificent horse, dashed into the arena. After the manner of the
_matador_ in a bull-fight, he conducted his steed, prancing in his
pride, up to the arch at which the Guicowar stood, and saluted him with the
grace of a knight-errant whose head was full of ladies.
The elephant is said to have an especial aversion to a horse; and the
tormented beast in the ring at once manifested the prejudice of his race,
for he made a dart for him. The horse did not flinch, but stood still till
the giant was almost upon him. Then, at the command of his master, he
wheeled, and the rider gave the big beast a smart punch with his lance. For
a few minutes there was a lively skirmish between them, the horseman
pricking him on the trunk or the flanks, and the rage of the elephant was
at its highest pitch.
The fleetness of the horse and the skill of his rider kept the latter out
of harm's way till the elephant seemed to be exhausted. The Americans
thought he had done enough for one day, and the horseman retired. The great
beast which had borne the brunt of three combats was allowed to cool off,
and then his mahout conducted him to the rest he had bravely won. The
nobles in attendance were sufficiently civilized to indulge in betting, and
wagers had been made on the various fights in progress. Mr. Woolridge, who
was a reformed sportsman, may have been tempted; but he did not feel at
home in this kind of sporting, and he did not break through any of his good
resolutions.
After the elephant had been removed, there was no little excitement among
the assemblage in the veranda, and the betting seemed to be livelier than
ever. A dozen officers armed with rifles and lances were stationed about
the walls of the arena; and then an iron-bound cage was drawn into the
enclosure, which contained a monstrous tiger. The guests wondered if this
fierce brute was to be loosed in the arena, and they examined with interest
into the safety of the situation. A number of rifles were brought into the
veranda, with which the Guicowar and his native guests armed themselves.
"What does this mean, Sir Modava?" asked Captain Ringgold.
"The next battle will be a noble one, and immense wagers are depending upon
the result," replied the Hindu gentleman.
"Is that big tiger to fight the crowd here assembled?"
"Not at all; but it is such a battle as has never been fought here, if
anywhere. His Highness had long desired to see a bull-fight, and he
imported four of the finest Spanish bulls his agent could find. The
_toreadors_ came with them; but they all refused to fight in this
arena, which they declared was not adapted to the purpose, and they went
home. Three of the bulls died of disease, and only one was left. A
discussion arose as to whether he was a match for a tiger. This battle is
to settle the question; and the bets are mostly in favor of the tiger,
though the Guicowar, with a few others, places his stake on the bull," Sir
Modava explained.
The tiger was released from the cage at a signal from the king. He leaped
from the cage, and seemed to be astonished at the sight of so many people.
Three officers took possession of the brute's prison, armed with rifles to
shoot him if he killed the bull. No person was in the ring, or within reach
of the savage animal. The door by which the horseman had entered was thrown
wide open, and the bovine, vexed to the highest degree of wrath, came into
the arena with a bounding run.
The tiger had advanced quietly to the centre of it, though with the royal
mien of the "king of beasts," as he was here, his eyes like a couple of
coals of fire. He caught sight of the bull as soon as he appeared, for he
had doubtless killed many a bullock in the jungle. He planted himself on
the ground in readiness for a spring. His present enemy saw him at the same
instant; but he did not halt, or show any signs of fear.
[Illustration: "The striped beast went up into the air."--Page 263.]
The bull crouched his head, increased his speed, and bounded on the tiger.
At that moment the striped beast went up into the air so quickly that the
audience could hardly see how it was done. His horned foe showed that he
had not wholly escaped, for his head was covered with blood. But the tiger
was not yet defeated. He sprang to his feet, and darted furiously at his
enemy. He fastened with claws and teeth upon the neck of the bull, and the
king believed that his wager was lost.
But the Spaniard shook him off, and turned upon him again, tossing him
higher in the air than before. He came down badly disabled; and the bull,
as though it was the finest sport in the world for him, gored him with his
long horns till the life was gone out of him. The Spaniard was the victor.
The people shouted themselves hoarse; but their cries were in honor of the
Guicowar, and not the bull. The victor had lost a great deal of blood from
a bad wound in the neck, and it was a question whether or not he would die;
but he did not; he recovered, and before the tourists left India Sir Modava
learned that he had been killed in a battle with a smaller tiger than the
first.
Though the guests said but little about it, most of them were disgusted
with these spectacles, and considered them cruel and brutal. They remained
their week at Baroda. Those who desired to do so were taken to a hunt one
day with a cheetah, in which this animal killed deer and other animals; and
on another, on elephants, for tigers. Two tigers were killed, and Louis
Belgrave had the honor of shooting one of them. Felix brought down a couple
of cobras; and killing them seemed to be his forte. Khayrat invited the
party to witness a battle between his mongoose and a couple of cobras his
hunters had caught; and he killed them both, one at a time.
They all declined to attend a fight between a couple of coolies, with horn
spikes attached to their hands, for this was worse than a prize-fight. But
there was no end of amusements that were not brutal, and they enjoyed
themselves abundantly to the end of their stay. They visited the temples
and the palaces of the nobles, where they were received with the utmost
attention. Captain Sharp and his wife declared this was the red-letter week
of their lives; but the commander of the Blanche insisted that he must take
his ship around to Calcutta, and left by train for Bombay the day before
the company departed.
The Guicowar resorted to various expedients to retain his guests, with whom
he was evidently sincerely pleased; but the commander was inflexible. It
was not possible to see a tithe of India, and he felt obliged to leave at
the expiration of the time he had fixed for the visit, and he begged Lord
Tremlyn and Sir Modava not to place them in any more courts, or they would
never get out of India. The train was prepared for their departure, and, in
addition to the compartment cars in which they were to pass most of their
time, a carriage was fitted up, so that all of them could assemble in it;
in fact, it was a conference hall on wheels.