nd chatting together. It was curious and interesting, while waiting for
the commencement of the performance, to study the features of the
audience, and watch their earnest gesticulations; for the Spaniards,
like the Italians, talk with their whole bodies,--hands, arms, head,
trunk, and all. The ladies, as usual, were each supplied with that prime
necessity, a fan; and it is astonishing what a weapon of coquetry it
becomes in the delicate hands of a Spanish beauty. Its coy archness is
beyond comparison, guided by the pliant wrist of the owner, concealing
or revealing her eloquent glances and features. With her veil and her
fan, a Spanish woman is armed _cap-a-pie_, and in Cupid's warfare
becomes irresistible.

The author had seen the cruelty of the bull-ring exhibited years ago in
the Spanish West Indies, yet to visit Madrid, the headquarters of all
things Spanish, and not to witness the national sport, would have been a
serious omission; and therefore, suppressing a strong sense of distaste,
the exhibition was attended. The hateful cruelty of the bull-ring has
been too often and too graphically described to require from us the
unwelcome task. Suffice it to say we saw six powerful and courageous
bulls killed, who, in their brave self-defense, disemboweled and killed
thirteen horses. No man was seriously injured, though several were
dismounted, and others run over by the enraged bulls in headlong career
across the arena. The picadores were mounted on poor hacks, since the
fate of the horse that entered the ring was as certain as that of the
bull himself. The banderilleros and chulos, who took part in the combat
on foot, were fine looking, active young fellows; and the matadores, who
performed the final act of killing the bull single-handed, were as a
rule older and more experienced men. It must be a practiced hand that
gives the last thrust to the many-times wounded and nearly exhausted
creature, who will always fight to the very last gasp.

The matadore is regarded as quite a hero by the masses of the people,
receiving a princely remuneration for his services. He holds his head
very high among his associates. One of these matadores was long the
disgraceful favorite of Queen Isabella. We came away from this
exhibition more than ever convinced of the cowardly character of the
game. The requisite, on the part of the much lauded bull-fighter, is not
courage but cunning. He knows full well when the bull is so nearly
exhauste