Part 18 (2/2)

Just before the encounter in the ring, the _toros_ are confined in the _chiqueros_, dark dens with strong doors that are opened and closed by ropes pulled from above. Difficulty is often experienced in coaxing refractory animals into these cells. The operation is witnessed by _aficionados_, who pay a fee for the privilege.

Among the best-known _garrochistas_ of modern times are the Senores Don Antonio Miura, Don Faustino Morube, Don Miguel Garcia, Don Guillermo Ochoteco, Don Jose Silva, Don Fernando Concha, Don Agusto Adalid, Don Angel Zaldos, Don Manuel Sanchez-Mira, Marques de Bogaraya, Marques de Guadalest, Don Frederico Huesca, and the Marques de Castellones. Two of the finest exponents of the art of wielding the _rejon_, or short lance--a weapon surviving from the early times of the _lidia_--are the Senores Heredia, Ledesma, and Grane. Mr. Williams says that there are not a dozen hors.e.m.e.n in Spain and Portugal who can successfully perform the feat of killing the bull with the _rejon_.

'An animated spectacle it is on the even of the _corrida_,' write the authors of _Wild Spain_, 'when amidst clouds of dust and clang of bells, the tame oxen and wild bulls are driven forward by galloping hors.e.m.e.n and levelled _garrochas_. The excited populace, already intoxicated with bull-fever and the antic.i.p.ation of the coming _corridas_, lining the way to the Plaza, careless if in the enthusiasm for the morrow they risk some awkward rips to-day.

'Once inside the lofty walls of the _toril_, it is easy to withdraw the treacherous _cabestros_, and one by one to tempt the bulls each into a small separate cell, the _chiquero_, the door of which will to-morrow fall before his eyes. Then, rus.h.i.+ng upon the arena, he finds himself confronted and encircled by surging tiers of yelling humanity, while the crash of trumpets and glare of moving colours madden his brain. Then the gaudy hors.e.m.e.n, with menacing lances, recall his day of trial on the distant plain, hors.e.m.e.n now doubly hateful in their brilliant glittering tinsel. No wonder the n.o.ble brute rushes with magnificent fury to the charge.'

The bull fight of Spain and Portugal is the modern form of the gladiatorial shows of ancient Rome. At Urbs Italica, the Roman city of old, is the ring wherein many victims of Pagan persecution were forced to combat with fierce beasts. It is but a step upwards from this sanguinary sport to the tournament with bulls, introduced into Andalusia by the Moors. The fascination of the horrible is the motive that impels men to witness exhibitions involving risk of human life and cruelty towards animals. Our bull-baiting with dogs was certainly not more sportsmanlike than the Spanish duels between knights, armed only with the lance or sword, and a fierce bull of the plains. Yet bull-baiting was a favourite diversion of the British nation from the time of King John until about a hundred years ago. In the reign of Elizabeth bear-baiting was a fas.h.i.+onable recreation in London, and there were 'Easter fierce hunts, when foaming boars fought for their heads, and l.u.s.ty bulls and huge bears were baited with dogs' (_Sports of England_).

When public opinion began to recoil from such barbarous amus.e.m.e.nts, Windham, in the House of Commons, made a brilliant speech in defence of the sport of bull-baiting, and the Bill for its abolition was rejected.

That was in 1802. Yet, no doubt, a number of our countrymen of that period were accustomed to denounce the atrocious cruelty of the Spanish bull-fighters.

Statute 5 and 6, William IV., in 1835, made bull-baiting and c.o.c.k-fighting illegal. The Act enjoined 'that any person keeping or using any house, pit, or other place, for baiting or fighting any bull, bear, dog, or other animal (whether of a domestic or wild kind), or for c.o.c.k-fighting, shall be liable to a penalty of 5 for every day he shall so keep and use the same.' In 1837 the provisions of this Act were extended to Ireland.

We must remember, therefore, that a high stage of culture and refinement must be attained before nations will consent to abandon cruel and dangerous contests between men and brutes, or between beasts. Even in Spain there is a growing revolt from the exhibitions of combats between bulls and other animals, which are sometimes given in the big towns. In these fights--which take place in a cage in the centre of an arena--a wretched, half-fed lion or elephant is pitted against a bull.

c.o.c.k-fighting still flourishes in the Peninsula. It is popular in Seville, and like bull-fighting, the sport has its _aficionados_ in every town and hamlet. Sunday, after Ma.s.s, is the favourite day for a display of c.o.c.k-fighting. These _funciones gallisticas_ have been described by one or two writers upon Spain, who agree that the diversion is of a degrading character.

Those among my readers who are interested in bull-fighting, its history and its anecdotes, will find a chapter on 'Tauromachia' in that fascinating work _Wild Spain_, by Mr. Abel Chapman and Mr. Walter J.

Buck. A full account of the sport, and the most modern of all the numerous contributions to the literature of the bull ring, is that in the three special chapters of Mr. Leonard Williams's _The Land of the Dons_, published in 1902.

CHAPTER XV

_Information for the Visitor_

Most English visitors to Seville travel by way of Paris, Irun, the Spanish frontier town, and Madrid. By this route the interesting towns of Vittoria, Burgos, Valladolid and Segovia may be visited should the tourist's time permit. Many travellers break their journey at Madrid, spend a day or two in that city, and proceed by the night-express to Seville. For comfort, it is advisable to take the south express _train de luxe_ from the Quai D'Orsay, Paris. This train is made up of first-cla.s.s carriages only, and provided with sleeping berths, for which there is an extra charge. By the ordinary express trains the journey is slower, and the traveller has to provide his sleeping accommodation in the shape of rugs and pillows. A pillow may be hired at most of the large Spanish railway stations for one peseta, _i.e._, sevenpence half-penny in British money.

Railway travelling in Spain is not luxurious. The first-cla.s.s compartments are usually stuffy, and at night they are ill-lighted, while the second-cla.s.s carriages will not compare with the English third-cla.s.s. Compartments of the _tercera clase_ (third-cla.s.s) are uncomfortable and cus.h.i.+onless. They may be used for short day journeys in Spain by the stranger who wishes to come into touch with the people.

As a rule, the third-cla.s.s pa.s.sengers are quite orderly in behaviour, and the foreigner need not fear to travel with them. Still, from the point of view of comfort, the Spanish third-cla.s.s cannot be recommended, especially to ladies.

The journey by rail from Madrid is across the monotonous plains of La Mancha, made world-famous by the exploits of Don Quixote, through interminable olive gardens, wide gra.s.s meadows, and by groups of bare and fantastic rocks, to ancient Cordova. Thence we reach the fertile land of Andalusia, follow the windings of the clay-stained Guadalquivir, and come into the district of the cactus and almond tree, and a semi-tropical climate.

Before leaving the railway station square, the stranger must submit to the inspection of his luggage by the customs' officers (_consumos_), who are on the watch for taxed articles. Usually the search is a mere formality, as English visitors are rarely regarded as 'suspects.' a.s.sure the officer that you have nothing to sell, and he will in most instances refrain from overhauling your baggage.

Hotel omnibuses, cabs and outside porters await the arrival of every train at the Estacion de Cordoba. The fare for a one-horse carriage to any part of Seville, with one or two pa.s.sengers, is a peseta, and for each piece of luggage the charge is from half-a-peseta to a peseta. The driver expects a _propina_ ('tip') of at least half-a-peseta. Avoid hotel touts and loafers who crowd outside the railway station.

_Hotels._--The majority of English and American visitors stay at the Hotel de Madrid, at the corner of the Plaza del Pacifico. It is a large house, with a court in the Moorish style, adorned with palms. The position is central. The boarding terms are from about twelve pesetas per day, but the charge is from about fifteen pesetas in the spring season. The Hotel de Paris is also in the Plaza del Pacifico. Here the tariff is about ten pesetas per diem, and the cuisine is of the first-cla.s.s Spanish order.

Smaller, but comfortable, hostelries are Hotel de Roma and the Hotel Europa, with a pension tariff of ten pesetas. If the visitor desires to see something of the life of Spanish people of the middle-cla.s.s, he will prefer to take up his quarters in one of the minor hotels. Such a house is that of Juan Zamanillo, Hotel de la Victoria, in the Plaza Nueva. The charge here is from five pesetas a day, which includes a comfortable bedroom, with clean linen and mosquito curtains to the bed, luncheon (_almuerzo_), and dinner (_comida_). The Victoria is frequented by English artists, and the proprietor is accustomed to English guests. The head waiter is an intelligent man. In hotels of this order the sanitary arrangements are Spanish. Even in the first-cla.s.s houses of Spain these arrangements need improvement. On the other hand, the rooms are scrupulously clean, the cuisine very fair, and the bedrooms comfortable.

At most of the hotels there is an extra charge for the early breakfast (_desayuno_), which consists of a cup of chocolate, flavoured with cinnamon, or of _cafe con leche_ (coffee with milk), and a small roll without b.u.t.ter. Many Spaniards take a cup of coffee in their bedrooms about half-past eight in the morning, and do not eat until luncheon, which is usually served in Seville from eleven till one. Visitors who are accustomed to a substantial breakfast often find themselves somewhat faint by the hour of _almuerzo_. The two meals are much alike in their courses. Soup, fish, meat or poultry, salad, cream cheese of Burgos, fried potatoes, various kinds of cakes and fruit are served at luncheon and dinner. The table wine is provided free of charge, but it is often of a very inferior quality, and should be used sparingly, especially in hot weather. A cheap, palatable wine is the Rioja. Mineral waters can be had at all the hotels and _cafes_.

At the Spanish houses, as distinguished from the hotels mostly frequented by foreigners, Andalusian dishes form the chief part of the _menu_. Shad, sea-bream and codfish, garnished with onions, are served cold. _Pollo con arroz_ (fowl with rice), and curried rice, with c.o.c.kles and sausages, are favourite dishes. One course is usually composed of stewed mutton, or beefsteaks grilled. The meal begins with eggs, boiled, poached, or made into savoury omelettes. Those visitors who do not enjoy the flavour of garlic should say to the waiter, ”_No ajo, sirvase_,”

_i.e._, ”No garlic, if you please,” before ordering an omelette. In the larger hotels the cookery is usually French, with an occasional dish of the country.

_Cafes._--Spaniards spend a good share of their leisure time in the _cafes_. In Seville the chief resorts of this kind are in the Calle de las Sierpes, the Calle Tetuan, and the Plaza Nueva. It is the custom in Spain to make business appointments and to arrange friendly meetings in the _cafes_. The drinks are coffee, chocolate, tea, wines, liqueurs, and mineral waters. Coffee is usually taken black, with cognac. The spirits are _cana_, _agua ardiente_, and cognac. A favourite liqueur is anisette. At some of these houses Ba.s.s's ale and Scotch whisky can be obtained. The Spanish bottled cider (_sidra_) is a refres.h.i.+ng drink, mixed with lemonade, in hot weather.

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