ing, the rider stooped forward, especially in ascending an acclivity; and, in descending a steep declivity, or pulling up suddenly in the course, he assumed the contrary position, bending backwards to relieve the shoulder from the downward pressure. They were well aware of the important assistance which the judicious management of the bridle may render to the horse; and the precepts of Xenophon on this subject are as full as could be found in any modern treatise. In every step of the training, the principle of affection and gratitude, rather than fear, is made the guiding one. The training-ground was occasionally varied, to avoid tiring by its monotony; everything which could give unnecessary pain or annoyance was avoided. "The gods," says Xenophon, with the feeling which distinguishes every sentence which falls from him," the gods have granted to men the power of informing others of their wishes by speech. But the horse cannot be instructed by speech; but if, when he does what you wish, you grant a favour in return, and, when he is disobedient, you punish him, he will be easily trained to do what is required. Spirit is, to a horse, what anger is to a man; and, as there is little likelihood of a man's falling into a passion, when nothing unpleasant is either said or done to him, so also a high-spirited horse will not be exasperated when he is not obliged to suffer anything disagreeable." 1 To this judicious and humane treatment we may trace those remarkable instances of friendship between the master and his horse, scarcely equalled even among the modern Arabs, with which the ancient history of the horse abounds. The favourite horse of Nicomedes languished away and died, in grief for the loss of his master. Pliny tells of a single combat, in which, upon the defeat of one of the combatants, his horse attacked and tore his antagonist to pieces; and when, after the death of Antiochus Pius, Centaretus, a general in the Galatean army, attempted to ride his horse in the triumphal procession, the indignant animal, furious beyond all control, and disdaining to live when his master was slain, dashed headlong, with his enemy upon his back, down a precipice, and, at the forfeit of his own life, avenged the death of his master. 3 Such is a brief sketch of the history and practice of horsemanship among the Greeks. Let not the more favoured modern smile, as he reads, at the simple and scanty apparatus it presents. The refinement of modern art may have improved the speed; but it has not increased the enthusiastic love of this generous and exciting exercise. It were irreverent and ungrateful to speak lightly of that theme which inspired the undying muse of Pindar. Μηδ' Ολυμπίας ἀγῶνα Υμνος αμφιβάλλεται. (1) De re Equestri. viii. ix. (2) Nat. Hist. viii. 63. EL ENCIERRO. BY R. H. FATE, pleasure, and duty, combined, so far influenced my actions, that, on the morning of the 9th of October last, I found myself wandering up the Calle Ancha, at Cadiz; and readily did I feel inclined to dedicate some few days to an examination of that beautiful and picturesque city but such was not to be, for circumstances, unnecessary to explain, hurried me on board a steamer, and, in a few seconds, I was rapidly progressing towards Seville. Among the passengers who thronged the deck, was an individual who evidently considered himself of no trifling importance; and, although it chanced that, among the group congregated in the boat, there were some Englishmen, whose names held a prominent place among the pages of "Debrett's Peerage," no one, for an instant, presumed to question the superiority of the smoking Spaniard. Nothing loath to strike awe into the minds of his companions, by a declaration of his elevated state in society, we soon discovered that our new acquaintance gloried in the profession of a Picador; and was, at that moment, bound to the same destination as ourselves, where, he assured us, we should witness most excellent sport. Having been present at many bull-fights, in various parts of Spain, my fellow-traveller and myself replied to the Spaniard's glowing anticipations of pleasure in somewhat cool and indifferent terms; and it was not until after much questioning on our parts, and explanation on his, we were brought to comprehend that the enjoyment in prospect was to be derived from an exhibition which had not taken place in Seville for upwards of nine years. This pastime was termed, by our new acquaintance, "El encierro,” from the fact of the assemblage congregating early on the morning of the day when the bull-fight was to take place, for the purpose of witnessing the animals being driven into the town from the country, and, eventually, consigned to their various stalls, from whence they were destined to emerge in the afternoon, for the gratification of the élite of the community, and for the fulfilment of their own destined end. Thus apprized, my friend and myself resolved on making part of the spectators; and the following short account will explain what, possibly, but few Englishmen have witnessed; and, when taking into consideration the savage excitement and delight which the violent death of two fellow-creatures occasioned to the beholders, I much doubt whether the description of "El encierro" may not prove more palatable than would have been the case had my readers witnessed the actual representation. About four o'clock, A. M., while it was yet perfectly dark, we walked in the direction where, we were informed, the bulls would enter the town; but as yet the gates remained closed, and nothing indicated the approaching pastime saving that wooden rails were erected, so as to form a sort of barrier on either side the road leading to the arena, and from which place we at length fancied could be distinguished the distant hum of voices. To the arena we, therefore, bent our steps; and, on entering the magnificent building, found it, to our unqualified astonishment, crowded in every part-it was now between five and six o'clock, and there could not have been less than 16,000 or 17,000 persons present -but, unlike the usual bull-fights, there were very few respectablelooking females to be seen, though women of all ages, in the middling and lower classes, were, apparently, as anxious in the matter as the men. To obtain a seat on the benches was the hope of a luxury not to be entertained for an instant: therefore, judging anything to be better than waiting in the centre of the circle for the arrival of the bulls, we leapt upon the barriers which enclose the "plaza," and there resolved patiently to await the issue. The spot we chose for our resting-place was immediately in front of the cathedral; and as the sun, slowly rising, shed his early beams on the magnificent edifice, and brought distinctly to view the immense mass of human beings congregated together, and wedged, as it were, into a dense crowd, the effect was grand in the extreme. As day-light gradually broke, so did the animal spirit of the assembled multitude find vent; and shouts, cries, and noises, of all descriptions, were gratuitously sent forth, for the edification of the more peaceably inclined. The facetious jokes and witticisms unsparingly lavished on whatever, for the moment, struck the fancy of the mob, would not, perhaps, allow of literal translation; but, among others, they cried loudly to my friend, desiring him to take off his hat-whether they had an inclination to judge of the mode in which his hair was dressed, cut, or otherwise, to him was all the same, since, not understanding a syllable they uttered, he would speedily have brought down their wrath upon his head, had he not eventually been apprized of their desire, when instantly, according to the demand, he was rewarded with repeated cheers. The next object which attracted notice, was the under garment of a somewhat antiquated damsel, which the multitude invited her, with repeated shouts and screams, to cast off. How the mandate of the sovereign people was to be obeyed, I was anxious to witness-the more so as the lady remained stubborn and callous to the yells which, on all sides, assailed her ears. At last, as is generally the custom in like cases, a gallant individual stepped forward, and gratuitously offered his services in adjusting her toilette. Whereupon the female amateur, waxing wroth, by way of retaliation, seized upon a handsome young fellow seated beside her, and, digging both teeth and nails into his smart maco jacket, speedily convinced her tormentors that she was not to be insulted with impunity. The hint thus thrown out was not lost on her other persecutors, who forthwith turned their attention to some safer and less ferocious object whereon to practise their ingenuity. Their desire was soon gratified in the person of an unfortunate peasant, who, having refused compliance with the oft-repeated demand to doff his jacket, was instantly assailed. One blow brought on an other; and, within a minute, the wretched mortal was divested of every stitch of clothing which had covered his person on his entrance into the arena, and, accordingly, he was most properly, though not very civilly, instantly kicked out of the place. For myself, a huge-whiskered charcoal burner, unshaved and unwashed, expressed his sovereign will and pleasure that I should amuse the company by springing a monstrous rattle, somewhere about three times the size of those which the ancient watchmen were wont to carry in "the golden days." To refuse would have been the height of folly; and, since acquiescence could not add very greatly to the horrible uproar around, I seized the instrument at once, and, exerting all my strength, raised a din that might have reached from one end of Seville to the other. Until eight o'clock this awful uproar continued; when a picador, galloping at full speed into the ring, gave token that the animals were near. The mode of decoying them is simply this :-driven quietly from the country in herds-bulls, heifers, and oxen together-towards the gates of the town, no sooner are the portals opened than, seeing a clear space before them, they invariably rush in; when, to entice them further, a picador, well mounted, is stationed between the rails on each side the street. No sooner has the herd entered than the gates close in their rear; and, finding retreat impossible, the animals generally set off at full speed, in chase of the mounted man, who immediately puts spurs to his horse, and dashes onward towards the arena. Should the steed fall, or, by any accident, was the herd to overtake him, his chance of life would be small indeed; but, as the men are invariably well mounted on these occasions, such an accident is of very rare occurrence. The instant the picador appeared, a silence, as of death, succeeded the wild uproar which, for hours previously, had been maintained; not a syllable was uttered; and, in breathless expectation, the living mass, as of one accord, bent their heads towards the entrance where the bulls were expected to appear. The picador, who had just galloped in, now joined a group of many others, who were similarly accoutred with himself, together with numerous persons on foot, whose business it was to aid in driving the animals into different stalls, which branch out from behind the opposite side of the building to that where they had entered. The most intense anxiety was universally manifested for the arrival of the herd; neither had the spectators to suffer any further suspense, for, almost instantaneously with the arrival of the picador, in rushed about nineteen or twenty infuriated brutes, eight of whom were destined to captivity and death. For an instant the animals stopped dead short, and, as if half cowed with astonishment at the scene they so suddenly beheld, evinced, by their movements, a desire to retreat. Then was the time that the huge mass of living beings, with one accord, exalted their voices, and, shouting to their utmost power, the bewilderment of the brutes speedily gave place to fury; as, maddened by the noise and uproar, they dashed recklessly at whatever object most prominently attracted their notice. This was the period for driving them into their different stalls, where the bulls were easily secured, and the heifers and other beasts, not required, were again driven forth into the country. For It does not, however, invariably follow that the animals are sufficiently tractable and complaisant to take up their abodes exactly according to the wish of their captors; and, on this occasion, one furious brute determined to assert his independence. Instead, therefore, of following the herd which preceded him, the bull fixed his gaze on an unfortunate amateur, who, wrapped in contemplation of his own fanciful costume and anticipated activity, was slowly crossing the arena, his back towards the savage animal, and wholly unconscious of the danger which threatened him. In one instant, and in far less time than is occupied in recording the tragedy, the animal dashed at full speed towards the doomed man. Involuntarily a shout of warning arose from the excited multitude, but the caution came too late. a moment the aficionado cast his eyes around, to gather the meaning of the sudden tumult; and hardly could he have discovered the imminent peril in which he stood, when the horns of the savage brute pressed against his back, and, instantaneously, he was gored through the body, cast upon the ground, and immediately trampled to death. As if doubly excited by the sight of the blood which he had caused to flow, the animal held on his career; and, notwithstanding the horrid butchery which had that moment been enacted, the whole populace burst out into an uncontrolable shout of merriment, on seeing another individual spin through the air at the suggestion, and through the exertion, of the bull, his legs and arms extended as though in the act of flying, and preserving his equilibrium throughout his disagreeable and compulsory journey. When, however, he again reached the ground, the noise which the falling of his body caused, convinced us he was dead; but never were we further from the truth; for, after two or three attempts to regain his equilibrium, he succeeded in placing himself on his legs, and started off at full speed for the barrier, little anxious to prosecute a further acquaintance with the bull. Three men were so seriously hurt as to render it necessary to have them carried out of the arena; and before the bull could be safely secured, a second wretch fell a sacrifice to his fury. During the whole of this disgusting scene, the passions of the populace rose to a pitch of excitement truly horrible. They yelled and shouted, like so many possessed fiends; and when, at last, the arena was cleared of their four-footed antagonists, they vehemently declared their determination of having one of the captured animals again brought forth for their amusement. In course of time the demand was complied with; and, in hopes of pacifying their outrageous and unreasonable requests, he was handed over to their tender mercies, for the purpose of being dealt with as they deemed best. No further accident, however, occurred, worthy of note; and, in due time, after much bungling and uproar, the amateur matador passed his sword through his antagonist's shoulder, and finally deprived him of life. Still unsatiated with the butchery they had witnessed, the people called loudly for another bull; but, as the proprietors could not afford to sacrifice a second to the caprice of the mob, who paid nothing, instead of waiting for the evening's exhibition, when they |