by Mayne Reid
and settle up. Itis all over with the old lady; and I start for home by daybreakto-morrow morning."
Farrell bade me good-night and Foster, who did not expect to see meagain, shook hands at parting--bidding me a final goodbye.
There was much in the expression of Foster's countenance that I did notadmire; and, notwithstanding, the apparent openness of his speech, Icould not help thinking him a fellow not only without good feeling, buthypocritical, and treacherous.
Farrell purchased his mule, and also his share of the mining tools; andby break of day the next morning, Foster was on his way to SanFrancisco.
The post-master of Sonora was annoyed by him no more; and Farrell wasleft to regret the loss of his plain-speaking partner.
Volume One, Chapter XXV.
A BULL AND BEAR FIGHT.
One Sunday afternoon, seeking for amusement, I walked into Sonora; and,following a crowd, I reached the "Plaza de Toros."
The proprietor of this place had gone to a great expense, to get up agrand entertainment for that day.
A large grizzly bear had been caught alive in the mountains--abouttwenty miles from the town--and, at great trouble and expense, had beentransported in a strong cage to Sonora--to afford amusement to thecitizens of that lively little city.
To bring the bear from his native wilds, had required the labour of alarge party of men; and several days had been spent in the transport. Aroad had to be made most part the way--of sufficient width to permit thepassage of the waggon that carried the cage. Bridges had also to bethrown over streams and deep ravines; and the bear was not securelylanded in Sonora, until after he had cost the proprietor of theBull-ring about eleven hundred dollars.
Several savage bulls had also been provided for the day's sport; and theinhabitants of the town, and its vicinity, were promised one of the mostsplendid, as well as exciting, entertainments ever got up in California.
I had before that time witnessed two or three Spanish bull fights; andhad formed a resolution never to see another. But the temptation inthis case--being a bull and bear fight--was too strong to be resisted:and I paid two dollars--like many others as foolish as myself--for aticket; and, armed with this, entered the amphitheatre.
The _Plaza de Toros_ was a circular enclosure with benches--on whichabout two thousand people could be comfortably seated; but, before theperformance had commenced, the place contained three thousand or more.The first performance was an ordinary Spanish bull fight; and excitedbut little interest. The bull was soon killed, and dragged out of thearena.
After a short interval, a second bull made his bow to the spectators.The instant this one showed himself, everybody predicted an excitingscene: for the animal leaped into the arena, with a wild bellowing, andan expression of rage, that portended a very different spectacle, fromthat exhibited by his predecessor.
The _toreros_ appeared surprised--some of them even confounded--by thefierce, sudden and energetic spring with which the bull charged intotheir midst.
A matador standing alone, in the arena, is in but little danger--evenwhen pursued by the fiercest bull. It is when three or four of thetoreros are in the ring together--getting in one another's way whileturning to avoid his horns--that the bull has the advantage over hisadversaries. At such times, the bull-fighter runs a great risk ofgetting badly gored, or even killed outright.
The latter misfortune happened to one of the men, on the occasion inquestion. The second bull that had promised such a savage exhibition ofhis fierce strength, did not disappoint the spectators. In the third orfourth charge which he made among the matadors, he succeeded in impalingone of their number upon his horns. The body of the unfortunate man waslifted clear up from the ground, and carried twice round the ring--before the bull thus bearing him could be despatched!
Of course, the man was dead; and had been so, long before being takenoff the animal's horns. His heart's blood could be seen running in athick stream down the shaggy forehead of the bull, and dripping from hisnose, as he carried the inanimate form around the arena!
The dead bodies of both man and animal were taken out of the placetogether, and on the same cart, the only interval allowed to elapsebetween the sports, was the short half hour necessary to makingpreparation for the grand spectacle of the day--the fight between thebear and a bull!
The cage containing the grizzly was drawn into the ring by a span ofhorses--which were at once taken away; and then a small, and not a veryformidable "toro," was led into the arena by several men, who guided himwith their long lazos.
The appearance of this bull was disappointing to the spectators, whofancied that a much larger animal should have been chosen to encounterthe savage monster of the mountains. The explanation was conjectured byall. The bear was worth over one thousand dollars, while the bull costonly twenty-five; and from this disparity in price, it was evident thatthe owner of both wished to give grizzly the advantage in the fight.This was made certain, by the proprietor himself coming forward with theunexpected proposal: that before commencing the fight, the bull shouldhave the tips shaved off from his horns! "This," he said, "would hinderthe bear from receiving any serious injury; and it could be exhibited ina fight on some other Sunday!"
But the spectators wished to see a good fight on this Sunday, and a fairfight as well. They did not wish to see the poor bull deprived of hisnatural means of protecting himself; and then torn to pieces by theclaws of the favoured bear.
The master of the amphitheatre was about to carry out his economicproject--when a scene ensued that beggars all description. It ended inthe bull being allowed to retain the tips of his horns.
The action now commenced. The hind leg of the bear was pulled out ofthe cage door--which was partially opened for the purpose. The leg wasmade fast, by a strong log chain, to a stake that had been driven deepinto the ground near the centre of the arena. The door was then thrownwide open; but, notwithstanding this apparent chance of recovering hisliberty, the bear refused to take advantage of it.
A rope was then made fast to the back of the cage, and attached to ahorse standing outside the enclosure. By this means, the cage wasdragged away from the bear, instead of the bear being abstracted fromthe cage--leaving the animal uncovered in the centre of the arena. Thelazos were next loosed off from the horns of the bull; and the twocombatants were left in possession of the ground--at liberty to exercisetheir savage prowess upon each other.
The bull on regaining his feet, rolled its eyes about, in search ofsomething on which he might take revenge, for the unseemly way in whichhe had just been treated. The only thing he could convenientlyencounter was the bear; and, lowering his muzzle to the ground, hecharged straight towards the latter.
Bruin met the attack by clewing himself into a round ball. In thispeculiar shape he was tossed about by the bull, without sustaining anygreat injury. After he had been rolled over two or three times, hesuddenly unclewed himself; and, springing upward, seized the bull's headbetween his fore paws.
So firm was his grip, that the poor bull could neither advance norretreat--nor even make movement in any direction. It appeared as if itcould only stand still, and bellow.
To make the grizzly let go his hold--in order that the fight mightproceed with more spirit--a man, in the employ of the proprietor,entered the arena with a bucket of water--which he threw over the bear.The latter instantly relinquished his hold of the bull; and, rapidlyextending one of his huge paws, seized hold of the servant who haddouched him; and, with a jerk, drew the man under his body.
Having accomplished this feat, he was proceeding to tear the unfortunateman to pieces; and had squatted over him with this intention, when aperfect volley of revolvers--in all about two hundred shots--were firedat his body. The bear was killed instantly, though strange to say, hisdeath was caused by a single bullet, out of all the shots that had hithim; and there were more than a hundred that had been truly aimed! Theonly wound, that could have proved fatal to such a monster, was a shotthat had entered one of his ears, a
nd penetrated to the brain. Manyballs were afterwards found flattened against the animal's skull, andhis skin was literally peppered; but, though the man, at the time theshots were fired, was clutching the bear's throat with both hands, hewas not touched by a single bullet!
There were two circumstances connected with this affair, that, happeningin any other land but California, would have been very extraordinary.One was, the simultaneous discharge of so many shots, at the moment whenthe bear was seen to have the man in his power. It might have beensupposed, that the spectators had been anticipating such an event, andwere ready with their revolvers: for the bear's seizing the man, seemeda preconcerted signal for them to fire.
Another remarkable circumstance was, that, although the discharge of somany pistols was sudden and unexpected, and proceeded from every pointround the circle of the amphitheatre--where thousands of people werecrowded together--no one but the bear was injured by the shots!
It was a striking illustration of some
