THE GAME COCK AND ITS BATTLES
I do not want to say much about cock-fighting, for it is a cruel sport and leads to the vice of gambling, through which many lose large sums of money. But the fighting of game-cocks has a history of its own, and cannot be quite passed over in our story of the hen and its brood.
The males of all the higher animals are fond of fighting. It is one of their duties to act as guardians of the family against danger from outside, while the females look after home affairs. This fighting temper is very common among animals and men have often made use of it in getting up battles between animals. We find it in the chicken family, and cock-fighting has long been enjoyed by sport-loving people.
While all cocks are ready to fight at times, and the winning cock struts about the poultry yard like a conqueror, there are special breeds known as Game-cocks which are always ready for a battle and will fight till victory or death ends the fray. Game-cocks are classed among the ornamental poultry, for they are of little use as food and their hens lay few eggs. Yet they are highly thought of in some countries, a good fighter is treated as a member of the family, and one that has won several victories is worth much money to his owner.
There are two kinds of fighting cocks, large ones and small ones. Some of the little kind are not larger than pigeons. They are usually known as Bantams, from the town of Bantam, in Java, though it is more likely they came from Japan. These little birds, many of them of only a pound in weight, are heroes of the poultry yard, for a fighting bantam is more than a match for a common cock five times its size. The bantam has been spoken of as "a fine example of a great soul in a little body."
The large game-cocks of Europe come chiefly from France and Belgium, but good ones may be found in other countries. In fighting, the chief weapon is the sharp spur on the back of the leg, which they use as a sort of dagger. It is common to fasten steel spurs, and sometimes even silver ones, on the leg, and the first blow from one of these may bring death to an opponent.
Cock-fighting is a very old form of amusement. It was common among the Greeks and Romans, and was kept up in England for six centuries. It was even an annual sport at public schools. Laws have been passed against it at various times, the last in 1849, but it is still practiced now and then out of sight of the law officers. The same may be said of the United States. In these times this sport is most common in India, the Malay Islands, and the Spanish countries of America, where the people are very fond of it.
The training of cocks to fight and getting the bird ready for the cock-pit is an art in itself. It needs skill to fasten on the spurs. Two years old is the best fighting age. When a match is made it is settled how many birds there shall be on each side and they are carefully weighed, those within an ounce of each other being matched. These are said to "fall in." Those that do not fall in are set to fight what are called "byes." In a Welsh main the cocks fight until only one is left alive. They are like the famous "Kilkenny cats."
If we should seek a country where cock-fighting may take place under the laws, the nearest to us is in the isle of Cuba. In the cities of that island the cock-pit is as popular as the circus is with us. It is a circular space, with seats around filled with lookers-on and bettors, for much money is lost and won in one of these fights. The birds are of a native breed, and are said to be very brave and bold.
In a country under our own rule, the Philippine Islands, cock-fighting is one of the best liked forms of sport. To take this from the Filipino would be worse than robbing him of his freedom. Sundays and feast-days are the times for cock-fighting, and on these dates the cock-pit is sure to be crowded. When a feast-day arrives, after the siesta, which comes in the hot hours of the afternoon, crowds of natives may be seen going to the large bamboo building where the fight is to take place, many of them with fighting cocks under their arms. A sharp steel spur, two inches or more in length, is tied to the left leg of each, as an aid to the spurs given the cock by nature.
These cocks are the great treasures of the natives. The bird is often more to its owner than his children. He fondly caresses it, and it eats, crows, and sleeps in his arms. But it is apt to become a nuisance to the traveller, for he often has to spend the night in the same room with the family cock, and as it begins to crow about three o'clock in the morning all sleep after that hour is at an end.
Inside the pit two cocks at a time are matched, and when the hour for the fight is reached dollars begin to rain into the ring, each bettor laying a stake on his favorite and throwing his money into the ring. Then come the words usada ("matched,") and largo ("let go"), and in an instant the two birds are in and at each other, fighting as fiercely as two bull-pups. The battle is usually short, a well-directed blow from the steel spur stretching one of them dead on the ground.
The name of the winner is now called out and those who have won bets hurry down into the ring and pick up their own stakes as well as the sums they have won. This seems a queer method, but the bettors act honestly. It is safest to do so, for to take more than their due would likely lead to a knife thrust from these hot-tempered people. Under the Spanish law fifty dollars was the limit of a bet; but little heed was paid to this and larger bets were often made.