SCENES AT A BULL-FIGHT.
"A priest is always waiting in a room near the toril, in order to offer the last sacrament to any luckless combatant who may be fatally injured. When a bull is killed his body is dragged off by a team of richly ornamented mules; these mules form part of the procession that opens the performance, but they never seem to manifest any special pride in their work.
"We are told that the spectators are often wild with excitement over the incidents of a bull-fight; they smash the furniture and railings, and have been known to wreck a considerable portion of the wood-work of the ring in their fury. Sombreros by the dozen, of all kinds and values, are thrown into the arena, and a gentleman tells us he has seen hundreds of spectators leaving the place bareheaded at the end of an exciting day. From four to six bulls are killed at a performance—four being the usual number—and ten or twelve horses.
A BULL-RING OF THE HIGHEST CLASS.
"That will do for the national sport of Mexico," concluded the youth; "it is only given because a description of the country would be incomplete without it. Doctor Bronson says that bull-fighting was originally a compromise with the Roman custom of gladiatorial combats, and furnished a substitute that met the desire of the populace to witness bloodshed. It was brought to Mexico by the Spaniards, partly as a reminiscence of their home country, and partly to take the place of the human sacrifices of the Aztecs. It has become a part of the life of the people, and the government that endeavors to suppress it would run the risk of being overturned."