lasses, who were, or
fancied themselves, "crack" riders. There were rancheros in their
picturesque attire, smart arrieros, miners from the hills, townsmen,
hacendados of the valley, vaqueros from the grazing-farms, and
ciboleros, whose home is for the most part on the wide prairies.
Several dragoons, too, were arrayed with the rest, eager to prove their
superiority in the _manege_ of the horse.

At a given signal the bull was brought forth from a neighbouring
_corral_. He was not led by men afoot,--that would have been a
dangerous undertaking. His conductors were well-mounted vaqueros, who,
with their lazoes around his horns, were ready, in case of his showing
symptoms of mutiny, to fling him to the earth by a jerk.

A vicious-looking brute he appeared, with shaggy frontlet and scowling
lurid eye. It was _plain_ that it only needed a little goading to make
him a still more terrible object; for he already swept his tail angrily
against his flanks, tossed his long straight horns in the air, snorted
sharply, and beat the turf at intervals with his hoofs. He was
evidently one of the fiercest of a fierce race--the race of Spanish
bulls.

Every eye was fixed upon him with interest, and the spectators freely
commented upon his qualities. Some thought him too fat, others alleged
he was just in the condition to make a good run--as, in the coleo,
speed, not courage, is the desirable quality. This difference of
opinions led to the laying of numerous wagers on the result,--that is,
the time that should elapse from the start until the bull should be
"tailed" and "thrown." The throwing of the bull, of course ends the
chase.

When it is considered that the brute selected is one of the strongest,
swiftest, and fiercest of his kind, and that no weapon--not even the
lazo--is allowed, it will be admitted this is a matter of no easy
accomplishment. The animal goes at full run, almost as fast as the
horse can gallop; and to bring him to the ground under these
circumstances requires the performance of a feat, and one that demands
skill, strength, and the best of horsemanship. That feat is to seize
the bull by the tail, and jerk the animal off his legs!

The bull was led out some two hundred yards beyond the line of horsemen,
where he was halted, with his head turned to the open plain. The
lazoes, that held him by a leash-knot, were then cautiously slipped, two
or three fire-squibs, pointed and barbed, were shot into his hips