(£3° Bull-bating in California, is a
barbarous diversion of which the na
tives of this country are very fond, hut
in this the animal does not get fair
play. Before he is let loose in the
ring his horns arc sawed off’; he is then
allowed to get on his legs in the midst
of from fifty to one hundred men on
horseback, who ride before ami behind
him, with their blankets or ponchos on
their arms, holding them out ready to
blind him with should he m ike after
them. If it were not for the precau
tion which they take in cutting off’ the
bull’s horns, many a noble < rca’ure
would be slain in these days. The
principal feat in this cruel diversion
consists in taking the horse as close to
the bull’s head as possible and watch
ing his motions, and as the hull makes
a spring, to clear the horse by a dex
terous movement, which most of these
people know how to make in a most
admirable manner.
This is all that Calfornian bull-ba
ting consists of—h ing nothing more
than a worrying of the animal until he
is completely exhausted, when he is
turned out to loose his life and his hide,
and another one is bnught in to share
the same fate, and in the same manner.
The owners of these bulls of course
I are the owners of their hides, but they
must be extraordinarily vigilant if they
get one hide out of four that is taken
oil.
Isthmus of Tehuantepec— The N.
