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BY

AbelChapman * W.J. Buck

Eirglisli Miles.

2 Longitude West of Greenwich 0 Lcmgitu.dc East of Greenwich. 2

ion , 1 Paternoster Row.

London : Stanfond.'s Geog^ EsLOb'-

/

WILD SPAIN

(ESP AN A AGRESTE)

RECORDS OF

SPORT WITH RIFLE, ROD, AND GUN, NATURAL HISTORY AND EXPLORATION

B\

ABEL CHAPMAN, F.Z.S.

AUTHOR OF BIRD-LIFIi OK THE BORDERS AND

WALTER J. BUCK, CM.Z.S., of Jerez

WITH 174 ILLUSTRATIONS, MOSTLY BY THE AUTHORS

LONDON GURNEY AND JACKSON, i, PATERNOSTER ROW

(Successors to Mr. Van Voorst) 1893

DP3g 4-a

'•:■■;
	1 ' < . * ' *,
r " « ' ,
	LONDON :
PBINTED	BY WOODFALL AND KINDER,
70	TO 70, LONG ACRE, W.C.

i

PREFACE.

]n " Wild Spain " we endeavour to describe a little- known land from a point of view hitherto almost unoccupied — that of the sportsman-naturalist. Many books have been written on Spain — some very good ones : but recent volumes chiefly confine themselves to the history, antiquities, architecture, Szc, of the country, with their authors' impressions of the Spanish people. Such subjects find no place — save incidentally — in the present work, which systematically avoids the beaten track and essays to depict some of the unknown and more remote regions.

During more than twenty years the authors have undertaken sporting expeditions into various parts of Spain — chiefly in Andalucia, but including, at one time or another, nearly all the western provinces from the Mediterranean to Biscay. A love of wild sport has been, perhaps, the leading motive ; but the study of natural history has hardly been of secondary impor- tance. In pursuit of these twin objects we have spared neither time nor trouble, spendmg weeks — sometimes months — at a time, in the sierras and wildernesses of Spain, bivouacing wherever night overtook us, or the chances of sport might dictate, and camping-out on the glorious snow-clad cordilleras.

Our subjects are the wild-life and ferce naturce of the

968397

Vlll PREFACE.

Peninsula — including in the latter expression, by a slight stretch of the term, the brigand and the gypsy, with remarks on agriculture as cognate and supplementary. As far as convenient, the sequence of chapters follows the change of the seasons, commencing with spring-time. Hence the earlier part of the book is more concerned with natural history — though the pur- suit of ibex and bustard may be followed in spring ; while the latter half is more exclusively devoted to sport.

Long residence in Spain has afforded opportunities which are not available to the casual traveller. Es- pecially is this the case with sport, of which we have, at times, enjo3^ed some of the best that Spain affords. But it should be remarked that many of the shooting campaigns herein described have been on private and preserved gi-ounds ; and, while we naturally select the more fortunate records, we pass over in silence many a blank day and fruitless effort. Nearly all ground on which large game is found, is preserved, with the ex- ception of remote parts of the sierras, where wild pig and roe may be shot, and those higher mountain-ranges which form the home of ibex and chamois ; moreover, while indicating in generah terms the distribution of the various game- and other animals, we have in many instances avoided naming precise localities.

In describing a foreign land, it is impossible entirely to avoid the use of foreign terms for which, in many cases, no precise equivalents exist in English : but, to minimize this drawback, we append a glossary of all Spanish words used herein. Converse^, lest Spanish readers should misinterpret the title of this book, we have added a translation in the terms Espaxa Agreste.

The illustrations consist of reproductions, either from

PREFACE. IX

photographs or from rough sketches m pen-and-ink and water-colours by the authors, whose only merit lies in their essaying to represent in their native haunts some of the least-known birds and beasts of Europe, several of which, it is probable, have never before been drawn from the life. If some of these sketches are not as satisfactory as we could have wished, the difficulties under which they were produced may serve as some excuse. At the last moment we have had some of them " translated " in London by Messrs. C. M. Sheldon and A. T. Elwes, and are also indebted to Miss M. E. Craw- hall for several sepia-drawings made by her in Spain.

It had been our intention to append a list of the birds of Spain, with their Spanish names and short notes on each species ; but this we find would exceed our limits, and moreover the blanks and "missing links" still re- main so numerous that we have abandoned — or at least deferred — that part of our programme. This may explain a certain want of continuity or coherence, in an ornithological sense.

We are indebted to Lord Lilford and to Messrs. J. C. Forster and Ralph W. Bankes for several valuable notes and assistance, also to Admiral Sir M. Culme- Seymour for photographs taken in "Wild Spain"; while we cannot sufficiently express our gratitude to Mr. Howard Saunders, who has in the kindest manner gone through the proof-sheets, and whose long experi- ence and intimate knowledge of Spain have been most generously placed within our reach. For any serious mistakes which may remain, the authors must be solely responsible.

December 31s^ 1892.

I

CONTENTS

CHAPTEE I.

PAOE

An Unknown Corner of Europe,

Andalucia and her Mountain-barriers.

i. Introductory ........ 1

ii. Life in the Sierras ....... 13

iii. A night at a Posada ....... 19

CHAPTEE II. A Boar-hunt in the Sierra 23

CHAPTEE III. The Great Bustard 33

CHAPTEE IV. Big days with Bustard.

i. Jedilla . .46

ii. Santo Domingo — an Idyl ........ 50

CHAPTEE V. Tauromachia.

The Fighting Bull of Spain ;

Notes on his history : his breeds and rearing : and his

life up to the e/ici'erro — i.e., the eve of his death . 54

CHAPTEE VI. The B^tican Wilderness.

Spring-notes of bird-life, natural history and exploration in the marisma

Part i.-^April .... ... 70

Xn CONTENTS.

CHAPTER VII.

PAGE

The B.etican Wilderness {continued).

Part ii. — May 83

CHAPTER VIII. Wild Camels in Europe 94

CHAPTER IX.

Among the Flamingoes,

Notes on their hamits and habits, and the discovery of their

nesting-places 102

CHAPTER X. Brigandage in Spain.

Sketches of two Robber-types.

i. Vizco el Borje . 116

ii. Asua Dulce 124

CHAPTER XI. The Spanish Ibex.

Notes on its natural history, hatints, habits and distribution 128

CHAPTER XII. Ibex-shooting in Spain.

i. Sierra de Gredos (Old Castile) 140

ii. Riscos de Valderejo 150

CHAPTER XIII. Ibex-shooting in Spain (continued).

iii. Sierra Benneja (Mediterranean) 157

iv. Nevada and the Alpixjarras. Ten days in a snow-cave . 166

CHAPTER XIV. Trout and Trouting in Spain.

i. Castile, etc 173

ii. Santander ......... 179

CHAPTER XV. Trouting in the Asturias and in Leon .... 183

, CONTENTS. Xlll

CHAPTER XVI.

PAGE

Experiences with Eagles.

i. Forest and plain 188

CHAPTER XVII. Further Experiences with Eagles and Vultures.

ii. Chiefly relating to the Sierra 205

CHAPTER XVIII. On Spanish Agriculture.

i. Cereals, green crops, etc. ....... 220

CHAPTER XIX. On Spanish Agriculture {continued).

ii. The olive 231

iii. Horse-breeding and live stock ...... 233

iv. Supplement 236

CHAPTER XX. Bird-life of the Spanish Spring-tijie.

i. The j}inales, or pine-region ...... 238

CHAPTER XXI.

Bird-Life of the Spanish Spring-time {continued).

ii. The cistus-plains and prairies 250

CHAPTER XXII. Bird-life of the Spanish Spring-time (continued).

iii. By lake and lagoon 266

CHAPTER XXIII. The Spanish Gypsy.

Notes on the history of the " Gitanos " .... 277

CHAPTER XXiy. The Spanish Gypsy of to-day 287

XIV CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XXV.

PAGE

In Search of the Lamjiergeyer.

A winter ride in the Sierras . 293

CHAPTEE XXVI. The Home of the Lammergeyer 307

CHAPTEE XXVII. Eamon and the two big Eams.

An incident of Ibex-stalking 316

CHAPTEE XXVIII. The Ibex-hunter's Betrothal 320

CHAPTEE XXIX. On Viticulture in Spain and Portugal .... 325

CHAPTEE XXX. Some further Notes on the Great Bustard.

His natural history and habits . . . . . • 338

CHAPTEE XXXI. The Little Bustard 343

CHAPTEE XXXII. A Winter Campaign in Donana 348

CHAPTEE XXXIII.

WiLDFOWLING IN THE WILDERNESS.

i. A wet winter ......... 371

CIL'^PTEE XXXIV.

WiLDFOWLING IN THE WILDERNESS {continued).

ii. A dry season (flight-shooting) 384

iii. An Arctic winter ........ 392

CHAPTEE XXXV. The Stanchion-gun in Spain 395

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XXXVI. Deer-driving in the Pine-forests.

My first stag

XV

CHAPTEE XXXVII. Winter in the Marshes.

i. Snipe-shootins ....

ii. Cranes, storks, and bitterns iii. Miscellaneous marsh-birds

CHAPTER XXXVIII. Deer-stalking and " Still-hunting." On the Southern plains

405

417 420 424

428

APPENDIX,

P^	lRT	I.
The Large Game of Spain and Portugal,
With notes on other Spanish Mammalia .... 437
Red Deer .....				437
Fallow Deer .						438
The Roebuck in Spain						439
The Spanish Ibex .						440
The Chamois						441
The Bear						442
Wild Boar .						443
Wolf and Fox					444-5
Spanish Lynx					. 446
Smaller beasts					447	et seq.

PART II.

Spring-migrants to Spain,

With dates of arrival, etc., in Andalueia

450

PART III.

i. Spring-notes in Navarre

ii. Supplementary notes on birds (Southern Spain)

454 457

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

PLATE XO.

i. -

11.

111.

IV.

VI.

vii.

viii. ix.

X.

xi.

xii.

xiii.

Map of Spain and Portugal An Andaluz .....

A Granadino ..... Basque peasant ..... Relics of the Moors — Paiins of the "Wat

Melgarejo .....

Fair Sevillanas ..... A clioza : the home of the Andalucian peasant Pair of Civil Guards — Jerez A water-seller Daughters of Andalucia Dancers with castanets A village posada . " Fiu'nitiu'e "

Our quarters in the Sierra A straight charge (wild boar) " That old tusker" (wild boar) A mule with trappings Bustards on the barrens — winter; — a first

suspicion ......

"Watering the cattle — summer-time Great Bustard — echando la rued a Bustard-driving — the pack come " well in Great Bustards- — an April dawn .

„ „ — among the spring-corn

The Bustard-shooter — triumph ! . Ancient draw-well on the plains . Bulls on the plains .... The morn of the Fight — Bulls in the toril

breed) The Encierro A Bull-fighter A Matador .

PAGE

Frontispiece

3

4

. 5

tower of

To face 6

8

. 13

To face 14

. 18

To face 19

. 20

. 21

. 25

. 26

. 30

To face 31

. 32

shade of

To face 33

To face 35

. 39

To face 40

. 43

To face 48

• 51

To face 52

To face 57

(Miura's

To face 61

To face 65

. 66

. 68

b

XVlll

LIST OF ILLUSTKATIONS.

PLATE NO.

XIV. XV.

XYl.

XAll.

XVlll .

XIX.

XX.

XXI.

XXU.

XXlll.

74, 102 and

77, 82 and

70, 86 and

. To face

. To face

XXIV,

Fishing-boat on the Guadalquivir

Flamingoes

Avocets

Stilts .

Booted Eagle

Pintailed Sand-Grouse

Grey Plovers — summer-pliuxiage ....

The Spanish Wild Camels — our first sight of a couple

in the marisma To face

Wild Camels — seen through the binoculars To face Flamingoes on feed .......

A right-and-left at Flamingoes

Spanish Lynx ........

A toilet in the wilderness (Flamingoes) Flamingoes and nests ......

Flamingoes on their nests . . .To face

Civil Guards — a sketch from life ....

Draw-well at the Zumajo, near Jerez

Spanish Ibex, Old Eam — Sierra de Gredos Sierra Nevada . . 133, 135, and

On the crags of Almanzor (Ibex) . . To face

Old olive-trees near Talavera .....

Ibex-hunting — a sketch in the Sierra de Gredos

To face Oiu' first old Ram .......

Ibex-hunting — the two old Rock"

The peaks of Gredos

Our camp on the Piiscos de Valderejo . To face

Ibex-hunters of Gredos — a sketch by the camp-fire .

Ibex, female — Riscos de Valderejo ....

Bermeja .......

Ibex-hunting — a sketch in the Sierra Bemieja

To face

Forest Ibex, old Ram — Bermeja

Trout ....

Chamois ....

Spanish Imperial Eagle .

(Spotted stage) .

The Eagle's swoop

Tawny Eagle .

Black' Vulture 201 and

At roost — Serpent-Eagles

A Vulture's banquet .... To face

Griffon Vulture and nest— Puerta de Palomas .

Strange neighbours (Vultures and Storks)

Rams at the " Cannon- To /ace

175, 182, and

. 179 and

190, 198, and

PAGE

73 115

87 92 81 85 89

94 98 104 106 107 109 111 112 121 127 131 170 137 139

141 145

148 149 152 154 155 158

161 164 186 442 219 193 262 195 202 204 206 208 209

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

XIX

PLATE XO. XXV,

xxvi.

xxvii.

xxviii.

xxix.

XXX.

xxxi.

xxxu. xxxiii.

xxxiv.

XXXV.

XXXVl.

xxxvii. XXXV iii.

xxxix.

xl. xli.

trees

ana

" Where the carcase is " .

Bonelh's Eagle (adult)

Ploughing with oxen

Wooden ploughshare

The harvest-tield

Threshing corn with mares

AVinnowing ...

" Waiting for death " (old olive

Kites and Marsh-Harriers

Sand-dunes and Corrales of Doi

Hoopoes ....

A serenade (Red-leg Partridge)

Azure-winged Magpies

Eyed Lizard and Serpent-Eagle

Black Stork

Mallards and Ferruginous Ducks — .

White-fronted Ducks — Santolalla

Buff-backed Heron .

Marsh-Harrier — \er\ old male .

Siuumer evening — Owls and Moths

Dancers at Granada — the Bolero

Gypsy lad ....

Gypsy dance ....

Lanunergeyer — a first impression

Dance and guitar

Griffon Vulture (a sketch from life)

" Roses in Spain "

Lammergeyer — a sketch from life

Bermeja .... Our quarters at Guentar del Rio Ibex-head — Sierra de Gredos Vineyard and gateway Vmes in March (Jerez) In a Jerez Bodega Irrigation by the noria, or water-w A vineyard at .Jerez . Great Bustards .... Little Bustards — May A Spanish jungle — The Angostm-as Fishing-boats .... Palacio de Donana . Breakfast-time — Donana . A royal head — Donana Dead Lynx .... Group of forest-guards Pannier-pony and game

Alamillo

in

heel

	PAGE
. To face	213
. 217 and	383
. To face	221
• • •	224
. To face	225
. To face	226
. To face	228
• • •	232
. To face	242
. To face	245
• • ■	248
• • •	251
• •	258
• . -^ .	260
• - .	265
llo To face	268
. To face	270
83 and	272
• • •	274
• • •	276
. To face	289
• • •	290
■ • .	292
• • •	295
■ • •	297
• • •	303
• . ■	306
the Sierra
. To face	309
.	312
.	319
. To face	325
• • •	326
. To face	328
. To' face	334
• • •	336
. 337 and	340
■ • •	345
. To face	348
• • •	349
. To face	350
. To' face	352
«	354
• • •	355
• • .	357
.	358

XX

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

PLATU NO.

xlii.

xliii.

xliv. xlv.

xlvi. xlviii.

xlvii. xlix.

1.

li. lii.

Spanish Red Deer — a mountain-head from Morena

360 and

a stag of thirteen points .....

Spanish wiklfowlers approaching duck with cabresto

ponies To face

A shot in the open (Red Deer) ... To face "Wild Boar — an old tusker Salavar — a sketch in a Spanish Mancha . To face Wildfowling with cabrestos — ■

No. 1. The approach. . . To face

No. 2. The shot . . . To face

No. 3. The result . . . To face

" Anscres son / "

Greylag Geese flighting — daybreak

Grey Geese and Wigeon — midday

Marsh-Harrier (young)

" The farewell shot "

Mallards .....

Grey Geese ....

Redshanks (101 and)

Stilts .....

Little Gull and Tern

" A hundred at a shot — now or never !""

" The Biter and the Bit " (Harrier and T

La Marismilla — a shooting morning

Spanish guns .....

" The eleven-pointer " (Red Deer) .

A fifteen-pointer (Red Deer)

" Dropped in his tracks " (Wild Boar)

Stork's nest — The Banderas, Seville

on straw-stack .

Spanish Lynx ..... Spanish Ibex — Five-year-old Rams .

To face

To face

390 and To face 396 and

To face

al)

To face

430 363

365 367 368 369

372 374 381 377 378 378 380 382 387 391 393 404 398 400 401 405 411 413 414 416 422 459 436 440

AVILD SPAIN.

(ESPAN^l AGRESTE.)

CHAP TEE I.

AX OLD-WORLD CORXEE OF EUROPE. Andalucia and her Mountain-bareiers.

Among European countries Spain stands unique in regard to the range of her natural and physical features. In no other land can there be found, within a similar area, such extremes of scene and climate as characterize the 400 by -400 miles of the Iberian Peninsula. Switzerland has alpine regions loftier and more imposing, Piussia vaster steppes, and Norway more arctic scenery : but no- where else in Europe do arctic and tropic so nearly meet as in Spain. Contrast, for example, the stern grandeur of the Sierra Nevada, wrapped in eternal snow, with the almost tropical luxuriance of the Mediterranean shores which lie at its feet.

Nor is any European country so largely abandoned to nature : nature in wildest j)rimeval garb, untouched ])y man, untamed and glorious in pristine savagery. The immense extent of rugged sierras which intersect the Peninsula partly explains this ; but a certain sense of in- security and a hatred of rural life inherent in the Spanish breast are still more potent factors. The Spanish people, rich and poor, congregate in town or village, and vast stretches of the " campo," as they call it,- are thus left uninhabited, despohlados — relinquished to natural con-

B

^ WILD SPAIN.

clitions, to the wild beasts of the field and the birds of the air. Perhaps in this respect the semi-savage regions of the far East, the provinces of the Balkans and of classic Olympus, most nearly apiDroach, though they cannot rival, the splendid abandonment of rural Spain. And as a nation, the Spanish people vary mter se in almost the same degree. It is, in fact, that characteristic of Iberia which is reflected in the picturesque diversity of the Iberians.

One cause which .tends to explain these divergences, racial- and . physical, is , the. exceptionally high mean elevation of the- Peninsula above sea-level. Spain is a highland plateau ; a huge table-mountain, intersected by ranges of still loftier mountains, but devoid of low-land over a large proportion of its area, save in certain river- valleys and in the comparatively narrow strips of land, or alluvial belts, that adjoin the sea-board — chiefly in its southernmost province, Andalucia.

Few nations live at so great an average elevation. The cities of London, Paris, Berlin, St. Petersburg, all the Scandinavian capitals, and even Lisbon, stand at, or a little above, sea-level ; Vienna, Moscow, and Dresden have elevations of only a few hundred feet ; l)ut Madrid is perched at 2,384 feet, with the snow-fields of Guadarrama overlooking the Puerta del Sol, while a large area of Cen- tral Spain, comprising the Castiles, Aragon and Navarre, is of even greater altitude. Thus Burgos stands at 2,873 feet ; Segovia, 2,299 ; Granada, 2,681 ; and the Escorial at 3,686ifeet.

These central table-lands, exposed to a tropical sun, become torrid, tawny deserts in summer ; in winter — owing rather to rarefied air than to very low temperatures — they are subject to a severity' of cold unknown in our more temperate clime, and to biting blasts from the Alpu- jarras, the Guadarrama, and other mountain ranges which' intersect the uplands, and on which snow lies throughout the year, contrasting strangely in the dog-days with the pitiless heat of summer and the intensity of the azure background.

ANDALUCIA AND HER MOUNTAIN-BAERIERS. S'

Of different type is the mountain region of the north — the Cantabrian Highlands bordering on Biscay, the Basque Provinces, Galicia and the Asturias, offshoots of the Pyrenean system. There the country is almost Scandi- navian in type, with deeply rifted valleys, rapid salmon- rivers, and rushing mountain-torrents abounding in trout ; and an alpine fauna including the chamois and bear, ptarmigan, hazel-grouse, and capercaillie. That is a land of rock, snow, and mist-wreath, of birch and pine-forest : abrupt and untilled, wind-swept and wet as a West Highland moor, the very antithesis of the

AN ANDALUZ.

smiling province which most concerns us now — Anda- lucia. This, more African than Africa, in spring, autumn and winter is a paradise, the liuerta of Europe, low-lying and protected by the sierras of Nevada and Morena from the deadly breath of the central plateau ; but in the four summer months an injierno, where every green thing is burnt up by a fiery sun, where shade is not, and where life is only endurable by discarding European habits and adopting those of Moorish or Oriental races.

Naturally such contrasts of climate and country re-acti upon the character of the denizens — be they human or fene naturce — of a land which includes within its boun- daries nearly all the physical conditions of Europe and

B 2

WILD SPAIN.

Northern Africa. But it is the peculiar mental cast and temperament of the Spanish race, as much as the ph^'sical causes alluded to, that have develoj^ed those clean-cut differences that to-day distinguish the various Iherian jDrovinces. It is the self-sufficiency, the " provincialism," and careless unthinking disposition of the individual, as much as mountain-barriers, that have separated adjacent provinces as effectually as broad oceans.

Though springing from a common root, i.e., the blend of Eoman and Phoenician blood \Yith the aboriginal tribes of Iberia, the vicissitudes of twelve centuries of histor}', with

A GRAXADIXO.

its successive foreign invasions and occupations, have materially modified the racial characteristics of the Spanish people. The Latin element still predominates, both in type and tongue : but Semitic, Aryan, and even Turanian strains are all present. The Spanish nation of to-day is composed rather of a congeries of heterogeneous peoples and provinces, once separate kingdoms, and still incapable of coherence or of fusion into a concrete whole, than of sections of a single race. Compare the sturdy and indus- trious, albeit somewhat phlegmatic, Galician, the happy despised bondsman, the hewer of w^ood and drawer of

ANDALUCIA AND HER MOUNTAIN-BARRIERS. 5

water of the Peninsula, with the gay and careless Anclaluz who spurns and derides him : or the fiery temperament of aristocratic Castile and Navarre with the commercial instincts of Catalonia and the north-east. Probably the most perfect example of natural nobility is afforded by the peasant proprietor of pastoral Leon ; then there is a pelt- clad, root-grubbing Jtonio si/lrrstris peculiar to Estremenian wilds, who awaits attention of ethnologists. There are the Basques of Biscay — Tartar-sprung or Turanian, Finnic or surviving aborigines, let philologists decide ; at any rate, a race by themselves, distinct in dress and habit, in

,:- - 0

'Lr*

\

BASQUE PEASANT.

laws and language, from all the rest. Eeserved, but cour- teous and reliable, the Basques are dangerously ready for their much-prized fiieros to plunge their country in civil war.* The difierences which to-day distinguish these allied races are as deep and defined as those which stand

* The f'ueros of the Basques comprise certain franchises and privi- leges granted or upheld by ancient charters, and are their undoubted right, though sought to be ignored by Madrid statesmen. It was largely through his promises to re-establish their fiieros, that Don Carlos enlisted the sympathy and support of the Basque provinces. The subject, ho\\ever, is an intricate one, and is only alluded to inci- dentally.

6 WILD SPAIN.

between themselves and the foreigner of alien blood. But we are rambling, and must remember that in this chapter we only propose to deal with

Andalucia.

Often and well as in bygone days this sunny province has been described, yet the modern life and nineteenth- century conditions of rural Andalucia are now compara- tively unknown — have fallen into oblivion amid the more ambitious and eventful careers of other countries. And, indeed, there is needed the genius of a Cervantes or a Ford adequately to depict or portray the quaint and picturesque ensemble of this old-world corner of Europe, so distinct from all the rest, and unchanged since the days of Don Quixote. Spain, the land of anomalj- and paradox, is a complex theme not lightly to be understood or described by aliens, albeit possessed of that first qualification, the passport to every Spanish heart — a sympathetic nature. Around the country and its people, around everything Spanish, there hangs, in our eyes, a grace and an infinite charm ; but it is a subtle charm, hardly to be described or defined in words of ours.

The very inertia, the mediaeval conditions thinly veneered, which characterize modern Andalucia in an era of insensate haste and self-assertion, prove to some a solace and a fascination. There are not wanting minds which, amidst different environments, can enjoy and admire such primitive simplicity — stagnation, if you will — and find therein a grateful and refreshing change. In Southern Spain life is dreamed away in sunshine and in an atmosphere forgetful of the present, but redolent of the past. The modern Andaluz is content de s'econter viire, while the ancient chivalry of his race and his land's romantic history is evidenced by crumbling castle on each towering height ; by the palace-fortresses and magnificent ecclesiastical fabrics of the middle ages : while the aban- doned aqueducts, disused highways and broken bridges of the Eoman period, attest a bygone energy.

P:y,-i>\

Pi

o

Ha <

^^ S

fa o

o

Eh

o

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O O

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w

P3

i\'

AND.UiUCIA, 7

Andalucia is a land of vine-clad slopes and oUran'S; of boundless prairies and corn lands where rude old-world tillage leaves undisturbed the giant of European game- birds, the Great Bustard, pushed back by modern cultiva- tion from northern fields ; a land of vast trackless heaths aromatic of myrtle and mimosa, lentisk and palmetto, alternating with park-like self-sown woods of cork-oak and chestnut, ilex and wild olive, carpeted between in spring- time with wondrous wealth of flowers — lonely scenes, rarely traversed save by the muleteer. For Spain is a land where the mule and donkey still represent the chief means of transport — not yet, nor for many a year, to be displaced by steam and rail. Through every mountain- pass, along every glen of her sierras, across each scrub- clad plain and torrid dehcsa, still file long teams of laden pack animals urged townwards by sullen muleteer : or, when returning to his puehlo among the hills, himself and beasts in happier mood, and sitting sideways on the hind- most, he sings his songs of love and wrong, no tune or words of modern ring, but those in which the history of his race is told ; now sinking to a dirge-like cadence, anon in high-pitched protests of defiance — songs that ever have been sung since the Arab held his sway over a proud but conquered people. Truly the arriero is a t^'pe of rural Spain : his monotonous chant, and the gaudy trappings of his mule-team appearing and disappearing with every winding of the mountain-track, bespeak the spirit of the sierra. In all these and in a host of cognate scenes and sounds, in the grandeur of untamed nature, and in the freedom and' inborn grace of a rarely favoured people, there springs a perennial charm to the traveller, a restful refreshing draught of Icdssez /aire, and a glimpse into a long-past epoch that can hardly be enjoyed elsewhere in Europe. Here of old fierce fights were fought for this rich prize in soil and climate ; its fabled fertility attracting hither in turn the legions of Rome, the Goths, and, last, the Moorish hordes, to conquer and to hold for seven hundred years.

The Province of Andalucia with its corn-plains and vine-

8

WILD SPAIN.

yards, orange and olive-groves, barren wastes and lonely marismas, covers a stretch of three hundred miles from east to west, and half that extent in depth ; and is bounded — save on the Atlantic front^by an unbroken circle of sierras. Commencing at Tarifa on the south, the moun- tain-barrier is carried past Gibraltar and Malaga to the Sierra Nevada, whose snow-clad summits reach 12,000 feet ; and beyond, on the east, by the Almerian spurs. Nestling in the lap of this long southern range lies the narrow belt of " Africa in Europe," above alluded to,

FAIR SEVILLANAS.

where, secured from northern winds and facing the blue Mediterranean, grow even cotton and the sugar-cane ; while the date-palm, algarroho or carob-tree, the banana, quince, citron, lemon, and pomegranate, with other sub-tropical plants, flourish in this Spanish Eiviera. Then, from the easternmost point of the province, the Sagres Mountains continue the rock-barrier to the point where the Sierra Morena separates the sunny life of Andalucia from the barrenness of La Mancha and primitive Estremadura. These grim and almost unbroken solitudes of the Sierra

ANDALUCIA.

9

Morena form the entire northern boundary, continued by the Sierra de Aroche to the frontier of Portugal, and thence, by a lesser chain, to the Atlantic once more. The short coast- line between Trafalgar and Huelva thus forms, as it were, the only opening to this favoured land, secure in a moun- tain-setting— the gem for ^Yhich contending races fought for centuries, and from whose southernmost rock the British flag floats over the bristling battlements of Gibraltar.

To see Andalucia, the traveller must ride. In a wide and wild land, where distances are great and the heat greater, where roads, rail, and bridges exist not, the saddle is the only means of locomotion. In Spain nothing can be done on foot : in a land of cahaUenis even the poorest bestrides his horrico. The traveller becomes an integral part of his beast, and his resting-place, the village posada, is half-inn, half-stable, where he must provide for the needs of his four-footed friend before he thinks of his own. A ride through the wilder regions, and especially among the sierras, involves, however, an amount of forethought and provision that, to those unacquainted with the coaaa de Espaila, would be well nigh incredible. In the open country no one lives, and nothing can be obtained, or, at least, it is unsafe to rely on it for anything. Thus one is obliged to carry from the town all the necessaries of life — an elastic, indefinite expression, it is true. What serves amply for one man may imply discomfort and misery to another : still, there remains for all an irreducible mini- mum, and only those who have tested their requirements in the field know how numerous and Inilky remains this absolutely indispensable " balance." First there is provend for the beasts ; heavy sacks of grain, straw, <tc., necessitating mules to carry them, and this, in turn, nearly doubling the quantity. Thus an expedition of a fortnight or so signi- fies nothing less than the transport of huge mule-loads of impedimenta, the most bulky of which are for the use of the beasts themselves : though the indispensables for their riders are considerable — bread, meat, eggs and oranges, skins of wine, and, in most cases, tents with all the para- phernalia of camp-outfit, cooking apparatus, and the rest.

10

WILD SPAIN.

Burdened with all this cargo, and in a rough country where each traveller makes his own road — since no others exist — i^rogress is slow : through jungle, broken ground or wood, the wayfarer steers by compass, landmark, or in- stinct— sometimes by the lack of the latter, as he finds too late. Deep bits of bog and frequent lagoons must be circumvented, and rivers forded where no " fords " exist : an operation which, owing to the deep mud and treacher- ous ground bordering the sluggish southern rivers, often involves off-loading, carrying across in detail, and restow- ing on the other bank — a troublesome business, especially after dark.

In this land of surprises, the jmys de Vimprcvu, it is the unexpected that always occurs. Seldom does a ride through the wilder regions of Spain pass without incident. Thus once we were carried off as prisoners by the Civil Guard — not having with us our cedidas de I'ecindad— and taken forty miles for the purpose of identification : or the way may be intercepted by that fraternity whose ideas of meum and tuum are somewhat mixed ; or, worse still, as twice happened to us, by a fighting bull. One tow hravo, having escaped in a frenzy of rage from a herd whose pasturage had been moved fifty miles up the country, was occupying a narrow cactus-hedged lane near his old haunts, and completely barred the way, attacking right and left all who appeared on the scene. Warning of the danger ahead was given us at a wayside shanty where the ventero and his wife had sought refuge on the roof. Nothing re- mained but to clear the way and rid the district of a dangerous brute already maddened by a wound with small shot. Leaving the horses in safety, we proceeded on foot to the attack, two of us strategically covering the advance behind the shelter of the cactus ; while our cazador, Jose Larrios, boldly strode up the lane. No sooner had he appeared round a bend in the fence than the bull was in full charge. A bullet from the "flank gun," luckily placed, staggered him, and a second from .Jose, crashing on his lowered front, at five yards, ended his career. When the authorities sent out

ANDALUCIA. • 11

next morning to bring in the meat, nothing was found remaining except the horns and the hoofs ! On another occasion, when driving tandem into the town of P— - — , we met, face to face, a novillo or three-year-old bull which, according to a custom of tauromachian Spain, was being baited in the public streets. We only escaped by driving across the shrubberies and flower-beds of the Alameda. In the former case we received the thanks of the munici- pality : in the other, were condemned to pay a line ! *

Another ride was saddened by finding on the wayside the body of a murdered man ; his mule stood patiently by, and there we left them in the gloom of gathering night. On all the bye-ways of SjDain, and along the bridle-paths of the sierras, one sees little memorial tablets or rude wooden crosses, bearing silent witness to such deeds of violence, according to Spanish custom : — -

" Below there in the dusky pass Was "wrou.^ht a iniirder dread, The murdered fell upon the grass, Away the murderer tied." j

On more than one occasion our armed hunting-ex- peditions in the wilds have been mistaken — not perhaps without reason, so far as external appearances go — for a gang of mala gente; and their sudden appearance has struck dire dismay in the breasts of peaceful peasants and arneivs, with convoys of corn-laden donkeys, till reassured by the brazen voice of Bias or Antonio — " Ole, amigos ! Aqui no hag iiiano negra, iil hJanca tantpoco .' " — which we give in

* An amusing little instance of Spanish justice arose out of this : — Having refused to pay the fine, no further steps were taken for its recovery, nor to uphold the majesty of the law, until, long afterwards, the nmlcted man's purse was stolen from his pocket in the hull-ring

at P . On his appearing to prosecute the thief, whose guilt was

clearly proved, the Alcalde declined to restore the money, quietly pocketing the purse with the remark, " I think, Senor Caballero, this will just about settle the account between us ! " Tliis casual way of administering justice was amusing enougli, and consoled one for the feeling of having been " bested."

t There is an excellent description of one of these tragic scenes in Borrow {Zincali, i., pp. 48, 49).

12

WILD SPAIN.

Spanish, as it is not readily translatable at once into English and sense. On two occasions in the Castiles has our advent to some hamlet of the sierra been hailed with joy as that of a strolling company of acrobats ! " Mira los Ti feres.' — Here come the mountebanks ! " sing out the ragged urchins of the plaza, as our cavalcade with its tent- poles, camp-gear, and, to them, foreign-looking baggage, filed up the narrow street.

It is, however, unnecessary here to recapitulate all the curious incidents of travel, nor to recount the difficulties and troubles by which the wayfarer in Spanish wilds may find himself beset — many such incidents will be found related hereinafter. Sport and the natural beauties of this unknown land are ample reward, and among the other attractions of Andalucian travel may be numbered that of at least a spice of the spirit of adventure.

This flavour of danger gives zest to many a distant ramble : of personal molestation we have luckily had but little experience, although at times associated in sport with serranos of more than dubious repute, for the Spaniard is loyal to his friend. At intervals the country has been seething with agrarian discontent and sometimes with overt rebellion. On more than one occasion the bullets have been whistling pretty freely about the streets, and the surrounding camjnfia was, for the time, practically in the hands of an armed, lawless peasantry. In addition to these exceptional but recurrent periods of turmoil and anarchist frenzy, there exists a permanent element of law- lessness in the contrahandistas from the coast, who per- meate the sierras in all directions with their mule-loads of tobacco, cottons, ribbons, threads, and a thousand odds and ends, many of which have run the blockade of the "lines " of Gibraltar. The propinquity — actual or imagi- nary— of mala i/ente, often causes real inconvenience while camping in the sierra, such as the necessity of seeking at times the insectiferous refuge of some village pomda instead of enjoying the freedom of the open hill ; or of having to put out the fire at nightfall, which prevents the cooking of dinner, preparing specimens, or writing up notes, c^-c.

LIFE IN THE SIERRAS.

13

Life in the Sierras.

As the sinuous, ill-defined mule-track leaves the plain and strikes the rising ground, the signs of man's presence become rapidly scarcer ; for none, save the very poorest, live outside the boundaries of town or village. For mile after mile the track traverses the thickets of wild olive and

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-/rtffW-v

A CHOZA: THE HOME OF THE AXDALUCIAX PEASANT.

lentiscus ; here a whole hillside glows with the pink bloom of rhododendron, or acres of asphodel clothe a barren patch ; but not so much as a solitary choza, the rude reed- built hut of a goatherd, can be seen. Now the path merges in the bed of some winter torrent, rugged and boulder-strewn, but shaded with bay and laurestinus, and a fringe of magnificent oleanders ; anon we flounder through deep deposits of alluvial mud bordered by waving

14 WILD SPAIN.

brakes of giant canes and briar, presently to strike again the upward track through evergreen forests of chestnut and cork-oak.

The silence and solitude of hours — that perfect loneli- ness characteristic of highland regions — is broken at last by a human greeting so unexpected and startling, that the rider instinctively checks his horse, and grasps the gun which hangs in the slings by his side. But alarm is soon allayed as a pair of Civil Guards on their well-appointed mounts emerge from some sheltering thicket, and com- mand the way. The f/Kardias civiles patrol the Spanish hills in pairs by day and night, for it is through the passes of the sierra that the inland towns are supplied with con- traband from the coast, and all travellers are subject to the scrutiny of these sharp-eyed cavalry. Yet, despite the vigilance of this fine corps and their coadjutors the carbineers, the smuggler manages to live and to drive a thriving trade. Possessing a beast of marvellous agility and tried endurance, he carries his cargo of cottons or tobacco — the unexcised output of Malaga or Gibraltar — across the sierras, by devious paths and break-neck passes which would appear impracticable, save to a goat ; and this, too, generally by night.

Towns are few and far between among the mountains, and the rare villages often cluster picturesquely on the ridge of some stupendous crag like eagles' eyries : positions chosen for their strength centuries ago, and nothing changes in Spain. It is not considered safe for well-to-do people to live on their possessions of cork-woods and cattle-runs, and few of that class are ever to be seen in the sierras, while those whom business or necessity takes from one town to another naturally choose the route which is, as they term it, " vias acoinpafiado," i.e., most fre- quented, even though it be three times as long — in Spanish phrase, ^' no hay atajo sin trahajo.'" A wanderer from these veredas is looked upon with a suspicion which experience has shown is not ill-founded.

One evidence of human presence is, however, inevitably in sight — the blue, curling smoke of the charcoal-burners,

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LIFE IN THE SIERRAS. 15

the sign of a wasteful process that is ruthlessly destroymg the silent beauties of the sierra. Every tree, shrub, or bush has to go to provide fuel for the universal piieliero. No other firing is used for kitchen purposes ; no houses, save a few of the richest, have fireplaces or cooking- apparatus other than the charcoal anafy — with its triple blow-holes, through which the smouldering embers are fanned with a grass-woven mat {nee cut at p. 22) — and its accompaniments, the casKcIa and cla}^ <>Ua. The mountain forest is his only resource : yet the careless Andaluz never dreams of the future, or of planting trees to replace those he burns to-day.

Hence year by year the land becomes ever more treeless, barren, and naked ; whole hill-ranges which only twenty years ago were densely clad with thickets of varied growth, the lair of boar and roe, are now denuded and disfigured. The blackened circle, the site of a charcoal-furnace, attests the destructive handiwork of man. If one expostulates with the carhoneros, or laments the destruction wrought, their reply is always the same: — "The land will now become ticrra de payt,'' or corn-land, of which there is already more than enough for the labour availaljle.

In some upland valley one comes across a colony of carhoneros who have settled down on some clearing under agreement with the owner to cut and prepare for market. These woodmen are either paid so much per quintal, or obtain the use of the land in return for clearing and reducing it into order for corn-growing. No rent is asked for the first five years, or if any be paid, a portion of the crop is usually the landlord's share. During the first few years, these disafforested lands are highly pro- ductive, the virgin soil, enriched by carbonized refuse, yielding as much as sixty bushels to the acre. The carhoneros lead a lonely life, except when their sequestered colony is enlivened by the arrival of the arrieros with their donkey-teams, to load up the produce for the nearest towns.

Fortunately for the Spanish forests, there are two circumstances that tend to limit their destruction. First

r h

LIFE IN THE SIERRAS.

15

the sign of a wasteful process that is ruthlessly destroying the silent l)eauties of the sierra. Every tree, shrub, or bush has to go to provide fuel for the universal lyuehero. No other firing is used for kitchen purposes ; no houses, save a few of the richest, have fireplaces or cooking- apparatus other than the charcoal anafe — wdth its triple blow-holes, through which the smouldering embers are fanned with a grass-woven mat {see cut at p. 22) — and its accompaniments, the casuda and clay olla. The mountain forest is his only resource : y%t the careless Andaluz never dreams of the future, or of planting trees to replace those he burns to-day.

Hence year by year the land becomes ever more treeless, barren, and naked ; wdiole hill-ranges which only twenty years ago were densely clad with thickets of varied growth, the lair of boar and roe, are now denuded and disfigured. The blackened circle, the site of a charcoal-furnace, attests the destructive handiwork of man. If one expostulates with the carhoneros, or laments the destruction wrought, their reply is always the same : — " The land will now become i'lerva de pcoi,'' or corn-land, of which there is already more than enough for the labour available.

In some upland valley one conies across a colony of carhoneros who have settled down on some clearing under agreement with the owner to cut and prepare for market. These woodmen are either paid so much per quintal, or obtain the use of the land in return for clearing and reducing it into order for corn-growing. No rent is asked for the first five .years, or if any be paid, a portion of the crop is usually the landlord's share. During the first few years, these disafforested lands are highly pro- ductive, the virgin soil, enriched by carbonized refuse, yielding as much as sixty bushels to the acre. The carhoneros lead a lonely life, except when their sequestered colony is enlivened by the arrival of the arrieros with their donkey-teams, to load up the produce for the nearest towns.

Fortunately for the Spanish forests, there are two circumstances that tend to limit their destruction. First

16 WILD SPAIN.

there is the vahie of the cork-oak ; for, besides its bark, which is strij)ped and sokl every seven years, its crops of acorns fatten droves of shapely black swine during autumn and winter, and a substance is obtained beneath the bark which is used in curing leather. Hence the forests of noble alcornoques escape the ruthless hatchet of the car- honero. The other limit is the cost of transport which restricts his operations to within a certain distance of the towns which form his market. Beyond this radius the forests retain their native pristine beauty : under their shade are pastured herds of cattle, and a rude hut, built of undressed stones and thatched with reeds, forms the lonely casa of the herdsman. By day and night he guards his cattle or goats, often having to sleep on the hill, or under the scant shelter of a lentisco, for which he receives about eightpence a day, with an allowance of bread, oil, salt, and vinegar. His wife and children of course share his lonely lot, their only touch with the outer world being a chance visit, once or twice a year, to their native village. Our rough friend, clad in leather or woolly sheepskin, is a sportsman by nature, and can " hold straight" on his favourite quarry, the rabbit, whose habits he thoroughly understands. The walls of his hut are seldom unadorned with an ancient fowling-piece : generally a converted " llinter," modernized with percussion lock, and having an enormous exterior spring for its motive power. When the long, honey-combed barrel has been duly fed with Spanish powder from his cork-stoppered cow's horn, the quantity settled by eye-measurement in the palm of his hand, a wisp of palmetto leaf well rammed home, and a similar process gone through with the shot from a leather pouch, he may be trusted to give a good account of darting bunny or rattle- winged red-leg. Poor fellow ! the respect and love he bears for his old favourite receive a rude shock when the power of modern combinations of wood-powder, choke- bore, and Purdey barrels have been successfully and successively demonstrated. But it is only after repeated proofs that his lifelong faith in the unique powers of that old cscopeia begins to shake.

LIFE IN THE SIERRAS. 17

Tlien it is a study to watch tbat bronzed and swarthy face, after a long and clean right-and-left, and deep is the concentrated expressiveness of the single untranslatable word he utters. The first opportunity is taken to have a quiet exammation of the English gmi and cartridges, and with what respect he handles these latest develop- ments of jjower and precision ! One cannot help fearing that upon his next miss some particle of mistrust may, with a sijortsman's facility of excuse, find the fault in his old and trusted friend : or that his ever-ready explanation, '' las polvoras estahan frias,'" i.e., the powder was cohl .' will be associated with treasonable doubts of his old Brown Bess. We hope not. Good, honest fellow, may he ever remain content and satisfied with the old gun, for it aftbrds almost the only solace of his lonely life !

In this rough herdsman there beats the kindliest heart: there exist the best feelings of hospitality as he offers you, a brother sportsman, the shelter of his hut and a share of his humble fare, offered with the simple un- affected ease of an equal, and the natural grace charac- teristic of his class throughout the south of Spain.

Besides these humble and harmless inhabitants, the Spanish sierras have also ever afforded a refuge for the Ijrigand and outlaw, and many deeds of murder and violence are associated with these wild regions. Until the year 1889 the mountain land was dominated bv two famous villains known as Vizco el Borje and Melgarez, his lieutenant, who commanded a band of desperadoes, the scourge and dread of the whole southern sierra, from Gibraltar to Almeria. Yizco el Borje held human life cheajD : he stuck at no murder, though he sought not bloodshed, for his tactics were to take alive and hold to ransom. All sorts of tales are told of the courage and generosity of this Spanish Eobin Hood. Yizco el Borje robbed only from the rich, and was profuse in the distri- bution of money and plunder among the peasantry. But whatever redeeming features may have existed in this robl)er chief, Melgarez, his lieutenant, is a very fiend of

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18

WILD SPAIN.

malice and cruelt}', revelling in bloodshed and revolting butcheries.*

To those unacquainted with Spain, " la tierra de vice versa," as they themselves call it, it must appear a mystery how this robber-band could remain at large, practical masters of great areas, in defiance of law and order, and of the civil and military power of Spain. But there is less difficulty for those who can see to read between the lines, in a land where, according to one of their own authors, every one has his price, that protection is afforded to the outlaws by those in place and power, on condition tluit they and their properties remain unmo- lested, t

In another chapter we will relate a couple of episodes which have occurred within our personal knowledge, and which will serve to illustrate the robbers' methods of procedure, and the condition of personal security among the sierras of Southern Spain.

* In a subsequent chapter we give some accoimt of the life — and death — of Vizco el Borje.

I See " El Bandolerisnio," by El Excm". e Ilmo. Sefior Don Julian de Zugasti, late Governor of the province of Cordova (Madrid, 1876).

■.•SSSs*

A WATER-CARRIER.

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Plate IV.

DAUGHTKRS OF AXDALUCIA.

Page 19.

A NIGHT AT A POSADA. 19

A Night at a Posada.

The waj'farer has been traveUing all clay across the scrub-clacl wastes, fragrant with rosemary and wild thyme, without perhaps seeing a human being beyond a stray shepherd or a band of nomad gypsies encamped amidst the green palmettos. Towards night he reaches some small village where he seeks the rude jxjuada. He sees his horse provided with a good feed of barley and as much broken straw as he can eat. He is himself regaled with one dish — probably the oUa, or a guiso (stew) of kid, either of them, as a rule, of a rich red-brick hue from the colour of the red pepper, or capsicum in the chorizo or sausage, which is an important (and potent) component of most Spanish dishes. The steaming olla will j)resently be set on a low table before the large wood-fire, and, with the best of crisp white bread and wine, the traveller enjoys his meal in company with any other guest that ma}" have arrived at the time — be he muleteer or hidalgo. What a fund of infor- mation may be picked up during that promiscuous supper — there will be the housewife, the barber and the Padre of the village, perhaps a goatherd come down from the moun- tains, a muleteer, and a charcoal-burner or two, each ready to tell his own tale, or enter into friendly discussion with the Infill'.^. Then, as you light your hreva, a note or two struck on the guitar fall on ears predisposed to be pleased.

How well one knows those first few opening notes ! No occasion to ask that it may go on : it will all come in time, and one knows there is a merry evening in prospect. One by one the villagers drop in, and an ever-widening circle is formed around the open hearth ; rows of children collect, even the dogs draw around to look on. The player and the company gradually warm up till couplet after couplet of pathetic '' malatnienas" follow in quick succession. These songs are generally topical, and almost always extempore : and as most Spaniards can — or rather are anxious to — sing, one enjoys many verses that are very prettily as w'ell as wnttily conceived.

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20

WILD SPAIN.

But the girls must dance, and find no difficulty in getting partners to join them. The malar/Kefias cease, and one or perhaps two couples stand up, and a pretty sight they afford ! Seldom does one see girl-faces so full of fun

DANCERS WITH CASTANETS.

and SO supremely happy, as they adjust the castanets, and one damsel steps aside to whisper something sly to a sister or friend. And now the dance commences : ohserve there is no slurring or attempt to save themselves in any move- ment. Each step and figure is carefully executed, but

A NIGHT AT A POSADA.

21

with eas}' spontaneous grace and precision, both l)y the girl and her partner.

Though t^yo or more pairs may be dancing at once, each is quite independent of the others, and only dance to themselves : nor do the partners ever touch each other.* The steps are difficult and somewhat intricate, and there is plenty of scope for individual skill, though grace of move- ment and supple pliancy of limb and body are almost universal and are strong points in dancing both the fan- dango and minuet. Presently the climax of the dance

THE VILLAGE POSADA.

approaches. The notes of the guitar grow faster and faster : the man — a stalwart shepherd lad — leaps and bounds around his pirouetting partner, and the steps, though still well ordered and in time, grow so fast one can hardly follow their movements.

Now others rise and take the places of the lirst dancers,

* We have seen an exception to this in the mountain villages of the Castiles, where, on fiesta nights, a sort of rude valse is danced in the open street.

22 WILD SPAIN.

and so tlie evening passes : perhaps a few glasses of af/uardiente are handed round — certainly much tobacco is smoked — the older folks keep time to the music with hand- clapi^ing, and all is good nature and merriment.

What is it that makes the recollection of such evenings so pleasant '? Is it merely the fascinating simplicity of the music and freedom of the dance ; is it the spectacle of those weird, picturesque groups, bronze-visaged men and dark-eyed maidens, all lit up by the blaze of the great wood-lire on the hearth and low-burning oil-lamp suspended from the rafters ? Perhaps it is only the re- membrance of many happy evenings spent among these same people since our boyhood. This we can truly say, that when at last you turn in to sleep you feel happy and secure among a peasantry with whom politeness and sympathy are the only passports required to secure to you both friendship and protection if required. Nor is there a pleasanter means of forming some acquaintance with Spanish country life and customs than a few evenings spent thus at farm-house or village-inn in any retired district of laughter-loving Andalucia.

23

CHAPTEK 11. A BOAR-HUNT IN THE SIERRA.

Late one March evening we encamped on the spurs of a great Andahician sierra. Away in the west, beyond the rolhng prairie across which we had been riding all day, the sun was slowly sinking from view, and to the east- ward the massive pile of San Christoval reflected his gorgeous hues in a soft rosy blush, which mantled its .snow-streaked summit. Below in the valley we could discern the little white hermitage of La Aina, once the prison of a British subject, a Mr. Bonnell, who, captured in 1870* near Gibraltar, was carried thither by seqnrstra- dores, and concealed in this remote spot till the stipulated ransom had been lodged by the Governor of Gibraltar in the consulate at Cadiz : an incident which led to unj)leasant correspondence between the British and Spanish Govern- ments, and which was luckily closed by the tragic deaths of all the offenders.

These miscreants had also formed a plan for an attack upon a private house at Utrera ; but their intentions having become known (through treachery) to the Civil Guards, the latter surrounded the house, and drove the robbers into the patio, where a simultaneous volley ter- minated the careers of the whole crew. For advancing the ransom, £6,000 (which, after various adventures, in- volving more bloodshed, fell finally into the hands of a

* The sporting incidents here narrated occurred twenty years ago, viz., in March, 1872. This was the authors' first shooting expedition together : for wliich reason we place its record in the first chapter.

24 WILD SPAIN.

fresh robber-gang), the then Governor of Gibraltar was freely " hauled over the coals " in the House of Commons at the time.

Wild tales of similar bearing beguiled the dark hours in the gloom of the forest where our big fire burned cheerily. Despite a fine, warm, winter climate, the Andalucian atmosphere is chilly enough after sundown, and we were glad to draw up close around the blazing logs, where a savoury olla was cooking : and afterwards, while enjoying our cigarettes and that delicious " natural " wine of Spain which the British public, like a spoilt child, first cries for and then abuses.

Towards nine o'clock the moon rose, and we continued our journey along the dark defiles of the sierra, pushing a way through evergreen thicket, or silent forest, where the startling cries of the eagle-owl outraged the stillness of night. As far as one could see by the dim moon- light, our course alternated for a long distance between a boulder-strewn ravine and a glacis of smooth sloping rock, steep as a roof, and more suited to the nocturnal gambols of cats than for horsemen. But the Andalucian jaea is hardly less sure of foot, and in due course we emerged into a more level valley, where, after riding some miles beneath huge cork-oaks and ilex, we heard at length the distant challenge of our friend Gaspar's big mastiff, and soon the long ride was over, and we entered the portals of the rancho which for the succeeding week was to be our home.

Here we were confronted by a nuisance in the non- arrival of the commissariat. The pack-mules, despatched two days in advance, had not turned up. It transpired that the men, loitering away the daylight, as is the custom in Andalucia (and elsewhere), had lost the way in the darkness, almost immediately after leaving the last vestiges of a track, and had bivouaced among the scrub awaiting the break of day. Our resources for the night were thus limited to the scanty contents of the ahorjas (saddle-bags). We had, however, each provided ourselves with a big sackful of chaff at the last outpost of the corn-

A BOAR-HUNT IN THE SIEEEA.

25

lands— chaff, or rather broken straw, being the staple food of the Spanish horse ; and these now formed our beds, though their softness decreased nightly by reason of the constant inroads on their substance made by our Eosi- nantes. Otherwise the naked stone-paved room was absolutely innocent of either furniture or food ; yet we were happy enough, as, rolled in our manias, we lay down to sleep on those long pokes.

Early in the morning the mountaineers began to assem- ble in the courtyard of the rancho. Light of build as a rule, sinewy, and bronzed to a copper hue, looking as if

' FURNITURE."

their very lilood was parched and dried up by tobacco and the tierce southern sun, and with narqjas stuck in their scarlet waistbands, these wild men might each have served as a melodramatic desperado. Three brothers of our host had ridden up from a distant farm ; there was old Christoval, the ready-witted squatter on the adjoining rancho, a cheery old fellow, carrying fun and laughter wherever he went ; last came the Padre from the nearest hill-village (Paterna), whose sporting instinct had made light work of the long and early ride across the sierra to join our hatida. Alonzo, the herdsman, who added to his pastoral knowledge an intimate acquaintance with the wild

26

WILD SPAIN,

beasts of his native mountains, was placed in command of the beaters, a motley, pictm-esque group with their leathern accoutrements and scarlet fajas. Of dogs, we had four podencos, tall, stiff-built, wiry-haired "'terrier-greyhounds," fleet of foot, ti'ained to find and harass the boar, to force bim to break covert, but yet so wary at feint and retreat as to avoid the sweep of his tusks. Then there was huge " Movo," Don Gaspar's haK-mastiff, half-blo<3dhound. whose staimchness was tested of old, and others of lesser note. Around om- quarters were cultivated dealings of a few

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OUR ynARTERS IX THE SIERRA.

acres, fenced with the usual aloe and cactus : otherwise the landscape was one panorama of forest and evergreen brushwood, extending far up the mountain-sides, and towards the baiTen stony summits. These sierras of Jerez are of no great height relatively — perhaps 3.000 to 4.000 feet — and many of them bear unmistakable evi- dence of their long struggles with glacial ice in bygone ages — each tall slope consisting of a regular series of vertical bastions, or buttresses, alternating with deep glens in singular uniformitv. Their conformation recalled the distant valleys of Spitsbergen, where we have seen the

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A BOAE-HINT IN THE SIERRA.

•27

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power of ice in actual operation, and car\dn,c; out those grim Arctic hills after a precisely similar pattern. Here, however, dense jungle had for ages replaced the snow, and the wild l)oar now occupied strongholds where, possihly, the reindeer had once ranged in search of scanty lichen. For the season (March) the greenness of all fohage was remark- ahle ; the oaks alone remained naked, and even from their leafless boughs hung luxuriant festoons of \\y and parasitic plants.

The upper end of our valley was shut in h\ the tower- ing, transverse mass of the Sierra de las Cahras, which terminates hard by, m a fine abrupt gorge or chasm called the Boca de la Foz. It was to the deep-jmigled corries which furrow the sides of this chasm that Alonzo had that morning traced to their ramas some six or eight pig, including a couple of l)oar of the largest size, and this wa& to be the scene of our first day's operations.

A pitiable episode occurred while we were surveying our surroundings, and preparing for a start. From close behind, suddenly resounded a peal of strange inhuman laughter, followed by incoherent words ; and through the iron bars of a narrow window we discerned the emaciated figure of a man, wild and unkempt of aspect, and whose eagle-like claws grasped the barriers of his cell — a poor lunatic, ^'o connected replies could we get — nothing but vacuous laughter and gibbering chatter : now he was at the theatre and quoted magic jargon ; now supi)licating the mercy of a judge ; then singing a stanza of some old song, to break oft' as suddenly into a fierce denunciation of one of us as the cause of all his troubles. Poor wretch ! He had once been a successful lawyer and advocate, but having developed signs of madness, which increased with

years, the once popular Carlos B was now reduced to the

wretched durance of this iron-girt cell ; his only share and view of God's earth just so much of sombre everlasting sierra as the narrow opening permitted. We were told it was hopeless to make any effort to ameliorate his lot — his case was too desperate. What hidden wrongs and outrage exist in a land where no judicial intervention is permitted

I I

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26

WILD SPAIN.

beasts of his native mountains, was placed in command of the beaters, a motley, picturesque group with their leathern accoutrements and scarlet fajas. Of dogs, we had four jxxlencos, tall, stiff-built, wiry-haired "terrier-greyhounds," fleet of foot, trained to find and harass the boar, to force him to break covert, but yefr so wary at feint and retreat as to avoid the sweep of his tusks. Then there was huge " Moro," Don Gaspar's half-mastiff, half-bloodhound, whose staunchness was tested of old, and others of lesser note. Around our quarters were cultivated clearings of a few

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OUR QUARTERS IN THE SIERRA.

acres, fenced with the usual aloe and cactus : otherwise the landscape was one panorama of forest and evergreen brushwood, extending far up the mountain-sides, and towards the barren stony summits. These sierras of Jerez are of no great height relatively — perhaps 3,000 to 4,000 feet — and many of them bear unmistakable evi- dence of their long struggles with glacial ice in bygone ages — each tall slope consisting of a regular series of vertical bastions, or buttresses, alternating with deep glens in singular uniformity. Their conformation recalled the distant valleys of Spitsbergen, where we have seen the

A BOAE-HrNT IN THE SIERRA. '27

power of ice in actual operation, and carving out those grim Arctic hills after a precisely similar pattern. Here, however, dense jungle had for ages replaced the snow, and the wild boar now occupied strongholds where, pos^ihUj, the reindeer had once ranged in search of scanty lichen. For the season (March) the greenness of all foliage was remark- able ; the oaks alone remained naked, and even from their leafless boughs hung luxuriant festoons of ivy and parasitic plants.

The upper end of our valley was shut in hy the tower- ing, transverse mass of the Sierra de las Cabras, which terminates hard by, in a fine abrupt gorge or chasm called the Boca de la Foz. It was to the deep-jungled corries which furrow the sides of this chasm that Alonzo had that morning traced to their vamas some six or eight pig, including a couple of boar of the largest size, and this was to be the scene of our first day's operations.

A pitiable episode occurred while we were surveying our surroundings, and preparing for a start. From close behind, suddenly resounded a peal of strange inhuman laughter, followed by incoherent words ; and through the iron bars of a narrow window we discerned the emaciated figure of a man, wild and unkempt of aspect, and whose eagle-like claws grasped the barriers of his cell — a poor lunatic. No connected replies could we get — nothing but vacuous laughter and gibbering chatter : now he was at the theatre and quoted magic jargon ; now supplicating the mercy of a judge ; then singing a stanza of some old song, to break off as suddenly into a fierce denunciation of one of IIS as the cause of all his trou})les. Poor wretch ! He had once been a successful lawyer and advocate, but having developed signs of madness, which increased with

years, the once popular Carlos B was now reduced to the

wretched durance of this iron-girt cell ; his only share and view of God's earth just so much of sombre everlasthig sierra as the narrow opening permitted. We were told it was hopeless to make any effort to ameliorate his lot — his case was too desperate. What hidden wrongs and outrage exist in a land where no judicial intervention is permitted

28

WILD SPAIN.

between the " rights " of famihes and their insane relations (or those whom the}' may consider such), is only too much open to susi^icion.

The day was still young when we mounted and set out for the point where Alonzo's report had led us to hope for success. The first covert tried was a strong jungle flank- ing the main gorge ; but this, and a second hatida, proved blank, only a few foxes appearing, and a wild cat was shot. Two roe-deer were reported to have broken back, and several mongoose, or ichneumon, were also observed during these drives, but were always permitted to pass. The Spanish ichneumon {Herpestes widdringtoni), being peculiar to the Peninsula, deserves a passing remark ; it is a strange, grizzly-grey beast, shaggy as a badger, but more slim in build, with the brightest of bright black eyes, and a very long bushy tail. Owing to his habit of eating snakes and other reptiles (in preference, it would seem, to rabbits, &c.), the ichneumon stinks beyond other beasts of prey. A large black ichneumon happened to be the first game that fell to the writer's rifle in Spain, and was care- fully stowed in the mule-panniers — never to be seen agam ; ■for no sooner were our backs turned, than the men dis- creetly pitched out the malodorous trophy.

As we approached our third beat — the main manchas, or thickets of the Boca de la Foz, the " roofings " and recent sign of pig became frequent, and we advanced to our allotted positions in silence, leavmg the horses picketed far in the rear.

The line of guns occupied the ridge of a natural amphi- theatre, which dipped shai'iily away beneath us, the centre choked with strong thorny jungle. On the left towered a range of limestone crags, the right flank being hemmed in by huge uptilted rocks, like ruined towers, and white as marble. One of us occupied the centre, the other guarded a pass among these pinnacle rocks on the right. While waiting at our posts we could descry the beaters, mere dots, winding along the glen, 1,500 feet below. The mountain scenery was superb ; but no sound broke the stillness save the distant tinkle of a croat-l)ell ; nor was

A BOAK-HUNT IN THE SIERRA. 29

there a sign of life except that feathered rechise, the bhie rock-thrush, (in Spanish " solitario,") and far overhead floated great tawny vultures. Ten minutes of profound silence, and then the distant shouts and cries of the beaters in the depths beneath told us the fray had begun.

The heart of the jungle — all lentisk, or mimosa and thorn, interlaced with briar — being imj^enetrable, the efforts of our men were confined to directing the dogs, and by incessant noise to drive the game upwards. First a tall grey fox stole stealthily past, looked me full in the face and went on without increasing his speed ; then a pair of red-legs, unconscious of a foe, sped by like lOO-3'ard " sprinters " — a marvellous speed of foot have these birds on the roughest ground, and well are Spanish by-ways named caminos de perdices ! Then the crash of hound- music proclaimed that the nobler quarry was at home. This boar proved to be one of those grizzly monsters of which we were specially in search ; his lair a chaotic jumble of boulders islanded amid deepest thicket. Here he held his ground, declinmg to recognize in his noisy aggressors a superior force ; and, though " Moro " and the boar-hounds speedily reinforced the skirmishers of the pack, the old tusker showed no sign of abandoning his stronghold. For minutes, that seemed like hours, the con- flict raged stationary ; the sonorous baying of the boar- hounds, the " yapi^ing " of the smaller dogs, and shouts of the mountaineers, blended with the howl of an incautious jjodetico as he received his death-rip — all these formed a chorus of sounds which carried sufficient excitement to the sentinel guns above. Such and kindred moments are worth months of ordinary life.

The actual scene of war lay some half-mile below, hence no immediate issue was probable or expected ; then came a crashing of the brushwood on my front, and a three-parts-grown boar dashed straight for the narrow pass where the writer barred the way. The suddenness of the encounter was disconcerting, and the first shot was a miss, the bullet, all but grazing his back and splashing

30

WILD SPAIN.

on the grey rock beyond, and time barely remained to jmnp aside to avoid collision. The left barrel told with better effect : a stumble as he received it, followed by a frantic grunt as an ounce of lead penetrated his vitals, and the beast plunged headlong among the brushwood, his life- blood dyeing the weather-blanched rocks and dark green palmettos. There for a moment he lay, kicking and groan- ing; but ere the cold steel could administer a quietus, he

"Whether that

regained his legs and dashed straight back

A STRAIGHT CHARGE.

charge was prompted by revenge, or was mereh' an effort to regain the thickets he had just left, matters not ; for a third bullet, at two yards' distance, laid him lifeless.

During this interlude, though it had only occupied a few moments, the main combat below was approaching its climax. The old boar had at length left his hold, and after sundry sullen stands and promiscuous skirmishes with the hounds, he took to flight. Showing first on the centre, he was covered for some seconds by a "450 express ;

A BOAR-HUNT IN THE SIERRA. 31

but not breaking covert, no shot could be lired, and when he at hist appeared in view, he was trotting up the stonj- slopes on the extreme left. Here a rifle-shot at long range broke a fore-leg below the shoulder. This was the turning point : the wounded boar, no longer able to face the hill, wheeled and retreated to the thickets below, scattering the dogs and passing through the beaters at marvellous speed, considering his disabled condition. And now commenced the hue and cry and the real hard work for those who meant to see the end and earn the spoils of war. Soon "Moro's" deep voice told he had the tusker at ba}', down in the defile, far below. What followed in that hurly- burly — that mad scramble through l)rake and thicket, down crag and scree — is impossible to tell. Each man only knows what he did himself — or did not do. We can answer for three ; one of these seated himself on a rock and lit a cigarette ; the others, ten minutes later, arrived on the final scene — one minus his nether garments and sundry patches of skin, but in time to take part in the death of as grand a boar as ever roamed the Spanish sierras.

First to arrive was Gaspar himself, familiar with every by-way and goat-track on the hills, and nervous for the safety of his hound ; but only a few seconds before the denuded Ixgles. In a pool of the rock-strewn brook, the beast stood at bay, "Moro's" teeth clenched in one ear and two podencos attacking in flank and rear. Gaspjir elected to finish the business with the knife, fixed bayonet- wise, but the horn haft slipped from the muzzle, and a moment later two simultaneous bullets had closed the affair.

One by one the scattered guns turned up : some, who had taken a circuitous course, arriving before others whose ardour had led them to follow direct — so dense was the brushwood and rugged the sierra. A picturesque group stood assembled around the blood-dyed pool with its wild environment and bold mountain background ; but rejoicings were tempered by the loss of two of our podencos, one having been killed outright, the other

32

WILD SPAIN.

found in a hopelessly wounded condition at the point of the first conflict.

The boar proved a magnificent brute, one of the true grey-brindled type — (7^' los Castcllanos, weighing over 300 lbs. The wild-boars of the sierras run la}-ger than those of the plains, some being said to reach 400 lbs. Beneath the outer grizzly bristles lies a reddish woolly fur.

We were soon mounted and steering for another inaiicha, where, late in the afternoon, two sows and a small boar were found and driven forward through the line of guns. One fell to a fine shot from our host's brother, the others escaping scathless. Night was already upon us ere the party re-assembled, and we rode off amidst the shadows of the forest-glades, to fight the battles of the day again and again round the cheery l)laze in the courtyard of our mountain-home.

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33

CHAPTEE III. THE GEEAT BUSTAED.

A CHARACTERISTIC and withal a truly noble and orna- mental object is the Great Bustard, on those vast stretches of silent corn-lands which form his home. Among the things of sport are few more attractive scenes than a band of bustards at rest. Bring your field-glass to bear on that gathering which you see yonder, basking in the sunshine, in full enjoyment of their siesta. There are four- or five- and-twenty of them, and how immense they look against the background of sprouting corn that covers the landscape : well may a stranger mistake them for deer or goats. Most of the liirds are sitting turkey-fashion, their heads sunk among the feathers : others stand in drowsy yet half-suspicious attitudes, their broad backs resplendent with those mottled hues of true game-colour, their lavender necks and well-poised heads contrasting with the snowy whiteness of their lower plumage. The bustards are dotted in groups over an acre or two of the gently sloping ground, the highest part of which is occuj^ied by a single big harhndo, a Ijearded veteran, the sentinel of the party. From his elevated position he estimates what degree of danger each living thing that moves on the open region around may threaten to his companions and himself. Mounted men cause him less concern than those on foot : a horseman slowly directing a circuitous course may even approach to within a couple of hundred yards of him before he takes alarm. It was the head and neck of this sentry that first appeared to our distant view% and disclosed the whereabouts of the game. He, too, has seen us, and is even now considering whether there is sufficient cause

D

34 WILD SPAIN.

for putting his convoy in motion. If we disappear below the level of his range he will settle the point negatively ; setting us down as only some of those agricultural nuisances which so often cause him alarm, but which his experience has shown to be generally harmless — for attempts on his life are few and far between.

Another charming spectacle it is in the summer-time to watch a pack of bustards about sunset, all busy with their evening feed among the grasshoppers on a thistle-covered plain. They are working against time, for it will soon be too dark for them to catch such lively prey. With quick, darting step they run to and fro, picking up one grass- hopper after another with unerring aim, and so intent on their feed that the best chance of the day is then offered to thfeir pursuer, when greed, for the moment, supplants caution, and vigilance is relaxed. But even now a man on foot stands no chance of coming near them ; his approach is observed from afar, all heads are up above the thistles, all eyes intent on the intruder : a moment or two of doubt, two quick steps and a spring, and the strong wings of every bird in the l)and flap in slowlj^-rising motion. The tardiness and apparent difficulty in rising from the ground which these birds exhibit is well expressed in their Spanish name Avetarda* and is recognized in their scien- tific cognomen of Otis tarda. Once on the wing, the whole pack is off, with wide swinging flight, to the highest ground in the neighbourhood.

During the greater part of the year the bustards are far too wary to be obtained by the farm-hands and shepherds who see them every day ; and so accustomed are the peasants to the sight of these noble birds that little or no notice is taken of them. Their haunts and habits not being studied, their pursuit is regarded as impracticable. There is, however, one period of the year M'hen the Great Bustard falls an easy prey to the clumsiest of gunners. During the long Andalucian summer a torrid sun has drunk up every brook and stream that crosses the cultivated lands :

* Avetarila is old Spanish, the modern spellin,;;^ beinp; Abutarda.

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THE GREAT BUSTARD. 35

the chink}-, cracked mud, which in winter formed the bed of shallow lakes and lagoons, now yields no drop of moisture for bird or beast. The larger rivers still carry their waters from sierra to sea, l)ut a more adaptive genius than that of the Spanish people is required to utilize these for j)urposes of irrigation. All water required for the cattle is drawn up from wells : the old-world lever with its bucket at one end and counterpoise at the other, has to provide for the needs of all. These wells are distributed all over the plains. As the herdsmen put the primitive contrivance into operation and swing up bucket after bucketful of cool water, the cattle crowd around, impatient to receive it as it rushes along the stone troughing. The thirsty animals drink their fill, splashing and wasting as much as the}^ consume, so that a puddle is always formed about these hehidcros. The moisture only extends a few yards, gradually diminishing till the trickling streamlet is lost in the famishing soil.

These moist places are a fatal trap to the bustard. Before dawn one of the farm-people will conceal himself so as to command at short range all points of the miniature swamp. A slight hollow is dug for the purpose, having clods arranged around, between which the gun can be levelled with murderous accuracy. As day begins to dawn, the bustard will take a flight in the direction of the well, alighting at a point some few hundred yards distant. They satisfy themselves that no enemy is about, and then, with cautious, stately step, make for their morning draught. One big bird steps on ahead of the rest : as he cautiously draws near, he stops now and again to assure himself that all is right, and that his companions are coming too — these are not in a compact body, but following at intervals of a few yards. The leader has reached the spot where he drank yesterday ; now he finds he must go a little nearer to the well, as the streamlet has been diverted ; another bird follows close ; both lower their heads to drink ; the gunner has them in line — at twenty paces there is no escape : the trigger is pressed, and two magnificent bustards are done to death. Should the man be provided with a

D 2

36

WILD SPAIN.

second barrel (which is not usual), a third victim maj' be added to his morning's spoils.

Large numbers of bustards are destroyed thus every summer. It is deadly work, and certain. Were the haunts of the birds more studied, bustards might be annihilated on these treacherous lines.

Another primitive mode of capturing the Great Bustard is also practised in winter. The increased value of game during the colder months induces the bird-catchers, who supply the markets with myriads of ground-larks, linnets and buntings, occasionally to direct their skill towards the capture of the aretardas. They employ the same means as for the taking of the small fry — the cenccrro, or cattle- bell, and dark lantern. As most cattle carry the cencerro around their necks, the sound of the bells at close quarters by night causes no alarm to the ground birds. The bird- catcher, with his bright candle gleaming before its reflector and the cattle-bell jingling at his wrist, prowds nightly over the stubbles and wastes in search of roosting birds. Any number of bewildered victims can thus be gathered, for larks and such-like birds fall into a helpless state of panic when once focussed in the bright rays of the lantern.

When the bustard is the object of pursuit, two men are requu'ed, one of whom carries a gun. The pack of bustard will be carefully watched during the afternoon, and not lost sight of when night comes until their sleej^ing- quarters are ascertained. When quite dark, the tinkling of the cencerro will be heard, and a ray of light will surround the devoted bustards, charming or frightening them — whichever it may be — into still life. As the familiar sound of the cattle-bell becomes louder and nearer, the ray of light brighter and brighter, and the surrounding darkness more intense, the bustards are too charmed, or too dazed, to fly. Then comes the report, and a charge of heavy shot works havoc among them. As bands of bustards are numerous, this poaching plan might be carried out night after night : but, luckily, the bustards will not stand the same experience twice. On a second attempt being made, they are off as soon as the light is

THE GREAT BUSTARt). 37

seen approaching. Hence the use of the cenccrro is pre- carious, at least as regards the bustards.

Except for the two chuiisy artifices above described, the bustards are left practically unmolested ; their wildness and the open nature of their haunts defy all the strategy of native fowlers. Their eggs are deposited on the ground when it is covered with the green April corn : incubation and the rearing of the young takes place amid the security of vast silent stretches of waving corn. The young bustards grow with the wheat, and ere it is cut are able to take care of themselves. It is just after harvest that the game is most numerous and conspicuous. The stubbles are then bare, and even the fallows which during spring bear heavy swathes of weeds, have now lost all their covert. The summer sun has pulverized and consumed all vegetation, and, but for a few chance patches of thistles, charlock or ammagos, there is nothing that can screen the birds from view.

A more legitimate method of outwitting the Great Bustard is practised at this — the summer — period. After harvest, when the country is being cleared of crops, or when all are cut and in sheaf, the bustards become accus- tomed dailj' to see the bullock-carts (cairos) passing with creaking wheel, on all sides, carrying off the sheaves from the stubbles to the em, or levelled ground where the grain is trodden out, Spanish-fashion, by teams of mares. The loan of a can-o, with its pair of bullocks and a man to guide them, having been obtained from one of the corn- farms, the cart is rigged up with cstems — that is, an esparto matting is stretched round the poles which, fixed on the sides, serve to hold the load of sheaves in position. A few sacks of straw thrown upon the floor of the cart serve to save one, in some small degree, from the merciless jolting of this primitive conveyance on rough ground. One, two, or even three guns can find room in the carro, the driver lying forward, near enough to direct the bullocks and urge them on by means of a goad, which he works through a hole in the esteras.

At a distance this moving battery looks a good deal like

38 WILD SPAIN.

a load of straw. The search for hustard now begms, and well do we remember the terrible suffocating heat we have endured, shut up in this thing for hours in the blazing days of July and August. Bustards being found, the bullocks are cleverly directed, gradually circling inwards, the goad during the final moments freely applied. When the cart is stopped, instantly the birds rise. Previous to finding game, each man has made for himself a hole in the ('stt')-a, through which he has been practising the handling of his gun. So far as practice goes, his arrangements appear perfect enough ; but somehow, when the cart stops, the birds rise, and the moment for action has arrived, the game seems always to fly in a direction you cannot com- mand, or where the narrow slit will not allow you to cover them. Hence we have adopted the plan of sliding off behind just as the cart was pulling up, thus firing the two barrels with much greater freedom. "We have enjoyed excel- lent sport by this means, and succeeded in bringing many bustards to bag during the day. And after a long summer- day shut up in this rude contrivance, creaking and jolting across stubble and fallow, a deep cool draught of gazpacho at the farm is indeed delicious to parched throats and tongues.

Another system by which the Great Bustard can be brought to bag is by driving, and right royal sport it affords at certain seasons. The most favourable period is the early spring — especially the month of March. The male birds are then in their most perfect plumage and con- dition, with the gorgeous chestnut ruff fully developed, and in the early mornings they present an imposing spectacle, as with lowered neck, trailing wings, and expanded tail, they strut I'ound and round in statel^y circles — " echando la rucda " — before an admiring harem, somewhat after the fashion of the blackcock ; though whether the bustard is polygamous is a question we discuss in another chapter. At this season (March) the corn is sufticiently grown to afford covert for the gunners, but not to conceal these great birds when feeding, i.e., a,bout girth-deep.

The system of the ojeo or bustard-drive is as follows : —

THE GREAT BUSTARD.

39

The scene of operations must be reached as soon after day- break as possible, which necessitates an early start and a long matutinal ride; for bustards feed morning and evening, and during the midday hours lie down for a siesta among the corn or rough herbage, when it is mere chance work finding them on so vast an area. Hence an early start is necessary-. When likely corn-lands are reached, one man advances to reconnoitre : having descried a band of bustards and taken a comprehensive view of the surround- ing countrv, he must at once decide on his line of action.

GREAT BUSTARD— " ECHANDO LA RUEDA.'

The bustards are perhaps a mile away : the leader must therefore have a " good eye for a country " — much, in fact, depends on his rapid intuition of the lie of the land and local circumstances, his knowledge of the habits and flights of the birds, and his ability to utilize the sinaVlest natural advantages of ground or cover — small indeed these are sure to be, invisible to untrained eye. The first great object is to bring the guns, unseen, as near the game as possible. If any miscalculation occurs, and the advancing sportsmen expose themselves for a moment,

40

WILD SPAIN.

then, very literally, "the game is up" and the pack escapes unharmed. When the birds are found settled on a hillside, it is sometimes not difficult to place the guns on the reverse slope, and so near the summit that the sportsman, stretched full length on the earth, has the birds within shot almost before their danger is exposed. But it must be noted that the sight of the bustard is extraordinarily keen, and the shghtest unusual object on the monotonous plain is sure to be detected. As a rule, if the gunner can see the bustards, they too will have seen him and will swerve from their course before approaching within range.

But, generally speaking (except during the spring- shooting), there is hardly a vestige of anything like covert for the gunner : sometimes by lucky chance, a dry water- course may be available, or a solitary clump of palmettos — even a few dead thistles may prove invaluable. These two circumstances explain the numerous disappointments that attend bustard-driving on the corn-plains.

Time being allowed to place the guns, two or three men start to ride round the bustards at considerable distance, gradually approaching them from a direction which will incline their flight towards the hidden guns. Through long practice these men become very expert ; more than once we have seen a pack of the most stiff-necked un- drivable bustards turned in mid-flight by a judicious gallop — executed at the very nick of time— and directed right towards the guns ; and we have also known birds so delicately treated that instead of rising l)efore the slowly- advancing horsemen, they have quietly walked away and startled the sportsman by striding over a ridge within a few yards of his prostrate form.

In speaking of hills, ridges. Sec, the words are used in a relative sense. Broken ground is the exception in any district much affected by bustard ; and therefore the most must be made of the sHglit undulations which these rolling plains afford. When a party of five or six guns are well placed, it is unusual for the pack to get away without offering a shot to one or more of the sportsmen. Strange to say, they not infrequently escape. We know

14

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r-i

I

S5

THE GREAT BUSTARD.

41

not what the cause may be— whether the apparently slow tlight— really very fast— or the huge bulk of the birds deceives, or otherwise — yet some of the best shots at ordi- nary driven game are often perplexed at their bad records against the ardardas. Long shots, it is true, are the rule : longer far than one dreams of taking at home — and such ranges require extreme forward allowance : yet many birds at close quarters are let off.

A memorable sight is a huge harhon, or male bustard, when he suddenly finds himself within range of a pair of choke-bore barrels — so near that one can see his eye ! How he ploughs through the air with redoubled efforts of those enormous wings, and hopes by putting on the pace to escape from danger.

It is when only one man and his driver are after bustard that the cream of this sport is enjoyed. The work then resembles deer-stalking, for the sportsman must necessarily creep up rcru close to his game in order to have any fair chance of a shot. Unless he has wormed his way to within 150 yards before the birds are raised, the odds are long against success. Gratifying indeed is the triumph when, after many efforts, and as many disappoint- ments, one at length outmatches them, and secures a heavy bag by a single right-and-left.

By way of illustration, we give, in the next chapter, descriptions of bustard- shooting, (1) driving with a party in the ordinary way, and (2) Stalking and driving to a single gun.

Such, roughly described, are the two chief recognized systems of shooting the Great Bustard : i.e., dyiviiuj, which can be practised at any period of autumn, winter, or early spring, but which is most effective in March, when the growing crops afford sufficient " blind "; and shooting from the cart, which is onl}- available during, or just after, harvest.

There remains, however, another method by which this game ma}' be brought to bag — one which we may claim to have ourselves invented and brought to some degree of perfection — namely :

42 WILD SPAIN.

Bustard-shooting single-handed.

At one period of the year (about May), just before the corn comes into ear, and when the male bustards are banded together, they are much more accessible, the corn being high all around them, and the guns more easily con- cealed. But the objections from a farmer's point of view are obvious, and we have rarely followed them under these conditions, though it is a favourite period with Spanish sportsmen.

We have frequently l)een asked by the country people to try our hands at their ambuscades by the wells (above de- scribed), and often caused surprise by declining to kill bustards in this way. It was, in fact, because we did not enjoy any of the means in vogue with the natives, that we resolved to try what could be done single-handed ; and by sticking to it and hard work, have since accounted for many a fine harhon, and enjoyed many an hour's exciting sport with others not brought to bag, and which probably still roam over the Andalucian rcfias to give fine sport another day.

On foot nothing could be done single-handed, but by the aid and co-operation of a steady old pony, success was found to l)e possible. As soon as the country is cleared of corn (about .July or August), bustard pass the mid-day hours sheltering from the sun in any patch of high thistles or palmetto that may grow on the bare lands or stubbles. We have also found them, during mid-summer, under olive- trees, but never in any cover or spot where they could not command all the space for many gunshots around. Having been disturbed in their siesta — generally about a couple of hundred yards before the horseman reaches them^ — the birds stand up, shake the dust from their feathers, and are all attention to see that the intruder has no evil designs upon them. Piide directly towards them and they are oft" at once ; but if approach be made cautiously and circuit- ously, the bustards, though suspicious and uneasy, do not rise but walk slowly away, for they are reluctant to take

BUSTAED-SHOOTING SINGLE-HANDED. 43

wing at this hot time. It is needless to add that the intense heat is also a severe test of endurance to the bustard-shooter. By keeping one's own figure and the pony's head as much averted as possible — advancing side- long, crab-fashion, so to speak, and gradually circling inwards, one may, with patience, at length attain a deadly range, — seldom near, but still near enough to use the heavy AAA mould-shot with fatal effect, for the bustard, despite his bulk, is not a very hard or close-feathered bird, and falls to a blow that the grey goose would laugh at. When the nearest point is reached — and one learns by exj^erience to judge by the demeanour of the game when they will permit no nearer approach — the opportune moment must be seized ; the first barrel put in smartly on the ground, and more deliberate aim taken with the second as they rise.

The hotter the day, the nearer one can get. Much depends on the horse : if he does not stop dead the chance is lost, as the bustards rise directly on detecting a change in the movements of horse and man. With practice my pony became very clever, and came to know as well as his rider what was going on, so that after a time, we could rely on getting three or four shots a day and seldom returned with- out one bustard, frequently two or three. During one year (his best) the writer bagged sixty-two bustards to his own gun.

We make it a rule to accept no shot at any very risky distance, finding that, if not scared, the birds do not fly so far, and are more accessible on a second approach. Some- times there occur lucky spots where, as one is slowly draw- ing round on them, the bustards walk over the crest of a ridge, and disappear. This is a chance not to be lost — slip from the saddle, run straight to the ridge, and surprise them, as they descend the reverse slope, with a couple of barrels ere they have time to realize the danger. Dips and hills, as before remarked, are not frequent on the haunts of bustards, but we have chanced on such localities more than once. Upon one occasion we bagged a brace of the largest harlnmes we ever saw by such a piece of good luck.

44 WILD SPAIN.

A blazing sun is a great assistance, making the birds lazy and disinclined to exert themselves. As an instance of this we remember being after bustard one day in September — an intensely hot day even for Spain, and with a fiery sun beating down on the quivering plains. Though well protected by a thick felt helmet and wearing the lightest of light summer clothes, the heat was almost more than one could endure. We had unsuccessfully ridden over some thousands of acres of stubble and waste — it was on the historic plains of Guadalete where Roderic and the Arabs fought — when at length we were gratified by observ- ing three bustards walk out of a cluster of thistles. After twice circling round them, we saw that at eighty or ninety yards' distance, they would stand it no longer : so turning in the saddle, gave them both barrels, but without effect, as they sailed away about a mile and settled. On a second approach, as they rose at 200 yards, it looked as though they were impracticable, but doubting if there were other birds in that neighbourhood, we kept on, and followed them in this second flight, which this time was shorter. Again they rose wild — wilder than ever, at fully 300 yards. They came down upon a patch of the barley- stubbled plain where we were able to mark their position to a nicety, for they pitched close to a somhrajo, or sun-shade for cattle (a thatch of palmetto spread on aloe-poles). On approaching the place, and not seeing the bustards afoot, we concluded they were resting after their repeated flights ; but having reached almost the exact spot, we could still see nothing of them. This was perplexing. We knew they could not have risen, for our eyes had never left the spot where they had settled. What could have become of them? .... All at once we saw them, squatting flat within thirty yards of us, each bird pressed close down with his neck stretched along the ground. All trouble was now rewarded. It was not a chance to be risked by shooting from the saddle : and as we slid to the ground, gun cocked, and facing the birds, we felt it was the best doul)le rise at big bustards that ever man had. As we touched the ground, they rose : one fell dead at forty yards, a second, wheeling back, showed too

BUSTARD-SHOOTING SINGLE-HANDED.

45

much of his white breast to be let off ; the third flew far beyond view, and the only regret, for a moment, was that there were no treble-barrelled breech-loaders. Half an hour later we fell in with a band of young bustards, which allowed us to approach near enough to drop one ; so that evening the old pony had a good load to carry home.

GREAT BUSTARDS— AN APRIL DAWN.

46 AVILD SPAIN.

CHAPTER IV.

BIG DAYS WITH BUSTARD.

I. — Jedilla.

The two following examples of fortunate days will serve to illustrate the system of bustard-shooting as practised on the corn-lands of Southern Spain, and convey some idea of the haunts and habits of this noble game-bird, in a region where they still remain abundant.

The rendezvous was at the Cortijo de Jedilla, a farm lying some twelve miles away, and the hour fixed was nine o'clock on an April morning. This, along a road that resembled the remains of an earthquake, necessitated an early start. For near three hours we rattled and jolted along in the roomy brake, that lurched at times like a cross-channel steamer, to the merry -jingling bells of a four-in-hand mule-team.

At the hour appointed our ponies and people stood around the broad-arched entrance of the cortijo, all under the direction of old Bias, the keen-eyed mountaineer, equally at home on rugged sierra, or bestriding bare-backed his restive colt, and intimately acquainted with every inch of the wide country around. Bias had left home long l)efore daybreak on that lovely spring morning, and after covering the four leagues across the plains at a hand- gallop, had already — like swift Camilla — scoured all the cultivated lands around the cortijo, in search of the big birds while yet they were busy seeking their matutinal feed. He received us with the gratifying intelligence that he had marked trcs haiidadas — three packs of bustard. In a few minutes we were mounted, the guns slung in the fioidciH, and away.

BIG DAYS WITH BUSTARD JEDILLA. 47

Bias led the file of horsemen towards the nearest band. We were a part}^ of four, with a contingent of six mounted hands under Bias' directions in the ticklish work of driving. Presentl}^ the bustards are descried, their lavender heads and lighter necks visible, through the glasses, above the biznatias (visnaya of Linnaeus) on a hillside some 1,000 yards away.

Their iwsition, on a hill of so gentle a slope as to com- mand all the plain around, was most difficult to surround ; however, as a forlorn hope, and rather with the object of moving them to more favourable ground, we rode slowly past them on the north, at about 300 yards, the birds perking their heads and taking the most lively interest in the string of horsemen. When the nature of the land afforded a cover from the birds' view, we rode round to the southern side, but always at too great a distance to pro- mise anything like a fair chance of getting the birds over us.* Our four guns, however, now spread out along the slope, covering among them some quarter-mile of possible flight. The men, riding round to the northern side again, opened out in line, and slowly came in towards the com- mon centre. At first the pack came straight for the guns ; but the leader, flying higher than the rest, caught sight of a foe — of No. 1 gun lying full length on the soil — swerved, and took with him the whole pack, out of shot on the extreme right. The latter fact our inexj^erienced friend in that quarter did not comprehend, for he let drive a couple of quick and useless barrels. Worse than useless ! for, as we watched the splendid birds streaming away into space across the valleys of spring corn, we knew that our chance at that handada was gone — at least for the day.

* The grand secret of success in this sport (as elsewhere remarked) is to place the f^ins close wp to the game. The means by which the primary object is attained can hardly be set down on paper — nothing but practice, qviick and good judgment, and a sportsman's instinct will effect it. In more than one instance we have found a deadly line ambushed within 150 yards of the most watchful bustards, and on gi'ound where, to a novice, the feat would certainly be set down as impossible.

48 AVILD SPAIN.

The second band required a good deal of finding : although Bias was confident he had correctly localized them, we could descry no bustards anywhere in that neigh- bourhood. At length one of our scouts brought us good news ; the birds had walked more than a mile from where Bias had seen them in the early morning. We now waited for him to reconnoitre, and he soon reported that they were basking in the sun amidst a sea of shooting barley — a fact we shortly verified with our field-glasses. Not only were they so favourably placed for a stalk that we would be able to " horseshoe " the four guns behind them at almost certain distance, but the drivers (by a long detour) would also get well in at the front of their position unseen. The two centre guns were placed in the valley at the foot of the green slope, while the two flanking guns were enabled, by the favouring ground, to creep well up the hillside^ — a dis- position which would leave the birds wholly enclosed at their first flight. The central posts had also the advantage of a rank growth of weeds along the hollow, which effectually concealed them from view. It was a short affair. The writer (left flank) soon heard the whirr of heavy wings : the game passed between him and the oppo- site flanking gun, out of shot of either, but " entering " beautifully to the centre. Both guns rose to watch the tableau. Straight as a line passed forward the huge harljoiu's — some five-and-twenty of them, the resplendent plumage of rich orange and contrasting black and white set off against the green background ; their great swollen necks appeared almost disproportionately heavy, even for those broad pinions and (seemingly) leisurely flight. But bustards, like all heavy game, travel vastly quicker than appears to be the case, as the sequel proved.

Now they are on the very fringe of the darker green of the hollow ; our centre guns have them at their mercy. Don't they see them ? Yes ; two figures rise from the rank weeds, and flashing barrels enfilade the flock. One, two,

three, four reports ring out ; but not a bird comes down,

the frightened monsters spread asunder, winging a quicker flight in all directions. One huge havhwlo behind the rest

I

4

Plate IX.

Page 48.

GREAT BUSTARDS— AMONG THE SPRING CORN.

BIG DAYS WITH BUSTAKD JEDILLA. 49

wheels back and almost gives us a chance as he takes the hill in reverse; but he sees the danger and passes to the right, swerving in his course too near our vis-a-vis, and before we hear the report we can see the ponderous mass of 301bs. of bustard collapse. He is struck well forward, in head and neck, and pitches heavily earthwards, splitting his broad chest as it rebounds from the unyielding soil. We had — and that by sheer chance — a single head to show for this caref ullj'-planned drive .

Our young friends in the valley were sad indeed, but over such things let us draw the veil. The drivers, too, had witnessed their failure. It may be safer rather to leave their feelings to the sympathetic reader to imagine than to describe. Old Bias declared they had " lien ado ■el ojo de carne " — that the huge bulk of the birds had con- cealed from over-anxious eyes the rapidity of their flight. After lunch what had appeared a catastrophe became a jest.

An unsuccessful manceuvre followed, and we had to ride afar to seek fresh handadas. After traversing leagues of corn-land — at this season as lonely as an African desert, — we descried a considerable pack, and again luck favoured us as to site. An arroyo, or stream, ran along the valley below — one of those small rapid currents that, in winter, tear deep and narrow gulleys, and in the summer become quite dry, save in a few of the deeper pools or favoured corners which resist the heat and afford nesting homes for the mallard and drinking resorts for the bustard. Now, there was water all along, and tall reeds and canes grew several feet in height. Could we place the guns along this ditch the drive was secure. The question was, Would the birds allow a mounted group to pass so near ? We tried and succeeded. Witness's luck placed him in a cane- brake, whence he could watch every movement of the bustards at leisure. On rising, the pack bore straight to the gun on the left. Luckily (for us), this "point-gun," in his undue anxiety, showed too soon — before the birds had come well in. The pack swung in our direction, right along the line, giving a chance to both centre guns (only

E

50 WILD SPAIN.

one of which was taken advantage of), and then hore straight for the writer, well overhead, and not over 60 feet high — an cmharras dc yichesse.

Tlie first and second shots, with the 12-bore, stopped a pair of what appeared the biggest of the pack, coming in — right and left — and then, picking up a single 4-bore, there followed the further satisfaction of pulling down a third old male at very long range. These three superb birds weighed 9311)s. — a notable shot, probably without parallel in sporting annals.

Before night we found twice more, and each of the hatidas added a bird to the bag, the result of the day's sport being seven noble harhoncs, or male l)ustard, now in the fullest glory of their splendid spring plumage.

Thus ended a successful day, on which Fortune had favoured us, on several occasions, in finding the game in accessible situations. Such good luck does not alwaj's, nor even often, await the bustard-shooter ; and even when it does, there still remains the real mt.r — the quick in- tuition of the requisite strategical movements and their successful execution.

II. — Santo Domingo. An Idyl.

The chimes of San Miguel were already ringing out the summons to even-song. Graceful figures in dark lace and mantillas hurried across the palm-shaded Plaza, as two Ingleses {siis s('rrido)'('s dc astcdcs) rode out of the city on an April afternoon.

It was rather for a ride than with any special sporting object in view that we set out. Yet, as is always' the case in Spain, the guns were slung behind the saddle, and we remembered that, only a few days before, one of us had encountered a band of thirteen bustards — a dozen of which should still be basking on the green corn-lands of Santo Domingo, within a league of the octroi boundary.

The binoculars, however, swept the swelling grounds without disclosing any occupants more important than a

BIG DAYS WITH BUSTARDS SANTO DOMINGO.

51

group of grey c-ranes and a pair of partridges indulging in

vernal flirtations, careless of a kite which hovered hard by.

Beyond the corn-land lay undulated manchones, or

THE BUSTARD-SHOOTER— TRIUMPH !

fallows, clothed with a short growth of grass and thistles, and here on the summit of a flat-crowned knoll, a mile away, we descried a band of eight bustards. Hardly could a more unfavourable spot be selected. Their sentries

E 2

52 WILD SPAIN.

commanded every visible approach, and we advanced in Indian lile to reconnoitre, with the conviction that any operation must be in the nature of a forlorn hope. But a skill and rapid perception of the least advantage, worthy of a tield-marshal, were at work, directed against the hap- less eight. Piiding circuitously around the game, we had approached as near as prudence allowed — some 300 yards, when an almost imperceptible depression served for a few moments to screen us from their view. Hardly had the last head sunk below the sky-line than one of the two guns rolled out of the saddle, passing the reins to his com- panion, who, in ten more yards, had reappeared to the already suspicious bustards. By the invaluable aid of a tiny furrow, worn by the winter's rains, l)ut barely a foot in depth, No. 1 managed to worm a serpentine progression to the shoulder of the hill, — a point some 100 yards up the gentle slope, and barely twice that distance from the game, — while No. 2, slowly encircling the birds at 200 yards radius, gradually contracting and in full view, gained the reverse of the hill. Twice the big sentry had given the warning to "be ready"; as often the hunter widened his course till suspicion was allayed. Critical moments these, when success or failure depend upon a thread : upon instant diagnosis of what is passing in one's opponent's mind, divining, so to speak, his intentions before he has actually perfected them, or even decided himself.

So perfect in this encounter was the strategy — so com- plete the ascendency of mind over instinct — and the keenest instinct of all, that of self-preservation — that in due time the intervening space had been diminished, yard by yard, almost to the fatal range. Presently the still hesitating birds are little more than one hundred j'ards away — the great sentinel some five yards nearer. Now : mark well every movement of his — there is the signal at last: his stately head is lowered — slowly lowered some six inches while he still watches intently. Now he takes a rapid step forward — he is going. But hardly have the huge wings unfolded than the rider has sprung to his feet, and a couple of charges of " treble A " crash together into that broad back

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BIG DAYS WITH BUSTARDS SANTO DOMINGO.

53

and lowered neck. The distance is great — near 100 3'ards — but mould-shot and cold-drawn steel barrels have done it before, and will do it again : back to earth, which he had barely quitted, returns the stricken monarch of the plain, blood staining his snowy breast, and one great pinion hang- ing useless b}" his side.

The seven survivors wing away straight towards the point where the other gun lies hidden in the dry drain - head. ]\Iark! Now the leading harhon checks his flight as he sees the flash of barrels beneath : but it is all too late, and down he, too, comes with a mighty crash, to earth. A third, oftering only a " stern shot," continues a laboured flight, his pinion-feathers sticking out at sixes and sevens, and soon pitches on the verge of a marshy hollow where storks are dotted about in search of frogs. It was an awk- ward i^lace, and necessitated moving him again : indeed, this bird gave no small trouble to secure. The sun had already set, and night drew on apace, ere the final shot, ringing out amidst gathering gloom, told that he, too, had been added to the spoils of that glorious afternoon.

x\V

:^^#^^rjJ^^?^H%>^^

54 WILD SPAIN.

CHAPTEE V.

TAUBOMACHIA,

The Fighting Bull of Spain.

notes on his histoky : his bkeeds and rearing : and his life up to the " encierro," i.c, the eve of his

DEATH.

We trust the reader may not fear that he is about to suffer once more the infliction of the oft- described Spanish bull-fight. We have no intention so far to abuse his patience. The subject is exhausted : has been dilated upon by almost every visitor to this country, though nearly always with inaccuracy and imperfect knowledge.

It is customary for such writers to condemn the bull- fight* in toto on account of its cruelty : to denounce it without reservation, as a barbarous and Ijrutal exhibition and nothing more. The cruelty is undeniable, and much to be deprecated ; the more so as this element could, to a large extent, be eliminated. But, despite the fate of sacrificed horses, there are elements in the Spanish bull- fight that the British race are accustomed to hold in esteem — the qualities of pluck, nerve, and coolness in face of danger. To attack in single combat, on foot, and with no

* The expression " Bnll-fislit " is a verj- inadequate interpretation of the Spanish Corrida, or Fieata dc Toros, even in its modern t'orui, and conveys no idea of the magnificent spectacular displays of the middle ages. Then, the national heroic life was but reflected in the arena, in scenes embellished with nil the stately accessories and colouring dear to semi-Oriental minds. Tlie mimic pageantry of to-day is but a relic of former grandeur.

TAUEO-MACHIA, THE FIGHTING 13ULL OF SPAIN. 00

weapon but the sword, a powerful and ferocious animal, means taking one's life in one's hand, and relying for safety and final triumph on cool intrepid pluck, on a marvellous activity and truth of hand, eye, and liml), and on a nerve which not the peril even of the supreme moment can disturb.

There are doubtless balanced minds which, while in no way ignoring or exculpating its cruelties, can yet recognize in the toreo an unrivalled exhibition of human skill, nerve, and power, and can distmguish between the good and the bad among its heterogeneous constituents.

The bull-tight, as a spectacle, has often been described : l)ut no English writers have attempted to trace its origin and histoiy ; to explain its firm-seated hold on the affec- tions of the Spanish people, and to show how their keen zest for the national sport goes back to the days of chivalry. Nor has anything been written of the agricultural, or pastoral side of the question, and of the picturesque scenes amidst which the earlier stages of the drama are enacted on broad Iberian plain and prairie : of the feats of horse- manship and " derring do " at the tcittadfros, or trials, and later at the enderro on that hot summer morning when the gallant toro hravo is lured for ever from his native pastures, and led by traitor kin within the fatal enclosure of the arena.

The custom of the toreo, if not the art, is so ancient, its origin so lost in the mists of time, that it is difficult to fix the precise period at which bull-tighting was first practised. There is written evidence to show that en- counters between men and bulls were not infrequent at the time of the Arab invasion in the eighth century, and it may be accepted that it was this eastern race that gave the diversion its first jDopularity.* It is proved beyond doubt that at the Moorish fitcs encounters with bulls were one of the chief sports, and when, centuries later, the Arab

* Spanish -^Titers, however, jealous for the national origui of the sport, insist that the " Fiestas de Toros " were born in Spain, that there alone have they increased and flourished, and that in Spain will they continue while time lasts.

56 WILD SPAIN.

was finally driven from Spanish soil, they left behind them their passion for these conflicts, as they left many of their industries and many words of their language. Wherever the expelled Arabs may now be, it is at least certain that the bull-fight has taken root in no other land outside of Spain.* During the interludes of war, when the opposing forces of Moor and Christian made peace for a while, the inauguration of a truce was celebrated by a bull-fight, whereat knights of both sides rivalled each other in the tauromachian fray. The heroic Cid, el Campeador {ohiit, A.I). 1098) signalized the contests of the eleventh century, himself taking the chief part. His graceful horsemanship in the arena was as favourite a theme for song and sonnet as even his redoubtable deeds in the field. The ever- popular Ijallad of Don Rodr'ujo dc Bicar is still heard in the mountain villages.

So frequent and of such importance had these ^fiestas become that, after the termination of Moorish dominion, Queen Isabel I. of Castile prohibited them by edict in all her kingdoms : but the edict proved waste paper. Alarmed by witnessing a corrida at which human blood was shed, her Catholic majesty made strenuous efforts to put down bull-fighting throughout the land : but the national taste was too deeply implanted in the breasts of a warlike and powerful nobility, whom she was too prudent to offend. In a letter to her Father Confessor in 1493, she declares her intention never again to witness a corrida, and adds : — " Y no digo defenderlos (esto es prohibirlos) porque esto no era para mi a solas" — which is to say, that her will, which could accomplish the expulsion of the Moor and the Jew, was powerless to uproot the bull-fight.

* On this point, Sanchez de Nieva writes (" El Toreo," published at Madrid, 1879) : — " The Arabs were mi;eh given to bull -fighting, and highly skilled in the Udia, whether mounted or on foot. It must, however, be borne m mind that these encounters took place in Spain, and that the so-called Arabs were in reality Spaniards — the Moorish domination having then lasted for seven centiiries. It may be stated, without fear of error, that nearly all the inhabitants of this country, after the first two centuries, were, though born in Spain, Arabs in orijjin."

I

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TAUROMACHIA, THE FIGHTING BULL OF SPAIN. 57

The power of the papac}- was ahke invoked in vain. In 1567 a papal bull issued by Pius V. prohibited all Catholic princes, under pain of excommunication, from permitting corridaH in their dominions ; a similar punishment for all priests who attended them, and Christian burial was denied to all who fell in the arena. Not even these terrible measures availed, and succeeding Pontiffs were fain to relax the severity of the hid as of their predecessors, since each successive prohibition was met by the magnates of the land arranging new conidas. At length the time arrived when masters of theology at Salamanca ruled that clerics of a certain rank might licitly attend these spectacles.

Isabel's grandson, Charles I., killed with his own hand a bull in the cit}' of Yalladolid, during the festivities held to celebrate the birth of his eldest son, afterwards Philip II. ; and, later, during the reigns of the House of Austria, to face a bull with bravery and skill, and to use a dexterous lance, was the pride of every Spanish noble.

It was a gay and imposing scene in those days when the Udia, or tournament, took place — held in the largest open square of the town, around which were erected the graded l^latforms whence Dconas and Cahallcros, in all the bravery of mediaeval toilet and costume, watched the performance.

The people were permitted only a servile share in these aristocratic fiestas. The knight, mounted on fiery Aral) steed, was armed only with the rejon, or short sharp lance of those days, five feet in length, and held at its extreme end. At a given signal he sallied forth to meet the bull, which, infuriated by sight of horse and rider, dashed from his trammels and went straight to the charge. The first blow of his horns, if driven home, meant death : and the horseman's art lay in avoiding the impact b}- a well-timed move to the left : at the same moment, by an adroit counter-move, empaling with his lance the lower neck : and so delivering the thrust as to clear himself and horse from the rebound of the bull. This manoeuvre required dexterity, coolness, and strength of arm : and when suc- cessful was graceful-in the highest degree, eliciting, as the rider curvetted away from his worsted and enraged

58 WILD SPAIN.

antagonist, the loudest ajiplause, and dark-eyed Damas, with flasliing glances of pride and sympathy, would throw flowers to the valiant Paladin.

" The ladies' hearts began to melt,

Subdued by blows their lovers felt ; So Spaijish heroes with their lances At once wound bulls and ladies' fancies."

When the bull fell dead from a single thrust enthusiasm knew no bounds : to administer this fatal stroke in masterly style was the ambition of the flower of Spanish youth.

If dismounted, the knight, by established rule, must face the bull on foot, sword in hand. He was allowed the assistance of his slaves or servants, who, at the risk of their lives, " played " the brute till an opportunity was afforded for a death-thrust from their master's sword. It is in this phase of the fight that we trace the origin of several of the sitcrtcs which are practised in the modern Corrida de Toros.*

With the accession of the Bourbons to the Spanish throne came a change. These I'ude encounters were little in harmony with the elegance and efieminacy of the French court. So coldly were they regarded that, by slow degrees, the Spanish nobility withdrew themselves from the arena. Then, as Gallic manners and customs prevailed and extended beyond court circles till adulation of the French monarch became a creed, the Spanish gentry abandoned their ancient sport.

But the hold of the national pastime on the Moro- hispanic race was too firm-set to be swept away by alien influence, however strong : and when thus abandoned by the patricians, by the hidalgos and grandees of Spain, the

■* Attempts were made by other countries to imitate the Spanish spectacle. Italy, in 1832, celebrated a ta\iromachian festival which has left a sad record on the page of history. No fewer than nineteen Roman gentlemen, and many of lower rank, perished on the horns of the bulls. After this tragic event bull-lights were prohibited in Italy, though for a time revived by the Spanish in that country after their conquest of Flanders and the Low Countries.

TAUROMACHIA, THE FIGHTING BULL OF SPAIN. 59

sport of bull-fighting was taken up by the Spanish people. It was at this period (towards the end of the eighteenth century) that the Corridas de Toros, as now practised (with slight variations), were established and organized. Bull- rings and paid matadorcH took the place of the city square and the knight. Many additions to the original corridas were inaugurated, and the sport assumed more diversified and even more dangerous forms.

The first professional matadors were the brothers Juan and Pedro Palomo, followed by the celebrated names of Martinez Billon (el Africano), Francisco Eomero and his son Juan, Jose Delgado Candido (better known as Pepe Hillo), who died in the Plaza of Port St. Mary on the 24th June, 1771, and, later on, Piodriguez Castellares, Geronimo Candido, son of Jose (Pepe Hillo), who fell mortally wounded at Madrid, 11th May, 1802, and many more of high tauromachian fame.*

Most of the Plazas de Toros, or bull-rings, of the first class, were erected at this period — that at Madrid in 1741, at Seville, 1763, at Aranjuez, 1796, Saragoza, 1764, Puerto S'"*. Maria, 1771, Pionda, 1785, and Jerez de la Frontera, 1798.

The master-hand who directed and perfected this re- organization, on popular lines, of the national _AV'.s'fa, after the Bourbon influence had alienated the aristocracy from their ancient diversion, was Pepe Hillo : who established the rules and etiquette and drew up the tauromachian code of honour, written and unwritten, which, in the main, prevails at the present day. None more fully recognize the ability and prowess of this ' gran maestro ' of old than the famous matadors who are to-day the highest living exponents of tauromachian art — men such as Frascuelo, Lagartijo and Mazzantmi, whose names are household words from the Bidasoa to the Mediterranean.

Andalucia has always been, and still remains, the province where the love of the bull and all that pertains to him is most keenly cherished, and where the modern bull-

* De Bedoya's "Historia del Toreo" (Madrid, 1850) gives Francisco de Romero as the first professional lidiador of tlie modern epoch.

60 WILD SPAIN.

fight may to-day be seen in its highest perfection and development. It provides l)oth the best bull-fighters and most valued strains of the fighting bull. It may be added that the Andalucian nobility were the last of their order to discontinue their historic pursuit : and when, during the darker days of this sj^ort, the Royal order of the Maestranza de Sevilla was created by Philip V., it was conceded in the statutes that members of the order could hold two corridas with the long lance annually outside the city walls. Three gentlemen subsequently received titles of exalted nobility of this order in respect of brilliant performances with the lance.

Though Andalucia is the stronghold both of the Toro and of the Toreador — the scene of the popular Inill- fighting opera of Carmen is appropriately laid at Seville — ■ yet the oldest of all the Spanish herds is pastured in the rough country around Valladolid, in Old Castile. This caste has been in existence since the fifteenth century : from it the old nobility selected their bulls, and it furnished the kingly contests of Philip and Charles III. This herd is known as El rasa del Portillo, and, though entitled to pre-eminence in respect of antiquit}^ yet several of the more modern breeders command higher prices. The ever- increasing demand has driven the cost of a " warrantable " five-year-old bull up to £70 or £80. To succeed in uniting the various qualities required in an animal of this value, great judgment in breeding and a considerable outlay are necessary.

At the age of one year, the young bulls are separated from the heifers, each animal branded on the side with the insignia of its herd, and on the neck with its number therein, and turned out loose on the plains to graze with its companions of similar age and sex. When the youngsters have passed another year, their critical time has arrived, and their first trials for mettle and fighting qualities .take place. The brave are set aside for the Plaza : the — comparatively — docile destroyed, at least by scrupulous breeders ; while from the chosen lot a further selection is made of the sires for perpetuating the breed. From the

TAUROMACHIA, THE FIGHTING BULL OF SPAIN. 61

moment the fighting bulls are selected, they are treated with the utmost care, and for two years more roam at liberty over the richest pasturage of the %Yide unfrequented prairies. At four years old they are moved into the ccirados, or enclosures — fields of great extent, surrounded by a wooden stockade and double ditch. The ecrrado they never leave till bound for the Plaza. Should pasture fail through drought or deluge, they are fed on tares, vetch, and maize — even with wheat. Their debut in public must be made in the highest possible condition. The bulls should be, at the time, not less than five nor more than seven years old.

While thus grazing at large on the open plain, the bulls are in charge of herdsmen over whom is the official known in Castile as mai/omi, in Andalucia as conoccdor, assisted by his ayudante. These two spend their lives in the saddle, each carrying the long "garrocha," or lance, as a defensive weapon. The herdsmen go on foot, each armed with a sling, in the use of which they are adepts.

To return to the two-year-old point in the Ijull's life — that is, as we have stated, the critical stage in his existence, for then his " trial " takes place.

It is also an important period for the owner, for upon the proportion of good-mettled, "warrantable" beasts depends the profit and reputation of the herd. It is customary for the owner and his friends to be present at these tcntaderos or trials : and a bright and picturesque scene they afford, thoroughly typical of untrodden Andalucia, and of the buoyant, careless exuberance and dare-devil spirit of her people.

Nowhere can the exciting scenes of the tentadero be witnessed to greater advantage than on the wide level pastures which extend from Seville to the Bay of Cadiz. Here, far out on the spreading "vegas," carpeted with rich profusion of wild flowers and pasturage, where the canicular sun flashes yet more light and fire into the fiery veins of the Andaluz — here occurs the first scene in the drama of the Torn). For centuries these flowery plains have been the scene of countless tentadcros, y^h^xe the " majos," —

62 WILD SPAIN.

young bloods, — generation after generation, revel in feats of skill, courage, and horsemanship. Both good riding and staying power are often called into requisition b}' those taking an active part in the operations.

The night before the trials take place, the usually quiet and sequestered Estancia (or rancho) is a scene of unwonted revelry. The owners of the herd and many friends — all aficionados of the sport — have come up from the distant town to take part in the selection of the morrow — as this work commences at early dawn, the night must be spent on the spot. The rude walls of the rancho resound with boisterous hilarity, dance and song succeed each other, to the vigorous notes of the guitar — sleep is not to be thought of, good humour, gaiety, and no small admixture of practical joking pass away the night, and by the first of the daylight all are in the saddle. The two-year-old-bulls have previously been herded upon a part of the estate which affords the best level ground for smart manoeuvre and fast riding, and here the duty of keeping the impetuous beasts together — no easy task — is allotted to skilled herdsmen armed with long fiarrocltas — lances of some four yards in length, with short steel tips. As just mentioned, it is no easy work to keep the young bulls together, for they are anxious to break away and dart off to join their friends in the distance. When all is ready the herdsmen allow one bull to escape across the flat open country, pursued by two horsemen who are awaiting the moment, (larrocha in hand. These men rival each other to place the first lance and to turn the bull over. This is effected by planting a blunt-tipped [/aiToclia on the bull's of-fia)ik, near the tail, when a powerful thrust, given at full speed, overthrows him : but obviously the feat requires a good eye, a firm seat, and a strong arm. Immediately the l)ull is over, with his four feet in the air, another horseman, who has ridden close behind, comes up. He is armed with a more pointed lance, and is called rl tciifador. On rising, the bull finds this man between him and his companions in the nxlt'o, to whom he would now fain return. He immediately charges the obstacle,

TAUEOMACHIA, THE FIGHTING BULL OF SPAIN. 6B

receiving on his shoulder the (larwcha point ; thrown back for a moment, and smarting under this first check to his hitherto unthwarted will, he returns to the charge with redoubled furj', but only to find the horse protected as before : the pluckier spirits will make a third or a fourth attack, but those which freely charge tn-ice are passed as fit for the ring.

Sometimes the young bull declines to charge the tenta(Joi\ submitting quietly to his overthrow, and only desir- ing to escape. He does not get off without a second fall ; but if, after this, he still refuses to charge, he is at once condemned — doomed to death, or at best a life of agricultural toil. A note is taken of each selected bull (its colour, size, and shape of horns, and general appearance) ; and each is entered in the herd-book, under a particular name — such as Espartero, Cardinillo, Linares, Flamenco, and the like. By these names they are known, and at the end publicly described in the flaming "posters" and advertisements of the Corrida at which they are to make their final appearance.

Nor is there anything modern in this individualizing of the champions of the arena. In the Moorish ballads ("The Bull-Fight of Gazul"), so happily translated by Lockhart, we find the " toro bravo " had his name in those days : —

" Now stops the dnuii ; close, close they come ; thrice meet, and thrice give back : The white foam of Harpado lies on the charter's breast of black — The white foam of the charger on Harpado 's front of dim ; — Once more advance upon his lance — once more, thou fearless one ! "

It often happens, when a bull is singled out from the rodeo, that he does not take to his heels as expected, but charges the nearest person, on foot or mounted, that he may see. Then look out for squalls ! The danger must be averted, when it is averted, by skill and experience ; but it seldom happens that one of these trial-days passes without broken bones or accidents of some kind or other. The men engaged in these operations have, of course, no shelter of any kind ; but the Spanish herdsmen, when taken at

64 WILD SPAIN.

ilisadvantage, are adepts in the use of their jackets, with which they give " passes " to the bull, who always follows the moving object. A smart fellow, when caught in the open, can thus keep a bull off him for several moments, giving time for the horsemen to come up to the rescue. Even then it is no unusual occurrence to see horsemen, horse and bull all rolling together on the turf in one com- mon ruin. A bright-coloured scarf or mantle will always draw away the bull from his prostrate foe ; otherwise there would soon be an end of tcntadorcs, bull-branders, and bull- iighters too, for the matter of that.

Each animal in the herd is put through the tests we have described, the proportion selected varying accord- ing to the excellence and purity of the strain : and then, for three years longer, the selected bulls continue to lead a life of ease and abundance upon the smiling Andalucian vrffa*

Skill in handling the (jan-oclia, and the ability to turn over a running bull, are accomplishments in high esteem amongst Spanish youth. Names now famous in politics or diplomacy (Don Luis Albereda, for example, late Spanish Minister at St. James's, the Duke of San Lorenzo, and many more), are still mentioned in Andalucia as past experts in the records of this southern diversion — a fame analogous to that of our foremost steeple-chase riders at

home.t

The tcntadero at the present day affords opportunity for aristocratic gatherings, that recall the tauromachian tournaments of old. Even the Infantas of Spain enter into the spirit of the sport, and have been known them- selves to wield the (larrocha with good effect, as was, a few months ago, the case at a brilliant ptc (■hampctre on the Sevillian ccgas, when the Condesa de Paris and her

* The better-bred animals are always the more harmless, if not molested.

) The following are some of the best known garrochistas of recent years : Seuores Don Antonio Minra, Don Faustino Mornbe, Don Mignel Garcia, Don Guillermo Ochoteco, Don Jose Silva, Don Fer- nando Concha, Don Agusto Adalid, Don Angel Zaldos, Don Mannel Sanchez-Mira, Marques de Bogaraya, Marques de Guadalest, Don Frederico Huesca, ^Marijues de Castellones, &.e.

bo

Ph

X

TAUROMACHIA, THE FIGHTING BULL OF SPAIN. 65

daughter, Princess Elena, each overthrew a sturdy two- }ear-old ; the Infanta Eulaha riding " a ancas,'' or piUion- fashion, with an Andahician nobleman, among the merriest of a merry part}'.

At length, however, the years spent in luxurious idleness on the silent plains must come to an end. One summer morning the brave herd find grazing in their midst some strange animals, which appear to make themselves ex- tremely agreeable to the lordly champions, now in the zenith of magnificent strength and beauty. The strangers grazing with them are the cahrestos (or cahestros, in correct Castilian), the decoy-oxen sent out to fraternize for a few days with the fighting race, preparatory to the mcicrro, or operation of conveying the latter to the town where the corrida takes place. Each cahestru has a large cattle-bell, of the usual Spanish type, suspended round its neck, in order to accustom the wild herd to follow the lead of these base betrayers of the brave. Shortly the noble bulls will be lured in their company away from their native plains, through country paths and byeways, to the entrance of the fatal toril.

An animated spectacle it is on the eve of the corrida, when, amidst clouds of dust and clang of bells, the tame oxen and wild bulls are driven forward bj^ galloping horsemen and levelled garrorhas. The excited populace, already intoxicated with bull-fever and the anticipation of the coming corridas, lining the way to the Plaza, careless if in the enthusiasm for the morrow they risk some awkward rips to-day.

Once inside the lofty walls of the toril, it is easy to withdraw the treacherous cahestros, and one by one to tempt the Imlls each into a small separate cell, the chiquero, the door of which will to-morrow fall before his eyes. Then, rushing upon the arena, he finds himself confronted and encircled by surging tiers of yelling humanity, while the crash of trumpets and glare of moving colours madden his brain. Then the gaudy horsemen, with menacing lances, recall his day of trial on the distant plain, horse- men now doubly hateful in their brilliant glittering tinsel.

F

66

WILD SPAIN.

No wonder the noble brute rushes Avith magnificent fury to the charge.

What a spectacle is presented by the Plaza at this moment! — one without parallel in the modern world. The vast amphitheatre, crowded to the last seat in every row

A BULL-FIGHTER.

and tier, is held for some seconds in breathless suspense : above, the glorious azure canopy of an Andalucian summer sky : below, on the yellow arena, rushes forth the bull, fresh from his distant prairie, amazed yet undaunted by the unwonted sight and the bewilderino; blaze of colour

TAUROMACHIA, THE FIGHTING BULL OF SPAIN. 67

wliich surrounds him. For one brief moment the vast mass of excited humanity sits spell-bound : the clamour of myriads is stilled. Then the pent-up cry bursts forth in frantic volume, for the gleaming horns have done their work, and biieii toro ! Jmcn toro ! rings from twice ten thousand throats.

The Inill-rings are mostly the property of private per- sons, though some are owned by corporations, others by charitable institutions, and the like. The bull-lights them- selves, however, are always in the hands of an empresario, who hires the building at a rent, supplies the bulls and inmpe, and takes the whole arrangements in his own hands und for his own account.

The cost of a modern bull-fight in Andalucia ranges from i'1,100 to i;l,200. Six bulls are usually killed, their value averaging .^70. The Espada, or Matador, receives on the day from £120 to i;200, including the services of his cuadrilla or troupe, which consists of two picadors, three banderilleros, and a cachetero. As there are always two matadors with their respective cuadrillas engaged, this makes in all fourteen bull-fighters. The cost of the horses is about i'120 to £200, a variable quantity, depending so much on the temper and quality of the bulls. Against this, there are from ten to twenty thousand seats to be let in the ring, the prices of which vary from a peseta or two in the *SV>/ or sunny side, up to a couple of dollars or more in the Soinhra*

The president of the corrida is usually the alcalde or mayor of the town — sometimes the civil governor of the province, always some person of weight and authority, though the alcalde is responsible for the orderly conduct of

* The biill-figliters and their friends affect a language pecuhar to the Plaza : a dialect of systematic construction. To acquire a know- ledge of this "Jerga" (La Germania), with its idiomatic piquancy and raciness, is the aim of the "fancy " young men, the Flamencos of Southern Spain. To be in the circle of the popular bull-fighters, with its perilous female entourage, is considered ch ic by certain gilded yoiith. Flamenco-ism appears to find its beau ideal in the borderland which lies between the bizarre existence of the "torero " and the Gitano or gypsy. {See chapter on the Spanish Gypsy of to-day.)

F 2

68 WILD SPAIN.

the corrida, even should he delegate the presidential chair to some one of higher authority. He is required to examine the bulls before the fight : that is, to see that they bear the Ijrand of the herd advertised, and have no visible defect ; then he must inspect the horses ; even the bande- rillas and the garrochas, the points of which latter must be shortened as autumn approaches. Till the alcalde appears in his tribune, the fight may not commence, and during the spectacle he orders the incoming of each bull,

AN ESPADA. OR MATADOR.

the time which the picadors shall occupy with their lances : he directs the trumpets of his attendant heralds to sound the changes in the fight, when banderilleros succeed picadors, and for the final scene, when the matador steps alone upon the arena, with scarlet cloak and gleaming sword.

It will thus be seen that the presidential function involves a fairly deep knowledge of all the arts and etiquette of tauromachian science. Under intelligent direction, acci-

TAUROMACHIA, THE FIGHTING BULL OF SPAIN. 69

dents in the ring and tumults amongst dissatisfied multi- tudes are avoided — \Yitliout it, the reverse.

We have now traced in brief outline the life-history of our gallant bull ; we have brought him face to face with Frascuelo and his Toledan blade ; there we must leave him. But, in concluding this chapter, may we beg the generous reader, should he ever enter the historic circle of the plaza, to go there with an open mind — without prejudice, and unbiassed by the floods of invective which have ever been let loose upon the Spanish bull-fight.

Let critics remember, if only in extenuation, what the spectacle represents to Spain — a national festival, the love of which we have shown to be ineradicable, ingrained in Spanish nature by centuries of custom and tradition. Let them reflect, too, that those brutal domestic scenes which disgrace so many a home among the poor of other lands are, in the land of the bull-fighter, unknown. Lastly, let them remember that upon untramed eyes there must fall flat many of the finer passes, much of the elaborate technique and science of tauromachian art : points which are instantly seized and appreciated by Spanish experts — and in Spain all are experts. This is lost to the casual spectator, who perceives less difficulty in the perilous rol-d-pie than in the simpler, though more attractive, sucrte de reeihir, and a thousand other technical details.

70

WILD SPAIN.

CHAPTER VI. THE B.ETICAN WILDERNESS.

SPEING-NOTES OF BIRD-LIFE, NATUKAL HISTORY, AND EXPLORATION IN THE MARISMA.

Part I. — April,

\ 1

Andalucia may roughly be subdivided into four main regions, unequal in extent, but of well-marked physical characters and conformation. These are the sierras, and the rolling corn-lands, at both of which we have already glanced. Then there are the dchesas — wild, uncultivated wastes or prairies, of which more anon. Lastly, there are the maris mas.

We have in English no equivalent to the Spanish "marisma," and these regions are so peculiar, both phy- sically and ornithologically, as to require a short descrip- tion. Geologicahy, the marismas are the deltas of great rivers, the alluvial accumulations of ages, deposited, layer upon layer, on the sea-bottom till the myriad particles thrust back the sea, and form level plains of dry land. The struggle l)etween rival elements does not terminate, but the attacks of the liquid comlmtant only seem to result in still further assuring the victory of tn-ra tiniia, by bank-

THE BiETICAN WILDEKNESS APRIL. 71

ing up between the opposing forces an impregnable rampart of sand. The latter, overlying the margin of the rich alluvial mud, is thus capable, in its hollows and deeper dells, of sustaining a luxuriant plant-life, which in turn serves to fortify and consolidate its otherwise unstable con- sistency.*

The largest of the Spanish marismas, and those best known to the authors, are those of the Guadalquivir. If the reader will look at a map of Spain, there will be noticed on the Lower Guadalquivir a large tract totally devoid of the names of villages, &c. From Lebrija on the east to Almonte on the west, and from the Atlantic almost up to Seville itself, the map is vacant. This huge area is, in fact, a wilderness, and in winter the greater part a dismal waste of waters. For league after league as one advances hito that forbidding desolation, the eye rests on nothing but water — tawny waters meeting the sky all round the horizon. The Guadalquivir intersects the marisma, its triple channel divided from the adjacent shallows and savannahs by low mud-banks. The water of the marisma is fresh, or nearly so — quite drinkable — and has a uniform depth over vast areas of one or two feet, according to the season. Here and there slight elevations of its muddy bed form low^ islands, varying from a few yards to thou- sands of acres in extent, covered with coarse herbage, thistles and bog-plants, the home of countless wild-fowl and aquatic birds. In spring the water recedes ; as the hot weather sets in it rapidly evaporates, leaving the marisma a dead level of dry mud, scorched and cracked by the fierce summer sun. A rank herbage springs up, and around the remaining water-holes wave beds of tall reeds and cane-brakes.

In winter the marshy plains abound with wild-fowl, ducks, geese, and water-birds of varied kinds ; but of the winter season in the marisma, its fowl and fowlers, we treat fully hereafter.

The spring-months abound in interest to the naturalist.

* The mancha of Salavar in the Goto Donana is an example of one of these green oases an^idst barren, hfeless sand-wastes.

72 "WILD SPAIN.

Imagination can hardly picture, nor Nature provide, a region more congenial to the tastes of wild aquatic birds than these huge marismas, with their silent stretches of marsh-land and savannahs, cane-brake and stagnant waters, and their profusion of plant and insect life. Here, in spring, in an ornithological Eden, one sees almost daily new bird-forms. During the vernal migration the still air resounds with unknown notes, and many of those species which at home are the rarest — hardly known save in books or museums — are here the most conspicuous, filling the desolate landscape with life and animation. The months of February and March witness the withdrawal of most of the winter wild-fowl. Day after day the clouds of Pintails and Wigeon, of Shovellers, Pochards, and Teal, and fresh files of grey geese wing their way northwards ; while their places are simultaneously being filled by arrivals from the south. April brings an influx of graceful forms and many sub-tropical species, for which Andalucia forms, roughly speaking, the northern limit ; while in May is superadded a "through transit," which renders the bird-life of that period at times almost bewildering.

But before attempting to fill in the details, it is necessary to explain the mode of travel and the methods by which these wildernesses can be investigated. Uninhabited and abandoned to wild-fowl and flamingoes, and lying remote from any " base of operations," the exploration of the marismas is an undertaking of some difficulty. They cannot, owing to their extent, be worked from any single base ; hence, thoroughly to explore them and penetrate their lonely expanses, necessitates a well-equipped expedi- tion, independent of external aid, and prepared to encamp night after night among the tamarisks or samphire on bleak islet or l)arren arenal. Some of our earlier eft'orts, twent}' years ago, resulted in total failure. Setting out by way of the river, the light launches suitable for the shallow marisma proved unequal to the voyage up the broad Guadalquivir ; while, on the other hand, the larger craft in which that exposed estuary could be safely navigated were useless in the shallows. Que attempt was

THE B^TICAN WILDEENESS APRIL.

73

frustrated by sunstroke ; on another our Spanish crew "struck" through stress of weather, leavmg us at a lonely spot some thirty miles beyond Bonanza with no alternative but to submit, or go on alone. We had, how- ever, some reward for this enforced tramp in discovering the Dunlin {Tniuja alpina) nesting at a point over a thou- sand miles south of any previiDus record of its breeding- range. Finally, we chartered at San Lucar a large fishing-yawl, bound up-river, and after a long day in that

PISHIXG BOAT ON THE GUADALQUIVIR.

malodorous craft, beating up against wind and stream, and with our three punts in tow, we at length succeeded in launching them on the waters of the middle marismas.

The geese and wigeon had entirely disappeared — this was early in April — but passage-ducks still skimmed in large flights over the open waters. These were chiefly Mallards, with Pintails and Pochards (both species), a few Teal, Garganey, and probably other species. We also shot Shovellers out of small " bunches," and among the deep sluices of some abandoned salt-pans (salinas), where

74

WILD SPAIN.

we spent the first night, three or four Tufted Ducks, and a pair of Pochards. I killed a single Scoter drake as late as April 13th, and was shown as a curiosity a Cormorant which had been killed by some fishermen on the river a day or two before.

One cannot go far into the marisma without seeing that extraordinary fowl, the Flamingo, certainly the most characteristic denizen of the wilderness. In herds of 300 to 500, several of which are often in sight at once, they stand like regiments, feeding in the open water, all

heads under, greedily tearing up the grasses and water- plants that grow beneath the surface. On approaching them, which can only be done by extreme caution, their silence is first broken by the sentries, which commence walking away with low croaks : then the whole five hundred necks rise at once to full stretch, every bird gaggling his loudest as they walk obliquely away, looking back over their shoulders as though to take stock of the extent of the danger. Shoving the punt a few yards forward, up they all rise, and a more beautiful sight cannot be imagined than the simultaneous spreading of their thousand crimson

THE B.15TICAN WILDERNESS — APRIL. 75

wings, flashing against the sky like a gleam of rosy light. Then one descends to the practical, and a volley of slugs cuts a lane through their phalanx.

In many respects these hirds bear a strong resemblance to geese. Like the latter, Flamingoes feed by day : and quantities of grass, etc., are always floating about the mudd}' water at the spot where a herd has been feeding. Their cry is almost indistinguishable from the gaggling of geese, and they fly in the same chain-like formations. The irides of the oldest individuals are very pale lemon- yellow : the bare skin between the bill and the eye is also yellow, and the whole plumage beautifully suft'used with warm pink. In the young birds of one year (which do not breed) this pink shade is entirely absent, and even their wings Ijear but slight traces of it. The secondaries and tertiaries of these immature birds are barred irregularly with black spots, and their legs, bills and eyes are of a dull lead colour. In size flamingoes vary greatly : the largest we have measured was fully six feet five inches — • there are some quite seven feet — while others (old red birds) barely reached five feet.

The further we advanced into the marisma the more abundant became the bird-life. Besides ducks and flamingoes, troops of long-legged Stilts in places whitened the waters, and chattering bands of Avocets swept over the marshy islets : around these also gyrated clouds of Dunlins in full breeding-plumage : smaller flights, composed of Kentish plovers and Lesser Eing-dotterel mixed, with Red- shanks and Peewits : the two latter paired. One morning at daybreak, a pack of two hundred Black-tailed Godwits pitched on an islet hard by our camp, probably tired with a long migratory journey, for these wary birds allowed two punts to run almost " aboard them," and received a raking broadside at thirty yards.* On April 11th we obtained a

* These Godwits (Liinosa belgica) are more common on passaj^e earlier in the spring. We have seen flights of many hundreds in February and March. The Couniion Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa rufa) we have never chanced to meet with here, either in winter or spring — only on its southern passage, in September.

76 WILD SPAIN.

single Grey Phalarope (Plialaropm ftdicarius), swimming like a little duck on an open arnn/o, and the Sandeiiing, Green and Common Sandpipers, were all abundant, together with Euffs and Eeeves, though in mid-April the former still lacked the full nuptial dress. Greenshanks and Knots we did not meet with then ; though a month later (in May) swarms of both these species, together with Whimbrels, Grey Plovers, and Curlew- Sandpipers, all in perfect summer plumage, poured into the marisma, to rest and recruit on their direct transit from Africa to the Arctic.

On April 8th the Pratincoles arrived, and thenceforward their zigzag flight and harsh croak were constantly in evidence all over the dry mud and sand, where they feed on beetles. In 1891 we observed a " rush " of these birds, some arriving, and others passing over high, almost out of sight, on the 11th of April. Sometimes a score of these curious birds would cast themselves down on the bare ground all around one, some with expanded wings, and all lying head to wind, much as a nightjar squats on the sand. Pratincoles resemble terns when standing, but run like plovers, and on summer evenings, with the terns, they hawk after insects like swallows. Their beaks have a very wide gai)e which is l)ordered with vermilion.

Another conspicuous bird-group in the marisma are the herons, of which seven or eight species are here, more or less numerous. Besides the Common and Purple Herons, the Buff-backed, Squacco, and Night Herons, Egrets, Spoon- bills, and Glossy Ibis are also found, and several of one kind or the other can generally be descried on the open marsh — the first-named often perched on the backs of the cattle or wild-bred ponies of the marisma, ridding them of the ticks and " warbles," or embryo gadflies which burrow in the poor brutes' hides. The rush-girt arroyos, or stagnant channels, were dotted with these most elegant birds, some actively feeding, plunging their heads under to catch the darting water-beetles as they dive, others resting (piiescent in every graceful pose. Here is a descrip- tion of such a spot: — April 'lS)t]i. Lying this morning in the punt, well hidden among thick tamarisks, in the

THE BiETICAN WILDERNESS APRIL.

77

arroijo del Junco Eeal, we had no less than twelve interesting' species within 200 yards : ducks of four kinds dipped and splashed on the open water, viz. : — Mallards, Garganey, Marbled Duck, and one pair of handsome, heavy-headed " Porrones " {Erismatura Iciicoccphala). Sundry Stilts, Egrets, and four Squacco Herons stalked sedately in the shallows — one of the latter presently perching on a broken

S*.|{t,

bulrush within ten yards of the boat. A group of Avocets slept standing, each on one leg, on a dry point ; and further away, two Spoonbills were busy sifting the soft mud with curious revolving gait. Coots and Grebes {Podicipes Jiu/ri- collis) kept dodging in and out among the flags and aquatic plants, and a Marsh-Harrier, whose mate was sitting in an adjoining cane-brake, soared in the background. This is not counting the commoner kinds, nor several others which

78 WILD SPAIN.

we afterwards observed close by : the above were all in sif^ht, mostly in shot, at one spot.

The Coots and Mallards have eggs in March, the Purple Heron early in April : on the 9th we found the first nest, merely an armful of the long green reeds bent down, and containing one blue egg. The other herons nest very late — in June.

One other bird-group remains to be briefly mentioned — the Lav'uuc. In so congenial a resort they are, of course, in force : but in early April few gulls, beyond the British species, are noticeable* — of others, anon. The Whiskered Tern (HiidrochcVulon Iti/hrida) came in swarms during the first days of April, followed on the 13th by the Lesser Tern, and at the end of the month by H. n'lfira, the Black Tern, all of which abound, gracefully hovering over every pool or reed-choked marsh. The larger Gull-billed Tern {Sterna anglica) is also common in summer in the marisma, where we have taken the eggs of all four species.

The utter loneliness and desolation of the middle marismas are a sensation to be remembered. Hour after hour one pushes forwai'd across the flooded plain, only to bring within view more and j^et more vistas of watery waste and endless horizons of tawny water. On a low islet in the far distance stand a herd of cattle — mere points in space : but they, too, partake of the general wild- ness, and splash off at a galop while yet a mile away. Even the horses or ponies of the marisma seem to have reverted to their original man-fearing state, and are as shy and timid as any of the fctve natune. After long days on the monotonous marisma, one's wearied eyes at length rejoice at a vision of trees— a dark green pine-grove casting grateful shade on the scorching sands beneath. To that

* Kittiwakes and Black-headed Gulls in swarms during March and early April, whitening acres of water. The latter remained till perfect siunmer-plumage is attained (by March 21st). Little Gulls fi-equent : on two occasions (in February and March) observed in scores. La run fuscus and L. argentatus were common in March, and on April 5th we obtained an adult of L. )iiarinus in the marisma. Of British Terns, S. cantiaca and S.fliivia tills, were noticed in early spring.

THE B.ETICAN WILDERNESS APRIL. 79

oasis we direct our course : but it is a fraud, one of Nature's cruel mockeries — a mirage. Not a tree grows on that spot, or within leagues of it, nor has done for ages — perhaps since time began.

Upon a dreary islet we land to form a camp for the night : that is, to arrange our upturned punts around such scanty lire as can be raised from a few armfuls of tama- risks and dead thistles — all that our little domain pro- duces— assisted by a few pine-cones, brought for the purpose in the boats. Dinner is cooked in the little block- tin camp-stove, or sarten 2)>'usiano, as the Spaniards call it, which only demands a modicum of lard and a sharp fire to reduce a rabbit or a duck to eatable state within a few minutes. The fare which can be obtained by the gun at this season is meagre enough : ducks or plovers are sorry food for hungry men, though a hare, shot on a grassy savanna, is acceptable enough ; nor are the eggs of coot or peewit to be despised. Later, we experimented on many oological varieties, especially Stilt's and Avocet's eggs. The latter are excellent, boiling pale yellow and half opaque, like those of plover : but the Stilt's eggs are too red in the yolk to be tempting. Our men were not so squeamish : but then they did not even stick at the eggs of Kites or Vultures. After all, it is safer to rely in the main on Australian mutton, tinned ox-tongues from the Plate, or indigenous " jamon dulce ;" but the difficulties of trans- port in tiny lanchas forbid one's being entirely independent of local fare.

The memories of our earliest experiences in the Spanish marismas, in April, 1872, do not fade. The glorious wild- life fascinated and exhilarated, v/hile youthful enthusiasm ignored all drawbacks. But in later years it is j)erhaps excusable if a slight doubt of the bliss of campaigning in winter may temporarily arise when one is awakened in the middle watches of the night by sheer penetrating cold, finds the fire burnt out, the trusted Espanolcs all asleep, and the tail of a big l)lack snake sticking out from under one's bed, or the poke of straw which is serving the purpose.

The night of April 10th we spent at Rocio, a squalid

80 WILD SPAIN.

hamlet clustered around the chapel of Nuestra Sefiora del Eocio, an ancient shrine visited _yearly at the vernal festival by faithful pilgrims. We were tired of the cold and comfortless nights siih Jove in the marisma, where upturned punts afforded scant shelter from the piercing winds of the small hours, and where the chill exhalations of night kept one awake listening to the chorus of frogs and flamingoes and the melancholy boom of the bittern. It was hardly a change for the better, for a more wretched ague-stricken spot we have seldom beheld, and in the dirt}' little posada man and beast were reckoned exactly equal in relation to the " accommodation " they require. The bed provided was a dirty mat of esparto grass, six feet b}' two, unrolled and laid on the bare ground : but the mosquitoes and other insect plagues made sleep impossible, and the night was spent in skinning the day's captures. The four- league tramp, however, through sandy, scrub-covered plains, was a relief from the monotonous marisma, and there were fresh birds for a change. The low, soft, double note of the Hoopoe was ubiquitous ; Inilliant Bee-eaters, Eollers, and Golden Orioles flashed like jewels in the sun- shine, amidst the groves of wild olive and alcornoque : Southern Grey Shrikes (LaHi^^s meridioiialis) mumbled their harsh " wee hate " from some tree-top or tall shoot of cistus, and Turtle-doves actually swarmed — all these birds (except the shrikes) newly returned from African scenes. We also observed a pair of Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers, and a single Azure-winged Magpie — the only occurrence of the latter we had then met with in this district, though further inland it is common near Coria del Eio, and towards Cordova it becomes plentiful. Near Eocio, also, we ob- tained the Eed-backed Shrike, a species not previously recorded from Southern Spain.

Another interesting bird seen and shot this day for the j&rst time was the Great Spotted Cuckoo (Coccystes glan- darins), and shortly afterwards, while sitting at lunch during the mid-day heat, a female Hen-Harrier, which slowly passed within very long shot, and caused me to upset my last bottle of Bass. This was the latest date on

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Page 81.

THE B.ETICAN WILDERNESS APRIL. 81

which we saw this strictly winter-visitant to Andakicia, none remaining to breed, though it is plentiful enough in winter, and frequently observed while snipe- shooting.

Early next morning (April 11th) we started to explore the wooded swamps called La Kocina de la Madre — a nasty place to work : consisting of thousands of grassy tussocks, each surrounded by bog, in some places moderately firm and safe, in others, apparently similar, deep and dangerous, and everywhere swarming with leeches. In the centre of the open marsh, surrounded by quaking-bog and a dense growth of aquatic vegetation, rose a thick clump of low trees, whose snake-like roots were growing out of the black and stagnant water. These trees were occupied, some laden, with hundreds of stick-built nests, the abodes of the southern herons some of which we have already mentioned — Egrets, Squaccos, Buff-backs, Night-Herons, and the like : but nearly all this group nest very late (in •Tune), and the colony was at this season tenantless. In subsequent years we have ol)tained in these wooded swamps the eggs of all the European herons: though it is not every summer that they repair thither to breed. In very dry seasons none are to be seen, but after a rainy spring, these heron-colonies of the marisma are indeed a wondrous sight — an almost sufficing reward for enduring the heat, the languor-laden miasmas, and the fury of the myriad mosquitos and leeches which in summer infest these remote marshy regions.

Climbing across the gnarled tree-roots to the other end of the thicket, we found a larger nest, and just as we emerged on the open, its owner, a female Booted Eagle, passed within reach as she slowly quartered the marsh, and fell to a charge of No. 2. This small, but compact and handsome species, has been confounded with the Rough- legged Buzzard ; but no one who has seen Aquila j^etDiata on the wing could mistake it for anything but an eagle. The nest proved empty, after a difficult climb up a briar- entwined trunk : but on the following day we found another, in the first fork of a big cork-tree, containing one white egg. Three is the full number laid by the Booted Eagle.

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82

WILD SPAIN.

In another part of the wood was a nestmg colony of the Black Kite [Milnis mi(im)is), several of which soared high overhead. These birds hardly commence domestic duties in earnest before May, but after some troul)le I succeeded in shooting a fine adult : also a pair of Purple Herons, of which we found three nests, and a single Eoller (Comcias liarrulus) from her nest in a broken stump, which contained one egg. After this we were obliged to beat a retreat, for the swarming hordes of leeches had developed so strong a taste for the bare legs of our two men that a return to terra firma became necessary.

The whole region for many a league around Eocio is one dead-flat plain — dry scrubbj' brushwood or stagnant marsh and marisma. To the northward, in the farthest distance are discernil)le the dim l)lue outspurs of the Sierra de Aracena ; but beyond its charms to naturalist or sports- man, the district has few other attractions. After spend- ing ten days in the wilderness, we set our faces homewards, and were not sorrv on the third evening, after re-traversino- the waste, to sight once more the white towers and lustred domes of San Lucar de Barameda.

83

CHAPTER yil. THE B^TICAN WILDERNESS.

SPRING NOTES OF BIRD-LIFE AND NATURAL HISTORY IN THE

MARISMA.

Part II. — May.

On a bright May morning we set out for a fortnight's sojourn in the western ma- rismas. For the last few miles the route lies through broken woodlands, all wrapt in the glory of the southern spring-time. There is no n.,^i,n Is-ck of verdure here at i^'-' " mid- winter — not even the deciduous trees are ever really bare : but in May the whole plant-world is fresh- clad in brightest garb and beauty — it is worth stay- ing a moment to examine such prodigal luxuriance. Before us, for example, is a grove of stone-pines, embedded to their centres amidst dark green thicket ; through the massed foliage of lentiscus and briar shoots up a forest of waving bamboos, tall almost and straight as the pines themselves ; the foreground filled with the delicate mauve of rosemary, with giant heather and heaths of a dozen hues, all wrestling for space, with clumps of pampas-grass and palmetto, genista, butcher's-broom, and wild fennel.

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84 WILD SPAIN.

Here a mass of ahohUia, or Spanish gorse, al)laze with golden bloom ; an arbutus blanched with waxen blossoms, or the glossy foliage of mimosa ; there the sombre tones of the ilex are relieved by the pale emerald of a wild vine entwined upon the trunk. Even the stretches of grey gum-cistus have become almost gaudy with their pink, white, and pale yellow flowers. The air breathes of vernal perfumes, and the infinite chorus of spring bird-notes — the soft refrain of Goldfinch and Serin, Nightingale, Hi/jxilais polijglotta, Orphean and other warblers, the dual note of Hoopoe, and flute-like carol of Golden Orioles, mingled with the harsher cries of Woodchat and Bee-eater, and on all sides the ' voice of the Turtle was heard in the land.'

The sun was high in the heavens ere we cleared the fragrant jnnales ; yet in the last rushy glade we rode suddenly into a herd of wild pig ; females with their half- grown young — probably the exigencies of the season explained their being astir at so unusual an hour. Shortly afterwards the writer almost trod on two boars, deeply slumbering in an isolated thicket — one an old tusker, grizzly with age, and looking almost white as he trotted away across the dunes.

Presently, through a vista of the forest, we sighted the marisma, its muddy expanse to-day blue as the Mediterranean. An animated scene lay before us ; the wastes were thronged with bird-life. The horizon glistened with the sheen of Flamingoes in thousands, and the inter- vening space lay streaked and dotted with flights and flotillas of aquatic fowl. The nearer foreshores, fringed with rush and sedge and dark stretches of tamarisk, were peopled with Storks and Herons, Egrets, Spoonbills, Stilts, Avocets, and other waders. While breakfasting under a spreading pine, we observed commotion among our feathered neighbours — the whole multitude had risen on wing as a single Booted Eagle swept over the scene.

liambling along the shore, we obtained many beautiful specimens by stalking, including most of those above named, as well as a pair of Marbled Ducks, a wild-cat, and other " sundries." Presently we observed with the glass

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THE B.ETICAN WILDERNESS MAY. 85

a score or so of Knots, in full red summer-plumage, busily feeding rather far out. While creeping to them, a Marsh- Harrier rose from some rushes close at hand ; I knocked him down and found he was lunching on a Knot. The latter we could not see again — though later in the month they were in thousands — but made out a " bunch " of Greenshanks feeding a little further on, one of which fell to a long shot— an immature bird. Curiously, we found no adults here, though in March they were numerous in some disused saliuas beyond Tangier, but no j^oung ones. The adults are distinguishable by their whiter appearance at a distance.

Our course lay across a wide bight of the marisma, which projects into the land. Crossing this, nearly knee- deep in mud and water in many parts, we fell in with three packs of Sand-Grouse {Pterodes alchata). They were exces- sively wild, flying fast and high, something like teal, anon like plover, and uttering a chorus of harsh croaks. On the open marsh we almost despaired of outmanceuvring them. We stuck to them, howe\'er, and, after many failures, .obtained some beautiful specimens of both sexes, and well worth the trouble they were ; for no bird we have ever seen rivals the Pin-tailed Sand-Grouse for delicacy of pencilling and the harmonious contrasts of infinite colours in its plumage. In the females especially, the spring-plumage is so variegated as to defy description, the patterns, so to speak, being as elaborate as the tints. Briefly, her back is finely reticulated with yellows and browns, blacks and maroons of various shades, all relieved by clean-cut bars of pale blue. Her head is speckled above the black line which passes through the eye ; below that, the cheeks and throat are plain buff, and the chest clear bright chestnut, doubly margined with black and with a pale blue band above. In the male the features of the spring-plumage are a black throat, and a line of that colour through the eye. The pale sage-green back is covered with large lemon spots, some of which extend to the scapulars and tertiaries. The eye-circlets and eyelids are bright blue in l)oth sexes, and at all seasons : of their winter-dress and habits we

86

WILD SPAIN.

write elsewhere ; but no description or sketch of ours can do adequate justice to this gem among birds.

The irame of sand-grouse is not appropriate, for they are in no sense grouse, and are never found on sand — always on mud, and when shot their feet and bills are generally covered therewith. There is another and larger species, the Black-bellied Sand-Grouse {Ptrrodcs arcnarins), which is not found lie re, but is very abundant in parts of the upper marisma, towards Seville, and especially in the so-called Isla Menor, where we have shot several when bustard-driving, and found a nest with three long elliptic eggs on May 28th, besides seeing several others found by

STILTS— HOVERING OVERHEAD.

our men. These birds — in Spanish Corte~a — nest on the bare pasturages of the upper marisma, and also on the high central plateaux of Spain, in Castile, La Mancha, &c., a very different region. The Pin-tailed species is known as GaiKja, signifying a bargain, in reference to its edible qualities.

After heavy rains in April, the mud and water in the marisma were unpleasantly deep for either riding or walk- ing— we had now abandoned the punts ; and on the low islands many thousands of eggs had been destro3^ed by the rising of the water. A great variety of birds were now nesting, Stilts and Avocets being, perhaps, the most con-

THE B.ETICAN WILDERNESS MAY.

87

spicuous. We found a few eggs of both on the mud-flats to-day (May 5th), but a few daj^s later they were in thousands. The Stilts make a fairly solid nest of dead black stalks of tamarisk, &c., and lay four richly-marked eggs, all arranged points inwards ; the Avocet's eggs are larger and lighter in colour, and these birds seldom have any nest at all, the three eggs merely laid at random on the bare cracked mud, often an inch or two apart. Three is the usual complement.

A most curious picture do these singular birds present, either while flying past or hovering overhead on quick-

AV( )CET!<.

beating pinions, with their absurdly long legs extending far behind like dead straws. The Avocet is much the more sj^rightly and game-like of the two, with his shrill pipe and elegant flight, now rapid and "jerky," now skimming low on the water. But we never tire of w'atch- ing the quaint actions and postures of the Stilts, troops of w'hich stalk sedately in the shallows close at hand. So extremely long are the legs of this bird that, with their short necks, they cannot reach down to the ground, nor pick anything up therefrom. They are consequently only to be seen feeding in water about knee-deep, for which

88 WILD SPAIN.

purpose their peculiar build specially adapts them, picking up seeds, insects and aquatic plants from the surface.*

We found many nests of Peewit and Eedshank, those of the latter by far the best concealed, always in some thick clump of grass or samphire. Such familiar notes sound strangely incongruous amid the exotic bird-medley around, and the fact of their remaining to nest so far south is an ornithological curiosity. Birds which are at once inhal)i- tants of the extreme north of Europe, and yet capable of enduring the summer-heats of the Andalucian plains, set at nought one's ideas of geographical distribution. As already mentioned, we also found in April the Dunlin nesting on the lower Guadalquivir, and our friend Mr. W. C. Tait has detected the Common Sandpiper remaining to breed on the Lima and Minho in Portugal.

There also lay scattered on the dry mud many clutches of smaller eggs belonging to two other species, the Kentish Plover and Lesser Piing-dotterel. The latter, less common, were onlj- beginning to lay, choosing the drier, gravelly ridges of the islets. The eggs of the Kentish plover we had found as earlj^ as April 14th, and in May many were already much incubated. Neither of these make any nest — nothing but a few broken shells — and some eggs were deposited in a hollow scratched in dried cattle-droppings. On these islands were also many nests of the Si)anish Short-toed lark (CalandveUa Ixetira, Dresser — a species peculiar to this region), artlessl}^ built of dry grass, and placed in small hollows like a dunlin's, sometimes among thistles, as often on bare ground without covert. We found the first eggs on May 9th. On the larger grassy islands there also breed the Calandra, Crested and Short- toed Larks, with Ortolan, Common and Eeed-buntings.

* When first hatched, the legs of the young Stilts are qiiite short ; but by mid-June are of medium length, pale clay-colour, and curiously swollen about the knee-joint. The iipper plumage of the young at that date is mottled brown, irides brown. By the following January these young Stilts have acquired a black and white phunage ; but the irides remain dark, and the legs a pale pink. The adults vai-y in the disposition of black and white in their plumage, especially on head and neck, and some few liave tlie breast prettily tinged with roseate.

THE B^TICAN WILDERNESS — MAY.

89

il/fl// 8tli, 1872. — A remarkable passage of waders occurred to-day : the banks of the Guadalete swarmed with bird- Hfe, some of the oozes crowded with plovers, &c., as thick as they could stand. A mixed bag included whimbrels, grey plovers, ring-dotterel, curlew-sandpiper, sand-grouse, &c. Man}' of the Grey Plovers were superb specimens in perfect black-and-white plumage, and the Curlew- Sand- pipers in richest rufous summer-dress. Unfortunately, the attractions of the Great Bustard, several of which were also

GREY PLOVERS— SUMMER-PLUMAGE.

in sight, proved irresistible : but I had the satisfaction of riding home that evening with my first bustard slung to the alforjas. The next day, as is often the case, hardly a passage-bird was to be seen, and my bag only contained a pair of Grey Phalaropes, and a female Montagu's Harrier. May 9th, 1883. — The effects of dawn over the vast desolations of the marisma were specially beautiful this morning. Before sunrise the distant peaks of the Ser- rania de Eonda (seventy miles away) lay flooded in a blood-red light, and looking quite twice their usual height. Half an hour later the mountains sank back in a golden glow, and long before mid-day were invisible through the

90 WILD SPAIN.

quivering heat-haze and the atmospheric fantasies of in- finite space. Amid a chaotic confusion of mirage-effects, we rode out across the level plain — at first across dry mud- flats, partly carpeted with a dwarf scrub of marsh-plants, in places bare and naked, the sun-scorched surface cracked into rhomboids and parallelograms, and honeycombed with deep cattle-tracks made long ago when the mud was moist and plastic. Then through shallow marsh and stagnant waters, gradually deepening. Here from a rushy patch sprang three yeld hinds from almost underfoot, and splashed off through the shallows, their russet coats gleam- ing in the morning sunlight. Gradually the water deep- ened: mHcJia agua, imicJio fmigo .' groaned Felipe ; but this morning we intended to reach the very heart of the marisma : and before ten o'clock were cooking our break- fast on a far-away islet whereon never British foot had trod before, and which was literally covered with Avocets' eggs, and many more.

Here, while I was busy selecting, numbering, and preparing some of the most tyi^ical clutches, Felipe, whom I had sent to explore another islet close by, came up with five eggs, which he said he thought must be gull's. I saw at a glance he was right, and jumping up, espied among the clamorous crowd of marsh-terns, avocets, stilts, pratincoles, and other birds overhead, a single pair of strangers — small, very long-necked gulls. These I promptly knocked down, and at once recognized as Lanis gclastrs, one of the rarest of the South European gulls, and of whose In-eeding-places and habits comparatively little was known. Only a few days before I had received a letter from Mr. Howard Saunders especially enjoining me to keep a strict look-out for " the beautiful pink-breasted. Slender-billed Gull " ; we therefore at once commenced a careful investigation of all the islands in sight, never dreaming but that our two gulls and the five eggs were duly related to each other. It was therefore with no small surprise that shortly afterwards I found another gull's nest containing two very different eggs (white groand, spotted with black and brown like those

THE B.ETICAN WILDERNESS MAY. 91

of Sterna cantiara), from which I also shot a female L, (fflastes.* This time, however, there was no room for doubt : for the bird while in its death-throes actually laid a third egg in the water — a perfectly coloured and developed specimen, the exact counterpart of the two in the nest. Then, to make assurance doubly sure, I found on skinning the first pair of gulls that the female contained a fourth perfectly develoj^ed specimen of this very distinct egg. This of course placed the identity of the eggs of L. gdastcs beyond doubt : it was, however, equally certain that the first five eggs (which were dull greenish or stone- colour, faintly spotted with brown) belonged to some other species. Accordingh* I returned to the first-named islands, and at once perceived two or three pairs of small black-hooded gulls : these had doubtless been overlooked in the morning, mixed up as they were among numbers of gull-billed terns and other birds. They would not allow approach within shot, so I was obliged to risk a long chance with wire-cartridge. The bird was " feathered," but escaped at the moment. Two days afterwards, however, on a second visit, I found it lying dead, and recognized it by the jet-black hood and strong bill as Larus mclano- ceplialns, another of the rarer gulls, and presumably the owner of one of the first two nests. Those of the slender-billed gull, it should be added, were composed of yellow flags, the nests of L. melanocephalns of black tamarisk-stalks and other dark materials. To obtain in a smgle morning the nests of two of the rarest of European breeding birds was a measure of luck that rarely falls to the lot of an ornithologist : though the discovery, made a few hours later, of the breeding quarters of the flamingoes, appears to carry more ornithological kudos — quantum valeat.

May 11th. — The Pratincoles are now beginning to lay — one or two eggs in each nest : but subsequently we got them in baskets-full. Some of these eggs when freshly-laid have a

* A pair of the L. gelastes shot this day (together with some other of our Spanish specimens) are now set up in the Hancock Museum at Newcastle-on-Tvne.

92

WILD SPAIN.

beautiful purplish gloss. Three is their complement, and they make hardly any nest, merely a few broken chips of shells. We also found to-day, on the marismas of Guadalete, two nests of the Montagu's Harrier, each with five or six eggs, mere outlines of broken twigs arranged on the bare soil, one among low scrub, the other in the corn. The Marsh-Harrier breeds much earlier. We found this year three nests at the end of March — much more solid structures, built of dead flags, &c. : one was in standing corn, another on the ground in a cane-l^rake, the third on the top of a dense bramble-thicket, fifteen feet high — a

IX THE MARISMA— STILTS.

very awkward place to get at. Occasionally, where there was much water, we have found the Montagu's Harrier also nesting in brushwood, three or four feet above the ground. In the water beneath are strewn skulls of rabbits, ver- tebrae of lizards, Szc.

Later, again, are the Terns : the Whiskered and Black species (HijdrocJirlidoii Jif/hrida and H. nir/ra) breed in colonies both in the open marisma and on the lagoons of the Goto Donana, building their nests far out on the lilies and floating water-weeds. All these lay three eggs, those of the Whiskered Tern mostly greenish with black spots, a few olive-brown. The eggs of the Black Tern are much

THE BiETICAN WILDERNESS MAY. 93

smaller, and of a rich liver-brown, heavily blotched with black. The larger Gull-billed Tern {Stcnia anglica) breeds only on the islets of the marisma. I obtained their eggs, and those of the Lesser Tern (.S. ininiita) on my first visit on the 23rd of May.

These islands which we have just described lay some six or eight miles from the low shores of the marisma, and at that distance no land whatever was in sight. The coup (V<eil therefrom presented an extraordinary scene of desolation. The only relief from the monotony of endless wastes of water were the birds. A shrieking, clamom-ing crowd hung overhead, while only a few yards away the surface was dotted with troops of stilts sedately stalking about, knee-deep — in no other situation do their long legs permit them to feed. Further away large flights of smaller waders flashed — now white, now dark, — in the sun- light. Most of these were ring-dotterels, dunlins, and curlew-sandpiper, the two latter in full summer-plumage A marsh-harrier, oologically inclined, was being bullied and chased by a score of peewits : and now and then a little string of ducks high overhead would still remind one of winter. Beyond all these, the strange forms of hundreds of flamingoes met one's eye in every direction — some in groups or in dense masses, others with rigidly out- stretched necks and legs flying in short strings, or larger flights "glinting" in the sunshine like a pink cloud. Many pairs of old red birds were observed to be accompanied by a single white (immature) one. But the most extraordinary effect was produced by the more distant herds, the immense numbers of which formed an almost unbroken white horizon— a thin white line separating sea and sky round a great part of the circle.

But this chapter is long enough, and we must reserve for another the rest of our experiences among the flamingoes.

94 WILD SPAIN.

CHAPTEE YIII.

WILD CAMELS IN EUEOPE.

An incident occurred during our exploration of the marismas in the spring of 1883 which iUustrates the deso- late and unknown character of these wildernesses, and also brought to light a curious fact in natural history. Far away on the level plain I noticed two large animals evi- dently watching me. They were certainly not deer, which in spring often wander out into the marisma, but never so far as to where I then was. They stood too high on their legs for deer, and had a much greater lateral width as they stood facing me — their contour, in fact, somewhat re- sembled a couple of the long-stemmed, conical-topped, stone-pines, which are so characteristic of the adjoining woodlands. But there was something in their appearance even at the distance that prompted an attempt to reach closer quarters — there was a distinct [lame-look about them. I changed my cartridge for ball, and attempted an approach with all available caution, lying flat in the saddle and advancing obliquely by long "tacks," besides using the patera's, or native duck-shooter's, device of stopping at intervals to give the horse an appearance of grazing. But it was no use : while still a quarter of a mile away, the strangers simultaneously wheeled about and made off with shambling gait. Then for the first time, when their broad- sides were exposed to view, I saw that they were two camels, one much larger than the other.* Probably no one who reads this will be more surprised than was the

* From the dates subsequently given, it woiUd appear that the yoiing camels are produced about the month of February, or perhaps earlier.

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WILD CAMELS IN EUROPE. 95

writer at the apparition of the long-legged, long-necked, hump-backed pair ; but there was no room for mistake, for a camel is like nothing else in creation.

The camels appeared to have no great pace, and for some distance I pursued them, but it was hopeless. Be- tween us lay an arroyo, one of those wide stagnant channels that in sprmg intersect the dry parts of the marisma in all directions ; and before getting clear of this, splashing through some hundred yards of mud and water, the bactrians were far away, scudding across a dead- level plain that extended to the horizon.

I had heard on my first visit to this wilderness (in 1872) of the existence of camels therein, and that the}' had lived there wild for forty years or more, but was as incredulous as perhaps some of our present readers may be, and as some certainly were when I first mentioned the fact in the Ilns, in January, 1884, though then corroborated by Mr. Howard Saunders, one of the joint-editors, in the following foot-note : — " I saw a small herd of these feral camels in the Goto de Douana, on the 3rd of Ma}', 1868 ; but, finding that my statement as to the breeding of the crane in that neighbourhood was received with much incredulity, I kept the apparition of the camels to mj'self. I possessed the eggs of the crane to convince the sceptics, but I could not have produced a camel." Shortly after- wards the statement was somewhat contemptuously criti- cized by an anonymous writer in Tlie Field, who claimed to be himself acquainted with the marismas, and ridiculed the idea of camels existing there in a wild state. " The startling statement," wrote Iiilil/cati, " as to the existence of wild camels in the neighbourhood of Seville or Lebrija has taken me and my friends who know that country well by utter surprise ; and that camels should have been roam- ing about there and breeding, so to speak, as perfectly wild animals in a state of nature, seems to us utterly in- credible.

" The marismas in the summer time are covered with cattle, and of course they are accompanied everywhere by their herdsmen ; and, so to speak, every foot of open ground

96 WILD SPAIN.

is more or less under daily inspection. And, as the camel is a grazing animal, it would naturally be found in the more open parts of these marismas or marshes, where they could hardly have avoided detection and, as a certain con- sequence, capture or death for so long a period as you mention.

" So valuable an animal would be such a prize to the poor Spanish peasants, that they would turn out to a man to obtain it ; and there are, besides, too many English sportsmen at Seville and Jerez to allow the chance of so novel a chase to slip through their hands unnoticed.

" I may mention that a company is in existence for the drainage and better utilization of these marismas of Lebrija, and I can hardly imagine that such animals as camels could have escaped the notice of their surveyors and staff during their detailed surveys of the district.

" I may add, that my friend, the Belgian Consul at Seville, happens to be with me now, and quite agrees with what I have said. It would be very interesting if you could obtain any further news about these strange wanderers."

To this the following foot-note was appended by the Editor of Tit e Field : — "It is somewhat strange that our correspondent should ask for further information respect- ing animals whose existence he regards as ' utterly in- credible.' But the statement has not been made that there are wild camels anywhere near Seville. The districts explored by Mr. Abel Chapman are far removed from human habitation, and are not those in which herds of domestic cattle are ever seen. The fact that Mr. Chapman described for the first time the singular nests of the flamingo, which exists there in colonies, that have never before been figured [see next chapter] , proves that neither Iiildirati nor his friend can know the country well, and that ' every foot of ground ' cannot possibl}^ as he states, ' be open to daily inspection.' The fact that the camels have been observed on different occasions by two well- known naturalists — men trained to the close and accurate observation of animals, who both give their names — should have entitled their remarks to a different reception."

WILD CAMELS IN EUEOPE. 97

We have inserted the above extracts in full partly because the}' are a good example of the reckless way some people are prone to rush into print, and who, because they may have some acquaintance with a subject, think they are thereby entitled to speak as with complete knowledge. The marismas of Lebrija are, as a matter of fact, many miles away on the other side of the Guadalquivir.

No doubt it is a " startling statement " that wild camels are roaming at large in Europe, or anywhere else — it would hardly seem more incredible if a herd of hippo- potami were reported in the Upper Thames. The camel has never within historic times been known to exist in a wild state : it has always been the servant of man, a beast of burden and domesticity.* More than this, a certain physical disability or cause has been alleged to exist, which, if correct, would render their permanent continu- ance, in a natural state, an impossibility. Nor could any region be well conceived so ill-adapted — indeed repulsive — to the known habits and requirements of an animal always associated with arid sandy deserts, as the Spanish marismas, which, always marsh}', are subject to actual inundation during six months out of the twelve.

The discussion had, at any rate, the merit of evoking the following additional information respecting the Spanish camels, their introduction and habits. First I will quote a letter from my co-author, dated from the Goto Donana, March 1st. " Dear Chapman, — Your letter has reached me here, where we are shooting deer for the last time this season. I am glad I happened to be on the spot, having an opportunity of asking the (jnanlas and others for the facts respecting the camels, which I hoj^e will be sufficient to convince the sceptics of their existence here and of the truth of your observation, which I am surprised to hear has been called in question.

" The camels were brought here first from the Canary Isles b}' Domingo Castellanos, Ad ministrador to the Marques

* With the possible exception of those stated to have been dis- covered in the Kiun-tagh deserts of Central Asia by Col. Prejevalsky, the Piussian explorer.

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98 WILD SPAIN.

de Villa Franca, in 1829, be intending to make use of them in the Goto for transporting timber, charcoal, &c. The descendants of this Domingo, the two brothers Bar- rera of Almonte, now own the fifty or sixty animals which make the marisma lying between the Goto proper and the Guadalquivir their feeding-ground. They seldom appear on the wooded parts, remaining winter and summer in