The final conquest of the Moors, and the subsequent cessation of the border chivalrous habits of Spaniards, and especially the accession of Philip V., proved fatal to this ancient usage of Spain. The spectacle, which had withstood the influence of Isabella the Catholic, and had beaten the Pope’s Bulls, bowed before the despotism of fashion, and by becoming the game of professionals instead of that of gentlemen it was stripped of its chivalrous character, and degenerated into the vulgar butchery of low mercenary bull-fighters, just as did the rings and tournaments of chivalry into those of ruffian pugilists. The Spanish bulls have been immemorially famous. Hercules, that renowned cattle-fancier, was lured into Spain by the lowing of the herds of Geryon, the ancestor (se dice) of the Duque de Osuna. The best bulls in Andalusia are bred by Cabrera at Utrera, in the identical pastures where Geryon’s herds were pastured and “lifted” by the demigod, whence, according to Strabo (iii. 169), they were obliged, after fifty days’ feeding, to be driven off from fear of bursting from fat. Some of the finest Castilian bulls, such as appear at Madrid, are bred on the Jarama, near Aranjuez. Bull-fights are extremely expensive, costing from one thousand five hundred dollars to two thousand dollars apiece; accordingly, except in the chief capitals and Andalusia, they are only got up now and then, on great church festivals and upon royal and public rejoicings. As Andalusia is the headquarters of the ring, and Seville the capital, the alma mater of the tauromachists of the Peninsula, the necessity of sending to a distance for artists and animals increases the expense. The prices of admittance, compared to the wages of labor in Spain, are high. The profits of the bull-fight are usually destined for the support of hospitals, and, certainly, the fever and the frays subsequent to the show provide patients as well as funds. The Plaza is usually under the superintendence of a society of noblemen and gentlemen, called Maestranzas, instituted in 1562, by Philip II., in the hope of improving the breed of Spanish horses and men-at-arms.