'When I see children at the _corrida_, I sigh and think of the future of Spain,' said my Spanish friend. Such expression of opinion is almost treasonable. Long live the bull fight! Humanitarian cant is not to be taken seriously. It is not only the Spanish people who love the sport. 'There are no more enthusiastic patrons of the bull ring in Madrid,' writes Mr. H. C. Chatfield Taylor, author of _The Land of the Castanet_, 'than many of the foreign diplomats, and one remembers clearly the Secretary of the United States Legation, stationed in Madrid at the time of a former visit, saying that he was an annual subscriber, and had not missed a _corrida_ during his entire term of office.' THE LIFE OF THE FIGHTING BULL. In Great Britain our nobility and gentle-folk breed racehorses. In Spain the aristocracy and grandees rear bulls for the ring. The breeders of bulls are termed _ganaderos_. Around Seville, Jerez, Huelva and Valladolid are born the _toros bravos_. At the age of one year the bulls selected for the arena are branded, and sent on to the plains to graze, in charge of a _conocedor_, who is assisted by an _ayudante_. When the bulls are two years of age, they are tried for the first time to prove their pluck and pugnacity. At four years old they are put into huge enclosures of good pasturage, and in time of scarcity they are fed upon vetches, maize and wheat. From five to seven _toro_ is warrantable for the _lidia_. At his trial, at the age of two years, the owner of the herd invites a number of friends to the ranche. Young and clever horsemen attend these trials, and vie with one another in courage. The _caballeros_ are armed with the _garrochas_, lances about twelve feet in length, with short steel points. Visitors to Seville may often see parties of mounted sportsmen returning from these _tentadores_, or trials. A bull is separated from its companions. The horseman, carrying the _garrocha_, pursues the brute, and attempts to overturn it by a powerful thrust on the flank, delivered at full gallop. The horseman must be a bold rider, possessed of coolness and strong in the arm. If the charge is successful, _toro_ tumbles with its feet in the air. Another rider now takes up the attack. He has a sharper spear, and is called _el tentador_. Should the young bull refuse to charge, it is discarded as a _toro bravo_, and the slaughter-house or the life of labour awaits it. The chosen bulls are then christened, and entered upon the breeder's list of warrantable animals. In due time their names appear on the brilliant placards advertising the _corridas_ of Seville or Cadiz.