at Cape Town on the 31st of October. Owing to the Boer investment of Ladysmith and the consequent gravity of the military situation in Natal, he unexpectedly hurried thither in order to supervise personally the operations, but on the 15th of December his first attempt to cross the Tugela at Colenso (see Ladysmith) was repulsed. The government, alarmed at the situation and the pessimistic tone of Buller’s messages, sent out Lord Roberts to supersede him in the chief command, Sir Redvers being left in subordinate command of the Natal force. His second attempt to relieve Ladysmith (January 10–27) proved another failure, the result of the operations at Spion Kop (January 24) causing consternation in England. A third attempt (Vaalkrantz, February 5–7) was unsuccessful, but the Natal army finally accomplished its task in the series of actions which culminated in the victory of Pieter’s Hill and the relief of Ladysmith on the 27th of February. Sir Redvers Buller remained in command of the Natal army till October 1900, when he returned to England (being created G.C.M.G.), having in the meanwhile slowly done a great deal of hard work in driving the Boers from the Biggarsberg (May 15), forcing Lang’s Nek (June 12), and occupying Lydenburg (September 6). But though these latter operations had done much to re-establish his reputation for dogged determination, and he had never lost the confidence of his own men, his capacity for an important command in delicate and difficult operations was now seriously questioned. The continuance, therefore, in 1901 of his appointment to the important Aldershot command met with a vigorous press criticism, in which the detailed objections taken to his conduct of the operations before Ladysmith (and particularly to a message to Sir George White in which he seriously contemplated and provided for the contingency of surrender) were given new prominence. On the 10th of October 1901, at a luncheon in London, Sir Redvers Buller made a speech in answer to these criticisms in terms which were held to be a breach of discipline, and he was placed on half-pay a few days later. For the remaining years of his life he played an active part as a country gentleman, accepting in dignified silence the prolonged attacks on his failures in South Africa; among the public generally, and particularly in his own county, he never lost his popularity. He died on the 2nd of June 1908. He had married in 1882 Lady Audrey, daughter of the 4th Marquess Townshend, who survived him with one daughter.
A Memoir, by Lewis Butler, was published in 1909.
BULLET (Fr. boulet, diminutive of boule, ball). The original meaning (a “small ball”) has, since the end of the 16th century, been narrowed down to the special case of the projectile used with small arms of all kinds, irrespective of its size or shape. (For details see Ammunition; Gun; Rifle, &c.)
BULL-FIGHTING, the national Spanish sport. The Spanish name is tauromaquia (Gr. ταῦρος, bull, and μαχή, combat). Combats with bulls were common in ancient Thessaly as well as in the amphitheatres of imperial Rome, but probably partook more of the nature of worrying than fighting, like the bull-baiting formerly common in England. The Moors of Africa also possessed a sport of this kind, and it is probable that they introduced it into Andalusia when they conquered that province. It is certain that they held bull-fights in the half-ruined Roman amphitheatres of Merida, Cordova, Tarragona, Toledo and other places, and that these constituted the favourite sport of the Moorish chieftains. Although patriotic tradition names the great Cid himself as the original Spanish bull-fighter, it is probable that the first Spaniard to kill a bull in the arena was Don Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, who about 1040, employing the lance, which remained for centuries the chief weapon used in the sport, proved himself superior to the flower of the Moorish knights. A spirited rivalry in the art between the Christian and Moorish warriors resulted, in which even the kings of Castile and other Spanish princes took an ardent interest. After the Moors were driven from Spain by Ferdinand II., bull-fighting continued to be the favourite sport of the aristocracy, the method of fighting being on horseback with the lance. At the time of the accession of the house of Austria it had become an indispensable accessory of every court function, and Charles V. ensured his popularity with the people by killing a bull with his own lance on the birthday of his son, Philip II. Philip IV. is also known to have taken a personal part in bull-fights. During this period the lance was discarded in favour of the short spear (rejoncillo), and the leg armour still worn by the picadores was introduced. The accession of the house of Bourbon witnessed a radical transformation in the character of the bullfight, which the aristocracy began gradually to neglect, admitting to the combats professional subordinates who, by the end of the 17th century, had become the only active participants in the bull-ring. The first great professional espada (i.e. swordsman, the chief bull-fighter, who actually kills the bull) was Francisco Romero, of Ronda in Andalusia (about 1700), who introduced the estoque, the sword still used to kill the bull, and the muleta, the red flag carried by the espada (see below), the spear falling into complete disuse.
For the past two centuries the art of bull-fighting has developed gradually into the spectacle of to-day. Imitations of the Spanish bull-fights have been repeatedly introduced into France and Italy, but the cruelty of the sport has prevented its taking firm root. In Portugal a kind of bull-baiting is practised, in which neither man nor beast is much hurt, the bulls having their horns truncated and padded and never being killed. In Spain many vain attempts have been made to abolish the sport, by Ferdinand II. himself, instigated by his wife Isabella, by Charles III., by Ferdinand VI., and by Charles IV.; and several popes placed its devotees under the ban of excommunication with no perceptible effect upon its popularity. Before the introduction of railways there were comparatively few bull-rings (plazas de toros) in Spain, but these have largely multiplied in recent years, in both Spain and Spanish America. At the present day nearly every larger town and city in Spain has its plaza de toros (about 225 altogether), built in the form of the Roman circuses with an oval open arena covered with sand, surrounded by a stout fence about 6 ft. high. Between this and the seats of the spectators is a narrow passage-way, where those bull-fighters who are not at the moment engaged take their stations. The plazas de toros are of all sizes, from that of Madrid, which holds more than 12,000 spectators, down to those seating only two or three thousand. Every bull-ring has its hospital for the wounded, and its chapel where the toreros (bull-fighters) receive the Holy Eucharist.
The bulls used for fighting are invariably of well-known lineage and are reared in special establishments (vacádas), the most celebrated of which is now that of the duke of Veragua in Andalusia. When quite young they are branded with the emblems of their owners, and later are put to a test of their courage, only those that show a fighting spirit being trained further. When full grown, the health, colour, weight, character of horns, and action in attack are all objects of the keenest observation and study. The best bulls are worth from £40 to £60. About 1300 bulls are killed annually in Spain. Bull-fighters proper, most of whom are Andalusians, consist of espadas (or matadores), banderilleros and picadores, in addition to whom there are numbers of assistants (chulos), drivers and other servants. For each bull-fight two or three espadas are engaged, each providing his own quadrille (cuadrilla), composed of several banderilleros and picadores. Six bulls are usually killed during one corrida (bull-fight), the espadas engaged taking them in turn. The espada must have passed through a trying novitiate in the art at the royal school of bull-fighting, after which he is given his alternativa, or licence.
The bull-fight begins with a grand entry of all the bull-fighters with alguaciles, municipal officers in ancient costume, at the head, followed, in three rows, by the espadas, banderilleros, picadores, chulos and the richly caparisoned triple mule-team used to drag from the arena the carcasses of the slain bulls and horses. The greatest possible brilliance of costume and accoutrements is aimed at, and the picture presented is one of dazzling colour. The espadas and banderilleros wear short jackets and small-clothes of satin richly embroidered in gold and silver, with
