A Sunday in Central America.

Cromwell Argus, Volume V, Issue 221, 3 February 1874, Page 7

A Sunday in Central America.

■ The day of our visit to Cliepo happened to he on Sunday—a fact of which we were constantly reminded by the incessant crowing of game -cocks, which were tethered in the streets and little grass-grown plaza in front of the church, which was to be the scene of their contests. Towards the afternoon, priests in their canonical garments, and sporting young gentlemen in white trousers and shirts, cob lected to back their favourites and witness the sports. The excitement, seemed to have communicated itself to the birds, and they clapped their wings defiantly as their owners • caressed and admired them. “ The cockpit was n, primitive arrangement—a number of logs of wood ranged round a clear space, about 50ft. square. I was introduced to one of the most fashionable and celebrated sporting characters in Chepo, a handsome young gentleman of colour, in spotless white, but without shoes and stockings or coat, who informed me that his cock was to be engaged* in the first match ; and lie secured me a good place in the ring, which was soon crowded with anxious faces. Then two men advanced into

the centre of the ring with the cocks, and' after re-sharpening the points of l their long* spurs, and whetting them with lemon-juice,! they set theqi two os flitee timesat : onej another to get their blood up, then let them; go, and the fight fairly began, I never .saw anything equal to the excitement of the spectators during the contest, which Was as bloody ; and disgusting as such exhibitions must ever; be. Unable to retain their seats, they dancedi about, swearing and cheering with frantic; gesticulations. Every time one of the un-{ fortunate birds tried to escape from his opponent, he was seized by his backer, who,'; having previously filled his mouth with sugarcane juice, plunged the. head of the coek,i streaming with blood, into it, and so sue-' ceeded in washing'his wounds and refreshing him for a renewal of the conflict. Then dis° putes arose as to which was winning; and the betting became fast and furious, and the wretched cocks more inveterate, as they almost cut each others’ headsjoff. Twice they were both so exhausted as to be unable to raise themselves to their.legs ; but their nierciless backers pressed them'unrelentingly to the contest, until at last the one which, : to my unexperienced eyes, had ■ propiised to be the victor, was stretched gaping and bleeding on the ground, and his opponent, getting on his prostrate body, managed to. effect a feeble crow, and then tumbled hoad-over-heels, in an effort to give his wings a triumphant flap. He was the property of my friend, who had worked himself up to a pitijh of frenzied delight, and who now bore off, amid the cheers of those who had w.on money by him, the; mangled conquerer. This young man dined with us the same evening, and was still so; overcome with the effects of his excitement that he would touch nothing, as he naively remarked that he never could eat anything, the day a cock of his was to tight. Not caring to witness a repetition of so dis- 1 agreeable a spectacle, my friend and I strolled through the village, and, seeing a group of its female inhabitants collected on a grassy knoll, we joined them, and entered into conversation without any more formal introduction, after the custom of the country. One of the amenities of travel in these parts is absence of ceremony in social intercourse. We wander through the quiet little village streets, and look in at the open doors at a snug family circle swinging in hammocks, and without more ado we walk in, and. are soon swinging us well, exchanging cigarettes, mingling our fragrant smoke with theirs, as if our intimacy had been of years’' standing. The black eyes of the signoritas are at first modestly cast down, but they soon dance with merriment at the bad Spanish of the estranges Ingleses.- 11 Patriots and Filibusters