Note 3 — Chapter IV · NORTH TIROL—UNTERINNTHAL (RIGHT INN-BANK). (ZILLERTHAL CUSTOMS.—THE WILDSCHÖNAU.)

Another amusement, in which they have a certain similarity with Spaniards, is cow-fighting. But it is not a mere sport, and cruelty is as much avoided as possible, for the beasts are made to fight only with each other, and only their natural weapons—each other’s horns—are brought against them. The victorious cow is not only the glory and darling of her owner, who loads her with garlands and caresses; but the fight serves to ascertain the hardy capacity of the animals as leaders of the herd, an office which is no sinecure, when they have to make their way to and from steep pastures difficult of access.3 Ram and goat fights are also held in the same way, and with the same object.