Students’ Work

This year’s creative work section reaches out to many different subjects within the school, showing individual/group excellence within them. It is our hope that many readers will find something to interest them within this section containing illustrations from the Art exhibition and works from English, Geography and Economics. It was, unfortunately, impossible to include works from every subject that submitted pieces, but, with the launch of the new school journals, including the Olavian Academic Journal under the patronage of Mr Budds, we feel sure that such articles will not be lost to people as a result of not being printed here.

Should the experience of China silence those who think that democracy is good for growth?

Dawud Khan’s (Lower VI) prize-winning Economics essay

“Let China sleep, for when she wakes, she will shake the world”- Napoleon Bonaparte, 1803.

And China has done exactly that. It was conventional wisdom that democracy was the best political system for achieving economic growth1, Francis Fukuyama in “The end of history” suggests that it defeated feudalism, monarchical, fascism, and finally communism; that democracy is undisputedly the ultimate result of political evolution. But the rise of China as an economic super-house has defied this perception; a country that is steadily on its way to become the largest economy, a position it held for 18 out of the last 20 centuries2, will re-establish itself in the 21st.

We have to understand institutionally what China is. It is clearly not a democracy, its leaders are not publically elected and neither are they held accountable for their decisions. The Politburo3 is the absolute source of power; policies are dictated by 25 individuals. But China is also not the nation it was 40 years ago, since Deng Xiaoping succession economic liberalisation followed, the country very much encapsulates an authoritarian capitalist system – described by Minxin Pei as a ‘Neo Leninist’ model which amalgamates the “one party system and state control of key sectors of the economy with partial market reforms and an end to self-imposed isolation from the world economy.” This model places greater gravitas on economic development over liberalism. With this system under its belt China produced remarkable economic growth: it averaged a 10% increases in GDP year upon year for 3 decades, it shifted 400 million people into the ranks of the middle class, it alleviated mass poverty and Robert Fogel even envisages that the size of its economy will reach $123 trillion by 2040, far outstripping that of the U.S. It is upon this authoritarian capitalist system that we shall be focusing and whether this model can replace that of democracy in achieving the goal of economic growth.

Proponents of Capitalist Authoritarianism claim that regimes are insulated from unwanted pressures and possess the vision to implement policies to aid economic growth, on a rock bed of political stability. Przeworksi and Limongi affirm that democracy is susceptible to pressures for mass consumption “which occurs at the cost of investment, hence of growth”. The reasons behind this are varied, but the most common supposition declares that the populace is myopic and demand immediate consumption, inevitably diminishing savings. Democratic politicians are forced to redistribute resources to private and public consumption or face punishment in the form of poor elections from voters. Whereas Authoritarian regimes can more easily neglect these pressures for mass consumption. The first channel of this ‘mass consumption’ results from political redistribution; democratic countries are compelled to tax the rich, who tend to save and invest a large proportion of their income and redistribute this to poor who have a higher propensity to consume. Secondly, an inherent part of a democracy is the right to form collective labour organisations such as trade unions, the existence of these bodies provides a bargaining chip for workers to demand wage rises, the ensuing consequence is that these workers receive higher wages and inevitably consume a much greater proportion of their income than their rich capital owners. Whilst it is true that China is home to the world’s largest trade union, the All-China Federation Trade Union (ACFTU) with a membership of 137 million it is virtually impotent when it comes to representing workers and in actual fact remains largely nugatory which is a factor for China’s low wages. These lower wages have also played economic miracles; it provided China with a comparative advantage in the international community and gave rise to the offshoring of companies who brought vital investment. Furthermore the ability of authoritarian regimes to eschew political accountability and responsibility allows them to discourage consumption through not providing social security, welfare and insurance programs. China only began widely introducing these in the 1990s whereas before this consumers had to save for their retirement and healthcare.

The overall result of this ‘mass consumption’ is that consumers in democratic countries have lower savings rates than those with authoritarian regimes, Chinese savings rates as illustrated by Figure 1 have always been more than twice that of the US, a democratic country. The Solow model suggests that high saving rates leads to higher capital addition and higher growth, since savings provide a pond of resources for investment, a key determinant for growth. This idea is vindicated by Elhanan Helpman who states “economies with higher savings rates grow faster because they allocate more resources to inventive activities”. Furthermore Young’s studies of East Asian ‘Tigers’ attributes this capital investment from savings to be the predominant reason behind their incredible growth. If a democracy undermines investment in physical capital it threatens its potential for economic growth and Authoritarian regimes stand a far better chance in achieving it4

Another argument for why China’s authoritarian capitalist model is more conducive at generating economic growth is that the democratic system is replete with bureaucracy

Figure 1: National Savings Rates (IFS, Taiwan Statistical Databook) and thus implementing proficient economic reforms becomes wearisome. The careful burdensome democratic process with its institutional discussion, checks and balances and the representation of different interest groups makes rapid reform impossible. If authoritarian regimes like China have the mantra of pro-growth then instigating policies to aid this becomes easier. Two heavy-weight economists, Acemoglu and Robison in ‘Why nations fail’ attribute this type of political decisionmaking “Extractive institutions” where “such growth takes place when elites find it in their interest to allow new technologies and institutional changes necessary for economic growth”. Moreover authoritarian regimes have longer time horizons than their democratically elected counterparts. Since politicians face re-election they have little incentive to promote radical reform. Perhaps the best example of radical reform which changed the face of China is the ‘Open-door’ policy where foreign trade and investment was encouraged after a long period of isolation. In 1978 the total volume of Chinas foreign trade amounted to only 7% of GDP, after the inauguration of this policy this volume jumped to 25% in 1987 and by 1998 comprised of 37% of GDP. Exporting companies were also given special treatment; they were allowed to retain part of their foreign exchange and the government was generous with long term capital expansion. The speed at which this turnover policy was implemented was remarkable, and such rapid reform would be non-existent in a democracy.

There are three significant studies that delve into subject of regime type and economic growth. The first, conducted by Prezowrksi and limongi analysed 18 studies carried out by various economists and generated 21 findings. Eight found in favour of democracy, eight in favour of authoritarianism and five discovered no difference and largely came to the conclusion that “authoritarian regimes grew faster than democracies”. The second piloted by Ali and Crain and suggested that “the effect of economic freedom on growth is independent of the level of political freedom and civil liberty” thus regime type is not a factor for economic growth. Finally the most recent study by Hassett, proposes that politically repressed countries outgrew politically free ones by a score of 6.28% growth in GDP compared with 2.62%, as elucidated by figure 2. The significant factor here is that Hassett only analysed Capitalist Authoritarian governments as opposed to simple authoritarian ones, countries such as China, Singapore, Malaysia and Russian were investigated.

Should critics be silenced? Not just yet. Authoritarian regimes are replete with problems, if it is not the interest of the ruling elite to pursue growth enhancing policies, growth simply will not occur. In some cases regimes may block such policies because it can undermine their political position. Additionally a lot of authoritarian regimes don’t have political stability: African nations with their localised power usurps are an anathema for investment. Democracies are also believed to protect property rights better and according to David LeBlang “nations that protect property rights grow faster than those that do not”. Another point to consider is that the very accountability of democratic politicians which poses a threat through ‘mass consumption’ also results in superior services in healthcare and education than those in authoritarian countries. These improved amenities lead to enhanced human capital and productivity - a generator of economic growth. Moreover Paul Romer believes that the most important determinant for long term economic growth lies with technological change. Civil liberties such as freedom of speech, mass media and travel allow for a widespread diffusion of ideas and technologies, which consequently enhances technological change. There is strong evidence to back this, Young highlighted that Singapore, Taiwan, and South Korea had fast capital accumulation, but had unspectacular Total Factor Productivity Growth (TFP) - i.e. low technological change-induced growth. China has been successful because it has avoided all these pitfalls: its capitalist model is based on pro-growth ideology, it has centralised power with which to carry effective reforms, its policies are aimed at increasing technological development and investment, it has devoted large resources to healthcare and education and it comprehensively protects property rights.

Indeed, China’s capitalist authoritarian model looks compelling, but is it sustainable? Consider Siegle, Weinsten and Halperin’s analysis “Seventy percent of Autocracies have experienced at least one such episode (a fall of at least 10% of GDP) since 1980, whereas 5 of the 80 worst examples of economic contraction over the last 40 years have occurred in democracies” similarly the evidence isn’t entirely skewed in favour of Authoritarian regimes, overall they might exhibit growth rates above those of democracies but the actual results show a great amount of variance, with an iotas amount of growth to the exceptional. Economic growth is also not the only measure of a country’s progress. China may be accredited with scintillating growth, but nevertheless it scores poorly on other factors - Minxin Pei has routinely called it “fragile” due to its domestic complications such as burgeoning inequality, internal migration, marginalisation of ethnic minorities, increasing environmental damage, rampant corruption and lack of labour rights. China’s Gini coefficient of income has increased from 0.28 to 0.45 from 1991 to 2000; a relatively short time span. Additionally no authoritarian regime, including China, are insulated from pro-elite policies which can very easily hamper growth; since rising public frustration coupled with social injustice breeds political instability. However these problems are no secret to the Beijing Consensus5, the most boisterous local dispute over Taiwan’s sovereignty may finally be coming to a resolution and at home, the government’s increasing sensitivity to public opinion has made the regime more popular than ever. Robert Fogel believes these dynamics make “political instability unlikely”. However it is only a matter of time before the educated Chinese middle class will demand the same rights as their western counterparts, the right to have a say in the governance of their homeland, the right to full civil liberties, the right to self-determination. But the Politburo will not give in so easily. China’s institutional model will have to lose either the ‘authoritarian’ or capitalist’ part to survive; it could develop into a liberal capitalist democracy or an isolated authoritarian nightmare.

The quest for the answer to achieving economic growth has been an incessant one, in the light of the recent recession which has plagued the developed world the capitalist authoritarian model has provided a beacon of hope; a model that has undeniably proved miraculous for China. But no one should be silenced. It is true that the evidence points in the favour of authoritarianism, but correlation does not imply causation. Minxin Pei makes a valid statement “Dictatorships are good at concealing the problems they create while democracy is good at advertising its defects.” The shine of this model may be beginning to peel off; many economists believe it is the abandonment of China’s isolationist, protectionist and socialist economic policies that ushered in the era of unprecedented growth as opposed to its institutional model. Even Przeworski a decade after his initial study suggested that “there is no trade-off between democracy and development”. The question of sustainability also looms large; economic growth in authoritarian states only acts to encourage democracy. And perhaps it is upon this system that the world should be focusing on instead; an amalgamation between an authoritarian foundation followed by democracy, as South Korea has shownall western developed democracies also achieved their initial growth under some auspices of authoritarianism. Only time will tell whether any model can replace that of the long established one of democracy. But if you still prefer to indulge in Facebook6, than let us believe that the capacity of self-correction in democracy can only improve upon our existing model. And hope that the contradictions in capitalist authoritarianism, like communism before it, undermine itself.

Winston Churchill famously remarked “Democracy is the worst form of government except for all those others that have been tried.” That remains as true as ever.

Discuss the relative importance of physical and human factors in accounting for changes to vegetation over time within ecosystems in the British Isles

Iain McGowan’s (Upper VI) Geography essay

In the British Isles, physical factors, including climate and topography combine creating climatic climax community of temperate deciduous forest. Therefore, in otherwise unaffected situations, most of the British Isles would be covered by temperate deciduous woodland, however, due to human factors and variations in physical factors across the country, subclimaxes occur, meaning only 12% of the UK is covered in deciduous woodland. Subclimaxes can occur from human actions, leading to a plagioclimax, or from physical factors such as soil conditions, relief or the availability of water leading to an edaphic, topological or hydrological climax respectively. Therefore, it is obvious that there must be a combination of physical and human factors culminating in the formation of ecosystems and these also account for changes to vegetation over time.

In the British Isles, the majority of the country has ideal climatic conditions for producing temperate deciduous woodland. Worldwide, temperate deciduous forest is located between 40-60 degrees north or south of the equator. Lying between 58.6 degrees north and 50.0 degrees north, the UK provides the ideal location for temperate deciduous forest to grow, providing the appropriate seasonal variations between temperatures and rainfall. Temperate deciduous woodland also needs an average of 1000-1500mm of rainfall each year, which should be relatively evenly distributed across all twelve months. Whilst the UK gets more than enough rainfall in some areas (especially in the west, due to relief rain falling as moist air from the sea rises onto the land) other areas such as the south east receive less than 1000mm, with London receiving an average of 650mm each year. This means some areas have better conditions for temperate deciduous woodland than other areas and so physical factors have a great effect on the climatic climax vegetation in an ecosystem.

The deciduous trees favour a growing season of four to six months, allowing them to shed their leaves each autumn when they have become damaged and worn out as it is more efficient than trying to repair their leaves all year round. This also means that there is a lower chance of the trees becoming desiccated over the winter when moisture is less accessible as transpiration rates are lower. The UK also has a moderate temperature all year round with no extremes, so cold spells and drought occur infrequently and trees are less likely to die. However, there are regional variations in the average temperature across the UK as the north has an average of 8.5oC and the south has an average of 11oC. This has led to some areas of Scotland, especially areas of higher ground, having a climatic climax community of coniferous forest due to the lower temperatures, such as in the Caledonian Forest. Long hours of sunlight during the summer give the biome lots of energy, leading to the production of lots of organic matter. This therefore means that the temperate deciduous woodland has a high net primary productivity (NPP) rate of 600-2500 grams per square metre each year. The change in the location of the nutrients between seasons can be seen on the two Gersmehl models on the next page. There is obviously going to be a change in plant life (both in number of plants and species) from autumn to spring due to the different amounts of nutrients available to the plants from the soil. These physical factors contribute to changes to vegetation on a seasonal basis and so are responsible for changes within the year.

Plagioclimaxes, where human intervention stops an area becoming the climatic climax community, may occur when humans deforest an area of land. Much of the UK used to be covered with temperate deciduous forest, however human intervention since the Bronze Age has led to deforestation to clear land for live stock farms and wood harvesting. Some areas of cleared landed, such as the North Yorkshire Moors, have resulted in a plagioclimax of heather moorland being created. Deforestation in the Middle Ages in Malham, Yorkshire, cleared vast areas of land for agricultural purposes, predominantly for pastoral farming. Soil degradation then occurred due to trampling by sheep and weathering, leading to the establishment of heather moorland in the area. Grazing prevents young saplings from growing back so the heather (Calluna Vulgaris) has remained the dominant species. In order to keep the heather (which provides valuable habitat for species of bird such as Red Grouse) as a plagioclimax, muirburn occurs, burning patches of heather, allowing new young heather to grow which provides a better diet for sheep and allows nutrients to return to the soil from the ash. It also allows fast growing species, such as blaeberry, to establish themselves before the heather once again takes over. However, if uncontrolled, the burning can kill plants and new shoots won’t be able to grow back from rootstock level, leaving land barren. In the case of the North Yorkshire heather moorland, human intervention is not only the reason why it is there, but the reason why it remains, however, this is not always the case as, according to Dr Oliver Rackham writing in ‘History of the Countryside’, some heather moorland occurred naturally in Scotland, as pollen analysis proves that trees have never grown in the area. Therefore, physical factors affect the plant community present in an ecosystem as well as on the succession leading to it.

Deforestation can also occur from natural causes. For instance, lightning can cause forest fires in times of drought. This leads to changes in vegetation as the dominant tree species of temperate deciduous forest generally take many years to grow and so faster growing species can thrive. Another major cause of deforestation is as a result of urbanisation. As humans make the change from rural settlements to towns and cities, more land has to be cleared of its vegetation in order to build the buildings and the infrastructure required to support the town. Land is cleared for roads and transport links such as airports and railways. In the UK, 16,321km of railway tracks exist as well as 394,428km of roads, requiring massive areas of land to be cleared for these to be built. Airport expansion has led to the loss of habitat, as well as noise disturbing wildlife and pollution from aircraft disrupting the ecosystem. Proximity to a new airport may lead to an increase in visitors to an area of woodland, as there is more traffic in the area with people getting off planes, leading to the forest being damaged and plants being killed due to litter, loose dogs and people stealing dead wood (preventing nutrients returning to the soil). Therefore, the transport links created in our urbanising world can have serious side effects for the plants, which is a decidedly human factor in the changes to plants in the British Isles.

Another reason for changes to vegetation is the need for more food (due to an increasing population and an increase in meat consumption) in the cities leading to the mechanisation of agriculture has occurred. At each trophic stage, energy is lost and so eating meat as opposed to crops, as it contains at least one extra stage, is more inefficient as lots more land is needed to give us the same amount of energy. This has led to larger fields leading to the loss of other habitats such as hedgerows. Developments in genetically modified crops also means that some plants would be unable to compete with the ones human choose to grow, even if the farms were to be abandoned and the vegetation to become wild again. The use of pesticides and insecticides also impacts on the wider ecological community as when the insects die, they become unable to pollinate other plants and so the plants may become rarer and eventually die out. This is another way humans can affect succession within an ecosystem, however the increase in organic produce means that all pesticides and fertilisers used are natural and so this may reduce their effects on the plants growing in the British Isles.

Recently, there has been a trend towards afforestation by humans across the British Isles and across much of Europe. The European Union has provided grants to farmers who turn part of their agricultural land into forests since 1990. This has resulted in an increase in temperate deciduous forest from just 4% of land area 100 years ago to 12% now in the UK due to the reintroduction of traditional species, such as oak and ash, into forests across the UK, such as in Rand Wood in Lincolnshire. However, despite progress being made, the UK is still very far off of the EU’s average of 45%, but this can be explained due to the UK having a high population in a relatively small land area compared to other countries such as France and Germany. Therefore the changes to the vegetation of an area can be disrupted by human activities such as deforestation, but they can also be reversed such as through afforestation.

One physical factor that can cause changes to plants in the British Isles is from disease or the introduction of a new animal to an area. If a new animal is introduced, it may choose to eat all of one plant allowing other species to grow in its place. Animals moving into an area may also bring in new species of plants with them through faecal matter and so cause change in this way. Disease, such as that caused by the Chalara fraxinea fungus on ash trees, can wipe out much of one particularly susceptible species. In Denmark, the fungus has wiped out 90% of its ash trees and a similar problem could now occur in the British Isles now. However, humans are trying to intervene to stop this wide scale destruction and have destroyed 100,000 ash trees in just six weeks to try to control the disease. This human intervention will also have an effect on the plants in the ecosystem, but perhaps not as much as the physical effect may have had if it was left alone.

One major factor accounting for changes to vegetation in the British Isles is its location within the country. If an area of land is near to the coast, a halosere is more likely to develop than a temperate deciduous forest is. In a salt marsh such as Morcambe Bay in Northwest England, there is likely to be a succession from pioneer halophytic plants growing in the mudflats which trap sediment through flocculation, allowing other plants (such as sea meadow grass and sea lavender) to grow before the area turns into carr woodland. However, in an inland dry environment, such as Wytham Woods in Oxford where oak and ash woodland covers 400 hectares of land, succession leading to a temperate deciduous forest is most likely to occur. The availability of water in an area also affects the changes to the plants, with a fresh water environment being likely to transform into a hydrosere such as Offwell in Devon. Originally the lake there was too deep for rooted plants to grow as not enough sunlight would reach them for photosynthesis to occur, so the sole inhabitants of the lake were microorganisms and plankton floating in the water. As sediment gets transported into the lake, depth decreases so rooted plants, such as starwort and pondweed, can grow. As plant life increased, small invertebrates and fish began to inhabit the area and dead matter filled the lake, turning it into a swampy area. In this, yellow iris and branched bur-reed began to grow and over time, evaporation turns the swamp into drier land, allowing new plants, such as water mint, to take over in the changed conditions. As the boggy areas dry up, plants such as star sedge and ferns grow, until the area becomes ever drier, partly due to transpiration of the vegetation, allowing the climatic climax community of temperate deciduous forest to grow, with oak, ash and beech becoming dominant with smaller plants, such as wood anemone and wild garlic, growing on the forest floor where enough light filters through the leaves. Therefore, the location of an area within a country can hugely affect the changes in vegetation of an area and so can the plants themselves as they help to prepare the area for new plants through trapping sediment and changing the pH of the soil.

In the British Isles, many factors combine to create succession within our ecosystems. Human factors, such as deforestation – and afforestation – and pollution (through carbon emissions and littering) can cause plagioclimaxes which stops the plant life from reaching its climatic climax community. However, the physical factors of a location (within both the country and the world) and climate of the country generally have larger effects on the progression of the species within an ecosystem than human factors do, but both physical and human factors can cause subclimaxes and stop the climatic climax community from ever being achieved. Humans are having a greater impact on the changes to vegetation than they have done in the past as a greater population has led to a greater strain on resources, consequently leading to more exploitation of the natural environment than in the past and so humans are having a greater effect on succession now than they ever have before.

The Thirteenth Labour of Hercules: The Bronze Bull

Sam Beale’s (8C) imaginative depiction of the thirteenth labour, incorporating an impressive knowledge of classical mythology.

Hercules approached the throne of Eurystheus and knelt respectfully at the foot of the mighty chair. Hercules’ eyes were glued on the floor as he knelt, but they rose to level with those of the man sitting upon this glorious seat. Hercules couldn’t help but notice the encrusted jewels that glittered just before his eyes as he met the gaze of the King Eurystheus, his reluctant cousin. The king was an unfair man, Hercules thought, coming up with ways to dismiss Hercules’ successes as failures. Originally, his cousin had promised just ten tasks would be set for Hercules, yet he found ‘fault’ in two of his expeditions, because of the pay and help respectively. He had set Hercules two extra tasks as replacement for these ‘failures’, which Hercules had triumphed over as he had all the others. Sometimes Hercules hated his accursed cousin so much he wondered why he ever handed himself over to his ‘employment’, but he knew it was the right thing to be doing – he felt it was a little redemption of the sin that he had brought upon himself when he had slain his own sons. Hercules looked into his cousin’s eyes for the twelfth time now, and cleared his throat to speak.

“My Lord Eurystheus, I have completed the final task that you have set for me.” Hercules’ voice bounced around the room with a sinister echo.

Eurystheus narrowed his eyes – he had clearly not expected Hercules to still be alive at this point.

“Very well.” He responded calmly, yet Hercules could detect the shade of malice in his voice. “Seeing as you have successfully completed all the… errands I have had you run, there shall be one, final, conclusive test.” Hercules suppressed a sigh, for he knew that that would make his cousin angry. The king continued, however, seemingly not noticing Hercules’ lapse in concentration.

“I want you to slay the legendary Ninitean Bronze Bull. You will find it in the hills to the south of here, outside the village of Ninite. You will have to provide your own transport for this.” Eurystheus waved his hand absentmindedly, which was his ‘universal signal’ for when he no longer wished to speak. Once again, Hercules bowed curtly, then turned to exit via the route he had come. He was just on the brink of freedom from the presence of this repulsive man when Eurystheus spoke one last time:

“Oh, and Hercules, my dear cousin, if you fail this task, do not return.” The king spat these last words off his tongue as he sneered cruelly at Hercules and waved his hand again. Hercules narrowed his eyes at this spiteful request but held his tongue – there was nothing he could do about it. Turning swiftly toward the exit, Hercules strode out of the colossal room, determined when (or if!) he returned, to wipe that sneer off his cousin’s face.

Once out of the chamber, Hercules made for the nearest stable, for horseback was the fastest way to travel. As he had learnt from his second task, no help was allowed if the task was to be considered a success, so he travelled alone. Fortunately, he knew exactly where Ninite was, for he had visited his aunt there many a time and knew that they had been plagued by some beast for a while – he now assumed that that was the bronze bull. Hercules had actually considered taking on the challenge of slaying this monster before, to ensure his aunt’s safety, but his prior challenges had always taken priority.

Hercules made fast progress on the roads, alone with his thoughts for the short journey. Time passed in the blink of an eye and soon he was in the familiar paths of Ninite, not far from his aunt’s villa. His aunt was rich, yet kind and caring – not from Eurystheus’ side of the family. However, not only was Hercules not allowed any aid, he now felt that he no longer needed it – he had acquired many useful items in his twelve other ‘adventures’. Shouldering his Nemean lion pelt and the other souvenirs he had gained, Hercules turned away from Ninite and headed south again, but now the hills where Eurystheus had said the bull dwelt were in sight. They were huge, past the point that Hercules would have considered ‘hill’, and more like mountain or natural spire. They continued backwards for as far as the eye could see and were almost the same width-wise. Looking at their vastness, and having no clue as to which part the bull made its home, Hercules took a deep breath and dismounted from his horse – it had done enough for now. Tying it to the nearest tree or sturdy wood that he could find, Hercules patted its head, whispering to it as he tied.

“Good boy, I shall return soon, with the head of a bull on my shoulder.” Hercules hoped he could keep that promise.

The trees were thinning out, noticed Hercules, as he drove on deeper into the ocean of green that was the hills of Ninite. The air was also becoming thinner as the altitude rose, but that did not worry Hercules – he would have to get very high in order for less oxygen to trouble him. His searching had been fruitless for the last couple of hours, for he had not seen head nor tail of the bull. The rich, golden sun – Apollo, of course - was now turning a light shade of orange as it sank lower in the sky. About a tenth of it had already been consumed by the ground, or at least that was how it looked (Hercules knew that it was just Apollo’s chariot nearing Olympus). It would not be long before Artemis, goddess of the hunt and goddess of the moon, took over. As ever, Hercules was on high-alert, for a moment of distraction could mean he missed any sign of the bull. As Hercules approached a particularly massive tree – an oak – his sharp eyes caught sight of a glistening liquid dripping from one of the plants leaves. Upon closer inspection, Hercules dabbed his finger onto the substance, and brought it to his nose, sniffing.

Instantly, he flinched away, for the smell was unpleasant but recognisable. Hercules’ nostrils were well used to the scent of poison when they smelt it. This was good, for Hercules knew from spending time with his aunt that there were no poisonous creatures in these hills. Thanking the goddess of luck, Tyche, for this almost certain sign of the whereabouts of this elusive bull, Hercules examined the trees and ground next to the plant, searching to confirm his suspicions. Sure enough, he found that a nearby tree had deep gouges in it, seemingly from claws, teeth, or, more likely, horns. Looking down, Hercules hit another stroke of luck – a piece of luck that could be decisive about the location of the Bronze Bull; hoof-prints.

Hercules’ breath caught in his throat – he had not expected to find such an obvious clue to finding the bull. Surely, now, it was just a matter of following the prints and being led either straight to the bull itself or at least to its ‘den’ or base. Hercules’ feet were shadows as his eyes locked on the ground, following the trail. He padded along like a lion stalking its prey, until, to his excitement, the hoofprints finally led out into a clearing. There was no doubt to Hercules’ raptor vision that an animal or thing had been living here, temporarily using this clearing as a base. It seemed the bull was to be given credit for its intelligence.

All of a sudden, Hercules’ ears pricked. There was a faint thundering sound in the distance, an odd, banging kind of thundering – like a stampede. It was getting louder by the minute, yet Hercules had no idea what kind of being could make such noise. Surely not even a bronze bull could be so loud? The ground was shaking slightly now, rumbling like a chariot over uneven ground. Unsure what this could mean, Hercules took cover behind a fortunately placed boulder by the edge of the clearing. His hand twitched by his scabbard, ready to trigger his sword at a moment’s notice. Now the ground was rumbling even more, like a tiny earthquake was taking place. Suddenly, three things happened at once; Hercules threw himself clear from the boulder behind which he was hiding; the few trees that were behind him collapsed; and the bull finally make an entrance – in all its glory.

Despite the smoke flowing freely from its nostrils, the bull was a beautiful thing, a sight to behold. Its shining bronze hide glittered like silver and its impressive gold tipped horns dripped with ugly green venom – the sample that Hercules had found before. It was large, larger than Hercules himself, and a look of rage was plastered onto its reflective face. Its long, leather tail whipped angrily like a horse that was swatting flies. Up close, Hercules could see its solid build, and now understood the earth-shaking noise – this thing must have weighed tonnes. The only part of the creature that wasn’t shiny and reflective were its eyes – they were a deep, menacing crimson. Hercules had severely misinterpreted where the stampeding was coming from; the bull had managed to come up behind him. Letting an opponent surprise you was a fatal mistake, and Hercules knew it could be his last.

Hercules was snapped out of the mesmerising beauty of the bull by a ferocious bellow – it was clearly unhappy that it had an intruder. Coming back to his senses, Hercules leapt clear of the bull’s range to get some more space to act. The bull’s crimson eyes swivelled to reach him and it charged quickly, faster than Hercules would have thought possible for a creature that big.

Hercules sidestepped the charge, but the bull – clearly too clever to be defied by such an easy manoeuvre, lashed out with its leather tail and span Hercules round as it caught his arm, the tail acting as some kind of lasso. Struggling to his feet, Hercules raced after the charging bull, only to be surprised again as it came to an abrupt halt. Hercules cursed as he flew into the bull, travelling too fast to stop. The pair were sent to the ground, a cloud of dust erupting around them. Coughing, Hercules forced his eyes open, only to be met with more smoke and dust –but this time, from the bull that was laying on top of him. Its immense weight would have crushed any normal human, but the son of Zeus shakily sat, that was when the bull came to its senses. Bellowing, it forced itself upon Hercules, hoping to crush him, only for its face to register surprise as Hercules resisted, straining. The monster bellowed again, and craned its neck to try and dig its poison-tipped horns into Hercules’ stomach. In a panic, Hercules lashed out at the bull’s windpipe, putting all his desperate strength into one punch. To his surprise, it had some effect – the bull was sent into a coughing fit and gasped for air.

Springing to his feet, Hercules had an idea. This beast clearly needed to breathe, and its windpipe was evidently vulnerable. Summoning all his remaining energy, Hercules threw himself at the bull’s throat, his hands ready and open. Latching them around the creature’s neck, Hercules squeezed with all his might, ignoring the bull’s squeals, roars and now feeble struggles. If it were possible for bronze to go a shade of purple, this bull was doing just that. Hercules waited until all the fight had faded from the bull, then released his hands. All was still. He pushed himself up and gazed at this magnificent creature. Its eyes were no longer a deep crimson, but now a lifeless, dull red. The Bronze Bull of Ninite was no more.

Prize Day