LETTERS FROM ROME.

Otago Witness, Issue 2509, 16 April 1902, Page 60

LETTERS FROM ROME.

By IbABKL CvBUILL. Pension Cargill. E-tdra dei Termini. 47. February 8. 1902. Carnival is nearly over, and soon, very soon. Lent will be upon us and all our gaietie-, mu^t perforce cease. Meantime we are making the most of our opportunities, and considering that I am a stronger and a pilgiim from a far country, it is nirprising how many of these have come in my direction. But then, you see. Rome is essentially a city of strangers and pilgrims, and they have therefore a much better chance of enjoying themselves in these ways in the Eternal City than, for instance, in a select and proper English town, where an almost bfe-loiiig loidence and muneious unimpeachable introductions are absolutely et'-en-tidl before one can expect to be aVked to even the mildest of afternoon tea-paitit^. I wa^ delighted when a lriend offered to get me a ticket to accompany her one evening to a large ball given by "the oftieeis of the Military Club, " Ciruolo Militare," as it i> called, for I tell it would be a delightfully novel experience to go to j really Roman ball, and not merely one givui by the English residents, which ;ue, after all, precisely like similai entertainment" in England and the colonies. We di ove ott together in v coupe— at ths unwit'ily horn ot half-past 10 at night, just when loanable folk aie thinking oi going to bed. and on the way my friend attired me that T bhoiikl lind this a much more stately and diyniritd affair than th: gay little "Lops""" and -'sauteries" with which my Erjgli-^h friend-: had been enteriaining me. At the entrance door our wraps were taken from us, and wo weie at once borne down on by two t;>H and majestic, uniformed steward*., who. offering us their aim*-, ]ed in in state into the ball100m. where we found fritcd^ yam ing for us. It is a very fine room, really the old coitile or courtyard of the palace j which wjs once a monastery), and which ha« been roofed in and converted into' a spacious and beautiful ball room. The floor, alas ! wa\ I saw at once, marble, covered with tightly -stretched waxed cloth, and at first my heart iidnk at the thought of dancing on it, but 1 leally found it very much ple.isanter than I expected. I had plenty of oppoitunity of Irving it, foi men were there in shtiaK, standing tlnee deep roucd the loom, jn many and varied unitoinib, which made the scene i.ne of gieat brilliance, and the indefatigable s-teward* saw that plenty of intioductions, were made. 1 veiy speedilyfound, too. tliat my friend had betn light in c p..-Aiiicr of the dignity and state observed at .i P.oman ball. The opening danes was ;i set of lancets, in which 1 was at the top. opposite another Knglivi girl, two Italian ladies being at the sides Having al! bowed and curtsied piofu-t-lv and deeply to everyone in turn, wl- (I an, l my oppoMte neighbour) pi -piml to K:d off, .<iul were pulled back wu h lioiror b> our panncis ; — the ladi"- ;it the mcli> ' were inairicd 1 -they uiuM. \"m\ ' And with Lne.it 'm;n)itan<_e tiny did mi 'Ibe iiiii-k "«-,b Mov. , and we stepped wuh the dignity of a. minuet, indulging frequently in low and •sweeping cuitseys and bows: — io romping, not even any hunying permitted, eveiythiug ab-olutely coiri'ct and veiy st tteh . My pditnet wro a bright, jolly little oft Lei in the Artijiliena. with a fund oi" amu^in^ com fixation, and when we iiad h'nally bowed NCijped <uir way through I lie la--t of the grand chun. jn<i taken Tin unpresaivi' farewell of the otlnr couples fomiin;^ oui »et. 1 anticipated that we would po«-s:bly ret ne to --onie -•nug coinei and JidVe a little lelaxatlon. Xot at all' '1 hat also, I found, would he conWdeied ouite out of the question. Mv friend, who was also darning. \ra. tarefulh sought foi . ;md when found, we weie seated <-idp by Mdc upon a sofa in a full blaze of hjjht. and oui lespt-itive partncis and two or tlnee mo:e ofHteii sat about us and eniei tamed u^ My fnend, unable to cor*i\,l herself iiiv himxe-i, bnr-t "no a lai^h. ard to mi in Kni;li«ii. "Well. tb:s is not much l»kc a Xi •'. Z. d,.ii(l bill. iv a?" and I fully asneid with her. tii.nkm^ re <ntt fully of iho-c- l( little 'rl'ruition' oineis in wh-ch w<- foil r-d w. mm h luimless amusement On the whole, I think I [jn-rc-i out win of ball-. Wp went to one the next infill i,'ivcn b\ Mi/ie Kngh>h friends, and ha I a lovth time, w ind'p^ up wth ,i cotillion 1) d v.vi e\u (laiuc a t tit -!!'c;n "' ff Pit, let me tell \ou it m.ik(.«. a mo.-t channn^ h'na) to a ball, con'-istin^ paitly of li4ii;»-s and partly of pre-u-nrnig f.ivi.ui--Somennie. tlii^» aie vei v pretty and »,u, and ,h they aie. d'sti 'l)Uted .nld truath to the hi uiitne^s of tbe >(en» There ate H^ii illy phout d do7.°D --ef. foi t'l* in n ai.d i dozi-n ,'oi the !a<'ie-, thfcie bein-j eiloiijh >f 'rftli -er to Live oii" u> <■ " h '1 he lrui ' 'ien piLttnt t!u .r<. a- th»v receive them, to >m\ lad.ps will) whom they would like to divce-. i> pn--ibln fi\-n^ it on to the re«';>i'nt. and t'i- - takf two oi tlirte tuiTi- .<> i "1 ,he ro..:n. w 'ten he return.'- her to hs-i • otil.ioii (Mint... v* itli i\ iioii> h.i-. leallv \ii\ lutle to f!o a.- lie al"- > i-- h\\^\ dw'i l),itin_' hi-» fi\ i in » cX( w h<- 1" 'I hi 1 l-'d'i'v '1" ii a., wi'i t'll,ll t.\n'i^ At li; -t I t!ioii/ht I t; , n'll n> ur be r.i "i j; tnou^'li tf> ' ' •■ ' 'it -• 1• '. -. \< 4 o"«. bit \iy '.1 I '„,<; i . v !, „ 1,,,.. v „.. il,._ (j. J t " I1)I 1 ) a. pi'-i.ji., I.v i „ „)'l ih.v.i i- on to itR 1u0.12 v lv. '.uiit.u, ihc baud L/Li'ja

uninterruptedly the whole time, usually waltz music, the cotillion sometimes lasting for as long as an hour and a-half, and you have no idea how amusing we looked -after a time. On this .particular occasion I found myself covered with decorations ; in my hair three gieat 'butterflies of tissue paper in varied colours and gold, four tiny Japanese fans, two knots of ribbons and flowers, a quaint little gilt umbrella, and two feathers gilded and tied up with ribbons ; round my bodice huge roses of coloured tissue paper, Japanese lant-erns and dolls, all sorts of things, pinned on wherever they could find a resting place, for. especially with those in your hair, you expect your would-be partners to show a certain amount of taste and ingenuity in puttia fc them in as becomingly as .possible, and re.iily, though it may sound as though T locked fit for a lunatic asylum, as a matter af fact, my gay and varied decorations, cri.il mcd with my ball dress of white satin, tl cugh rather mad, looked very attractive. When it was over, at about half-past 3 in the morning, we all trooped off, a motley and gaily-decorated company, as pleased as children when they "dress up." And now, as I said, it is nearly over. In a few days Lent will be here, and these frivolities must cease. Still, there is always Rome, beautiful Rome, to wander through and study. I have not seen a fourtn part as yet of all there is to see, and by-and-bye. as the weather gets warmer and brighter, there is the surrounding country to visit, days to be s-pent among the 'hills, m the quaint, wonderful, little walled cities grey with the age of centuries, each with its piazza, or public square and fine old church, all inhabited solely by peasants. Oh ' the beauty of the Roman Campagna in «pi!ng! None can lealise it without seeing if. The ground carpeted with flowers — cyclamens., anemones, violet.* .• of which the pci fume fills the air as, yon walk over them ; the delicate spravins bloom of the almond trees, gleaming against the gre}- softness of the olives or the dark, sombre ilex trees. The olive trees themselves, with their delicats foliage, making a lace-like tracery atrainst- the blueness of the heavens, and with wonderful gnarled black trunks, of wh'ch it is said each one has a distinct character and individuality of its own. always fill niy smil w rth joy. I love them better than any other tree in the world — they are at once >.o delicate and so strong, so quaint and *o beautiful But I must wait a litrlp. May ,n the Campagne is pajadiso, and on the first beautiful May day that I go out tlifi-e, I promise you I will think of you, «u'd walk with you in >pirit tJirough all thtse wondiou* beauties, which seen; in have upon them a touch of the real paraui-o.