RECOLLECTIONS OF ROME.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume I, Issue 33, 13 December 1873, Page 9

RECOLLECTIONS OF ROME.

NO. 111.

Though I started by telling of catacombs and funerals, I do not intend that all my reminiscences shall be so gloomy. I>i this number I shall try to describe the Carnival. For three long days Home forgets the gravity which years and sorrows have brought her, and sets herself to play and frolic with all the lightheartedness of an infant city like Dunedin. This half a week she gives to enjoyment from morning till night. Gay garments and smiling faces <jre the order of the day, and woe to the dullard who by sombre garb or sullen brow refuses to pay homage to King C irnival. His punishment is speedy, his sentence, to be smothered in flowers or crushed in bonbons. This annual holiday is enjoyed by the Romans with a keenness which it is i upo witness without, in a certain degree, sharing in it. Gi.-ls in Rome arc brought up with a strictness of whifth their sisters in Australia have not an idea, never going out alone even to Mass, and rarely being taken to any place of amnsement. The Carnival is almost thei.- only distraction, and young ladies who enjoy balls, races, operas, &c. all the year round, and yet sigh for amusement, can readily imagine that if all their outings were to be condensed into three days, that h-ilf week would be a fever of delight long looked forward to, and ardently wished for. From ono end to the other of the Oorso, mirth ail d mischief hold undisputedsway. Windows and balconies are packed with eagercombatants who wage a mimic war with the merry ci owd below. Revellers from all pai ts of the world join in the fun, and rivnl and improve on th«> antics of the Romans. The armour for this warfare consists of a fantastic dress of some bright-colored calico, blue, pink, mauve, or what you will, and a guard of fine wire-work for the face. Ihe ammunition ia great sacks of confetti made of lime instead of sugar, a«d pyramids of flowers. These are for the unknown enemy, but there are .French? sweet meets and exquisite bouquets to throw to one's friends. There are two ways of seeing the Carnival, both of whioh I tried. The safer but less enjoyable method ia to have so its iv a balcony.' From this elevated posit ion one sees all tho sport without much risk of being attacked, excopt from the opposite windows. The carriages pass below in two rows, one line going up the street, the other returning, and are all filled with imps, clowns, demons, Minors, and every grotesque coatume that it is possible to imayiuo. As well as with

carnages, the street is thronged with people on foot, wearing the head* of animals, or the lashions of the day caricatured w'tth false noses, burlesque wigs and beards, with every deformity exaggerated, and every beauty counterfeited ; most of these pedestrians carry musical instruments of various sorts, which they sound wfth a noise and confusion almost deafening, though perfectly good humoured, and with a gaiety which seems untiring. Princes and peasants mingle indiscriminately, in the fun, and it is not easy to distinguish a lady of rank from a contadioa when they are both bravely arrayed in print calico, with their faces half hidden by a wire screen. The beautiful ex-Queen of Naples was in the opposite windows to ours, in a toilette of blue cotton. Many lovely flowers were thrown to her, but she did not entirely escape trom the hailstorms of brightly coloured confetti which are showered out in such quantities as to thickly cover the ground, when the Bonaan equivalent for gamin or Arab, scrapes it up to resell. These little rogues are also on the watch for bouquets which miss their destination, and all day long the cries of Confetti Signore, Fiori, Fieri are heard above the din. A very pretty flirtation is carried on by means ot the flowers, as even the most watchlul duenna cannot guess who sent the particular rosebud which is cherished so tenderly, when rose* are being flung from every hand, and hundreds and hundreds thrown at every pretty maiden. Bright eyes flash, sweet lips smile, and flowers have a language of their own which Stella can read when they come from her especial Giovani. Often the bouquet has a living bird attached to it, but I was not able to discover the meaning of this piece of cruelty. ° When the fun is beginning to lag and the flowers to die, a new excitement i- ready. This is the famous race of the riderless horses which takes place just before sundown. At a given signal the carnages disappear as if by magic, and the crowd on foot is driven to each side of the street bj sir splendidly-mounted officers, who thunder down the Corso at full gallop. In this cleared epace the race is run. The trappings of the racers are studded with spurs which, together with the shouts and clappings of the spectators, urge them to their wildest speed. The terrißed creature that first reaches the winning post is covered with a magnificent mantle, and his owner receives a gum of money. The first two (Jays I spent in a balcony with some friends who did not care for the rough sport of the street; but the third day I had a place m a carriage full of merry-makers, and entered heart ily into the spirit of the Carnival All the arrangements were made by our landlord, an important little Russian, who undertook to get us up in a manner worthy of him and of us. But, unfortunately, in addition ta costumes, flowers, and bonbons, he considered his wife was a necessary appendage as a guide for the ladies, and proposed that she should accompany us in that capacity. Sow, as Madame was a vulgar, commonplace woman, who could add nothing but her weight to the party, we all determined not to allow her to be foisted on us ; and it fell to my part to tell her husband as politely as possible that we did not want her. First, I told him that we ladies did not like to have things explained to us, but preferred to guess out the meaning for ourselves. He replied that that would exactly suit his wife,— a silent woman, who never talked if she could avoid it. Then I said to him that we wished to reserve a vacant place in case we should meet a friend later who needed a seat. Certainly that would bo a light thing to do,~-he agreed ; but, then, Madaiue would willingly give up her ■oat when our fnend appeared. I insisted that among ull our friends we did not number one who could be guilty of such a rudeness as to allow a lady to be put down to walk, and that therefore, in the interest of our possible polite friend, it was impossible for us to allow her to come with us. When he saw that we were inflexible, he gave up the contest, and actually paid for a place in a balcony from whence hia wife could revenge herself oa us by soundly pelting us with confetti. And we had not gone vevy far in our gay carriage before we found that a bouquet, coming with full force on one's face, can bring the tears into one's eyes, even though the flowers may be violets, and the hand that sent them a laughing child's. But if flowers thrown by children hurt, hard, unripe oranges, hurled by some rough clown in the orowd, alniost stun. Yet there is no escape in such a case, and one must needs seek refuge and redress in the homely adage, " Grin and bear it." The slightest symptom of suffering is the immediate signal for attacks from all sides, end the only available revenge is to fling back comfits at your opponent, if possible ; if not, at whoever you can hit. You see an exquisite bonbotmih-e, filled probably with chocolate creams, thrown to you from a passing vehicle. It is caught as it flies past by a creature with the head of a sheep ; you can never get it, but you may knock it out of his hand by a well-directed bouquet. Sometimes the carriages come to a standstill for a few moments, and you exchange shots with your neighbors, whilst all the time you are under fire from the balconies. After two or three tours of this battling, you go home to dine and prepare for the closing scene of the Carnival, which, like the transformation ecene in a pantomime, is all light and glare Evert window in the Corso is illuminated, and every one in balcony in ear. wge, and on foot, carries a lighted candle, which he strives with miglit and main to keep burning, while he endeavors to extinguish those of his friends and enemies within reach. The noise and uproar of the Carnival culminate on this last night, and shrieks of "senyn maccola" (without a light), and witty observations on the supposed poverty of those whose lights are put out, take the place of « Confetti" and " Jfarare." AVet handkerchiefs attached to strings are dropped down ou the candles in the street, while poles with extinguishers are used to war agowst the balconies. It is almost impossible to keep c light m a low earriago, as they are not only blown out, but snatched away; and we should have been soon " senya moccola " but that we had a candle fastened in a kind of mask, which guarded it bo well thai all attempts to extinguish it were vain, and we were entitled to jeer al less fortunate people, whose arrangements had not been made by « clover little Russian. But even Carnivals come to an end. The lighti vrero at last all put out, the fun was over, Lent had come, Bom< regained her wonted gravity, and the tired revellers went home to bed

one at least of whom was weary of light and noise, and, on the whole not sorry that the reign of King Carnival was past. : ' s. a. d.