THE ITALIAN CARNIVAL.

Inangahua Times, Volume IV, Issue 15, 14 May 1877, Page 3

THE ITALIAN CARNIVAL.

We extwot the following account t the great Italian festival from the la« number of the Home Nem :— At last th . Caroital fa over : 13 days of rjofc an lifeifl Hie streets have reduced everyon to a Bta'« ot exhaustion, and all t!>os B(jod people wb 0 , bave windows on th Cono, and aro kind enough to a«k thei friends to come in, must be by this tim tbofoighly sick of them, and thank fu thai Lent haa begun. The first thre days were devoted to oonfetto«throwina compelling the absence from the Corso 0 4111 decent carriages and cars, On Feb niary 15, the grand pageant really began and some of the cars were well got up especially the artists' car, representing the ." Discovery of America by Chriatopher Coldmbus." Christopher Columbui ba-J apparently not yet arrived, foi the occupants of the car were all Bee Indiana in picturesque robes; Of mas* qaerades on foot the best was a bull, life, size, two men forming the front and reai of the animal ; this beast, dragged un* willingly up the Corso by about a doz?t men, made frequent dashes at the turnings, and comported itself generally in a rampageous and wild-bull like manner, to the great amusement of the crowd. A procession representing the march in " Aida " was well arranged, and a dress made of the pictures on match- boxes sewed on to stuff was both original and pretty. But, whether it is the Eastern Question or bad times, or that the nation )8 growing up, certain it is that there was much less spirit and fan among the people this year than usual ; the open-air ball in Piazza Norona was a melancholy sight enough; the dancing was but halfhearted, and consisted chiefly of couples ©fmen in Ulsters, gravely waltzing to« gethex, and the inevitable sailors as unlike the real thing in merriment as appear ance. The " festino " at the opera-bouse i» now so crowded with English visitors who go~lo look, that it has become almost a theatrical performance, and the Poli« teama, a sort of covered arena in the Trasterere, was the only place where people really Beerae*d to hare any go in them, and to enjoy themselves. The horse races in the streets were run daily, and thousands of people filed the streets par* tioipating in various games and amuse* inentf. While the towns were thus given up to careless enjoyment throughout Italy, in the mountains near Palermo a fight was going on between the brigands and bersaglieri resulting in the death of one brigand and the capture of another, while one soldier was wounded.