set of variegated lamps to another; inscriptions of “Viva Santa Rosalia,” “Viva il Re,” “Viva la Regina,” “Viva la real famiglia,” were placed in conspicuous situations; while on the Marina was erected a most elaborate fabric for the fireworks, the front of which, representing a sort of temple, was decorated with transparencies. The perspective of the whole was very well painted, particularly that of a flight of stairs at each end. On the evening of the 10th, the transparencies were lighted up as a sort of rehearsal, and everybody drove there to see the effect, and very pretty it was. Nearer the port, but still on the Marina, the triumphal car was in course of preparation; the design was varied every year, and it has several times been made so large as to damage the balconies in its progress down the street. This year it bore the form of a lofty cupola, springing from the middle of a galley painted white, and ornamented with carving and gilding, with saints and angels placed around. The cupola was formed of several tiers of open arches, lined with crimson and purple curtains; at various heights were figures, similar to those in the galley; the whole surmounted by a statue of Santa Rosalia bearing a cross and dressed in a plain white robe. Tradition relates that an attempt was once made to equip her in magnificent attire, but the figure became so heavy that no efforts could raise her till the plain garb was replaced, when she immediately resumed her usual portability.
At five o’clock in the afternoon of the first day the immense mass, drawn by thirty-six oxen, started from the Porta Felice, ascending the Cassaro to its furthest extremity, the Porta Nuova, and in spite of the reductions in its size, it still overtopped all but the very highest houses, and literally seemed to fill the whole width of the street. The prow was occupied by a band of musicians, and the cortége stopped before each convent and played; the whole thing occupied about an hour. In the evening the Cassaro was brilliantly illuminated, and soon after nine we all assembled to witness the fireworks. A portion of the terrace which runs between the Strada Butera and the Marina was covered over and adorned with silk and muslin hangings, looking-glasses, and lights innumerable, so as to appear something between a tent and a gigantic opera-box, capable of containing at least a hundred persons; to this the Pretore of the city invites the Governor-General and the beau monde of Palermo. Nothing can be kinder than the Sicilians are to foreigners, who, if once introduced, are invited to everything. The fireworks were certainly very beautiful, but I did not think (as I had been told I should) that they surpassed those at Rome on Easter Monday, and I missed the bouquet at the finale. The effect of the transparencies was excellent. The Villa Giulia, lighted with endless lamps, looked very pretty; a band added to the attractions of the place, which was crowded with the lower orders in their gayest attire; one might have fancied oneself in a fair where Harlequin’s wand had converted all the booths into aviaries, fountains, and statues. The governor, attended by the senate and the public officers, went in state, and walked as usual round the gardens; and his example was duly followed by most of the Palermitans, who thus wiled away the time till midnight, when the drive up and down the Cassaro: begins, carriages being forbidden till that hour. On leaving the Giulia we drove down the Marina, which a short time before a sea of human heads, all with upturned faces, now showed only a few scattered groups, and cargoes of chairs on hand-trucks slowly wending their way into the town. The Cassaro was very gay. The illuminations consist of groups and festoons of lamps, transparencies, and other devices repeated at regular and short intervals, and from their uniformity of design very striking, making the streets as light as day. Fortunately there was no moon. The second day there were races similar to those at Rome, the horses running without riders the whole length of the Cassaro, and in the evening the carro returns illuminated to the Marina; the archbishop issues invitations to his palazzo, where the luogotenente also goes in full state. I was delighted with this evening’s entertainment. Over the Porta Nuova was an enormous eagle formed of small lamps, to be seen from one end of the street to the other; the Piazza Reale and that of the Duomo were crowded with people, and immediately after the arrival of the governor, the ponderous car, preceded by a guard of mounted soldiers in scarlet uniforms, the colour of the city, was seen slowly advancing brilliantly lighted. The white-robed saint, reflected against the dark blue sky, appeared almost superhuman, and as if about to take her flight over the town of which she is called the protectoress, and the whole mass, as it approached the end of the piazza, seemed as if it must crush the houses on either side; it of course stopped before the palace for the band to play, and when it moved on I felt that this was indeed one of the few national sights still left in this prosaic age. As the whole of the Cassaro is more or less a descent from the Porta Nuova to the Porta Felice, about twenty oxen were yoked in front and as many more attached behind, making a sort of living drag, and evidently not much liking their office. We watched the car slowly descending, halting beneath each convent lattice, when the band again played and the attendants re-lighted the tapers, which the faint night breeze from time to time succeeded in extinguishing; its lights, mingling more and more with the general illuminations, were at last lost to our view.
The archbishop’s palace contains two distinct suites of apartments, one for summer use, and the other for winter, the former of which only was thrown open; it is very spacious, and was brilliantly lighted up. After the car had vanished from sight, we partook of ices, the consumption of which among the company generally was prodigious, and took our leave.
The third day there were again races, and in the evening fireworks. On the first day but few of the Palermitan noblesse assisted, in spite of the presence of their new governor; but this evening being the fashionable one, the parterre was crowded with ladies in ball-dresses, and gentlemen in uniform; the fireworks were much the same as on the previous occasion, with one or two trifling