The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1869-07-20 00:00:00

• CICCIATA AT ROME.

A bored visitor of Rome was taken by a former friend
(('ount Grmeani) to see a clef:date. A young Italian
accompanied them. They went meetly and "deeds t
the place, and were conducted to a balcony overlooking
the room where the cicalas was carried out. The
visitor nays :
All I could make out was about a score of men, end
all evidently belonging to the common people, seated
drinking at various tables at the further end of the
room, and arguing and Anteing among themeless with
the (my of demoniac'. The Count whimpered in my
ear,—
" We may speak now, but loan not be beard; other.
wile, I w in't answer for our lives."
" Well then," said I, "since thi spell is at length
broken, tell me where we are and why all this mystery
to see a score of Italians drinking and quarrelling among
themselves. The sight has nothing novel in it, at is not
even an agreeable one."
The Count, pressiog my arm, replied," Wait a while.
Watch attentively for what is going to happen." A.
for our
.00mpanion, the eliminate young Italian, and
one was only conscious of his presence by his ocestaion•
ally bard breathing.
I examined at lsisure all that was !musing beneath.
The room was lit up by merely four miserable lump.,
which gave out • far more disagrecatle Moir than light;
still one could distinguish the countenances of most of
the men, all of whom bad, more or less, weather•beaten
Isom and keen, energetic lotting eyes. A few of them
were already aged and grizzly ; others on the contrary
were mere youths, but all appeared equally daring
and brave. As 1 watched them attentively I observed
one of them mount upon a bench and adilrese the
others, who listened with marked attention, and from
their gesturss I gathered that the speakers proposition
was favourably received.
I)espite the full and empty jugs upon the table at
which these men were seated none of them appeared
intoxicated, though there were, perhaps, one or two
whose brains were excited by drink; there 111.0, how'
ever, no approach to this attired and brutal drunkenness
to whieh many of the workeig.elasees of our northern
nations habitually give way. You might have taken
the., men for conspirators or brigands even, but you
would never have set them down for drankar Is.

"What is going to happen now?" itquired I of the
Count, in an undertone.
"You see all these men ?" replied be, @peaking
equally lo.; "moot of them are young, and all are
string and hale. Well, tie long and the short of the
matter is, they are about to poignant one another with
unexampled ferocity."
From time to time, eluding the vigilance of the
police, a party of individuals will meet at some tavern
in the old quarters of the city, and propose a eiceista,
usually. aa I have said, with th“ sole object of
testing each other's courage,
if
sometimes with
the intention of gratifying, if possible, some hidden
Mee n ge.
. . . . .

A perfect tumult suddenly arose amongst them. A
Irian who towered above his companions fully half •
head, addressed them with marked emphuii, but the
word •• cioeiata" was the only one I could distinctly
catch, for he spoke under such seitement and with such
rapidity that I was unable to follow him. At the con-
clusion of his harangue his companions thrust their
hands into their pockets and each pulled out a long
knife, and we saw a score or more of thin sharp blades
glistening in the sinister light.
Suddenly. as though in obedience to some signal, the
score of individual. conimenoed to strip. As • prelim-
ary precaution, however, sash placed his long knife
beside bins; then, with perfect calmness, they removed
their garments one by one, till they were naked to the
waist. It was a strange sight, all these mbstst frames
thrown into relief in the trembling light. As they
were removing the tables in order to have a clear field,
one could not help admiring their energetic beads, their
defiant looks, and the quivering muscles of their brawny
arms.

"Now, whispered my friend, the combat Is about
to begin. The tell individual whom I have already
pointed out to you, and around whom they are again
gathered, is reminding them of the conditions of the
sanguinary struggle. in the first place the lights have
to be extiagnished, in order that he who happens to
get struck may not know who has dealt him the blow,
and that be who strikes may be ignorant whom he has
wounded—the only way of avoiding revenge on the one
part, or repentance on the other. It is formally prohibited
I should inform you, to strike below the waist and what-
ever may be the gravity of the wound, he who receives
it is required to suppress any cry of pain that might
cause hem to be reeregnised. Farther, it is prohibited
to strike a man when down, so that he who
is wounded or who does not wish to continue fighting
has only tie throw himself on the floor for his person to
become macred, es no one will then touch him. Every
time, however, these men meet one another erect in the
darkness, they will strike pitilessly around them, and
yet they are all friends, and- some of them relations
even,"
The last table and the stool removed, every man
placed himself, knife in hand, with his face to the wall.
The lights had only to ho extinguished for the carnage

I am ashamed to imams that I followed with inereas-
ing curiosity each phase of this terrible drama which
was about to be performed in perfect darkness, scarcely
balf4.-domn yards from the spot where we were seated.
The tall man, who had all along appeared to direct the
proemednge, now extinguished the first lamp, then the
second, then the third; when I saw him approach the
fourth and last, my heart psipitated viololtly, and I
thought of revealing toy presence by crying out, and so
putting a stop to this infamous butchery, but I
remembered what the Count had said, and felt that I
had no right to jeopardise the lives of my companions.
I made, therefore, • sort of compact with my conscience,
closed my eyes and placed my hand over my earn, and
determined to sit tbe affair quietly out to the end.
After remaining thus, as it appeared to me, for some
considerable time, fatigued with my position, I withdrew
my hands and opened my eyes. but all was darknees
and the most profound silence prevailed, and I
melded ms if under the influence of a dream. At an
unguarded inovem nt which I made, I felt the Count
grasp me tightly by the arm, as if to imply that I must
remain perfectly stall. Precisely at the same moment
tip re was a certain agitation iiiimoliately beneath us,
and I concluded that the oombatante were now about
to C 011211101304 the attack. For the next few minutes we
heard netting beyoul the round of suspended respira-
tion& feint breathings that were only perceptible in
she deathlike stillness that had for some time ermined.
I imagined each individual to be on the defensive,
holding his breath, acting with extreme circumspection,
and only moving stealthily en tip-toe as one Gould
ere abeolintely nothieg of what was taking place, the
only thing Was to Ruess at it.
Every moment the agitation appeared to in.
crease ; the vague, undecided perterhation of
the last few minutes had rammed • more positive
aharaeter. and one was able to distinguish per.
timber efforta made by individual oombatants. We
could bear them springing from one end of the room to the
other, as though endeavouring to strike an advenary on
their lissome ; then little by little, as the intoxicant('
ef the contest in which they were engaged appeared to
increase, one heard the shock of bodies coming into
cAlielon. and the ilead sound of the accompanying blow,
followed by falls and suppremed groan& Once, when
the carnage seemed to have arrived at it. height, there
was a tumult of gasping vociferations and stifled cries,
seemingly in no known language, and yet perfectly
, harrowing. Thie scone rendered all the more frightful
by the darkness. Ind now lasted for upwards of twenty
minutes, when suddenly a voice cried out, "Every one
' lie down." In • morneet or two there was the most
complete silence. . . . . .

The same man who had extinguished the lights relit
them one by one. The spectacle we then had under
our eyes was painful to behold. Those who had not been
*seemly injured in the wife had rime as soon as the
lamps were lighted, but seven remained lying on the
ground with blood Bowing from their wounds, whigh
were at °nos attendsd to by such as hsd escaped per-
fectly free ; others who were not dangerouly wounded
occupied themselves in examining, with gold disdain,
the various slashes and punctures they had received,
while one or two of the more indifferent of the party
were cooly engaged in wiping their blood-stained
weapons on their pooket-bandkerchlefs.
. . . . .