The Sun.
London, England, 1848-09-21 00:00:00

THE BOULOGNE FETES.
(From the Post.)
BOULOGNE, WEDNESDAY.—The amusements of
yesterday did not vary to any great extent from those
of the previous day, but the interest they excited was
undiminished. The weather continues peculiarly
favourable for out of-door entertainments.
As I mentioned in my letter yesterday, the day
commenced with a distribution of bread and other
provisions to the poor. About ten o'clock the various
divisions of the Boulogne National Guard were
inspected before the Hotel de Ville, after which they
marched through the town and along the quay, pre-
ceded by their music, to the sands, for the purpose of
shooting with rifles at targets for prizes. Twelve
targets were erected, and the firing, which occupied
about an hour, attracted a considerable degree of at-
tention, and though there was some very good shoot-
ing, the majority of the competitors, who were placed
about 150 yards from the target, appeared to aim very
wide of the mark, and the position in which the targets
were placed seemed to be by far the safest. The most
successful of the competitors in this trial of skill were
the artillery corps. At the conclusion of the firing
the troops were re-formed and marched through
the town in the same order as that by which they
went to the sands. From eleven till past two o'clock
the banks of the river Liane were crowded to witness
the sailing, rowing, and other matches which were
announced to take place,. At the conclusion of the
regatta there was a duck chase—two or three ducks
being set at liberty, and some dozen swimmers, diving
from a platform prepared for the purpose, endeavoured
to catch them, an attempt which caused considerable
amusement, and elicited repeated laughter and,cheers
from the spectators. Tel this succeeded what was
called in the programme a comic chase—viz., a si-
milar chase to the above, for a pig which was thrown
into the water, but which proved an extremely dull
affair, from the awkwardness of the pig as a swimmer,
and the consequent ease with which it was caught.
During the time the above sports were going on,
others were climbing a greasy mast for a silver
watch, and a horizontal greasy mast for a similar
prize, which caused much amusement from the
duckings which the various competitors obtained.
At two o'clock there was a grand competition of
music on the Place d'Alton, for gold and other medals,
forming a monster promenade concert, which com-
pletely threw into the shade those of Jullien or
Musard. The competition was preceded by a piece
composed for the occasion, admirably played by the
band of the National Guard of Boulogne. After
which all the bands of the National Guard, eight or
ten in number, played one piece each, consisting of
the chefs-crceuvre of the French and Italian schools.
This portion of the entertainment attracted consider-
able attention, and all the windows of the Place and
neighbourhood were crowded with elegantly-dressed
ladies. In the evening the theatre was opened with
two or three stars from Paris, but attracted compara-
tively very little attention in consequence of the other
amusements. At eight o'clock 'there was a second
regatta on the Liane, when the boats being illumi-
nated, it had a peculiarly pleasing effect, and the
entertainments of the day were wound up by a
grand ball—the ball of the fete at the bathing-
rooms, which were enlarged, by temporary build-
ings for the occasion, to more than double their
usual size. About 600 or 700 persons, comprising
the more aristocratic portion of the inhabitants and
visitors, attended this ball, and disported themselves in
the mazy dance long past the witching hour of mid-
night—an example which was followed by the less
aristocratic portion of the community at the different
public gardens and cafes. The streets were again
illuminated as on the previous evening, and through-
out the day and evening were almost impassable.
To-day, however, was the day of days for the sight-
seers. As early as seven o'clock the rappel, which
has proved so ominous of mischief to other parts of
France, was sounding, to call the National Guard to
their appointed rendezvous, with the troops of the line
and the custom-house officers, at a petit camp of cor-
porations of trades in the promenade beyond the
Porte Gayole, where the National Guards invited
to the fête were also to meet at ten o'clock.
Shortly after twelve o'clock the cortege departed,
and crossed the high town, and taking up at the
Porte des Dunes the cars of Agriculture, Industry,
and Liberty, continued its march along the
principal streets of the town, defiled before the
authorities of the town at the Place Navarin in the
following order :—Cavalry band, companies of cavalry,
various sections of National Guards and regiments of
the line, headed by their bands, hospital children,
more National Guards, sailors with a banner, Na-
tiOnal Guards, fishwomen with a banner, troops of
the line, National Guard, car of Industry, representing
a fishing smack in full sail, tastefully decorated with
the national colours, and attended by matelots, or
fishermen, fantastically dressed; then came further
bodies of troops of the line, National Guards, and the
corporations of trades, each carrying a distinctive
and appropriate banner ; to these succeeded an em-
blematical car of Agriculture, surrounded by four-
and-twenty peasants dressed in blue smockfrocks, with
straw hats trimmed with tri-coloured ribbons, and
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ribbon attached to the car; further detachments of
troops of the line and National Guards, attended by
their bands, followed, and then came a triumphal car,
surmounted by a colossal figure of Liberty, about 10 feet
high, and attended by twelve young girls dressed in
white, with white veils and chaplets of roses on their
heads, the whole being wound up with further de-
tachments of troops, National Guards, and gen-
darmerie. After passing by the authorities, the
procession pursued its course to the bathing establish-
ment, where a square was formed round a platform
erected on the Place Daunon, from whence the prizes
to the conquerors in the various trials of skill during
the last two days were distributed. Shortly after two
the cortege returned up the quay, and by the way it
came towards the Napoleon column, where the Na-
tional Guards invited to the fete are to dine at four
o'clock. Every street and house along the route of
the procession was densely crowded, and as it pro-
ceeded in its course the cortege was frequently cheered,
but there was nothing like a political demonstration,
except at one or two points, where a cry of " Vive la
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