The amusements at this Palermo rejoicing vary each day: one night the Flora Gardens are illuminated; on another one, the streets; and in the daytime horse-races. The latter, from their peculiarities, are worthy of notice. The horses start from the bottom of the principal street, near the Porto Felice, and run to the Porto Nuovo. They have no riders, but have small bladders fixed on their backs, in which are inserted sharp spikes, serving, by the motion, to urge them on. The prizes run for are generally small, consisting of from ten to fifteen ounces in dollars fastened to a board, and the horse that wins is led in procession with the prize before him. The illumination of the Madre Chiesa, which is the cathedral church of Palermo, excites the admiration of all travellers. It is here where the box, containing the bones of St. Rosalia, is deposited. The last ceremony is a grand procession, in which the silver box is carried by the principal citizens, who consider it a great honor. Immense crowds endeavor to get near to touch it, for they consider that this act is a remedy for all evils. The approach of this festival produces general joy and happiness; and the people are so attached to the memory of the saint, that it is supposed that any attempt to suppress her commemoration would be attended with the most serious consequences. * * * * * ENGLISH CONUNDRUMS Why is Mr. Roebuck a nice man? When is a queen not a quean? When is a breeze like a pocket handkerchief? When is winter like a face? When is a lion like a laundress? _Conundrums to the Queen._ [Illustration] May. “May, the delicate-footed May, the month of flowers and song-birds, of bland and balmy breezes and genial sunshine, the poet’s month, has come at last.” Yes, it has come; but the first of May, in New England, does not always bring the song of birds, or the bloom of flowers. In England, the spring is a very beautiful season, and May is ever a month of bloom. The first day of the month is one of rejoicing. The people in the villages assemble, erect a pole, and, decked in flowers, they dance around it. In France the people meet together, and one of the girls is chosen queen of the festivity. They have a very gay time of it. Sometimes the season is sufficiently advanced here, to admit of a similar celebration. In Pennsylvania, and the states south of it, May is a season of general bloom. In New York, the first day of May is usually occupied by the people in getting their furniture from the houses they are going to leave, to those they are going to live in. “The first of May!” says one of the New York editors, “there is something _moving_ in the very name.” The following lines are descriptive of the occasion: