scene in perfection the visitor should wait until 12 or 1 o'clock, when
the company is completely assembled and the votaries of the dance are in
full activity. On entering the vast _salle_ at such a moment the effect is
scarcely imaginable, the gorgeousness of the immense theater, the glitter
of the lights, the brilliancy and variety of the costumes, the enlivening
strains of music, the mirth of the browd, and, above all, the the
untiring velocity with which the dancers whirl themselves through the
mazes of the waltz, polka and mazourka, present an appearance of
bewindering gayety not to be described. * * * * On some occasions of
special enthusiasm the crowd take up the leader of the orchestra with the
most frantic plaudits, and in more than one instance have carried him in
triumph round the theater. It is scarcely necessary to add that at these
balls the _roue_ (profligate) may find an endless variety of pleasant
adventures." On some days during the Carnival, crowds of masked persons,
exhibiting all sorts of antics, appear in the streets, and people assemble
on horseback, in carriages and on foot, to witness the scene.

"The Carnival was prohibited in 1790, and not resumed till Bonaparte was
elected first consul." Great was the joy of the Parisians when the
Carnival was again restored!

The Opera-house referred to in the extract above quoted, is the Academie
Nationals de Musique, or French Opera-house, also sometimes called the new
Opera-house. It is generally admitted to be the finest Opera-house in the
world. The space covered by this magnificent building is 140 metres by
122, (about 470 feet by 410), or nearly four and a half acres. It has
seats for 2,520 spectators. The staircases, walls and ceiling are of the
finest marble. The "house" for the spectators or audience is built
entirely of stone and iron, rich in decorations and thick with gold. The
stage alone is a quarter of an acre in extent, being 128 feet wide by 85