These comfits break into a white powder and bespatter the clothes of the
person on whom they fall as if hair-powder had been thrown on them. This
seems to be the grand joke of this part of the Carnival. After the
carriages have paraded about an hour, a signal is given by the firing of a
gun that the horse race is about to begin. The carriages, on the gun being
fired, must immediately evacuate the _Corso_ in order to leave it clear for
the race; some move off and _rendezvous_ on the _Piazza del Popolo_ just
behind the scaffolding, from the foot of which the horses start; others
file off by the _Via Ripetta_ and take their stand on the _Piazza Colonna_.
The horse-race is performed by horses without riders, generally five or six
at a time. They are each held with a bridle or halter by a man who stands
by them, in order to prevent their starting before the signal is given; and
this requires no small degree of force and dexterity, as the horses are
exceedingly impatient to set off. The manes of the horses are dressed in
ribbands of different colours to distinguish them. Pieces of tin, small
bells and other noisy materials are fastened to their manes and tails, in
order by frightening the poor animals, to make them run the faster, and
with this view also squibs and crackers are discharged at them as they pass
along.
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