The examiner. [volume] (Louisville, Ky.) 1847-1849, 1848-02-26

Aduatlc, How shall L describe thy strange
beauties, thy novelties and wonders Artist
and poet alike have painted and portrayed
thee, and yet pencil nor pen have created
images lIle-like and natural. Travellers
tell us that Venice is built in the sea, ''that
its streets are canals, and that 'gondolas
are It's hackney coaches" You are prepa-
red for all this-you picture what il will
all look like-lancy palaces and houses
built in the water, gondolas shooting here
and there, and even imagine how the Doges
Palace, and ST. Marks, the Bridge of Signs,
and the Prisons, look by moonlight. You
arrive, and are rowed to your hotel; and
my word for it, before the prov of the gon-
dola CRATES against its marble steps, the
strange reality of everything is even more
bewildering than your former dream.
Though this is nv second visit, ! still
feel as if in sort Of dream-land, and wan
der about and look around me with all the
freshness and ardor of new conner. For
two or three days We have been gOndolier-
ing-a most easy, delightful mode Of sight
seeing. Your gondola is a long, canon
shaped boat, painted black, the STEEL Prov
projecting far out Of the water. Amidships
you seat yourself, under a canopy made Of
black cloth, and on cushions soft as loves
pillow; at the sides are windows, TO be
opened or closed at pleasure, and a little
glass door. in front, shuts you up in grand
exclusveness. Forward stands the Condo
lier, his face towards the bow, and behind
you, another, who pushes the stern oar.
You leave the steps Of your palace hotel,
and with scarcely percePGble motion, glide
away-over the canals, between rows Of
houses anchored, as it were, in the water;
pass churches and cathedrals of rare and
curious architecture, into the Grand Canal,
lined on both sides with its princely palaces,
Enthusiastically designed, and though discolored
by age and somewhat dilapidated, looking
Venioe-lIe, habitable- palaces run mad; un-
der the bridge Of the Rialto, and turning
suddenly some corner, shoot into a narrow
street, and under arches and bridges, so low,
they seemed ready to fall upon you.
And all this time, you are looking on 4
city Of lis, 900 inhabitants, and which, did
you not know better, you would say, had
been recently inundated up TO the first floor,
on houses, closely and compactly built to-
gether, four and FIVE stories high, with gra-
ted, lower windows and half circular, recess
sed ones above, and uelliced marble balco-
MES, and scolloped ewes, and tall chimneys
that totter with age. And bringing to here
and there, to visit a church rich in statues,
marbles, and DOge's tombs, or some gal
lery, with Titian's master pieces, and Tinto-
retto's and BOnsfazio's; varying the day by
stroll over the Rialto-Shakspeare's Ri
alto, where "Antonio spat upon the Jew S
gaberdine." and merchants most did con-
gregate stopping to admire the gold
smiths shops, that line both sides the arch,
or to look upon the "Hunchback" and its
rallied circle, where bankrupt merchants en-
dured their pilloy-or, hating before the
first church erected in Venice, On 459) by
the lutte colony, who, fleeing from the
sword Of the Hun Attila and his barbaric
horde, settled like gulls on these water la.
goons. This you do for hours and return
again in wonder.
Silence reigns almost supreme; broken
only by the ripping Of water. the cry o.
the gondolier, or the Ginning Of bells. Nc
noise of carriage wheels, or tramp Of horses;
no shutting Of foot passengers, no rumb
ling OF carts. A horse, or even COW, are
animals unknown here at Venice; for the
former they have no use, (save to illustrate
natural history and poor brindle would fine
hay or grass here equal y scarce. You look
out of your window, and down below you
plides the water-and the funeral appear
ance Of all the gondolas, moving about Ike
phantoms, half causes you to think, thai
some pestilenoe has made the city silent,
and that the boats are the undertakes
hearses, shipped barge fashion.
Gardens they have none, and scarcely a
tree, save on one or two little squares
where they flourish like eKotics. Water
and milk are imponations from the main
land, and birds, | am sure, only come here
from stress OF weather. In odd looking
pots, stuck far up on projecting window
sills, flowers bloom, and seem to look re-
proachfully on the waters, that have robbed
them Of their fair allotment Of earth. Poor
Venetisnsl strangers they, to the sentiment
and beauty, the religion and grandeur Of the
green hill-sides and blooming valleys, o
dark forests, and impending mountains.
You think you will walk for once, anC
sallying out Of small side-door, find your
self on terra frmG. Away you go through
narrow lanes-so narrow, that the houses
nodding 20 each other, almost touch, turr
sharp angles into some wider thoroughfare
lined on either side with shops and cafes
down crooked passages, dark and close
over bridges, and are--lost, but only for mo
ment. You step to the side OF the canal
Jump into gondola, and saying Piazzetti
San Marco, soon find yourself safely land
ed at the only promenade in Venice, wher
you can safely stretch your legs. In word
as some one has said, s'to walk, require
pre-detemination, and you order your gon
dola, and 60 on purpose"
The people shop and go to market, atten,
church, and make their morning calls, an,
are rowed TO the opera in gondolas. Ever
one does the same, for even the common
people have caught, or inherited, the lazi
ness and Incidence Of the rich, and profes
sional beggars follow after your boat, row
ing most stoutly and Justify along, in ia
contradiction to their slleged in6rmities.
In the evening on the Piazzetls, all Ven
ice is abroad is the rendezvous, the gath
erine place, literally, Of Jew and Gentle
On each side stretches cafes and colonlades