CHAMBERS' EDINBURGH JOURNAL
CONTENTS
VENICE.
REALLY! INDEED! IMPOSSIBLE!
THE GREAT AFGHAN BLUNDER.
OCCASIONAL NOTES.
DIBDIN'S SAILOR-SONGS.
'SEWED MUSLINS.'
AN AMERICAN CONFESSES A FAULT.
'THE MAGNETOSCOPE.'
VILLAGE CLEANING.
NATIONAL CUSTOMS.
BY THE SEA.
CONDUCTED BY WILLIAM AND ROBERT CHAMBERS, EDITORS OF 'CHAMBERS'SINFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE,' 'CHAMBERS'S EDUCATIONAL COURSE,' &c.
| No. 425. New Series. | SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1852. | Price 1½d. |
VENICE.
At six, on a bright morning, the 1st of September 1851, we left thequay of Trieste in the steamer for Venice. We were in no particularmood upon the subject. If anything, we rather feared that the famousCity of the Sea might turn out to have been overpraised. However, weresolved to be candid.
The morning passed pleasantly enough. We admired the snowy tops of theStyrian Alps on the right, and the deep green of the Adriatic wasbeautiful. We had calculated upon an eight hours' voyage; but it wasscarcely eleven o'clock when the pinnacles and towers of the citybegan to appear above the water's edge to the west, taking us a littleby surprise. It was thenceforward an interesting occupation for anhour or so to watch these objects gradually rising out of the waves.By and by, a large dome took its place amongst them; then some littledomes and more pinnacles: at length a connected range of city objectslay along the horizon, and this we knew was Venice. Thesteamer by and by began to wind through some straits or channels ofthe sea, with fortifications covering the low banks on both sides. Itwent on; and about one o'clock, under a bright sun, we found ourselvesin an open space of sea, opposite the famous series of buildingscomposed of the Doge's Palace, the Cathedral of San Marco, the Piazza,&c.—objects perhaps of their kind the most generally known in Europe.
The first few minutes was a confused mixture of romantic associationand solicitude about a right hotel. Our thoughts slid with prosaicfacility from the lion on the top of the obelisk, so well rememberedfrom Canaletti's pictures, to the sign of the Leone Bianca—a place ofentertainment not far off, much recommended by Murray. I recalled theByronian heroines sailing about in those gondol