Letters. 259 



and hundreds of gondolas were darting along like swal- 

 lows, the gondoliers rowing as if they had been mad, 

 till the water was as much agitated as if there had been 

 a gale of wind : nothing could be more animated. You 

 will perceive from what I have said that the evening, till 

 a late hour, is the time for amusement, in consequence of 

 which I follow the Italian custom of sleeping after dinner, 

 and am much the better for it. This place agrees par- 

 ticularly well with all of us, and is well suited for old 



people, who require air without fatigue 



Most affectionately, 



MARY SOMERVILLE. 



FEOM MES. SOMERVILLE TO WOEONZOW GEEIG, ESQ. 



VENICE, 21th August, 1843. 

 MY DEAR WORONZOW, 



Your excellent letter, giving an account of your 

 agreeable expedition up the Rhine, did not arrive till 

 nearly a month after it was written I regret ex- 

 ceedingly you could not stay longer, and still more that 

 you could not come on and pay us a visit, and enjoy the 

 charm of summer in Venice, so totally unlike every other 

 place in every respect. I wished for you last night par- 

 ticularly. As we were leaving the Piazza San Marco, 

 about eleven, a boat came up, burning blue lights, with a 

 piano, violins, flutes, and about twenty men on board, 

 who sang choruses in the most delightful manner, and 

 sometimes solos. They were followed by an immense 

 number of gondolas, and we joined the cortege, and all 

 went under the Bridge of Sighs, where the effect was 

 beautiful beyond description. We then all turned and 



entered the Grand Canal, which was entirely filled with 



B 2 



