282 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



so thrilling, that wc could have listened to it for hours, as in 

 fact we did, till it was quite time to return to our quarters. 



Early in the morning, our guide engaged, wc took a gondola 

 and started for the exploration of the city, its palaces, its 

 churches, its workshops and its canals. I soon pointed out the 

 Bridge of Sighs, from my recollection of it, and found that I 

 was right. A day was spent in these investigations and in 

 visiting the Doge's palace, in whose dark and gloomy cells 

 many and many a victim was confined, never again to see the 

 light of day. The Bridge of Sighs crosses a canal from this 

 palace to the prison. 



The next day we made an excursion to the Lido, some two 

 or three miles out, at the mouth of the harbor. It is a long 

 bar of sand extending six miles in front of the city, and per- 

 haps a quarter of a mile wide, and is about the only part of 

 Venice where any cultivation is practicable. After a most 

 refreshing bath in the Adriatic, we returned to our gondola 

 and rowed to an island occupied by the Armenian convent, 

 and were shown over it by a gentlemanly and obliging monk, 

 who pointed out the room where Byron used to come to study 

 the Armenian language. We sat down in the chair that he 

 occupied, saw other interesting relics of this strange man, and 

 the printing presses, nearly the only ones which are used in 

 printing tliis language, and returned to the city. 



During our whole stay of four days in Venice, we saw no 

 living animal, except down on the Lido, where I saw a yoke of 

 oxen. Not a iiorse, not a cow, not a dog, not even a cat. 

 Every thing was still and silent as the grave. I believe there 

 were some six horses kept in the city for military purposes 

 about tlic arscnaL 



On our way back to Milan wc passed the niglit at Verona, 

 where the house of the Oapulcts and the tomb of Juliet, and 

 many other objects of interest were pointed out. The immense 

 amphitheatre here is in a better state of preservation than most 

 of those we saw in other cities of Italy, and gave us a good 

 idea of the internal structure of these places of aanusement, 

 so common among the ancients. After looking again over 

 Milan, v.'C took the train for Lake Como, some thirty miles 

 north. Como is one of the loveliest of the Italian lakes, and 

 we saw it under favorable circumstances, havinu; ridden some 



