206 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839, 
with me. And here everything is strange, canals for 
streets, gondolas for coaches ; not a horse to be seen 
in the city, except the celebrated bronze gilt steeds of 
St. Mark ; palaces of barbaric magnificence, splendid 
churches ; people of all nations and tongues, Christians, 
Turks, and Jews. Surely there is nothing like it. 
The view from Fusina, on the mainland, which was 
the first I obtained, was charming. 
You will wonder at the comparison, hat the dis- 
tant view of Venice reminded me strongly of New 
York, as you approach from Amboy. The gondola 
that brought us stopped in the Grand Canal near the 
Rialto, or rather the bridge of the Rialto, for the name 
properly belongs to the island; and in crossing this 
bridge during the day, I found some of the little shops 
still occupied by money-changers, and I saw more 
than one hard Jewish countenance that might sit for 
the picture of Shylock. This part of the town is un- 
pleasant, although the canals are lined with what were 
once stately palaces, which now look as if about to 
sink again into the water. While on my way to a ho- 
tel, I came abruptly upon a view that seemed like en- 
chantment : the Piazza of St. Mark, a large quadrangle, 
three sides inclosed by a magnificent range like the 
Palais Royal; on the fourth, the church of St. Mark, 
and adjoining it the Palace of the Doges, scarcely 
less magnificent, and in an equally Oriental style. In 
front is the Campanile, taller than that of Florence, 
but not handsome. As you turn out of the quadrangle 
in full front of the palace, you see the two granite col- 
umns, one of them surmounted with the winged lion; 
and you stand on the mole, with the most superb view 
of sea and city, shipping, churches and palaces, before 
and around you. I never expect again to see anything 
