They were cheered by the men, and stimulated by the smiles and tears of the other sex.

The rewards were recalled to their minds; they were fortified by prayers to the saints; and then they were dismissed, amid the cries and the wishes of the multitude, to seek their allotted places beneath the stern of the galley of state.
It has already been mentioned in these pages, that the city of Venice is divided into two nearly equal parts by a channel much broader than that of the ordinary passages of the town.

This dividing artery, from its superior size and depth, and its greater importance, is called the Grand Canal.

Its course is not unlike that of an undulating line, which greatly increases its length.

As it is much used by the larger boats of the bay--being, in fact, a sort of secondary port--and its width is so considerable, it has throughout the whole distance but one bridge, the celebrated Rialto.