The day that I made my entry into Venice they sent to meet me as far as Fusina, which is five miles from Venice; there you leave the boats which bring you down the river[378] from Padua, and get into little boats covered with tapestry and very neat, with fair carpets within, and velvet cushions to sit upon. To this place you come from Venice by sea, as it is the next place to Venice upon _terra firma_; but the sea (unless agitated by some storm) is very calm, which is the reason of the great abundance of all sorts of fish. I was extremely surprised at the situation of this city, to see so many churches, monasteries, and houses, and all in the water; and the people have no other passage up and down the streets but in boats, of which, I believe, they have near thirty thousand, but they are very small. About the city, within less than the compass of half a French league, there are seventy religious houses both of men and women, all situated in little islands, very beautiful and magnificent both in building and furniture, with fair gardens belonging to them; without reckoning those in the city, where there are the four orders of mendicants, and seventy-two parishes, besides several fraternities; and, indeed, it is most strange to behold so many stately churches in the sea. I was met and complimented at Fusina by five and twenty gentlemen, richly dressed in silks and scarlets; they welcomed me with abundance of civility, and conducted me to St. Andrew’s church, which was near the town, where as many other gentlemen met and complimented me. These were accompanied by the ambassadors of Milan and Ferrara; and after they had made another speech to me I was conducted into other larger boats, which they called Plats, two of which were covered with crimson satin, and spread with tapestry at the bottom, big enough to hold forty persons; and placing me between the two ambassadors (the middle being the most honourable place in Italy), I was conducted through the principal street, which they call the Grand Canal, and it is so wide that galleys frequently cross one another; indeed I have seen vessels of four hundred tons or more ride at anchor just by the houses. It is the fairest and best-built street, I think, in the world, and goes quite through the city; the houses are very large and lofty, and built of stone; the old ones are all painted; those of about a hundred years standing are faced with white marble from Istria (which is about a hundred miles from Venice), and inlaid with porphyry and serpentine. Within they have, most of them, two chambers at least adorned with gilt ceilings, rich marble chimney-pieces, bedsteads of gold colour, their portals of the same, and most gloriously furnished. In short, it is the most triumphant city that I have ever seen, the most respectful to all ambassadors and strangers, governed with the greatest wisdom, and serving God with the most solemnity; so that, though in other things they might be faulty, I