the boat in the same direction as he looks. Those persons who are not rich enough to possess a gondola of their own, hire them, as we do cabs, when they require to go abroad. The Venetian territories are as fruitful as any in Italy, abounding with vineyards, and mulberry plantations. Its chief towns are Venice (which I have described), Padua, Verona, Milan, Cremona, Lodi, and Mantua. Venice was once at the head of the European naval powers; 'her merchants were princes, and her traffickers the honorable of the earth,' but now-- "'Her pageants on the sunny waves are gone, Her glory lives in memory's page alone.' "In a beautiful poem written by the lamented Miss Landon, there are some very appropriate lines:-- "'But her glory is departed, And her pleasure is no more, Like a pale queen broken-hearted, Left lonely on the shore. No more thy waves are cumbered With her galleys bold and free; For her days of pride are numbered, And she rules no more the sea. Her sword has left her keeping, Her prows forget the tide, And the Adriatic, weeping, Wails round his mourning bride.' * * * * * "'In those straits is desolation, And darkness and dismay-- Venice, no more a nation, Has owned the stranger's sway.'" CHARLES. "I have some scraps belonging to the 'tideless sea,' which will come in here very well. The first is the account of the Bosphorus, now called the Canal of Constantinople, situated between the Euxine and the Sea of Marmora. The whole length of it is about seventeen miles, and most delightful excursions are made on it in pretty vessels called 'Caiques.' They rest so lightly on the water, that you are never certain of being 'safely stowed.' The rowers are splendid-looking fellows from two to four in number, each man with two light sculls, and they sit lightly on thwarts on the same level with the gunwale of the caique. Their costume is beautiful; the head covered with the crimson tarbouche, and the long silk tassel dangling over the shoulders; a loose vest of striped silk and cotton, fine as gauze, with wide open collar, and loose flowing sleeves; a brilliant-colored shawl envelops the waist, and huge folds of Turkish trousers extend to the knee; the leg is bare, and a yellow slipper finishes the fanciful costume. In the aft part of this caique is the space allotted for the 'fare,' a crimson-cushioned little divan[3] in the bottom of the boat, in which two persons can lounge comfortably. The finish of the caique is often extraordinary--finest fret-work and moulding, carved and modelled as for Cleopatra. The caiques of the Sultan are the richest boats in the world, and probably the most rapid and easy. They are manned by twenty or thirty oarsmen, and the embellishment, and conceits of ornament are superb. Nothing can exceed the delightful sensation of the motion; and the skill of the rowers in swiftly