of passing, turned
aside in time, and making a circuit, entered the Rio de San Trovaso,
whence, through innumerable narrow canals, he succeeded in reaching
the scene of the approaching conflict.

The combatants were attending mass, and had not yet made their
appearance. Wonderfully great, however, was the concourse of
spectators already assembled. Since sunrise they had been thronging
thither from all sides, eager to secure places which might afford them
a good view of the fight. Every roof, gable, and chimney had its
occupants; not a projection however small, not a wall however lofty
and perilous, but was covered with people, for the most part provided
with baskets of provisions, and evidently determined to sit or stand
out the whole of the spectacle. In the anxiety to obtain good places,
the most extraordinary risks were run, and feats of activity
displayed. Here might be seen individuals clambering up perpendicular
buildings, by the aid of ledges and projections which appeared far too
narrow to afford either grasp or foot-hold; further on, some herculean
gondolier or peasant served as base to a sort of human column,
composed of five or six men, who, scrambling over each other's
shoulders, attained in this manner some seemingly inaccessible
position. The seafaring habits of the Venetian populace, who were
accustomed from boyhood to climb the masts and rigging of vessels, now
stood them in good stead; and notwithstanding all the noise,
confusion, and apparent peril, it was very rarely that an accident
occurred.

Under the red awnings covering the balconies and flat roofs of the
palaces, were seated groups of ladies, whose rich dresses, glittering
with the costliest jewels and embroideries, appeared the more
magnificent from being contrasted with the black attire of the grave
patricians who accompanied them. But perhaps the most striking feature
of this striking scene was to be found in the custom of masking, then
almost universal in Venice, and the origin of which may be traced in
great part to dread of the Inquisition, and of its prying enquiries
into the actions and affairs of individuals. Amidst the sea of faces
that thronged roofs, windows, balconies, streets, and quays, the
minority only were uncovered, and the immense collection of masks, of
every form and colour, had something in it peculiarly fantastic and
unnatural, conveying an impression that the wearers mimicked human
nature rather than belonged to it.