om fifteen to nineteen is called a
_mezz'uomo_, and gets about one franc a day. A new gondola with all its
fittings is worth about a thousand francs. It does not last in good
condition more than six or seven years. At the end of that time the hull
will fetch eighty francs. A new hull can be had for three hundred
francs. The old fittings--brass sea-horses or _cavalli_, steel prow or
_ferro_, covered cabin or _felze_, cushions and leather-covered
back-board or _stramazetto_, may be transferred to it. When a man wants
to start a gondola, he will begin by buying one already half past
service--a _gondola da traghetto_ or _di mezza eta_. This should cost
him something over two hundred francs. Little by little, he accumulates
the needful fittings; and when his first purchase is worn out, he hopes
to set up with a well-appointed equipage. He thus gradually works his
way from the rough trade which involves hard work and poor earnings to
that more profitable industry which cannot be carried on without a smart
boat. The gondola is a source of continual expense for repairs. Its oars
have to be replaced. It has to be washed with sponges, blacked, and
varnished. Its bottom needs frequent cleaning. Weeds adhere to it in the
warm brackish water, growing rapidly through the summer months, and
demanding to be scrubbed off once in every four weeks. The gondolier has
no place where he can do this for himself. He therefore takes his boat
to a wharf, or _squero_, as the place is called. At these _squeri_
gondolas are built as well as cleaned. The fee for a thorough setting to
rights of the boat is five francs. It must be done upon a fine day. Thus
in addition to the cost, the owner loses a good day's work.

These details will serve to give some notion of the sort of people with
whom Eustace and I spent our day. The bride's house is in an excellent
position on an open canal leading from the Canalozzo to the Giudecca.
She had arrived before us, and received her friends in the middle of the
room. Each of us in turn kissed her cheek and murmured our
congratulations. We found the large living-room of the house arranged
with chairs all round the walls, and the company were marshalled in some
order of precedence, my friend and I taking place near the bride. On
either hand airy bed-rooms opened out, and two large doors, wide open,
gave a view from where we sat of a good-sized kitchen. This arrangement
of the house was not only comfortable, but pretty