Gondola

Gondole, Fr. this word may be taken in two senses, viz. to signify a cup; or a small barge which is flat and long in its construction, and is only moved, or worked by oars. Gondolas are much used upon the canals in Venice; they are extremely remarkable for their shape, and the great swiftne with which they glide through the water. The middle sized ones are about thirty feet long, and are only four feet broad acro the middle, gradually tapering towards each end, and rising in two sharp and narrow points to the ordinary height of a man. Upon the prow is fixed an iron of uncommon length, which does not exceed half a finger’s breadth in thickne ; but which is four fingers broad, and is so disposed as to cut the air. The upper part of this iron which is flatter than the rest, stretches out in the shape of a large hatchet a full foot in length: so that when the gondola is on her way, it seems to menace every thing before it, and to force its pa age.