BUCENTAUR, a galeas or large galley of the doge of Venice, adorned with fine pillars on both sides, and gilt over from the prow to the stern. This vessel is covered over head with a kind of tent, made of purple silk. In it the doge receives the great lords and persons of quality that go to Venice, accompanied with the ambassadors and counsellors of state, and all the senators seated on benches by him. The same vessel serves also in the magnificent ceremony of Ascension day, on which the doge of Venice throws a ring into the sea to espouse it, and to denote his dominion over the Gulf of Venice.