a 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 was covered over head with a kind of tent, made of purple silk. In it the doge received the great lords and persons of quality who visited Venice, accompanied with the ambassadors and counsellors of state, and all the senators, on benches by him. The same vessel served also in the magnificent ceremony of Ascension-day, on which the doge threw a ring into the sea to espouse it, and to denote his dominion over the Gulf of Venice.