Traghetti are stations for gondolas at different points of the canals.  As their name implies, it is the first duty of the gondoliers upon them to ferry people across.  This they do for the fixed fee of five centimes.  The traghetti are in fact Venetian cab-stands.  And, of course, like London cabs, the gondolas may be taken off them for trips.  The municipality, however, makes it a condition, under penalty of fine to the traghetto, that each station should always be provided with two boats for the service of the ferry.  When vacancies occur on the traghetti, a gondolier who owns or hires a boat makes application to the municipality, receives a number, and is inscribed as plying at a certain station.  He has now entered a sort of guild, which is presided over by a Capo-traghetto, elected by the rest for the protection of their interests, the settlement of disputes, and the management of their common funds.  In the old acts of Venice this functionary is styled Gastaldo di traghetto.  The members have to contribute something yearly to the guild.  This payment varies upon different stations, according to the greater or less amount of the tax levied by the municipality on the traghetto.  The highest subscription I have heard of is twenty-five francs; the lowest, seven.  There is one traghetto, known by the name of Madonna del Giglio or Zobenigo, which possesses near its pergola of vines a nice old brown Venetian picture.  Some stranger offered a considerable sum for this.  But the guild refused to part with it.

As may be imagined, the traghetti vary greatly in the amount and quality of their custom.  By far the best are those in the neighbourhood of the hotels upon the Grand Canal.  At any one of these a gondolier during the season is sure of picking up some foreigner or other who will pay him handsomely for comparatively light service.  A traghetto on the Giudecca, on the contrary, depends upon Venetian traffic.  The work is more monotonous, and the pay is reduced to its tariffed minimum.  So far as I can gather, an industrious gondolier, with a good boat, belonging to a good traghetto, may make as much as ten or fifteen francs in a single day.  But this cannot be relied on.  They therefore prefer a fixed appointment with a private family, for which they receive by tariff five francs a day, or by arrangement for long periods perhaps four francs a day, with certain perquisites and small advantages.  It is great luck to get such an engagement for the winter.  The heaviest anxieties which beset a gondolier are then disposed of.  Having entered private service, they are not allowed to ply their trade on the traghetto, except by stipulation with their masters.  Then they may take their place one night out of every six in the rank and file.  The gondoliers have two proverbs, which show how desirable it is, while taking a fixed engagement, to keep their