The whole ten, which formed the front line, skimmed the water
with an equal velocity, beak to beak, as if some secret attraction held
each in its place, while the humble, though equally light bark of the
fisherman steadily kept its position in the rear.
The boats were soon held in command. The oars got their justest poise
and widest sweep, and the wrists of the men accustomed to their play.
The line began to waver, It undulated, the glittering prow of one
protruding beyond the others; and then it changed its form. Enrico of
Fusina shot ahead, and, privileged by success, he insensibly sheered
more into the centre of the canal, avoiding by the change the eddies,
and the other obstructions of the shore. This manoeuvre which, in the
language of the course, would have been called "taking the track," had
the additional advantage of throwing upon those who followed some
trifling impediment from the back-water. The sturdy and practised
Bartolomeo of the Lido, as his companions usually called him, came next,
occupying the space on his leader's quarter, where he suffered least
from the reaction caused by the stroke of his oar. The gondolier of Don
Camillo, also, soon shot out of the crowd, and was seen plying his arms
vigorously still farther to the right, and a little in the rear of
Bartolomeo. Then came in the centre of the canal, and near as might be
in the rear of the triumphant waterman of the main, a dense body, with
little order and varying positions, compelling each other to give way,
and otherwise increasing the difficulties of their struggle.
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