268 



HA RD WICKE'S SCIENCE- G OSS IF. 



accompaniment to a fine day is the sun ; but here a 

 bright sunshine and a cloudless blue sky are the 

 reverse of pleasant to those who are undertaking 

 bodily exercise of any kind. A heavy bank of grey, 

 leaden-hued clouds slowly rising athwart the horizon 

 indicated not only a breezy day, but also a cloudy one ; 

 and, as the morning wore, they spread like a pall 

 over the surrounding country, and effectually shielded 

 us from any unpleasant inconveniences we might 

 otherwise have experienced from the burning rays of 

 a tropical sun. My object in undertaking this tour 

 was to visit the fossiliferous deposits of the south-west 

 of the island, ground already rendered classical by 

 the researches of several eminent geologists, and 

 which, though I had visited it upon several previous 

 occasions, still retained charms for me, both on 

 account of its unique scenery and the great abundance 

 and variety of the fossils that are to be met with in 

 its strata. 



On the outskirts of the city, I hired a carrozze, 

 and jumping in, was soon moving at a brisk pace 

 towards the little village of Crendi, which place I 

 purposed making my starting-point. Crossing the 

 flat alluvial tract of country yclept the Marsa, 

 known alike to the botanist, geologist, and other 

 lovers of nature ; and which, if we are to judge by its 

 conformation and the large numbers of semi-fossilised 

 land shells, such as Claiisilia syi'acitsana. Helix 

 aspersa, Bidimns aciitus, etc., that are constantly 

 being exhumed from the breccias of the caves and 

 gorges, seems to have formerly been either the bed 

 of an estuary or the basin of a lake, we ascended 

 the side of the hill that forms its western boundary, 

 and from this coign of vantage obtained a magnificent 

 view of the topography of the island, 



" Away behind. 

 Like a gem set in a silver sea," 



lay the city of Valletta on the lofty eminence known 

 as Mont Scebberas. Its old grey bastions and 

 impregnable fortifications, heirlooms of the Knights 

 of St. John, and the scene of many a tough and 

 bloody battle between them and the Turks, now in 

 the grey morning light appeared even more grey 

 and grim, and seemed to frown at the efforts of the 

 blue limpid waves that flung themselves restlessly 

 upon the weather-worn and rock-bound coast beneath. 

 Towards the north, like huge monsters keeping 

 watch over the surrounding country, lay the Bin- 

 jemma Hills, their tops wreathed in thin streaks of 

 mist, and their craggy escarpments thrown out in 

 strong relief against the green verdure of their slopes. 

 One cannot look upon their fretted, cavern-worn 

 faces without wondering what were the conditions 

 that endured at the time when they were undergoing 

 the process of formation. 



As I gazed upon the escarped sides of the hills, 

 the geological history of the islands in past ages 

 arose \dvidly before me. From the extreme southern 

 limit of the Great Sahara on the south, to the Car- 



pathians on the north, there extended a vast expanse 

 of water from whose depths the summits of the 

 mountains of Northern Africa, Italy, Switzerland 

 and Turkey appeared but as so many islands. 



It was during this period that the strata of which 

 the Maltese Islands is now composed was formed. 

 It was in this IMiocene Sea that the countless myriads 

 of animals whose remains enter into and form the 

 component parts of the limestone and freestone rocks, 

 lived and died. Huge carnivorous whales, and 

 sharks of equally gigantic proportions, whose name 

 was legion, disported themselves in its waters. A 

 change then took place ; the bed arose slowly, and in 

 course of time a continent was formed where an 

 ocean formerly existed. Then it was that Northern 

 Africa, Malta and Sicily formed one extensive tract 

 of country, on the sides of whose slopes elephants 

 browsed, and crocodilians and hippopotami basked 

 in the waters of its rivers. 



Another great change, wrought by Nature's hercu- 

 lean forces, left Malta isolated in the midst of the 

 waters now known to us as the Mediterranean. 

 Gradually the arboreal vegetation in this restricted 

 locality dwinded away under the constant attacks 

 made upon it by the immense herds of huge monsters 

 that had been driven to seek a refuge on its heights 

 from the roaring waters around, and slowly but 

 surely did they,^for the want of proper sustenance, 

 perish and leave their bones in such quantities as to 

 form breccias of considerable extent and thickness. 

 Their remains lie in pell-mell confusion, and in such 

 a rolled and comminuted condition are some of the 

 larger tusks and bones, that they show but too con- 

 clusively the fearful character of the catastrophe. 



Whilst thus linking together these chains of geo- 

 logical evidence, I was recalled somewhat abruptly 

 from my reverie by a most unpleasant accident that 

 befell my attendant sprite and his charge. Oblivious 

 of all around him, he had gradually succumbed to 

 the influence of sleep, and the carriage, passing over 

 a somewhat larger rut than usual, had precipitated 

 him, bag, provisions and all, into the road, in close 

 proximity to the carriage wheels. Had an earth- 

 quake, or something equally appalling, then occurred, 

 he could not have looked more horror-stricken than 

 he did as he picked himself up and rubbed the dust 

 from his eyes, ears and nostrils. Happily the mishap 

 was attended with no serious consequences beyond 

 a severe shaking, and, after gathering together the 

 miscellaneous contents of the bags with which the 

 road was strewn, Paolo looked none the worse for 

 his escapade. The accident had occurred within 

 sight of the quarries of Casal Luca, and, as a visit to 

 these would effect the twofold object of allowing 

 Paolo to pull himself together again, and at the 

 same time afford me an opportunity of examining 

 the strata of the district, I gladly acquiesced to his 

 proposal that we should adjourn to the nearest one 

 and search for "antiqua." 



