No. 85.J 329 



flattered themselves, as did the grand master, that with the promised 

 assistance of galley slaves from France, of money from Spain, and ar- 

 tillery from England, that they should be enabled to return to their 

 old habitations, from which after much desperate fighting, they had 

 been expelled by the Turks j a vain hope which was never to be re- 

 alized. 



The report which these persons drew up was any thing but flatter- 

 ing. They stated that the island of Malta " was merely a rock of a 

 soft sand stone, called tufa, about six or seven leagues large, and 

 three or four broad ; that the surface was scarcely covered with 

 earth, which was likewise strong, and very unfit to grow corn and 

 other grain, though it produced abundance of figs, melons, and diffe- 

 rent fruits ; that the principal trade of the island consisted in cot- 

 ton and cummin, which the inhabitants exchanged for grain ; that ex- 

 cept a few springs in the middle of the island, there was no sur- 

 rounding water, nor even wells, — the want of which, the inhabitants 

 supplied with cisten.s ; that wood was so scarce as to be sold by 

 the pound, which forced them to use wild thistles for dressing food ; 

 that the island contained about twelve thousand inhabitants — of both 

 sexes — the greater part of whom were poor and miserable, owing to 

 the barrenness of the soil ; and in a word, that a residence at Malta 

 appeared extremely disagreeable, — indeed, almost insupportable, in 

 summer." 



Such was the wretched state of this island, as reported by these 

 knightly commissioners, upwards of three hundred years ago. But 

 how great is the change which Malta has undergone within the last 

 three centuries ! Where, at the time this report was drawn up, 

 twelve thousand persons were dwelling, there are now, according to 

 the census of 1842, more than one hundred thousand, and whose con- 

 dition, if not much improved, is certainly no worse, than that of 

 their forefathers. It is, however, in the agricultural state of the 

 island, that we find so much improvement. Two-thirds of the rocky 

 surface which it bore in 1525, has since then been partitioned off into 

 fields, and brought into the highest cultivation. " The Malta rock," 

 (says Dr. John Davy, the brother of the celebrated Sir Humphrey,) 

 " judging from the specimens I have examined, is entirely oolite, 

 and composed chiefly of carbonate of lime, with a little alumina in- 

 termixed, in variable proportions. The finest one, and that best fitted 

 for architectural purposes, is nearly pure carbonate of lime ; whilst 



threatened. These representatives on their arrival in Spain, informed the Spanisli min- 

 . isters, that it was out of their power to give the island to the Ifnighls, as their ancestors 

 had purchased their freedom from King Alfonso in 1427, and furthermore, that it was 

 their earnest wish to remain as they were under the Emperor's protection, would he but 

 deign to allow it. Charles V. had promised Pope Clement VII, to give the island of 

 Malta and Gozo, as a residence for the Order of St. John, and Inguanez was informed that 

 the wishes of his compatriots could not be complied with. L'lsle Adam having accepted 

 of these islands on the conditions with which they were given, sent Frallgone di Copons 

 Drappiero di Galera, and Fra Giovanni Bonifacio, Baglio di Monosca, who was receiver 

 general of the Convent, to taice possession. These two distinguished monks leaving Mes- 

 sina on the 30th of May, 1530, to execute their mission, were accompanied by two 

 royal commissioners, Eitore La Rosaf and Giovanni Filippo Paterno, as Ilie islands were 

 still to be held as fiefs of the Spanish crown. On the 26th of October of the same year, 

 L'lsle Adam landed at Malta, and on the 12th of June 1798, his successor, Ferdinand d' 

 Honpesch, was subdued by Napoleon and his convent expelled. 



