1S06.] 



Remarks on Malta and Sillcy. 



51; 



&c.,I have never feen figures mere n'dicu- 

 loufly dreffird. Should fupper or retVcfh- 

 ments be introduced, the fcene of greedy 

 contufion is beyond delcripti'on : they not 

 only eat almoft to buriiing, but in the mod 

 open and hircfaced manner packet evciy 

 eatable diin^ they can lay their hinds up- 

 on. Notvvithitanding this apparent want 

 of civijiziiion, the Malteie are leither a 

 rude nor an unpolirtied people ; en the con- 

 trary,' their manners are in general conci- 

 liating, unafl'uming, and obliging. They 

 are, however, ftid to be revengeful ; and 

 the comm>n people aredancrer.us when in 

 liquor ; but they a:e fortunately not much 

 addiiled to driiikiig. The Maltefe are 

 alio a more indultrious fet than the na- 

 tivesot muftof the neighbouring coun;ries ; 

 though it mult at the fame time be con- 

 ftflfed that they are raiher Jiwidi in their 

 dealings. 



The chief produflions of the iflmd are 

 harley ard c6iton, of both of which, as 

 well as ot their fruits, they have two har- 

 vefls in tbe year. They grow cotton in 

 very conliderable quantities, and manufac- 

 ture it into (lockings, (luffs, &c. : the lace 

 and je*e;iery trades are alio carried on to 

 a conli.lerahie extent. 



The Maitefe are af^ively made, about 

 the middle ftature, an ! of a fwarihy com- 

 ple.xifin. The languane fpoken by the 

 higher chfles is Italian, by tbe lower orders 

 a mixture cf Italian and Ara!iic. 



It is not within the iimiis of this little 

 narrative to enter into a minute, military 

 account of this ifland. lis capital. La 

 Valetta, by natiue ftrong, is alfoindebed 

 to the tdcn's of the m'll celebrated engi- 

 neers, for centuries part, tor every fpecies 

 ot fortification, ancien: as well as modern, 

 tiiat art couid inOent, to render it impreg- 

 nable. I's works are cor.ftanily extended, 

 in ccnf quenceof a law which iequ!ies (he 

 grand -mailer to expend two third* of his 

 lalarv t n the ifland ; and every article of 

 conluniption is \io cheaply obtained, that 

 a confidtrable lefidue is annually applied 

 to feme public purpole. Each grand- 

 malfer fcem* to have perpetuated his name 

 by adding to the ftrength of the illand, the 

 different works bearing the name of the 

 perfon who caufed ihcm to be erefled ; and 

 lb great has been the increafe, that the 

 whole of the inhabitants not refidenis of 

 the capital can in C'fie of necelFity retire 

 wiiliin the outer works, and defend them- 

 fi lve«, wiihout interfering with the city 

 itfclf, Tlie more dillanl parts ot ihe ifland 

 are no lefs indebted lo nature and art than 

 the capital. The lefler liai bouts, into 

 which on'y bo<its can en'er, aie defended 



by numerous redoubts with pieces of ar- 

 tillery and immenfe moitars cut in the 

 rock : one of thefe mortars, which w.is 

 once filed off whilft I was in the ifland, by 

 wsy of experimetit, was of the following 

 enormous dimenfions : — Chamber 14. 

 inches deep, ti2 inches in diameter ; dii- 

 meter of the mortar 6 feet ; weight of 

 ftciies for each charge 9 tons, 



Tne ifltind is itfeit a continuation of 

 llielving rocks from the centre to the 

 Ihore, with a flat furface between the 

 ridges, of from twenty to eigh'v yards in 

 width. On this fuiface earth brou<Tht: 

 from-Sicily for the purpofr' of agriculture 

 is laid, and, to retain it, waih of loofe 

 ftone, from four to five feet high, are 

 bui.t, which form a fuccclfion of bread- 

 works againft muflietry, fliould the inha- 

 biiants be driven from the fhoie. It may, 

 in ta£l, be aiTerted of Malta, that, without 

 the aid of treachery or famine, it could ne- 

 ver be t.iken j and it is generally under- 

 llood that the knights were bribed to de- 

 liver it into the hands 'f the French ; and 

 it is certain that the Frencl were retiuceJ 

 by fam-.ne to the neceffity of furrendering 

 it to the Ri'giifli. 



Htiving obained permiflion to return to 

 my native country, I tlctermin-d to avail 

 mylislfof the opportunity to vifit Sicily, 

 Itnly, and France j and accordingly, about 

 midn'ght on the 26th of December, ac- 

 companied by three other officers, fet fail 

 for ihc former country in an open boar, 

 called a Ipaiinaro, and arrived at Syracufe 

 by eight o'clock on the following morning. 

 In this voyage we were chafed by an Al- 

 gerine corvette for nearly tour hour>, but 

 the wind blowing ftrong upon the fnore, 

 we were fortunate enot'gh to efcape j hut 

 never fli^ll I forget the condcrnation de- 

 picted on the countenances of our poor Si- 

 rili.in mariners, till we were totally free 

 fiom danger. 



Syiacufe lies on the fouth-weft part of 

 the iflind, and was once i's capital, but is 

 at prelcnt greatly reduced. The hirhour 

 is well defended by ftrong batteries, and 

 is extremely fecure and capacious. The 

 inn to which we were conduced by our 

 pilot, and which I believe to be the only 

 one in the town, had a mod difcouraging 

 external appearance, but the accommoda- 

 tions were not to be complained of : the 

 landlord is a prieft ; but from the extra- 

 vagance of his bills I fliould much doubt 

 his being a conl'cientious one : we gave 

 him, however, what we underilood to he 

 reafonable, with which, though he aife'^eJ 

 to miirn.ur, I dare lay he wa* in reality 

 well fatisfied. 



3 T % The 



