516 



Remarks on Malta and Sicily. 



[Jan. 1, 



Ths princrpal objefls fliewn as curio- 

 fities here are the church of St. Lucia, 

 the weli of Arethuf?., and the cave of Dio- 

 ryfius : fix Jarge pillais, the relifls of a 

 temple formerly dedicated to Minerva, form 

 psrt of the prefcnt church of St. Lucia, the 

 front of which pltaftd me as a beauriful 

 piece of architefliire more than any thing 

 I had ever Aen. In the churcli are fome 

 antiques, which I did not think very cii- 

 rior.s, though they are preferved with 

 great care, and fiiewn with equal oftenta- 

 ticn,l)y theprielts. The well of Arethufa 

 was formerly fiippoftd to poilifs the power 

 of iMfpiring courage, and the inhabitants 

 are f.iid conltautly to have draiik of it prior 

 to iheir going to war ; at prefent it lias 

 the appeaia' ce of a commnn horfe-p: nd, 

 and I (houhl hardly ihi' k it retains any 

 of its heroic parliclts, at leilt if it does, I 

 fuppofe the apphcaiion muft be exter- 

 nal, for when I fa.v it there were Hand- 

 ing in it about thirty old women, wafliing 

 a fufficit-nt quantity of daty linen !0 

 caufe what Falftiiff calls " a villainous 

 Compound of horrid fmells." Tlie cave 

 of Dionyfius is faid to have been a jrlfon 

 excavated in the rock by order of that ty- 

 rant whofe name it brars, and fo tonftriicl- 

 ed as to enable him to hear, frim an apart- 

 ment over the- door, the Icweft whif|.er ; 

 and as thefe whilpers were generally niur- 

 murings at his opprtflion, they were fol- 

 lowed by the fevereli punifhments that in- 

 genuity could devii'e or barbarity inflifl. 



We introduced curfelves to the iniiabi- 

 lanrs of Syracufe in a manner wliich, un- 

 explained, would ffamp us as the moft un- 

 bliifhing mortals thit England, or even her 

 filler kingdom (moie remaikable tor that 

 Aecies of modeft afiuiance), ever produced. 

 After p,etting our dir r.er at the is.n, we in- 

 quired of ourholf if there weie any public 

 amiifements, and, as well as we could in- 

 terpret his language, underftood that they 

 wereall fufpended on account of the fune- 

 ral of a nobleman, vduLh was to take place 

 that evening. We accordingly fallicd 

 forth with the intention of feeing tl-.e pro- 

 cefTon and ceremony, and foon findir.g a 

 houle at the door rt which were a number 

 of carriages, fiimbeaux, &c., we boldly 

 entered, nothing c'oubting but that the 

 body was there lying in liate; but upon 

 being fhewn into a room, we weie ihunder- 

 ftruck to find a large party as merry as 

 heait could wifh, and doing sn-.ple juliice 

 to a (umptuous fnpper. We were in- 

 ftantly and moft politely welcoir.ed by the 

 owner of the houfl-, whtm we learnt to be 

 the Marquis deCaitalentini ; the Marquis 

 de Gargiillo, governor cf the to-.Tn, alio 



introduced himfelf to us, and requefled 

 we would dine with him on the following 

 day : they further defired to conduft us, 

 after fupper, to the houfe of another no- 

 bleman, >A here there would be a con'verfa- 

 ziof/e, or rout. To tliis we accordingly 

 went, and were again moft politely receiv- 

 ed. There were affembled more than an 

 hundred people of both fexes, who fung, 

 played at cards, and danced, till a late 

 hour. We now learned that our landlord 

 had intended to explain to us that there 

 was no opera or other public amufement, 

 on account of the death of the hereditary 

 princefsof Naples, for whom this was the 

 iaft day of public mourning. Here we 

 met with a captain of the Britifh navy, 

 whofe vcffel was then lyinw in the harbour, 

 who pave a public bieakfaft on board 

 the following morning, at which were pre- 

 fent moft of the principal inhabitants, and 

 amongft them feveral very pretty worntn. 

 At the Governor's diincr, whicl> follow- 

 ed clofe upun the heels of the breakfaft, 

 were upwards of forty perfons : the table 

 was furnifhed with a number of made- 

 difiies, and a very large affoitment of 

 painted boards : it was in fart fo little to 

 my fade, that I ftcretly congratulated 

 myfelf upon having lecured a hearty 

 breakfaft . The Governor, however, is a 

 man of very polilhed manners, and is the 

 fa'ue perfon who, a few years fince, fogal- 

 hnily defended the capital of the ifland of 

 Elba againft the French. A French Ge- 

 neral and his Aid de-Camp were alfo at 

 table : thef rmer had loit a leg in Fgyp* : 

 tliey were pleafant nitn. The dinner (I 

 me-in the eating) lafted full three hours, 

 when the company role and feparated. — 

 In the evening v^e again went to the co/f- 

 'verfazkne, and were again itioft politely 

 received and agieeably entertained. — 

 Here we remained till twelve o'clock, at 

 which hour we had appointed our boat to 

 be in readinefs to convey us to Catania, 

 for which place we accordingly failed 

 " with laVouring gale," and by day-light 

 in the following morning were in fight of 

 the town. It lies at the foot of Mount 

 .(Etna, of which Itupendous mountain we 

 had an excellent profpert the whole day. 

 Ahou: fix in the evening we landed, and 

 were condo^led to a very tolerable tavern, 

 called th" Eltphant : ih;s name it derives 

 from a very lari>e ilone figure of thnt ani- 

 mal which Hands in the cen're of a Iquare 

 of which the ii n Jorms a f ai t. _Upon the 

 back of the figure is a caille, anU round 

 ito pedelfal a fonn'ain, by wiiich the inha- 

 bitants are fupplird with Jreih-wattr. 

 {To be tsnliuued.) 



For 



