ACCOUNT 
island equally hot; this is ice, which 
they import in very large quantities, 
and of the finest quality, from Mount 
‘Etna. It is sometimes so abundant, 
that water is generally cooled with 
it. In any coffee-house you can 
call for an ice-cream, with as much 
certainty as in a confectioner’s shop 
in Bond-street. The trade carried 
on at this time was extremely brisk. 
The English faétories from Naples, 
Leghorn, and Palermo, had taken 
refuge in this town, which was the 
emporium of the British trade in the 
Mediterranean, and whence English 
goods were smuggled into Italy, 
and thus found their way to the con- 
tinent. 
Conyents and religious houses are 
nowhere more numerous than in 
Malta. Priests and friars are met 
at every step, and still retain over 
the minds of a superstitious people, 
an unbounded and despotic sway. 
Although La Valette is built with 
great care and regularity, yet it is 
sufficiently obvious, that the chief 
attention has been directed to the 
construction of the fortifications. 
This, in part, accounts for their 
being, perhaps, the finest and best 
finished of any in Europe. Besides, 
the successors of La Valette, de- 
sirous of emulating his example, 
have constantly added. to them; and, 
in faét, rendered the works so con- 
siderable and extensive, that several 
of them have become nearly useless, 
and would require, in case of siege, 
much too great a number of troops 
to defend them. 
The modes of conveyance used 
here are carriages without springs, 
made to contain two or four per- 
sons, and drawn by a Single mule, 
driven by a man on foot, whose 
station is close to the vehicle, and 
who, sometimes at a trot, but most 
OF BOOKS. 947 
generally at a gallop, keeps’ pace 
with the animal. ‘They are very 
clumsy, awkward carriages, and, as 
they pass over the rough pavement, 
shake the unfortunate passenger al- 
most to pieces. A long string of 
these vehicles, numbered, always 
stands in the Strada Reale for hire. 
Drays also, drawn by one mule, 
are found in every part of the town, 
and are very useful. The mules in 
this island are very tall and strong ; 
it is surprising how they go up and 
down the steep slippery streets, | 
some of which are literally flights of: 
steps, without eyer stumbling. 
Civita, or Citta Vecchia, the re- 
sidence of the bishop, is about six 
miles distant from La Valette. It 
stands upon an eminence, and is sur« 
rounded with fortifications. It is 
impossible sufficiently to admire the 
cathedral of St. Paul, the tutelar 
saint of this island, on which he was 
wrecked. Its wonderful symmetry, 
its dome, and the fresh and highly 
coloured paintings, with which it is 
adorned, must strike the most incu- 
rious beholder. : 
In this church is the greatest va- 
riety of marble I ever beheld: the 
lapis lazuli, the green and yellow | 
antique, with several others, meet 
the eye in every direétion. The 
most admirable effect is produced 
from the ingenious manner in which 
this different assortment of marbles 
is disposed and combined. 
Without the town, in what is 
called the Rabatto, is the grotto of 
St. Paul. To this highly venerated 
spot you descend through numerous 
chapels, and at length come to a 
small space, scooped out of a soft 
and chalky kind of white earth, in 
the centre of which stands a marble 
statue of the saint; far inferior, 
however, to another very beautiful 
3P2 one 
