MALT MALVASIA. 



611 



Nassau, Hie left wing, where the Dutch were sta- 

 tioned. Villars commanded the right wing of the 

 French forces ; Bouflers, the left. The left wing of 

 the allies was put to flight, and Marlborough had to 

 struggle against the most furious attacks upon the 

 right. The Pretender, son of James II., chevalier 

 St George, charged twelve times, at the head of the 

 French cavalry. Villars then weakened his centre, 

 by despatching reinforcements for the left wing. At 

 this crisis, Eugene advanced, stormed the intrench- 

 in ents which covered the enemy's centre, and drove 

 back the guards. The marshal hastened thither 

 from the left wing, but too late; he was wounded 

 himself; his centre was broken through, and the 

 wings separated. The battle was lost. The field 

 was covered with about 30,000 dead and dying. 

 The French lost hardly 10,000; the allies, more than 

 20,000. The conquerors took no prisoners nor can- 

 non. Bouflers conducted the retreat in good order, 

 between Le Quesnoy and Valenciennes. The allies 

 immediately laid siege to Mons, which fell into their 

 hands. 



MALT is the preparation of barley, from which 

 ale, beer, and porter are brewed, all which are gen- 

 erally denominated malt liquors. For this purpose, 

 the barley is steeped in water for three or four days. 

 It is then taken out and suffered to lie until it begins 

 to sprout or germinate. As soon as this process has 

 advanced sufficiently, its further progress is prevented 

 by drying it in a kiln, heated by coal or coke, for 

 which purpose the anthracite coal is found to answer 

 admirably well. The grain is now become mellow 

 and sweet, and after having been crushed in a kind 

 of mill, contrived for the purpose, its saccharine and 

 mucilaginous portions are extracted by boiling water. 

 The liquor thus produced has the name of wort, 

 ' which, having undergone the process of fermenta- 

 tion, and having been flavoured by the addition of 

 hops, &c., constitutes ale or beer. What remains of 

 the malt after brewing, is called the grains, which 

 are used for feeding horses and cows. Besides the 

 use of barley for malt, it is also extensively used for 

 soup, broth, bread, &c., in all the countries of Eu- 

 rope. See Fermentation and Brewing. 



MALTA (anciently, Melita); an island in the 

 Mediterranean, possessed, through several centuries, 

 of a degree of celebrity and power greater than has 

 ever been attached to any other territory of so little 

 extent; lat. 35 53' N.; Ion. 14 30' E. (of the 

 observatory of the grand master) ; sixty miles from 

 Sicily; 200 from Calipia, the nearest point of Africa; 

 separated from the small island of Gozo by a strait 

 four miles wide, comprising, with Gozo and the rock 

 Cumino, which lies between, about 170 square miles. 

 The population of the group was, at one time, 

 114,000 ; at present, 94,000 ; of which 1 4,000 belong 

 to Gozo. Besides the natives, there are British 

 (about 700, besides the military), Jews, Greeks, 

 Turks, Egyptians, Italians, French, and Dutch. The 

 Maltese, English, and Italian are the predominant 

 languages. The soil consists of a thin covering of 

 earth, on a soft, calcareous rock, and is increased by 

 breaking up the surface of the stone into a sort of 

 gravel, and mixing it through the earth. To the 

 south-west, the land rises precipitously more than 

 1200 feet ; to the north-east, it is low. There is but 

 one small stream in the island, which is conducted, 

 by an aqueduct of several thousand arches, and eight 

 miles long, to Valetta ; a supply of water is obtained 

 by cisterns, in which the rain water is collected. 

 The southern shore is rocky, and without any har- 

 bour ; that of Marsa, on the east, forming the port 

 Valetta, is one of the best in the Mediterranean, 

 being completely land-locked, and capable of con- 

 taining 50o vessels. The climate is hot, but the 



heat is mitigated by a sea breeze, which always sets 

 in at night. The principal production is cotton. 

 Melons and oranges, of an excellent quality, are 

 abundant. Corn is raised in small quantities. Figs 

 are cultivated with great care, the process of caprifi- 

 cation (see Figs) being practised. The Maltese one 

 of African origin ; with a swarthy skin, hair inclined 

 to frizzle, and nose somewhat flattened. They are 

 industrious, frugal, and excellent seamen ; but poor, 

 ignorant, superstitious, vindictive, and dishonest. 

 The upper class speak Italian, but the language of 

 the common people is a patois, compounded of Arabic 

 (which is the fundamental and principal part), Ger- 

 man, Greek, Italian, and other languages. The 

 Arabic so far predominates, that the peasants of 

 Malta and Barbary can understand each other. They 

 have no alphabet, and, according to the fancy of 

 individuals, adopt those of other tongues. The capi- 

 tal is Valetta, founded in 1566, by Lavalette (q, v.), 

 grand master of the knights of Malta, with a popu- 

 lation of 40,000. It is remarkable for the mag- 

 nificence of its buildings, and the position and 

 strength of its fortifications. The church of St John, 

 the patron of the order, is a noble building, 240 

 feet long and sixty wide, which contained great 

 riches, until they were seized by the French. The 

 hotels of the knights, corresponding to the eight 

 languages into which the order was divided (see 

 John, St, Knights of) are now occupied by the Brit- 

 ish officers. The palace of the grand master is an 

 extensive pile, and contains a magnificent armoury 

 of ancient and modern weapons. The great hospital 

 afforded accommodations for 2000 patients, who 

 were attended by the knights. The vessels used in 

 the hospital service were of solid silver. Immense 

 granaries, cut out of the rock, were stored with corn, 

 sufficient to maintain the garrison twenty years. 

 They were hermetically closed, and the grain has 

 been preserved in them, so as to be fit for use after 

 a hundred years. The fortifications are the strongest 

 in the world. Besides five forts, commanding the 

 most important points, there are lines of vast 

 strength, enclosing the various quarters, and forming 

 works of such extent as to require 25,000 men to 

 man them, and 100,000 to invest the place com- 

 pletely. Valetta is protected on three sides by the 

 water, and on the fourth, by five lines of fortifica- 

 tions. The ditches are, in some places, ninety feet 

 deep, hewn out of the rock, and the ramparts are 

 mostly formed in the same manner. 1000 pieces of 

 cannon are mounted on the works. 



Malta was early in the hands of the Carthaginians, 

 who were dispossessed by the Romans. (On the 

 antiquities, inscriptions, vases, coins, &c., consult 

 the Malta antica illustrata, by Bres, Rome, 1816, 

 4to.) It was occupied, in the middle ages, by the 

 Saracens and Normans, and, in 1530, was conferred, 

 by Charles V., on the knights of St John, who had 

 been expelled from Rhodes by the Turks. It was 

 soon fortified by the knights, and underwent several 

 memorable sieges. In 1798, general Bonaparte took 

 possession of it, on his expedition to Egypt ; and, in 

 1800, the French garrison was obliged, by famine, 

 to capitulate to a British force. In 1814, the po- 

 session of it was confirmed to Great Britain, by the 

 treaty of Paris. See Boisgelin, Ancient and Modern 

 Malta (London, 1805,2 vols., 4to); Brydone's Tour 

 through Sicily and Malta ; and Bigelow's interesting 

 Travels in Malta and Sicily (Boston, 1831); Vas- 

 salli's Grammatica delta Lingua Maltese (Malta, 2d 

 ed., 1827.) 



MALVASIA ; a district in the Morea. The 



chief place, called Malvasia di Romania, is situated 



on nn island, and connected with the continent by a 



bridge. It is a fortress ; has a bishop, and 2000 



2s 



