MALTA. 



637 



Malta, having contributed munificently towards 

 its erection. The neck of land or promontory on 

 which it stands (originally called Mount Sceber- 

 ras) divides the main harbour (Great Port) from 

 Marsa Musceit haven, where the shipping perform 

 quarantine. The neck is estimated at 3200 yards 

 long, by 1200 broad, descending by a gradual slope. 

 Its whole length, from the land barrier at the 

 southern extremity to the point of St Elmo, 

 which terminates in the Mediterranean in a narrow 

 point of about 300 yards, bearing north-east by 

 north, on which point the citadel and lighthouse 

 of St Elmo are built. The centre of this neck of 

 land is its highest point, whence it gradually slopes 

 to the water's edge at either side. The longer 

 streets, eight in number, run in parallel lines along 

 this ridge or "hog's back" from south to north, 

 or, more strictly speaking, from south-south-west 

 to north-north-east, and are intersected by shorter 

 streets, eleven in number, which run from one har- 

 bour to another up the sides of the ridge. Besides 

 these regular streets, rows of houses front the 

 works all round, a carriage space being left between 

 them. The thoroughfares afford an excellent 

 means of ventilation, while the gradual descent 

 towards the sea on all sides facilitates the removal 

 of all nuisances. The public buildings and private 

 dwellings are of a very superior order, the latter 

 being inferior to those of no other city. The 

 houses are of solid stone, with flat or terraced 

 roofs, composed of stone slabs, covered over with 

 a thick bed of " terras," or " puzzolana," so as to 

 be impenetrable to rain, and, as in Calcutta and 

 other parts of the east, affording a cool and agree- 

 able morning and evening promenade. Very little 

 wood is employed, the stair cases, floors, c., 

 being of stone. The lower parts of the houses are 

 used for shops, stores, or habitations for the poorer 

 classes. Between the ground and first floor is a 

 " mezzanine " or middle floor, rarely exceeding 

 seven or eight feet in height, and frequently used 

 as bed-rooms or eating apartments ; the principal 

 suite of apartments being on the first floor. Each 

 house has generally a court, with a tank or large 

 well, and into this court the apartments of the 

 principal chambers look. A house fit for a mo- 

 derate family, containing twelve or fourteen apart- 

 ments, may be rented at 20 per annum, and an 

 equally commodious house and garden in the coun- 

 try for half that sum. The paving and lighting of 

 Valletta are excellent : the principal streets are 

 formed with flags cut out of the hardest pieces of 

 native stone, or with blocks of lava from Mount 

 Etna, and a regularly raised footway runs on either 

 side. Water is supplied by means of an aqueduct 

 (17,000 yards long) the quantity introduced being 

 fifty-eight gallons per minute. In order to extend 

 the supply of this indispensable aliment, every 

 house is furnished with a tank, into which baked 

 earthen pipes convey the rain water from the flat 

 roofs, and wells and cisterns are sunk in every pos- 

 sible situation. The buildings appropriated for 

 Government are admirable, and the palace of the 

 governor is suited for the residence of a crowned 

 head. 



Gozo (or Gaudisch, as the natives call it) is se- 

 parated from Malta by an arm of the sea, four to 

 five miles wide ; with an average length of eight 

 miles, by six broad, and twenty in circumference; 

 although fertile and thickly inhabited, it contains 

 no town, the inhabitants being scattered in six 

 villages, protected by a strong fort, Rabato, in the 



centre of the island. The surface of the island is 

 very agreeably diversified with hill and dale, some 

 of the more elevated parts in the north-west being 

 nearly 2000 feet above the sea. A chain of these 

 elevations encircle the island, embracing a beauti- 

 ful series of fertile valleys, separated by gently 

 rising grounds ; the summits of some of the moun- 

 tains are flattened, and truly table lands ; others 

 are rounded or mammillary; and there are four or 

 five remarkable detached hills, perfectly conical in 

 shape, and presenting the appearance of old vol- 

 canic productions. The interior of the island and 

 its shores abound in caves and rocks, being of the 

 same calcareous nature as those of Malta, but the 

 country is much more rural and agreeable. Fort 

 Chambray, commenced in 1749, contains the prin- 

 cipal accommodation for troops ; it lies on the 

 south-east side of the island, arid is built upon an 

 elevated promontory, forming one side of a little 

 bay in which the Malta boats anchor ; the shore 

 all round is very bold, especially to the south, 

 where it rises into rugged and inaccessible cliffs, 

 with huge masses of rock broken off from them 

 and projecting into the sea ; the road gradually 

 winds from the sea to the fort (which is 500 feet 

 above the shore) after a circuit of about 700 yards ; 

 the area on which the fortification is built being 

 about 2500 feet in circumference. The barracks 

 accommodate 250 men, are admirably arranged, 

 and there is a small but excellent hospital attached. 

 The lieutenant governor resides near Migiarro, a 

 small and insecure port, but the only one which 

 the island possesses. A constant intercourse is 

 kept up with Malta, the distance to Valetta by 

 sea being eighteen miles, although the two islands 

 are within four miles of each other. The oblong 

 islet of Comino, two miles in length, lying between 

 the larger islands, has a few inhabitants, employed 

 in cultivating about thirty acres of land, and in 

 preserving the numerous rabbits with which the 

 island abounds. Besides Cominetto, which lies 

 off the north-west end of Comino, there are four 

 or five other islets, or rather rocks, belonging to 

 Malta and Gozo. 



Climate. The climate of Malta is decidedly 

 warm, indeed, almost tropical. The maximum 

 temperature for the year may be taken at 90 F., 

 the minimum at 46, and the mean at 63 F. The 

 barometer may be similarly quoted at 38 8', 3(J 

 2'. and 30 5'. The hygrometer 87, 30, and 

 58. The heat of the summer is doubtless in- 

 creased by radiation of the solar rays from the 

 rocks surrounding Valetta; but in the country 

 around, and in Gozo in particular, the atmosphere 

 is from 2 to 4 cooler. The most prevalent 

 winds are the south-east (the Sirocco), and the 

 north-west ; the former characterized by its hu- 

 midity, accompanied by an exhausting degree of 

 temperature, producing a damp and suffocating 

 smell to the sick : these Siroccos are most preva- 

 lent in August, September, and October. The 

 north-east wind ("gregale") is brief and violent 

 in its duration, frequently occasioning serious mis- 

 chief in the harbour during the winter months. 

 Occasionally sudden and partial gusts of intensely 

 heated air are felt in Malta, which are blown from 

 the coast of Africa. Fortunately they seldom 

 exceed half a minute in duration, for if longer con- 

 tinued life would be extinguished, owing to the 

 severity of the heat, which is remarkable for blow- 

 ing in tracts, affecting the inhabitants of one 

 house and not their neighbours. It is probably a 



