and are a national monument of no mean importance. 

 Another constituent of the holy groves was undoubtedly 

 the Sandarac tree, Callitris quadrivalvis Vent. (Maltese^ 

 gkargkar], a conifer which flourished in many places and 

 remnants of which still exist at Makluba near Krendi, 

 at Uied Filep close to Musta, and at Chain Rihana. 

 The Aleppo pine ( Pinus halepensis L.) flourished at 

 Mellieha and in all probability the Aleppo pines now so 

 often planted for the purposes of ornament, are the 

 descendants of the aboriginal trees which existed at Uied 

 Znuber down to comparatively recent times. The un- 

 wieldy but useful Carob tree \Ceratonia Siliqua L.) was 

 then as now the principal tree in both Islands, the fig- 

 tree was planted and grew self-sown everywhere; and 

 the wild pear, the hawthorn and the pomegranate 

 abounded in the valleys, where the white poplar, the 

 willow and the elm also flourished these last being 

 reduced now to a few survivals at Bahria, Gnien ta 

 1'Iskof, Chain il Gbira, Ghirghenti etc. and seem 

 destined before long to disappear altogether. 



In the sixteenth und seventeenth centuries the 

 Islands had recovered so far from former devastations, 

 that plantations of fruits, particularly of olive-trees and 

 vines again became numerous and extensive, and olive 

 oil was produced in quantity for local consumption and 

 also for export. Orange-groves and plantations of almond 

 trees increased in importance, and there was every ap- 

 pearance that the cultivation of fruit trees would even- 

 tually become the main branch of local agriculture. 

 However, in the latter half of the eighteenth century 

 there arose a large demand of cotton from Spain, and 

 vast olive groves and vineyards were sacrificed to make 

 room for the cotton plant. It is stated that in the last 

 decade of the eighteenth century over 80,000 olive trees 

 were destroyed, and the plains around Zebbug where 

 this tree flourished became practically treeless. During 



