2^8 [Nov. 1, 



crosses the plain of Nasciar, and meets the sea on the north-eastern 

 coast between the two bays of Maddalena and St. Marco. (See Map ) 

 The Gozo fault, emerging from the gorge of Highin Selim, which 

 enters the Straits of Fneghi near the south-west corner of the island 

 passes to the north of Fort Chambray, and to the south of Ca^al 

 Nadur ; and it meets the sea on the north-eastern coast in the Bay 

 of SUek. (See Map and Section 2.) 



In Malta, to the south of the great fault, the strata dip gently east 

 by nortn, so that at Marsa Scirocco, on the south-eastern, and at 

 Valetta, on the north-eastern coast, the semi-crystaUine limestone 

 IS submerged. It becomes visible at the water's edge, to the north- 

 west of Valetta, near Schema ; and further north, near St. George's 

 Bay It is quarried for building. It rises considerably above the sea- 

 level near Cape Benhisa, the extreme south-eastern point of the lon- 

 gitudinal line of section. (See Section 1.) In the whole breadth of 

 the island the level of the strata is depressed in the line of dip about 

 200 feet. The semi-crystalline limestone and the superincumbent 

 freestone stretch across the island to the south of the fault from 

 coast to coast. The hard and durable quahty of the hmestone 

 which constitutes the lower stage of the inaccessible clifFs that 

 encircle the island to the south-west and south, account for the 

 straight and unmdented configuration of that part of the coast 



The eastern side of the island to the south of the fault, as far we^t 

 as a line drawn through Casal Siggieni and Citta Vecchia, consists 

 wholly of this lower hmestone and its superincumbent freestone the 

 newer deposits, that is to say, the coral limestone, the yellow sand- 

 stone, the blue clay, and even some of the upper strata of the free- 

 stone, having been swept off by denuding agents. This denuded 

 district is almost a flat ; and though naturally sterile, it has been 

 rendered productive by spreading over the rocky surface an artificial 

 soil, and carefully supporting the same by terraces. 



On the western side of the island to the south of the fault the 

 coral limestone, the yellow sandstone, and the blue clay, have esc'aped 

 the denuding action ; and owing partly to their presence, and partly 

 to the freestone and the subjacent limestone standing at a higher 

 level on the western side of the island south of the fault than they 

 do on the eastern, the western side is considerably the loftiest. The 

 above newer deposits form a chain of table-topped hills, called the 

 Ben-gemma hills, which rise considerably above the rest of the island 

 their highest point, which is to the north-west of Citta Vecchia' 

 being 600 feet above the sea. 



Gozo, to the north of its great fault, in respect of the character 

 and arrangement of its deposits, and of their fossil contents, is an 

 exact counterpart to the southern part of the island of Malta. In Gozo, 

 however, the deposits are somewhat more developed, and their fos- 

 sils are more various and abundant. In Gozo, north of the fault, the 

 strata dip gently to the north-east, in consequence of which, on the 

 north-western coast, the semi-crystalline limestone is submerged- 

 whereas, along the whole of the south-western coast it presents a 

 straight and unindented line of precipitous cliffs, rising, in some 

 parts, perpendicularly 400 feet above the sea, and descending as ab- 



