330 Notices of Sketches of Naval Life. 



and risins: from the latter, the flower, I have spoken of. This 

 is formedby a vast number of very delicate fibres, each with an 

 exceedingly fine and variegated fringe, placed like that of a 

 feather: they do not form a single cup, but several; and their 

 roots are so ranged, as to produce a spiral channel, reaching to 

 the animal's mouth. They have a strong sensitive power, and, 

 as soon as touched, are dragged by the animal into the stalk. 

 After a few minutes, it ascends again, and the flower spreads out 

 as before : doubtless they are intended for taking food. A touch 

 will spoil them, so delicately are they formed : I cut off the flow- 

 er, and pass a paper under it, in water : then, by laying it on a 

 board, and pouring water on, spread it out as 1 wish it: when 

 dried, it looks like a very fine painting. They are of the coral- 

 line species, and are called water pinks by the natives. I can 

 take you too, to parts of the harbor, where the bottom is cover- 

 ed with tufts of grass; some green; some dark colored; some in 

 plain tufts, and others with a star in the middle : this grass too, 

 is all aniaial, and if you touch it, will disappear in the ground. 

 There is a large quantity of it, just North of hospital island. I 

 find abundant amusement in the harbor : there is an old fisher- 

 erman, whom I sometimes accompany, and watch at his operations. 

 He sprinkles oil on the water, to smooth its surface, and can then 

 distino-uish objects at a great depth. He is now mostly employed 

 in procuring date fish. This is a curious shell fish, so called from 

 its shape, which has a strong resemblance to a date. It is pro- 

 cured only here, at Malta, at Trieste, and at another place, 

 whose name I have forgotten. It is always found in the rocks, 

 generally approaching within an inch of their surface, with which 

 it communicates by a small orifice. This hole is formed, proba- 

 bly, by some corrosive fluid thrown out by the animal, as it is 

 smooth and shaped exactly to the shell, which is attached to the 

 rock, at one end, by some very small fibres : the shell is bivalve, 

 thin and delicate, usually three inches and a half in length, and 

 one inch in its greatest diameter. They procure them, by chis- 

 elling off fragments of the rock, with a long iron chisel; these 

 are drawn up, and when the boat is filled, are carried ashore to 

 be broken up. They export them irxthe rock, to the neighbor- 

 ing Spanish coasts. The rock is a soft free-stone, prevailing 

 also, all over the island. The fish has a peculiar taste, and is 

 considered a great delicacy : it is most abundant at the depth of 

 two or three fathoms. There is another shell fish ; the largest, 

 two feet in length, and about four inches thick at the thickest 

 part: it is shaped like a fan half open, and always found with 

 the pointed end lowermost, at which part, and attaching it to the 

 ground, is a silky substance, often manufactured, by the natives, 

 into stockings and gloves. The upper part of the shell, inside, 



