656 HENRY S. WASHINGTON 
form raisins of a most excellent quality. These vineyards are 
terraced and surrounded by high stone walls, thus concealing the 
geology of the areas covered by them. Capers are also cultivated, 
growing abundantly over the stone walls, while excellent donkeys, 
noted for their strength and endurance, form the third principal 
object of export. Olives and figs are also raised. 
The island is subject to violent winds, so that fig trees often 
grow with their trunks horizontal and close to the ground. Vege- 
table gardens and the small groups of fruit trees are usually pro- 
tected by high, circular, surrounding walls, such inclosures forming 
a characteristic feature of the landscape in parts of the island. 
Potable water is very scarce, though it is furnished by some of 
the volcanic springs, one of which forms a public fountain in the 
town. ‘This is closed except for an hour every morning, when each 
household is allowed to draw its allotted supply. Some of the steam 
fumaroles are utilized by herdsmen by covering them with brush- 
wood, which condenses the water and gives rise to small rivulets. 
The rains are the main source of supply, the water being gathered 
on the flat, cemented roofs and preserved in cisterns beneath the 
houses. But after a long dry spell, as at the time of my visit, this 
supply is likely to fail and the whole population goes on short water 
rations. Indeed, at times, water has to be imported from Sicily, 
and an earthquake is likely to cause great distress by cracking the 
cisterns, as happened prior to the submarine eruption of 1891. 
The population numbered 8,619 in 1901, of which about 2,500 
inhabit the sole town, also called Pantelleria, on the northwest 
coast. There is an evident infusion of Moorish blood, dating back 
to the Saracenic occupation, or even possibly to the original 
Phoenician settlement. This is specially manifest in the island 
dialect and in the place-names, many of which show distinctly non- 
Italian forms, and some of which can be positively identified with 
Semitic roots. Thus Gibelé is clearly the Arabic jus (gebel)= 
‘‘mountain,”’! and Rione Ziton is from ors) (situn) = “‘ olive,” 
Khagiar is derived from the Arabic laa (hajar) = “‘stone,” Gelfiser 
probably from ay? du (gebel fozir)=“‘burst mountain,” Gadir 
« The same is seen in the name Mongibello for the peak of Etna, and an analogous 
case is the peak of “Opos Bodvo (Mountain Mountain) on Aegina, Greece. 
