SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



103 



MALTESE CAVES AND THEIR FAUNA. 



By John H. Cooke, F.L.S., F.G.S., Etc. 



(Continued from page 69.) 



TV /TOST of the bone caves occur in and around 

 the gorges and valleys of the Maltese 

 Islands. Of these gorges the largest and most in- 

 teresting is that which debouches on the Greater 

 Marsa and 

 which is 

 known as 

 Uied il Kbir, 

 or "The 

 Rocky Val- 

 ley." It lies 

 to the east of 

 the village of 

 Casal Curmi, 

 and it ex- 

 tends from 

 the foot of 

 theBinjemma 

 plateaux to 

 the head of 

 the Grand 

 Harbour. 



The district 

 around its 

 mouth is co- 

 vered to a 

 consider- 

 able depth 

 with compact 

 masses of 

 boulders, clay 

 and loam, in- 

 termingled 

 with which 

 are the bones 

 and teeth of 

 the river- 

 horses, Hippo- 

 potamus pent- 

 Ian di, that 

 once browsed 



along the banks of the valley when Malta formed 

 a part of the continental mainland. The gorge 

 abounds with romantic scenery and interesting 

 caves and fissures. One of these caves, which is 

 situated about half a mile up the gorge on the 

 right hand side, and opposite Casal Farrug, is a 

 great favourite with the local cicerones as affording 

 an opportunity for the levy of baksheesh from the 

 unsuspecting tourist. 



Another, known among the peasants as Ghar 

 Ansir (the pig's cave), lies to the right. It owes its 

 name to the traditional adventures of a pig from 



Ghar il Kbir. 



Citta Vecchia. It is the common belief of the 

 Maltese peasantry that all the caverns of the 

 islands are connected by subterranean passages 

 with the catacombs at Citta Vecchia. Ghar Ansir 



comes within 

 this category, 

 and should 

 the sceptic 

 doubt he is at 

 once regaled 

 with the ad- 

 ventures of 

 the pig which 

 was immured 

 in the cata- 

 comb s of 

 Citta Vecchia, 

 four miles 

 away, and 

 which, after 

 three days' 

 rambling in 

 the bowels of 

 the island, 

 made its way 

 out of this 

 fissure. 



The struc- 

 ture and mode 

 of weathering 

 of the lime- 

 stone of the 

 Uied Kbir 

 district lend 

 themselves to 

 the formation 

 of a type 

 of scenery 

 which is at 

 once bold, 

 rugged and 

 picturesque. Miniature cafions, precipitous cliffs, 

 rugged bluffs, and striking combinations of these, 

 occur at every turn, and mingle their iron-stained 

 and lichen-patched surfaces with the brilliant tints 

 of the foliage of the plants and trees that have 

 obtained a foothold in their cracks and crevices. 

 The gorge is a favourite resort for the naturalists 

 of the island, as within its recesses thrive most 

 of the plants that represent the island's flora. 



The predominant rock of the region is an ex- 

 ceedingly compact limestone, so hard that though 

 crowded with fossil organisms it is very rarely 



