HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



107 



than have despoiled. Cicero, in a torrent of fierce 

 invective, denounced the confiscations of Verres, and 

 called for justice for the Maltese people. The Sara- 

 cens, too, have left their mark upon its walls ; while 

 in the more modem name of " Notabile," which has 

 been given to the suburbs that have sprung up around 

 the old town, we have an evidence of the estimation 

 in which it was held by Alphonse the Castilian. 



Of the times of the Knights what need is there to 

 speak ? Do not the grim old battlements tell their 

 own tale ? Do they not conjure up scenes of its 

 history, scenes of bloodshed, of suffering, of death? 

 No one, methinks, could enter that old gateway, 

 and ramble among those ruined ramparts, without 

 calling to mind some of the bloody incidents that have 

 been enacted within them. 



At the northern extremity of the bastions stands 

 the cathedral church, a noble edifice, built in the 

 Corinthian style of architecture, and embellished 

 within and without with all that art and money can 

 •supply. Its interior is impressively grand. The 

 reliquaries of ancient Christendom that are contained 

 within its walls, are numerous and of the greatest 

 interest. A picture of the Madonna, said to have been 

 painted by St. Luke, and several relics of the Apostle 

 of the Gentiles, are among some of the most precious 

 of them. Within the tabernacle of the high altar are 

 the paten and chalice with which St. Paul and his 

 asserted successor St. Publius administered the sacra- 

 ment to the converted Maltese. 



The paintings, carvings, and other works of art 

 lave all been made subservient to one end, namely to 

 divert the attention of man from the vanities of this 

 world, and to divert his attention to the glories and 

 happiness of the next. The very stones with which 

 the floors are paved, with their inscriptions and 

 symbols of death, preach monitory sermons to their 

 readers, and serve to remind them how fleeting is 

 man's existence here. 



From the belfry of the cathedral a splendid view of 

 the island is to be obtained. If the day is clear and 

 fine, even Etna may be seen in the distance. 

 To the west and south-west a curtain of hills shuts 

 in a scene that is made up of an undulating and freely 

 diversified country, studded with the cultivated patches 

 -of the husbandman, and bespeckled with the churches 

 and dwellings of the peasantry. Looking eastwards 

 the undulating freestone surface of the south-eastern 

 portion of Malta is bounded by the blue waters of the 

 Mediterranean ; while to the south several spurs of 

 the Einjemmas jut forth on the plain, and encompass 

 s. series of rich and fruitful valleys. 



Turning to the north, we see the bay of St. Paul, 

 the scene of the Apostle's shipwreck ; while beyond 

 lies the tutelary genius of the island — the sea — 

 dancing and glittering in the sunbeams that move 

 merrily over it, and almost hiding in their silvery 

 sheen the islet of St. Paul, which lies in the back- 

 ground. Villages, churches, farmsteads, and isolated 



cattle-sheds lie scattered in all directions over the 

 landscape beneath. 



Near Maddalena the variegated rock surfaces of 

 the "Grand Fault" of the island lie exposed, and 

 serve as an effective foreground to the water behind. 

 These rocks afford us an excellent example of the 

 influence that the internal structure of a formation has 

 upon the scenery of the country. Wherever the soft 

 freestone, that is the formation upon which the town 

 of Valetta is built, crops out, there low undulating 

 plains and long smooth slopes are formed ; and the 

 result is scenery of a tame and monotonous character. 

 But wherever rocks of a harder consistency appear, 

 such as those that occur at Maddalena, on the northern 

 shores of the island, there the scenery is characterised 

 by rugged hills, and scarped and precipitous valleys. 



The differences between the district around Mad- 

 dalena and the plain beneath are more striking in 

 summer than in winter. In winter-time the monotony 

 of the plain is relieved by the vegetation that then 

 covers it. The stone walls partly hidden in a profuse 

 covering of verdure ; the blending of rich-coloured 

 soils with the richer colourings of the produce that 

 they bear, the crimson sulla and the golden rye, the 

 brilliant green of the ivy-encircled walls ; it is the 

 presence of these that tends to soften down those 

 harsher features that make themselves so painfully 

 apparent in the summer-time. In winter the scene is 

 as pleasing, as in summer it is intolerable. 



But though all around is constantly changing, yet 

 the city itself appears to be but little affected. It is 

 true that Time's hands have been laid somewhat 

 heavily upon the bastions and towers ; but yet there 

 they still stand, as sturdy and as strong as ever. Its 

 buttresses know not decrepitude ; and were the con- 

 ditions of war but the same now, as when the fortifi- 

 cations were designed, there is little doubt but that 

 they would still be able to prove themselves to be 

 capable of doing yeoman service. 



But the times and the manners have changed ; and 

 Citta Vecchia has been relegated to the limbo of the 

 past. Its streets are now deserted ; its glory has 

 departed. But the place will ever remain green in 

 the memories of those who cherish tradition and its 

 heroes. The city is rich in historical associations, 

 and every stone, had it a tongue, could recount a 

 history as thrilling as any romance of mediaeval times. 

 It is rich also in its traditions of by-gone ages ; but it 

 is the richest of ally in the melancholy memories of 

 the brave hearts that reared its walls, and who os 

 heroically fought and died in its defence. 



John H. Cooke. 



The actively peripatetic Geologists' Association made 

 their annual Easter Excursion this year to Devizes, 

 Swindon, and Farringdon, under the directorate of 

 Professor Blake, Dr. Hinde, Messrs. H. B. Wood- 

 ward, Bell, and Bennett. 



