MALTA: THE HALTING PLACE OF NATIONS 



tese at last prevailed 

 and Malta became in- 

 corporated into the 

 British Empire — a 

 very happy decision 

 for its inhabitants. 



Year in, year out. 

 fresh trade has flowed 

 through Malta, at last 

 secure from every 

 foe. The ships of the 

 world soon thronged 

 its harbors. 



In 1825 the famous 

 American frigate 

 Constitution anchored 

 at Malta, while after 

 the battle of Nava- 

 rino, in 1827, the Brit- 

 ish, French, and Rus- 

 sian fleets returned 

 there also. 



The change from 

 sail to steam necessi- 

 tated the provision of 

 greater dockyard fa- 

 cilities for the British 

 fleet in the Mediter- 

 ranean, and millions 

 of dollars have since 

 been spent in Malta 

 for this purpose, 

 bringing employment 

 and trade to the Mal- 

 tese such as they had 

 never known before. 



The opening of the 

 Suez Canal brought 

 still further prosper- 

 ity, while the in- 

 creased size of war- 

 ships necessitated further new docks and 

 workshops, providing still more employ- 

 ment for the skillful and industrious in- 

 habitants of the island. 



BAFFLING EVIDENCE OE A REMOTE 

 CIVILIZATION 



Reference has been made in the pre- 

 ceding pages to the wonderful prehistoric 

 remains in Malta. These are extremely 

 abundant and afford much tangible evi- 

 dence of the civilization of a past so re- 

 mote as to be prior to the age of hiero- 

 glyphics and inscriptions and even of oral 

 tradition. Their study, therefore, af- 



Photograph by A. W. Cutler 



THIS MALTA MORTUARY HAS FOR ITS MURAL DECORATIONS 

 MORE THAN 2,000 HUMAN SKULLS 



These grim relics belonged to the defenders of the island who were 

 killed by the Turks in the 16th century. 



fords wide scope for theory, but the lack 

 of absolute knowledge renders it a most 

 tantalizing, though fascinating, pursuit. 



Possibly the oldest existing evidences 

 of civilization in Malta are the cart ruts 

 previously mentioned. These exist in 

 nearly every part of the island, cutting 

 and intersecting each other to such an 

 extent as to make the student almost 

 despair of ever unraveling their mystery. 

 If all the old tracks were traced and in- 

 serted on a map, the sites of the centers 

 of habitation in prehistoric times would 

 doubtless be revealed (see page 449). 



In an arm of the Bay of Marsa Sci- 



