482 
MALTA. 
northward. On the 10th the gale came on, when we were in sight 
of Derna head, and obliged us to bear away N. E.; but for two days, 
, in consequence of her sailing so ill, the Queen made only one mile 
of northing. When the gale abated, we got again in sight ofCandia 
and of Gozo, distinguishable from the higher land behind it, by 
the difference of colour, which is of a reddish cast, while the 
mountains are of a deep blue, nearly approaching to black. After 
escaping from the narrow part of the Mediterranean, between Cape 
Derna and Candia, we found ourselves in a different climate : here- 
tofore we had, invariably, winds from the north to west, but never, 
for above ten minutes at a time, did they come from the eastward. In 
fact, as regular a monsoon blows in the Levant during the summer 
months as in any part of the ocean. A gale of wind was generally 
foretold, as in the Red Sea, by a heavy swell and by some small 
black clouds, which rising visibly in the horizon, passed rapidly 
over the vessel. It always came from the north, and gradually veer- 
ing to west, in about twenty-four hours subsided into a calm, when 
the swell became extremely disagreeable. On reaching the more 
open sea, the wind was more moderate, and the sky appeared 
dappled with many light coloured clouds, which were more station- 
ary^ and brought no wind w^ith them. The weather became ex- 
tremely pleasant, and on the ^6th, for the first time, the wind came 
round to the eastward, and by ten o'clock this morning conveyed 
us to the port of Malta. Soon afterwards a boat was sent along 
side, empty, attached by a cord to another, in which were four 
men. We entered the former with our baggage, and were towed 
by the latter to the Quarantini, where we took up our abode in 
several very lofty stone apartments, with large windows looking 
