484 
MALTA. 
Mr. Roviere, who obligingly lent them to me during my stay at 
Malta. 
June IS. — Sir Alexander Ball exerted himself to shew me every 
thing that was interesting in the island. I attended him to the 
racesj where the horses were ridden by boys without saddles and 
bridles, but the crowd was great, and the spectacle altogether gay 
and interesting. I also visited with him Citta Vecchia, in the middle 
of the island, which has a handsome cathedral, shining with gold 
and painting, but w^ithout a picture of any merit; and afterwards, 
a hunting seat of the Grand Master's, now used as a prison for the 
French officers. It is in a castellated form, and commands an exten- 
sive view of the island, broken into undulations, but ugly and un- 
pleasing to the sight, from the want of timber. Near to the castle is 
a deep glen, which formerly was covered by a forest, but the French 
destroyed it, and a few ancient orange trees alone remain in the 
garden. The soil is a rich red clay, which would well pay the 
cultivation. 
The knights of Malta, when sovereigns of the island, were as willing 
to keep it dependent on other countries for its supplies, as they were 
for their revenues ; they consequently discouraged agriculture, and 
even looked with a jealous eye on the commercial attempts of their 
subjects, whom they were willing to feed well, that they might in- 
crease in numbers, but whom they by no means wished to become 
affluent. Malta produced a supply of grain for three months only, 
the residue was imported, and the Order had always sufficient for 
the consumption of a }'ear, in their granaries. 
Since the expulsion of the French, by the exertions of the natives, 
assisted by a British force, every thing has been greatly changed. 
