THE MEDITERRANEAN NATURALIZES 
441 
Olivieri and Bubas Bison. The river banks yielded 
Pceeilus quadricollis. Of mollusca I collected 
Unio littoralis, and a species of Melania and 
Melanopsis. 
At Cadiz, the dumpy Pimelia obesa met 
one every where, crawling slowly over the dry 
ground. The large Aieuchi , A. Sacer and A. 
cicatricosus , were conspicuous among the saud, 
roiling their pellets of dung. The rocks at low 
water yielded a live Bulla (B. Striata, I thinks 
in great number. From Cadiz, I made a short 
excursion to San Fernando.The sandhills here were 
beautified with a grand species of Limonium , 
and a very elegant Solanum with handsome 
yellow fruit. Scarites Polyphemus very abundant 
here, displaying its very formidable mandibles, 
and I met with a single specimen of Carabus 
Dufouri. Whenever I stopped in Andalusia, I 
found Helix Pisana to be' far the commonest 
snail, often adhering to the Agaves in great num- 
bers — The weather however was far too dry to 
be favourable to the conchologist and the results 
were disappointing. 
West Ay ton. York. 
W. C. Hey. 
Vestiges of the Phoenicians 
in the 
Maltese Islands. 
It is truly surprising how scant is the know- 
ledge of the early history of the Maltese Islands 
which is possessed by a large majority of the 
thousands who annually visit these shores. People 
come, and even though they tarry months and 
ofttimes years in the island, they seldom carry 
away with them any but the vaguest ideas of the 
really thrilling and romantic history that the 
islands possess; or ever appreciate the fact that, 
insignificant though the islands are in compari- 
son with the land masses around them, they have 
yet served as the theatre in which some of the 
most thrilling events of ancient and medceval times 
have been enacted. Malta has shared alike in the 
viscissitudes of the Roman, Greek, and Cartha- 
ginian empires; and it has assisted, to a no insig- 
nificant extent in swaying the destinies of those 
erstwhile mistresses of the world. It has been 
ravaged by the Vandals and Goths, and subjuga- 
ted by the fanatics of Islamism; and finally, as the 
headquarters of those champions of Christendom, 
the Knights of St. John, it attained the proud 
position of being acknowledged as one of the first 
of the maritime powers of Europe. 
There are, at the present time, no evidences to 
show who the aboriginal inhabitants of the islands 
were, though some light has recently been thrown 
on this phase of the subject by the very interesting 
discoveries of the remains of a primitive people 
in the Ear Dalam Cavern at the eastern extremity 
of Malta. 
The earliest written records that we possess are 
those which are contained in the chronicles of 
Diodorus Siculus. (Libro VI.) To this historian 
we are indebted, for much valuable information 
bearing on the early history of the Mediterranean 
regions, in the course of which he details the cir- 
cumstances under which the islands were first 
colonized. 
“Malta,” he tells us, “was a great centre of 
civilization, long before the foundation of Rome. 
It is furnished with many and very good harbours 
and the inhabitants are very rich, for it is full of 
all sorts of artificers, among whom there are ex- 
cellent weavers of fine linen. Their houses are 
very stately and beautiful, adorned with graceful 
eaves, and covered with white plaster. The inha- 
bitants are a colony of Phoenicians, who trading as 
merchants, as far as the western coasts, resorted 
to this place on. account of its commodious ports, 
and convenient situation for maritime commerce; 
and by the advantages of this place, the inhabi- 
tants frequently became famous both for their 
wealth, and for their merchandise.” 
The Phoenicians were the first great colonizers 
of the Mediterranean; and as early as 2000 B. C. 
their influence was felt from the banks of the 
Euphrates and Tyre and Sidon in the East, to the 
Piikirs of Heracles aud the British Cassiterides in 
the west. They planted colonies, and founded 
large towns in Africa and Sicily; and we can there- 
fore well understand that an island so centrally 
situated as Malta was, and one so admirably 
adapted for direct intercourse with the Carthagi- 
nians, Greeks, and Etruscans of the surrounding 
colonies, should have been regarded as being a 
very desirable acquisition totheir Mediterranean 
