THE MEDITERRANEAN NATURALIST 
29?. 
their power, and of the amount of destruction 
that they are capable of effecting. The atmosphere 
too takes no mean part in these operations; but 
its efforts are chiefly confined to the softening 
down of the angularities which the constant frac- 
tures in the strata, have given rise to. But exten- 
sive as is the amount of work for which it is re- 
sponsible, its effects can, in no way, be compared 
with those wrought by the action of the sea waves. 
Even the least observant, in the course of a ramble 
around Comino’s shores, cannot but be forcibly 
impressed with the truth of this assertion. 
Whenever the waves have been unsuccessful in 
their attempts at destruction with one set of ope- 
rations, they have fallen back upon their exhaus- 
tless resources, and have utilised another set. 
Where sheer force has failed, they have employed 
more insidious methods to attain their end; and 
thus, masses, whose bulk and weight have enabled 
them to sucessfully withstand the tempests of cen- 
turies, have yet been compelled to yield to the silent 
working of those less ostentatious, though not less 
formidable enemies, which, with never tiring zeal, 
have perforated them through and through, thus 
forming caverns and archways of intricate forms 
and of majestic proportions. 
There is no more pleasant way of passing a hot 
summer’s day, than by taking a boat, and leisurely 
rowing through the mazy windings of the cliffs, 
crags, stacks, caverns, archways and buttresses, 
that abound along the coastliness of these islets. 
After the monotonous aspect of the surface of 
Comino, with the sterility of its scanty soil, and 
the solitude of its deserted slopes, sights such as 
these scenes of devastation supply, give rise to a 
train of reflections, which when warmed into life 
by the sublimity and grandeur of nature, seem 
to infuse a new spirit into one’s being. 
Cala Hein, a little bay between Comino and 
Cominotto, is one of the first places that should 
be visited. The romantic arrangement of the rocky 
islets with their arches, beetling cliffs and caves, 
would, of themselves, be sufficient to awaken a 
spirit of interest within the soil of the most 
lethargic; but wdien the waters of the little bay, 
with their encircling mantle of green waters are 
seen ornamented by the golden effulgence of the 
rays of a setting sun, with their variegated hues 
shimmering in its beams and reflecting a thousand 
brilliant imageries, then it is that the spirit awakes 
and the mind, no longer lethargic and indifferent 
to the- beauties around, gives itself up entirely to 
the enthusiasm that then takes possession of it. 
The scene that is presented to the view from 
the lofty summits of the cliffs of Comino, offers 
some charming contrasts; -but it cfgjnnot be com- 
pared with that which this little bay and its sur- 
roundings afford. On a bright day, its waters 
present an endless succession of the most brilliant 
colours, which commence with a deep blue, and 
thence passes through every conceivable gradation 
of green, orange, and white, after attaining the 
last of which, it again graduates onward in the 
distance, to that cerulean blue, that is, so characte- 
ristic of Mediterranean waters. Nor is the setting 
less effective than the picture. The rays of a tro- 
pical sun diffuses a silvery sheen, that hangs over 
the whole like a soft transparent drapery; while 
the countless reflections, from the wavelets that 
play in the path of every beam, scintillate and 
sparkle, with a lustre, such as even the Kooh-i-nor 
— though it might equa| — could never excel. 
The sombre looking entrances to the caverns 
and the wildly fantasic shapes that many of them 
assume, form an appropriate contrast to the calm 
stillness and rich colouring around; and thus 
heightens the effect of a scene that cannot fail to 
impress, and being impressed will never be recalled 
without conjuring up a host of the most agreeable 
of reminiscences. A few strokes of the oars only 
are necessary to take- one well within the 
depths of most of these water-worn hollows. The 
lapping of the tiny wavelets, that fling themselves 
playfully against the sides of it inner re -esses, gives 
back an endless succession of echoes, and affords 
an opportunity of judging of the volume of sound 
that must reverberate through them, when tem- 
pest-born waves are hurled into their depths. 
Each of these caves has some peculiarity, either in 
form or structure. Each of them possesses features 
of an essentially different nature, so that the in- 
struction and pleasure, that is to be derived from 
their 'examination is pratieally unlimited. The 
first one met with, after entering the strait bet- 
ween Comino and Cominotto, is situated on the 
shore of Comino. It has an entrance, so small, 
that is only with the greatest difficulty that 
a boat can be steered safely through it. And, yet, 
