MALTA AND SICILY. 
51 
except that in the morning we spoke the 
Rainbow frigate, homeward bound from 
Malta, commanded by Sir John Franklin, 
the Polar navigator. An officer was sent on 
board us to learn the news from England. 
Our commander sent them an English leg 
of mutton, which is considered a very great 
delicacy by those who have been long from 
home. At noon we passed within about five 
miles of Pantellaria, an island twenty or 
thirty miles in circumference. The top was 
entirely concealed by clouds. I have been 
informed that convicts are sent to this island 
from Italy and Sicily. It is said that on the 
summit there is a large lake of unfathomable 
depth, probably the crater of an extinct 
volcano. 
Early in the morning of Monday 25th, 
we were off the harbour of Valetta, the chief 
town of Malta; but as it was too dark for us 
E *2 
