MALTA AND SICILY. 
81 
neighbourhood can speak Italian, and many 
of them a little English ; but a great part of 
the peasantry, especially those who live at a 
distance from the town, understand nothing 
but their own language, which is a cor¬ 
rupt Arabic. We have not seen much of 
the country-people, but we are informed that 
there is a great deal of distress among them 
from the want of employment. The lower 
orders in Yaletta appear to be very well dis¬ 
posed, and they are certainly remarkable for 
sobriety, for though wine and spirits are very 
cheap, I have not seen a single instance of 
intoxication in a native. Though very fre¬ 
quently without shoes or stockings, they are 
generally clean and decent in their dress, 
and even the beggars have none of the 
squalid appearance of that class in other 
countries. The men wear large shawls round 
their waists, and straw hats or cloth caps, 
G 
