MALTA AND SICILY. 
83 
cautioned us never, upon any account, to 
bestow even that miserable pittance, as in 
that case there would be no end to our per¬ 
secutions. “ Nix mangi,” means “ nothing 
to eat,” the last word being an abbrevia¬ 
tion of the Italian, “ mangiare” but where 
the “ nix” comes from I cannot tell you. 
One day a little chubby-faced boy ran after 
me crying, “ Nix mangi, nix mangi!” though 
at the same time he had crammed his mouth 
so full of raw turnip, that he could hardly 
give utterance to the falsehood. From the 
constant repetition of the word “ nix mangi” 
or “ mangiare,” one of the steep streets 
leading down to the grand harbour, is com¬ 
monly called “ Nix Mangiare Stairs,” though 
I am not aware that the beggars are more 
numerous there than in some other parts of 
the town. 
On approaching some of the streets lead- 
