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LETTERS FROM 
ing to the water-side, we are assailed by 
multitudes of boatmen offering their ser¬ 
vices with an earnestness and pertinacity 
only to be equalled by the drivers of cars in 
some of the English sea-ports. These boat¬ 
men are very civil and attentive to their 
passengers, and are quite contented with a 
small remuneration, though they have no 
objection to overcharge strangers a little; 
but, perhaps, in this imamiable propensity 
they do not exceed them brethren of the 
oar in other countries. As Valetta is situated 
* 
at the end of a peninsula, a great number of 
boats are constantly employed in conveying 
passengers across the harbours to the towns 
and villages on the other side. These boats 
are heavily built, but they are very safe and 
commodious. They may be about eighteen 
feet in length and six in width, and are 
nearly the same shape at both ends, with the 
