114 
LETTERS FROM 
observer on the plain, and at a little distance 
he might Suppose that he had a barren rock 
before him. From an eminence, however, the 
prospect is more verdant and agreeable. 
We often take long rambles along the 
coast and into the interior, and in these ex¬ 
cursions we never confine ourselves to roads 
or footways, but climb over walls, and pass 
through fields and gardens without rebuke or 
molestation from any person, as though the 
island were our own private estate. The 
Maltese are certainly very goodnatured to 
trespassers, for though in these cross-country 
rambles we are continually falling in with men 
at their work, no notice is ever taken of us. 
In one of our first excursions in this neigh¬ 
bourhood, we were delighted by finding 
some beautiful large blue anemones, the 
same species as those we cultivate with so 
much care in our English gardens. We 
