MALTA AND SICILY. 
125 
shipwrecked company would “ know not the 
meaning of the voice; ” and, consequently, 
those who made use of it would be called by 
them a “ barbarous people.” 
I am almost afraid to venture upon Bryant’s 
next argument, not that there is any diffi¬ 
culty in refuting it, but because the reply 
to it may, perhaps, give offence to some per¬ 
sons. It is confidently asserted, and I be¬ 
lieve the statement is quite correct, that no 
viper, or other poisonous snake is to be 
found in Malta; therefore Bryant says, a As 
there are no serpents now, my conclusion is, 
that there never were any; consequently 
this could not be the place where St. Paul 
exhibited the miracle.” 
The present inhabitants of Malta have a 
very ready answer to this. They assert, that 
when St. Paul “ shook off the beast into the 
fire, and felt no harm,” he at the same instant 
