MALTA AND SICILY. 
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in blossom before, though the leaves are 
abundant in the neighbourhood of Sliema. 
I believe this plant is a species of ixia. 
As we had sent our boat round to meet us 
in a little cove about a mile distant, we now 
walked along the north-west side of the bay, 
searching for plants and other treasures, 
but we found nothing very valuable, except 
a pretty species of heath, and a stock with a 
pink flower, but having scarcely any scent. 
A milk-white snail-shell (helix candidissima) 
was very abundant here, but we could not 
find a single specimen which had the animal 
alive in it, or as a conchologist would say, 
they were all dead shells. After making a 
totally unsuccessful attempt with the dredge, 
we rowed to the bottom of the bay, where we 
again landed, and visited a large thriving 
plantation of young mulberry-trees, which had 
been planted for the purpose of feeding 
