176 
LETTERS FROM 
dent from the menacing way in which they 
hold it up over their backs, that whether 
they can make use of it or not, they think 
they can. 
Since my last letter, by the kindness of a 
young naval officer, Mr. L-, of Sliema, 
we have been introduced to Dr. Leach, the 
celebrated entomologist, who is now living at 
a place called the Pieta, at the head of the 
quarantine harbour. I had always fancied 
him to be a pompous old fellow in a great 
wig; imagine then my surprise on being in¬ 
troduced to a gentleman between thirty and 
forty years of age, of remarkably mild and 
unassuming manners, and appearing quite as 
anxious to receive information as to commu¬ 
nicate it. We have spent several very plea¬ 
sant mornings at his house, examining the 
insects he has collected in this island, and 
in other parts of Europe. This examination 
