t 
MALTA AND SICILY. 207 
bourhood. The day was delightfully fine 
and bright, but not unpleasantly warm. 
Capt. R- was mounted on a mule, and 
William and myself on horses: all three 
were very shabby, rough-coated animals, but 
they proved to be extremely sure-footed; 
and had they not been well accustomed to 
such steep and rugged paths as we travelled 
over on this day’s excursion, there can 
be no doubt that some terrible downfalls 
would have occurred. 
I feel myself entirely incompetent to de¬ 
scribe all the old walls and heaps of moss- 
covered stones we visited in the course of 
this day’s ride. But to me the most inte¬ 
resting of all the remains of ancient Syracuse, 
is the curious cavern called “ Dionysius’s 
7 jar,” which it is said that tyrant caused to 
be made in the form of the interior of the 
human ear; and we are told, that by con- 
p 
