MALTA AND SICILY. 
257 
walls, which are faced with red bricks, are 
composed of very small stones, but time has 
so hardened the cement in which they are 
set, that they are united into a mass almost 
as firm and durable as a solid rock. Having 
visited the ruins of a temple of Apollo, and 
of a tomb over which two modern churches 
have been erected, we bid farewell to the 
unsuccessful orator, and descended the hill to 
meet the carriage. In our way we met a 
man, dressed in priest’s attire, but as dirty 
and ragged as a beggar, and such to our 
great surprise he proved to be. 
We were delighted with the prospects 
between Giardini and Messina. The road 
for a great part of the way runs very near 
the sea, which at Messina is contracted 
into a narrow channel. On our left was a 
chain of noble mountains, many of which 
were capped with snow, and on some lofty 
