1804.) 
eed, fince, according to their tradition, 
St. Paul gave his benediétion to this ifland, 
no venomous creature has exifted in it— 
all that is certain is, that fuch are rare. 
I found two beautiful birds before un- 
known to me, about the fize of an En- 
gltth blackbirds ; one with a fine glofiy 
black back and yellow breaft: the other 
varied in plumage, | ke our king-fifher, 
and the lu‘tre of its colours as bright. 
Their moft beautiful animal is the goat ; 
this is really a moft elegant little creature, 
extremely docile, glofly black, and beard- 
lefs ; almoit every refpectable inhabitant 
of Valetta has one at his door, to fupply 
the family with milk; and mary are dri- 
ven about the ftreets in the morning by 
their owners, to fell their milk to thofe 
who have no fupply at home. 
The enguiry, whether Malta is not the 
identical ifland on which St. Paul was 
fhipwrecked, having been lately revived, 
T am unwilling to pafs that fubjeét over 
in filence. I ‘ay the enquiry has been re- 
vived; Fazellus, the hittorian of Sicily, 
who wrote inore than two centuries ago, 
fpeaks of it as an old fubjeét of difcuffien 
inhis day. I have not had the fortune to 
Jight on the treatife of a very able living 
{cholar on the fubject; but I am aware 
that be wifhes to prove Melita in the A- 
driatic, in Jatstude 43°, to be the ifland 
where the Apoftle was caft away. I 
believe his arguments in fupport of this 
opinion are, that Melita abounds in vene- 
mous animals; and that the tempeftuous 
wind called eveoxavdwy would force him 
thither rather han to Malta. Iconfefs, I 
fhould unwillingly be fuppofed fo prefum- 
tive as to difpute the interpretation of the 
word evgoxAtdwy with one of the ableft 
and molt ‘pirited tranflators of Greek now 
living. But fome circumftances do incline 
me to deem Malta the identical place 
where the veflel of the Apoftle was wreck- 
ed; and firft, the courfe, as defcribed in 
the Aéts, feems quite natural to Puteoli, 
af we hold Malta to have been the ifland 
- where the veffel {truck : 
«© And after three months we departed 
in a fhipof Alexandria, which had wintcred 
in the ifle, whofe fign was Caftor and 
Pollux, 
«© And landing at Syracufe, we tarried 
three days; and from thence we fetched a 
compafs and came to Rhegium; and after 
one day, the fouth wind blew, and we came 
the next day to Puteoli.””  4é#s, xxviii. 
As no mention ts made of a foul wind, 
after leaving the ifland whence St. Paul 
departed in a veffel of Alexandria, I am 
at a lofs to account for their going a full 
Half-Yearly Retrofpect of American Literature. 
time for our lait Supplement. 
121 
degree too far fouth,~viz, to Syracufe, if 
Melita were the point of departure, and 
from Syracufe to Rhegium, inftead of 
proceeding ftraight to Rhegium ; whereas 
take Malta sor the point of departure, and 
Syracufe in the direét coafting voyage 
from Malta to Patecli feemed a naiural 
halting place between it and Rhegium. 
Secondly, with regard to the word 
dareocoy, the hiftorian exprefles himfelf 
6° cregemEcovTEs Os eb¢ Tomoy diParAacooy,”” 
‘© falling upon a place where two 
feas met.”” Tne bay in which the tradi- 
tion of Malta pronounces the Apcitle to 
have been wrecked, is, as depicted in the 
ordinary charts; and the point of fhip- 
wreck at or near the {pit of land, formed 
by two fimall inlets running out from one 
extremity of the bay into the Mediter- 
ranean. 
Whether then dibaracccy is not more 
applicable to this broken promontory than 
to any known pofition in Melita, I will 
not abfolutely determine, having never vi- 
fited Melita; but I believe it to be fo. 
Thirdly, I never faw any fnake in 
Malta, that I could pofitively pronounce 
venomous; but a much better judge than 
myleif, aflured me he had feen one un- 
commonly {ufpicious in its appearance. 
Fourthly, I would not add the common 
authority of every inhabitant of Malta, 
did I not include, as I can, that of the 
librarian, a fenfible man, and a very fair 
Greck {cholar. 
= 
For the Monthly Magazine. 
HALF-YEARLY RETROSPECT Of AME- 
RICAN LITERATURE*, 
POLITICS. 
6 Gane noife of political contention in 
the United States has greatly fub- 
fided, and the lovers of harmony and tran- 
quillity feem likely to be gratified with the 
enjoyment of their favourite expectations. 
The alcendancy of tne pretént adminittra- 
tion in the affections and confidence of the 
people Jeaves little room for she machina- 
tions of cabal or intrigue, even if fuch a 
difpofition had exifted in full force. The 
grave, confiderate and independent mem- 
bers of the party oppofed to the govern- 
ment have found fo little to criticife or 
cenfure, and fo much to commend in the 
courle of public affairs, that, if they do 
not fecretly approve the meafures of their 
rulers, they obferve a guarded filence in 
the diicuffion of the fubject. And their 
filence, whatever may be the motiv~ ot it, 
a ET 
* This article was not communicated in 
muft 
