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stantly made a practice of attending to the sick in person, and provided them with all kinds of medicine and surgical assistance free of expense, and served up their food to them on vessels of solid silver. On the arrival of the French, in 1798, they seized upon all the plate belonging to this establishment, and used the building as a military hospital. On the inhabitants demanding another, the nuns of Santa Maddalena promptly yielded up their own convent for the purpose; some of them taking refuge in the monastery of Santa Catarina, and some returning to their own homes. Opposite to this hospital is the public one for men, and adjoining it is the public female hospital founded in 1646, by the Lady Catarina Scoppi Senese, who endowed it with all her wealth.

There is another large building called La Camarata, where many of the more pious Knights were accustomed to meet together for purposes of devotion; this is now occupied by private families.

WALLS AND FORTIFICATIONS-CASTLES OF ST. ELMO AND ST. ANGELO-FORTS RICASOLI,

TIGNE, AND MANOEL.

BOURBON.-"Look there!
PHILIBAT.-"I look upon

A lofty battlement."

THE walls and fortifications of Valetta, and the towns on the opposite side of the harbour, are very stupendous. They have been the scene of various engagements between the Knights and their enemies, as well as of those of more recent times, connected with the history of our country's warfare; and some short account of them may not therefore prove uninteresting.

The fortifications which surround the town are of great height, and many of them are partly formed out of the limestone rock. They were in some places excavated and raised by the Turkish slaves during the reign of the Grand Masters; and they have at various times been greatly increased and strengthened. The walls generally measure about fifteen feet in width, and are chiefly composed of the common limestone of the island; their total circumference is two miles and a half. The ditch which crosses the peninsula from the Quarantine to the Grand Harbour, thereby cutting off all communication with the city, is about one thousand feet in length, one hundred and twenty feet deep, and as many wide. This immense ditch is crossed by five draw-bridges; one leading into Porta Reale, which forms the principal entrance to the city, and the others connected with the covered ways called St. John's and St. James's Cavaliers. The first fort which I visited was the Castle of St. Elmo, situated at the extremity of the peninsula, on which the city is built. This fort was first erected on an occasion of an attack of the Turks, in 1488. In the year 1687, it was almost entirely rebuilt under the directions of the Grand Master Carafa; and at the commencement of the last century the bastions were added by Grand Master Roccaful. The bastions, as well as the fort, are built of a very hard limestone, called by the natives, "zoncar," and they are well supplied with bombs, cannon, and other artillery. On the angles of the ramparts are two turrets, formerly used as places of look out at present, however, they are closed with two slabs, one bearing an inscrip

tion to Sir A. Ball, formerly governor of Malta; and the other, a similar one, in memory of Sir Ralph Abercrombie, whose embalmed body is enclosed in a barrel within the turret, just as it was brought from the battle of Aboukir: hence, the bastions to the west are known by the name of Ball's, and those to the east by the name of Abercrombie's bastions.

In the centre of a small square, on the most elevated part of the fort, a beautiful Grecian monument has lately been erected to the memory of Governor Ball; it is built of the Malta stone, which in this fine climate retains its dazzling whiteness unsullied for many years. Around this monument is a row of shady pimento trees, and adjoining it is an arched way formerly used as a place of amusement by the Knights, from which the distant views of land and sea are delightful, varied, and extensive. The deep azure blue of the Mediterranean sea stretched out below, till it mingles with the distant horizon, contrasts well with the snowy whiteness of the various xebecs, galliots, and other boats, which appear like specks upon its surface. Far away to the north lay Capo Passaro, whence I could trace the shores of Sicily towards Palma and Alicata. On a very clear day at sunrise, Mount Etna, too, may be seen towering above the waters; but this is not, as many writers have supposed, an every-day occurrence. On the outermost angle of the fort stands the lighthouse, which has lately been much improved by the British Government. Leaving Fort St. Elmo, I crossed the Grand Harbour in a boat to Fort St. Angelo, on the opposite shore. This stupendous work of defence was begun by the Arabs in 870; on the arrival of the Knights it was greatly enlarged, and in 1690, under Adrian de Wignacourt, it finally assumed its present aspect. Towards the Grand Harbour it presents an imposing front composed of four batteries, one above another, and each mounting fifty-one guns. The only objects worthy of notice here are the extensive powder magazines, and a small chapel containing two sienite pillars brought by the Knights from the island of Rhodes.

Fort Ricasoli is built on the extreme point of the same side of the harbour as St. Angelo, and corresponds with St. Elmo, on the opposite shore. It was built by the Cavalier Gianfrancesco Ricasoli, and was called after his name by Grand Master Cottoneo, in 1670. On the 3rd of April 1807, this fort was the scene of an event as disgraceful as it was tragical. The account given of it by a resident here, is as follows:

"During the war a French nobleman proposed to raise for the Mediterranean service a regiment composed wholly of Greeks. The bargain being struck, he gathered together a horde of various men from the Levant,-Sclavonians, Albanians, and others, who were enrolled under the English banner, and denominated 'Froberg's regiment.' Soon afterwards they were transported to Malta, and appointed to occupy this fort. The officers placed over them acted with great severity and harshness, which was further aggravated by the promises of advancement which had been offered

to lure them into the service proving only a deception. The occasion of an officer striking a drummer on the face with a cane, led to an open revolt, in which several of them were put to death, and finally they closed the gates of the fortress and declared themselves independent. Internal quarrels, however, soon lessened their numbers, and after some of them had surrendered, only about 150 of the most resolute remained in possession of the fort. An English officer resolved upon and effected its capture; and all but six of the rebels were taken. These six blockaded themselves in the powder magazine, and then protested they would blow it up if any measures were taken to seize them. Of those who were captured ten were hung, and fifteen were musketted on the plain of Floriana. Pinioned and handcuffed, they were made to kneel upon their coffins without being blindfolded, and after the first volley was fired at them, several who were not mortally wounded rose up and ran about the plain pursued by the soldiers like so many hares. One of them in particular managed to reach the bastions, from whence he cast himself headlong down a height of 150 feet." Indeed the account which I have heard of these barbarities is almost too shocking to be remembered, and stands out as a foul blot on the characters of all connected with them. "The six rebels who remained, after seeking in vain for pardon, threatened after six days, in case of refusal, that they would blow up the fort as soon as the first vesper bell tolled from the cathedral of St. John. All was still till the appointed hour, when the fatal crash was heard, and the whole building was seen rising a mass of ruins into the air! Some time passed away, and the affair was almost forgotten, when one lonely night a priest returning homewards on a donkey was terrified at the sight of a man in the Froberg' uniform, pointing a musket at him over a wall. The affrighted Father took to his heels, and on giving his information, an armed force was sent in pursuit of the bandits. Pale and emaciated they were led into the town, and shortly afterwards publicly executed. It appears that during the siege they carried out one of the mines to the extremity of the fortifications, and left only a thin wall through which to escape. When all was ready they laid the train, and at the moment of firing, made their exit by this means, hoping that some vessel might appear on the coast in which they might return to their native country, from whence they had been so shamefully and cruelly decoyed away."

On the opposite side of the Quarantine Harbour, stands Fort Manoel, which is now used as a lazaretto for persons arriving in vessels which are obliged to undergo quarantine. The quarantine regulations of Malta are very strict, and all vessels arriving from the eastward have to pass from ten to thirty days in the Quarantine Harbour before they are allowed to hold any communication with the shore. For passengers, especially, this proves a very great nuisance. They are allowed an apartment in the lazaretto, furnished with one table, two chairs, and a bed-board. If they wish for any more furniture they can bespeak it of a person who supplies it, however,

at a very high rate. As to food, it is said that if a person has not means wherewith to pay for a breakfast or dinner, at the enormous rate charged by the "Trattoria," he stands a very good chance of being starved to death.

To the north-east of Fort Manoel stands Fort Tigné, on the point called Cape Dragut, where that famous corsair was slain in the great siege of Malta. It is intended to act in conjunction with Fort St. Elmo, for the defence of the Quarantine Harbour, and is strongly fortified.

The walls of the city measure about fifteen feet in width, and their entire circumference is about two miles and a half. The ditch is a stupendous work, one thousand feet in length, one hundred and twenty feet deep, and the same in width. The bottom of this ditch is cultivated, and on looking over the drawbridge of Porta Reale, I saw fig-trees and prickly pears growing in this gulf below me; whilst here and there a sportive summer butterfly could be seen wandering like some light creature of the element over the green leaves of the stunted trees.

I went through the two underground passages which lead out of the city, called St. John's and St. James's Cavaliers: they are cut out of the solid limestone, and the air strikes very cold on entering them from the sultry atmosphere without. There are many outworks and glacis of massive stone beyond these walls, and a second series of fortifications outside the suburbs of Floriana, which render the city of Valetta one of the best fortified in the whole world. I finished my survey by a walk along the walls overlooking the ditch. That part called the Baracca, commands a very fine view of the harbour and the surrounding country, which looks like a parched desert covered with walls and buildings, over which the eye wanders in vain in search of some spot of green to relieve and cheer the burning glare of this southern landscape. In the centre of this platform, within a grove of trees, stands the tomb of Sir Thomas Maitland, one of the late governors of Malta; and several other monuments are raised in various parts of this fortification.

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