EXCURSION TO ST. PAUL'S BAY, ETC. 47 able asylum in the church; but that during the night she has again chosen to descend the forty steps to her old station in the cave. We carried a torch with us, by the light of which we discovered several other headless statues, supposed to be those of heathen gods and goddesses, arranged in niches around the sides of the cave. Ascending the forty steps, we left the Virgin the "sole possessor" of her favourite cavern; and after waiting some time for our rustic conveyance, we took our seats, or rather our positions, on this primitive vehicle. The carts of Malta have no sides, but consist of two immense wheels, between which is a sloping platform composed of bars of wood, over which is laid a piece of matting. On this uncomfortable foundation we stretched ourselves in a reclining posture, with a straw bolster placed at one end for our heads to rest upon, and our feet pressed against the lowest bars. Though the road was bad, yet I enjoyed this novel mode of travelling very much; it was perfectly eastern, and strongly reminded me of the manner in which the orientals recline at a feast. A beautiful moonlight ride over the plains of Naciar brought us to Valetta, soon after eight o'clock, much amused and pleased with our day's excursion. VISIT TO THE GARDENS AND PALACE OF ST. ANTONIO, AND CIVITA VECCHIA, THE ANCIENT CAPITAL OF MALTA. "Like childhood making mirth of age In its unthinking hour, So on those ruined walls the sun TO-DAY I have paid a visit to the old city, which is situated nearly in the centre of the island. After taking a hasty lunch at Valetta, I joined my friend Mr. S., who had ordered a calise to be in readiness for us, and we started about noon to Civita Vecchia, calling, on our way, at the palace of St. Antonio, where the Emir of Beyroot is at present residing with all his family and suite, under the protection of the British Government. The sun shone bright in the heavens, and the noontide heat was great. Our road lay by the side of the aqueduct built by the Grand Master Alofio Wignacourt, in the year 1610. This great work is in time of drought almost the only means of supplying water to the inhabitants of Valetta. It extends to a distance of nine and a half English miles, commencing at a plain called Diar Chandal, two miles west of Civita Vecchia. As far as Casal Attard this aqueduct runs under ground, and its course is afterwards above and below the earth, owing to the unevenness of the surface of the ground, until it reaches the city of Valetta. Every gentle breath of wind stirred up the dust, which arose in clouds, and compelled us to close the windows of the calise. As this vehicle differs considerably in its form and fashion from an English carriage, a brief description of it may not be uninteresting to my readers. They have no wheels in front, but are furnished instead with a species of prop for a support, which is let down when the calise is at rest, and is fastened beneath the body of the carriage when travelling. They are constructed somewhat in the Spanish fashion, and those used in Valetta are, many of them, very neat, though it occasionally happens that they are to be met with in the villages of the most outlandish form and structure conceivable. They are drawn along by one horse or mule, the VISIT TO THE GARDENS AND PALACE OF ST. ANTONIO, ETC. 49 driver running along by the side, and with a small piece of wood called a " niggieza," in which two short nails are fixed, he pricks the animal in order to urge him forward. These calise-men will run for many miles in the sun and dust, yet they never seem tired. Indeed they take a delight in travelling as fast as possible; and should another calise appear in sight in the distance, the passenger has only to point it out to the driver, and away he starts to overtake it. When the other calise-man sees his rival he starts off likewise, and both gallop away, neither choosing to give in till they arrive at their ultimate destination. We found this plan succeed admirably when we wished to get back to Valetta in time for any particular engagement. Turning out of the main road we arrived at the palace of St. Antonio; the approach leading to it was shaded by some of the largest trees I had seen any where in Malta. At first we doubted whether we should be able to gain admittance; but as it was the time when the ladies were taking their siesta, we obtained permission to walk about the gardens by making a present to the gardener. The ladies belonging to the Emir's suite are numerous, including his own and his son's wives. Being Arabians, they are kept in a state of great seclusion; and when they do show themselves, a long white veil covers their faces, disclosing only a pair of large black eyes of uncommon beauty. We rambled through these gardens which were once the summer residence of the Grand Masters, and were much pleased with the tasteful and picturesque manner in which they are laid out. They are certainly the most extensive gardens in Malta, and contain numerous tall cypresses, with a variety of orange, lemon, cedar, vine, rose, and palm trees. Some of the flowers growing on the margin of the paved terrace in front of the palace were very beautiful. The walks are all raised, and formed of slabs of stone, whilst at the various intersections of the principal ones there are broad fountains and ponds covered with white and yellow waterlilies, which form a cool and pleasing variety to the scene. Around these fountains resort myriads of dragon-flies of every variety of colour; the blue and crimson bodied ones were the most numerous, and as they darted about in the sunbeams they shone like winged jewels in the air. We walked along many of the terraces, which were bordered with vines; but unfortunately we could not find a single grape though the stalks hung very thick, and we were therefore led to conclude that the Arab ladies of the Emir's harem amused themselves by plucking off the grapes one by one, during their evening walks, as they must have but little to do in their monotonous and secluded situation. In a shady balcony above a little grove of orange and mimosa trees, looking into the garden, we saw one of the Emir's grandchildren, a beautiful little girl about eight years of age, playing with some toys and attended by an Egyptian slave. Her dark eyes were shadowed by a long fringe of ebon lashes, and her slight form attired in the rich and elegant costume of Eastern magnificence. Her hair was braided, and hung down nearly to her feet. She appeared H to take no notice of us, but continued playing with her toys, and listening to the nightingales that sung among the pimento trees. She was occupied with her own childish and happy thoughts, mingled, perhaps, with recollections of her distant Syrian home. She reminded me strongly of Moore's beautiful line, "'Twas she-that Emir's blooming child." Leaving St. Antonio, a ride of about five miles brought us to Civita Vecchia, which is situated on an eminence overlooking almost the whole of Malta. It is surrounded with walls, and fenced with bastions and other modern fortifications, which render it very strong, considering the elevated situation on which it stands. Brydone, who visited Malta some sixty or seventy years since, mentions a park which formerly stood here, but I certainly saw no vestige of it, nor does it seem likely ever to have consisted of more than two or three trees scattered about, here and there. In early times this city bore the same name with the rest of the island, and was called Melita, according to Ptolemy the geographer. Upon the authority of Cicero and Diodorus Siculus, we learn that the capital of Malta formerly contained many stately buildings, and was very rich in the style of its architecture. This I can easily conceive to have been the case from several remains which are still to be seen scattered about the city, and by the vestiges of ancient baths and temples which have been discovered during the progress of the excavations, both within the walls, as well as without the suburbs. We first visited the Cathedral, which is built, according to tradition, on the site of the residence of Publius, who was governor of the island at the time of St. Paul's shipwreck. It is built in the Corinthian style of architecture, and contains an altar composed of rich marbles. The view from the terrace towards Valetta is very beautiful, and takes in nearly the whole extent of the island. We went into the library, where we saw a few antiques, and then visited the College of Priests, where the young abbots are instructed in the Catholic religion. Among the boys, Mr. S. recognized one with whom he was well acquainted. He had formerly been at a Protestant school in Valetta, but was removed here on his friends determining that he should become a priest. He appeared to be a lad of fine mind and good understanding, but he will probably lose all that he had acquired previously, as he is only taught the doctrines of the Popish faith with a little Hebrew. One of the priests belonging to the establishment showed us the sleeping apartments of the scholars, consisting of several long airy rooms, with a number of small beds arranged on each side. Every boy provides his own bedding, so that the furniture of the apartments is very various. Over most of the bedsteads was affixed either a small picture of the Virgin, or some favourite saint, to which they attach great importance. Several had Latin inscriptions upon them, and some were got up with a certain degree of childish taste, and were ornamented with small bows of ribbon. On VISIT TO THE GARDENS AND PALACE OF ST. ANTONIO, ETC. 51 leaving the college we proceeded to view what are termed the Catacombs of St. Paul. They are situated a short distance from the church, the sacristan of which accompanied us, and carried a supply of tapers for our use. The descent to the entrance is about nine feet in depth, by a staircase leading to a gallery dug under ground, with a great number of others branching off in various directions. The sacristan lighted our tapers, and we entered this dismal abode of the ancient dead. The sides of the various passages contain many niches cut in the walls to receive the bodies. They are mostly arranged without any order; some are entirely uncovered, whilst others are in two stories, and partly closed up with a layer of mortar raised up in a circular form. These sepulchres are of various dimensions, some are of a proportionately small size for infants; these generally occupy the sides, whilst in many of the larger ones the presence of two circular holes of a sufficient size to receive the head, attests that they were intended for two full-grown persons. There are several halls among these galleries. The roof of one of these is supported by a group of rough fluted columns; and on the floor are two circular blocks, about four feet in diameter, flat on the top, with a low edge running round the circumference. Some persons are of opinion that these latter were used for the purpose of washing the bodies before burial. Several of these passages have been walled up, as parties whose inquisitiveness has led them too far in, have lost their way, and never afterwards been heard of. A schoolmaster is said to have entered the catacombs with all his pupils, who proceeded along the winding paths till they missed their way, and all perished in these avenues of death. A wall has since been built up against the path which these unfortunates took, where their bones now mingle with those of the men of days long gone by, without a line to reveal the facts of their mysterious death, and the agonizing manner in which they must have perished. Some have ascribed the construction of these catacombs to the early Christians, who, during times of persecution, lived and buried the bodies of their martyrs and confessors in them. This is the opinion which obtains at Rome; but it seems much more probable that they are of Phœnician, or early Roman origin, whose custom it was to bury in caves. But when the Romans derived from the Greeks the method of burning their dead, this mode of sepulture came into general use, and the catacombs were at length perfectly neglected. From the catacombs the sacristan led us to St. Paul's cave, a spot which has been very celebrated in Malta for ages past. It stands underneath the small chapel of San Paolo, and according to tradition is the identical spot where St. Paul, accompanied by St. Luke the apostle, and Trophonius, resided for the space of three months, the time of their stay in the island. The veneration for this cave increased very much about the year 1600, when a citizen of Cordova, named Fra Giovanni, left his native country and came to Malta in order to tenant this cave as an anchorite. We carried a large torch with us, and descending several steps we entered the cave by an iron gate. It is |