FLORIANA GARDENS-IL GROTTO-NATURALISTS.

"The plumed insects swift and free,

Like golden boats on a sunny sea,

Laden with light and odour which pass

Over the gleam of the living grass;

And the jessamine faint, and the sweet tuberose,

The sweetest flower for scent that blows;

And all rare blossoms from every clime

Grew in that garden in perfect prime."

In the centre of the plain intervening between the city of Valetta, and the suburbs of Floriana, is a long narrow garden, enclosed by a high wall, with gates opening at each end. This is termed the botanical garden; and it is open to the public, to whom it affords a pleasant morning's walk before the heat of the day, or a cool place of retirement in the afternoon, for recreation or conversation, as stone seats are ranged along on both sides between the pillars that border the paved walks. On entering the garden from Valetta, the stranger comes upon an open space covered with flag-stones with a small summer-house at the end, and in the midst is a pond containing gold and silver fish. Around this pond I noticed that beautiful flower the marvel of Peru, covered with blossoms of every shade of crimson, pink, and white; and the dragon flies, attracted by the water, darted about in all directions, displaying their richly coloured bodies and gauze-like wings, impaled for one moment, as it were, on the edge of the stone basin, and the next dividing the air like an arrow, with the swiftness and rapidity of their flight. The rest of the garden is divided into three parts, each of them under the superintendance of a different gardener. Two parallel walks extend along the whole length of the garden, bordered with carobs, palm, and pimento trees, and a variety of solanos, and other shrubs. The spaces between the walks are ornamented by rich flower-beds; whilst around the stone pillars are twined numerous creepers and climbing plants, which grow so rich and luxuriantly in the spring, as to throw a deep shade of green over the pathways beside them. Owing to the long continuance of the drought, this garden is watered by artificial means,

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and small channels convey the water to every part of it from a tank, situated near the gates. The flowers are, many of them, very familiar to an English eye, and a number of annual plants grow along the borders, and attain to a large size; whilst at the same time the delicate plants which in our northern clime are raised in hot-houses, may here be seen flourishing and blooming in all their beauty in the open sunshine, and unfolding their gay and gorgeous petals to the warm and sparkling atmosphere of a southern clime. The harmless lizards, (called by the natives Gremsicola,") dart across the pavement at every step, and are so extremely shy that it requires no common degree of dexterity to catch them. Wherever flowers abound, there the insect tribes resort in great numbers; and this green spot is one of the few haunts of the butterflies of Malta. The violet bee, skimming over the sweet marigolds; the rich vanessæ, sweeping down the vistas, till, in the aërial distance, they dwindle to a mere speck, and are not completely lost to sight as they would be in England, in the density of the atmosphere; the bird-like hawk-moths, fluttering and hovering, with trunks uncurled, around the sweetest and most mellifluous blossoms; and the full-grown larva of the death's-head, reposing at ease among the solano leaves; these, and many others, are among the sights that meet the eye of the entomologist in most gardens in this rocky island. I have frequently rambled through this garden at the hottest period of the day, for the purpose of collecting insects, and have constantly met with the lovely papiliones machaon, and podalirius. The Maltese boys often catch these little spirit-like beings, and fastening a fine piece of cotton. around their bodies, with a long end attached to it, they follow their fairy coursers from flower to flower, sometimes tying them up on a particular bush. These children are seldom cruel, for they generally let the insects go free when they have done playing with them. One little lad, whose bright sharp eye made me set him about catching lizards, seemed very particular and careful not to hurt them.

Near these gardens there are others belonging to the English chaplain of the Governor; they are very beautiful, and kept in excellent order. Most of the plants are arranged in stone vases around the borders, and in a small pond in the centre grows the papyrus. Adjoining to this garden is a little chapel, or rather room, which is the only Protestant place of worship in the suburbs. The gardener was very obliging in giving me free and liberal access to these beautiful grounds; for I had only to knock at the door, and I might wander through the garden for hours. A third garden, called "Il Grotto," the residence of Miss Hamilton, is also well worthy of a visit; it contains several grottos of beautiful shell-work, and strongly reminded me of the ruins of some eastern abode. This lady very kindly gave me permission to make free use and enjoyment of her garden, but my time would only allow me to pay it one short visit. On the same day, I had the opportunity of calling on a Maltese naturalist residing in Floriana. He was by profession a physician, but has a strong

predilection for the natural sciences. I found him sitting in his "sanctum sanctorum,” stuffing a Tethys redstart, surrounded by numerous and various curiosities. At the sight of strangers he arose, and, putting aside his spectacles, proceeded to show me all his treasures. Amongst them I was greatly amused by a nondescript bird, composed of the body of a parroquet, with the tail of a bird of paradise, and a flaming crest of flamingo's feathers! These were all very artfully joined together by some lover of nature, who, no doubt, thought to turn this "rara avis" to good account. Such a monster might dare to show itself in a country where science seldom smiles; but could it be tolerated in the presence of a French or German naturalist? However, I must not altogether condemn my poor friend, for doubtless his was the "pursuit of knowledge under difficulties ;" and though not so skilful as many of his contemporaries, yet he was very kind and obliging, and I gained some information from him on various topics connected with the natural productions of the island.

THE market of Valetta, though small, is well supplied with fruit and fish. Very little animal food is used by the natives, and owing to the heat of the climate, it is obliged to be eaten on the same day that it is killed. On going through the market to purchase some fruit, I had occasion to pass by one of the butchers' stalls. The Maltese are a very shrewd people and love a joke with the English. "Any beef, John," said the butcher, with an arch smile :-this he intended, no doubt, as a hit at our national character, though it was said with that naïveté and good humour which it was impossible to be offended at. The greatest portion of the fruit sold in the market is brought over in boats from Sicily, and some also from Gozo. At the time of my visit the finest fruits were nearly over; grapes sold at 1d. per rotolo, (1 lb.), and a superior kind, called "ladies' fingers," of a long pod-like shape, for 11d. per pound. The prickly pears were sold at four grains per rotolo; pomegranates, one halfpenny each; apricots, 1d. and 2d. per rotolo; peaches 4d. per ditto; figs, of two or three kinds, 1d. per rotolo; melons, one farthing per pound; of these the musk, water and winter melons were in considerable abundance. The oranges I saw were those of the last year's growth; they were very scarce, owing to the want of rain. Fish are in great abundance; they consist chiefly of mullet, whitings, tunny, sword-fish, turtles, eels, and various species of crustacea, such as lobsters, crabs, prawns, &c. Shell-fish are much eaten by the lower classes. The men who gather them expose them for sale in the markets in small dishes upon the ground. I used frequently to examine them on account of the good shells that are often found amongst them. I obtained the spondylus, two species of the murex, the arca-noæ, the sea-date, the haliotis and three or four kinds of Venus, in this manner. The little fish called sea-horses are common on the Maltese shores.