extinct, the title of Turcopolier was given to Verdala when he arrived at the grand mastership, in 1582. Perhaps he, at the time that he took the title, received also the albergo of England.

Besides being Turcopoliers, the English possessed the priory of England, which was also the premier barony in parliament, the priory of Ireland, and the bailliage de l'aigle. In the office of the Turcopolier was included the command of the marine guards and cavalry (turcopole, in the language of the crusades, signifying dragoon). The tongue of England possessed also thirty-two commanderies, and in all attacks claimed the defence of the platform of St. Lazaro, and the gate between this and St. Christophero. In the great siege the English knights, with those of Germany and Portugal, occupied the mole of the Borgo.

A traveller in Malta will find some inconvenience from there not existing one good guide of the island: Brydone's tour is the most ridiculous and unsatisfactory book, to a stranger: he relates childish stories, certainly with a degree of humour; he saw little and talks much, and one knows not which to wonder at most, his having seen so little, or his spinning out two

volumes on what he did see. As the listless ignorance of a people who look no farther than trade makes the deficiency of a guide the more felt, the best plan to pursue is to take up Vertot's "Histoire de Malthe:" the interest will not only be increased by tracing each scene on the spot where it occurred, but it will insensibly lead him to all the memorials which are worthy of being visited.

CHAPTER IV.

MALTA CONTINUED.

Qui nelle fresche sue grotte stillanti
Tenne Calipso l'Itaco infedele.

Pindemonte.

"Oceanus Libya cum scinderet advena Calpen." CONSISTENTLY with this line, there has been a ridiculous idea with some persons, that the Mediterranean was formed by a violent earthquake severing asunder Spain from Africa, and the Atlantic rushing in and deluging all the low countries. The idea, I think, must have originated at Malta; for this island is exactly like the rocky barren summit of a mountain reared above the waves. There is no physical contrast of country greater than between Malta and Sicily: the latter with an exuberant soil, scarcely cultivated; the former with no soil at all indigenous, but formed, by industry,

into one of the most fertile spots in the uni

verse.

I made a little excursion into the interior of the island, April 25th, in one of their vehicles, termed a "calesse ;" which is the body of a chariot on two wheels, drawn by a single mule, while the driver, runs by the side. The country of Malta is the most peculiar in appearance I have ever seen though covered with fields of corn and cotton, they are buried, if I may so term it, from the eye, by being surrounded with stone walls, which bisect the country in every direction. No tree, no shrubs, rear their head above these; thus, as far as the view can reach, nought appears but heaps of stones, while, within the enclosures, the earth is most fertile. Nor do the numerous villages relieve or vary the scene: at a distance they differ little from the dead walls, and their situation is only marked by the cupolas of the really handsome churches which they possess. Their dull appearance will be conceived when I add, that the houses are never higher than the ground floor, without windows, receiving the light from the door: the streets are not paved, but extend in twists and turns often above a mile. In fact, I never discovered where

a town began or where it ended; for there was little difference in the change from the stone walls which inclose the fields to those which inclose the dwelling-places.

About eight miles from Malta is situated the object of our excursion, Makluba (which, in Arabic, signifies abyss). This abyss, in shape nearly round, sinks perpendicularly among rocks to the depth of 60 feet. We descended into the bottom by a gully formed by the torrents, and found ourselves, to our surprise, in a charming garden, shaded by fig-trees and orange-trees, the rock clothed with vines, and producing fruits and flowers of all descriptions.

As this country was once under Arabic sway, whose language they still speak, I fancied myself on the spot which suggested to the oriental writer the idea of Aladdin's garden among the mountains of China. A superstitious tradition of the natives gives the following account that formerly a town stood on this spot; but after a long series of unexampled wickedness, the ground suddenly gave way under their feet, and all the inhabitants were precipitated into ruin: a church, which stands at the edge of the precipice, was, from its