The Maltese Group.--Comino.--Cave Life.--Verdant Gozo.--Isle
of Filfla.--Curious Lizards.--Loss of an Ironclad.--Mysterious
Wheel-Tracks.--Earthquakes.--Population.--Military Depot.--
Youthful Soldiers.--Quarantine.--Arrival of the Knights.--
Immorality.--Harbor Defenses.--Land Fortifications.--Charming
Photographic View.--The Stars and Stripes Abroad.--The Eight-
Pointed Maltese Cross.--Peculiar Sunset Scene.
We speak of Malta in the singular, which is the conventional form;
official documents say Malta and its dependencies, it being the name
which is also most commonly used to designate the capital; but it should
be understood that the Maltese group consists of three considerable
islands, namely, Malta, Gozo, and Comino. The latter lies midway in the
channel which separates the other two. Comino is nearly circular,
measures four miles across its surface, and contains some large and
curious caves, also a fort which was built in 1618. There are a few huts
in which the poor peasants reside, who labor on the soil, and send
fabulous numbers of watermelons to Valletta. It would seem that this
circumscribed bit of earth, or, more properly speaking, rock, breaking
the surface of the Straits of Freghi, was formerly considered to be of
more importance than it is in our day. One ancient author mentions it
under another name, that of Hephaestia, which means the island of Vulcan.
In the Middle Ages Comino was a very nest of Saracen pirates. Up to the
beginning of the present century, the special advantage of the group for
the promotion of illegitimate commerce has been its curse. Malta was the
synonym of piracy from the earliest times,--a reputation which, as we
have seen, the Knights of St. John did nothing to improve. Speaking in
plain terms, they were the most pronounced and successful corsairs who
ever sailed these waters, and were unmolested by the Western Powers
because their piracy was conducted under the pretense of fighting only
the infidels, and in behalf of Christianity. In our day we invade
Central Africa under pretense of suppressing the slave trade; but in the
days of this warlike order, its principal source of income was derived
from the capture of Asiatics, whom the Knights sold into slavery, or
retained in that condition.
There is said to be ample evidence that the numerous caves of Comino
were formerly improved as domestic dwelling-places by the primitive
inhabitants. Their partial inaccessibility probably caused them to be
used as safe retreats when the group was invaded by a foreign enemy.
Where natural caves existed in the early days of our race upon this
earth, they were nearly always utilized as shelter for human beings, and
doubtless artificial ones were created, it being the readiest mode of
obtaining a domestic shelter. The Spanish gipsies of Granada follow this
plan even to-day, on the banks of the swift-flowing Darro, not to speak
in detail of the numerous cliff-dwellers of Behring Strait, where Asia
and America come so nearly together.
There is a cave between Comino and Cominetto, the entrance to which is
accomplished by boat, not without considerable difficulty. When once
within, however, and the eyes become accustomed to the gloom which
pervades the place, the cave is found to open out into proportions of
considerable magnitude. At the further extremity nature has formed a
beautiful little gravelly beach, on which the lazy waves ebb and flow
gracefully and softly. Geologists visit this cavern with much interest,
as the sides teem with the remains of marine creatures which lived and
died in the waters when these islands were gradually undergoing the
process of formation. There are scores of smaller caves on Cominetto,
and also on Comino. It was in the cavernous formations of the south side
of the main island of the Maltese group that Dr. Adams found the
interesting animal remains about which he has written so ably. These
tokens of past ages, concerning which we have no other record, exist in
nearly all parts of the globe. In the Ozark Mountains, near Galena,
Missouri, is a cavern larger than the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky, which
has been explored for thirty miles in a nearly straight line. In this
Missouri cave, bones of prehistoric animals have also been found.
It may be said truthfully that there are few places which surpass Malta
in antiquarian interest.
Gozo is about one fifth the size of the main island which gives the
group its name. The circumference of the three islands is a trifle less
than one hundred miles. The shores, much worn and still wearing away by
the ceaseless action of the waters, give evidence of having been
considerably more extended at no distant period of time. Two uninhabited
islets, besides Gozo and Malta proper, complete the list of the group;
these are Cominetto and Filfla. The first, as its name indicates, nearly
joins Comino; the latter, containing the ruins of an ancient stone
church, is situated three or four miles from Malta on its southern side.
It is a very small islet, being only six hundred yards in circumference.
Filfla, from the Arabic word _filfel_, means a peppercorn, and the place
is thus called on account of its diminutive size. The name of each
inlet, headland, and reef along the coast is Arabic.
Besides the islands which we have cited, there are some small rocks,
having sufficient soil upon them to afford a gleam of animal and
vegetable life, but which are rarely if ever trodden by the foot of man.
Sometimes the hardy fishermen spread their nets from the most available;
but this work is generally pursued from boats and at points further from
land. There are certain species of shell-fish, including the patella,
lobsters, and crabs, which so abound on the circumscribed shore of
anvil-shaped Filfla, that fishermen come hither regularly to obtain
them. The phosphorescent jelly-fish, that glow-worm of the sea, lies
upon the surface near the shore in shoals, with here and there a blue
and rose-tinted starfish. The stormy petrel, the manx, and the white
sea-gulls build their nests amid the rocks of Filfla. The gathering of
coral was formerly a successful business hereabouts, but it is now
abandoned as not being sufficiently profitable. Oysters are also found
near the shore, and form a considerable source of food supply for the
common people; but the Mediterranean oyster does not recommend itself to
one accustomed to the superior product in the same line found on the
American coast. This bivalve of the narrow sea is often transported in
considerable quantities inland to Rome, where it does not always prove
harmless to strangers, though the digestive organs of the natives seem
quite able to grapple with it. The author was once seriously poisoned by
eating "oysters on the shell," at Nazzari's famous restaurant, near the
corner of the Via Condotti, in Rome.
As regards this island of Filfla, it gives us a wealth in numbers and an
astonishing variety of forms representing marine life, including sea
anemones, sea urchins, and so on, together with some small shells almost
as lovely as flowers. Men-of-war cruising in these waters use the island
as a target, and fragments of shot and shell consequently abound upon
its surface. Naturalists tell us of a peculiar species of lizard found
on this islet, quite different from anything of the sort to be seen on
the larger islands, "beautiful bronze-black creatures, quite tame, and
much more agile than their brethren on the mainland." So off the harbor
of Bombay, the author has seen on the island of Elephanta remarkable
beetles, unlike any of the species to be found elsewhere. They are
scarcely larger than one's little-finger nail, but nature has clothed
them in harlequin attire, combining golden, steel-blue, and pink. These
tiny creatures have prominent eyes, like a King Charles spaniel, which
seem to gaze at one with something like human intelligence. The question
naturally suggests itself, where can a distinctive species of animal
life have been derived and developed after this fashion, in these
isolated spots? Is this the outcome of some not understood principle of
evolution, beginning as vegetable, and developing into animal life? That
the earth produces the former spontaneously we know, and that it may
gradually, in the course of ages, become endowed with the latter has
been declared possible by scientists. In our museums we see fossil
organisms which exhibit in nearly consecutive order the slow evolution
of both animals and plants. By this means palaeontologists have been able
to connect some of our present mammals, through intermediary forms, with
their tertiary ancestors in primitive conditions.
Leaving the field of conjecture to scientists, let us resume the course
of our Maltese story.
It is believed that at a comparatively modern date, geologically
speaking, the islands of Malta and Gozo were joined together by the
island of Comino. Deep wheel-ruts worn in the rocky surface on the
opposite shores of the two nearest islands, visible even at some
distance under the water, afford what is considered to be unmistakable
evidence that the intervening straits have been formed recently, or that
the sea was once so shallow here as to be easily fordable by wheeled
vehicles. These wheel-tracks are particularly observable at Marfa,
whence passengers take boat for Gozo, but they are also found in other
places, where the connection is wholly obliterated. On the edge of the
shore, to the north of the Bay of Fom-er-Rich, wheel-ruts are to be seen
terminating abruptly at the brink of a cliff one hundred feet high,
which rises sheer from out of the sea. This shows clearly that some
tremendous upheaval, subsidence, or both, must have taken place here
within historic times.
Though the Straits of Freghi are now many fathoms deep, navigation is
somewhat intricate. A first-class British iron-clad was wrecked here in
1889, by striking upon a sunken rock. In very stormy weather
communication between the islands is wholly cut off, but this rarely
occurs. The shore in this vicinity is fringed by long, black, straggling
ledges, the most dangerous portions of which are exposed only in stormy
weather, when the dark, sea-worn rocks raise their heads and stoutly
resist the onslaught of the waves, sending aloft transparent masses of
white spray. When the sun escapes from the clouds and penetrates this
watery ebullition, momentary rainbows bind the moistened atmosphere
together with a lovely arch of prismatic hues.
Careful soundings show that the Maltese group stands upon a submarine
plateau, which stretches entirely across the Mediterranean from Sicily
to Africa, thus dividing the sea into two parts, known to geographers as
the eastern and western basins.
Malta, so far as an unscientific person may speak, shows no signs of
volcanic action, though there is a powerful agent of this character so
near in Sicily. At the present writing AEtna is in a condition of wild
physical turmoil, forming new fissures near its summit, out of which the
much-dreaded fiery lava is flowing rapidly, while the main crater is by
no means idle. Nothing can stem the tide of these rushing rivers of
molten rock, which have cut themselves fresh channels for miles,
extending to the sea. The last outbreak occurred in the early part of
1865, continuing with more or less force for a period of three months.
In 1669, one of these eruptions, besides costing hundreds of human
lives, destroyed twenty-two towns and villages, on its mad course to the
seaport of Catania, where the lava rushed into the Mediterranean in a
stream eighteen hundred feet in width and forty feet in height! This
extraordinary statement is in accordance with the local chronicles of
the time. It was perhaps the most violent and destructive eruption of
which we have any record; many have been slight and harmless. This
latter fact accounts for the hardihood of the Sicilians in continuing to
plant vineyards and farms within reach of this great subterranean
furnace. So the people of Torre del Greco, at the foot of restless
Vesuvius, ignore past experience, and all former outbreaks of the
mountain which destroyed Pompeii.
In the absence of late and reliable statistics upon the subject, the
present population of the Maltese group may be safely assumed as about a
hundred and seventy-five thousand, of which number one half centre in
and about Valletta. Borgo, Senglea, and Burmulo, on the opposite side of
the harbor, eastward from the capital, are populous suburbs of the city,
and contain many well-built stone edifices, but none to compare with
those of the city proper. These suburbs are the residence of an humbler
class of the community than those who live in Valletta. The estimate
which is given above as to the population of the group includes the
English garrison, which seldom amounts to less than six thousand men. A
brigade of infantry is always kept here upon a war footing, known as the
"Indian Contingent." The whole number of troops at the present time, in
and about the capital, is eight thousand of all arms. In case of another
Indian mutiny, which would surely follow an invasion by Russia, England
could draw at once from this source. The troops at Malta would be
already half way toward their objective point, if ordered to Calcutta or
Bombay.
Her Majesty's government also maintains an infantry regiment one
thousand strong, whose ranks are filled by natives of the islands, a
policy which is also adopted to a large extent in India, and more or
less in all English dependencies. Even in Hong Kong, the large body of
men who constitute the local police are Sikhs brought from India for
this special service. They are tall, dark, fine-looking men, with heavy
beards. The Maltese regiment just spoken of is a good-looking body of
well-drilled men, though lacking the _esprit de corps_ of English-born
soldiers. This regiment is officered by Englishmen, and is called the
Royal Maltese Fencibles, being mostly employed to man the outlying forts
of the group.
We may be permitted a few words upon the subject of the garrison of
Malta. One watches with special interest the soldiery of various
nationalities. The author has seen the representatives of the English
army in Egypt, China, Ceylon, Aden, and in all of the colonies of Great
Britain except those of Africa. The men are, on an average, far too
youthful for military service. Such boyish applicants would not pass
examination for enlistment in our American army as we find enrolled in
the English regiments here. Large numbers are under seventeen years.
Even Lord Wolseley, in a late published report, admits this glaring
defect of the British service. In round numbers, the English army
consists of two hundred and ten thousand men of all arms, half of which
number is kept at home, that is, in England, while over seventy thousand
are stationed in India, and thirty-two thousand in various colonies. The
empire of India is an expensive plaything, which the people of Great
Britain support for the amusement of the Queen and the pride of the
nation. The seventy thousand soldiers distributed over that widespread
territory are hardly able to keep the natives in subjection. To
maintain her grasp upon India, as we all know, has cost England rivers
of blood and mountains of treasure, though she has no more legitimate
right to possess the land than she has to Norway and Sweden.
Sweeping pestilence and frequent wars have not seemed to interfere
materially with the rapid increase of the population of Malta.
Visitations of the cholera and the plague have at different times
created great havoc with human life in the group. So late as 1813,
thousands of the inhabitants fell victims to the much-dreaded plague,
brought hither from the East, where the seeds of the scourge seem to be
only slumbering when they are not bringing forth fatal fruit. The local
records of the devastation of the plague in Malta are terribly forlorn,
dreary, and saddening, and characterized by the calmness and dignity of
despair. Since that experience, strict quarantine measures have been
enforced, especially toward vessels coming from Egypt. Many travelers
who have visited this group of islands have been obliged to pass a
fortnight or more in the lazaretto before being permitted to land in the
capital, while others, rather than submit to the trying discipline of
quarantine, have given up their purpose of doing so.
Untraveled readers can hardly realize the discomforts and annoyances
caused by quarantine laws, against the necessity of which no intelligent
person will attempt to argue. Late experience upon our own coast,
especially in New York harbor, proves not only their importance, but
also their efficacy, though they sometimes, in individual cases, operate
with seemingly unnecessary hardship. Sir Walter Scott, in describing his
detention at the lazaretto in Malta, tells us of an accident which
occurred, illustrating the rigid enforcement of quarantine rules. It
seems that a foremast hand on board the ship which had brought him
hither fell from the yardarm into the sea. The fellow struggled
manfully, being a good swimmer. Several native boats, which were near at
hand, promptly steered in another direction, but an English boat's crew,
belonging to a ship in the harbor, pulled as swiftly as possible towards
the struggling seaman and rescued him from the water. For this act of
humanity, the boat's crew was ordered into quarantine for a week. By
saving the life of the sailor who had fallen from the ship which was in
quarantine, they had run the risk of contamination!
On one occasion, while in South America, it was the author's misfortune
to be at Rio Janeiro when the yellow fever was raging there. He was
bound southward to Montevideo, but no ship going thither would receive
passengers, lest the vessel should be quarantined. Passage was therefore
taken northward to Bahia, Brazil, which was not a prohibited port,
though yellow fever was found to exist there, also. Thence the Pacific
Mail Steamship took us south again to the mouth of the Plate
River,--_Rio de la Plata_,--passing, but not entering, the harbor of
Rio. Thus one was compelled to travel by sea over two thousand miles
for no possible purpose save to avoid being quarantined at Montevideo.
The cholera swept away several thousands of the Maltese in 1837, again
in 1853, and once more so late as 1887. It will be observed that there
exists a serious drawback in the location of the group. It is so
situated, midway between the East and the West, as to be the victim of
all such epidemics as are liable to be conveyed through the ordinary
channels of commerce.
When the Knights of St. John first landed in Malta there were but twelve
thousand inhabitants here. The Knights were soon followed by a
considerable number of their former subjects in Rhodes, many of whom
had, like themselves, been wanderers since they were driven from that
island by the Turks. The order was still popular and wealthy, enjoying a
princely revenue from various continental sources, as well as from the
rich prizes which they constantly captured from the Ottomans, from
roving Greeks, and from Barbary pirates. The proceeds of these captures
were expended with a lavish hand among the Maltese people, diffusing
plenty and comfort throughout the islands. This material prosperity soon
stimulated immigration from various Mediterranean ports, and called home
many who had endeavored to improve their fortunes by seeking occupation
elsewhere. The natives were treated with great liberality by their
monkish rulers. No taxes were demanded of them, while they were in
constant receipt of money from the plethoric treasury of the Knights.
There was occupation for all, and fair remuneration for the same. Never
before, as far as we know, had the sunshine of prosperity so smiled upon
these isolated shores. The period to which we refer is regarded as the
golden age of Maltese history. The most intelligent of the present
inhabitants are never tired of referring to the period when the white
cross of St. John floated proudly over the castle of St. Elmo.
It was indeed the golden age, speaking in a worldly sense, but not in a
spiritual one; yet the average Maltese not only sympathizes with the
profession of these Knights, but even indorses their daily lives, public
and private, which would not bear for one moment the conventional test
of our modern civilization. It would seem as though the virtue and honor
of Maltese wives and daughters counted for nothing, in this wholesale
opinion of the period covered by the sovereignty of the order, and that
the natives of that day ignored all sense of self-respect in their
estimate of the value of pecuniary prosperity as compared with the
sacredness of domestic purity. Women were bartered for like merchandise;
personal attractions formed the criterion of their market value, while
there was not even the pretense on the part of the Knights of keeping
their priestly vows as celibates, by which every member of the
fraternity of St. John was supposed to be bound. Women came voluntarily
and openly from Italy, France, Spain, and England to trade upon their
charms, added to whose number were those of their sex captured from the
harems of the Mohammedans. Among the native women, little regard was
paid to marital ties, and virtue among them was scarcely a recognized
idea. We may be sure that the vile example set before them by those to
whom they were taught to look up as their superiors was not without its
evil influence. Lewdness is as contagious as typhus fever, and vice
spreads like oil upon the water. We penetrate uncivilized countries and
affiliate with barbaric tribes, who, following some strange instinct of
the race, promptly adopt our vices, but are slow to imitate such of the
virtues as we assume, if we have them not. It is not pleasant to dwell
upon such a theme, but contemporary writers tell us that these islands
became the scandal of Europe, and the popular resort of titled
libertines, many of whom joined the Knights, who were then at the height
of their material prosperity.
Let us draw the curtain upon such matters, which have necessarily been
considered, and turn to such as are more attractive. Of these we shall
find a teeming abundance from which to choose in this _Fior del Mondo_.
The charmingly picturesque capital, Valletta, surrounded at all times by
a quaint Oriental atmosphere, lies on the north shore of the island, at
its nearest point to Sicily, upon a promontory extending a considerable
distance into the bay. For the sake of completeness, its exact position
is given: longitude 14 deg. 31'; latitude 35 deg. 53' north. The port
consists of two spacious land-locked bays, known as Quarantine Harbor
and Grand Harbor. The entrance to both is commanded by the massive white
battlements of Fort St. Elmo, supplemented by Fort Ricasoli on the one
hand, and Fort Tigne on the other. Each of the three fortifications now
bristles with threatening cannon of modern construction,--"the
red-mouthed orators of war." The two harbors, forming a double port, are
each subdivided into small bays, creeks, and indentures, which are well
adapted to naval and commercial purposes, for which they are improved,
all being embraced within the elaborate lines of the marine
fortifications.
Grand Harbor contains the naval hospital, arsenal, dock-yard, and
custom-house, with Fort St. Angelo inside and Fort Ricasoli at the
entrance. Quarantine Harbor has at its mouth Fort Tigne, while within is
Fort Mangel and Lazaretto Island. The landing designed for the mail
steamships is also here. The lazaretto is the most perfect of any
arrangement of the kind in Europe. The tongue of land upon which the
city stands is a narrow, rocky peninsula, dividing, as we have said, the
two harbors, so that Fort Ricasoli at the entrance of Grand Harbor, Fort
St. Elmo upon the point of the peninsula, and Fort Tigne at the mouth of
Quarantine Harbor are all on a line at the sea front, and are capable of
repelling the approach of any ship afloat. A bird's-eye view of the
topography of the port of Valletta is at first a little confusing to a
stranger, but its plan soon becomes clear, and the object of its
arrangement is realized. It is then seen that the natural facilities
have been admirably adapted to the general purpose by skilled engineers.
We do not hesitate to say that there is not a more complete system of
fortifications extant, in any part of the world, than the cordon of
defensive structures at Malta. The forts of the harbor, however, form
but a portion of the vast system of fortifications which completely
surround Valletta. Such a gigantic amount of heavy stone-work as they
represent could only be erected where the material was abundant and the
labor cheap. The stone excavated in sinking the deep ditches was used in
raising the escarps; and as to the necessary labor, that was done by the
army of slaves retained on the island by the Knights. When they were not
confined at the oars of the galleys, they were compelled to labor in
erecting these elaborate defenses. Like the Egyptian builders of the
Pyramids, the order was obliged to feed these workmen; but beyond that
expense their services cost nothing.
While the Maltese capital bears, appropriately, the name of the Grand
Master who originated and promoted its construction, these defensive
works, so remarkable and so perfect in their character from a soldier's
point of view, should perpetuate the name of Jerome Cassan, the
accomplished engineer of the order, who designed them, and under whose
able superintendence they were erected. No wonder they call forth the
admiration of all military officers who visit the place. Immense sums of
money and incalculable toil were lavished upon the undertaking,
regardless of any probable necessity for the expenditure. So far as the
science of military defense goes, it would seem as though perfection had
been reached when Chevalier Cassan finished his original plans; but each
new Grand Master of the Knights seems to have thought it to be his duty
to increase the number of forts, giving to the addition his own name, by
which each section thus constructed is still known. Exposed points on
the coast of both Malta and Gozo were fortified from time to time, until
there were no unprotected bays or inlets left. For centuries before this
was done, piratical invasions were frequently made by small Algerine or
Turkish expeditions landing at unfortified points. A score or two of
armed men were able to ravage a whole district, and carry off half a
hundred families to be sold into slavery. The Turkish and Algerine war
fleets were almost entirely manned at the oars by captives thus secured.
When these soldier-priests first took possession of the islands, there
was but one fort at Malta, namely, that of St. Angelo, which hardly
deserved to be called a fort. To-day, as we have shown, there is no
unprotected point on the entire coast line of the group. Modern
instruments of warfare have revolutionized the requirements of defensive
works, and many of these elaborate structures, it must be admitted, are
hardly appropriate to our times. Malta is the equal of Gibraltar in a
military point of view, though the fortifications of neither are
absolutely impregnable. Of the latter, it may be said that nature
prepared the place for man's adaptation; but as regards the former, art
alone has produced an unequaled amphitheatre of fortifications. On the
land side Valletta is protected by a labyrinth of marvelous ditches and
ramparts, many of which are cut out of the solid rock, besides having
vast chambers, or caves, of the same substantial character, designed for
the safe storage of grain in anticipation of the place being besieged.
These rock-hewn caves are so arranged that they can be hermetically
sealed. It is said that they will preserve grain in perfect condition
for a score of years. A quantity of provisions is always kept stored in
these receptacles for the use of the garrison, and to meet any sudden
emergency, the same policy being adopted at Gibraltar and Aden. The
warfare of our day, however, admits of no protracted sieges. Such a
struggle as took place before Sebastopol, not very long ago, could not
be sustained between two powers with the present means of destruction
possessed by both parties. In the future, conflicts will be short and
decisive. If anything relating to warfare can be merciful, the sharpest
and shortest process is most so. Lingering contests entail such terrible
consequent ills that they bring with them sufferings paramount to those
caused by the conflict of arms. "The next saddest thing in war to a
defeat is a victory," said Wellington, as he looked sorrowfully upon the
field which he had won by a fearful sacrifice of human life at San
Sebastian.
The two excellent harbors of Valletta might afford anchorage for six
hundred ships of war, as they have bold, well-defined shores, and an
average depth of ten fathoms. This was not so originally, but is the
result of a thorough system of dredging, which has been faithfully
completed.
As we look upon the scene from an elevated point, beneath the afternoon
sun, while freely inhaling the lotus-like air of the Mediterranean,
everything is serene and lovely. Over the terraced roofs of Valletta
rises the square tower of the Grand Palace, gay with many colored signal
flags. Across the harbor the eye rests upon Fort Ricasoli, and here
stands stout old St. Elmo, while in the distance Fort San Rocco crowns a
hilltop. Much nearer is Fort St. Angelo, with its record of a thousand
years and more. The numerous domes and towers of the city, though they
are not minarets, have much the same Oriental effect upon the eye.
Myriads of small boats, painted in bright, fanciful colors after the
florid Maltese style, and having canvas coverings sheltering the stern,
shoot hither and thither like birds upon the wing. The boatmen stand
while rowing, as do the oarsmen of the Venetian gondolas, pushing, not
pulling, at the oars. Hundreds of small feluccas line the shore. A group
of fishermen in rude but picturesque costumes are landing the product of
their industry. Half a dozen ships belonging to the British navy, and as
many huge mail steamers, swing lazily at anchor, while little erratic
steam launches dart back and forth from ship to shore; a memorable
picture, the sea and sky being its appropriate frame. French, German,
Italian, and English flags indicate the nationality of the several
vessels, but the eye searches in vain for the stars and stripes of our
Union. The same absence of the American flag is only too observable
throughout nearly all the ports of the Mediterranean and the far East.
The home-keeping citizen who reads these lines can hardly realize the
patriotic sensation mingled with dire homesickness which thrills the
traveler, long absent from his native land, at sight of our beloved
national emblem proudly expanding its folds upon a foreign shore.
We look in vain for one other significant flag, that of the
eight-pointed cross, which for centuries waved over these battlements as
the sacred banner of the Knights of St. John, the token of their
religious faith and their resolve to conquer or to die, which led them
in the van of battle at Jerusalem, at Acre, and at Rhodes, and under
which they slaughtered the besieging enemy by thousands beneath the wall
of Malta; the gallant flag which so often flashed defiance before the
eyes of sanguinary Turks, treacherous Greeks, and rapacious Algerines
upon the sea; the flag, alas! which was lowered in disgrace, in 1798,
without the firing of a single shot in its defense, to give place to the
tricolor of France, and to acknowledge the mastership of Bonaparte. This
was an act of cowardice equaled only by that of the arch-traitor
Bazaine, who shamefully surrendered a whole army at Metz which was
perfectly capable of winning a signal victory over the Germans, if it
had been led against them by a brave general. The world knows how that
dastard poltroon was tried and punished for his treason, as well as of
his miserable subsequent life and unregretted death in a foreign land.
To return to the Knights of St. John. This act of treachery--the
surrender of Valletta to the French--was virtually the end of the famous
order; the dying hour, as it were, of a brotherhood which had for
hundreds of years defied the whole Ottoman power almost single handed,
and whose members, as chivalrous knights, won the respect of
Christendom.
One often reads of the great beauty of the sunset as enjoyed upon this
group, and we cheerfully bear witness to the fact that this phenomenon
of nature is justly eulogized. Writers are apt to grow enthusiastic over
Italian sunsets, especially along the Riviera; but the author, who has
seen this diurnal exhibition in all parts of the globe, can truly say he
has nowhere witnessed it surrounded by more beauty and grandeur of
effect than in our own beloved land. Bostonians who possess an
appreciative eye for the loveliness of cloud and sky effect, have seen
at the closing of day, looking westward over the Charles River, as
glorious exhibitions of the sunset hour as any part of the world can
boast. As to the beauty of the afterglow, the lingering twilight of New
England, "whose mantle is the drapery of dreams," it can be excelled in
no land in either hemisphere. In the enthusiasm of the moment, while on
the Yellow Sea of China, the author gave precedence, in his published
notes, to the remarkable sunsets which characterize that region; but in
this soberer moment a calmer conviction is honestly recorded. Still, the
quivering flame that seemed to burn like lava on the line where sky and
ocean met, the iris hues softly reflected by the vapory tissue of clouds
in the opposite expanse, and the gorgeous robes in which the on-coming
night was wrapped that December evening upon the Yellow Sea, can never
be forgotten by any one who witnessed it.
On the disappearance of the sun beneath the Mediterranean at Malta, as
soon as the opal fires have burned out of the sky, light clouds usually
fringe the horizon, emitting rapid flashes of lightning which continue
for hours, recalling the Aurora Borealis as seen at Bodoee and Tromsoee,
in Norway. There is no lasting twilight in this latitude. Night follows
close upon the footsteps of the departing day. The brightness of the
stars supervenes so quickly after the curtain falls upon the scene, and
the mellow evening atmosphere is so clear, that the twilight is hardly
missed by the watchful observer, as the Spirit of the night, upon dewy
sandals, begins her course of the circling hours.