end.

_Monday, 15th._--At daybreak a speck was seen in the horizon; now it is
visible above the hollow wave, now curtained from our sight by the
swelling billow: we approach nearer; the speck divides, and two spots
appear; they are Calypso's Isles,--

"The sister tenants of the middle deep,
There, for the weary, still a haven smiles,
Though the fair goddess long hath ceased to weep."

[Sidenote: LAZZARETTO.] At ten o'clock we passed into the quarantine
harbour.

What a formidable array of guns! what bustle in every direction! and
what a clean comfortable-looking place is this Valetta, with its white
houses encircled with verandas. What a contrast is afforded by the neat
trim boats, the well-appointed sentinel, and the civil, attentive
officer of health, when compared with what I have been so long
accustomed to! Every thing around bespeaks the influence of English
habits and feelings. The whole of the great lazzaretto and Fort Emanuel
were prepared for us: the latter for the Prince, and such as chose to go
there in preference to the former. We landed in a hurry; the object of
every one being to secure a good room for himself, as, with a piece of
chalk in hand, he wandered through the vast corridors of this immense
building. All were well satisfied. Myself and two friends agreed to mess
together, and we secured a couple of good apartments, one for a bed, and
the other for a sitting-room; to which two great comforts were attached,
namely, a thorough draught and a kitchen. Valetta supplied the necessary
furniture, and every luxury we required; and we made our engagements for
getting our dinners brought from thence daily. With a boat and a servant
in addition to these comforts, we found ourselves established in so
agreeable a manner, that our party became the envy of the surrounding
messes. Every liberty was permitted that the regulations of the place
could sanction; and we were allowed to row about the harbour, and amuse
ourselves in any other way we liked, from daybreak until night. Some of
the messes had regular cooks in their establishment; but I think our
plan was preferable, and we certainly lived better than they.

[Sidenote: DAYS OF QUARANTINE.] Notwithstanding the heat of the weather,
our domicile was cool, and the spacious apartments attached to the
building, and the cloisters below, afforded plenty of space for
exercise. In the evenings we generally visited the fort, or went to the
quarantine ground