e of Geneva.

CHAPTER XIII.

Ancient Catacombs.--A Subterranean City.--Phoenician Tombs.
--Grotto of St. Paul.--A Crumbling Old Capital.--Dreary and
Deserted.--Bingemma Hills.--Ancient Coins and Antique
Utensils.--Ruins of a Pagan Temple.--A Former Fane to
Hercules.--A Garden of Delights.--Druidical Circles.--
Beautiful Grotto.--Crude Native Dances.--Unique Musical
Instrument.--Nasciar.--Suburb of Floriana.--A Capuchin
Convent.--Grim Skeletons.

The stranger who comes to Citta Vecchia seems to inhale an atmosphere of
the Middle Ages which pervades everything in this quaint dwelling-place,
almost as old as the sacred city of Benares, the Hindoo Mecca, which was
famous before Rome was known, and when Athens was in its youth. Medina
was the old Arabic name by which it was known, but probably it had other
names in the far past. Phoenicians, Greeks, and Romans reared their
dwellings upon its site, and have left evidences of their departed
glory. Historic memories and suggestions hang about its crumbling
monuments, its ruined ramparts, and its narrow footways. One of the most
remarkable attractions in the vicinity is the extensive system of
catacombs, which are very similar in many particulars to those of Rome,
and which, if we may believe local tradition, were once connected with
Valletta by a spacious tunnel. This would require a remarkable piece of
engineering. To perfect such a passageway through solid rock, though it
was comparatively easy to work, would involve a cost of time, labor, and
money which would be hardly at the command of a primitive race. If such
a tunnel did exist, it would nearly equal the Hoosac Tunnel of
Massachusetts, and would be at least five miles long. The entire length
of the catacombs as they now exist is computed to be fifteen miles,
though there are no authentic statistics about them. Their size and
regularity of construction have caused them to be called the
Subterranean City. They are hewn out of the rock at a depth of from
twelve to fifteen feet below the surface, small openings upward at
suitable intervals admitting the necessary fresh air. Torches or
lanterns are quite indispensable in visiting them, and a competent guide
should always be taken. A stranger might easily become confused and lost
among the intricacies of these dim, subterranean passages. Tradition
tells of a schoolmaster who attempted to explore these catacombs without