r the place where the Hercules was found. It has on the
convex side figures of soldiers in armor, and on the concave a group
which is supposed to represent Lot and his daughters. This medal is not
in the museum; but the custodian of the institution will give any
inquirer such information as will enable him to get sight of it.

In the little inland villages of stone cabins a pastoral air prevails;
but one occasionally witnesses novel scenes and unique performances,
such as small groups of peasantry dancing after a style erratic enough
to suit a Comanche Indian. The accompanying music, on the occasion we
refer to, was produced by a home-made instrument, which reminded one of
a Scotch bagpipe, only it was, if possible, still more trying to the
ears and nerves. It is known here as a _zagg_. It is made of an inflated
dog-skin, and is held under the musician's arm, with the defunct
animal's legs pointing upward. A sort of pipe is attached to this
air-bag, which is played upon with both hands. It is hardly necessary to
say that a more ungainly instrument could not well be conceived. A
tambourine accompaniment, performed by another party, is usually added
to the crude notes of the dog-skin affair. To the music of these simple
instruments the bodies of the dancers sway hither and thither in a
singular and apparently purposeless manner. There was, however, a
certain uniformity in the movements of the participants which showed
design of some sort. The dancers seemed to lose themselves in the
process, and to enjoy the queer pantomime, after a fashion. For
significance of purpose, or poetic design, this exhibition will not
compare with the tarantella, which the peasantry dance in southern
Italy, or with the dashing firefly dance of the common women of St.
Thomas, in the West Indies.

A league to the westward of Valletta is situated Casal Nasciar, which is
perched upon a steep hilltop, and forms a good type of an ordinary
Maltese village. Its stone church is nearly two centuries old, and
contains some interesting relics. The people native here claim for their
ancestors that they were the first in the group to receive Christian
baptism, a matter which they deem to be of immense importance. Just
outside of the village there is a statue of St. Paul, who is said to
have preached upon the spot where it stands. The site of this Casal
Nasciar is peculiar, being upon the summit of a great geological
"fault," of which there are two or three