striking examples in the group.
The view from this village is far-reaching and beautiful, embracing
certain portions of the island which are under high cultivation.

One sees a different people in these interior towns or villages, the
inhabitants being more thoroughly Maltese than those of cosmopolitan
Valletta. After once looking upon the rich and fertile plains of
Nasciar, one no longer feels inclined to call Malta "only a sterile
rock."

Among the peasantry, stalwart, light-haired fellows are often met, with
bright faces and clear blue eyes, quite in contrast to their companions.
To account for the presence here of this type, we must go back and
inquire of the gallant, priestly Knights of St. John, whose elaborate
vows of celibacy were thinner than the parchment on which they were
written. The roads between the casals are, as a rule, excellent, the
rocky surface making them, as it were, naturally macadamized; but they
are so dusty as to be very trying to the eyes and lungs, impregnated as
the atmosphere is all through the dry season with the fine silex of the
friable surface rock. The dwellings of the people are flat-roofed and
all of stone, the abundant native material.

To reach Citta Vecchia from the present capital of Malta, one leaves
Valletta by the Porta Reale, the outlet of the city proper toward the
country. The town is closed by three gates,--that which has just been
named, the Porta Marsamuscetto, leading to Quarantine Harbor, and the
Marina Gate, conducting to Grand Harbor. Having crossed the broad
drawbridge which spans the deep, wide, artificial ditch, on looking back
one realizes how thoroughly the city proper is cut off from inland
access when this drawbridge is raised. There is no part of the elaborate
system of engineering for defensive purposes which does not seem to be
as nearly perfect as is possible for such works. The entire design is
masterly, and the consummation admirable.

After crossing into Floriana, we are still surrounded by a cordon of
elaborate fortifications, demi-lunes, curtains, and ditches. This suburb
is so named for the engineer who planned this curious and intricate maze
of ravelins and bastions. This was Pietro Paolo Floriani. The place
might have been thus appropriately called on account of its gardens,
verdure, and flowers. As soon as the bridge is crossed, there lies
before us a level space designed for military parades, an esplanade
large enough for manoeuvring two or