presented in
the associations of southern Europe and Asiatic localities,--the Bay of
Naples and its surroundings, for instance, or the land of Palestine.
America is still in the youth of its civilization, while in this
isolated Mediterranean group, so circumscribed in space, we have
monuments which may nearly equal the Pyramids in age. These tokens
exhibit here a tangible page of Phoenician and there of Punic history,
together with ruins of Roman and Grecian temples, besides which there
are footprints of many Asiatic tribes. How one's imagination is awakened
by the sight of these half-effaced mementos of races dead and buried so
long ago! Crumbling ruins are milestones, as it were, on the road of
time. What region would not become interesting to an appreciative
observer, under such circumstances?

Traveling and sight-seeing, let us remember, are like hospitality, the
stranger must freely contribute his share, or the result will surely be
naught. "You will find poetry nowhere, unless you bring some with you,"
says Joubert.

Our last view of the romantic group was under a sky of blue and tranquil
loveliness, bathed in a silvery sheen of moonlight, as seen across the
azure and limpid waters from the deck of a P. & O. steamship, bound
westward to England. We left the harbor of Valletta just at sunset.
While the light was fading away, that of the moon and stars was
hastening into life. The lofty ramparts overhanging the sea cast purple
shadows upon the silent surface of the water. The terraced town stood
out in strong relief, here a dome and there a tower overlooking the tall
stone warehouses, while the slender tracery of the shipping appeared
like spider's webs. The town stood there firm and stately, as though cut
out of the solid rock.

Our vessel moved at half-speed until St. Elmo was passed, and before we
had fairly laid our course for Gibraltar the clear atmosphere was filled
with the floating strains from a military band in St. George's Square. A
spirit of rest and peacefulness hung over the picturesque old city of
the Knights. Mentally we bade farewell to its curious streets, its
palaces and churches, its grim fortifications and teeming population,
its beautiful gardens and marvelous antiquities. The cool, delicious
fruits and shade of San Antonio lingered in the memory, then Malta,
Gozo, and Comino faded into a vignette, until finally the low-lying
group dipped into the blue surface of the water and was seen no m