from destruction.
Protected from the high winds, these trees yield abundantly; and, in the
fertile soil of these plots, two or three crops of vegetables are raised
each year. Much of the land was rocky and uncultivated. Very few trees
were seen and those were dwarfed. One species of evergreen tree, called
the Carob, grew only ten feet in height, but spread to three times that
in breadth. In some neglected spots the prickly pear grew in rank
masses. The houses along the way, built of yellow or gray stone, had a
weather-beaten look, and the yards around them were enclosed with high
walls. The small square windows in the houses and the flat stone roofs
with enclosing parapets reminded us of pictures of the houses in Bible
stories.

In Citta Vecchia the two principal attractions were the Cathedral of St.
Paul and the Grotto of St. Paul. The Cathedral is said to be built on
the site of the house of Publius, the governor of the island, who
entertained and lodged St. Paul for three days after he was ship-wrecked
on this island, which in the Bible is called Melita. The Grotto is said
to have been occupied by St. Paul during his three months' stay on the
island. About four miles from the Cathedral is the bay of St. Paul,
where the apostle was wrecked while on his way to Rome. There is the
little creek in which the sailors tried to guide the storm-tossed vessel
and the shore to which they escaped "on boards and on broken pieces of
the ship."

In Citta Vecchia we were shown the mosaic pavement and the decorated
frieze of an old Roman house supposed to be over two thousand years old,
which had been uncovered at a considerable distance below the surface
while an excavation was being made. Notwithstanding their age the old
mosaic pavement and frieze were in good condition.

An interesting day of sight-seeing closed with a drive in Valetta
through the humbler part of the city and down a long inclined street
which led to the docks. At nightfall as our steamship moved eastward the
lights of Malta's stronghold gradually faded from our sight, but the
gleam of its lighthouse followed us for many a mile.

CHAPTER VII

ATHENS AND THE ACROPOLIS.

The sun was just appearing in the east as we approached the seaport of
the Grecian capital.

Through the mists of the dawning day we could make out dimly, ahead of
us, only bleak bare hills. As the Moltke steamed through the straits we
saw a lighthouse and a few buildings on the sho