Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-03-26

with silence than are these high-walled mar
row streets. No sound 10 heard save the
| changing of bells as the call to endless de-
votions Then the thoroughfares are sud-
denly filled with bowed and dark-robed fig
ures for a moment, and again suddenly be-
come lifeless, dark and still.
The catacombs beneath Citta Vecchia and
the prehistoric rock-hewn tombs of Mnaidra
| are almost a welcome relief from the
solemnity and solemn shades of this old
place. The passages and chambers of the
catacombs are lacking mural decoration, but
| they are of the same character as those at
| Syracuse and are much larger than any
| single examples to be found at Rome. They
are hewn out of the soft stratum of the up
per limestone on which Citta Vecchla
stands. You reach them through a per-
pendicular shaft, and a few steps bring you
into perfect maze of tunnels leading in
every direction, with crypts on each side
and at every possible level
sepulchers Almost Without End.
These tunnels and their branch tunnels
seem interminable. 1 counted upwards of
500 separate sepulchers, and there are no
doubt many thousands. One passage or
gallery of very large proportions was found
chambers, where the crypts *ere fashioned
Their proportions were more ample and
they were better formed in every respect.
In MANY, a rest for the head and neck was
raised and followed in excellent contour;
and by the side of others were excavated
inches for urns and the lamp for votive and
other sepulchral Offices
However ancient was the race that exca-
waited or required such vast area for burial,
it is certain that these crypts were equally
as extensive in the days of the Romans,
1000 years ago. They are completely barren
'of all remains, as they were for long time
used as abodes for the living, the primitive
Christians having fled to them for refuge;
and they have been on various occasions
the abodes of the early Maltese when flying
from the swords of the Goth, Vandal, Moor
and Turk. No one has ever fully explored
them; and find from the natives that the
belief among them is universal that subter-
ranean passages lead to Valetta and to
other remote points in the island.
These are not the only prehistoric remains
of great interest to be found on the islands.
Diminutive catacombs and rock-hewn tombs
are accessible in nearly every important
valley ravine or rocky gorge in both Malta
and Goza Extensive catacombs are found |
at Micabba, Tower Nadur, ST. PauI's and |
Melliha bays, and Mnaidra; while at Hha- |
giar-Kim and Mnaidra in Malta, and at the |
Giants Tower, in Gozo, saw megalithic |
rivaling in massiveness and |
mystery the Stonehenge of England and the |
pagan monument of New Grange, on the |
Boyne, in Ireland.
Some Tremendous Monoliths.
l was shown great and solitary monolith |
standing near Har Hassan cave, on the |
south coast of Malta. There is dolman-
like ruin on Cordino Hill overlooking Va
letta And 1 measured upright blocks in |
the Hhasiar-Kim ruin "a feet high, while in
the cyclopean Giants tower found several
with height OF 2S and 80 feet. Their addi-
tional length beneath the debris surround
ing them must have been considerable. Ali
of these tremendous monoliths were put in
place thousands of years ago by people
capable of quarrying and transporting them
from sandstone beds nearly a mile distant, ;
for the purpose of some form of alteration.
They did their work so well that while all /,
other traces of their race are lost, these mute
monuments have brought the story true
from almost unrecorded time of the eternal
principle of worship in the heart of man.
From my habit of wandering alone, and
much In the country, in foreign lands, ]
have come to regard their birds as my most
charming chance acquaintances. Abso-
utely without trees, save those transplanted
Ind nurtured like exotic flowers, Malta |
would hardly be regarded as the haunt of
birds. And vet 1 have seen or heard here
n midwinter nearly every one of the loved
nd humble sort well-known in summer
ime in northern clipes.
Along the stony roads I have kept e1-
lltant pace with the hopping stonechat and
edstart, and chirped back CHEEKY greet
ng to focks of chafinches among the white
nd gold OF the orange trees. Climbing the
lifs or pothering among the ruins, the
melodies of thrush or linnet have flooded
he sky from the olive trees in the valleys
Glow. Crossing the walled fields have
tten come upon marshalled hosts of tit
arks. Rocks, wrens, cross-bills and field
ires all welcomed me in homeland Ian
uage 1 knew.
EDGAR L. WAKEMAN.
OF inestimable value to sufferers with