The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-09-14
A MEDITERRANEAN CRUISE
CHARMING SCENES, BRIGHT SIX YES
 AND BLUE WATERS.
Malta and its Dependenetes-G Co
 mino and COminOtto.

Malta and It's Dependeno,es-Goz G mino and Cominotto.
 Special Correspondence of the Journa and Courier)
 La Villeta, Malta, Aug. 10.-Cai
 anything more delightful be imagined | than a summer cruise on the Mediter
 ranean, with a congenal party in {
 private yacht? Think of being alto
 gether unhampered by considerations
 of time, business or eXpense-no trains | to make, no mails to meet, no impa
 tient passengers to put ashore-wind
 ing in and out among picturesque is
 lands, coves and bays, guided only bJ
 the fancies of the hour Just such was our enviabe experience during one
 blessed weel1-thanks to the American consul, who kindly made us acquaint-
 ed with some of the English officials i1
 Malta, whose families are killing the time of their exile in most luxurious fashion.
 It Is impossible to convey in words a
 correct impression of these charming
 scenes-the shining brightness of the sky, the bluer sea running far into the
 brown and yellow land the tall cliffs
 crowned with forts and watch towers, the dark foliage of kharoub trees, con-
 trasting oddly with pale-green masses
 of prickly pear; the soft air heavy with
 spicy odors, birds of brilliant plumage,
 and everywhere the gorgeous roses for
 which Malta has been famous since earliest times. Don't you remember Ci-
 ceros account of Verre's fragrant
 cushions, all stuffed with Maltese
 roses? The flora of these islands is
 similar to that of Africa, though you
 distinguish 1t by smell rather than by sight. In these regions the great ene-
 my to trees is the wind. and nothing successfully resists 1t but the kharoubs
 which seldom grow more than twelve feet high, but of such greater diame- ter spreading out on all sides like huge green dome, the twisted branches touching the ground Many of these kharoubs are centuries old and bear enormous crops of beans which feed the cattle. To protect the crops and fruit trees from blighting winds, Nal
 
 small patches, each patch surrounded by wall, from seven to ten feet high; so that, viewed from little distance, the islands look like a succession of stone quarries, almost devoid of yer dure. But wonderful bloom and fruit age are hidden behind those walls So, too, you might travel from one end of Malta to the other, and never see an orange tree; yet oranges grow here in such profusion that the finest varieties sell for twenty-five and thirty cents a bushel, and are used as commonly as Michigan farmers use apples There are plenty of other fruits-not only tropical figs, lines, pomegranates but peaches, pears. plums, apricots and other deniZens of the temperate zone. The trees are kept low by constant so that they may be safely sheltered behind the walls.
 Coastin first around the main island. you find the greater portion of it's shores faced by sheer cliffs. rising straight up out of the water three or highest point, has an elevation of about a thousand feet; and close un- fer it's shadow nestles the ancient cap tai. now known as Citta Vecchia-Ital- an for "Old City" La Villetta, the present capital of Malta, Is on it's northeastern edge, where several little ,nvs indent the land. So narrow Is the entrance to It's harbor that only one iessel can pass in at time, between wo grim forts. whose protruding can lon seem bidding defiance to intruders. Forts and batteries are on every side, lbove, below. crowning all the hills and covering every rock that shows itself | lbove the water; and all are fairly | warmed with British soldiers, their | carlet coats making a brave showing l n the glare of tropical sunshine. The | ity, perched high on its twin ridges, lopes steeply down to the flarbor, sur | ounded by lofty walls. At the base of | his wall, on the shoreward side, runs a l vide stone walk, at all times crowded l with pedestrians and the small don- .eys of the island dragging their two wheeled carts. Down below, all is oise. hustle and confusion; but the ity proper on its hill-top Is wrapped | n dignified repose.
 Gozo, the second island in size, has | n area of hardly twenty square miles. Exactly in the middle of 1t rises a luster of hills, whose sharp cones re- lind one of the pigmy volcanoes of an Salvador, in Central America. On | op of the steepest cone lies Ratabo, he capital and principal city of the ,Io ,,I Tn, al; t,, A,IJ | lore densely populated than this group f rocks in the middle of the Mediter- anean, which boasts of over two thou and inhabitants to the square mile! Ialta-only seventeen miles long by | inc wide, contains twenty-six towns nd villages, and insignificant Gozo has of them large and prosper Us, others merely group of stone 1ttages around the inevitable church nd English "board' school. One mar els that these limestone rocks can lpport so many people, particularly $ there is not river, lake or tiny reamlet on any of the islands. and in any places the thin soil had to be sed out for gardening by earth 1 'ought from Sicily. However, copious | ins supply plenty of moisture, and lrbonate of lime is wonderful fertil- CT. The Maltese are excellent agri- llturists and make the best possible se of every inch of ground, even the Ills being terraced to their summits recent years Malta has become to /, ondon what Florida used to be to New , :, ork in the line of a market-garden l r supplying early fruits and vegeta-