Wanderings in Search of Health

Chapter I

After six weeks' confinement to a sick room, the state of my chest causing me to experience the sensations of a fish taken out of water and gasping in another element, my medical advisers determined that I was sufficiently recovered to leave England for a winter in a warm climate ; and on Wednesday, the 15th day of November 1848, 1 made my way to Southampton, and em barked on board the Tagus, a steamer belonging to the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Naviga tion Company, commanded by Captain Joy. My impedimenta consisted of a wife, a plump and rather pretty English maid, and an English valet, the said valet being an exception to the B ■I WANDERINGS latter part of the rule, " that a servant may be a good servant for the first five years, a good master for the second five years, but is a hard master for the third five years of his service."

Plan of journey I formed none, beyond that of seeing as much as a forced return to England in May would allow me to see : the information which I might gain, whilst wandering, having to be acquired in that peculiar Anglo-Gallic used by the English, and familiar to Lady Albert and myself, added to the mother tongue alone spoken by the rest of the party. I had also a sort of hallucination of my own, that I could manage a little broken Italian. The cabin — allotted to my wife and myself, intended to contain four persons — was a curious piece of mechanism : two berths might be made up on each side, or two on one side and a sofa on the other, or one berth and one sofa on oppo site sides ; between the berths was a large wash ing stand, taking half of the remaining space. I had the curiosity to measure the standing room with my measuring tape, and found, that three feet by two feet eight inches was allowed for washing, dressing, and undressing room for four persons.

Gradually we learnt to dispose of hat, bonnet, coat, great coat, male and female cloaks, shawls, handkerchiefs, gowns, and the other arti cles of clothing, and for washing and dressing, hanging them, by every sort of contrivance of our own, from the bulk-heads ; but how these things were disposed of when the cabin was tenanted by four persons, was a mystery that I reflected upon in many a waking hour, and that I never solved during the voyage ; but if the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Company limited the washing and dressing, the eating and drink ing on board was most unlimited, and was continued from nine in the morning till ten at night The Bay of Biscay was perfectly calm. Whilst crossing it, three or four whales showed them selves very distinctly near the steamer, rolling on the "swell" of the sea, they appeared of huge size, and must have measured about forty five feet in length.

Occasionally they blew forth a puffing noise, and spouted steam precisely like WANDERINGS the escape of steam from a locomotive engine. On the 18th, in the afternoon, we made Cape Finisterre : it is a rugged, barren highland, with a mass of white buildings at its very verge. Again we lost sight of land. On the 19th we were off Oporto, but passed it at a considerable distance. The 21st was stormy, and we had a dreadful tossing till about two o'clock on the following morning, when we anchored in the Bay of Gibraltar. Gibraltar, the Phœnician Alupe and Greek and Roman Calpe, was the European pillar of Hercules. It appears to have been neglected as a military station by the Romans, and first em ployed for that purpose by the Moors, when they invaded Spain in the beginning of the eighth century.

From their leader Tarif, it was called Gibel Tarif, or the mountain of Tarif. Gibraltar is a corruption of this Arabic name. The town now contains a population of above 17,000 persons. The Emperor Charles V, in the sixteenth century, fortified it in the modern style, employing the German engineer, Daniel Speckel. Hardly any vestiges of the fortifications then erected now remain. Alas ! we were not allowed pratique, but were forced to remain on board whilst we took in coals, under the shelter of the rock. It was a dull, drizzling day, and clouds of coal dust pene trated into the cabins. Great was the dearth of amusement. Some, to kill time, tried fishing out of the cabin windows ; others, joking with and laughing at the quarantine guard-boats along side. At last a passenger threw a piece of orange at one of the guardianos, who returned it by throwing a piece of wood, about the size of a boat's tiller, at the group of passengers on deck, hitting the wrong man on the shoulder.

Away rowed the boat ; and alongside, in about half an hour, came the pompous lieutenant of the port, and he, in his turn, fixed upon the wrong man as culprit, venting his wrath upon the captain of the steamer, who, poor man, had in vain en deavoured to keep order amongst his passengers. "The vessel was to be detained", etc. Lord Selkirke, one of the passengers, was n WANDERINGS rash enough " to put in his oar", and to think of interfering between " the lion and the lamb", and thus came in for his share of the great man's wrath. Then commenced the correspondences. Lord Selkirke wrote to Captain Grey (the cap tain of the port), and I wrote to the governor (Sir Robert Wilson), deprecating the conse quences of the lieutenant's anger. In another hour back came the lieutenant, stating, that as we had chosen to interfere, he would in good earnest stop the coaling and watering, and thus virtually detain the vessel. — More writing from all parties.

A general memorial from the pas sengers was drawn up and forwarded to the governor. A memorial of complaint of the lieu tenant's tyrannic conduct was also sent to the Admiralty, accompanied by a private letter from Lord Selkirke to the First Lord. Never, since the world began, was there such a God-send for men who were at a loss for weapons to kill time. In the morning of the 23rd, a long feather was seen floating over a small shore boat, and great was the sensation on perceiving no less a personage than the governor himself, with an aide-de-camp, who looked rather sea -sick, and the culprit lieutenant, coming alongside. The lion lieutenant was converted into a lamb. Virtue, in the shape of Captain Joy, of the Tagus, was applauded. The governor edified all parties by a most apposite speech.

Again began the coal ing and watering, and in the afternoon we passed the lovely scenery upon the Spanish coast. Nothing worthy of note occurred on the 24th or 25th, excepting that, early on the 25th, a flying fish was idiot enough to fly on board, to be stared at by all of us, and afterwards to practise the surgeon of the vessel in the art of preserving fish and reptiles. On the night of the 25th we had a gale of wind. The entries in the vessel's log-book for the 26th, 27th, and 28th, were, alas! "heavy gales at intervals". Still worse was the fact that the said gales were dead against us; and right glad were we when, at about eleven o'clock on the morning of the 29th, we found ourselves WANDERINGS safely anchored in the harbour of Valetta. Then commenced the most amusing scene that I ever witnessed.

Swarms of boats collected round the steamer: some with " touters" from the various hotels, and others seeking the custom of the passengers ; but every human being exerting the whole of his voice and strength in chatter ing, squabbling, and pushing. Lord Selkirke, in his zeal for lodgings, was the first who ventured to descend the ship's side ; both his legs were instantly seized by rival boatmen, whilst one wrist was pounced upon by another. Do him the justice I must, that with his disengaged hand he fought man fully, and did escape being torn limb from limb. Mr. Vyse, leaving his servant and luggage to their fate, then descended with a coat over his arm, and a small bag and dressing-box ; in the twinkling of an eye each article was snatched from him, and placed in a separate boat. He himself, unwilling that his body should follow this example, and be also deposited piecemeal in different boats, hung on to a rope with all his strength, only allowing his legs to be pulled at till help arrived.

Captain Joy ordered for us the gig of the Tagus, and whilst it was preparing, some divers, from a boat alongside, exhibited for us. After washing away the dirt of the steam packet, and devouring quantities of exquisite Maltese oranges, we walked upon the heights, crowned by the arcade called Upper Barracka, commanding noble views of the town, harbours, etc. On the opposite, but lower height, is an arcade with a monument to Sir Alexander Ball, in the form of a Grecian temple. We afterwards went into the cathedral dedi cated to St. John, the patron of the Order of Malta. It was built in 1580, by the Grand Master, John de la Cassiere. The really re markable object of this cathedral is its pave ment in mosaic, of monuments of the knights ; thus giving a grand heraldic picture of the ar morial bearings of the principal European nobi lity.

Only a portion of this pavement is visible, except by a special order from the Governor, WANDERINGS or on high days of festival ; it is at other times covered up with matting. The eight languages composing the Order had each their chapel; the chapel of the Madonna has a railing before it in silver ; it escaped pillage during the French occupation of Malta, by having been painted over. There is a good picture by Caravaggio of the beheading of St. John. The crypt under the choir contains the sarcophagi of some of the Grand Masters of the Order. On Thursday we visited the governor's country palace and gardens of St. Antonio; they are pleasing to an English eye, from being filled with orange trees (not of any great size), and other trees and plants which we can only rear in conservatories. On our way we walked through the public botanical garden.

One of the gardeners, a Moorish-looking lad, of about nineteen, and barefooted, like the generality of the lower orders, walked up to my wife, made her a graceful bow, handed her a tea rose, and, wonderful to relate, hurried away, without appearing to expect anything in return. I called to him, and gave him a trifle ; and it was amusing to see each one of the gardeners pre paring flowers as we came near them, each hoping that in his turn he should obtain some thing. I narrowly inspected the armory, in the hopes of meeting with some rare specimens of curious arms ; alas ! it had not escaped pillage. I saw very few of what we collectors call " covetable objects," with the exception of one suit of armour, inlaid with gold, said to have been that of the Grand Master Vignacourt, and of no great value, a very few good sword-blades, and some curious powder-horns of bone, en graved quaintly and grotesquely enough ; there were also some Turkish arms, and some thousand stand of arms for modern warfare ; there was also a rope cannon.

On Friday, the 1st December, we drove a " Tagus" fellow-passenger, " General Mattan," by the Quarantine harbour, along a fine road that follows the coast by Sliema to the village of St. Julian, a favourite change of residence WANDERINGS for English families during the summer. The country is so barren and destitute of vegetation, that one feels wonder at the trouble being taken to move from Valetta. On Saturday, the 2nd, I was introduced to the Union Club : it is conducted upon a liberal footing with respect to strangers ; they may be introduced by any member for a week " gratis" ; at the end of that time they are admitted for a month longer, on payment of a sovereign ; after that they must be balloted for, as mem bers. The apartments are remarkably lofty, and the ball-room is splendid. The building was for merly the " Auberge de Provence," " The Lan guages", or national divisions composing the order of St. John of Malta, having given the name of" Auberges" to their palaces.

Dr. Cesare Vassallo, the librarian of the public library, conducted me over that institution ; he is an enthusiastic antiquary, and, in going over the little museum which he has com menced, he made me remark the circular shape of the indentations upon the altar found at Gebel Keem, of the seated and crouching figures that had also been found there; and pointed out to me the half spheres which, when joined, give the symbol of the " egg" (the Phœnician Venus) ; he wished to prove that all the articles found in the temple had reference to this symbol of the egg. On Sunday, the 3rd, we attended divine worship in the Protestant church of St. Paul. It is a handsome building, laid out in seats, and not in pews, holding a congregation of above 1500 persons. Till this church was erected, a room in the palace and the clock-yard chapel were alone devoted to our Protestant service.

It was founded by Queen Adelaide, who laid the first stone on the 20th of March, 1839. She nobly took upon herself the whole expense, and expended £10,000 upon the building ; — one act of munificence amongst the great number by which the Queen Dowager's visit will be long remembered at Malta. In the afternoon we drove to Citta Vecchia, c WANDERINGS the Medina of the Saracens, and the " notabile" of the Arragonesecapital of the island previ ously to Valetta having been founded, in 1566, by La Valette, a Provencal, the then grand master. The road for some distance runs parallel to, and at one point passes under, the great aqueduct constructed by the grand master Vignacourt, in 1635. It is carried over arches and through tunnels for a distance of 16,885 yards. Citta Vecchia is about five miles from Valetta.

It has a melancholy deserted appearance. Situated in the centre, of the island, and on very high ground, it commands an extensive view. What with the very small stone enclo sures, and the numerous bleak-looking, and deserted, villages, that are to be seen from it, the face of the country gives the effect of one vast and deserted city. The villages being de serted arises from the fact, that when a church becomes too small for the population of its village, building materials are so abundant and cheap, that a new church is built on another site, instead of the old one being enlarged. The position of the village then gradually changes ; new houses being erected round the church, and the old ones either pulled down or deserted. Many instances of this change of position have been mentioned to me.

There is much to be seen at Citta Vecchia. On this occasion we visited a fine cathedral, said to be built upon the site of the house of Publius, who was the Roman governor during St. Paul's stay in the island. We then went to the celebrated catacombs in the suburb of tiae-Rabbato. The priest who conducted us over those which, either from their size or from their being first discovered, are distinguished by the natives under the name of " the catacombs", gave us his theories upon them. He considers them to have been the early habitations of the islanders, and shewed us what he conceives to be a chapel, and what had been its altar, with two large round platforms, which he presumes to have been mills for the use of this subterraneous town, this town being afterwards used as a cemetery. WANDERINGS These catacombs are of vast extent, with tombs of all sizes cut into the soft limestone.

In each tomb was a place carved in the stone, so shaped as to fit the head of the corpse ; and two small niches were usually cut by the side, above the body, to receive lamps. There were single tombs for adults; single tombs for in fants ; double tombs ; family tombs for two persons, with a small niche adjoining for the tomb of an infant ; and a large line of tombs, as if a party had agreed to be buried together ; but almost invariably was there the place for the head of the corpse, and the niches for the lamps. There were several ventilators walled up, and several passages, also blocked up : two of these were stated to lead, one to Valetta, and the other to Boschetto, a mile distant. They were ordered to be closed, said the priest, from the loss of life consequent upon persons rambling without guides; a schoolmaster and his seven pupils having wandered into them, and having never after been heard of.

I no ticed faint traces of fresco painting in some of the passages : these my guide assured me had faded even in his time, and were growing fainter and more faint. I purchased from the guide an urn of a pleasing shape, and of a clay and fabrique precisely that of some fragments of pottery which I picked up amongst the rubbish. I also purchased from him a small lamp, and as I only gave one shilling and sixpence for both these articles, the manufacturer, if they were not genuine, would not make any great sum by his skill in forgery. Dr. Cesare Vassallo, in a note which he addressed to me upon the subject of these catacombs, states, " that they extend many miles around, and that if we place any faith in local tradition, supported by facts which have from time to time taken place, — such, for instance, as animals having wandered and found egress at some opening of the distant rocks, — some of the galleries have their issue in valleys five miles distant from the chief entrance.

" It is for this reason that, in times not very remote from our own, it has been found necesc2 WANDERINGS sary to restrict their extent by walling up more than one passage ; and several of our husband men, in breaking up the soil, have found them selves plunged into small tombs, which evi dently formed a continuation of the catacombs. " They go back to a period antecedent to the Christian era, and are probably Roman ; the same customs that prevailed in Rome prevailed also in Malta, a Roman province. The primi tive Christians, and their immediate successors, made use of the Roman sepulchres, adding to them, perhaps, another story, to bury the faithful apart from the Pagans ; for this reason two stories are visible. " With some expense and much patience a third and lower story might be laid open, in which bodies still lie undisturbed.

Those circular platforms, rising two or three feet from the ground, and about six feet in diameter, which attracted your Lordship's attention, may have served, I think, in Pagan times, for slaughtering the black victims to the manes, and, in the days of Christianity, for washing the corpses of the faithful. I am induced to believe this from the projecting border round the platforms, and the opening at the front of them to give passage to the blood or water ; of these platforms no traces are perceptible in any other catacombs hitherto discovered, not even in those of Rome." On the 4th we drove to Casal Crendi, seven miles from Valetta. At a mile and a half from Casal Crendi, at a place called Gebel Keem — signifying, in Arabic, " the mountain of wor ship" — you come to the larger but most ruined of two Phœnician temples.

It is difficult to trace the plan of the building ; it is almost two parallel compressed rhomboids of unequal length, divided into several apartments, leading one into another, with a number of circular or oval enclosures of a lesser size : the extreme area measures 105 feet by 70 ; the outer wall ave rages ten feet in height, and is constructed of one tier of huge stones, chiefly hewn and placed vertically. Without this enclosure at the southern extremity stand four colossal slabs, from 14 to 20 feet in height, and covering aline WANDERINGS of 27 feet by their united width. I measured another huge stone employed in the building; it was 21 feet in length by 9 in height. The principal entrance was from the south east, opposite to which was one of smaller dimen sions ; and there were apparently one or two more, but not very distinctly to be traced.

The first grand section of the building, on en tering from the south-east, is divided into three almost equal parts by two corresponding parti tions, each containing a door-way connecting the chambers together ; in the central division is a carved stone placed upright between two other stones, forming a cell, found filled with animal bones ; and this stone is sculptured with two serpents meeting at the lower part of an egg. The rest of this sculptured stone, and the two upright stones which support it, are covered with small, round indentations. Close to this cell is a beautiful small altar, with its four sides grooved, each having the representa tion of a tree growing out of a vessel or pot. The second grand section is connected with the first by an opening in the wall, which separates them.

The area to the right of the entrance slopes slightly, till it reaches a row of circular stone slabs, four feet high, gradually inclining outwards towards the top, so forming a species of basin with a narrow opening left in the cir cumference. On either side of the wall to the left are two rude cells, the roofs of which are each formed of a single stone, and supported chiefly by the wall over which they hang ; a passage from this division leads into two other chambers, and is flanked at the entrance by two altars of stone, five feet high, and with a slightly depressed surface. From one of these chambers were dug a number of stone hemispheres, measuring five inches in diameter, and an oval figure, twice the size of a hen's egg. Whilst these ruins were being excavated, a few human bones were discovered, and one remarkable head, now pre served in the museum of the public library, — it has a very low forehead.

The eight small headless figures, also at the library, were here WANDERINGS disinterred ; they are in a sitting or crouching position : six are in soft Maltese stone, and two in well-glazed pottery : the part below the neck of three of the figures is scooped out and per forated with holes, supposed to be for strings to fasten heads upon them at pleasure. At the distance of about a quarter of a mile, at a place called Minaidra, is the smaller temple, which our laquais -de-place, to save himself the trouble of a scrambling walk, in vain en deavoured to dissuade us from visiting. It is a most beautiful sort of " chapel of ease" to the larger one : it is placed in a commanding posi tion, near the sea, and the walls are as fresh and as perfect (but with few exceptions) as when they were erected.

Here you are struck by the circular shape of the apartments ; the beautiful manner in which the architect rounded the circles in huge and often unwrought stones, fills you with admiration. There are many small cells, in which skeletons are said to have been discovered. This temple is a gem of architectural skill ; and every antiquary must dread lest it should suffer desecration. We afterwards drove to Macluba, a circular well-like hollow in a stratum of rock. It is 100 feet in depth, and 90 yards in diameter. It is stated to have been formed by an earthquake ; the descent into it is wild and picturesque, by rude stone steps ; the bottom is of the richest mould, and forms a valuable garden, filled with plants and trees. The soil is said to be so deep as to have " no soundings", to use a nautical term.

On the 5th, I visited Citta Vecchia with Dr. Cesare Vassallo. We entered the celebrated grotto of St. Paul : it contains a fine statue of the apostle, by a scholar of Bernini, and has a church built over it ; tradition calls it the residence of the apostle whilst on a visit to Publius, but it is supposed to have been the spot selected by him for the worship of the early Christian converts, and for his own preaching. The cave is said to have the miraculous property of not increasing in size, although the soft stone of which it is formed is constantly scraped WANDERINGS away by the peasantry, as a specific for various diseases. We then descended into the principal cata combs. I advanced to more distant points than at my former visit, — to passages not generally visited, but which presented no new feature.

Remarking a slab of stone under my feet, I had the loose earth and rubble scraped from its side, and found it to be the covering of an undisco vered and undisturbed tomb ; giving the idea of still greater size to these catacombs, from the probability of another layer of tombs existing under those till now discovered, — precisely as Dr. Vassallo suggested in his note to me. I also met with another of those remarkable raised platforms of circular shape. I then visited another catacomb, in the garden of Ta 1' Abatia, close to Citta Vecchia. The tombs are supposed to be exclusively Christian. They are much more regularly placed than in the catacombs we first visited, and many have ornaments channeled in the stone. I remarked one with an ornament (fig. 1) carved over the side of the tomb ; another had the covering, or vault of the tomb, carved like fig. 2.

Just at the entrance of this catacomb, is a chamber, cut in the rock, for a chapel. It has a painting in fresco, upon a very thick coat of plaister, representing the Crucifixion, with the Virgin and St. John, and gives the appropriate motto, — " Viktor mortis" ; and another, with the angel Gabriel saluting the kneeling Mary, with the motto, — " Mater Dei". Father Marchi, the Americus Vesputius of the Roman catacombs, thinks this painting to be of the seventh century ; and, indeed, before that time, no mystery of the Passion appears to have been attempted by Christian artists. I could not descend into another in the same garden, which is entered by a well, — no ladder being at hand for that purpose ; but it is said to contain some curious early Christian frescoes, representing the Chris tian symbols of the Dove, the Rabbit, and the n WANDERINGS Fish.

I thence went to the catacombs under the church of St. Cataldo. They are of small extent : the tombs are regularly placed, but without ornaments. I there noticed a peculiar feature which I had not remarked in the other catacombs : upright niches cut in the stone, as if to enclose a human being, giving the idea of the niches used for the fearful punishment of the " In pace", by monastic discipline. These catacombs are imagined to have be longed to some Roman family numerous in its branches (gens), who wished to have a separate place of interment. These small catacombs are numerous both in Malta and Gozo. Before leaving Citta Vecchia, I visited the curious crypt of St. Agatha. The walls have been richly decorated with frescoes of sacred subjects, in the Byzantine style ; but, alas, they are fast disappearing by the action of the air.

There are, however, many traces of their former richness and beauty. In the evening we went to the Opera. It was the Lombardi. The orchestra was remarkably good ; and though there were no very good singers, it was what the French might call pro prement donne. It is a pretty, small theatre. On the 6th, our English maid thought herself desperately ill. In vain the English medical man whom 1 sent for, represented to her that there was nothing the matter but what a little aperient medicine would remove. Dying she was, and dying she would remain ; fortunately, by desiring her to remain in bed, she got bored, and declared herself recovering. The gaieties of Malta now began to open upon us. General Ellice sent us an invitation to dinner. On this evening there was a concert ; and we were also invited to two balls.

My health did not allow me to accept any of these invitations. I traced out an old Jew in the Strada Levante, who owned some coins. He had only a few large brass, and a drawer of denarii. They were in wretched condition ; and he asked more than thrice the price for which I could have purchased them from any London dealer. Tired of driving along the same dusty roads, WANDERINGS we next rowed about the harbour. Fort St. Elmo, with fort Ricasoli on the opposite shore, command the entrance of the grand harbour. In 1807, the latter fort was the scene of a des perate mutiny. Our government had made a bargain with a foreign nobleman for a regiment to be raised in the Levant for the Mediterra nean service. He raised a number of men, who were enrolled under the name of Froberg's regi ment. They were stationed in Fort Ricasoli.