Amongst Our Passengers Was A French Gentleman, The Commandant And
Owner Of An Indiaman, Which Had Sailed From Bordeaux To Bombay Under
The Charge Of The First Officer.
He had previously made twelve voyages
to India; but now availed himself of the shorter route, and proposed
to join his vessel at Bombay, dispose of the cargo, and, after taking
in a new freight, return through Egypt.
The only coasts in sight,
during our voyage from Marseilles to Malta, were those of Sardinia
and Africa, Sicily being too far off to be visible. We were not near
enough to Sardinia to see more than a long succession of irregular
hills, which looked very beautiful under the lights and shades of a
lovely summer sky. The weather was warm, without being sultry, and
nothing was wanting excepting a few books. Mr. Goldsmith regretted the
absence of a library on board, but expressed his intention of making a
collection as speedily as possible.
The excessive and continual motion of the vessel caused me to suffer
very severely from seasickness; the exertion of dressing in the
morning always brought on a paroxysm, but I determined to struggle
against it as much as possible, and was only one day so completely
overpowered as to be unable to rise from the sofa. This sickness
was the more provoking, since there was no swell to occasion it, the
inconvenience entirely arising from Sir Somebody Symonds' (I believe
that is the name) method of building. What the Megara would be in a
heavy sea, there is no saying, and I should be very sorry to make the
experiment.
We found ourselves at Malta at an early hour of the morning of
the 25th, having been only five nights and four days on board. Mr.
Goldsmith celebrated our last dinner with a profusion of champaigne,
and though glad to get out of the vessel, we felt unfeignedly sorry to
take leave of our kind commandant. We were, of course, up by daylight,
in order to lose nothing of the view.
Much as I had heard of the gay singularity of the appearance of Malta,
I felt surprise as well as delight at the beautiful scene around;
nor was I at all prepared for the extent of the city of Valetta. The
excessive whiteness of the houses, built of the rock of which
the island is composed, contrasted with the vivid green of their
verandahs, gives to the whole landscape the air of a painting, in
which the artist has employed the most brilliant colours for sea
and sky, and habitations of a sort of fairy land. Nor does a nearer
approach destroy this illusion; there are no prominently squalid
features in Malta, the beggars, who crowd round every stranger, being
the only evidence, at a cursory gaze, of its poverty.
Soon after the Megara had dropped anchor, a young officer from the
Acheron, the steamer that had brought the mails from Gibraltar, came
on board to inquire whether I was amongst the passengers, and gave me
the pleasing intelligence that a lady, a friend of mine, who had left
London a few days before me, was now in Malta, and would proceed to
India in the vessel appointed to take the mails. She was staying at
Durnsford's Hotel, a place to which I had been strongly recommended.
Mr. Goldsmith was kind enough to promise to see our heavy baggage on
board the Volcano, the vessel under sailing orders; and a clergyman
and his wife, resident in Malta, who had gone to Marseilles for a
change of scene and air, inviting Miss E. and myself to accompany them
on shore, we gladly accepted their offer.
We found a caless in waiting for us; a very singular description of
vehicle, but one common to the island. I had seen representations of
these carriages in old engravings, but had not the least idea that
they were still in use. They have only two wheels, placed behind, so
that the horse has to bear the weight of the vehicle as well as to
draw it; and there is something so inexpressibly odd in the whole
arrangement, that it put me in mind of the equipages brought on the
stage in a Christmas pantomime. Our caless held four persons very
conveniently, and was really a handsome vehicle, gaily lined with
scarlet leather, and having spring seats. We saw others plying for
hire, of a very inferior description; some only calculated for two
persons, and of a faded and dilapidated appearance. They seem to be
dangerous conveyances, especially for the poor horse; we heard of one
being upset, on a steep hill, and breaking the neck of the animal that
drew it. In driving, we were obliged to take rather a circuitous route
to our inn, though the distance, had we walked, would have been very
inconsiderable. We were glad of the opportunity of seeing a little
of the suburbs, and were almost sorry to arrive at the place of our
destination.
As we came along we were delighted with the picturesque appearance
of the Maltese women, whose national dress is at once nunlike and
coquettish. A black petticoat envelopes the form from the waist, and
over that is thrown a singular veil, gathered into a hood, and kept
out with a piece of whalebone. This covering, which is called the
faldetta, is capable of many arrangements, and is generally disposed
so as to "keep one eye free to do its worst of witchery." When one
of the poorer classes is enabled to clothe herself in a veil and
petticoat of silk, she considers that she has gained the acme of
respectability. The streets of the city of Valetta are extremely
narrow, and the houses high; a great advantage in such a climate, as
it ensures shade, while, as they generally run at right angles, they
obtain all the breeze that is to be had.
The appearance of our hotel was prepossessing. We entered through a
wide gateway into a hall opening upon a small court, in the centre of
which stood a large vase, very well sculptured, from the stone of the
island, and filled with flowers.
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