There Is An Opera At Malta, In Which Performances Of Various Degrees
Of Mediocrity Are Given.
The gay period to a stranger is that of the
carnival; but, at other times, the festivals of the
Church, celebrated
in this isolated place with more of the mummeries of Roman Catholicism
than obtain in many other countries professing the same faith, afford
amusement to the lovers of the grotesque.
Though the thermometer at Malta seldom rises to 90 deg., yet the heat in
the sultry season is very great. Every person, who is in the habit of
studying the glass, becomes aware of the difference between the heat
that is actually felt and that which is indicated by instruments; and
in no place is this discrepancy more sensibly experienced than Malta,
in which the state of the winds materially affects the comfort of the
inhabitants. A good authority assures us, that "the heat of Malta
is most oppressive, so much so, as to justify the term 'implacable,'
which is often applied to it. The sun, in summer, remains so long
above the horizon, and the stone walls absorb such an enormous
quantity of heat, that they never have sufficient time to get
cool; and during the short nights, this heat radiates from them so
copiously, as to render the nights, in fact, as hot as the days, and
much more oppressive to the feelings of those who are accustomed
to associate the idea of coolness with darkness. I have seen the
thermometer, in a very sheltered part of my house, steadily maintain,
during the night, the same height to which it had arisen in the day,
while I marked it with feelings of incalculably increased oppression,
and this for three successive weeks in August and September, 1822."
At Malta, we were recommended, in consequence of the unsettled state
of affairs between Mehemet Ali and the European powers, to proceed
forthwith to Egypt, and though strongly tempted to prolong my stay in
the island, I thought it advisable to make the best of my way to the
Red Sea, and defer the pleasure, which a more protracted residence
promised, until my return in the ensuing year. Lieut. Goldsmith, our
kind commandant of the Megara, called upon us, according to promise,
to conduct us on board the new steamer, the Volcano, the vessel
appointed to carry the mails on to Alexandria. This ship was in
quarantine, and it was consequently necessary to take some precautions
in going on board. We proceeded, in the first instance, to a police
station, where we took a second boat in tow, and a guadiano, an
official appointed to see that no persons transgress the rules and
regulations of the port instituted for the preservation of health.
Upon getting alongside of the Volcano, our baggage was placed in
this boat; Miss E. and myself were then handed in, and cast adrift, to
my great astonishment; for not having had any previous intimation of
the method to be pursued, I was not at all prepared to hold on, as I
believe it is called, without assistance.
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