aravans, and the necessary
precautions against such Accidents as are mostly fatal to Strangers; and
instructed me in the Art of concealing Things of Value,--although I
think I too could have given him a lesson in that Device,--and avoiding
those Snares which Governors, Military Officers, and Petty Princes make
use of in order to plunder Travellers and Merchants. Under these
favourable Auspices, we embarked, in the Autumn of '37, on board a
Trading Vessel called the _San Marco_, bound for Candia, but first for
Malta, so famous for its Order of Knights. A fine Gale at North-West
carried us pleasantly down the Gulf of Venice, or Adriatic Sea; and on
the fifth day we came in sight of Otranto, a Town destroyed by the Turks
nigh Three Hundred years ago, since which time it has hardly regained
its Ancient Lustre, but at present well Fortified, and defended by a
High Castle, which I have heard the Honourable Mr. Walpole, a Fine,
Lardy-Dardy, Maccaroni Gentleman, that lives at a place called
Strawberry Hill, by Twitnam, in England, has written a silly Romantic
Tale about. So we got clear of the Gulf of Venice, and in three days
more, after making Cape Passaro in Sicily, entered the Haven of Malta.

This is an Island that lies between Sicily and the Coast of Africa, and
is of an Egg-shaped figure, about twenty miles long and twelve broad.
The City of Malta is divided into three parts, which are properly so
many Rocks jutting out into the Sea, with large Harbours between them.
That called Valetta, in honour of the Grand Master who so gallantly
defended the place against the Turks, is extremely well Fortified, and
also defended by a Castle, held to be impregnable. The City contains
about Two Thousand Houses, well built with white Stone, and Flat-roofed,
surrounded by Rails and Balusters. On t'other side of the Harbour is
another City, formerly called Il Borgo, or the Borough, but now named
Citta Vittoriosa, alluding to the terrible Mauling the Turks got here in
1566. St. John's Church very handsome, and on one side of it a fine
Piazza, with a Fountain in the corner. Here are all the Tombs of the
Grand Masters, and a great many Flags taken from the Turks. The Right
Hand of St. John Baptist, wanting but Two Fingers, shown here for Money,
with many other Relics and Ornaments. The Grand Master lives in a
magnificent Palace; and close by is an Arsenal, with Arms for Thirty
Thousand Men.

The Treasury is a very stately Edifice; but what