ns and developments, recalling the much more
extensive caves of the same nature which the traveler sees at Matanzas,
Cuba. It is quite isolated, but is constantly visited by small parties
from Valletta, who drink in romantic ideas from the associations of the
place, and refreshment from the clear, sparkling spring which meanders
through the cave of the defunct goddess,--

"The fair hair'd nymph with every beauty crown'd."

While on the spot we seek in vain for those "verdant groves of alders
and poplars, the odoriferous cypresses," and for "the meadows clothed in
the livery of eternal spring," with which Homer poetically endowed the
voluptuous abode of the Siren whose name he has immortalized. The view
presented from the top of the hill crowning the location of the Grotto
of Calypso is well worth mentioning, overlooking the Bay of Melleha and
most of the island of Gozo, with Comino and Malta in the distance. The
surface of the surrounding sea is at all times sprinkled with busy
fishing craft, pleasure yachts, row-boats, and large hulls freighted
with a wealth of merchandise.

In the neighborhood of Marsa-el-Forno, there is a stalagmitic cave of a
curious and interesting nature, which was discovered so late as 1888. It
is mainly situated under a field that lies close to the village church
of Sciara. This cave attracts large numbers of visitors to Gozo, and in
many respects is quite unique. It is eighty feet in length and sixty
wide, and contains a museum of curiosities which are the wonder and
admiration of all who behold them. When the cave is lighted by torches
or magnesium wire, the effect is extremely beautiful, the thousands of
crystalline stalactites suspended from the ceiling reflecting prismatic
colors of extraordinary brilliancy. It is indeed a fairy-like grotto,
much more worthy as a dwelling for Homer's nymph than the crude and
exposed cavern on the shore, already described. To one at all familiar
with these caves, which are found in various parts of the world, it is
no special marvel. These cavities are formed by the slow process of
well-understood chemical action, the active agent being the carbonic
acid gas which is held in solution by the rainwater that percolates
through the limestone roof of the cave. This acting upon the limestone
dissolves and conveys it away in liquid and gaseous forms.

Not far from here is a curious natural stone arch on the shore, called
Tierka Zerka, that is, the "Azure Window