for
whatever use designed, must be imported. Charcoal is used for cooking
purposes, and so is anthracite coal. Wood is even more expensive than in
Paris. The dwellings front upon thoroughfares of fairly good width,
which are well paved and kept scrupulously neat and clean. When the
building stone of which the houses are constructed is quarried, it is so
soft that it can be easily moulded, or rather carved, into almost any
desired shape, but exposure to the atmosphere hardens it gradually to
the consistency of our American freestone. When newly quarried it is a
light yellow, and under the midday sunlight it is somewhat trying to the
eyes. Age tones down this effect to a sombre buff hue. It is found that
exposure to the atmosphere, which at first hardens this stone, in the
lapse of time causes the surface to peel off, or in other words a slow
process of disintegration takes place, which gives, by the mouldering
away of the surface of the stone, an appearance of great age. Any one
who has noticed the action of frost upon brown freestone in our New
England climate has a familiar example of what we describe.

The streets which run up the steep hillsides upon which the city is
terraced have broad stone steps by which they may be ascended, but are
quite inaccessible to wheeled vehicles, forming a sort of "Jacob's
ladder," more picturesque than comfortable for one having to surmount
them. The simile does not hold good as to angelic spirits ascending and
descending, as those who are thus occupied here are very decidedly of
mundane origin. These curious streets of stairs, over which Byron grew
profane, with their quaint overhanging balconies, and life-size saints
presiding at each corner, are indeed unique. Strada Santa Lucia, Strada
San Giovanni, and Strada San Domenicho are among these, with their gay
little shops opening upon the steps, while about the doors linger small
groups of gossiping customers. These lateral streets are of easy grade,
and if one does not hurry too much in coming up from the water front,
they will safely land him at last on a level with the Strada Reale. It
is easy to imagine one's self, for a moment, amid these curious
surroundings, spirited away to another sphere, to some distant bourne
whence travelers do not return to write books. At Bahia, in Brazil, the
public ascend from the lower to the upper town, some two hundred
perpendicular feet, by means of an elevator. Why might not Valletta be
thus suppli