three thousand troops. The ditch
which separates the city from Floriana is intended as a final barrier to
any invasion from the land side; it is nearly a thousand yards long,
sixty feet deep, and thirty wide, cut out of the natural rock, and
reaches from Quarantine to Grand Harbor.

It is customary for strangers coming hither to visit the church of San
Publio, a curious old sanctuary full of altars, pictures, and cheap
images, together with any amount of tawdry gilding. Here one sees
innumerable emblems, such as arms, legs, ears, feet, and hands,
represented in wax, silver, and wood, hanging upon the walls, thus
placed as thank-offerings for cures experienced by various sufferers. So
the temples of Japan represented centuries ago, and do so still, a
similar custom, each emblem being specially dedicated to the deity or
spirit which received credit for the donor's cure.

The streets of Floriana intersect each other at right angles. The
central and principal one, Strada Santa Anna, is a broad thoroughfare,
with attractive and sheltering arcades on either side. In the Piazza
Maggiore is the Soldier's and Sailor's Home, an excellent charitable
institution, furnished with a good serviceable library, a reading and
writing room, smoking and other rooms. This admirably conceived and
philanthropic organization is calculated to greatly benefit and improve
the class for whom it is designed, affording them not only respectable
accommodations, but occupation for their leisure hours. There is a
similar institution in the city proper, which we should not fail to
mention. It is situated in the Strada Cavaliere, "Street of the
Knights," forming a resort for sailors, soldiers, and marines, and
conducing to their moral and intellectual improvement. It is very
judiciously managed by a committee of European citizens, and to
strangers is certainly significant of the spirit of progress which seems
to prevail among the officials at Malta.

There is a well-arranged theatre in Floriana, the Princess, where
amateur performances mostly occupy the stage. The botanical gardens of
this section afford a charming exhibition of a floral and arboreal
character, where the genial climate seconds the tasteful efforts of the
intelligent florist. This suburb of the capital contains many fine
dwellings, shops, and manufacturing establishments. There are also
extensive barracks, and one or two regiments of English infantry are
always quartered here.

In Flo