Malta Harbour
Malta harbour, Friday night, Jan. 21/98.
As I said when closing my letter last night that the ship was beginning to pitch, we all prospected a breezy night, & so it was. The storm increased & it was a dirty night throughout. I retired early & had a fair good sleep, but was early awake with the noise of the switching of the water against the sides. It rained very heavily, & what with head wind & sea together, much speed was lost, & instead of arriving here at 8, it was 11 before we made the harbour. The rain came down in torrents at times, & so dense that the island was frequently obscured, & we not a great distance from it.
What a commotion as soon as we anchored, the numerous boatmen swarming alongside to disembark passengers, several of whom were for Malta [1:42] Then several steam launches came alongside, & in these officials & many officers meeting friends, but the cries of the boatmen was the center of attraction for a while, & their gesticulations highly amazing. Next came 8 lighters loaded with coal, 4 for each side, & as soon as in position, the coal men began business, raining all the while. Next came government lighters to take stores & ammunition, in all about 680 tons, & while I am writing this, 9:58 Malta time p.m., your time 9 p.m., they are still discharging, & as one of the hatchways is in the neighbourhood of my cabin, it will be little use going to bed till they have finished. The ship gets into a dirty mess while coaling but before we got into harbour, all stewards commenced taking up carpets, closing ports & covering all up. Possibly I’ve seen its best side as the rain prevents [1:43] the coal dust rising. The men go at their work with a will & show no laziness, & heavy weights they shoulder.
After lunch then there began a general rush for shore & another amazing scene was enacted: the touting for patronage & the antics of the boatmen were very laughable. However, we were soon on the landing, & traps were waiting to run the people up to the town. Most unfortunately it rained most of the 5 hours we were ashore, but we heeded it little & made the most of the daylight. I soon found Mr. Muncaster, he whom I told you was with A&R[1] at the foot of Church St., & he was pleased to be our guide & was exceedingly kind. Malta is a very charming city but the harbours & creeks are a picture, lovely scenery from elevations easily approached. I shan’t forget the views, & all looked so clean, [1:44] the rain having washed the streets, the first they’d had for 40 days. The water in the harbour was coloured quite whity brown with the water off the streets – soft, very soft, stone, & as I prefer rain to dust I counted myself rather favoured, as the yellow dust is one of the nuisances of Malta. We visited the Church of St. John & indeed it was worth every effort, really magnificent inside. Then the palace, armoury, & corridors. We were at the wrong end of the day to view interiors. The sun set at 5:15. Gun fires daily, sun rise & set, & there being no twilight, darkness soon set in. We did full justice to the time at our disposal & satisfied with what had been viewed. I counted 7 large man o’war in the Grand Harbour. These gave the scene a warlike appearance but on the other hand a feeling of security, [1:45] & the natives are proud of being called British subjects. The military element, too, are strong here, & a fine healthy depot it seems to be.
Everything here savours of government, & in virtue thereby, what is done is in substantial & well ordered style, no taxes, or rather rates, I should say, but rents are correspondingly high. Some very rich buildings, fine old architecture, a beautiful clean stone & the shops after English style. During the afternoon, we saw many small herds of goats driven by men, & we saw them disposing of milk. The women came to the door & the man takes a goat to where she is, pops the basin on the flags,[2] & milks the goat then & there, & the quantity required, & cash exchanged, & away go the man & goat, the latter mixing amongst the herd it belongs. Lipton[3] has a very fine shop here, so have the Junior Army & Navy Stores, & [1:46] cafés are plentiful. The point from where I viewed the beautiful harbour with the war ships at anchor is called the Upper Baracca, & a very favourite promenade, Mr. Muncaster told me, it is. We came off the island at 7 & our floating palace was a lovely sight in the offing, all lighted up, every port hole illuminated, & many deck & other lights used for the guidance of the craft taking cargo made the surroundings a picture. Each of the small boats, & there are many, carry a light, & these being dotted here & there, give the harbour a lively appearance. We arrived late for dinner but this gave me no concern. I had a cup of tea after dinner was over & enjoyed it.
What a number of pedlars came on board with their wares, chiefly laces, sponges & filligree[4] work. I bought 2 very pretty pieces of lace, & will post them home with this letter from [1:47] Brindisi. We are having an unusual long stay here consequent on so much cargo, & a notice was posted up as soon as we arrived that the Victoria would leave Malta at 4 a.m. tomorrow. This made all rejoice, so 24 hours hence we hope to arrive there.
While on the subject of Malta, I might mention the fact that the place seems swarming with padres, clad exactly as we’ve seen in illustrations, & while inside the Church of St. John, many of these priests were sitting on chairs in twos & threes, & muttering their prayers. Magnificent pictures adorn many of the side chapels in this church, & one very celebrated, ancient & valuable no doubt, but the guides are machine like & jabber as they move along. We, however, had a turn around a second time after the guide left us.
[1:48]
[1] Inserted on facing page: “A&R. Armstrong & Reed, drapers.”
[2] Flagstones
[3] Sir Thomas J. Lipton. See endnotes for more detail.
[4] Ornamental work especially of fine wire of gold, silver, or copper applied chiefly to gold and silver surfaces.