24

INTERCOURSE WITH MISSIONARIES.

and the letters we brought were fumigated in sulphur, before any person was permitted to touch them. Wherever we went we were accompanied by a guard, whose duty it was to see that we touched no one, and that no one touched us.

с

The day after our arrival, I removed to the Lazaretto, and occupied an apartment looking out on the lofty battlements of Valetta. The seclusion here is not entire. In ordinary cases the inmates are allowed to converse with each other wherever they chance to meet, remembering only to preserve the proper distance. But the intercourse with all persons not in quarantine, must be in the parlatorio, or place for conversation, where barriers are interposed to prevent a near approach of the parties. There I saw my brethren of the mission, Messrs. Bird, Goodell, Smith, and Hallock, and nearly all the members of their respective families; and either while in the Lazaretto, or soon after, I became acquainted with Mr. Schlienz, of the Church Missionary Society, and his two assistants; with Mr. Wilson, of the London Missionary Society; with Mr. Keeling, of the Wesleyan Methodist Society; and with Mr. Nicolayson, of the London Jews Society. Mr. Schlienz is from the Basle Missionary Seminary, and is the associate of Mr. Jowett, (then in England,) the well-known author of two interesting volumes of Christian Researches in the Mediterranean, of which one has been republished in this country. Mr. Nicolay son was a missionary to the Jews in Syria, and left that country, with Mrs. Nicolayson, at the same time with our brethren, and for the same reasons. Mr. Wilson and Mr. Keeling have been in Malta some years.-Mr. Abbott, the English consul

d

(c) A Lazaretto is an edifice appointed for the temporary residence of persons, and also for the reception and purification of certain articles, coming from places suspected of the plague, or of other contagious diseases. One of the great objects of the philanthropic Howard, was to ascertain and improve the condition of these institutions.

(d) Christian Researches in Syria and the Holy Land,

REMARKS UPON THE ISLAND.

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for Beyroot, was at that time in Malta, and, with his excellent lady, continued those attentions, which, under more trying circumstances, had contributed so much to the happiness of our missionaries in Syria. I am bound to acknowledge, also, my obligations to Thomas McGill, Esq., an English gentleman holding the office of Greek consul at Malta, who, besides giving me valuable information, furnished my companion and myself with letters, which were of much use to us in Greece.

I remained at Malta till the 25th of February. The results of my intercourse with the missionaries of the Board and of other societies, will not be here relatedexcept so far as to say, that nearly all the measures, which have been adopted by the Prudential Committee since my return, with regard to the Mediterranean mission, were then discussed, and received the full sanction of our brethren.f

Malta has been so often described, within a few years past, that I omit nearly all the notices respecting that island, which I had entered in my journal. Of course, I became familiar with the city and suburbs of Valetta; and I once made an excursion to the bay, where the apostle Paul is supposed to have suffered shipwreck, and also to the archiepiscopal city in its neighborhood, called Citta Vecchia.

The Bay of St. Paul is on the castern coast of Malta, about six miles north of Valetta, and not far from the little island of Gozo, by some regarded as the island of Calypso. How much there is to countenance the tradition, that Paul was shipwrecked in this bay, will ap

(e) He has since returned to Beyroot.

(f) The Rev. Messrs. Whiting and Dwight have been sent out as a reinforcement of the mission. The mission to Syria has been resumed by Messrs. Bird and Whiting. Messrs. Smith and Dwight have proceeded on an exploring tour into Armenia. The Greek press has been employed, more vigorously, in the printing of school-books; and it has been decided, with the advice and concurrence of the missionaries, to continue the printing establishment, for the present, at Malta. That establishment is designed for printing in various languages, and, under existing circumstances, can operate more advantageously in that island, than it can at Smyrna, or in Greece.

I have

pear in the opposite sketch, taken by Mr. Bird, which correctly exhibits the topography of the bay. added an explanation, which will be found below.

The high probability that here is the scene of the events recorded in the close of the twenty-seventh chapter of Acts, imparted a peculiar interest to the shores and waters of this bay. God had assured the apostle of life, and therefore the stormy wind, and boisterous sea, and dashing surge roaring from the rocks, could not make him afraid. Yet when the morning broke out of the long tempestuous night, with what intenseness must he have surveyed the coast to see where they were to land; and how must his soul have burned with gratitude, when he discovered the "creek with a shore;" and with what overpowering sensations must he have found himself and his companions "escaped all safe to land." I would not worship Paul, as the papist does, nor would I erect temples in honor of him; but no pious man can stand and look on this spot, and believe that here transpired the events recorded on the sacred page above referred to, without some thrilling emotions.

On our way from Valetta to Citta Vecchia, we trayelled over a soft, white freestone, covered with a thin,

EXPLANATION OF ST. PAUL'S BAY AND SHIPWRECK.

The ship might have anchored at a or at b. The inlet c has very much the appearance of a creek, and would lead us to think that the anchorage was at b. m is an island, and two seas meet at d, where the water is too shallow for such a vessel as Paul was in to pass through. Whether the anchorage was at a or at b, the ship might "fall into" this place, and run aground. With the Euroclydon, or northeast wind, (the present Levanter,) she would not, indeed, be likely to fall upon d, if the mariners, after getting under way at b, steered for the creek c; but they might have managed unskilfully, or more probably the wind had changed to the southeast, or south. There is a "shore," or good landing place, at e, and also at g, and on the creek c. From the island m to n (where the Maltese pretend Publius had a country-house,) is upwards of a mile. The rock at the point s, where are salt works, runs under water, and some have supposed the vessel struck on this point, and that we are to understand the phrase "where two seas met," as intended to denote the meeting of the waves from the opposite sides of such a low projection; but at s, it would now be scarcely possible, after a storm, to effect a general landing on boards and broken pieces of a ship If the vessel struck at d, it would be possible to land at e, especially if the wind had changed to the southward, as the shore is near, low, and sandy, and the water shallow. At g and c are also fine landings. The shore at p is precipitous, and at r rough and dangerous.