Produced by Julia Miller, Barbara Kosker and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) By Maturin M. Ballou. THE STORY OF MALTA. Crown 8vo, $1.50. EQUATORIAL AMERICA. Descriptive of a Visit to St. Thomas, Martinique, Barbadoes, and the Principal Capitals of South America. Crown 8vo, $1.50. AZTEC LAND. Crown 8vo, $1.50. THE NEW ELDORADO. A Summer Journey to Alaska. Crown 8vo, $1.50. ALASKA. The New Eldorado. A Summer Journey to Alaska. _Tourist's Edition_, with 4 maps. 16mo, $1.00. DUE WEST; or, ROUND THE WORLD IN TEN MONTHS. Crown 8vo, $1.50. DUE SOUTH; or, CUBA PAST AND PRESENT. Crown 8vo, $1.50. UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS; or, TRAVELS IN AUSTRALASIA. Crown 8vo, $1.50. DUE NORTH; or, GLIMPSES OF SCANDINAVIA AND RUSSIA. Crown 8vo, $ 1.50. GENIUS IN SUNSHINE AND SHADOW. Crown 8vo, $1.50. EDGE-TOOLS OF SPEECH. Selected and edited by Mr. BALLOU. 8vo, $3.50. A TREASURY OF THOUGHT. An Encyclopædia of Quotations. 8vo, full gilt, $3.50. PEARLS OF THOUGHT. 16mo, full gilt, $1.25. NOTABLE THOUGHTS ABOUT WOMEN. Crown 8vo, $1.50. HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & COMPANY, BOSTON AND NEW YORK. THE STORY OF MALTA BY MATURIN M. BALLOU "_This precious stone set in the silver sea_" [Illustration] BOSTON AND NEW YORK HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY The Riverside Press, Cambridge 1893 Copyright, 1893, BY MATURIN M. BALLOU. _All rights reserved._ _The Riverside Press, Cambridge, Mass., U. S. A._ Electrotyped and Printed by H. O. Houghton & Company. PREFACE. Perhaps the strongest recommendation for faithful books of travel lies in the fact that intelligent people consult the best maps while perusing them, and thus familiarize themselves with important facts in geography. Such books are especially advantageous to the young, too many of whom are inclined to neglect this all-important branch of education. Although Malta appears upon the map as a mere speck, on account of its superficial area being comparatively so diminutive, yet the patient reader who is not already familiar with its absorbing story will find herein a new field of historic and romantic interest, exceeding that which pertains to any other of the numerous Mediterranean islands. In all his experience as a traveler, the author has failed to discover any locality of similar dimensions which embraces so thrilling a history, or whose present aspect is more attractive and picturesque. Since the opening of the Suez Canal, it has become the maritime halfway house between Europe and Asia, which imparts to it vast commercial importance, and causes it to be visited by many people who, but for the force of circumstances, would probably never have become conversant with its singularly beautiful surroundings, or its fascinating capital, the unique city of Valletta.