"Are you going on shore, madam, while we take in coal?" asked the captain of a P. & O. steamship, addressing one of his lady passengers, who was en route from India to England. "Can I get me a dear little Maltese dog there for a pet?" asked the lady in response. "It is doubtful," was the answer. "The animals you refer to are now very scarce in these islands." "Then I think I'll remain on board," rejoined madam. "There's nothing on the island worth seeing, I believe." "Some persons come thousands of miles solely to visit the place," was the captain's quiet reply. "Its history is very curious." "Are there any palaces?" "There are over half a hundred edifices so called, though they have nearly all been diverted from their original purpose by the present government." "They have nice old lace here, I am told. But one can get the same thing in London, you know." "Oh, yes, and perhaps you will be able to find a 'puppy' to your liking, in London," said the sarcastic captain. "I think I'll be content with reading about the place," was the final response of the obtuse passenger. As to Gibraltar, that gray old solitary rock lying about a thousand miles to the westward of the Maltese group, and looming to a height of fourteen hundred feet, it is a far less attractive place, though among passengers generally there seems to be a different opinion. Here travelers usually manage to make a break in their sea voyage, and to remain a couple of days or more to examine the dreary old fortress and garrison town. We say it is far less attractive than Malta: as regards its past or present, it bears no comparison to this group. With the exception of the old Moorish castle which overlooks the town, there is not a single edifice in Gibraltar with any pretension to architectural merit or antiquarian interest. The Maltese dog, about which the lady passenger inquired, is a sort of spaniel with long, silky, slate-colored hair, which hangs down from its head and body, touching the ground. It has in the past been much esteemed by royal families as a lapdog, and is of a very ancient breed, being conspicuous upon old Roman monuments. It is spoken of by the historian Strabo, but it seems to have almost entirely disappeared in our time, as the captain remarked. We saw an indifferent specimen offered for sale in Valletta, for which ten pounds sterling was demanded.