The Climate of Malta.--The Furious Grégalé.--Liability to Sunstroke.--The African Sirocco.--Cloudless Days.--A Health Resort.--English Church.--View of Etna.--Volcanic Disturbances.--Will Malta Eventually Disappear?--Native Flora.--Flower-Girls of Valletta.--Absence of Lakes and Rivers.--The Moon-Flower.--Grand Stone Aqueduct.--After the Roman Plan of Building.--Fountains.--Results of Irrigation. The climate of Malta is a subject of more than ordinary importance. The air and sky are African, though its life and associations are strongly European. The winter temperature--December and January--very rarely falls below 50° Fahr., and though hail-storms do sometimes visit the islands, at rare intervals, snow is unknown. The season when such unwelcome visitations occur is very short. An entire day devoid of sunshine, even in the winter months, is unusual. It is not without interest to know that the longest day in this region is fifteen hours less eight minutes. In summer the thermometer rises to 85°, and even 95°, in the shade, while the direct rays of the sun are then almost unbearable by human beings, and especially by unacclimated foreigners. _Coups de soleil_ are not uncommon in the ranks of the soldiery. Those familiar with the life of Grand Master La Vallette will remember that he died from sunstroke received here in 1557. A brief exposure to the sun's heat cost the life of the hardy old soldier who had survived so many dangerous wounds received on the battlefield. It is a saying in Malta that only newly arrived tourists and mad dogs expose themselves to the blaze of the midday summer sun. Even the natives are cautious in this respect.