Malta

mal'ta, an island in the Mediterranean sixty miles south of Sicily. It rises from a north and south submerged ridge that divides this sea into an eastern and a western basin. The rocks and caves of Malta have preserved the fossil remains of plants that grew, and birds that flew, and gigantic lizards that crept, in previous geologic ages. The soil is fertile. Malta and a little group of adjacent islets have a total area of but ninety-five square miles, yet they sustain 170,000 inhabitants, or 1,500 to the square mile,--exceeding even Belgium in density of population. Owing to the prevalence of high winds, the cultivated valleys are fenced off into gardens by high stone walls that give the country a honeycombed or excavated appearance. The fruits, flowers, vegetables, mammals, and insects are those of Italy. Many birds make Malta a stopping place during their migrations. The original people, as indicated by the language of the peasants and by antiquities, are thought to have been Phoenicians, now mixed with Arabs and Italians.

The island lies midway between Gibraltar and the Suez Canal, and has a fine harbor. It has been called the key to the Mediterranean. During the Crusades, Malta became a port of importance. In 1530 the Knights of St. John, or Hospitallers, were granted Malta in perpetual sovereignty by Emperor Charles V. They held the island against the persistent assaults of the Turks, making it a bulwark of Christendom. A richly decorated church, that of St. John, and many magnificent palaces, as well as other buildings, still attest the wealth and power of the order. In 1798 Napoleon took the island. In 1800 Admiral Nelson starved out the French garrison. The island is still in possession of the British, who have fortified the port and made it a stronghold second only to Gibraltar.