There is an opera at Malta, in which performances of various degrees
of mediocrity are given. The gay period to a stranger is that of the
carnival; but, at other times, the festivals of the church, celebrated
in this isolated place with more of the mummeries of Roman Catholicism
than obtain in many other countries professing the same faith, afford
amusement to the lovers of the grotesque.
Though the thermometer at Malta seldom rises to 90 deg., yet the heat in
the sultry season is very great. Every person, who is in the habit of
studying the glass, becomes aware of the difference between the heat
that is actually felt and that which is indicated by instruments; and
in no place is this discrepancy more sensibly experienced than Malta,
in which the state of the winds materially affects the comfort of the
inhabitants. A good authority assures us, that "the heat of Malta
is most oppressive, so much so, as to justify the term 'implacable,'
which is often applied to it. The sun, in summer, remains so long
above the horizon, and the stone walls absorb such an enormous
quantity of heat, that they never have sufficient time to get
cool; and during the short nights, this heat radiates from them so
copiously, as to render the nights, in fact, as hot as the days, and
much more oppressive to the feelings of those who are accustomed
to associate the idea of coolness with darkness.
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