The Maltese Dog
can be traced back to an early period. Strabo says that
"there is a town in Sicily called Melita, whence are exported many beautiful dogs called Canes Melitæi. They were the peculiar favourites of the women; but now (A.D. 25) there is less account made of these animals, which are not bigger than common ferrets or weasels, yet they are not small in understanding nor unstable in their love."
They are also found in Malta and in other islands of the Mediterranean, and they maintain the same character of being devotedly affectionate to their owners, while, it is added, — and they are not loved the less for that, — they are ill-tempered to strangers.
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