"Winter thunder and summer flood
Bode England no good."
H. T.
Ingatestone Hall, Essex.
MALTA THE BURIAL-PLACE OF HANNIBAL.
Malta affords a fine field for antiquarian research; and in no part more so than in the neighbourhood of Citta Vecchia, where for some distance the ground is dotted with tombs which have already been opened.
Here, in ancient times, was the site of a burial-place, but for what people, or at what age, is now unknown; and here it is that archæologists should commence their labours, that in the result they may not be disappointed. In some of the tombs which have been recently entered in this vicinity, fragments of linen cloth have been seen, in which bodies were enveloped at the time of their burial; in others glass, and earthen candlesticks, and jars, hollow throughout and of a curious shape; while in a few were earrings and finger-rings made of the purest gold, but they are rarely found.
There cannot be a doubt that many valuable antiquities will yet be discovered, and in support of this presumption I would only refer to those now known to exist; the Giant's Tower at Gozo, the huge tombs in the Bengemma Hills, and those extensive and remarkable ruins at Krendi, which were excavated by order of the late Sir Henry Bouverie, and remain as a lasting and honourable memento of his rule, being among the number.