MALTA, an island and British possession in the Mediterranean, 17 m. long by about 9 broad, with an area of about 115 sq.tn.: it is of carbonaceous limestone, of the tertiary aqueous formation, and occupies a very central positiou in the Mediterranean sea, being distant some 54 m. from the Sicilian coast, and about 200 from cape Bon on the African coast. From its position, and also from the enormous strength of the fortifications, 3Ialta is a possession of immense value to any commercial nation which possesses a navy strong enough to prevent it being blockaded. It happens, consequently, that Malta is one of the most important, after India, of the British dependencies, for it is not in any sense a colony. Possessing one of the most splendid harbors in the world, with such an even depth that the largest vessels may anchor alongside the very shore, the island forms at once an admirable station for a fleet to command the Mediterranean—a military focus, where a force protecting the route to Egypt and India can be concentrated—and a useful entrepot for receiving the manufactures of Britain, which the small craft of the Mediterranean carry to every point on the shore of that inland sea and its tributaries. By whomsoever possessed, Malta has always been held in high estimation. Between it and Gozzo, or Gozo (q.v.), lies the small island of Comino; and off this last the still smaller islet, Cominotto, rears its rocky crest, while elsewhere round the shores of Malta and Gozo, a few rocks stud the sea, sustaining each a few fishermen, and afford, ing herbage for goats on their moss-grown summits; among these are Filfla, with a venerable church; Pietro Nero, or Black Rock; Scoglio Marfo, Salmonetta, and the Hagira tal general, or fungus rock, where grows the famed 'fungus melitensis (see CYNO NORIITM). Malta and Gozo, With their adjacent islets,' forrn together a compact little realm, celebrated in hiatory, posSessing a magnifieerit. capital in Valetta, and, from the fact that, owing to peculiar circumstances, vast 'contributions came to Malta from all Catholic Europe, adorned with public buildings, institutions, and works out'of all pro portion to its actual intrinsic importance. ' • .
In physioal confOrmation, Malta is comparatively low, its highest point not exceed ing 590 ft." above the seaLlevel. The surface is diversified by a succession of hill and dale, the land being intersected by parallel valleys, running from s.w. to u.e., the most considerable of which is the vale called Melleha. Across the island stretch the Ben jemina hills or Crags, and many spurs branch from them,- which give a picturesqueness to the scenery. From the spongy natUre'of the limestoue of which the island is com posed, much of the rain falling in the wet Season soaks in, and being evaporated through the thin alluvial covering by the heats of summer, keeps th`e giound moist,, and gives it a fertility which could not otherwise be expected from so scanty and coMparatively poor a soil. So thin, indeed, wa's the original 'surface-goil,. that considerable ,quantities of earth were imported int'o Maltii-from 'Sicily. The productivenes's of the soil must also be attributed to the quantity of carbonate of lime held ,in a minutely.divided state above the'entire face Of the rock. .
Malta shows no signs of Volcanic 'formation; Mit the action of the sea among its cliffs has hollowed out grcittoeS and caverns in almost every.direetion, and some of con siderable extent. The inhabitants are industrious, and good agriculturists, and every foot of the soil is diligently Cultivated: On the whole, about the quantity Of superior kinds of grain consumed is raised on the islands, and of inferior sorts a considerable amount is exported. Wine, resembling that of Spain, ia produced; the sugar-cane is cultivated. 'The vegetable products comprise all that flourish in Italy, as aloes, oranges, and olives, with many plants of 'a. more tropidal growth. Malta was famed of old for roses.' Salt and soda are manufactured;•there are quarries of marble, alabaster, and building-stones. Mules and asses are remarkable in Malta for their strength and beauty, but horned cattle are'small. ' Maltese goats are fine, animals. The birds of Malta are renowned for their splendid plumage; and its bees produce an. arotnatic honey, excelled in no other locality.