HISTORY OF MALTA.

15

C H A P. III.

The Report of the Commissioners concerning the Situation of Malta,Goza, and Tripoli m Africa. Grant of the Emperor to the Order.Voyage of the Knights to Malta ; their Reception. MiserableSituation of Malta and its Dependencies. Improvements soon madeby the Knights. Troubles in Malta. The Knights in Arms againsteach other. Exemplary Punishment executed on the Offenders.Henry VIII. abolishes the Order in his Dominions. Death ofL'Isle Adam. The English Knights provided for most generously.Mary, Queen of England, restores their Property : of which they areafterzvards for ever deprived under the Reign of her Sister Elizabeth.The Language of England continues to be constantly respected bythe Order.

The report of the commissioners sent to inquire into the state ofMalta, Goza, and Tripoli, was read in full council, and containedthe following account:—That the island of Malta was merely arock of a soft sand-stone, called tufa, about six or seven leagueslong, and three or four broad: that the surface of the rock wasscarcely covered with more than three or four feet of earth, whichwas likewise stony, and very unfit to grow corn and other grain;though it produced abundance of figs, melons, and different fruits:that the principal trade of the island consisted in honey, cotton, andcummin, which the inhabitants exchanged for grain: that, except afew springs in the middle of the island, there was no running water,nor even wells; the want of which the inhabitants supplied by