-
Articles/Ads
Article NOTES OF A YACHT'S CRUISE TO BALAKLAVA. Page 1 of 6 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Notes Of A Yacht's Cruise To Balaklava.
NOTES OF A YACHT'S CBTJISE TO B ALAKLAVA .
{ Continued from page 12 . ) August 1 st . —After a most agreeable dinner with one of the English officials here , we took a stroll round the walls , from which the view is superb . Here lounge cigar-smoking captains , elegantly attired belles , with attendant cavaliers , spooney ensigns and mischievous middies . A meditative old bachelor like myself finds food for
mnch thought in the view presented . Beneath us lay the great harbour , still as a mirror , reflecting the crowd of shipping , from which came at times the musical metallic ring of raising a chain-cable , or the measured cry of the sailors . The towns of Borgo , Burmola , and Senglea lie opposite ; their stern
and almost impregnable strength bathed in the evening light . There was the scene of many a desperate struggle between the newly arrived Order and the fierce Algerine Corsairs and Turkish navies . 3 Not a yard of Borgo , Senglea , and St . Elmo especially , that has not received a baptism of chivalrous blood , poured out in defence of Christendom .
When the Emperor Charles V . bestowed Malta on the remnant of the Knights of St . John of Jerusalem , driven from their first possession—the Isle of Rhodes , by the Turks , —Borgo was the spot selected for their residence ( October , 1530 ); and from this circumstance was named Burgh , or Borgo . Here were some desperate attacks of the Turks resisted . A creek , termed the Harbour of the Galleys , separates it
from Senglea , so named from the Grand Master Claude de la Sengle , who fortified it . Einding Borgo commanded by neighbouring heights , and otherwise ineligible , the Brotherhood of St . John came to the determination of erecting their capital on the opposite promontory , known anciently as " Shaab-er-Kas , "— " The jutting out of the
Cape , "—then defended by the fort of St . Elmo , an insignificant fortress , since increased to its present size and strength . The first stone of the new city was laid by the Grand Master La Valette on the 28 th March , 1566 ; and the whole was completed by his successor , Pietro de Monte , in May , 1571 .
The view of Valetta from the sea is beautiful . It is a warrior ' s beauty , however— 'Strong , stern , grand ! We stood long upon the walls , conversing npon passing events , which equalled in their wild daring and surpassed in vivid interest the deeds of those chivalrous heroes whose dust now lies in the
numerous churches around ,- —some of politics , some of literature ; while I gathered a few local particulars from our host , and feasted my eyes on a sunset of surpassing beauty . The whole western horizon exhibited a rich yellow , tinged with a variety of hues ; light clouds floated like fairy islets of ruby and amethyst in this amber sea , while , from beneath the dark edges of some heavy clouds to tho south-cast , rapid flashes of lightning darted at intervals , imparting
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Notes Of A Yacht's Cruise To Balaklava.
NOTES OF A YACHT'S CBTJISE TO B ALAKLAVA .
{ Continued from page 12 . ) August 1 st . —After a most agreeable dinner with one of the English officials here , we took a stroll round the walls , from which the view is superb . Here lounge cigar-smoking captains , elegantly attired belles , with attendant cavaliers , spooney ensigns and mischievous middies . A meditative old bachelor like myself finds food for
mnch thought in the view presented . Beneath us lay the great harbour , still as a mirror , reflecting the crowd of shipping , from which came at times the musical metallic ring of raising a chain-cable , or the measured cry of the sailors . The towns of Borgo , Burmola , and Senglea lie opposite ; their stern
and almost impregnable strength bathed in the evening light . There was the scene of many a desperate struggle between the newly arrived Order and the fierce Algerine Corsairs and Turkish navies . 3 Not a yard of Borgo , Senglea , and St . Elmo especially , that has not received a baptism of chivalrous blood , poured out in defence of Christendom .
When the Emperor Charles V . bestowed Malta on the remnant of the Knights of St . John of Jerusalem , driven from their first possession—the Isle of Rhodes , by the Turks , —Borgo was the spot selected for their residence ( October , 1530 ); and from this circumstance was named Burgh , or Borgo . Here were some desperate attacks of the Turks resisted . A creek , termed the Harbour of the Galleys , separates it
from Senglea , so named from the Grand Master Claude de la Sengle , who fortified it . Einding Borgo commanded by neighbouring heights , and otherwise ineligible , the Brotherhood of St . John came to the determination of erecting their capital on the opposite promontory , known anciently as " Shaab-er-Kas , "— " The jutting out of the
Cape , "—then defended by the fort of St . Elmo , an insignificant fortress , since increased to its present size and strength . The first stone of the new city was laid by the Grand Master La Valette on the 28 th March , 1566 ; and the whole was completed by his successor , Pietro de Monte , in May , 1571 .
The view of Valetta from the sea is beautiful . It is a warrior ' s beauty , however— 'Strong , stern , grand ! We stood long upon the walls , conversing npon passing events , which equalled in their wild daring and surpassed in vivid interest the deeds of those chivalrous heroes whose dust now lies in the
numerous churches around ,- —some of politics , some of literature ; while I gathered a few local particulars from our host , and feasted my eyes on a sunset of surpassing beauty . The whole western horizon exhibited a rich yellow , tinged with a variety of hues ; light clouds floated like fairy islets of ruby and amethyst in this amber sea , while , from beneath the dark edges of some heavy clouds to tho south-cast , rapid flashes of lightning darted at intervals , imparting