2-969-921 - /Heritage Images

Malta, from a painting by J. W. Carmichael, 1856. Supplies for the Crimean War. '...the harbour of Valetta burst upon us as a thing of wonder. Two long deep bays run inland. The tongue of land between the two bears the town of Valetta, so that the streets are, for the most part, terminated by the sea at either end...We are within the harbour. Look to the left, to those deep creeks wherewith that side is indented, and where a complete system of harbours run landwards. There is Bighi Bay, and Dockyard Creek, and the inlet which makes Sangleia an island. There is the Malta of history. Dockyard Creek is now crowded with shipping. Large white houses, which might be palaces, are shown, by tall letters, rudely painted, to be appropriated to the carousals of English and French sailors'. From "Illustrated London News", 1856.