"  8///  Nov. — Drove  across  the  island  through  a  series  of
lovely  villages,  all  of  hewn  stone,  to  Hajar  Kim,  where
there  is  an  ancient  temple  of  the  Druidical  kind,  then  with
Strickland  to  his  country  house,  on  the  way  to  Citta
Vecchia,  a  fine  villa  of  the  beginning  of  last  century,  with
courts  and  fountains  and  an  orange  garden.  This  he  in-
herits from  his  mother.  He  tells  me  there  are  about  twelve
families  in  the  island  which  enjoy  a  majorat,  his  being  one,
in  the  rest  property  has  been  divided  among  all  the  children,
and  so  has  disappeared.  This  dates  from  the  time  of  the
knights.  When  the  island  was  given  to  the  Knights  of
St.  John  in  1530  by  Charles  V  a  proviso  was  made  that  it
should  revert  to  the  Crown ;  consequently,  when  the  English
first  occupied  Malta  it  was  in  the  name  of  the  King  of
Naples  that  they  did  so.  The  French  knights  had  betrayed
the  island  to  Bonaparte,  who  took  possession  of  it  as  part
of  the  French  Republic,  ill-treated  the  inhabitants,  robbed
the  churches,  and  speedily  made  the  French  detested.  The
Maltese  rose  against  them  and  invested  the  fortress  for
eighteen  months  and  forced  a  capitulation  which  the
French  made,  -not  to  them  but  to  Nelson — the  annexation
to  England  was  an  afterthought.
