Malta.

Manawatu Herald, 5 April 1892, Page 2

Malta.

. ♦ ■ ■ ■;■ •. It is not surprising that the French are anxious for further information about Malta. This island has always been held by the powers that .had, command of the Mediterranean Sea, and for a, brief period the Emperor

Nopoleon in 1798 got possession of it by expelling the Knights of Malta from it. The Maltese very soon rose against the garrison, and with the aid of British and Neapolitan forces compelled the French to leave in 1800. They then ceded the Island to Great Britain. The Government is administered by a Governor, assisted by an Executive Council of ten members, and by a Legislative Council called the Council of Government, consisting of six official and 14 elected members. The Governor is President in both, i Malta is about 17 miles in length and nine in breadth. The colony i includes the islands of Gozo (24 . square miles) and Comino and several , small islets. It lies about 58 miles , from Sicily and about 180 miles , from the African coast. It has a i population of 165,600 exclusive of I the troops. The principal occupai tion of the people is in connection with the shipping. The harbour is one of the finest in the world, with such a depth of water that the largest vessels can anchor alongside the very shore. It iri a most im--1 portant port of call for the many vessels passing to and from the . East and Australasia by the Suez L,. Canal, being just halfway between Gibraltar and Port Said. There is also an extensive arsenal and im- , .portant dockyard, ; Malta; being the • headquarters of- the .Mediterranean Fleet.