To Lady Hooker. H. M. S. Sidon*1, Alexandria. December 4th. 1847. My dear Mother,
In my last letter from Gibraltar to you, I think that I left myself at Cintra[Sintra], some 14 miles from Lisbon; with but a couple of hours of daylight before me to look about. This I devoted to going up one of the rocky hills above the village, whilst the majority of the party, mounted on jackasses visited the Convent of Our Lady of the Rock, (Nossa Senña des Penãs). I believe that I had the best of it; especially as far as the view is concerned, which comprehended the clusters of buildings below, the groves of chesnut[sic], oak, Cork, Lemon, Orange and Pomegranate, and many miles of vast, grassy, undulating plains of Portugal; on which were conspicuously seen the Lines of Torres Vedras, Mafra and other places of scarcely less note in the Peninsular War; for which see Napier*2 (a book I never could and never shall get through). The sea is seen in two directions, as well as the widened Tagus above Lisbon. I was surprised at finding so much mist and cloud at so low an elevation (comparatively) and at first thought it accidental;

but the multitude of Lichens, which coated the granite rocks, as completely (though not with such fine species) as in the Antarctic plains, is a proof of the prevalent dampness of the atmosphere. The Cork-oaks were also hoary with Ramalina, and Everina, together with some Mosses and amazing quantities of polypod[iu]m. vulgare, very much as you see the Apple Trees in Normandy as far as the Lichens and Mosses are concerned, but without the Mistletoe. This Portugal is, however, a deserted land, and really uninhabited comparatively speaking; owing, assuredly, not only or so much even to misrule, as to the character of the people. I used often to wonder how it was, that a nation, once and always so distinguished as the precursors of discovery in both worlds, should have fallen so suddenly and so low; but it was gold alone that developed their energies: they are naturally indolent, dirty, and immoral; and what is to become of them, it is hard to say: The land is rich and productive; the climate delicious; and they are neither warlike or romantic people, such as the Spaniards, whose temperament keeps them in hot water. I have now seen them in Madeira, the Cape Verds, Brazil, and at home: and they are the same all over the world. I hope never to see them again. To return to the rocky hill I climbed, it was very barren of anything but lichens and dwarf

bushes of 2 ilex, tuber, and coccifera, I suppose; with shrubs of Labiatae, and a few linarias and such herbs; but all burned up by the Autumn sun and pushing little shoots for next season. A part of it was terraced for the pleasure of the palace inmates, and planted with multitudes of geraniums, but little else. The top was a pile of huge granite blocks, capped with a little castle of many turrets, built for pleasure apparently and not use. After a very fair dinner, which Lord Dalhousie*3 provided, and which was cooked by some mysterious process in the open air (for the kitchen was being pulled down), we started for Lisbon, by the right road this time. The riders gallopped the whole way; for the little Spanish horses would stop nowhere, except at an hotel, close by a place where the Aqueduct, from Cintra[Sintra] to Lisbon, crosses the road. The Portuguese are famous for Aqueducts; that at Rio and this being both very noble. Where we were, 14 tall arches, each some 100 feet high, spanned a broad valley; and their projection against the blue star-lit sky was very grand. An echo here produces 14 distinct reverberations, not from the 14 arches, however, I expect, but from the air striking different parts of the main one we passed under. I regretted not re-entering, as we had left the City, to have looked once more at Belem Church, where Columbus dreamed that

an Angel directed him to the discovery of the New World, if I remember aright; and where especially Vasco de Gama and his successors offered up, some their prayers, and others their thanksgivings (to St. Nicholas by the way), on the occasion of their several voyages to the Eastern Indies, or return therefrom. The part of Lisbon we returned by was most magnificent by night. Grand squares, with uniform piles of white buildings, 6 and 8 stories high, looked well, as whited sepulchres: so did the broad streets of palace - like houses, looking over gardens with gilded palisades. After the heat of the day is over too, the many smells are in a great measure dissipated; the dogs gone to kennel; and little else but drunken seamen to disturb one's reveries. We arrived a little too late for the Opera, being vaunted by those who know no better, as one of the largest and best in Europe. The house is certainly enormous, though not so large as the Queen's. The orchestra very poor: the opera, Lucrezia Borgia, infamously ill-performed, both as to acting, singing, and stage effect - Boxes, pit, and gallery were all dirty alike: and the whole place so noisome, that I could hardly sit out the last act. The number of Naval Officers from the Squadron was quite bewildering: and I was glad to get quickly away and off to the ship, before all the boats should be engaged. The following day

we sailed for Gibraltar, with which I was very much pleased, and so on; but of all that I wrote to Miss Henslow*4 and my Father; and so I may skip on to our little stay at Malta, about which I cannot say half so much as I should like. The "Sidon" arrived off the harbour of Valetta, on the morning of Friday, and steamed into her coaling place. The entrance is magnificent; you may see it I think, in the vignettes of the Soc[iet]y. of Useful Knowledge maps, or the Penny Cycloped.[Cyclopaedia] *5 We first passed the town at St. Elmo on one hand, and a magnificent building, the Naval Hospital, on the other. The shores are tolerably high, and present terrace after terrace of batteries, crowned with castellated buildings, and within these again public and private palaces and houses, parades, and arched arcades, or Baraccas, on the Heights; in which the inhabitants seat themselves and look down on the shipping below. on all sides are many rows of huge cannon, in the foreground, on bluff escarpements, or long lines of masonry, and within piles of buildings, with church and convent bell-towers innumerable. The latter are ringing all day long; many with good voices some with bad. Of vegetation there is scarce a trace to be seen, anywhere, but the Caper plant on all the rocks and walls; and were it not for the cool colour of the stone, the heat of the place would be frightful. This is all of a

pale yellow magnesia-limestone; so soft as to be easily cut, almost with a knife; but which hardens on exposure, and makes excellent and durable masonry. The water is deep in the harbor up to the very batteries and wharfs, of a deep blue colour, and swarming with boats of all sizes, and ships of all nations. Two English line of battle ships, 3 war steamers, together with some frigates and smaller craft, were all our fleet, the greater part of which is somewhere else in the Mediterranean I landed in the forenoon, and ascended into Valetta, through archways and all sorts of mysterious fortifications, garnished abundantly with Virgins, in niches of the walls. The streets are very steep; and you ascend a good deal by stairs crowded with people buying and selling, from stalls or little shops, all open to the view, and tenanted by the most industrious workmen I have ever seen. It has all the appearance of a little fair, or rather like a hive; for everyone has something to do and all are good humored and civil; none jostling the other. The streets that run along the crest of the hill on which Valetta stands, are continuous from one end of the peninsula to the other, and crossed at right angles by others, which run from the waters of one bay to that of the contiguous one. All are very narrow but clean and strikingly picturesque. They are straight and most look

on the water as a vista, of the deepest and yet brightest blue. They form a sort of square telescope, with busy people along the bottom, handsome yellow carved stone balconies projecting on either side, bright blue sky above, and the sea like a perfect jewel at the further end. You may have seen Robert's or Daniell's*6 water colour sketches in the East: they reminded me of Malta, as far as the buildings and bright sky are concerned; but I expect nothing in the East to combine the effect of the color of the Malta stone, the sea in vista. and the lively bustle of the streets. On the other hand, in summer, the place is very hot and dusty, and in rainy weather muddy, - but the mud is clean mud, and there are plenty of good horses and caleches (rather hard) to get about with. The buildings all over the town are truly noble; the majority of them built by the Knights of Malta, and consisting either of palaces of individuals, or public buildings necessary to the old community at large, with not a few auberges, as the dwelling houses of the different nations of Knights are called. It is strange, that, with so many noble buildings, there should not be one really handsome church; as to its outside I mean, for their interiors are gaudy enough; - but so it is, that I should not have recognized the Cathedral of St. John, as a grand church from its exterior. That, lately built by the English and

called the Queen Dowager's, is much the handsomest and has the only spire in Malta. The Library, the Palace and the Church of St. John are all well worth visiting, though none of them very grand of their kind: - there are also some other attractive lions, in the shape of Convents, with dead monks exposed &c; but these I did not visit, nor the Catacombs. Soon, after my arrival, I accidentally saw a letter, addressed to the Rev. D. Beaufort; and to my great surprise found he had arrived a day or two before us in the "Vengeance;" 74[guns?], from Lisbon. I called on him on Saturday morning, and breakfasted with Capt. Lushington*7, whose guest he was:- much astonishment he betrayed. as you may suppose; for, when we parted in London, neither dreamed of the probability of meeting in Malta within a month. He looks fairly well, and is much improved by his trip; so much that we took a long ride together to Citta Vecchia or Medina, the ancient capital of Malta, and the scene (traditionally) of St. Paul's preaching, and subsequent residence. We had a fine afternoon, and enjoyed it very much: Beaufort was tired, as the horses were hardly to be held in; to tell the truth, I believe both of us were run away with several times! Except, however, his being very tired, we met no serious accident; and as I dined with him on Saturday evening you may tell his friends, that I left him as I found him, well and happy, and that we both most heartily enjoyed our short

meeting and excursion in Malta. I have been very busy writing lately, but we have not had the best of weather, and I doubt your easily deciphering my writing. I will send all hence from Calcutta[Kolkata]. Will you kindly ask my Father to send me particulars as to the address to be put on my parcels &c. to Kew? of which I quite forgot to take note, also not to forget sending me some copies of Humboldt's*8 letter, which also I omitted to take. I have written to the old man a long letter from Alexandria. We have a pouring rain; and no one has been ashore yet. I wrote last to my Father and Miss Henslow from Malta pr.[?] Tagus, and doubt being able to write again, before Aden, when I must give Bessie*9 a line or two about the pyramids and Crocodiles. Best love to all, | from your ever affectionate son, | JOS. D. HOOKER.