Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/718

682 they would be followed in a few days by some vessels laden with corn to relieve their distresses. Among their baggage was found 5,000 or 6,000 Maltese crowns. These we did not touch. I felt myself in a very awkward situation, being obliged to act in so decisive a manner, and have not a doubt by so doing but that I saved the island from becoming the scene of much greater confusion than already existed, and perhaps from the effusion of much blood.”

This was the only attempt on behalf of the Order, either to aid in expelling the French or to secure the possession of the island to themselves. Arrangements were meanwhile made by the governments of England, Russia, and Naples that, in case of a surrender, the fortress should be occupied by the three powers jointly, pending the decision by a general congress as to its ultimate destination. The wishes of the Maltese do not appear to have been in any way consulted in the matter, although the whole onus of the land attack had fallen on them, and they were suffering with the most heroic endurance hardships and privations but little inferior to those of the beleaguered garrison. They had erected no less than fifteen batteries, stretching from the coast in front of Ricasoli round to the high ground in the rear of fort Manöel. The principal points were the Coradin hill; that at Tarxien, from whence shot were fired into the centre of Valetta; the hill of Samra, which commanded the Porte des Bombes, where the effects of the fire may still be traced; and the kill behind fort Manöel, whence that work and also fort Tigné were battered.

As time wore on, and the scarcity of provisions became more and more felt in the town, large bodies of the inhabitants left Valetta, with the consent of General Vaubois, and sought refuge amongst their countrymen. No impediment was placed in the way of these departures, except in the case of those who, from their political influence or wealth, were likely to be serviceable to the garrison. Ransijat, in his “Siege et Blocus deMalta,”gives some very interesting statistics as to the price of provisions, and