Читать книгу The Sea: Its Stirring Story of Adventure, Peril, & Heroism (Vol. 1-4). The History of Sea Voyages, Discovery, Piracy and Maritime Warfare онлайн
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In sailor’s parlance, “going aloft” has a number of meanings. He climbs the slippery shrouds to “go aloft;” and when at last, like poor Tom Bowling, he lies a “sheer hulk,” and—
“His body’s under hatches,
His soul has ‘gone aloft.’ ”
“Going-aloft” in the Mediterranean has a very different meaning: it signifies passing upwards and eastwards from the Straits of Gibraltar.82 We are now going aloft to Malta, a British possession hardly second to that of the famed Rock itself.
MALTA.
CHAPTER VII.
Round the World on a Man-of-War (continued).
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MALTA AND THE SUEZ CANAL.
Calypso’s Isle—A Convict Paradise—Malta, the “Flower of the World”—The Knights of St. John—Rise of the Order—The Crescent and the Cross—The Siege of Rhodes—L’Isle Adam in London—The Great Siege of Malta—Horrible Episodes—Malta in French and English Hands—St. Paul’s Cave—The Catacombs—Modern Incidents—The Shipwreck of St. Paul—Gales in the Mediterranean—Experiences of Nelson and Collingwood—Squalls in the Bay of San Francisco—A Man Overboard—Special Winds of the Mediterranean—The Suez Canal and M. de Lesseps—His Diplomatic Career—Saïd Pacha as a Boy—As a Viceroy—The Plan Settled—Financial Troubles—Construction of the Canal—The Inauguration Fête—Suez—Passage of the Children of Israel through the Red Sea.