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 Before Malta became an Island
Look well at a map of the Mediterranean Sea, or, the Middle Sea. In olden times it was known as the Great Sea for it was the only really big stretch of water surrounded by land
that man know of, Well, you may see on the map that this sea is almost completely enclosed by land, like a big, big lake. In the middle, you may notice the land called Italy and, below it, that called North Africa, These are very near to each other especially when you consider that North Africa has a big piece of land going upwards as if to meet the western tip of Sicily.
Thousands and thousands of years ago. the Straits of Gibraltar were not there because the two points were still joined Italy, Sicily and North Africa were still joined, too, and Malta may have formed part of a kind of land bridge that joined the continents of Europe and Africa. Thus, our Mediterranean Sea was not yet a sea but a number of large lakes. At the top of one of the mountains that rose amongst these lakes, there was Malta, surrounded by woods, forest and lakes. Wild animals of many kinds roamed all along these dry lands, migrating (as birds do now) up and down this land-bridge to look for better food and comfortable weather as the seasons changed.
Animals like the hippopotamus and elephant came here from Africa for cooler while other animals from Europe, like foxes, deer, and wolves, moved south for less frigid air and to graze Huge fresh-water tortoises, swans and birds that liked to live on water swarmed the land and water around this mountain-top.
Swift flowing rivers, coming from the north, flowed through this part of the land to fall into the nearest lake by way of what is now St. George's Bay, Birzebbugia and Marsaxlokk. Then the climate was colder and wetter than it is today, and most of Europe was covered with a thick sheet of ice.
By the gradual rise of the surface of the sea as the ice-sheets melted, the slow sinking of the land, or by the breaking of land bridges that may have connected Europe to Africa, the long wide valleys between these mountains were invaded by swirling waters which filled them. Only the peaks remained out of the water, and they became . . . . islands.
It is for some reasons like these, perhaps, that Sicily, Malta and Gozo are islands.
A GREAT INVENTION - FIRE
Pre-historic men must have seen light-fling on a stormy night and, if it struck a tree and the tree burned, it made them wonder why. Near the Equator, the heat of the sun caused forest fires. Men felt the heat and saw the light that came from fire, but HOW could they have their own fire?
Rubbing their hands made their hands warm: so, they tried rubbing dry sticks near straw; sometimes, the heat caused by the rubbing threw sparks on the straw and this caught fire... but it took so much time and practice! Moreover, how could people keep a fire burning all the time? Fuel had to be found... dry sticks were dipped into animal fats, and the torches burned well and long.
Then, flint was found! By rubbing or striking two pieces of flint together, sparks were easy to get. man had found how to make fire and heat. With these, life was less difficult: food could be made softer, pottery could be hardened in a 'kiln', and canoes could be made more easily by bumming the inside of a trunk to make it hollow. The caves became bright as animal fats kept the lights burning; life at night was not dangerous, animals could be kept away, and fire-signals made at night. Life was certainly brighter!
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