Source: Melita Historica : A Scientific Review of Maltese History. 13(2000)1(97-98)

[p.97] John Debono, Trade and Port Activity in Malta 1750-1800, MALTA 2000, 266 pp; ISBN: 99909-68-77-2

John Debono must be congratulated for presenting this important work about the role of the Grand Harbour of Malta for the years 1750-1800. Three different flags of three different nations were hoisted in the Grand Harbour in quick succession between 1798 and 1800. During those two hectic years the harbour witnessed the disruption of all mercantile activities which had been so well established under the Order of St John. With the establishment of British Rule in Malta the Grand Harbour was to regain its importance. Old types of small lateen-rigged merchant ships were to disappear from the harbour and their place was taken up by the latest brigs and barks built according to British standards.

            The expert and professional appoach of Dr Debono can be judged by the valuable information he presents. This was well sieved from a huge amount of primary sources. He must have applied a careful selective method vis-a-vis the archival material he consulted in various places. Debono touched vital topics for further study of the harbour such as anchorage, the macina, passenger boats, quarantine facilities and fishing restrictions. It, for example, emerges that the civil arsenal situated behind Senglea catered for all merchant ships not belonging to the Order. References to such localities and to the apprenticeship system of craftsmen like carpenters, caulkers, blockmakers and others, together with the names of the principal shipbuilders of the period like Scolaro are of the utmost importance. He gives a good account of the working of the local merchant ships when he refers to ownerships, the role of masters, the chartering of vessels and the recruitment of crews. When referring to the endemic problem of acquiring timber for ship-building purposes, Debono discovered essential references which will open the eyes of all those who opt to research further into the problem.

            Debono managed to propose a chart of the ships that frequented the harbour like those hailing from Venice, Ragusa (Dubrovnic), Greece, the Two Sicilies, France and England. All this has laid the groundwork for further studies in marine insurance, risks at sea and companies.

            The tables presented occupy 127 out of the total of 266 pages of the book. If, at first sight, this seems to be an unbalanced content of the volume, yet, when examined carefully, the author has made available precious information which otherwise would have taken researchers a lot of their time to obtain from the primary sources. The specialist more than welcomes such details as the lengths of a xprunara or that of a martingana found in the tables, just to mention one point of interest. The classification of the available tables is a ready-reckoner to the many facets of the study of the Grand Harbour. The few well-chosen pictures greatly enhance the presentation of the book which should earn a place in all libraries and should appeal [p.98] to the general public.

            Unfortunately it is quite natural to come across unavoidable and very minor mistakes in similar works which entail an enormous amount of time to check all the details. In the case of the locally-originating xprunara I would have preferred to see it written in Maltese instead of speronara (Italian). When referring to the 1555 incident in the Grand Harbour, Bosio, (iii, 366) mentions four galleys that were involved in the incident mentioned by author. The shipbuilding yard of the Order located behind Senglea was a different establishement from the Parco delle Navi which comprised the sea area in front of the stores of the ships at Bormla. The number of bolli referred to in connection with the imported planks of wood qualify the rating of excellence of the timber and not its length.

            The period chosen by Debono presents the researcher with the difficulty of having to choose his material from a lot of written primary information available in Malta. The painstaking research by the author which is the result of long years of steady work has resulted in an exhaustive and scholarly survey which is a milestone in the study of our magnificent Grand Harbour.

Joseph Muscat