In her letter about the quarantine hospital, Laura Clark gave some useful information. Unfortunately she made two statements with which I beg to differ. Old maps of Malta clearly show that the first building was the "Palace".

I am not aware of its original intention and use; it could have been a summer resort or hunting lodge. It was an ideal isolated place for any Knight to have his "fun". This is even more so as the Lazzaretto would have obscured part of the view of the fort, which was against engineering practices of that era.

Regarding the photo accompanying the said letter I can assure Ms Clark that it must have been taken by not later than the early 1990s. The warehouse shown forms part of the Lazzaretto building (behind the tall arches). The "skylights" in fact had been provided with a cover but vandals had demolished those structures. The vaulted roof was in a very dangerous state due to the high temperature caused by arson. I had managed to clear the warehouses of all combustible materials to avoid any further damage.

I am currently working on my "Memories of Manoel Island". The first draft has been forwarded to Prof. Alex Torpiano (aoM Partnership) for his comments before it is published.

Finally I must stress that Fort Manoel will never achieve its full pristine glory unless the mound covering two fuel tanks is removed so as to expose the original escarpment.