An Excerpt from "Last Days of MAST & SAIL", by Sir Alan Moore, originally published in 1925, in which he describes the various vessels he encountered in his travels: "When a ship comes to her berth in the Grand Harbour at Valetta she is surrounded by a throng of boats as different from anything English as is the country in which they invite the newcomer to land. ... They are nearly always manned by two rowers who stand facing forward. ... These craft are called 'dghaisas', 'dghaisa', pronounced 'dysa', being merely the Maltese for boat."