I refer you to a short article that appeared in your newspaper entitled Fort Rinella and the world’s largest muzzle-loading cannon (TMID, 7 April).

The reference to a visit by Jules Verne to Fort Rinella in 1889 and other information of this supposed visit to Malta is grossly inaccurate. Verne came to Malta in June 1884 and not in 1889. He was on an extensive Mediterranean tour aboard his private yacht Saint Michel III. Following a freak storm, he took refuge and anchored near Anchor Bay. His brother Paul and nephew Maurice decided to land ashore without prior permission and got arrested for a breach of Maltese Quarantine Regulations!

It could not be possible either that Rinella inspired him to write Voyage to the Moon. His popular novel From the Earth to the Moon was written between 1865-1866. There is a mention of a giant Maltese cannon in this novel but according to the writer this was to be found at St Elmo and belonged to the Knights of St John.

There is, however, a reference to the Rinella cannon in one of his later novels. In Mathias Sandorf, published in 1885, a whole chapter is devoted to Malta and its inhabitants. The writer is impressed by the island’s security. According to him, the Knights of St John had already made Malta very difficult to overcome, while the British made her impregnable.

Incidentally Malta receives a passing mention in some six other novels written by this evergreen prolific French author.

Joseph A. Filletti

St Julian’s

Editorial note: The information on the Fort Rinella cannon was taken directly from Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna’s (FWA) website, www.wirtartna.org. De la Terre à la Lune (From the Earth to the Moon) was published in 1865. FWA may have mistaken it for the film, Le Voyage dans la Lune (A Trip to the Moon) – screened in 1902 – based on Jules Verne’s story.