VINES AND VINEYARDS. 349 



grease, and lauded by those who affect a most delicate disgust to 

 olive oil, the use of which would make pastry more beautiful to the 

 eye, and much less pernicious as food. It only shews that habit will 

 reconcile the taste to anything ; but, it seems rather absurd, that the 

 people who indulge in such dainties as salted butter and melted 

 swines' fat, should laugh at the barbarous Russian, who licks his lips 

 over rusks and train-oil ; or the more interesting savage of Esquimaux, 

 who gloats with true unctuous delight over his feast of entrails and 

 blubber. 



Mr. Busby then visits Rivesaltes, famous for its production of the 

 sweet wine called Muscat ; he then returns to Perpignan, and inspects 

 the depot of horses belonging to the French government, bought for 

 the purpose of improving the breed of France ; likewise a flock of 

 merino sheep and some goats of Cashmere. 



We must pass over many interesting accounts of the Botanic Gar- 

 dens, Montpelier, the nursery at Tarascon, the dried fruits of Pro- 

 vence, observing by the way that 



" The quantity of figs which the inhabitants dried formerly was their 

 principal produce, but now each proprietor only gathers about 40 quintals, 

 (4,000 pounds), not more than enough for the consumption of his own 

 family ! !" 



We now proceed to the Hermitage and Burgundy wines. Mr. 

 Busby has an introduction to Messrs. Richard, wine merchants and 

 bankers, at Tournon, from whom he has all the information he re- 

 quires. Here he finds the old game still carried on : 



" The finest Clarets of Bourdeaux are mixed with a portion of the finest 

 red wine of Hermitage, and four-fifths of the quantity of the latter which 

 is produced are thus employed. The wines are racked off the lees in 

 spring, and sulphured. A very small piece of sulphured match is burnt in 

 the casks intended for the white wine ; the red wine requires a greater 

 portion. These matches are purchased from persons who make a business 

 in preparing them. They are slips of paper, about one inch and a half 

 broad, and when coated on both sides with sulphur, are about the thickness 

 of a sixpence. A piece of one inch and a half square is sufficient for a cask 

 of white wine containing 50 gallons." 



Then follows a description of the celebrated Hermitage vineyards: 



" The hill of Hermitage is so called from an ancient hermitage, the 

 ruins of which are still in existence near its top. It was inhabited by her- 

 mits till within the last 100 years. The hill, though of considerable height, 

 is not of great extent ; the whole front which looks to the south may con- 

 tain 300 acres, but of this, though the whole is under vines, the lower part 

 is too rich to yield those of the best quality, and a part near the top is too 

 cold to bring its produce to perfect maturity. Even of the middle region 

 the whole extent does not produce the finest wines. M. Machon, the gen- 

 tleman whose property we were traversing, pointed out to me the direction 

 in which a belt of calcareous soil crossed the ordinary granitic soil of the 

 mountain, and he said it requires the grapes of these different soils to be 

 mixed, in order to produce the finest quality of Hermitage. I took home 

 a portion of the soil which he pointed out as calcareous, and the degree of 

 effervescence which took place on my pouring vinegar upon it, indicated 

 the presence of a considerable portion of lime. It is probably to this pecu- 

 liarity that the wine of Hermitage owes its superiority, for to all appear- 



