ee 
148 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE BOTANY OF [ Ampelidece. 
grapes are ripened as fruit, dried as raisins, and converted into wine. Thus, in Kuna- 
wur, between N. lat. 31° and 32°, or nearly that of Madeira, where elevation produces 
the same moderation of temperature, that is, in the latter, the consequence of its insular 
situation, we have luxuriant vineyards between 9,000 and 10,000 feet of elevation, with 
grapes of delicious flavour, which the moderation of temperature in September allows of 
being converted into wine, and the dryness (v. p. 34) to be preserved as raisins, Two 
degrees further north, or in the valley of Cashmere, at an elevation of 5,500 feet, we 
have grapes both excellent and plentiful, as we learn from both Mr. Foster and Mr. 
Moorcroft. The latter says, that ‘‘ many thousands of acres skirting the foot of the hills, 
are covered with apple and pear trees in full bearing, but without owners.” (Jour. of 
Geog. Society, 1. p. 241 and 253.) My plant collectors expressed their admiration, 
by describing the fruit-trees as forming a perfect jungle in Cashmere. The moderation 
of temperature, with the existence of moisture, has been mentioned at p. 27, as account- 
ing for the magnitude attained by many species of European genera. This will also 
explain the great size of the vines, which Mr. Moorcroft informs us, ‘scales the summit 
of the poplar,” as well as for the want of a fine flavour, observed in the grapes brdtght 
to India, packed in layers of cotton. At Khoten, also, the vine is’ described by Mr. 
Moorcroft as being very productive. The different kinds of raisins called monukka, 
kishmish, and bedana, are brought chiefly from Istaulik. At Cabool, nearly in the same 
latitude, but more to the eastward than Cashmere, and elevated 6,000 feet, the grapes 
are described by Lieut. Burnes to be so plentiful, as to be given for three months to 
cattle. They are also abundant at Bokhara, and in both places are c mnverted into wine, 
and dried as raisins. Astrakhan, in 46° of N. latitude, seems to be the most northern 
point in Asia where the grape thrives, and there the vineyards are described as being 
numerous, Every traveller mentions the grapes and wine of Persia. Dr. Ainslie 
says, it was from thence, as well as from the banks of the Rhine, that grape-plants were 
originally sent to the Cape of Good Hope, and that some of these from Persia now 
produce the red and white Constantia. This is generally considered the only good wine 
from that settlement. Dr. Ainslie thinks highly of the Madeira, made from the groene 
druyf; but Pontac is also a good and verysound wine. The Persians, it may be added, 
claim the discovery of wine, and call it suhr-i-khoosh, or the delightful poison.* — “4 
Vitis 
* It may not be uninteresting to mention, that in the northern provinces of India, where we have at one 
season a climate analogous to that of European latitudes, and at another a degree of heat which is never 
attained even within the tropics, the only wines which are relished, after the stimulus of a single glass of 
Madeira, are the light Clarets of France, or the Hock of Germany ; while in the cold weather Port is fre- 
quently drank, though never seen at any other season of the year, upless sometimes during the moisture of 
a damp situation in the rains ;—showing that climate influences the taste of northern nations for the 
stronger wines, rather than the habit one regrets to see ascribed to the English in a work generally of 
much research, published only during the present year: “Les Anglois ne boivent guére que des vins 
alcoholisés, ils trouvent les naturels trop doux ou trop faibles, ce qui ne doit pas étonner de gens qui usent, 
a leurs repas ordinaires, de l’eau de vie coupe de moitié d’eau, en place de vin.”—Dict. de Mat. Med. tom. vi. 
p. 935. Paris 1834. 7. 
