CANARY ISLANDS. 115 



Stones upon which they rest. In some instances, the vines 

 are trained over lattice-work, forming delightful arbors, but 

 their fruit is less delicious than when ripened the other 

 way. 



The vintage occurs from the middle to the last of Sep- 

 tember, when the peasantry of both sexes are engaged in 

 gathering the fruit and making wine. The extemporane- 

 ous song resounds throughout the valley, and the laborer 

 keeps time to his tune, and all seems less like a scene of 

 labor than a gay festival. The process of making wine 

 is similar to that practised in Madeira, the Azores, or most 

 of the countries of Europe. The grapes are first cut from 

 the vines, and conveyed to the press, which consists of a 

 large vat holding forty or fifty bushels. As soon as the 

 vat is completely filled with the fruit, four or five of the la- 

 boring men enter it, bare-legged, and tread the grapes until 

 they are quite broken. In the mean time, the principal 

 part of the juice is expressed and conveyed into proper 

 vessels, and afterwards to the wine-cellar, where it is put 

 into large casks in order to undergo the process of fer- 

 mentation. The remaining grapes are subjected to heavy 

 pressure, which deprives them of the rest of their juice, 

 which is conveyed away as the former. The wine in this 

 state is very like new cider, but more insipid to the taste ; 

 but after being fermented and receiving a due portion of 

 alcohol, it receives that flavor as when remitted to us. 



Another considerable source of industry is the produc- 

 tion of barilla. This substance, though generally thought 

 to be a mineral, from the form it assumes, is made from a 

 species of plant, (SaJsola soda. Lix.) It thrives best 

 on the cliffs near the ocean, and seems to be possessed 

 with the property of decomposing the salt-water, which is 

 conveyed to it in the form of vapors or spray, in separat- 

 ing the muriatic acid from the soda, the latter of which, it 

 absorbs. Its seed is sown in winter, and the period for 

 gathering it usually begins about the end of July or the early 

 part of August. The weeds are first torn up by the roots 

 and thrown into large pits dug in the earth, and after being 

 suffered partially to dry, they are set on fire, and the alkali 

 contained in them, flows in a liquid state from the bottom 

 of the pit. This liquid, on cooling, hardens into large. 



