Goats' Cheese. 225 



Spicer, who whilst travelling in the south-west of France 

 in 1908 had occasion to stop in the Department of Isere, 

 whence he sent me an account not only of the process 

 he witnessed, but of his adventures on the journey. This 

 account is so interesting and so charmingly written that 

 I am induced to publish it here in extenso : 



11 On arriving at my destination I consulted mine host 

 of the ' Pomme d'Or,' who had been summoned from his 

 afternoon sleep by the ostler-potboy. After much curiosity 

 and some display of mistrust, he undertook to drive me 

 to the farm of a friend of his in the hills with whom he 

 was carrying on a long-drawn-out and greatly-enjoyed 

 haggling over the price of a butt of wine. ' Madame,' 

 he said, ' makes the best wine and cheese in Isere. En 

 route, camarade. ' Please notice mine host's demeanour 

 has changed under the influence of a ' bock ' and a call 

 for his best cigars. We mounted into a sorry old chaise 

 that was first cousin to the one in which Mr. Pickwick 

 drove to Mr. Wardle's (the horse being dear at a 

 napoleon per leg), but the sun was shining, and the valley, 

 with the snow-topped Alps in the distance, hummed with 

 life of late spring ; and who is not happy when indulging 

 his hobby ? 



" Half a mile from the village we came up with our 

 first herd of goats and goatlings, tended by an old woman. 

 Tney were enjoying the herbage of the bank which divided 

 two big fields; the old lady's lap was full of stones, and 

 if a goat dared to stray into the roots, an unerring flint 

 reminded it that ' trespassers were prosecuted. 7 



" Alpine type was the predominant one all through 

 this district, but the goats are bred from at a year old, 

 and the kids sent into the mountains to be reared. Five 

 francs for the nine months is the standard price paid to 

 the cottagers in the mountains, and for this they throw in 

 a little hay. 



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