30 INTRODUCTION. 



in the Canton of Vaud, on the distant extremity 

 of the lake of Geneva. 



In a favourable season, both these wines, 

 though essentially different in character, are 

 good ; but yet I believe few of the Swiss pro- 

 prietors profess that their quality is equal to the 

 wines of Malaga, which, with us, unquestionably 

 rank as mediocre productions of the vine. 



The proportion of red wines made in the 

 Canton of Geneva is small. The white grape 

 prospers more generally in their unequal climate. 

 Both, however, are of a quality so inferior, that 

 the slender resources of that beautiful country 

 can alone account for the cultivation of the vine, 

 to the extent to which it exists among them. 



In the family of the Swiss peasant, wine is es- 

 sential, and supercedes the use of tea, coffee, or 

 other stimulating beverage. Inferior, therefore, 

 in quality as their wines unquestionably are, 

 they are sold at a price, giving in many parts of 

 the country a value to the lands, which, but for 

 the vine, would be a waste, unfit for cultivation. 



It is the absence of foreign commerce, pro- 

 ducing a system of exchange betwixt neighbour- 

 ing nations, which alone may explain why the 

 Swiss do not import the fine wines of France on 

 one side of their country, and of Italy on their 

 southern border, in preference to drinking the 

 meagre productions of their own vine grounds. 

 Their country produces nothing to give in ex- 

 change, and they have not in general the means 

 to pay for them. But they have in a great de- 

 gree the virtue of contentment ; and if they do 

 not offer to the stranger as good wines as their 



