VINE IN ITALY. 79 



$0 be the pleasanter wine, being free from the 

 astringency common to the red wines of Italy. 

 It is the cultivation of that part of the country 

 traversed by the Simplon road, with which I am 

 more familiar. The village of Domo d'Ossola, 

 the first Italian hamlet at the foot of the* Alps on 

 entering the Milanese, is the threshold of that 

 vine growing country, though, from a proximity 

 to the mountain, the seasons of the district are 

 irregular, and therefore the vine can hardly be 

 expected to possess the superiority belonging so 

 generally to the southern climate. The plain, 

 at the commencement of which this village is 

 situated, is fertile to an extraordinary degree, and 

 in passing the road thence, on approaching the 

 little town of Baveno, on the Lago Maggiore, the 

 whole country may be termed a vineyard, as in 

 all the cultivations, whether of corn or grass, 

 the vine is introduced, forming a prominent 

 feature of agriculture. 



From this point to Milan the vine abounds, 

 and to wander at leisure through the country, in 

 the height of the vintage, is to riot in pleasure, 

 realizing all that the most ardent imagination can 

 conceive of the festival of Pomona. 



I have seen at noon a number of donkeys re- 

 leased at the vineyard from the labours of trans- 

 portation, each with his head half buried in the 

 embouchure of a cask, surcharged with the de- 

 licious fruit, devouring with avidity the newly 

 gathered grapes, and a stream of sweets flowing 

 from either side of his mouth. I cannot recur to 

 the incident, without an active sympathy in the 



