AT VEVAY 



39 



in memory of other days. In the year 1895, the 

 writer partook of its fruit, which was clearly that 

 of the Catawba ; and so the vine could not have 

 been one of the original plantation, as tradition as- 

 serts it to be. Aime, son of the Mererods, a hale and 

 reminiscent man of eighty years, is now (1895) the 

 sole survivor of the grape -growing era of the col- 

 ony. He lives at Vevay, where he is the oracle of 

 local history. 



Nearly a mile in the rear of the main thoroughfare 

 which follows the river, and part way up the sharp 

 declivity of the skirting bluff, the house of John 



. y ..-:;. . ^:?-:^^ i**--- 



.. 



^^*^ -^' 



Site of one of the original vineyards (Jean Daniel Mererod), 

 at Vevay, 1895. 



Francis Dufour still stands, in good repair (Fig. 9). 

 The original house, which he built in 1809, was made 

 of logs, and has perished, but the present structure 

 was built in the very early days. A grandson of 

 John Francis Dufour, and himself a gray -haired 

 man, is now a prominent figure in Vevay. 



