THE BURGUNDY WINE DISTRICT. 39 



nap. After dressing we went through several of the squares or 

 rolondes of the city (there arc none of any regular form). There 

 arc to bo found several fine fountains, and in the east half square 

 a group of well-exeeutcd statues. There is a monk on the sum- 

 mit, supported by the figures of monks, popes, etc. The repre- 

 sentation wc could not make out. From these we went and in- 

 spected the interior of the Cathedral, the market, etc. 



During our walk I saw several vines trained up to the second 

 story windows of a house, and very heavily laden with grapes ; 

 a fair estimate would be seventy to eighty pounds to the vine. 

 But what surprised me was that the grajDe-vine was planted so 

 close to the house that the wall must rest upon half of its root, 

 while on the other side are laid the heavy stones of the pavement, 

 which must have rested there already many years. This is a 

 positive proof that after a certain age a vine can live and bear a 

 quantity of fruit without being hoed, or the ground loosened 

 around its roots. These vines must be at least fifteen, twenty, 

 or perhaps fifty years old. The leaves and fruit are large and 

 healthy -looking. Upon pointing out the above to Arpad, he told 

 me that a man named Eose had paved his vineyard as an experi- 

 ment, but his successor, laughing at the idea, had the stones taken 

 up, so that the experiment was never made. When I return 

 home I will try it with vines of different ages. If it should suc- 

 ceed it would be a great economy, and the grapes resting on stone 

 would be clean, and could not impart a ground taste to the wine 

 from the quantity of dust which sometimes is ujDon them. 



From these we went to the market. Here we found women 

 sitting on both sides of the street selling fruit, vegetables, earthen- 

 ware, etc. Leaving this noisy, and, I must eoiifess, dirty -looking 

 street, we turned into a covered market, where the women sell 

 butter, cheese, etc. At the end of this market is a very , large, 

 ancient building, also filled with female venders of meats, fish, 

 vegetables, etc. Here the noise reached its height, and resembled 

 the hoarse roar of the Niagara Falls. Driven out by the old 

 cheese and various other perfumes, we left to seek a more quiet 

 and cleaner place. 



I here found with astonishment that the fruit was inferior to 

 that of California. The markets of San Francisco, Sacramento, 

 Marysville, even the mining towns, produce a finer display of fruit 

 than these large venerable towns. The reader must not suppose 

 that I am influenced by partiality for my own State when I make 



