46 GRzVPE CULTURE AND ^\^NE-:MAKING. 



fortress wliicli in olden times had its fortifications around the 

 town. These casemates are now used by the inhabitants as wine- 

 cellars. After descending a steep flight of steps about sixty feet 

 below the surface of the earth, an immense vault met our aston- 

 ished eyes. It was filled with barrels piled one upon the other. 

 We were led from vault to vault, which now contain but 4000 

 barrels of wine, but they are capable of holding 12,000. There 

 are also a few large hogsheads, which will hold forty-two bar- 

 rels of wine. The thickness of these walls are forty feet. Of 

 course, no private individual could build such a wall without its 

 costing him a million of dollars. Little did the founders of this 

 fort dream of the use to which their casemates would be put by 

 the succeeding generations. The vaults in Beaune are now the 

 best in the empire of France. 



Having visited all the places of note, we stopped at a book- 

 store and purchased the map of the surrounding vineyards, with 

 the produce of the district marked ; also two books of the dis- 

 trict containing statistics of wine-making, the number of acres 

 planted, their price, etc. After having freely conversed with the 

 overseers who make a great deal of wine, I shall be able to judge 

 whether the authors are theoretical or practical men. The maps 

 are very valuable, as they give the quality of the vineyards as 

 well as the nature of the soil, 



"We then started again for Dijon. The whole surrounding 

 country is planted with vines — the hills with the Pincau, and the 

 plains with the Gamai. Beaune is in the Prefecturate. It con- 

 tains about 4000 inhabitants, who are generally wealthy and well 

 to do. Much commerce is here carried on with foreign countries. 



August 12. — This morning we took the cars for Clos Yougeot. 

 We arrived there at noon, and immediately proceeded to the vine- 

 yard of the Clos. The steward very kindly gave us all the de- 

 sired information. He told me that those vineyards and houses 

 formerly belonged to the priests, who, finding that the vine did 

 well, planted the whole neighborhood. They also built the wine- 

 presses which he now uses. " These presses, four in number, were 

 erected in the year 1117 A.D., and have defied the ravages of 

 time. Their massive beams are sixty feet long, four and a half 

 feet thick, and three feet wide, with a large wooden screw about 

 eighteen inches thick and twelve feet high, still standing firm, 

 and promising to last many years more. 



There are in the press-house 86 tanks, containing 825 barrels, 



