92 GKATE CULTURE AND WINE-MAKING. 



wine. The white is not so good, being more sweet and stronger. 

 Champagne is also made from these grapes. 



Leaving Asti, the land continues to be undulating, and the vine- 

 yards are the same until Solero. Gelezzano has the same wine 

 as Asti in the plains, but mulberry-trees and grain are the chief 

 produce ; still, the vines never fail, and abundantly remunerate 

 the planter. Not the slightest attention is paid to the selection 

 of grapes or their fermentation. I understand, however, that there 

 is a gentleman who has attended to wine-making, and that he was 

 successful in making a generous wine. I will return to Asti, dis- 

 cover his whereabouts, and get as much information as possible, 

 for the Asti vines will improve on our red soil. 



After leaving Solero we entered a large plain, extending as 

 far as the eye can reach. This plain is all planted with mulber- 

 ry-trees. We passed the strong Fort Alexandria and several 

 small villages ; but darkness soon set in, and I could see nothing 

 of the country. We also passed through several tunnels, some 

 of them four or five miles long, judging from the time it took us 

 to pass through. 



At half past nine in the evening we arrived in Genoa, and 

 were taken to the ancient building now occupied by the Hotel 

 Feder. The apartments are truly fine, from thirty to thirty -five 

 feet square, and finely arched, the ceiling being twenty feet high 

 in the centre. It is also frescoed, and the walls are painted in the 

 same. The cornices are finely gilded, and the rooms contain 

 niassive ancient furniture. 



Sei^temher 7. — After writing my journal I began to make in- 

 quiries as to where I could see silk manufactories and where con- 

 tract for vines. The accommodating host promised to furnish me 

 to-morrow with all the necessary introductions, so there was noth- 

 ing left to do but to roam through this old city, the birthplace 

 of Columbus. 



It has a fine inclosed harbor, where lie hundreds of small craft 

 trading on the coast. The wharves are scenes of busy confusion. 

 Men half naked are here employed from morning till night in 

 loading and unloading vessels, and drawing heavy weights on a 

 car on low wheels. They do immense labor ; still, their earnings 

 are very small. 



From tlie quay I turned my steps to the interior of the city, 

 which I found beyond description — the streets about six to eight 

 feet wide, very irregular; the houses on each side five and six 



