8 ENGLAND TO RIO DE JANEIRO CHAP, i 



screw. By this means and this only they make their wine, 

 and by this probably Noah made his when he had newly 

 planted the first vineyard after the general destruction of 

 mankind and their arts, although it is not impossible that 

 he might have used a better, if he remembered the methods 

 he had seen before the flood. 



It was with great difficulty that some (and not as yet all) 

 of them were persuaded not long ago to graft their vines, 

 and by this means bring all the fruit of a vineyard to be of 

 one sort. Formerly the wine had been spoiled by various 

 inferior kinds of vines, which were nevertheless suffered to 

 grow, and taken as much care of as the best, because they 

 added to the quantity of the wine. Yet they were perfectly 

 acquainted with the use of grafting, and constantly practised 

 it on their chestnut trees, by which means they were brought 

 to bear much sooner than they would have done had they 

 been allowed to remain unimproved. 



Wheeled carriages I saw none of any sort or kind; 

 indeed their roads are so intolerably bad, that if they had 

 any they could scarcely make use of them. They have, 

 however, some horses and mules wonderfully clever in 

 travelling upon these roads, notwithstanding which they 

 bring every drop of wine to town upon men's heads in 

 vessels made of goat-skins. The only imitation of a carriage 

 which they have is a board slightly hollowed in the middle, 

 to one end of which a pole is tied by a strap of white 

 leather, the whole machine coming about as near the perfec- 

 tion of an European cart as an Indian canoe does to a boat ; 

 with this they move the pipes of wine about the town. I 

 suppose they would never have made use even of this had 

 not the English introduced vessels to contain the wine, 

 which were rather too large to be carried by hand, as they 

 used to do everything else. 



A speech of their late Governor is recorded here, which 

 shows in what light they are looked upon even by the 

 Portuguese (themselves, I believe, far behind all the rest of 

 Europe, except possibly the Spaniards). " It was very 

 fortunate," said he, " that the island was not Eden, in which 



