BOOK XIV. III. 12-15 



being hung on such a lofty gibbet ! There is an Italian 

 tree ° on the other side of the Po called the rumpot- 

 inus, or by another name the opulus, the broad circular 

 stories of which are covered by vines which spread out 

 with their bare snaky growth to where the tree forks 

 and then throw out their tendrils along the upraised 

 fingers of the branches. Also vines when propped up 

 with stakes about as tall as a man of middle height 

 make a shaggy growth and form a whole vineyard 

 from a cutting, by the unconscionable creeping of 

 their rods and the rambUng of their tendrils over 

 all the empty gaps, completely filhng the middle of a 

 courtyard. So many are the different varieties that 

 even Italy alone harbours. 



In some of the provinces the vine stands by itself Varietiesnf 

 without any prop, gathering its hmbs together inward %^/lg"J^ 

 and providing nutriment for thick growth by means 

 of their shortness. In other places this is prohibited 

 by the wind, for instance, in Africa and in parts of 

 the province of Narbonne, where vines are prevented 

 from growing beyond their pruned stumps and 

 always resemble plants that are hoed, straying across 

 the fields hke herbaceous plants and drinking up the 

 juice of the soil with their grapes as they go ; and 

 consequently in the interior of Africa the clusters ex- 

 ceed the body of an infant child in size. In no other 

 country are the vines harsher, but nowhere else have 

 the grapes a more agreeable firmness, which is very 

 possibly the source of the name ' hard grape.' As to 

 varieties in respect of size, colour and flavours of the 

 berry they are innumerable and they are actually 

 multiphed by the varieties of wine : in one district 

 they have a brilhant purple colour, in another a rosy 

 glow or a glossy green tint; for grapes that are 



^95 



