THE VINE AND CIVILISATION. 59 
wine, and yet was anxious, like a true son of his church, to 
maintain the appearance of being a good and true believer, 
knowing that this was all about which he need trouble himself ; 
the great difficulty being to gratify his anti-Mahomedan desires 
and preserve his reputation for holiness. 
China. Grape wine is spoken of in the annals of China 
long before the birth of Christ, and was always esteemed there 
the ‘‘ wine of honour,’’ yet mandates have been issued at vari- 
ous periods for rooting up the vines, until the grape vine is 
almost forgotten. ‘The wholesome product of the vine is now 
superseded by the use of opium—a drug the habitual use of 
which is almost as bad in its moral results as the immoderate 
use of alcoholic drinks in our own country. 
The Japanese cultivate only one variety of the European 
grape; the art of making wine from grapes is not understood 
in Japan, and they have no vineyards, but simply a few vines 
around their dwellings. There are several species of wild 
vines in Japan, producing small, dense bunches of black ber- 
ries, of an agreeable, slightly acid flavour when ripe. 
AUSTRALIA. 
The vine has ‘been introduced into New South Wales, and 
other parts of the Australasian Continent, in all its varieties, 
and wine of a fair quality made. The climate is admirably 
adapted to the vine, and it may be presumed that when the 
cultivation and management is well understood, a product of 
value may be supplied for home use if not for exportation. In 
1849 eleven hundred and twenty acres produced 101,000 gal- 
lons of wine and 1,781 gallons of brandy. 
AFRICA 
No longer boasts of the Mareotie wine of ancient Egypt, so 
famed in historic times. It is only at European settlements 
