74 



COLLIOURE AND 



and arrived at about seven at Collioure, where I stopped 

 for the night. -From Perpignan in this direction (south- 

 east) the soil is richer than I have elsewhere observed it 

 in the neighbourhood of Perpignan. Though there is 

 here and there a vineyard, the land is generally under 

 corn or meadow. Two or three miles before reaching 

 Collioure the country begins to ascend towards the Pyre- 

 nees, on the tops of which, bordering the ocean, are still 

 to be seen some towers built by the Moors when masters 

 of this part of the country. No sooner do the hilis begin 

 to rise than the cultivation of the vine begins also, and 

 the first ranges of the mountains are covered with it to 

 their very tops. 



Saturday, Idtli. — After breakfast this morning I walked 

 over to Port Vendre, and waited upon Mr. Mas, the 

 agent of Messrs. Durand. The road from Colhoure 

 winds from hill to hill along the shore. The hills are 

 exactly similar in form and structure to those of Malaga : 

 a shale or schist, with a slaty gravel, plentifully mixed 

 through the soil. Mr. Mas conducted me over the hills 

 in the neighbourhood of the town, which are planted 

 wdth great regularity and beauty in terraces from 6 to 18 

 feet wide, according to the slope of the hill. The ter- 

 races are made to follow the different curves taken by the 

 hills, and are divided by channels to allow of the passage 

 of the water. It is a stated part of the labour to carry 

 up the soil from the lower part of the terrace, wheiyt it 

 has been stopped by the small stone walls, to the higher 

 part. 



In planting these hills they break up the ground only 

 to the depth of eight or nine inches, and as they take out 

 a great number of stones, the depth of the soil remaining 

 is not more than six inches. They then bore a hole in the 



