96 



RAISINS AND OTHER 



field frequently bears at the same time a triple crop; 

 first is a triple or quadruple row of vines, then an open 

 space from 6 to 1^ feet wide, under corn or legumes 

 (and I could not but observe the garden pea several 

 inches above the soil, and perfectly uninjured, notwith- 

 standing the severity of the late frosts) ; lastly, there is 

 with every third row of vines, a row of olives, and not 

 unfrequently the whole is surrounded by a hedge of 

 mulberries. I'he same system is pursued on the sides of 

 hills so steep, that it is necessary at every 12 feet to have 

 a wall three feet in height. Notwithstanding the natural 

 ruggedness and poverty of this country, it appears to 

 be every where teeming with a fine, healthy, and well 

 fed population. 



Between 11 and 12 o'clock I arrived at the house of 

 M. Brest, the gentleman to whom, in the absence of the 

 Mayor, M. Negrel had given me a letter. Besides being 

 a proprietor of land, M. Brest is an extensive soap manu- 

 facturer and merchant ; his premises are very extensive, 

 and comprise a great variety of accommodation. In 

 several of the rooms on the ground floor, women were 

 employed in packing raisins into boxes and frails, similar 

 in every respect to those used at Malaga, and the prices 

 of the raisins appeared also to approach very near to 

 those of that place. 



The first quality is made from the Pause, or Passe, a 

 largish white grape, but by no means so large as some 

 others. The skin is rather fine than hard; the bunches 

 are sometimes very large, although M. Brest informed 

 me, that they are reduced in drying to one-fourth of 

 their original weight. The second quality is from the 

 Arignan: the raisins of this grape are equally well 

 flavoured, and keep as well, but are smaller. When the 



