112 



COTE D OR. 



my departure this morning, and Chagny, a small town, 

 where commences the range of hills called Cote Or, 

 was crowded with people driving cattle and pigs ; a gen- 

 tleman who was with me in the diligence said they were 

 going to a fair at Chagny. I observed a number of very 

 fine working oxen, in pairs; they were yoked by the head, 

 and appeared perfectly docile. My companion said they 

 were worth from 300 to 400 francs a pair. I had a letter 

 of introduction addressed to Rully, near Beaune, and I 

 never doubted that I should find it within a mile of that 

 town. On making inquiry, however, in which direction 

 I must proceed, I was informed that Rully was 13 or 14 

 miles distant, and that I had passed it by on the road 

 from Chalons. After some hesitation, I resolved, as the 

 weather was extremely wet, to content myself with seeing 

 the vineyards nearer Dijon, to which town I had also a 

 letter. After waiting a couple of hours in hopes of better 

 weather, I procured a boy to conduct me in the direction 

 of Pornard, the nearest vineyard to Beaune, which has 

 any celebrity. After leaving the town, however, for about 

 half a mile, I became tired of walking through the mud, 

 which was in many places ankle deep, and turned aside to 

 join some men who were at work on the road-side. The 

 first thing which had struck me on seeing the vineyards 

 of Burgundy, was the extreme closeness and feebleness 

 of the plants. These men were employed in planting. 

 They opened a small furrow with a spade, only one spit, 

 or about twelve inches, deep, and about nine inches wide 

 at the bottom. The furrows were ^\ feet apart, and the 

 plants were placed in them at the distance of 14 or 15 

 inches ; the lower end of the plant was placed across the 

 bottom of the furrow, and bent up at one side, a quantity 

 of dung was placed above, and then the soil was covered 



