133 



The miiscadel wine is, according to Ulloa, of as 

 good a quality as the best of Spain.* These wines 

 are in general very strong, and great quantities are 

 used for distilling brandy. The vintage takes place 

 in the months of April and May. About twenty 

 years since some vines of a black muscadel grape, 

 of an excellent quality, were discovered in the val- 

 lies of the Andes, and from thence transplanted into 

 the other provinces. As these vallies had never been 

 inhabited, and until that time no such grape had been 

 known in any other part of the country, it is difficult 

 to determine whether it is a native of Chili or brought 

 from Europe. It has besides some peculiarities that 

 distinguish it, as the leaves being more indented, 

 and the clusters perfectly conical, while the grapes 

 grow so close to each other as to render it impossi- 

 ble to detach one without crushing several. 



All the European fruit trees yield abundantly, and 

 their fruit is as fine in Chili as in their native coun- 

 try.! The greater part are also remarkable for their 

 numbers and the increase of their size. In the south- 

 ern provinces are forests of apple and quince trees 

 from three to four leagues in extent, from whence 



* Chili has in no less abundance grapes of various kinds, and 

 among them those which produce a wine more highly valued ia 

 Peru than any other ; it is mostly red, and a muscadel is also 

 made, which in its smell and the delicjousness of its taste surpasses 

 any kind known in Spain. — Ulloa'' s Voyage. 



t The plain of Quiilota is very pleasant, We were there af 

 the ti:ne of the carnival, which occurs in that country in the be- 

 ginning of autumn, and were much surprised to see a great quan- 

 tity of all kinds of the best European fruit trees which have been 

 transplanted thither. They all produced in abundance, particu- 

 larly the peaches, of which there were large thickets, while the- 



