124 THE BRAZILS. 
own consumption. It lias indeed been pretended bj some, 
and believed by man}", that the gvapes which are produced 
in North or South America are totally unfit for the making 
of wine ; but the people of Rio de Janeiro are sufficiently 
convinced of the contrary, and consider the prohibition as 
not one of the least grievances under which they labour. The 
grapes here are remarkably large and juicy, and it is too ab- 
surd to suppose for a moment that good grapes will ndt make 
good wine. A much better reason may be assigned for the 
cause of this restriction. The Portugal Company, as it is 
usually called, pays to the CroAvn an annual sum for the 
privilege of the monopoly ; and the consequence of this is 
that a bottle of good port wine costs in the sea-port towns of 
the Brazils a dollar, and in the interior not less than two 
dollars. That the fat soils of America are too heavy for a 
succulent plant, which will vegetate freely in dry sand or 
rubbish, may be easily conceived ; but that the vine should 
not grow as well in America as in the barren soils of the 
island of Madeira or the Cape of Good Hope, if planted in 
proper situations, is too absurd to be mentioned. I shall be 
told, perhaps, on high authority, that not only plants but 
men and brute animals have been found to degenerate, on 
being transplanted to America. If the fact were true, which 
may fairly be questioned, even this will admit of an explana- 
tion on very simple and natural principles. The most un- 
healthy countries are those where cultivation has been least 
extended, and wlicre the exuberant products of a fertile soil 
and a warm climate have been left to a spontaneous decom- 
position on tlie surface by the putrefactive feimentation. 
The mcphitic vapour, or liydro-carbonous gas, perpetually 
