Croix, on which account this harbour is leſs frequented.
M. de Cologant's wine-vaults were an object well worthy of our attention; as the wines of the iſland are the principal commodity in which this opulent merchant trades.
Amongſt the different kinds of wine which they contain, there are two ſorts that have qualities very diſtinct from each other; namely, the ſack, or dry wine, and that which is commonly known by the name of malmſey. In the preparation of the latter, care is taken to concentrate its ſaccharine principle as much as poſſible.
The price of the beſt wine was then 120 piaſtres per pipe, and that of the inferior ſort 60 piaſtres. It is neceſſary however to remark, that I here ſpeak only of the price at which it is ſold to ſtrangers; for the ſame wine which they buy at 60 piaſtres the pipe, is ſold to the inhabitants of the iſland for ſix and thirty.
When the fermentation of theſe wines has proceeded to a certain length, it is the cuſtom to mix with them a conſiderable quantity of brandy, which renders them ſo heady, that many perſons are unable to drink them, even in very moderate quantity, without feeling diſagreeable effects upon the nervous ſyſtem from this admixture.
We were aſſured that the iſland generally yields
thirty
