E. L. PERCY, ESQ. INVT. ET DEL.

CAROLINE CLAYTON. SO.

Engraved for Morewood'a History of Inebriating Liquon.

A

PHILOSOPHICAL AND STATISTICAL HISTORY

or THE
INVENTIONS AND CUSTOMS

OF

ANCIENT AND MODERN NATIONS

IN THE MANUFACTURE AND USE OF

INEBRIATING LIQUORS;

WITH THE

tywttite of Distillation in all its

TOGETHER WITH AN EXTENSIVE ILLUSTRATION OF THE

CONSUMPTION AND EFFECTS OF OPIUM,

AND OTHER STIMULANTS USED IN THE EAST, AS SUBSTITUTES
FOR WINE AND SPIRITS.

BY

SAMUEL MOREWOOD, ESQ.

COLLECTOR OF EXCI?F:.

DUBLIN :

WILLIAM CURRY, JUN. AND COMPANY, AND WILLIAM CARSON.

LONGMAN, ORME, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMANS, LONDON.
ERASER AND COMPANY, EDINBURGH.

1838.

rr

A? 6

DUBLIN :

PRINTED BY WILLIAM WARREN,
]40, CAFEL-STREET.

TO THE

RIGHT HONORABLE THE EARL OF RIPON,

THIS WORK

MOST RESPECTFULLY, DEDICATED,

BY

HIS LORDSHIP'S OBLIGED AND VERY OBEDIENT,

HUMBLE SERVANT,

THE AUTHOR.

PEEFACE.

FOURTEEN years having elapsed since the first publica
tion of this work, and the design having met the appro
bation of many respectable writers, the Author is
induced to offer to the public an improved edition,
amplified, extended, and rendered more worthy of atten
tion by the addition of new, original, and valuable
matter. Hopes were indeed entertained that, as this
was the first publication on a subject hitherto untouched
by any writer in the British empire, it would have excited
the curiosity and employed the talents and research of
other individuals more at leisure ; nothing, however,
during such a lapse of time, has been offered to the
public exactly on the plan of this undertaking.

In the London Dispensatory, quotations have been
made from this work, and the Author was a little
flattered to find his labours valued, and a portion of them
ingeniously condensed into the compass of a Table,
exhibiting, at one view, the numerous descriptions of
inebriating drinks, with the countries where, and the

VI PREFACE.

materials whereof they were made ; and which Table
has been since transcribed into other books. The design
and plan, as well as the execution of this work, have
been approved of by the late respected Dr. Duncan, of
Edinburgh, who, in his Dispensatory, was pleased to
rank it amongst the best publications on the subject,
whether foreign or domestic. Immediately after its
appearance, a History of Wines was published by Dr.
Henderson, founded on that of Sir Edward Barry fa
work of great research, labour, and industry, alike
creditable to his taste and talents) ; but that volume,
being solely confined to the subject of wines, did, by no
means, include the extensive views embodied within the
compass of this work. Since the appearance of Dr.
Henderson's book and that of the Author, several
publications have issued from the press, either modelled
on their plan, or derived from their matter and sources ;
yet none embracing the wide range taken in this publi
cation. Whatever may have been the opinions of the
limits or defects of the first edition, the Author presumes
that, while its original matter has been carefully preserved,
it has also been greatly increased from more extensive
and laborious researches, supplying every thing that
may render it useful to the merchant, interesting to the
speculatist, entertaining to the general reader, and
calculated to be a safe guide to the practical brewer and
distiller. To avoid interrupting the narrative, almost
the whole of the Tables have been thrown into an
Addenda, and in the body of the work those only have
been retained, which are either absolutely necessary to

PREFACE. Vll

illustrate the subject, or which afford to the man of
business a clear view of the various branches of com
merce connected with the wine and spirit trades. For
the same reason, as the work has not been divided into
chapters, a copious, introductory Table of Contents is
given, by which means the reader is at once guided to
the part wanted, while the Index affords a more minute
reference to details.

The processes of Brewing and Distilling, according
to the most approved modern methods, are, it is pre
sumed, so amply and intelligibly detailed, that by a
careful observance of the instructions given, any man
may become his own brewer or distiller, and may also
with confidence calculate on the probabilities of the
successful, or unsuccessful, result of his speculations.
To these important matters are added epitomes of the
laws, by which those trades have been and are still
governed, with the estimated advantages and disadvan
tages of their application.

Descriptions of the several instruments used by
Brewers, Distillers, Merchants, and Officers of the
Revenue, are given, with a statement of the principles
on which they are constructed, rendering their applica
tion easy and familiar to every capacity. The nature
and properties of alcohol are detailed, and the various
substances from which it may be obtained are minutely
described, with the relative value of the several vegetables
or other materials that yield it.

In the article on Opium and other vegetable inebriants,
great care has been taken to bring under review their

Vlll PREFACE.

effects and properties, whether resorted to as stimulants
to sensuality, or for medicinal uses, alike illustrative of
the general subject, and affording information to the
practical chemist, the botanical student, and the curious
observer of nature. While the evil consequences of
undue or irregular indulgences have been carefully
depicted and illustrated by appropriate anecdotes, strict
regard has been paid to their connexion with revealed
religion, and the laws that ought to regulate society,
whether in the Pagan, Mahometan, Jewish, or Christian
world. The efforts of Temperance Societies to prevent
the progress of immorality, arising from the frequent and
excessive use of intoxicating liquors, have been inci
dentally noticed, and although the detail may appear
to some irrelevant, it cannot fail to prove acceptable to
every person who has the well-being of his fellow-crea
tures at heart. Reference has also been made to the
policy adopted in various countries of deriving a revenue
from intoxicating liquors, the means employed in raising
that revenue are explained, while their effects, as regards
the community at large, are freely discussed.

On perusal of the Book, the learned reader will per
ceive the difficulties, which the Author has had to
encounter in collecting materials for so novel a publica
tion. Every quarter of the globe, it may be said, has
been laid under contribution to aid the undertaking ; and
the patient labours of scientific research have been pur
sued with indefatigable activity (during the scanty leisure
afforded by arduous official business), to render as com
plete and comprehensive as possible a subject, which, in

PREFACE. IX

the collection and arrangement of the materials, might
have wearied or discouraged more enterprising writers.
Having, however, brought the matter to a close, he
trusts the public will do him the justice to believe
that utility rather than pecuniary interest was the chief
object of his researches, since the volume has far
exceeded the bounds originally intended ; and, should he
prove so fortunate as to meet the approbation of the
learned and curious, he will feel, in a great measure,
repaid for the many difficulties he has had to encounter
in the composition of a work, by which he has beguiled
many a tedious hour, and sweetened many a solitary
evening.

It may be well to observe, that the desire to compress
the matter within the limits of a single volume, pre
vented the insertion of some practical calculations and
observations connected with brewing and distilling, which
will, however, be brought forward at a future period,
should the success of the present work warrant it.

8, Peter- Place, Dublin,
May, 1838.

CONTENTS.

Page
Early cultivation of the grape . . ...-..-. , . 1

Use of wine among the Hebrews . . , • > . 5

the Egyptians . . ;. . 7-50

the Greeks and Romans ;, , ^ ._. 6

Disquisition on the reputed knowledge of the Arabs and Saracens in

the practice of distillation . . . . ..23

Prohibition of wine, and anecdotes respecting its use, among the Mahometans 33
Liquors used by the Syrians . . • i .,f,£ . 45

- - the Nubians . . . . . 55^

— the Abyssinians . " -, , ,58

- other African nations . , . . . 63 \

the Persians . . . v .. 82

Observations on Opium and other exhilarating substances . ._ 96

Liquors used by the Tartars . . . » . 136

the people of India . , , ..151

Thibet . . . . .. 170

Bootan . . . . ;, .173

the Birman empire . . , . 174

Siam . . , . . 176

Nicobar Islands . . , .180

Ceylon . . .. > . ibid

Madagascar . . . -.' .. 167

Sumatra . . . . ' "... 191

Java . . ., .192

Phillippine Islands . ' . , . 200

Cochin- China and Tonquin f . . 202

China ..... 208

Japan . , . 238

Loo-Choo Islands . " , ; . 246

Polynesian Islands . , , .. 250

Australasia, embracing New Zealand and New

South Wales, &c. &c. . . 258__

Eastern Africa .^ .^ . . 268

Cape of Good Hope .... 270

St. Helena . . . . . 281_j

West Indian Islands . . . . 289

Mexico and Peru • . -f • 292

Chili ' . .y- -. . 307

— — Paraguay . . ...»,.« . 311

Brazil . 312 k

the Floridas 320

xii

CONTENTS

Liquors used of the United States

— - Canada . .

— — the Indian tribes

— - Canary Isles .

Madeira

Spain . ,

Portugal

-"" France . *

Italy . ' .

Isles of the Mediterranean .

— — Ionian Islands . .

Cyprus

— — Hungary . , '"'•'.

Provinces bordering on the Rhine

— — * Germany .

Switzerland
Holland

- - Hanover . . ,

- - — •• Prussia

Poland

- - Denmark . , „ *'

- - Iceland

- - Norway . . .

— — Sweden . . .

""* Lapland arid Finland .

Russia . . ;•"

- - Crimea .• ,- .

- - Georgia , : . ' .

- - Circassia . . ; . :

Siberia

- - Kamtschatka
-.-"** England

Scotland .

_ _ Ireland . . , ' • .

Addenda ......

Index ......

Page
325
341
349
357
358
361

'1576

-S5T

403

408

409

411

424

430

435

449

451

458

460

460

469

471

472

475

483

487

498

503

506

509

511

522

569

583

716

733

ERRATA.
Page 52, line 27, for mines, read wines.

307, ,
534,
541,
560,
632.
648,

10, for vine, read wine.
.. 2, for import, read impost.
.. 3, for Whitehead, read Whitbread.
.. 6, for progress, read produce.
.. 31, for 5,675, read 56.76.
.. 34, for chargers, read charges-
.. 36, for chprger, read charge-
.. 40, for rage, read range.
,. 14, for look read lock.

THE

INVENTIONS AND CUSTOMS

OF THE

ANCIENTS AND MODERNS

IN THE

USE AND MANUFACTURE

INEBRIATING LIQUORS,

man was driven from that peaceful asylum originally assigned
to him by his Creator, and condemned to earn his bread by the labour
of his hands,* his attention was, no doubt, powerfully exerted in pro
curing the necessaries of life ; such as food, clothing, and habitation.
As a cultivator of the earth, he must have been constantly employed,
and, as his occupation varied with the varying seasons, his mind was
continually exercised in contrivances to diminish and sweeten his toil.
His activity, when thus excited, soon extended its influence to every
department of life, and having procured its necessaries, he was no
doubt early led to the exercise of his ingenuity in the attainment of
its luxuries. Among these, the preservation of fruit and their juices,
however rudely practised, might have led to the use of inebriating
drink ; a beverage which, as will hereafter be shewn, has been disco
vered by some of the most savage nations, and deemed a luxury by
the almost universal testimony of mankind.

Whether the use or knowledge of fermenting the grape was known
before the flood, is now uncertain. We are informed, that a city was

* Genesis iii. 23.

built by Cain, which was named Enoch, after his son,* and that Juhal,
one of his early descendants, invented the harp and organ, while ano
ther, Tubal Cain, was an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron.
From this it is evident, that the working of metals and the construc
tion of various sorts of implements had, at this early period of the
world, arrived at a considerable degree of perfection : and it has been
conjectured, with great probability, that as Adam and Cain were
" tillers of the ground," they could not have cultivated it without
instruments of husbandry made from metals, hence the plausibility of
the conclusion, that God in his goodness gave to our first parent the
principles of every branch, of knowledge suited to his condition and
that of his posterity. — There is nothing however to guide us, even at
this advanced state of the arts, in the supposition that mankind had
then any knowledge of inebriating liquors. At what period therefore,
and in what manner, wine was first made and used, is now unknown.
Noah, it appears from Genesis ix. 21, became drunk with the produce
of his own vineyard ; and, as it is reasonable to suppose, he was well
acquainted with all the discoveries of his progenitors, and their diffe
rent methods of cultivating the ground, we may infer from this
circumstance, that the cultivation of the vine was practised in the
antediluvian world, and the intoxicating quality of the grape fully
experienced. In the 20th verse of the chapter of Genesis, above
quoted, it is said, " Noah began to be a husbandman, and he planted
a vineyard," from which it is not to be inferred that this was the first
time he had done so, or that he was the first husbandman. As the
words to be are not in the original, the learned Doctor Kennicott says
that the translation ought to be, " Noah continued to be a husband
man," implying that this was a recommencement of an occupation
which had only been interrupted by the flood. Whether, however,
the drink, which had the effect of intoxicating him, was the simple
expressed juice of the grape, or had undergone any fermenting pro
cess, we are not told. It is admitted that the mere juice of the grape
has no inebriating quality ; and that to produce intoxication it must
undergo a certain degree of fermentation ; but as the ripe juice pos
sesses in itself all the principles essential to such a change, it would
very soon ferment, particularly in warm climates, so that the period
would be but short between its mild and intoxicating state. The juice
of the grape, which is usually called must, is known to ferment of itself
at a heat of about 70°, and hence wine must have been early known,
particularly in hot climates where drink is so much required to allay

* Genesis iv. 1 7.

3

thirst, a further proof that the vinous fermentation was familiar long-
anterior to the deluge. Carrying1 this idea still farther towards the
creation, Milton seems to have entertained the opinion, that the fruit
of which our first parents had eaten,

" Whose mortal taste

Brought death into the world, and all our woe,"

was of an intoxicating nature, when he says,

'" Soon as the force of that fallacious fruit
That \vith exhilarating vapour bland
About their spirits had played, and inmost powers
Made err, was now exhaled."

The Rabbins, or Jewish doctors, were of the same belief ; the vine
being considered by them as the tree so strictly prohibited by the
Almighty. Doctor Lightfoot and many eminent theologians were
impressed with the like opinion ;* but all conjectures on this subject,
however respectably supported, are unsatisfactory, obscured as it is
by the lapse of ages and the silence of the grave. It is worthy of
remark, that these opinions of the learned are in coincidence with the
oral tradition of different nations. In the island of Madagascar, the
prevailing notion of the natives is a striking illustration. They believe
that the four rivers of paradise consisted of milk, wine, honey, and
oil ; and that Adam, who required no sustenance, having drunk of
the wine and tasted of the fruits, contrary to the command of God,
was driven from the garden, and subjected to the punishments which
were thus entailed upon him and his posterity.

Noah, it must be admitted, is certainly the first on record who
planted a vineyard, and experienced the inebriating quality of the
grape. The honour of this discovery the pagans afterwards attributed
to Bacchus, whom they worshipped as the sensual encourager offcast
and jollity ; hence Noah or Bacchus was denominated zeuth, which
by the Greeks was rendered zeus, signifying ferment. — That Noah
seems to be aimed at by most nations, as the primitive inventor of
wine and the real original Bacchus, has been advocated by many
learned men. Bochart maintains that Cadmus first brought the wor
ship of Bacchus among the Grecians, and that the vine was introduced
to them by the Tyrians. He also thinks that Noah was the same as
the Saturn of the pagans, and Plutarch attributes the discovery of the
vine to that heathen deity ; hence all the reasonings of the ancients,

* Vide " Hebrew and Talmudical Exercitations upon St. Luke,"

4

on tliis subject, seemed to indicate the Promised Land as the native
country of the vine ; and even the Greeks themselves, in their mytho
logy, place the inventors of wine as inhabitants of Syria and the
adjacent countries. — At the present day, a spot near mount Ararat
is still shewn as the place where Noah is said to have planted the first
vine ; and the wine, yet manufactured there, is of superior excellence.*
It is therefore more than probable that Assyria was the native region
of the vine, and there is no stretch of fancy in conceiving how it made
its way into other countries. If, as some conjecture, in relation to
what is stated in Matthew xxiv. 38, that an indulgence in inebriety
formed a large portion of those vices, for which God destroyed the
world by a deluge, it is a singular coincidence that the same crime
was the first instance of human weakness, after the infliction of that
punishment ; and that God, tlu-ough the spirit of prophecy given to
Noah, should pronounce a curse on those who treated the indiscretion
with levity. " Cursed be Canaan," said Noah ; " a servant of ser
vants shall he be unto his brethren ;" an anathema which to this day
rests on his posterity. The devoted nations which God destroyed,
before Israel, were the descendants of Canaan, as were also the
Phoenicians and Carthaginians, finally subjected and annihilated by
the Greeks and Romans. Ham, the meaning of which is burnt, or
black, was the father of Canaan, and the Africans, who are said to be
his offspring, bear evident marks of God's displeasure, since they are
scarcely treated as human beings, but bought and sold like beasts of
burden. The Mahometan negroes have a tradition, that as Japhet
was the most active in covering the nakedness of his father, which Ham
discovered, their subjection to Europeans, the descendants of Japhet,
is the consequence of the indiscretion of Ham.

In following the course of Scripture narrative, it appears that, as
the descendants of Noah increased, the vine, as supplying the means
of a more comfortable subsistence, was cultivated to considerable
extent, and that persons were purposely set apart for the manufacture
of wine, as presses were erected and the juice squeezed from the grape,
as soon as the fruit was ripe. Palestine, it is said, early abounded in
excellent vineyards. So great was their number, that of the single
inheritance belonging to the tribe of Judah alone, in order to denote
the superabundant produce, it was metaphorically said, that he washed
his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of the grape ; and
in 2 Kings xviii. 32, the land of Canaan is said to be a land of wine
and vineyards, and of the oil of the olive. So many and so various

Kotzebue's Narrative of a Journey through Persia, p. 94-7.

are the notices of the prophets respecting wine, that it would be
tedious and unnecessary to quote them. Two kinds of wine are
particularly mentioned as of an excellent and superior description ;
namely, the wine of Eldon and that of Lebanon. The wine of Eldon
became an article of traffic, and was transported to Tyre and to more
distant places, where, with a variety of other valuable merchandize
described by Ezekiel, and evincing the advanced state of the arts at
the time, it was eagerly purchased. This wine was said to be well
known to the ancients, and, under the name of Chalibonian wine, was
noted for its peculiar excellence. It was made at Damascus, where
the Persians planted vineyards in order to obtain it in greater perfec
tion and in larger quantities. Its quality is said to have been that of
a luxurious and generous wine. The wine of Lebanon is described as
sweet scented, and said to have been much admired ; its excellence was
ascribed to the great richness of the vines which grew on the sides of
Mount Lebanon, where they had a good aspect or favourable expo
sure to the sun. — The wines of Ascalon, Gaza, and Sarepta were held
in high estimation in distant countries.

From the testimony of ancient writers, we find that it early became
the practice to mix certain perfumes or sweet-scented herbs in the
wine to improve its flavour. With these odoriferous wines the
Hebrews are said to have been well acquainted. Of the composi
tion of these, and the preparation of the different ingredients, we are
not informed ; there can, however, be but little doubt that by means
of these mixtures there would be a much greater variety of wines
formerly than at present. Having but one kind of liquor, they would
no doubt modify and improve it as much as possible ; accordingly, we
find particular mention made of vinegar wine, medicated wine, spiced
wine, and wine mixed with perfumes ; but what particular kinds or
variety of spicery or perfumes were infused, can only be conjectured.

The Scriptures also inform us, that strong drink was administered
to criminals before execution, with a view to render them less sen
sible of pain ; and the Talmud says, that it consisted of a cup of
wine mingled with frankincense, the latter rendering the draught
more sacred on account of being used at the sacrifices. This bitter
and intoxicating cup was usually prepared by women in Jerusalem,
through compassionate motives, in order to inspire unfortunate cul
prits in their last moments with false courage, and to enable them to
meet their fate with fortitude. Pennant, in his History of London,
relates, that a similar practice formerly prevailed in England, it
being customary to present a great bowl of ale to malefactors, on
their way to the place of execution, as the last refreshment they were

to receive in this life. The same ceremony is still kept up at Ham
burgh by a religious society of females, called the Blue Sisters. In
the case of a capital condemnation, the culprit, who is obliged to pass
their convent, while going to the fatal spot, is presented by those
pious ladies with a glass of white wine, which, when he has drank,
is dashed on the ground by the executioner, that no one may use
it ever after ; and also to signify regret on the occasion which brought
the unhappy mortal to drink of the accursed beverage.* The foun
dation of this custom may have been laid in the injunction of
Solomon, as delivered in Proverbs xxxi. 6, " Give strong drink to
him that is ready to perish, and wine to those that be of heavy
heart." In Jeremiah xxv. 16, allusion seems to be made to this
practice where the prophet foretels the destruction of Babylon in
these words : " And they shall drink, and be moved, and be mad,
because of the sword that I will send among them," — perhaps of a
similar nature, was the bowl of wine, called nepenthe, which, Homer
tells us, Helen presented to the guests of Menelaus, when oppressed
with grief, to raise their spirits and banish care. The composition
of this, it is said, she had learned from the Egyptians, and is thus
beautifully described by the poet : —

" Meanwhile, with genial joy to warm the soul,
Bright Helen mixed a mirth-inspiring bowl ;
Tempered with drugs of sovereign use t' assuage
The boiling bosom of tumultuous rage ;
Charm'd with that virtuous draught the exalted mind
All sense of woe delivers to the wind."

The practice, so prevalent among the Hebrews of mixing their

wine with a portion of drugs or bitter herbs, was always with a view

to make it stronger and more inebriating, by the addition of more

powerful ingredients. The prophets have, in numerous instances,

reprobated this practice ; but, the Jews, like the tipplers of modern

days, appreciated the pleasures of the bottle by the strength of its

contents. In Habakkuk ii. 15, it is written, "woe to him who

maketh his neighbour drunk, who putteth his flaggon to him and

maketh him drunken." In tin's the prophet is supposed to allude to

the conduct of Pharaoh towards king Zedekiah, who made him

drunk that he might insult over his weakness. The Rabbins relate

that one day Nebuchadnezzar, at an entertainment, sent for Zedekiah,

and gave him an intoxicating liquor to drink, purposely to expose

him to ridicule.

* Wilson's Trav. in Russia, &c. vol. i, p. 23. — Neal's Trav. in Germany, &c. p. 25.

7

Some have asserted tliat the strong drink, so often mentioned in
Scripture, means palm or date wine. Theodoret and Chrysostom were
of this opinion, and being both Syrians, their authority is unquestion
able. Judea, it is well known, was noted for the abundance and ex
cellence of its palm-trees, of which Fleury, in his Manners and Cus
toms of the Ancient Israelites, says those about Jericho yielded a
considerable profit ;* and Pliny calls this region "palmitibus inclyta"
renowned for palms. Jericho was styled the city of palms, by way
of eminence ; and Palmyra, said to have been built by Solomon, re
ceived its name from the same cause. That the Jews were
acquainted with the making of palm wine, there is little reason
to doubt ; but whether it was of a stronger body than that made
from the grape we are not informed, as we have seen that the latter
underwent many changes by infusions arid mixtures.

The wine mentioned in Exodus xxix. 40, and Numbers xxvhl. 7,
as " a drink offering," is considered to have been made from the date*
or fruit of the palm tree, the juice of which, from containing a great
quantity of saccharine matter, being as Doctor Shaw expresses it,
of a more luscious sweetness than honey, could not fail of producing
drink of a very inebriating quality. In Hebrew it is called Siker :
the word shecer from shakar, to inebriate, signifies in that language
any kind of fermented liquors, or strong drink. " Any intoxicating
liquor," says St. Jerome, " is called sikera, from the Greek word
o-i^aty whether made of corn, apples, honey, dates or any other
fruits.f One of the four prohibited liquors among the Mahometans
in India, is called sakar, which signifies inebriating drink in general,
but especially date wine. From the original word, Doctor Adam
Clarke observes, we have probably borrowed our term cider, which

among us exclusively implies the fermented juice of apples Thus,

from a review of the sacred writers, it does not appear that the people
in their day had any knowledge of the art of extracting spirit by evapo
ration. Had that discovery been known, it is likely they would have
noticed it, as well as the other arts of which they have given us an
account. — Indeed, the free use of wine, which was then generally
practised, may be said to have prevented a search after any other kind
of liquor ; for it is only in those places where the vine is not cultivated
that the first notice of any other beverage is found.

Among the Egyptians, whose country was famous for its corn,
Herodotus tells us, that beer, or a wine drawn from barley, was the

* Clarke's Edition, London, 1821, p. 39.

f Epist. ad Nepotianum de Vita Clericorum; et in Isai. xxvii. 1.

8

liquor principally used j* he describes the clergy as feasting on the
sacrifices and quaffing the sacred wine; and relates that in the
time of Cambyses, 529 years before the Christian era, the Syrians
were well skilled in the manufacture of palm wine ; and that among
the presents sent by that monarch to the Ethiopians was a vessel full
of that liquor. The same writer informs us, that the Lotophagi, a
people of Africa, who cliiefly subsisted on the produce of the lotos
plant, made a species of wine from its berries. According to Scylax,
the geographer, who flourished before Christ 522 years, the lotos
served these people both for meat and drink, and from that circum
stance they derived their name. Strabo says, they were not sensi
ble of the want of water in the burning and sandy region they inha
bited, as the root, stalks, &c. of the lotos, supplied them with rich
liquor, as well as delicious food. Ulysses and his companions are
said to have been enchanted with it, as it made those who eat of it
forget their country and relations.

' we touched, by various errors toss'd,

The land of Lotos, and the flowery coast.

We climb'd the beach, and springs of water found,

Then spread our hasty banquet on the ground.

Three men were sent, deputed from the crew,

(An herald one) the dubious coast to view,

And learn what habitants possessed the place.

They went and found a hospitable race,

Not prone to ill, nor strange to foreign guest,

They eat, they drink, and nature gives the feast ;

The trees around them all their food produce,

Lotos the name, divine, nectareous juice I

(Thence called lotophagi) which whoso tastes

Insatiate riots in the sweet repasts,

Nor other home, nor other care intends,

But quits his house, his country and his friends.f

Of the lotos there are various species ; that, referred to by Hero
dotus, is said to be the Egyptian lotos, a sort of lily, growing on
the banks of the Nile. The inhabitants make bread of the seed,
and eat the root, which has much the size and appearance of an
apple or potato. Savary saw the people, who live on the bor
ders of the Menzel lake, feed on it. Another description of the
lotos is highly esteemed in China, where it is called Lien-hoa ; it
anciently formed a portion of the materials used in making the liquor
of immortality, a drink mentioned in a subsequent part of this

Herodotus, book ii. s. 77.. f Vide Odyssey, 1. ix. v. 95.

9

Work. As it is uncertain from what species of the lotos, wine
was made, it is probable that it was from the lotos or Nebek tree,
mentioned by Burckhardt, which he found in great plenty in Arabia.*
This fruit ripens in March, when it becomes a prime article of food,
nutritive in the highest degree, and capable of being made into wine,
or distilled into a strong liquor.

Xenophon relates, in his history of the retreat of the ten thousand
Greeks, after the battle of Cunaxa, that in that part of Armenia next
to Curdistan, the inhabitants had a method of preparing a potent
liquor from what appears to have been barley. " The soil," says he,
" is good for arable and pasture, and the produce abundant ; yet the
people inhabit caves with their cattle, poultry, &c. — they fill open
vessels with barley and water up to the brim." The time for the
fermentation and other parts of the process is not told, but the liquor
is described as very strong, if not mixed with water, and pleasant to
those who are accustomed to it. Beside the vessels in which it was
kept, lay hollow canes or reeds of various sizes, through which the
people drank by suction; but, in token of hospitality, they allowed
their Grecian guests to drink out of the vessels, " after the manner of
oxen."f Notwithstanding this drink made from grain, there was
abundance of palm wine, as well as vinegar, found by the Greeks in
the villages, during this memorable retreat ; and so numerous were the
palm trees, that they were cut down to construct bridges over the canals
and ditches which they had to pass ;J probably the liquor made from
barley was the same as that called zythem, made in some of the pro
vinces of Asia Minor, mentioned by Diodorus Siculus upwards of
800 years afterwards. Dioscorides, as also Galen, describes the ale
of their time as affecting the nervous system powerfully, and the head
in particular, with very painful effect, so that it has been conjectured
that the ale alluded to, was not only the produce of bad fermentation,
but unpreserved by any antiseptic aroma like the hop.

The invention of these beverages is attributed to Isis, or to Osiris,
who are said to have reigned jointly in Egypt, and are deified in
ancient mythology. Some writers maintain that Osiris is the same
as Misraim, the son of Cham, to whom the invention of ale is solely
ascribable ; but to whom these luxuries owe their origin, it would now
be impossible to determine. The Egyptians and Hebrews, as we
find from Moses, who was versed in all their learning, § understood

* Burckhardt's Travels in Arabia, vol. ii. p. 252.

f Xen. Anab. p. 332. J Ibid. b. II. § Acts vii. 22.

10

the art of dyeing, smelting, and working in metals, architecture,
sculpture, and engraving on precious stones, besides the preservation
of the dead by antiseptic substances. These, with many other inven
tions, were communicated to the Egyptians by the Hebrews long
before they were known in Greece. Though the making of glass of
various colours may be added, as a discovery known to the Egyp
tians, from a very remote antiquity, as well as the art of rendering gold
potable, as appeal's from Exodus xxxii. 20 ; yet we no where read
that they ever attained a higher knowledge in the secrets of chemistry.

In the practice of the medical art, the most ancient physicians appear
ignorant of the mode of extracting any of the essential oils by steam
or vapours. Hippocrates, justly called the father of physic, who
flourished between the 80th and 88th Olympiad, or about 400 years
before Christ, is the oldest author, whose writings, expressly on the
medical art, are preserved ; and in the whole of his works, there is not
a single expression which could warrant the idea of a retort or alembic,
having ever been used by him.

Some have maintained, from a passage in the Gospel of St. Matthew
yi. 30, that the use of the still was partially known in our Lord's time,
as they intimate that he alluded to the distillation of herbs for medi
cinal purposes, when he used the word xhifiavov., (klibanon) where he
said, speaking of 'the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow
is cast into the oven, " eis ton klibanon" " into the oven" — " into the
still," according to others. But, as there does not appear a vestige of
evidence in any ancient author, or writer on the Scriptures, that the
art of distillation was then known, such a translation may be said to
have more of fancy than learning in it. Pliny the elder, who was
nearly contemporary with our Saviour, and who, in his natural history,
has shewn himself so curious and so judicious a master in the compi
lation of facts and observations, appears to be altogether ignorant of
any stronger liquor, than that produced by fermentation. He noticed
the various drinks* of the Egyptians, in use in his day, which were
manufactured from grain steeped in water ; and assures us, that they
were very strong, and drunk without any mixture whatever. These
beverages were distinguished by various names, such as zythum,
C03lia, ceria, Ceris vinum, or wine of Ceres, curmi, cervisia, &c. each
literally meaning ale, or beer. The making of them, he says, was
known to the several nations, who inhabited the west of Europe. The
mode of manufacture, however, was somewhat different in different
countries ; but the nature and properties of the liquor were every
where the same. The people of Spain, in particular, he informs us,

II

had arrived to such perfection in the art, that the drink made by them
could be kept to a very great age.* Some think that Pliny meant
distillation, when, after the enumeration of those beverages, he tells
us, " that water was made to intoxicate," and because he alludes to it
as an extraordinary invention. This intoxicating water would cer
tainly appeal- to be very different from that obtained by the ordinary
mode of fermentation, if the passage be read as unconnected with the
preceding observations ; but as this cannot be done with propriety,
it means nothing more than the intoxicating power or strength
acquired by the water in the fermenting process of the grain. " Heu
mira vitiorum solertia! inventum est quemadmodum aqua quoque
inebriaret." — " Oh, wondrous craft of the vices ! by some mode or
other, it was discovered that water also might be made to inebriate."
This passage led Mr. Murphy, in a note in his translation of Tacitus,
to make Pliny speak as if the Egyptians had their intoxicating liquors
distilled from grain ; an error into which he, in common with many
other respectable writers, has fallen, j In the 33d book, chap. 8, he
describes the mode of obtaining an artificial quicksilver by distillation.
The apparatus employed was two earthen pots and an iron pan ; but
he does not, in any other part of his work, describe the application of
a like apparatus to the extracting of the juices of vegetable matter, if
we except his account of the manner in which oil was obtained from
pitch, in book xv, chap. 7, where he says, " the vapour arising from
the boiling pitch was collected on fleeces of wool spread over the pots,
and afterwards extracted from them by expression." This was evi
dently distillation in its infancy, clearly proving that it was not known
in his time, in a more improved state.

Pliny, in treating of the wine of his own country, details, with won
derful minuteness, the progress of its manufacture, and the perfection
to which it had then arrived. It was not, however, until about 600
years after the foundation of the Roman empire, that vines were cul
tivated, and that wine came into general use. Before that period
wines were so scarce, that, in the sacrifices, the libations to the gods
were ordered to be made only with milk.J Numa, the successor of
Romulus, who enacted this observance, directed, from the great
scarcity of wine that prevailed, that no man should besprinkle the
funeral pile with it, and when the sacrifices to the gods were permitted
in wine, it was decreed, with a view to encourage the plantation of
vineyards, that all wine so offered should be the produce of such vine
plants as had been cut and pruned.

Pliny, book xiv. chap. 22. f De Morib. German, vol. iv. p. 268.

% Pliny, b. xiv. chap. 12.

12

It was in these times of simplicity that women were forbidden to
drink wine ; and for that reason their near relations were permitted
to salute them when they came to their houses, in order to smell
whether they had tasted any Temetum,for so they termed wine, which
if discovered, gave their husbands a right to punish them. According
to Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Romulus was the author of the law which
permitted a husband to kill his wife for drinking wine, as well as for
the crime of adultery. It is related that Ignatius Mecennius, having
killed his wife with a cudgel, because he found her drinking wine out
of a cask, was acquitted of the murder by Romulus.* Fabius Pictor,
in his annals, says that a Roman lady was starved to death by her own
relations for having picked the lock of a chest in which were the keys
of the wine cellar .f We are assured by Pliny, that Cneius Domitius,
a judge in Rome, in the like case pronounced sentence judicially
against a woman who was defendant, in this form, " that it seemed she
had drunk more wine without her husband's knowledge than was
needful for the preservation of her health, and therefore that she
should lose the benefit of her dowry.

We read that Lucius Papyrius, general of the Roman armies, when
at the point of engaging the Samnites, made no other vow than that
he would offer to Jupiter a little cup or goblet of wine, in case he
gained the victory. Men in those days were also forbidden to drink
it, till the age of thirty.

Towards the decline of the Roman commonwealth, and under the
first emperors, the women were not only accustomed to drink wine,
but carried the excess of it as far as the men, which, if we credit
Pliny, exceeded any thing of the kind in modern times. To prevent
females from committing excessive crimes, the lawgivers in ancient
times prohibited the free use of wine. Seneca complains bitterly that,
in his day, the custom of prohibition was almost universally violated.
The weak and delicate complexion of the women, says he, is not
changed, but their manners are changed and no longer the same.
They value themselves upon carrying excess of wine to as great a
height as the most robust men ; like them they pass whole nights at
table, and with a full glass of unmixed wine in their hands, they glory
in vieing with them ; and if they can, in overcoming them. Theoph-
rastus says that great drunkards, when they drank for a wager, used
to take the powder of pumice stone before setting to. if This pro
bably gave rise to the invention of " devils" those choice and whetting
tit bits, so much resorted to after dinner by the topers of the present
day. Some of the Romans even went so far as to take hemlock in
* Pliny, bookxiv. chap. 1$.* f Ibid. J Pliny, b. xxxvi. chap. 21.

13

order to make them drink. Tiberius Claudius, who was fond of a
goblet himself, knighted Novellius Torquatus, by the title of Tricon-
gius, or the three -gallon knight, for drinking, at one draught, tliree
congii of wine, equal to nine quarts, three three-eighth pints, English
wine measure, without taking breath.

It was generally believed at Rome, that Caius Piso owed his
advancement at the court of Tiberius to his extraordinary powers in
that way, as it is said he would sit for two days and two nights drinking
without intermission, or even stirring from the table. Tergilla, who
challenged Marcus Cicero, son of the famous orator, to a drinking-bout,
boasted that he usually drank two gallons at a draught. In later
times we read, that the emperor Maximin, who was no less remark
able for his gigantic stature, than for his great strength, would drink
six gallons of wine without getting drunk. Maximin is said to have
been eight and a half feet high, made in proportion ; and if, agreeably
to the old adage, " good eating requires good drinking," we need not
be surprised at his powers in that way, when it is asserted, that he
ate forty pounds of flesh every day. Sinclair, in his code of health,
tells us that a Mr. Vanhorn, of modern notoriety, drank in the course
of tliree and twenty years, 35,688 bottles, or 59 pipes of red port —
a quantity, perhaps, not exceeded by any of the drunkards of antiquity.
What a prodigious stomach and constitution this man must have had !

Pliny exhibits a strong proof of the great fondness which the
Romans, as well as other nations, had for this liquor, in stating that
not less than 195 sorts were in general use; but of the wines most
esteemed, he reduces the number to eighty, two-thirds of which he
reckons the produce of Italy. Those wines which took their name
from Opimius, in whose consulate they were made, some of which
were preserved to Pliny's time, that is, nearly 200 years, were not,
from their great excellence, to be purchased for money. If a small
quantity of any of them were mixed with others, it is said they com
municated a surprising strength and flavour. The empress Julia
Augusta often said, that she was indebted to the goodness of the
Pucine wine for living to the age of eighty-two. This wine was the
produce of the grape planted along the Adriatic sea, or gulf of Ve
nice, upon a steep and rugged hill, not far from the source of the
river Timavus, and was thought to have received some of its valua
ble qualities from the vapours of the sea, but more from the nature
of the soil and the favorable situation of the vineyards. The wine
Ccecuban manufactured from the grape of the poplar marshes of
Amyclae, was much sought after before the time of Augustus Ca3sar ;
but from the preference given to Setine, a wine produced in the

14

vineyards above the forum Appii, Coecuban fell into disrepute, and
Setine was preferred for its various medicinal virtues. Amongst all
the wines of Italy, the Falernian, so much celebrated by Horace, was
in the greatest repute, and by Martial pronounced immortal, and
justly so, when we consider that its praises have been sung by im
mortal bards. It was so very strong and rough, that Horace called
it a fiery wine, and it was not drank till it had been kept ten years.
Oalen says it was in its best condition between the tenth and twen
tieth. To correct its roughness, it was either mixed with honey or
wine of a weaker nature, by which it was rendered delicious — some
times it was diluted with water to moderate its strength. Faler
nian may be said to have been amongst the ancients what Tokay is
amongst the moderns. The Faustian wine, a species of the Faler
nian, was of so spirituous a nature, that it would burn with a
pure and light flame. The Alban, or wines of Alba, made near
the City of Rome, are ranked by Pliny as only a third rate wine,
but praised by both Horace and Juvenal — when new it was luscious
and of a thick consistency ; and in about fifteen years considered in
its best state. The Surrentine wines, the produce of Aminean
grapes, said by Tiberius Caesar to be so much recommended by phy
sicians, were, from their acidity, called by him generous vinegar — but
those wines were liked by Caligula. The Massic is a wine described
by Martial. The Fundanian, or wine of Signia, was so rough and
astringent as to be mostly used for medicine. The Mamertine was a
light wine from about Messina in Sicily, and that which was ordered
by Julius Caesar to be used in the feasts of the city ; and the Potulane
wines were so called, from the first planters of the vine from which
they were produced. The wines of Tuscany, the Praetutian, the
Ancona, the Palmesian, from the vines growing up the palm or date
tree ; Cesenation and Mecsenatian wines ; the Rhaetian, within the
territory of Verona, spoken of by Virgil, and ranked by him next to
Falernian ; the Lateniensian, the Graviscan, and Statonian wines ;
the wines made between the Pyrenean Mils and the Alps, were with
various others, celebrated, and many of them in great demand in
Pliny's day. From the foregoing particulars, it may be inferred, that
the abundance of wines amongst the Romans, rendered every other
description of intoxicating drink unnecessary ; and that the distilla
tion of spirituous liquors was wholly unknown to them. Neither the
ruins of Herculaneum nor Pompeii, afford any vestige of the knowledge
of such an art, while the Amphorae, which held the wine, are yet
found in the cellars of several of the houses, after a lapse of nearly two
tliousand years.

15

Among the Greeks, wine was also the favourite beverage. Homer
mentions a very famous wine of Maronea in Thrace, supposed to be
the same as that carried by Ulysses when he visited the Cyclops ;
this wine, much celebrated by Pliny, was so strong as to bear mixing
with twenty times its quantity of water ; but it was common for the
natives to drink it unmixed. The wines of Cyprus, Lesbos, (now
Mytelene) and Chios, were much celebrated. Those of Lesbos, Chios,
and Thasos have respectively claimed superiority. Corcyra, Crete,
Cnidus, and Rhodes, yielded wines of the richest body, and most deli
cate flavour, with which a great portion of Europe was supplied.
Those of Cyprus, as well as the wines of many other Greek islands,
are, as will be noticed hereafter, in great esteem to this day. Horace
often mentions the wines of Lesbos, and represents them as very
wholesome and agreeable ; they were said to have been less odorous
than some other wines, but having so delicious a flavour as to
deserve the name of ambrosia rather than wine; and when old,
were denominated nectar, from their comparative excellence. Not
withstanding this character of the Lesbian wines, Pliny ranks them
inferior to Chios or Thasos ; and Strabo reckons the Chian the best
of Greek wines, while Virgil calls the Phanaean, the king of all wines :
so much did the wines of Chios surpass those of every other country,
that the inhabitants of that island are thought to be the first who
planted the vine, and taught the use of it to other nations.* The
desert wines among the Greeks were the Thasian and Lesbian, and
when the Romans became acquainted with the excellence of the Greek
wines, the Chian and Lesbian were their favourite desert wines.
Virgil praises the Argitis, a white wine, as capable of being preserved
for an extraordinary length of years ; besides which, we read of
lighter kinds of wines, such as those of Naxos; the Mendean, a
Thracian wine, and the Omphacites, procured from Lesbos and Thasos.
The frequent mention of wine, the praises bestowed on it, the flowing
goblets, and luxurious banquets, as described by Homer 1000 years
before the Christian era, shew its value and the attachment of that
great poet to the comforts of the table and to jovial society. Horace
was of this opinion when he says,

Homer, in praise of the profuse,

No doubt loved well the balmy juice. f

All the wines already enumerated were in such esteem at Rome,
according to Marcus Varro, quoted by Pliny, that in the year G75

* RolHn. f Horace, Epist. 19. b. i.

16

after the foundation of that city, Publius Lucinius Crassus and Lucius
Julius Caesar, the then censors, published an edict, and proclaimed,
" that no man should sell any Greek wine or Arminean, but after eight
asses the amphora," or about a penny a gallon.* Thus it would appear
that a duty was levied on wine amongst the Romans ; and this is con
firmed by Cicero, in his defence of M. Fonteius, as well as by other
historical records still extant. The Rhodian wine was frequently used
by the Romans in their libations, as is evident from Virgil—
The Rhodian, sacred to the solemn day,
In second services is poured to Jove,
And best accepted by the gods above, f

From the great price and estimation of Chios wine, no person was
indulged with more than one draught of it at a meal; a proof of this
is given by Varro in the instance of Lucius Lucullus, who, when a boy,
never saw more than a cup served up at his father's table after dinner.
After the return of this same Lucullus from Asia, in an entertainment,
which he gave to the citizens of Rome, he distributed among the
people more than 100,000 gallons of wine.J Of Caius Sentius, the
praetor, it is said that he never used Chian wine on account of its
dearness, but because it was prescribed to him by the physicians as
useful for the cardiaca passio, or palpitation of the heart, to which he
was subject ; on the contrary, such was the love of Hortensius, the
famous orator, for it, that when he died, he left to his heir about
10,000 barrels, which had been stored in his cellar. The prevailing
quality of this, as well as of the other wines already mentioned, was
sweetness with delicacy of flavour.

Among the Greeks, it appears, sweet and odoriferous wines were
always in great estimation. In many instances, when the wine was
deficient in saccharine matter, they sweetened it by putting flour
kneaded with honey into the vessels. This practice, is said, to have
been first introduced by Aristseus, and was then denominated oinomeli,
honied wine. Origanum, aromatics, fruits, and flowers, were also
infused. The wine of Byblos, in Phoenicia, was much esteemed for
the strength of the perfumes with which it was impregnated. But of
all the mixtures and infusions, which were common among them, that
of pouring salt-water into wine was the most singular. It was done,
it would seem, with a view to promote digestion and prevent the wine
from flying to the head. One measure of sea-water was considered

* The amphora contained something less than 26 quarts.

f Dryden's Virgil, Georg. ii. J Pliny, b. xiv. chap. 14,

17

sufficient for fifty of wine.* This mixture, which was called Biseon,
was accidentally discovered by a servant in Greece, who, to deceive
his master, poured sea-water into a vessel out of which he had stolen
and drank some wine ; and it was thought to have improved the
flavour of the liquor. In Rhodes and Cos, a considerable quantity of
this wine was made, which the Romans and others imitated ; and in
modern Greece, salt-water is used in the preparation of wine, on the
grounds that where the Saccharine principle is superabundant in the
must, the sea water assists fermentation, and improves the strength
and flavour of the produce.

If we credit some authors, wine was not the only beverage known
to the Greeks ; for, although Homer is silent on the matter, they
knew, from a remote period, how to compose, with water and barley,
a liquor, which, for strength and goodness, approached near to wine.f
Ovid, speaking of the meeting that Ceres, exhausted with weariness,
had with an old woman, named Baubo, says, that the goddess, having
demanded some water, the old woman presented her with a liquor
manufactured from dried grain. Thus expressed in the translation :

" The goddess knocking at the little door,
'Twas open'd by a woman old and poor,
Who, when she begg'd for water, gave her ale,
Brewed long, but well preserved from being stale. "J

This was their oinos kristhinos cerevisia, or wine made from barley.
They also understood the making of palm wine, called oinos epsetos,
sometimes termed oxos epseton, for oxos was a general name for all
made wines.§ The ease, however, with which the juice of the vine
was obtained, rendered the use of these wines less common, and
almost unnecessary.

The method of making wine among the Greeks was nearly as fol
lows : — About the end of September, or early in October, when
the fruit was deemed sufficiently ripe, the grapes were collected, and
usually exposed for ten days to the sun and the coolness of the night,
in order that they might become more luscious and juicy. With many
it was a practice to make three gatherings of the fruit during the
vintage, for the purpose of producing wines of different qualities, while
other means were resorted to for improving the strength, taste, and
flavour : a predominant one was that of twisting the tendrils in order
to destroy vegetation, leaving the fruit, for about a month, exposed to

* Vide Travels of Anacharsis the younger, by the Abbe Barthelemi.
t Diod. 1. iv. p. 248. J Vide Metam. 1. v. v. 449, &c. also Bayle, article

Thesmophoria. § Arch apologia Grrcca, vol. ii. p. 3(]0.

C

IS

the full influence of the atmosphere. After this exposure, the grapes
were put into the shade for five days, and, on the sixth, stamped or
bruised in a vat ; but as this process was found tedious and trouble
some, the ripe grapes immediately from the vine itself were put into
a cistern, in which was a hole, or vent near the bottom, with a vessel
beneath to receive the liquor. In this cistern, a man with his bare
feet and legs pressed out the juice, ; but to relieve them from this
labour, a piece of machinery was afterwards substituted. This
was simply a beam, erected perpendicularly, having a cross acting as
a lever, with a pressure of stones above, to give it greater weight or
power, and which was worked by means of cordage. — The practice,
however, of treading out the juice with the feet, seems still to prevail
in most eastern countries.* The Greeks did not keep their wine in
casks as we do, for the use of vessels of that sort was unknown to
them, as appears from Herodotus, who informs us, that wine was
exported from different parts of Greece to Egypt, in earthen
jars, which, when emptied, were afterwards sent into the Syrian
deserts to preserve the water of the Nile.f The Athenians were
famous for making these and other great vessels of earthenware,
of which they claimed the invention ; but, according to Aulus Gellius,
the Samians were the first potters. This seems more probable, as, in
the island of Samos, a fine species of red earth is found, from which,
with the assistance of linseed oil, iron may be extracted ; and from
this clay the ancient vases, so much celebrated, are supposed to have
been manufactured. These vases were tastefully formed, exceed
ingly light, and varnished with scented bitumen, receiving a polish
like our finest crockery ware, and imparting an aromatic flavour to
whatever they contained. Sometimes they were coated on the inside
with pitch, mastic, and oil, incorporated with various odoriferous in
gredients. Many of these vessels were of enormous size, particularly
those used l)y the Romans, and they were commonly hooped to
prevent them from bursting. One is said to have contained one
hundred and twenty amphorae, or 810 gallons of wine, and another is
known to have held 210 gallons: but the Greeks preferred jars or
vases of much smaller magnitude. The skins of beasts were also used
for the same purpose, a custom which continues to this day, where
wood is not plenty. The leathern bags, or borackios, thus used, were
generally made out of the skins of goats, stripped off without being
cut, the places from which the legs, &c. had been extracted, sewed up,
and the top either tied or sealed. The Arabians of the present day

* Chandlers' Travels, p. 2, f Herodotus, b. JIT. chap. i. § 6,

follow this custom, and have a very ingenious method of taking off
the skins. The head of the goat, or sheep, is first removed ; and
while the body is yet warm, the hand is introduced beneath the skiu
of the neck, and worked round until the two forefeet are drawn out.
The skin is then stripped off so as to be without a cut or mark on it,
and this forms the leathern bag just described. The bottles mentioned
in Scripture were of this sort, the use of glass being then unknown.
So we read, that when Abraham sent Hagar away, he put a bottle of
water upon her shoulder, and hence our Saviour's instruction not to
put new wine into old bottles, meaning that the fermentation of the
wine would, more readily, burst an old than a new bottle of tlus des
cription.* — It is generally believed, that the skins of animals were
the most ancient receptacles of all liquids, but more especially of wine
and they were rendered water-tight by a coating of resinous, oily
matter : it was the skin of a goat in which Ulysses carried a supply
of wine presented to him by the priest of Apollo, when he visited the
cavern of the Cyclops. The largest of these wine-bags, of which there
is any account, was that exhibited at a feast given by Ptolemy Phila-
delphus, and drawn on a car 75 feet long by 42 feet broad : this bag
was composed of panthers' skins, and contained 20,250 gallons. The
modern Greeks convey their wines to different parts in leathern or
skin bags, such as those used by the Spaniards and Portuguese for
the same purpose ; and they are preferred to every other sort of
vessel in consequence of being more portable. It is the practice, in
many parts of the East, in making such wine-bottles, to turn the hairy
side of the skin inwards. To the Gauls, who settled on the banks of
the Po, we are indebted for the useful invention of preserving wine in
casks or vessels of wood.'j'

As chemistry may be said to have formed no part of the general
knowledge of the ancient Greeks, it would be vain to look for any
thing like distillation among them ; for, although an ingenious and
polished people, they do not appear to have been acquainted with that
art. Medicine was much esteemed by them, but their pharmacopeia,
until a late period, scarcely ever extended beyond the list of simples
used by Hippocrates.J Their early intercourse with the Egyptians
made them familiar with the working of metals, but none of their
writers anterior to Pliny, whose works have descended to us, shew
that they were acquainted with the raising of steam or vapour to the
same extent or in the manner described by that celebrated Roman. §

* Matthew ix. and xvii. f Rollin.

J For a list of these simples, see Le Clerc's Hist, de laMed.part I. b. iii. cap. 23,

§ Vide page 1 1 of this work.

20

Dioscorides, who was physician to Cleopatra, and contemporary with
Pliny, was obliged to collect essential oil on the fleece of a sheep, a
proof that he knew no other mode of distillation. One hundred and
thirty one years subsequent to this, Galen, a celebrated physician of
Pergamus, who wrote many books not only upon medical, but philo
sophical subjects, speaks of distillation per descensum, but it is conceived
he meant nothing more by this than what regarded the melting of
metals.

Faber,* a writer in alchymy of some eminence, states that the art
of distillation was known to Democritus, who was contemporary with
Hippocrates, " primus enim inter Grsecos distillaudi peritus fuit De
mocritus distillationis autem peritiam didicit in Egypto," and that
alchymy flourished in the time of Hermes Trismegistus, in Egypt,
about A. M. 2434. He admits that neither Hippocrates nor Galen
knew any thing of distillation ; yet it appears extraordinary, that the
most enlightened people on the earth should have remained ignorant
of this art, 561 years after Democritus, unless it was kept a secret by
him as well as by the Egyptians. — In the 12th chapter and 20th
verse of St. Paul's epistle to the Romans, there is a metephorical
allusion to the same practice, which is thus beautifully expressed by
Parnell :—

So artists melt the sullen ore of lead,

By heaping coals of fire upon its head ;

In the kind warmth the metals learn to glow,

And free from dross the silver runs below.

In like manner, Caligula, according to Pliny, endeavoured to collect,
by sublimation, gold from orpiment, a mineral substance found in diffe
rent parts of the woiid.f Theophrastus and Dioscorides also describe
the extraction of tar as effected by a similar process ; and it is strange,
that the same mode of obtaining it is still followed by the people of
the northern provinces of Sweden.

During the reign of Dioclesian, who succeded Marcus Aurelius
Numerianus, in the year 284, we find the Egyptians had carried their
speculations in chemistry so far as to induce that emperor to publish
an edict for the suppression of all the ancient books that treated of
the art of making gold and silver, and which he wantonly committed
to the flames, being fearful, that if they became wealthy, they would be
induced to resist the Roman yoke, and set him at defiance.^ But

* Faber wrote in 1627, and his works were printed at Strasburg in 1632.

f Pliny, b. xxxiii. cap. 4.

J Vide Suidas in voce Xtf«J/#, Gibbon, vol. ii. p. 137,

although this branch of speculative knowledge gave rise to many useful
experiments, and was carried to a great height, we learn from the
commentary on the second book of Aristotle's Meteors, written by
Olympiodorus, a peripatetic philosopher, who flourished under the
second Theodosius, that distillation was not then known, at least in a
more improved state, than it was 400 years before ; for he says, that
" Sailors, when they labour under a scarcity of fresh water at sea, boil
the sea-water, and suspend large sponges from the mouth of a brazen
vessel, to imbibe what is evaporated, and in drawing this off from the
sponges, they find it to be sweet water."

It is said that Zosimus, the Panopolite, who lived at the close of the
4th or beginning of the 5th century, has given some figures of a distilling
apparatus, which Olaus Borrichius, the learned Danish professor, lias
exhibited in his Her metis et ^Egyptiorum Chemicorum Sapientia, p. 1 56.
This Zosimus was the first who used the word c hernia, which, in the
Arabic language, signifies concealment, and from which Boerhaave and
others derive the term chemistry, implying the hidden or occult science.
Zosimus was a man of considerable attainments, he wrote twenty-four
books of Imouth, or chemistry, addressed to his sister Theosebia. Most
if not all, of these treatises are preserved in the king's library at Paris,
but have not yet been translated. From the specimen and account,
however, which Borrichius gives of them they seem to be mystical and
enthusiastic.* Zosimus is of opinion, that both the name and science
of chemistry existed before the flood : and there is certainly reason to
believe, that as the arts had been cultivated by the antediluvians, that
the ancient Chaldeans and Egyptians preserved traces of them, which
were not obliterated when the philosophers and historians of Greece
visited Africa and Asia ; they are even discernible amidst the confusion
of names, dates, and lapse of time, in spite of the clouds of fables with
which they are enveloped. Hence it is not unlikely, that Vulcan and
Tubal-Cain are the same person, since both were skilled in such works
as required the operations of fire ; and that Vul-can is but a corruption
or contraction of Tubal-Cain, appears higlily probable.

In tracing the etymology of the word chemistry, it seems to be
derived from the name of the country in which it first had existence.
Egypt is frequently denominated by the Hebrew writers the land of
Cham ; and Chami, or Chemi, was the name by which it was most gene
rally known to the aborigines. Plutarch says, that Egypt was called
Chemia, from the blackness of the soil. Cham in Hebrew signifies hot,
Cham also signifies black ; and Chemia,j' but with an ain for the final

Boerhaave 's Elementa Chemia?.
f Valpy's Classical Journal, vol. xviii. p. 229, &c.

t" 22

radical, signifies, in Clmldaic, fermentation. From this reasoning, it
is no stretch of inference to assume, as before hinted at, that the
doctrine of fermentation was known even before the deluge, and there
is therefore nothing extraordinary in Noah's having made wine, and
subjecting himself to its influence.

Sometime previous to the period in which Zosimus lived, and for
a series of years afterwards, chemistry was cultivated with great
earnestness by several Grecian ecclesiastics, but their efforts and
attentions were principally directed to the art of making gold and
silver. In the meantime, medicine received considerable improve
ments from the labours of Oribasius, Actius, Alexander, Paulus, and
others.

Distillation, it is related, was discovered in the Augustine age by a
Grecian physician, who, while sitting at dinner, was suddenly called
away to visit a patient, and found, on his return, that the cover which
had been placed over a dish of vegetables was dripping with moisture
evaporated from them. Perceiving that the moisture was an extract
from the materials in the dish occasioned by heat, he is said to have
directed his studies to the consequences that might result from expe
riments made on this principle, and ultimately arrived at the art of
distillation ; but this story rests on such slender testimony, that it is
not entitled to more than this incidental notice — Some will have it,
that the invention of distillation is much older, and ground their opi
nions on the circumstance of a chest having been found in the Alestine
field, near Padua, in which, it is said, an urn was enclosed by Maxi-
mus Olybius, devoted as an offering or present to Pluto, containing
two phials, most curiously wrought, the one of gold and the other of
silver, both full of an exquisite liquor, which fed a burning lamp for
many ages. Upon the chest was inscribed : —

This sacred gift to Pluto I forbid
A thief to touch, (for 'tis a secret hid),
With art and pains hath great Olybius pent
In this small chest the unruly element.

On the urn were the following couplets : — -

Begone, ye thieves, why dare you here to pry,
Depart from hence to your god Mercury ;
Devoted to great Pluto, in this pitcher
Lies a grand gift, the world scarce knows a richer.*

This legend, like the other respecting the origin of distillation, rests
on authority equally trifling, and is one of those fanciful conceptions

Taylor's Antirjuitates Curiosce.

»

23

of the alchymists, as preposterous as the touch of the philosopher's
stone is extravagant- This reminds me of the allegory of the cup of
Jemsheed, the supposed inventor of wine, Avhich, the Persians say,
was cut out of a ruby or carbuncle, and contains the elixir of life
buried under the ruins of Istakhar.

While the Grecian physicians and ecclesiastics were busied in the
pursuit of chemical knowledge, the Saracens, then an ignorant and
barbarous race, headed by the Caliph Omar's general, Amru, possessed
themselves of Alexandria, and, in the madness of their zeal, destroyed
the famous library in that city ; the Caliph assigning to Ids general
as a reason, that if the books it contained agreed with the Koran, they
were useless, and if they differed from it, they were pernicious, and
ought to be destroyed. — The loss of so vast an accumulation of human
knowledge, not less than 700,000 volumes, which the Ptolomies
laboured so long in collecting, must ever be lamented, as it deprived
the world, in a great measure, of the discoveries and learning of
the ancients, which would have served posterity in the paths of
literature and the pursuits of science. The traveller, Ali Bey,
felt this so sensibly, that, on visiting Alexandria, particularly the
baths of Cleopatra, in that city, in the heating of which the
library is said to have been consumed, exclaimed, — " Nothing,
absolutely nothing, concerning those distant periods, is handed down
for our instruction. — Oh ! library of Alexandria ! why art thou wanted 1
What an irreparable loss ! — But I respect the decision of the caliph."*
As the progress of their arms introduced the Saracens to a more
general knowledge of other nations, a taste for civilization and the
cultivation of literature, gradually, gained ground. Colleges and semi
naries of education were erected and endowed, while learned and
ingenious men were encouraged and sought after. Some of the Caliphs
themselves excelled in the learning of the day. Almamun, in parti
cular, who ascended the Moslem throne, in the 198th year of the Hegira,
(813th of the Christian era,) had attained to great perfection in various
branches of science. He not only employed learned men to translate
the books he had purchased, at an enormous expense, from the Chris
tians of various nations, but likewise promoted, by all possible means,
the study of every branch of literature on which they were written,
and even read them himself with an almost unparalleled ardour.

As might be expected, from the nature and pursuits of the nations
from which the Saracens imbibed their taste for literature, alchymy
and medicine became their favourite studies. The works on those

* Travels of Ali Bey, 4to. vol. i. p. 322.

24

subjects are so various and abundant, that the enumeration of them,
if practicable, would be both unnecessary and foreign to the design of
this treatise.

Under the Caliph, Almoktader Billah, who got possession of the caliph
ate in the 908th year of the Christian era, flourished the celebrated physi
cian Rha/es, whom Abu'lpharagius styles the phoenix of his age. He
excelled in every branch of knowledge then extant, but principally in
physic, in which he became so bold and successful a practitioner, that
he was called the Experimenter, and the Arabian Galen.* He is said
to have first introduced chemical preparations into medicine ; for, not
to mention mercury extinct and sublimate, he notices the oil of eggs,
a chemical medicine ; besides, he gives us the first account of the
oleum benedictum philosphorum (philosophers' blessed oil), and is very
particular in explaining the manner of making it in a glass retort,
well luted, (luto sapienter, says the interpreter,) such as will bear the
fire ; the heat being increased by gentle degrees, till a red oil comes
off by distillation.

Whether the retort, alembic, or any regular distilling apparatus
was earlier employed amongst the Arabians, there is no exact account ;
for what we find from the old Greek chemists, as they are called,
relates only to the fusion or transmutation of metals.

It is said, that Al-Mokanna, the Veiled Prophet, whose life and
actions are so beautifully detailed by Moore, in his Lalla Rookh, when
likely to be taken by the troops under the command of Almohdis*
general, in the year of the Hegira 163, or 780 of our era, to avoid
falling into the hands of his enemies, after poisoning his whole family
and followers, threw himself into a vessel of aqua-fortis ; a prepara
tion which, it is well known, could not be otherwise obtained than by
distillation.

In the works of Geber, commonly called the Arab, there are some
useful directions concerning the manner of conducting the process of
distillation, and in one of his tracts, in particular, he has given much
curious matter relative, not only to the nature and formation of aqua
fortis, but of salts and acids in general. Geber had distinguished
himself in alchymy, and, from the ambiguity of his writings on this
subject, our eminent lexicographer, Doctor Johnson, derives the word
gibberish, or geberish. At what period Geber lived, authors are not
agreed. According to Leo Africanus, he was a Greek, and flourished
in the 7th century .f Others say, that he was born at Seville, in

* Historia Oit. Philosphicc, dc Herbelot. Leo Africanus, &c.
j Leo Africanus, I. iii. p, I3b'»

25

Spain, but of Saracen origin, and place him in the 8th century ; while
some state, that he was a Sabsean, of Harran, in Mesopotamia. Blan-
canus maintains, that lie wrote in the 9th century, and that his real
name was Abou-Moussah-Ds-Chafar-Al-Soli — It is to be regretted,
that the history of this patriarch of chemistry is so obscure. In a
copy of his works, printed at Dantzic, in 1682, he is styled Rex
Arabum, and Indite Rex ; but for what reason seems difficult to
account : that he was either a prince or a king-, there is no written
testimony. If Geber lived in the 7th century, which is generally
supposed to be the true period of his existence, we may the more
readily give credit to the curious means employed by the Veiled
Prophet to elude the vigilance of his enemies.

The following is a translation of the twelfth chapter of the second
book of Gebev's Liber Investigationis Magisterii. The perusal of it
will afford the reader an idea of the correct views entertained by that
author concerning the nature of distillation. His observations run
thus : —

" Distillation is the raising of aqueous vapour in any vessel in
which it is placed. There are various modes of distillation. Some
times it is performed by means of fire, sometimes without it. By
means of fire, the vapour either ascends into a vessel, or descends ;
such as when oil is extracted from vegetables. The object of dis
tillation is to free liquors from dregs and to preserve them fresh ;
since every thing distilled, possesses greater purity and is less liable
to putrescency. The object of distillation by a still is to get water
free from earthy substances, by which both medicines and spirits are
injured. The motive for conducting distillation by descent is to
obtain pure oil, as it cannot be raised by heat into a still. The
motive for distilling by a nitre is to obtain pure water. There are
two modes of distilling by fire ; the one is performed in an earthen
vessel full of coals or embers ; the other with water in a vessel, with
herbs on wood, arranged in order, lest the cucurbit, or still, be burst
before it is completed. The first is conducted by a strong, the latter
by a gentle and equal fire. Thus it happens, that the heavy and
grosser parts are raised by the first means, whilst by the latter, we
obtain a more subtile spirit, approaching nearly to the nature of com
mon water. It is well known, tliat when we distil oil by embers,
we obtain oil without any alteration; but when we distil oil by
means of water, wre obtain fair and clean oil from what appeared
excessively red at first. By means of water, then, we must proceed
with every vegetable, and things of the same nature, to ascertain their
elementary parts. By the descensive mode must we proceed with

26

every kind of oil. The arrangement of that which is performed by
embers, is this : take a strong earthen pot, and fit it to a furnace of
the same shape, as that which is used for [sublimation ; around its
bottom let sifted embers be placed, and covered with them up to the
neck ; then put in the substance to be distilled : finally, let the cucur
bit, or receiving vessel, be attached and luted to the neck of the still,
that nothing may escape. Let the still and receiver be of glass, and
increase the fire as circumstances may require, until the whole is dis
tilled. The second mode is like the first, both in vessel and still, but
differs in requiring an iron, or brazen pot, fitted to the furnace as the
former, and then upon the bottom of the pot must be placed two or
three inches of herbs on wool, to prevent the receiver from being
broken, and let the receiver be covered with the same herbs in some
thing similar, up to the neck of the still, and upon these herbs let
flexible twigs be strewed, and on them let heavy stones be placed that
may compass the still, receiver, and herbs, to prevent the contents
from rising, which would break the vessel and destroy the distilla
tion. Fill the pot with water, and apply the fire until the operation
is completed. The arrangement of that which is performed by
descent, is this : take a glass vessel, having a proper descent, with a lid
which must be luted to the descending vessel, put in what is to be
distilled, and place the fire upon the lid. The arrangement of that
which is to be peformed by a nitre is this : place what is to be dis
tilled in a hollow stone, and let the broad part of the filtre be well
washed, and water be placed in the hollow part ; let the slender part
project over the edge of the stone, under which let a vessel be placed
to receive the filtred substance. If not pure at first, put it back, until
it becomes sufficiently pure."

" N. B — At first it will send over only the water with which it was
moistened, then the liquor to be distilled."

The better to illustrate the foregoing observations, a representation
of the vessels used by him is subjoined, being curious when compared
with those of the present day.

Ampulla recipiens.

Ignis lloceptaculum.

Alembicus Lapideus,

Concha vas recipiens.

.5-

Ignis,

28

From the remarks of Geber, and his various experiments in chemical

science, it is clear that distillation was well understood in his time,

and that the mode of conducting pharmaceutical preparations, both

X vegetable and mineral, had attained considerable perfection. Avicenna,

I who flourished after Geber, describes the method of distillation, and

i particularly mentions distilled wrater of roses. Avicenna is also reputed

as the person who discovered the art of making sugar, till then unknown

amongst his countrymen. About this period, a knowledge of the

arts and sciences was greatly cultivated, and continued to extend in

proportion to the conquests of the caliphs ; the example and influence

of whom diffused a love of literature over an empire, that spread in

Asia from the Gulf of Persia, and the confines of Tartary to the

Mediterranean and Indian Seas, and comprised all the habitable parts

of Africa, from the Isthmus of Suez to the Atlantic ocean.

During the reign of the Abassides, at Bagdad, the mass of human
knowledge collected within the walls of that city was astonishing.
The shelves of its schools and colleges were bent under the weight
of Grecian, Persian, Roman and Arabian literature, and the taste for
collections of that nature was carried to such a height, even by pri
vate individuals, that we are told of a doctor who refused the invi
tation of the Sultan of Bochara to reside at his court, because the
carriage of his books would have required four hundred camels. At
Cairo, in Egypt, the Caliph's library consisted of 100,000 volumes,
which were elegantly transcribed and bound; these were cheerfully
lent, without any pecuniary consideration, to the students of the city.
In Spain, the Caliphs had formed a library of 600,000 volumes, forty-
four of which were employed in the mere catalogue. Cordova, the
capital of the Spanish Caliphs, with the adjacent towns of Malaga,
Almeria, and Murcia, gave birth to more than three hundred writers,
and above seventy public libraries were opened in the Andalusian
kingdom. Amidst such a profusion of information, we need not be
surprised at the acquirements of the Saracens. In chemistry, they
certainly excelled all the nations which had gone before them ; that
comprehensive branch of human research was greatly illustrated
and enlarged by their discoveries ; and, although it may be lamented,
that a great portion of their knowledge lay concealed under the occult
mysteries of alchymy, yet, according to Gibbon, the real science of
chemistry owes its origin and improvement to that people. That
elegant writer says, that " they first invented and named the alembic
for the purpose of distillation ; analized the substances of the three
kingdoms of nature ; tried the distinctions and affinities of alkalis and
acids, and converted the poisonous minerals into soft and salutary

medicines."* Their speculative and visionary hope of finding an
elixir of immortal health, is said to have led them to the discovery of
alcohol, and entailed upon posterity the manufacture of a beverage,
which, under the more modern name of aqua vitce, has since proved
to many a blessing, but to millions a curse.

Although these are the opinions generally recorded and handed to
us, respecting the arts, industry, and knowledge of the Saracens, yet,
I am far from believing, that they are entitled to be accounted the
inventors of almost any of those discoveries, which are attributed to
them. The East, being the cradle of the human race, and of all the
arts, it is clear that the Arabians must have received their knowledge
from that quarter. With the Egyptians and Indians, they had early
intercourse, and these nations, it is well known, were far advanced in
civilization long before, and in the practice of most of the arts, in
which the Saracens, afterwards, became famous. The very style of
architecture followed in the Eastern countries, was the model of the
West, as is confirmed by the excavations of Pompeii, which had
been buried nearly twenty centuries in the bowels of the earth. So
skilled were the inhabitants, of that unfortunate city, in every thing
that related to the comforts, and even the luxuries of life, that a house
was found with windows of glass, as fine and transparent, as that
made in modern times ; besides ornaments of gold and specimens of
art, of exquisite workmanship. The Arabs, it cannot be denied,
were ignorant and barbarous, when various other portions of Asia,
as well as some parts of the North of Africa, more particularly
Egypt, were highly polished ; and from those sources they must have
acquired, in a great measure, the whole extent of their knowledge, in
every department of literature. Strabo informs us, that the Arabians
built their houses and temples after the model of the Egyptians ; and
that the Egyptians knew distillation, at a more remote period, than
the Arabs, can scarcely be questioned, since Pliny has nearly des
cribed the process. If, as has been said, that this art was invented
by a Grecian physician, and that the vessel first used in the practice
was called cmbic, to which the Arabians afterwards prefixed their
definite article «/, why attribute the invention to them ? Since the
very derivation of the term is purely Greek, and as the Arabians were,
for the most part, indebted to the Grecians for their proficiency in
medicine and chemistry. — From these considerations, and the known
acquirements of the Syrians, Egyptians, Persians, Chinese, and other
Oriental nations with whom the Arabians had intercourse, and among

* Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.

30

whom a knowledge of distillation appears to have previously existed,
it is evident that this art was handed to them by others, and that they
were only pupils, not teachers in geography, astronomy? algebra,
chemistry, and architecture, as is generally maintained.

In speaking of the Arabians in this manner, I do not wish to be
understood as depriving them of merits to which they are confessedly
entitled, and of which so extensive a view has been just taken ; but
the discovery of the art under consideration, having been usually
attributed to them, I was induced to examine minutely the grounds
. on which this assumption was founded ; and although it cannot be
decisively ascertained who were really the inventors of distillation,
yet I am led to conclude, that the Arabians were the mere improvers,
and not those to whom the art owed its origin ; and from an attentive
perusal of the various articles in this volume bearing on this point, but
more particularly the observations on India and China, it is very
probable the reader will come to the same conclusion. In addition to
these remarks, it may be observed, that while we love alterations
and changes, the orientals preserve uniformity ; among us, a dress
which was in fashion thirty years ago, is now ridiculous ; among them,
the same dress, manners, and customs prevail, that were in use a
thousand years since ; the arts which are progressive with us, are,
with them, stationary. The physical and moral character of the
orientals reposes on principles like those that existed thousands of
years past, making a powerful contrast with those now in the west. —
Our mode of life is refined and changeable, theirs simple and perma
nent ; with us there is a constant incitement to civilization, with them
rather an inclination to barbarism. Man exists in the east, as it were,
among the shades of antediluvian devices ; in the west, amidst the
glare of modern improvements — hence the Chinese, Persians, and
Hindoos are entitled to be considered the inventors of the arts and
sciences, and the teachers of them to those who visited them in the
remoter ages of antiquity, not the scholars of a few itinerants, nor from
having acquired their knowledge from other nations then in a compa
rative state of barbarism.

All the works of the Saracens appear to be translations or compi
lations from the Greek, Roman, Persian, and other oriental writings,
little originality existing in any of them. — A late publication, at
Madrid, of an Arabian Treatise on Agriculture, from an old manu
script in the Escurial, by Ibn' El Awam, in which one hundred and
twenty authors are cited as the sources of his information, is a proof
of this assertion. Among those authorities, he draws largely from M.
Cato, Varro. Columella, Palladium, and adduces the various practices

31

of Egyptians, Persians, and other Easterns, in agriculture, from writ
ings long since lost.* Mr. Mills says, " that as discoverers and in
ventors, the Saracens have few claims to praise ; a grateful respect
for antiquity was corrupted by them into a superstitious reverence,
which checked all originality of ideas and freedom of thought. But
they formed the link which unites ancient and modern letters ; and as
their relative situation with Europe somewhat resembles the relative
situation between Europe and Greece, they are entitled to a portion
of our respect and gratitude.f The silence of the Greek writers is
no proof that distillation was not known in the east before their time.
It is not likely that a people, whose beverage was wine, in every
variety, would think of submitting it to the alembic, in order to procure
another kind of liquor, when they considered and accounted wine a
drink worthy of the gods.

From the preceding recapitulation, and a consideration of the
sources from whence the Saracens drew their stores of knowledge
in Pharmacy, Chemistry, Mathematics, and the other arts and sciences,
the deduction is natural, that the distillation of spirits is not their in
vention ; and that the term alcohol is but another name for arrack,
or rather for the improvement of that spirit by a higher rectification
for alcohol with us, is always understood to signify spirit of wine, of
the highest degree of volatilization, the particle al (the) being pre
fixed to express something grand or superlative: thus, alcohol means
the pure spirit ; alchymist, a chemist of the first order ; alchymy,
the highest degree of chemistry. Again, alcohol is compounded of
the Arabic article al and the Hebrew word, Kaal, or Chaldaic, cohal,
signifying to subtilize, make light or thin. Alembic is a compound
of al with the Greek, etpfii%9 an earthen vessel, or jar, called from its
shape the cucurbit, or body. Alchymy is a compound of al and x,W*
denoting the more sublime or occult part of chemistry. Hence the
inference is plain, that as the Saracens borrowed those technical terms
from foreign languages, they also derived from other nations aknowledge
of the arts to which those appellations belonged. The word al — ha — hoi,
or alcohol, was originally applied to the powder, with which the Jew
ish, Syrian, and other Eastern ladies tinged their hair, and the edges
of their eyelids, in order to heighten their beauty ; and the name was,
in consequence, subsequently transferred to spirits of wine rectified

Libro de Agricultura, su Autor el Doctor Excelentc Abu Zacaria, Ebu El
A warn Sevillano, traducido al Castellano y anotrado por Don Josef Antonio Bangueri.
De Orden Superior y a Expensas de la Real Bibliotheca.

f History of Mahometanism, 8vo. p. 402.

to the highest perfection, intimating its improved state and fasci
nating qualities.

It is a well known historical fact, as given by Ebn Chalican, one
of their writers, that at the time of the publication of the Koran,
there was not to be found in the whole district of Yemen, a single
person who could read or write Arabic, and the prophet himself,
called the illiterate, was indebted to Warakan, his wife's kinsman,
and a Christian, for the compilation of the Alcoran, at least so far as
regards penmanship. In a country so uneducated, no art nor science
of any importance could have flourished ; and we find, even after the
Saracens had arrived at considerable eminence as a nation, that one
of their most enlightened caliphs, Al-Mamon, when reproved by his
father for selecting Messue, a Christian physician, to conduct the pur
suits of the learned men he had collected, with great frankness ob
served, " I have made choice of Messue, as an able preceptor in use
ful sciences and arts ; and my father well knows that the most learned
men, and the most skilful artists in his dominions, are Jews and Chris
tians." Thus acknowledging the weight of obligation due to those
foreign preceptors. The zeal of Al-Mamon, in collecting informa
tion, led Takiddin, a bigoted Mahometan, to say, that God would
punish the caliph for daring by such studies to disturb the devotions
of the Prophet's followers. Avicenna, one of their most eminent
physicians, is said to have been indebted to Greek writers for the
medical works for which he has been celebrated. Averroes is like
wise under obligations to Aristotle, for his celebrity as a philosopher,
though it is well known that he was unacquainted with the original,
and perused the writings of that great man, by means of wretched
Arabic translations. Galen and Hippocrates were the great guides
in medicine ; Dioscorides the director in botany. Under the wither
ing influence of the Koran, it is surprising how any progress what
ever could be made in the acquisition of knowledge. Divided by
political dissensions, as well as heretical opinions, and engaged in
almost continual warfare, the Saracens had not that independent
spirit of research to think and speculate boldly for themselves, nor to
rise superior to the trammels imposed on them by others : hence it
may be asserted with truth, that the moderns owe little to their disco
veries ; and that the arts and sciences of the present day have
received almost nothing from their industry, so that, in the language
of an intelligent writer, it may be said, " Science would suffer no
material loss, if the writings of the Saracens be permitted quietly to
repose in that oblivion to which time has consigned them." Posterity,
however, cannot but cast a grateful recollection to the period when,

33

but for their fostering protection, learning would have been over
whelmed in intellectual darkness, and a vast portion of mental riches,
and valuable materials lost for ever to the world. —

I shall now proceed to consider the cause of the prohibition of \
wine and intoxicating liquors among the followers of Mahomet, illus
trating the remarks with such anecdotes as shew that the prophet
could not entirely eradicate that part of human imbecility, which
renders their use or pleasing qualities in some shape or other desir
able. According to a writer in the Universal History, Spanheim and
Reland have asserted that the ancient Arabs abstained from wine
long before the birth of Mahomet ; but it appears from Strabo, that
in Arabia Felix, besides the husbandmen, there were many who
made palm wine, which, he says, was much used by the inhabitants of
that country, proving that intoxicating liquors were not generally
forbidden before the time of that prophet.

The causes which induced Mahomet to prohibit the use of inebriating
drink, have been stated as various. The Sieur de Ryer, in his life of
the prophet, attached to his translation of the Koran, page 39, says,
that in the fourth year of the Hegira, while his army were engaged
in expeditions against the neighbouring tribes, some of his principal
men betaking themselves to play and drink, in the heat of their cups
quarrelled, and raised such disturbances among his followers, that they
nearly came to blows, and to the overthrow of all his designs. To
prevent such mischief in future, he forbade the use of wine and all
games of hazard for ever ; and to render the prohibition of more influ
ence, he supported it by a fable of two angels, called Arut and Marut,
who, in ancient times, were sent from heaven to administer and teach
men righteousness in the districts of Babylon, when a certain woman
coming to them for justice, invited them to dine with her, on which
occasion she placed wine before them, which God had forbidden them
to drink ; but the agreeable nature of the liquor tempting them to
transgress the divine command, they drank to intoxication, and
tempted the woman to lewdness ; but this was on condition that one
of them should carry her to heaven and the other bring her back. As
the fable runs, when the woman got to heaven, she would not return,
but declared to the Almighty the whole matter, who, to reward her
chastity, made her the morning star, and the angels getting their choice
whether they would be punished for their wickedness at that time, or
at a future period, chose the former, in consequence of which they
were suspended by the feet, with an iron chain, in a pit near Babylon,
where they are doomed to continue to the day of judgment. For

34

this reason God forbade the use of wine to his servants ever after.*
The prophet seems to assign the reason of the prohibition in the Koran
altogether to the quarrels which wine and games of chance had caused
amongst his followers ; for in the 5th chapter of that book he says,
" The devil desires to sow dissensions and hatred among you through
wine and games of chance ; be obedient to God, and the prophet,
his apostle, and take heed to yourselves." The learned Mr. Sale
seems to agree with the Sieur de Ryer, that it was the divisions and
disturbances in company, and the neglect, or at least indecencies
in the performance of religious duties, occasioned by inebriety, which
induced the prophet to pass so strict a prohibition.! In this restriction,
it is probable that Mahomet was guided by the Mosaic law, under
which the priests were forbidden to drink wine or any intoxicating
liquors, when they were about to enter on, or execute, any sacred or
religious duty. " Do not drink wine," says the inspired writer, " nor
strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the taber
nacle of the congregation, lest ye die ; it shall be a statute for ever
throughout your generations." J The Nazarites§ and Rechabites, as well
as many pious persons among the Jews and primitive Christians, ab
stained altogether from wine, and we find injunctions of a prohibitory
nature observed among the Egyptians, Carthagenians and Greeks: so
that the mandate of the prophet in this respect is not without a prece-
dent.|| The Carthagenian soldiers were forbidden wine while in the
field, under the severest penalty ; and their magistrates were also
obliged to abstain from wine during the exercise of their power, though

* Prideaux's Life of Mahomet, 8vo. p. 111.

f Sale's Koran, chap. ii. p. 39 ; chap. iv. and v. J Levit. x. 9.

§ Doctor Lightfoot, in his work already quoted, thus comments on the
vow of the Nazarites, as spoken of in the sixth chapter of Numbers : " Whilst
I a little more narrowly consider, that severe interdiction by which the Naza-
rites were forbidden the total use of the vine, not only that he should not drink
t>f the wine, but not so milch as taste of the grape, nor the pulp, nor stone

of the grape, no, nor the bark of the vine, I cannot but call to mind, 1st. Whether

the vine might not be the tree in paradise that had been forbidden to Adam, by the
tasting of which he sinned ; the Jewish doctors positively affirm this without any
scruple. 2dly — Whether that law about the Nazarites had not some reference to
Adam, while he was under that prohibition, in the state of innocency. For if the
bodily and legal uncleanness about which there are such strict precepts (Numb, v.)
especially the leprosy, the greatest of all uncleannesses, did excellently decipher the
state and nature of sin ; might not the laws about the Nazarites, which concerned .
the greatest purities in a most pure religion (Lam iv. 7.) be something in comme
moration of the state of man before his fall?" Jerm. xxxv. 5. 6.

jj ^Elian, b. IT. Hist. vii. Sap. Plato de Legibus.

35

it is doubtful whether this was always strictly observed ; a laudable
instance of the wisdom of their government.

Abufcfoda (in his account of the prophet's night journey to heaven,)
observes, that the angel Gabriel brought him three cups, one full of
wine, another of milk, and a third of honey ; upon which he took the
milk and drank it as the most proper of the three, after which a voice
was heard saying, " Thou hast made a lucky choice, Mahomet, since,
hadst thou drunk of the wine, thy nation would have deviated from
the right path, and consequently in their enterprises have proved unsuc
cessful."* The fact is, that previous to the time of the prophet's pre
tended mission, the Arabians were given to drink wine to great excess
whenever they could get it, in consequence of which, Mahomet, as
already quoted from the Koran, very prudently provided against the
mischiefs that might ensue from it. But although there is little doubt
that the prophet intended by his prohibition a strict abstinence from
all intoxicating liquors, yet some have imagined, as Mr. Sale remarks,
that excess in the use of wine or in inebriating beverages is alone for
bidden in the Koran, and that their moderate use is allowed by two
passages in the same work. The words are, " They will ask you con
cerning wine and lots ; answer, in both there is great sin, and also
some things of use unto men ; but their sinfulness is greater than their
use."f Again, " And of the fruit of palm trees, and of grapes, ye obtain
an inebriating liquor and also good nourishment." J — Such is the weak
ness of man, that it is easy to give a favourable turn to that which suits
our inclinations. The more received and general opinion is, that to
drink any kind of strong liquors, either in a less or greater quantity,
is absolutely unlawful ; and though libertines may indulge themselves
in a contrary practice, the more conscientious are so strict, especially
if they have performed a pilgrimage to Mecca, that they hold it
unlawful, not only to taste wine, but to press grapes for the making
of it, to buy or sell it, or even to maintain themselves with the money
arising from that liquor.§ Herbelot, the well known French writer,
in his Bibliotheque Orientale, says, that there were some Mussulmen so
strict, that they would not call wine by its true name for fear of offen
ding against the laws of their prophet ; while some of the Arabian
princes went so far as to forbid the bare mention of it. Such is the
particularity of others that they will not even touch any matter where
wine is used. Walpole informs us that, when in Turkey, he was

* Abulfeda de Vit. Mahomet.

f Sale's Koran, chap. ii. p. 39. * Ibid. vol. II. chap. xvi. p. S3.

§ Vide Preliminary Discourse.

36

enjoined by an Aga to be cautious in abstaining from wine in the room
where he lodged ; lest the carpets or mats, on which the Mussulmans
said their prayers, might be polluted.*

We have an early and striking instance of the strenuous observance
of the prophet's interdictory decree, in the treatment of the soldiers
under Abu Obeidah, in the reign of the Caliph Omar, who, on hearing
from that general, that the Mussulmans had learned to drink wine
during their invasion of Syria, ordered, that whoever was guilty of this
practice should have fourscore stripes upon the soles of his feet ; the
punishment was accordingly inflicted, and many were so infatuated,
although they had no accusers but their consciences, as voluntarily to
confess their crimes and undergo the same punishment. f

That the drinking of wine was not so obnoxious to some of the suc
cessors of Mahomet, there are several examples among the Caliphs.
Yezid, who commenced his reign in the GOth year of the Hegira, is
the first of them who made no scruple of the practice. The following
story is related of Almohdi, father of Haroun Alraschid, the hero of the
Arabian Nights' Entertainments. That monarch, being one day on a
hunting excursion, strayed from his attendants ; when being pressed
with hunger and thirst, he was obliged to repair to an Arab's tent to
procure some refreshment. The poor man immediately brought to the
Caliph some brown bread and a pot of milk. Almohdi asked him if
he had nothing else to give him ; upon which the Arab presented him
with a jug of wine. After the Caliph had drank a good draught, he
enquired of the Arab whether he did not know him ? The other having
answered that he did not, " I would have you know then," replied
Almohdi, " that I am one of the principal lords of the Caliph's court/'
After he had taken another draught, he put the same question to the
Arab, as before, who answering, "Have not I already told you that I
know you not ?" Almohdi returned, " I am a much greater person
than I have made you believe." Then he drank again, and asked his
host the third time, whether he did not know him ? to which the other
replied, " that he might depend upon the truth of the answer he had
already given him." " I am then," said Almohdi, " no less a personage
than the Caliph, before whom all the world prostrate themselves."
The Arab no sooner heard the words, than he tremblingly carried
away the pitcher, and would not suffer his guest to drink any more.
Almohdi being surprised at his behaviour, asked him, why he removed
the wine. The Arab replied, " Because I am afraid that if you take

* Walpole's Memoirs relating to European and Asiatic Turkey, 4to,
f Ockley's History of the Saracens, vol. i. p. 171, 324*

37

a fourth draught you will tell me you are the prophet Mahomet ; and
if by chance a fifth, that you are God Almighty himself." This gentle
rehuke so pleased the Caliph, that he could not forbear laughing ; and
being soon rejoined by his people, he ordered a purse of silver, and a
fine vest to be given to the poor man, who had entertained him so
hospitably. The Arab, in a transport of joy for the good fortune he
had experienced, exclaimed, " I shall henceforth take you for what
you pretend to be, even though you should make yourself three times
more considerable than in this instance." Time, which unhappily too
often destroys the best resolutions and propensities of our nature, has
rendered the crime of inebriety less uncommon among the Mahometans
of the present day than formerly ; but since their intemperance cannot
be induced by social hilarity, it is always with them a solitary vice,
and consequently, to use the language of a late writer, though not
more hateful, is much more odious than when it arises from the desire
of promoting the exercise of the social feelings. There is an anecdote
told by Russell, in his History of Aleppo, which, as corroborative of
what is here advanced, an apology for its insertion is scarcely neces
sary. It relates to a Sirdar of high rank at Aleppo, who was fond of
indulging in the pleasures of the bottle. This man, says the author,
was in the habit of retiring to one of the gardens near the town, to
enjoy his wine more luxuriously in a kiosk. Returning one summer's
evening from a debauch of this kind, he observed, as he passed near
the Christian burial-ground, a Maronite sitting on a grave stone and
smoking his pipe, who, on seeing him approach at some distance, rose
up, laid down his pipe, and at the same time attempted hastily to
conceal something in his pocket. This the Sirdar suspected, and justly,
to be arrack ; therefore, stopping his horse, he despatched one of his
attendants to bring the culprit before him. The Christian was not
only reproached for drinking thus publicly, but threatened with instant
punishment, for having aggravated the crime by drinking on a tomb
stone. Upon his swearing, by the Gospel, that he had tasted no strong
liquor for a week, orders were given to search his pockets ; but he
had taken care that no testimony should appear against him from that
quarter, by dropping the empty bottle before he was seized. The
Sirdar then commanded another of his attendants to try whether the
charge might not be proved from the criminal's breath. " Breathe ye,
Giaour," exclaims the Janizary, " breathe full in my face." The
trembling culprit at first hesitated, but knowing the consequence of
refusal, was at last obliged to comply. " I knew very well," said the
Sirdar, " I should detect this Jew of a damned Christian. Does
he not smell abominably, Mustafa ? bring him nearer me, don't you

38

perceive his breath ?" " Wliy, really," replies the half drunken Janizary,
" that there is a strong smell of arrack among us cannot be doubted,
but whether it proceeds from yourself, Sir, from me, or from tin's
damned infidel, may I perish if I can justly determine."

If Madden, a late writer, may be credited, intoxication is much
more prevalent with the Mahometans than is generally believed. He
states that hospitality among the Turks is not surpassed even by the
Irish. The excellence of their cooking, the number of their dishes,
and the profusion of their sweetmeats, gave him an exalted opinion of
their luxurious living. At dinner, he observed upwards of forty dishes
furnished in succession, and, contrary to our practice, the desert was
the first, consisting of sweetmeats and preserves. After the desert,
the appetite was whetted with an abundance of raw spirits, the very
highest class drinking rum and raki, with the same familiarity
that we drink beer, ale, or porter. He says the most exalted char
acters in the empire are addicted to drink, and that the Sultan daily
receives, from his apothecary, a bottle of Rhenish wine, with the word
"physic" on the label. Another traveller assures us that drinking is
common among the most respectable, and mentions a Sirdar of high
rank, who openly braved, by this practice, the commands of the prophet,
and confessed that he could not live without the aid of spirituous
liquors. Even in Mecca, it is said, that there are two shops in which
intoxicating liquors are publicly sold, during the night, but not in the
day time. One description of liquor thus sold is made from fermented
raisins imported from Tayf, and, although diluted with water, a few
glasses of it produces intoxication ; the other is a sort of bouza mixed
with spices and called Soubye> a beverage well known at Cairo. Neither
the sanctity of the Holy City, nor the solemn injunctions of the Koran,
are able to deter the inhabitants from the excessive use of spirituous
liquors. Large quantities of Raky are imported from India, which,
when mixed with an extract of cinnamon sweetened with sugar, is
sold under the plausible name of cinnamon-water. This liquor is
drunk by the highest characters, under the impression that it is neither
wine nor brandy, and therefore not prohibited by the law. Burck-
hardt saw at Tayf, a Turk, in the suite of Mahomet Ali Pasha, who
distilled brandy from grapes, and sold it publicly at 40 piasters the
bottle. Intoxicating liquors are vended at the very gates of the mosque,
which, although prohibited in every part of the Mahometan states, is still
more so in a city, the approach to which is forbidden to any but the
faithful. This impropriety has given rise to the Turkish saying, that
" the cities forbidden to infidels abound with forbidden things." Dr.
Madden is of opinion that a moderate use of spirits would be a pre-

39

ventive to the plague, and grounds his notion of its value on observ
ing, that those who were in the habit of attending persons infected,
and who habituated themselves to inebriety, never caught the contagion.
These considerations led him to administer wine and brandy to his
own patients, which treatment was almost invariably attended with
success. A similar practice for the cure of diseases was long previ
ously observed by an empiric with success. This quack, who was
totally ignorant of medicine, made use of warm punch in the cure of
every disorder. When asked by an old acquaintance how he could
presume to become a physician and expose his life, should one of the
faithful fall a victim to his ignorance, he replied, that lie sufficiently
learned the art from the practice of the physician who had attended
his late master, whose chief prescription wras punch, of which the doctor
himself partook. This gave him a high opinion of its virtues. He
tried it on himself, and found it so agreeable and salutary that he was
led to limit his prescriptions to it ; and as it met with general appro
bation from his patients, he was amply rewarded, not only on that
account, but for the numerous cures which its use had effected. The
Sultan, Soliman the first, was such an enemy to intoxication, that he
had recourse to the most rigorous penalties to check the progress of
this irregularity. He even caused melted lead to be poured down
the throats of the obstinate transgressors of the precepts of the Koran.
Soliman the second, his son and successor, was the reverse of his father's
character ; he went by the nickname ofmest, or the drunkard, but, amidst
all his intemperance, he never neglected his daily prayers, though he
seduced the nation by his example into the most unblushing debauch
ery. " Let others put their trust in man," said this jovial Sultan, " f
throw, myself into the arms of the Almighty, and resign myself to his
immutable decrees. I think only of the pleasures of the day and
have no care for futurity." Muradthe fourth, seduced by the example-
of Beari Mustafa, not only drank wine in public, but permitted his
subjects to use it without restraint, and even compelled the Mufti and
Cazy-askers to drink it. Busbequis saw an old man at Constantinople,
who, when he took the glass in his hand, summoned his own soul to
take refuge in some corner of his body, or to quit it altogether, to
avoid participating in the crime, or being polluted by such indulgence.
Thornton tells us that he saw a habitual drunkard carefully remove
his mustaches to preserve them from defilement before he took his
draught, and immediately after swallowing it, he distorted the mus
cles of his face, as if he had been taking nothing but a bitter or disa^
greeable medicine.* Slade relates, f that when the Ali Eflendi,

Present State of Turkey, 2 vols. 8vo.
f Records of Travels in Turkey, Greece, &c. 2 vols. 8vo.

40

governor of a province, received a copy of a Hatti Scheriff, or order
of the Porte, to enforce the prohibition of wine and spirits ; he and
the Cadi being- half tipsy at the time, put off its reading to the next
day ; but having cast their eyes over it, they exclaimed, " Here is an
order against drinking, and we are drunk when it arrives ; they who
sent it must surely have been drunk also, for not knowing that we
would disregard it."

In further illustration of the propensity of the followers of Mahomet
towards the use of inebriating liquors, it is related of Achmet Cachef,
the present governor of one of the provinces in Upper Egypt, that he
was fond of the bottle. When visited by some English gentlemen,
who were requested to partake of some refreshment, that Pacha
directed his attendant to bring him a bottle of the water of which the
Franks were so fond. Accordingly, a bottle of a strong spirit, made
from dates, was produced. The guests were pressed to partake of it,
but declined. The Pacha then said, that although the prophet had
forbidden raki, he would himself take some, to convince his friends
that he had no intention of poisoning them. He then took off his
glass, and repeated the example seventeen times, by way of encou
ragement for his guests to drink during the four hours they remained
with him. In the course of the interview, he observed that, "notwith
standing they seemed shy in drinking with him, he would stake any
money that their baggage was well stored with all sorts of wine and
liquors." This being construed into a civil hint to obtain a present of
that description, the interpreter was directed to say they had a supply,
and to know what sort he would choose, whether brandy, gin, or rum,
" Oh !" replied he, " I like them all three" — which expression caused
a hearty laugh, and induced his friends to present him with a bottle
of each. It was not long after when the corks wrere drawn, and
pledging them in a bumper, Achmet observed, that if Mahomet
should ask him why he drank, he would throw the whole blame on
his friends, as the liquor was so excellent.* A late traveller states,
that when he had retired to rest at the house of AH Bey in Damanhur,
he heard a gentle knock at his door, and, on opening it, found that the
intruder was the Governor's treasurer, a strict Mahometan, who had
availed himself of the solitude of the night to communicate a secret
which was no less than a request that he might be favoured with a
bottle of rum. Having had a trial of its good qualities before, he was
in such raptures with it, that he was impelled to make this request.
It was at first refused, but the Mussulman pressed so hard, and that

* Webster's Travels, vol. ii. p. 8.

11

with an assurance that he would drink it with great moderation, his
request was granted. On being presented with the bottle, he seized
it with great eagerness, and placing it under his cloak, with much pre
caution, he disappeared amidst the windings of the building, in an
instant, highly delighted, and muttering thanks as he retired.*

Some of the principal officers of state are so fond of spirits, that
they procure it at any expense, and convey it home, without the
knowledge of their servants, carrying it in small leathern bottles, or
in tubes of the same material twisted round the body. In this manner
it is brought into the most secret recesses of the Seraglio, even at the
risk of life ; and we arc assured by Madden, who had access to the
harems of many of the Turkish nobles, that the ladies consume consi
derable quantities of wine under the name of an Italian cordial, called
Rosolio ; whereas, if the wine were offered under its true denomina
tion, it would be rejected with scorn. Carne saw this exemplified in
a rich Islamitic merchant, who, when asked to drink wine, expressed
high indignation, but when the same liquor was presented to him under
the name of Rosolio, he took off a large bumper with great cheerful
ness.! — Excuses of a very trivial nature are taken advantage of.
Some affirm, that because the term rum is not in the Koran, the use
of it was not forbidden by the Prophet. Captain Trant, in his Journey
through Greece, relates, that while on a visit with the Bey, he got a
peep into one of his store-rooms, in which he saw a number of bottles,
labelled with the word Rhum, to which the proprietor had frequent
recourse.:): — The Greeks subject to the Turkish yoke, are often as
much afraid of being seen by their masters when taking wine, as one
Mussulman is afraid of being observed using it by another. Carne
was witness to a circumstance of this kind, in the vicinity of Constan
tinople. When at a meal with some Grecians, who were regaling
themselves with white wine, the approach of a body of Turkish cavalry
so affrighted the poor fellows, that they immediately concealed the
wine, and substituted water. In a private visit which Doctor Clarke
was permitted to make at the Sultan's Seraglio, he observed, in the
secret chambers, labels, bearing Turkish inscriptions, with the word
Rosolio, golden water, and water of life, — a proof that neither the
Sultan nor his ladies were insensible to the pleasures of intoxication.
The same traveller tells us, that throughout Turkey, the dervises,
during the Ramadan, would, when alone, eat pork and drink wine,
and laugh at the absurdity of considering such things as forbidden.§

* Letters of a Prussian Traveller, 2 vols. 8vo. vol. i. p. 206.

f Game's Letters from the East, 8vo. p. 203. % Journey, 1830, 8vo. p. 277.

§ Clarke's Travels, vol. viii. p. 80,

42

Some of our Christian teachers are not more particular in times of as
great strictness. Since a duty was laid on wine at Constantinople, it
has proved a more productive source of revenue than that arising- from
any other article in demand. The annual consumption of the city is
calculated at 20,000,000 of okes.* But when we consider that there
are several thousand taverns licensed, in various parts of this immense
capital (which comprises a population of from 4 to 500,000), it need
scarcely be a matter of surprise. — The Grand Vizier derives a consi
derable emolument from these houses, which, under various pretences,
he often causes to be shut in order that he may get a present by
allowing1 them to be re-opened. This is a practice of long1 standing1,
taverns being very ancient in this capital. Those establishments for
public accommodation are not, however, of Turkish origin, but are
attributed to the Lydians, they being accounted the first who sold
wine by retail, and kept eating-houses for public convenience. The
Jews, under the sanction of the Grand Vizier, make a good wine
from the grape, called Altyntach, (golden stone,) which is sold so low
as a penny and three half-pence per quart. — All the necessary appa
ratus for distilling has not only been found here, but also in the pos
session of rich individuals, in various parts of the Turkish empire. —
Arrack, distilled at Constantinople from the skins of the grapes, is
rendered aromatic by the infusion of angelica and gum mastic. It is
a clear and transparent spirit when unmixed ; but when water is added,
it becomes, first azure ; afterwards opaque and milky. It is a fragrant
pleasant liquor, and is sold very cheap — An inferior kind of Rakki is
made from prunes.

In many of the provinces, a preparation of mint and pimento, dis
solved and digested in water, is a favourite drink. This liquor is
remarkably strong : the person who drinks it, for the first time, sup
poses that he has swallowed the most ardent alcohol Sherbet is, for
the most part, a common drink with the Turks, and is usually pre
pared from a confection of raspberries, strawberries, or apricots diluted
in water. Large quantities of conserves made from different fruits,
are sold in solid lozenges, and in the hot seasons are considered deli
cious when dissolved in mountain snow. Cherries, gooseberries,
currants, &c. steeped in rose water, with a slight infusion of musk or
aromatics, form a beverage in great consumption. At the grand
bazaar of Ali Pasha in Adrianople, sherbets are carried about Jn long
bottles, and sold as refreshments : a similar practice prevails in many
parts of the East. In some places, cakes made of tamarinds are used

* An oke is 2|lbs. weight.

43

for sherbets, and are considered valuable on account of their portabi
lity. In Mesopotamia, the usual drinks are iced milk and lebben ;
iced sherbet made of honey, cinnamon-water, and spices, besides the
juice of pomegranates diluted with water of roses.* The foregoing
enumeration comprises the chief sherbets in requisition, though fre
quently they have drinks under this name, which consist merely of
lemon -juice, mixed with cinnamon- water and sugar, with an infusion
of violets, raisins, and oranges.

Were beer, such as we have in Great Britain, brewed in the prin
cipal cities of Turkey, there is little doubt that the brewers would
raise rapid fortunes from its sale ; for, as the Mahometans at present
regard the letter more than the spirit of their law, they would not be
very scrupulous in drinking a liquor which is not prohibited by name.
Aaron Hill, in his account of the Ottoman Empire, first published in
1 709, recommends a speculation of this nature ; his observations being
much in point, I shall not abridge them : —

" The love of brandy, wine, and other strong liquors, so much
evinced throughout the Ottoman empire, proceeds," says he, "from
nothing else but their ignorance in brewing other beverages ; for I
frequently observed, tliat when an English ship had brought some
bottles of our country beer, or ale, to Turkey, and presented them to
such as would afterwards compliment the noted Turks of their ac
quaintance with a share in drinking them, they constantly express a
wonderful esteem and eager inclination to obtain a quantity, assuring
us repeatedly, that could they make such drink themselves, they never
should be tempted to commit a sin, by breaking tlirough the prophet's
order to forbear the use of wine and brandy.

" Nothing can be possibly more easily accomplished than the univer
sal wish of Turks and Grecians upon this occasion, would some
English brewer, skilled in his profession, make a voyage to Turkey,
purposely to use his best endeavours for the introducing of beer or ale
into common use instead of water.

" For first, I have sufficiently explained my reasons, to believe that
the natives of that country would, with pleasure, drink it, and the
price by no means could retard the practice, for so cheap is malt
throughout their empire, that they feed their poorest horses with the
best of barley ; and with so much ease might he expect to thrive
therein, that though he sold the liquor he should brew at no greater
price than a penny per quart, he must soon grow rich by more than
cent, per cent, of clear profit. But so far beyond this lowest compu-

* Buckingham's Travels in Mesopotamia.

44

tation may he reckon his advantage, that I can experimentally assure
him he might sell it (and be never thought too dear,) at full the price
it bears in London ; nor would the Turks think more too much, or if
they should, the very factory itself, excluding all the other Christians
there residing, would enrich him speedily, provided he took care to
manage well the brewing of all his liquors.

" If any timorous man," continues our author," objects to the incon
venience of so long a voyage, his being altogether unacquainted with
the country and its language, and his want of friends to help on his
design, those difficulties will soon vanish, when I tell him that he may
bargain for his passage in an English ship, arid be supplied with all
provisions, even to Constantinople, for considerably less than £20 ;
that he will land within a few stones' throw of the ambassador's house,
to whom the captain must, of course, present him, if designed to settle
there ; that he is bound to grant him his protection and encourage
ment ; that he may have a dragoman, or an interpreter, to wait upon
him for a little charge, and still conversing with his countrymen,
maintain a trade almost as free and uncontrolled as if in England."*

Doctor Clarke was witness to the partiality which the Turks shewed
towards our porter, as he saw them give thirty shillings for a dozen
of it ; and it was purchased with the greatest avidity, as they seemed
quite satisfied that it did not come within the forbidding mandates of
the Koran. A late traveller observes, that it has often been matter
of surprise to him, that among the trading speculations of his country
men, no man has ever thought of trying a project of this nature. I
have at times, says he, questioned merchants on the subject, who have
urged, as an objection, the difficulty of preserving it in such a climate ;
yet beer is made in England for exportation to the East Indies.f —
The only plausible objection which appears to such a speculation, is
certainly the heat of the climate. It is, however, probable, that by
brewing at particular seasons of the year, or conducting the process
in cool cellars, or by means of good coolers exposed to the breezes of
the night, or by approved refrigerators, beer or porter might be made
of tolerably good quality, at any season or in any climate.

Certainly a liquor of this kind would not only be vastly superior in
point of flavour, but more wholesome than bouza, a description of
drink very common in the Turkish empire, and in great estimation.
Bouza is generally made from barley, much after the manner of brew
ing beer, but it is of too inspissated a nature, and so badly fermented

* See Aaron Hill's Account of the Ottoman Empire, 4to. p. 90, 91.
f Turner's Journal of a Tour in the Levant, 3 vols., vol. iii. p. 488.

45

as to render it unpalatable to Europeans. Wine circulates more
freely through the dominions of the Grand Seignior, than is publicly
known. That of the Dardanelles is sent to Constantinople, to Smyrna,
Aleppo, and even to England. This wine will keep to a great age,
and, if the vintage be favourable, is preferable to that of Tenedos.
Both sorts are of a red colour ; that of the Dardanelles, after being
kept for 20 or 30 years, loses its colour, but not its strength. Jews are
the chief manufacturers of this wine, which is called in Italian, (the
language principally spoken throughout the Levant,) vino della Legge,
because it is pretended that the Jews, by their law, are prohibited the
adulteration of wine. Its price, when of a prime quality, brings eight
paras* the oke, or about four-pence the bottle. Doctor Clarke tells
us, that the Pacha of the Dardanelles was much addicted to this wine ;
and when he wished to indulge freely, he retired to his villa in the
umbrageous recesses of Mount Ida, where he gave full scope to his
love of inebriating pleasures, amidst his concubines, musicians, and
dancers.

In many parts of Asia Minor, the farmers, although Mahometans,
plant vineyards, and cultivate the grape, but do not make wrine. The
grapes are consumed as ripe fruit, or made up by drying into raisins.
From these, a sirup, called petmez, is preserved, and used in their sher
bets as sugar. In other places, particularly in Mesopotamia and the
adjoining provinces, this sirup is employed as an indispensable ingre
dient in all their beverages.

In the capital of Syria, the distillation of an ardent spirit from raisins,
with a mixture of aniseed is carried on extensively. The privilege of
this manufacture, on payment of a certain duty, is alone granted to the
Christian and Jewish subjects of the Grand Seignior. According to
Baimigarten and others, f large quantities of beer, or zythum, are
brewed by the Syrians from the grain of the country ; and we have the
testimony of Brown, a late traveller, that wine is produced in great
abundance throughout Syria; a revenue is raised from it, the vineyards
being charged according to the number of vines they contain. Eacli
vine, if of good quality, is considered worth one piastre: — the miri, or
land tax, of every hundred vines, is ten paras. On the mountains, the
vine is now cultivated to some extent, and it is pleasing to see with
what neatness and industry its growth is effected, where it might be
thought impossible to preserve it from the torrents. The wine, to
improve its quality, is prepared by boiling it immediately after the juice

* A para is about the value of an English halt-penny,
f In Churchill's Collection.

46

is expressed from the grape ; and to preserve it for use, it is put into
jars or large glass bottles. This mode of boiling wine is not peculiar to
the inhabitants of that country ; it was in general use among the
ancients. The Lacedaemonians were famous for it,* and it is still
practised in some parts of Provence, in France, where it is called the
vin cuit, or cooked wine ; but there the method is to lodge the wine in
a large room, receiving all the smoke arising from several fires on the
ground floors ; an operation more slow, but answering the same
purpose. The Spanish Vino Tinto, or tent wine, is prepared in the
same way."|" The most valued wine, in this quarter, is the Vino de Oro>
or golden wine of Mount Libanus ; this, however, is not boiled, but
left to purify itself by keeping.}: The wines of Lebanon (of which
there are upvrards of a dozen species) are equally luscious with those
of Cyprus, they are very cheap, and might be worth exportation to
other parts of the world.§ Jerusalem draws its supplies from the
neighbouring villages. In the valleys that lie adjacent to that city,
there are good crops of different kinds of grain and fruit. The vine is
in a thriving state, and its produce has a rich flavour, not unlike that of
Muscadell — its strength is considerable, as was evident from the effect
it produced on some of the superstitious devotees who shew the holy
places in and about the city.|| Chateaubriand says, the wine of Jeru
salem is excellent, it has the colour and taste of the wines of Rous-
sillon, and is still furnished by the hills of Engaddi.

In Damascus, wine is scarcely to be found. The monks in the
convent there have good white wine, and to them a traveller must be
indebted for a supply. The sherbet shops are numerous, clean, and
neat, each having two or three large vessels constantly full of this
beverage, with ice to cool it : the retailers fill a vase with the sherbet,
colour it with some fruit, cast a piece of ice or snow into it, and
directly present it to your lips : — this is a grateful draught in sultry
weather.f Nearclms relates that Damascus received the richest ma
nufactures of Tyre in exchange for wine of Helbon, which was the
same as the Chalybon of the Greeks, formerly so highly prized that
the ancient Persian monarchs drank no other. At Smyrna, a common
coarse wine, called Crassi, is in current use, which at first is rather

Archreologia Grjcca, vol. ii. p. 366.

f The Romans, as appears from Columella, were in the habit of giving to some
of their wines a rich and precocious maturity by a particular effect of smoke. Vide
Columella. L. i. c. 6.

$ Brown's Travels in Africa, Syria, &c. passim.
§ Light's Travels, 8vo. p. 214.
|| Bramsen's Letters of a Prussian Traveller.
^ Game's Letters from the East. p. 379.

47

disagreeable from its having a strong pitchy or resinous flavour. The
higher classes in Syria often indulge in the luxury of wines, parti
cularly the Jews and the Christians ; and, according to Russel, it is a
practice to drink a small cup of brandy before sitting down to dinner.
The wandering hordes of Turcomans, Curdes, and Bedouins, who
occupy the mountainous tracts of Syria, are too poor to merit attention ;
and since nature is easily satisfied where temptations to enjoyment are
few, what could be expected from those who shelter themselves under
the frail tent, in the cavities of rocks, or beneath the shade of trees,
delighting only in the simple repast which their flocks afford. The
Druzes, or Derouz, another of the tribes that inhabit this part of
Asiatic Turkey and profess Islamism, cultivate vineyards, and freely
use wine without regard to the dictates of the Koran. Their man
ners in this respect are very loose, they curse Mahomet, eat food that
he has forbidden, and break the fast of the Ramadan. Warm-hearted
and philanthropic amidst their unfrequented mountains and valleys,
they share their humble fare with the suppliant or distressed passenger,
entertaining him with lodging and every other comfort they can afford,
in the most unaffected manner ; bestowing the reviving juice of the
vine with the same generosity that they part with the least morsel of
their bread, in conformity with their own sublime adage, — " God is
liberal and great, and all men are brethren." At a remote period, and
long before Islamism was known in that region, Syria was remark
able for its wine and the size of its grapes. Paul Lucas speaks of
bunches that weighed 451bs. ; and the grapes of Hebron, (mentioned
in Numbers xiii. 23) were so large that one bunch had to be borne on
a staff by two men. It was with a grape grown in this region, that
a favourite lady of the Caliph Jezid was choked ; he having presented
her with a specimen of the fruit, she let it slip down her throat,
and, from its great size, it stopped her breath and stifled her in an
instant.

In different parts of Syria, as well as among the Druzes, it is a
practice to extract from grapes a saccharine substance, called debs,
which is used as a substitute for sugar. It is manufactured in the
manner of wine, with the exception of being boiled and cooled twice
in succession. When the grapes are trodden on, a white earth-like
gypsum is thrown on them, from time to time, to make them adhere
together ; the juice is then caused to flow into a stone receiver, from
whence it is carried to a boiler and from that to a second vessel, where
it is cooled and skimmed. After this it again undergoes the same
process, and is then put into large earthen jars, in which it becomes a
sirup. Perhaps this is the debasli of Scripture, which our translators*

48

render honey, 2 Chronicles xxxi. 15. It is brought into Aleppo in
goats' skins, where it is publicly sold in the bazaars. Michaelis con
jectures, that the honey mentioned as a portion of the present sent by
Jacob to his son Joseph, at the court of Pharaoh, in Egypt, Gen. xliii. 2,
was not the common honey of the bee, but a mass of bruised grapes, of
the consistency of jelly ; and it may probably have been the same as the
sirup just mentioned. Shaw speaks of the great traffic, carried on by
the Syrians, in this article ; and says, that from Hebron, alone, 300
camels, laden with it, are annually despatched to Egypt, besides what
are sent to other countries.* Debs, when diluted and fermented, forms
the basis of some of the best brandy, distilled in this country ; and
vast quantities of the most valuable grapes are converted into this
luscious material. The Syrian Mahometans take advantage of its
saccharine qualities to make an intoxicating beverage ; but this they
do in secret. Franklin gives an amusing account of a party that he
found making it, amongst a number of tombs, between Berout and
Mount Lebanon, where they converted one of the stone sarcophagi
into a cooler for the liquor : a miserable shift, as he justly observes,
to evade the prohibition of the prophet, and substitute Bacchus for
death/f
in various parts of Syria, honey is largely collected, and the hives
are formed of the same materials as those of Egypt, namely, of clay,
being about four feet long and six inches in diameter. They are placed
one above another to the amount of ten or twelve, presenting each an
aperture, for the admission of the insects, and bearing a pyramidal
appearance, protected by an awning, or roof. From the flowers and
aromatics, so plentiful in Palestine and Syria, the bees collect the most
delicious and abundant quantities of honey ; hence the appropriate
language of the Scriptures, " a land flowing with milk and honey." The
Syrians consume great quantities of it in sherbets and other refresh
ing liquors ; and of the advantages of honey to the inhabitants of this
region, Haselquist bears strong testimony.

In all the countries labouring under the delusion of Mahometanism,
there is little variety, so far as regards the manners and customs of
the people. The Arabians, therefore, may be said to differ slightly
from their neighbours the Syrians. Niebuhr tells us, that in many
parts of Arabia, the Jews make wine and distill brandy to conside
rable extent, and that at Sana, in the district of Yemen, if large quan
tities of these articles are manufactured ; while in other places a sort

Vide Harmer's Observations on various passages of Scripture, vol. ii. p. 6.
f Fralclin's Travels, vol. i. p. 371. $ Nicbuhr's Travels, 8vo. vol. i. p. 250.

49

*>f beer, something like the Egyptian curmi, was brewed, which
received an agreeable taste from an infusion of a grey herb, called
Schoebe,* that served as leaven in the fermentation. From the berry
of the cebatha shrub,f a very strong kind of spirit was extracted, the
acid taste of which, he thought, was much improved by sugar. Arrack
is sometimes imported into Mocha, from India, as well as into many
of the other parts of the Arabian Gulf. From the Kismis or Kisch-
misch grape, which, like the arts and sciences of the Arabs, is an
exotic from India, dibs or dibis is made, in the same manner as by
the Syrians, and great advantages are derived from it, both in
domestic and commercial intercourse. — Wine, for which the Arabian
poets have not less than one hundred and fifty appellations, is seldom
made except by the Jews and Christians An excellent sort is manu
factured, at the convent of Mount Sinai, from the superior grapes
grown in the gardens of that establishment, and from the dates cul
tivated in the vicinity ; and good brandy is made by a distiller kept in
the convent for that purpose. Grapes are there preserved, by hanging
them up in cellars, and prove very refreshing throughout the \vhole
year. The vineyards at Taroot are good and extensive, but are
sometimes overflowed by the tides. Malte Brun is of opinion, that
it is here should be placed the Regio Martina of Strabo, where the
vines, reared in baskets of rushes, were sometimes raised out of their
situation by the waters of the sea, and afterwards replaced by means
of oars.| Although the Arabians condemn the European practice of
drinking to excess, yet they do not disapprove of it, when used with
moderation, or as a remedy in diseases : it is even considered an
absurdity to refrain altogether, from what a gracious providence has
so liberally bestowed. Such, however, is the specious enforcement of
the law, that if a Jew be convicted of conveying \vine into the house
of an Arab, he is severely punished, at the same time that the Arab
will regale himself with impunity, within his own apartments. At
Suez, the inhabitants make no scruple of taking a moderate quantity
of brandy, experience having taught them that it is necessary to do
so, in order to correct the bad effects of the stagnant and brackish
waters, arising from the saline qualities of the earth. According to
Doctor Dwight, a similar practice prevails in New England and New
York, in the vicinity of the salt lakes : in both cases, it may, however,
be questioned, whether it is not the love of the liquor, rather than

* Niebuhr's Travels, 8vo. vol. ii. p. 347. The lichen of the plum-tree, a natif
of the Isles of the Archipelago.

f Ibid. p. 355. J Malte Brim's Geo, vol. ii p. 210

E

the expediency, which is the real cause for what is accounted indis
pensable.

The distillation of spirits, in this region, never formed a favourite
pursuit : the knowledge of the Arabians in this respect was always
limited, and even when the arts, under the Saracens, were at their
acme, they had little to boast of, beyond the analysis of simples,
with their application to medicinal purposes. In the practice of
alchymy almost all other considerations were forgotten, and, as
formerly observed, although the honour of the invention of distilla
tion has been attributed to these people, yet they have not, at present,
the remnant of an art to shew, that they ever had a pretension to
that discovery. Niebuhr met with one of their alchymists, who had
spent a long life in search of the philosopher's stone, and he had only
then arrived at that point of his experiments, in which he found it
necessary to procure an herb, that grew on the mountains of Yemen,
fancying, that because the teeth of the sheep, which fed on it, were
yellow, it must have the virtue of turning whatever it would touch
into gold. Thus, it was, that the Arabian alchymists conducted their
operations under the expectancy of changing the coarser metals into
gold, and this being the cynosure of all their labours, mystery and
enigmatical jargon became incorporated with all their writings, and
they carried their speculations so far, as to suppose, that the very
elements were under the superintendence of spiritual beings ; and
that those beings had an influence over human power and human
action. But that the idea of Fairies, Genii, Gouls, &c. mentioned in
the splendid machinery of the Arabian Nights' Entertainments, could
have originated in this science, as has been supposed by Sir Humphry
Davy and Doctor Paris,* there is not a shadow of foundation, unless
that of mere conjecture. From the manners and habits of the Orien
talists ; the grandeur of their imagery ; the luxuriance of their fancy ;
the sublimity of their conceptions, and the metaphysical manner of
clothing their ideas, together with the notions they have of multi
farious agents of deity, we need not wronder at the extravagance of
their descriptions, and the familiarity with which they introduced
supernatural agents on fcven the most trivial occasions, to all which,
the Arabian, as well as other Oriental tales, that have been handed
down to us, owe their celebrity and fascination.

The Arabians have been so long degraded, that they now afford
little interest, either in arts, science, or literature. The Egyptians,
whose country is contiguous, are nearly in the same state, though,

* Pharmacqlogia, vol. i. p. 88.

51

when treading on their soil, a secret glow of veneration arises for a
nation, so long distinguished in the annals of antiquity, for all that
was mighty and majestic, whether we consider its almost superhuman
structures ; its profound erudition ; its wonderful inventions, or the
splendour, pomp and glory, which surrounded its early inhabitants —
Once they revelled in wines of the most costly nature — now they are
contented with a spurious description of their ancient curmi, a kind
of ale fermented from maize, millet, barley, or rice. This liquor is of
a light colour, and, in the hot season, will not keep above twenty-
four hours ; it is pleasant to the taste, and, though weak, drunk in
considerable quantities in this country, as well as at Kaliira, and Said
(the ancient Sidon), in Syria. The native Christians mostly distil
for themselves, from dates, a liquor called by the general name,
Araki, (perhaps the same as that termed Horaky by Belzoni) ; it is
also made from currants, or the small grapes imported from the Seven
Islands. When the French were in Egypt, under Buonaparte, the
want of wine was supplied by a spirit extracted from dates. This
fruit is manna to the people of Egypt, with whom it is an universal
article of food ; when ripe, the dates have a sweet but insipid taste,
and when dried and preserved in lumps, after the stones are extracted,
they are extremely good. Of the palm tree, from which the date is
collected, Kenneir reckons forty-four varieties ; that species, cultivated
in Upper Egypt, is of the best description ; and the wealth of some
places consists in groves of these trees. At Tor, the plantations are
registered ; most of them are entailed property, and parents portion
their daughters with dates, in the same way that the people of Hol
land portioned off their children with tulips.* — Ripe dates, although
delicious, are never refreshing to the palate, but they suit the Turks,
who are fond of all kinds of sweetmeats. The tree, which yields
this fruit, is here an inhabitant of the desert, and near its roots fresh
water is always to be found. Providence has rendered it an invalu
able gift to the inhabitants of Egypt, Arabia, and Persia. They not
only make of its leaves, couches, baskets, bags, mats,f drinking bowls,
and large plates, by way of salvers ; but from the branches, cages for
their poultry, fences for their gardens : — from the fibres of the boughs,
thread, ropes, and rigging for ships ; from the sap, a spirituous liquor
is prepared ; the trunk furnishes fuel ; camels are fed upon the stones,
after being ground by hand-mills ; and, in some places, meal is ex
tracted from among the fibres of the trunk, and converted into bread

* Sir Fred. Henniker's Notes during a visit to Egypt, Nubia, the Oases, Mount
Sinai, &e. 8vo. p. 217.

t Savary's Letters on Greece, vol. i. p. 2C7.

52

So celebrated is 'this productive tree, that writers, both in prose and
verse, have made it the theme of their praises, and enumerated not
less than three hundred and sixty uses to which the trunk, the
branches, the leaves, the juice, and the fruit, are skilfully applied.
Dufard El Haddad, an Arabian bard, thus alludes to it, when describ
ing the great canal of Alexandria, — " The woods," says he, " which
shade this canal, give to the sailors, who row along its surface, a
spreading mantle of green. The cool north wind refreshes the surface
of the waves ; the superb date tree, with its high-moving and majes
tic-tufted top, crowned with its cluster of yellow red fruit, leans gently
over its banks like the head of a beautiful virgin asleep." — Such is the
attachment of the people of the East to this tree, that an Arabian,
having returned home after a visit to Great Britain, said, that England
wanted but one thing to make it beautiful ; " it has not a date tree in
it ; I never ceased to look for one all the time I was there, but I
looked in vain." — The date tree can be as easily ascended as a ladder,
being indented, as if constructed for the admission of the human hands
and feet, and not by excrescences, as is generally understood ; it has
no branches, the leaves, which are from six to eight feet long, serving
for that purpose. In the Oases, that region so insulated from the rest
of the world, and surrounded by the trackless deserts, the date grows
to great perfection. Vansleb says the best fruit is brought from El
Wah, which lies, three days' journey, inland above Siout. There,
dried dates are so fleshy and sweet, that others would be considered
sour or bitter after them. From El Wall, observes the same writer,
come raisins and good dates, common wine, dried cherries, and the
like. Strabo speaks of the mines of the Oases, and both Abulfeda
and Edrissi notice the luxuriance of its palm trees. The common
wine, alluded to by Vansleb, is thought to be raki, or date brandy,
which is in much request by the people of the Oases, who, though
Mahometans, contrive to persuade themselves that this drink is not
forbidden by the prophet Of the fertility of this portion of Egypt,
we have the testimony of Olympiodorus, who wrote in the reign of
the second Theodosius, and also of the extraordinary fruitfulness of
tile trees. Corn there, according to him, was whiter than snow,
barley was produced twice a-year, and millet three times.* Such is
the fertility oj? Egypt, that Doctor Clarke met with heaps of corn
extending nearly a mile in length along the banks of the Nile. No
distillation of spirits from grain has, however, been attempted in Egypt,

Journey lo Two of the Oases of Upper Egypt by4Sir Arch. Edmonstone, Bart.
8vo. p, 36.

53

notwithstanding- its great abundance. Bouza, an inferior sort of beer,
is the only liquor made from it, of which the Arabs throughout Upper
Egypt are very fond. They often expose it for sale in a common
wicker basket, made so close as to be impervious to this and other
fluids. Sometimes a sherbet is made from oatmeal, boiled with sugar
mixed with rose water, which is esteemed a cool refreshing beverage ;
but Bouza is the common article of consumption among the lower
orders. The grain used in the manufacture of this drink is never
malted ; it is mixed with ingredients to render it more intoxicating
and palatable ; yet from its thick and glutinous nature, it grows sour
in a few days. Palm, or date wine, is also in use, and from the inspis
sated juice of the palm tree, dipse, or a kind of honey, little inferior
to that of bees, is extracted, which, after being diluted and fermented,
makes an agreeable wine. When dipse is intended to be distilled,
the fermentation is checked before it becomes entirely acetous, and
from this, as well as dates, arrack is manufactured much in the same
way as brandy in Europe. It is remarkable, that the spirit made from
dates, in most parts of Egypt, has a smoky taste or flavour like Scotch
and Innishowen whiskey, yet mellow as if tinctured with honey. — The
native Egyptians are now so debased, that they have no taste for
improvement or elegant refinement, either in the arts or comforts of
life, which so eminently distinguished their ancestors. Still, however,
they contrive to gratify their appetites with whatever intoxicating
beverage they can procure, and even though under the strictness of
the Mahometan discipline, defend the practice of drinking, in various
ways, some of which are very ingeniously and artfully contrived,
Bruce, when travelling up the Nile, had with him a Mussulman,
named Hassan, addicted to drink, who, on one occasion, was desired
to procure some aqua vitce, if his conscience would permit him. To
which Hassan replied, " the Prophet never forbade aqua vitce, but the
drinking of wine only ; and even the prohibition of wine could not
have been intended for Egypt, for there was no wine in it, except
bouza, and bouza, said he, I shall drink as long as I can walk from
the stem to the stern of a vessel." — Belzoni found that the scruples of
the Egyptians were easily overcome, even for drinking wine, which
he exemplifies by an anecdote of a CachefF, who, on observing that
traveller drink a cup of red liquor, which he had poured out of a
bottle, enquired what kind of beverage it was. On being informed it
was Nebet, (wine,) he said, that having heard the English wine was
so superior to the date-wine of his own country, he was anxious to
have some to drink in secret. When presented with a cup full, (and
his interpreter having first drunk some of it to convince him of its

5*

purity,) he swallowed the contents with avidity, and became so
attached to this beverage, that, in three days, he nearly exhausted
the scanty stock of poor Belzoni.* Under the intelligence of modern
rulers, this country, it is to be hoped, will emerge from its darkness.
At present, the sugar cane is cultivated in Upper Egypt, the produce
and quality of which are good, and, according to Fitzclarence, in the
years 1817 and 1818, the Pacha Mahomet Ali was making rapid
advances towards bringing the manufacture of this article and of rum
to great perfection. A Mr. Brine, who had been a trader to the West
Indies, conducted the operations, which were on a very extensive
scale. Hopes were entertained that the quality of the rum distilled
here would soon compete with the West Indian article in the Medi
terranean markets, where it has been sent in considerable quantities.
Thus it appears that the Pacha, though a Mahometan, felt no scruple
to compound liquors for the infidel Christians, provided he profited by
the transaction — His intelligence and enterprise have enabled him to
see beyond the boundaries of superstition and folly, and to shew in
this, as he has done in many other instances, that the real interests of
a nation are best studied in the pursuit of legitimate gain, and are not
incompatible with the duties of true and genuine religion.

Captain Henry Light, f tells us that he found many sugar planta
tions along the Nile, and that the mode of planting was that of put
ting the joints of the cane into furrows five or six inches deep, which,
after covering with earth, were watered copiously by channels filled
with water from the river raised by means of wheels or buckets. An
acre and a half thus cultivated, yield about one cwt. of sugar. The
juice is pressed from the cane by a mill composed of two rollers
wrought by a horizontal wheel turned by buffaloes.

Mead is seldom to be met with in Egypt, although honey is plen
tiful, and this is somewhat remarkable, as there are few countries
where bees are more attended to. The honey, instead of being
employed in the manufacture of mead, is used for various other
domestic purposes ; and transported to different places in the Levant.
Maillet says, that in Egypt the bees are fed chiefly on Sainfoin, and
gives a curious account of the manner in which this is practised. — The
hives are made of clay in the same way as in Syria. As soon as the
Sainfoin ripens in the fields, on the banks of the Nile, in Upper Egypt,
the inhabitants, from all quarters of the country, collect their hives,
and place them on board of boats prepared, or hired for the purpose.

* Travels, p. 93.

f Light's Travels In E^ypt. Nubia, and Abyssinia, and the Holy Land, S<c. p. 41.

55

In these they are conveyed along the Nile, resting occasionally to
allow the insects to collect the honey in the adjoining districts, and
move along the river, stopping at intervals until the whole of the wax
and honey is collected, Having finally arrived at the sea, the res
pective owners take away the hives which they know by the number
of the register in which they were set down previous to going out.
It is an astonishing fact, that notwithstanding the moving habits
ef those insects, they have never been known to mistake their respec
tive hives, each instinctively flying to its little cell with undeviating
certainty.

The Nubians make bouza in abundance, in drinking which they
indulge to excess. It is extracted from dhourra, or barley ; is of a
pale, muddy colour, and very intoxicating.* Although the Nubians
profess the Mahometan faith, they are characterised as great drunkards.
Burckhardt, who visited Nubia in 1816, remarked, that during the
fortnight he remained at Berber, he heard of half-a-dozen quarrels
occasioned by drinking, all of which ended in knife or sword- wounds.
In the larger villages of Nubia, palm wine is common ; it is not unplea
sant to the taste, though too sweet to be taken in any considerable
quantity : it is usually carried in large goat-skins and drunk out of
small cups made from calabashes. Palm wine is generally obtained,
by the following process : — As soon as the dates have come to maturity,
they are thrown into large earthen boilers with water, and the whole-
is boiled for two days without intermission ; the liquor is then strained,
and the clear juice is poured into earthen jars, which, after being well
closed, are buried under ground. Here they are allowed to remain
for ten or twelve days, during which the liquor ferments; the jars are
then taken up, and their contents are fit to be drunk ; but this wine
will not keep longer than a year, or beyond the next date harvest, if
kept longer it turns sour. . The Nubians are industrious, and in some
parts of Upper Egypt keep the shops for the sale of bouza. Great
quantities of the wine and the spirits distilled from dates are consumed
at Derr, and sold in houses kept for the purpose, to which many of th&
upper classes resort in the evening to get themselves intoxicated.
Here Maddox found that the Arabs were the chief distillers of Arrack,
and which the Mussulmans drunk with satisfaction, and generally
undiluted : it is inferior to the Arrack of Cairo, which is flavoured
with aniseed.f

* Burckhardt's Travels in Nubia, 4to. p. 143, 144.
| Excursions in Nubia, voJ. i. p. 66.

56

Burckhardt observed that from Siout soutlnvard, through the whole
of Upper Egypt, date spirits were made and publicly sold, and that
the Pasha levied a tax upon the venders. A revenue is also raised
by taking from every date tree two clusters of fruit, whatever may
be the quantity produced, and laying a duty on all vessels that load
dates at Derr. The quantities of dates sent from Nubia to Upper
Egypt vary according to the harvest from 1500 to 2000 erdebs annu
ally, each erdeb weighing about two cwt. The date trade, which is
extremely profitable, is now for the most part in the hands of the
government. In Nubia, as well as in Egypt, a kind of jelly or honey
is extracted from the date, which serves the rich as a sweetmeat.
Except date trees and a few vines, there are no fruit trees in Nubia.*
Bouza is made by the Nubians in the following manner : — Strongly
leavened bread made from dhourra is broken into crumbs and mixed
with water, and the mixture is kept for several hours over a slow fire.
Being then removed, water is poured over it, and it is kept for two
nights to ferment. This liquor, according to its greater or smaller
degree of fermentation, takes the name of merin, bouza, or ombelbel,
the mother of nightingales, so called because it makes the drunkards
sing. Unlike the other two, which being fermented together with
the crumbs of bread, are never free from them, the ombelbel is drained
through a cloth and is consequently pure and limpid. The ombelbel
has a pleasant prickly taste, something like champagne turned sour ;
it is served up in large gourds open at the top, upon which are engraved
with a knife a great variety of ornaments. A gourd (bourma) contains
about four pints, and whenever a party meet over the gourd, it is
reckoned that each person will drink at least one bourma. The gourd
being placed in the ground, a small gourd, cut in two and of the size
of a tea cup is placed near it, and in this the liquor is served round to
each in turn, an interval of six or eight minutes being left between
each revolution of the little gourd. At the commencement of the
sitting, some roasted meat, strongly peppered, is generally circulated ;
but the bouza itself is esteemed sufficiently nourishing, and indeed
the common bouza looks more like soup or porridge than a liquor to
be taken at a draught. The Fakirs, or religious men, are the only
persons who do not indulge, publicly at least, in this luxury. The
women are as fond of it, and as much in the habit of drinking it, as the
men. A bourma of bouza is given for one measure of dhourra, three-
fourths of the measure of dhourra being required to make the bourma,
and the remainder paying for the labour. Crumbs of the dhourra

* Vide Burckhardt, p. 132, 103.

57

bread are often soaked in water, and after giving it ajsourish taste, it
is drunk off and called by the traders the caravan beverage, sherbet el
jellabe. Parties are formed to drink bouza in the same manner as
tea and coffee parties are in England. At Berber, females prepare the
bouza, and, when the drinkers of it wish not to be interrupted, they
generally retire to the apartments of the ladies, where there is no
intrusion. Nobody goes to a bouza hut without his sword, and the
girls are often the first sufferers in an affray arising from drunkenness.
At Shendy, bouza is drunk to great excess, and as tobacco is smoked
to a degree of extravagance, it is a maxim that he who does not
smoke largely will never be a hardy bouza drinker. Here also a sort
of sherbet, made from tamarind cakes dissolved in water, is taken as a
refreshing, cooling, and wholesome potation. To this place honey is
brought in great quantities from Sennaar, which is collected by the
Arabs from wild bees, and it is often converted into hydromel. This
drink is usually made by diluting honey with water, boiling it, and then
fermenting it under the influence of the sun, as is the common practice
in Abyssinia, Lithuania, Poland, and Russia. The most simple beve
rage used by the Nubians is hour, a mixture of water and the juice of
liquorice.

At Sennaar, a liquor, similar to date wine, is manufactured from
dhourra ; it is however much less palatable to Europeans from its
thick and glutinous quality, and from the burned flavour contracted
in the dhourra, which is roasted previous to the short fermentation it
undergoes. Bouza is artfully used in this country to ensnare mon
keys, as those creatures, like man, seem inclined to partake of the
pleasures of intoxication. — For this purpose, a pan full of the liquor is
placed at the foot of a tree ; and after remaining there for some time,
the wary monkey-catcher having retired to a distance and feigning
himself asleep, the unsuspicious animals come down from the tops of the
trees and regale themselves so largely with the liquor, that they soon
become an easy prey to their captors.

We need not be surprised at those irrational animals being captured
in this manner, when we find man, even civilized man ! taken captive
by a like expedient. Captain Boteler relates that, while on the coast
of Zanzibar, two sailors deserted, and the Arabs, who were employed
to arrest them, fearful of resistance, placed spirits in the way : the
men drank it, were therefore easily apprehended, and brought to
prison in a state of intoxication.*

The love of strong drink, it is well known, becomes habitual with

* Owen's Voyage of Discovery in Africa, &e. vol. ii. p, 37.

58

monkeys in a domesticated state ; and the Onran-Outang in particu
lar (which approaches nearer to man than any other animal,) evinces
towards it the strongest propensity. Doctor M'Leod, who had a
good opportunity of observing the habits of one of these creatures
during his voyage home from Borneo, assures us that he would drink
grog and sometimes unmixed spirits, and was actually turned out of
the boatswain's mess for taking more than his allowance. On his arrival
in England, he became very fond of porter.*

On the Gold Coast is found a small quadruped, in appearance like
a cat, which the Negroes call Berbe, and the Europeans Wine-b.bber,
on account of its great fondness for palm wine, of which it will drink
to intoxication.

According to Bruce, the beer of the Abysinians is of an inferior
description, and is made chiefly from tocusso ; but sometimes it is
mixed with wheat or dora, at other times all three are mixed together :
in general, however, tocusso alone is preferred. The first operation is
to grind the tocusso or mixed grain, a fourth part of which is kneaded
with leaven and water. Tin's is afterwards put into a'jar where it is
suffered to remain for two days, and then baked into thin cakes, which
are dried on the fire till they become quite hard. The cakes are then
broken into small particles, and put into a large vessel full of water
capable of holding six times the volume of the grain. Powdered
leaves of the Ghesh tree, which have a harsh bitter taste, together
with other ingredients, are put in at the same time. The remaining
three-fourths of the meal are placed in an oven over a fire with a little
water, and kept constantly stirring until it becomes a paste ; and as
the water is absorbed or evaporates, a fresh supply is added, and the
stirring continued until the entire quantity becomes black like a coal.
The whole thus prepared, the crumbs, the mass, and the leaves, are
put together into a large jar, and left to settle for a day, after which
it is poured off and preserved in jars well stopped : at the end of a
week, the liquor becomes strong and tartish, and is what the Abyssi-
nians call bouza.f When only two or thee days old, it is said to drink
well. This account of the bouza is gathered from Bruce, whose des
cription of it is far from being clear or satisfactory, a circumstance the
more singular as coming from so intelligent and indefatigable a traveller,,
and particularly when the subject affected the moral character of the
people in no ordinary degree. Teff and Tocusso are the grain from
which bouza is chiefly made, and teff is the principal article from which
the bulk of the people make their bread.

M'Leod's Voyage to China, &c. 8vo. p. 3] 7.
f Brucc's Travels to discover the Source of the Nile, vol. \i. p. 94.

59

In making this bread, the dough is permitted to become sour, by
which means the want of yeast is supplied, owing to the internal
action which arises from the generation of carbonic-acid gas. Hence
the ease with which the common people make bouza as the bread re
quires but a few days in water, to produce it.

The Teff plant, the poa Abyssinica of botanists, grows to about
twenty-eight inches in height, not thicker than the stalk of a carna
tion, smooth and jointed, having at about eight inches from the top,
a head composed of a number of slender branches bearing a small
crimson flower with a diminutive seed not as large as the head of the
smallest pin, but so very prolific as to yield an abundance of meal.
It is probable this grain is the tiphe, mentioned by Pliny. The
tocusso is a black grain growing to about twelve inches high, having
four divisions at the top ; it is said to be a species of the gramcn cruci/f,
or grass of the cross. Of this a very black bread is made, eaten by
the lower orders, but it produces the best bouza. Swoir, or Sowa,
another kind of beer, is a common drink. It is made from crumbs of
bread, with a mixture of parched barley. They have also a kind of
ale, called sava, made from barley flour mixed with some intoxicating
drugs.

Bouza, the general drink of the country, will appear to be made
to a great extent, when it is known, that it is not uncommon to order
at one time, bread and beer or bouza for an army of 30,000 men.
This, however, is exacted from the peasantry in the provinces through
which the army passes, and the people are very exact in supplying
their quota, as, in the event of failure, they should have to pay double
the value. The distribution to the soldiery is in the proportion of
twenty pots of beer, ten of mead, and one cow to one hundred loaves
calculated for the subsistence of a certain number of men.

The supply of bouza, maiz, or sowa, is carried by women, called
Gumbones, from the term gumbo, which signifies a jar ; and it is sur
prising how these poor creatures endure their labour, having often to
pass over mountains and the worst roads, where at times they are
obliged to crawl up steep precipices, with the jars on their backs, yet
they are seldom known to break the jars, though ever so much crowded
on their inarch. They always keep together in gangs, in the rear of
the army, and in front of the rear-guard.

In the household of the Ras, or king, there are two ministers, super
intendents of the bread, wine, hydromel and bouza. The common
utensil used in drinking, is the horn of an ox, though some of the
higher order drink out of a golden or silver cup. Many of those
horns are so capacious as to hold nearly six gallons, but those of great

60

magnitude are employed for conveying liquors from place to place.
Of this liquor, as well as hydromel, the natives drink largely when
they visit one another ; and if Lobo is to be credited, there cannot be
a greater offence against good manners, than to let the guests go away
sober. The liquor, on such occasions, is always presented by a servant
who drinks first himself, and then gives the cup to the company in
order, and agreeably to their rank and station. Hydromel, next to
bouza, is the most plentiful drink. This is owing to the immense
quantity of honey which the country affords, and which is so great
that the king derives from it a considerable revenue. Honey is also
a principal article of food among all ranks of people, and the bees are
kept in large cages or baskets hung upon trees ; some attach them
selves to the branches, others build in the soft wood of the bohabab,
the large and fragrant flowers of which communicate to the honey a
strong perfume. The honey in this country always partakes of the
colour of the flower and shrubs from which it is gathered, and Bruce
met with some of it like blood, while the honey of those bees that
build in the earth is nearly black. Travellers have asserted that wine
is not to be had in Abyssinia, but Bruce says, this is a mistake, since
strong wine is made at Dreeda, a place about 30 miles from Gondar,
the capital ; and Salt informs us, that wine is made from a red grape
which is common in some parts of the country. Poncet, who was at
Emfras, within a league of Gondar, at the time of the vintage, which
is always in February and not in autumn as in Europe, saw bunches
of grapes, some of which weighed upwards of eight pounds ; these
grapes were of all colours, but the white in particular were extremely
well tasted. Pearce says, that grapes are found in almost all parts
of Abyssinia, but no country produces so much as Emfras, owing to
an ancient custom of the inhabitants following the wine-business.
Here tribute is paid to the king and the Abuna. Every dass of wine
pays a jar yearly to the king, as they enter Gondar to the market.
It is the same in all other capitals of Abyssinia, such as Adowa and
Antalo. — The want of proper vessels to hold the wine is very inju
rious to its preservation, as they have nothing better than earthen jars

for the purpose, and these are not glazed within The attachment of

the people to hydromel and bouza renders, wine from the grape less
thought of, and, in consequence, the vine is not cultivated so generally
as it might be. In the province of Tigre, there is a small black grape
of excellent flavour growing wild, from which good wine could be
manufactured. Brandy is in use among the Abyssinians, and their
love of strong liquors often hurries them into excesses, which some
times lead to fatal consequences, as was experienced by Bruce on many

61

occasions. The brandy made by them is very strong, and is distilled
through a hollow cane, called Shambacco, from the husks and stones
of the grapes, after the liquor is pressed from them. Great quantities
are brought daily to Gondar, during the vintage, from Corder Emfras,
the grape country. — One would expect, from the contiguity of this
nation with Egypt and Arabia, to find in it some degree of
refinement or advancement in the arts and sciences : on the contrary,
Abyssinia is buried in the grossest ignorance and barbarism,
unacquainted with every sort of manufacture, and reckless of every
species of information, which would either expand the intellect or
ameliorate its condition. More intent on gratifying the passions
than in cultivating the social virtues, the Abyssinians indulge in acts
contrary to the dictates of human nature among the rudest savages,
eating raw flesh cut from the living animal, drinking afterwards even
to bestiality, and committing offences against delicacy too obscene to
be narrated. Eating raw flesh is not altogether confined to the Abys
sinians, for the Thibetians have a similar practice ; yet the habits of
the two nations are very dissimilar, the latter being a mild, affable and
gentle people.

Strange as this custom may appear, it is not less singular that, accor
ding to Lobo, the Abyssinians esteem the gall one of the most deli
cious parts of the animal, and drink glasses of it with the same pleasure
that epicures drink the most delicate wines. Pearce says that he has
seen them drink blood warm from the animal with an extraordinary
degree of relish.*

Notwithstanding these barbarous practices, the Abyssinians are a
hospitable people. When a stranger enters a village, he is entertained
at the expense of the inhabitants, for the master of the house, where
he stops, has only to proclaim that he has a guest, when food and liquor
are furnished in abundance. Should the guest complain of insuffi
ciency, the villagers would be obliged to pay double the value of what
ought to have been supplied. A traveller may go into any house
with the same assurance of welcome as into that of an intimate friend
or near relation.

Poncet, who travelled through various parts of Ethiopia, found
mead, called hydromel by Bruce, and maiz by Lord Valentia, to be
the principal beverage of the people ; and describes the making of it
nearly as follows : — Several ingredients are employed, of which the
basis is barley ; this is malted, dried, and pounded fine like coffee, an
indigenous root called taddo, or sadoo, is bruised and mixed with it :

* Pearce's Adventures in Abyssinia, 8vo. vol. i. p. 95.

62

these are put with water into a well-varnished vessel and mixed with
a fourth part of honey : to ten pounds of this water are put two
ounces of barley and two ounces of taddo ; the whole is mashed
together and left in a warm place to ferment ; it is occasionally stirred,
and in three or four days it becomes excellent mead, pure, clear, and
of the colour of Spanish white wine. It is considered a delightful
beverage, is sometimes made of great strength, and brandy of a good
quality is distilled from it.*

Mussulmen, as well as Christians, are fond of bouza, and some of
the former drink so deeply of it that they find it often necessary to
sleep away its effects. On one occasion, when Salt dined with the
Ras, he observed three large jars of maiz or hydromel at table, each
containing about half a hogshead, all of which were emptied during
the repast. At another entertainment, he saw about sixteen bruhles
(a Venetian decanter holding about half a pint) drunk by each person
present, ladies as well as gentlemen, a quantity the quaffing of which
would put many of our European dames to the blush.f Yet Poncet
assures us, that if the king happens to commit any excess, and that it
is hinted to him he has done so, he instantly rises from table and retires :
a condescension, and sensibility of weakness, to which perhaps no other
monarch would submit.

The higher classes of Abyssinians mostly have prudence enough
not to get over-intoxicated ; still there are numbers who drink to
such excess, that they fall off their mules on their way home, and, if
no one is at hand to look after them, they are left to the mercy of the
hyenas, which range all night through the towns and villages.

Clubs, called marvers, are common, and consist of about twelve
persons, who meet for friendly communication ; and afford opportu
nities for drinking immoderately. They assemble once a-month, and
when a married member happens to be absent, his wife often attends
in his stead ; and the same practice is observed in the marvers of the
women, should the wife be absent. Each of these clubs have a priest,
who drinks and eats at free cost : he opens the meeting, when all are
assembled, by saying the Lord's Prayer, which they all repeat toge
ther ; and is too frequently, on these occasions, the most inebriated
of the party. It is to be lamented that, through all parts of this
country, the priests are great drinkers ; and Pearce states, that he has
known instances of some of them being intoxicated when they had to
administer the sacrament.

* Lockman's Travels of the Jesuits, vol. i. p. 218.

f Valentin's Travels, vol. iii. p. 71. Salt's Abyssinia, 4to. p. 412.

63

The vessels, generally employed amongst the Abyssinians, for
drinking, are chiefly formed of bullocks' horns, and are of various sorts
and sizes, handsomely finished and ornamented. Those, who serve
out liquor, taste it first, by pouring a little into the left hand, from
which they drink it, and then, wiping the bottle, or horn, with a cloth,
present it to the master.

The Abyssinians do not make beer from teff only, but also from a
plant, called selleh. Bruce mentions different sorts of teff, of which
perhaps selleh may be one of the species. They have likewise a good
agreeable liquor made from potatoes and honey, which is very intox
icating. The honey of Abyssinia is very plentiful, and is white, hard,
and well flavoured.

The use of this material in making an intoxicating beverage, is not
only extensive in this country, but also in the adjoining states, and it
seems to be a staple commodity. When Alphonsus Mendez passed
through Dancali, near the coast of Babel-Mandel, it was with this
liquor he was entertained by the monarch, who, on entering the hall
of audience, was preceded by a domestic with an earthen pitcher full
of hydromel, while another attendant carried a porcelain cup, out of
which, without ceremony, his Majesty pledged his guast in a flowing
bumper.

In Bournou, two kinds of fermented liquors are in use ; the one
called Amderku is made from dates steeped in water, then meal is
added and the whole squeezed through a cloth. This liquor is used
after it has stood three or four days. The other drink, called Sza, is
made from durrah, or maiz, and is extremely intoxicating.

The inebriating drinks used by the other rude tribes of the African
continent, whether Mahometan or Pagan, are so much alike, that to
describe all would be tedious, and were it possible, useless : a few of
the most interesting may suffice. — The beverages of the Negroes are,
according to Park, beer and mead, sometimes called hydromel, the
latter is a species of drink very common in Africa, owing to the great
abundance of honey, wrhile the former is made wherever any farina
ceous grain is cultivated.* Rice and honey may be said to constitute
the principal basis of the Negroes' sustenance. Honey is commonly
procured throughout the whole of Africa in a wild state. The Madin-
goes, differing from most other tribes, induce the bees to hive at their
farms, in order to obtain a supply without the trouble and fatigue of
searching the woods. For the accommodation of the bees, the Madin-
goes use hollowed pieces of bamboo closed at both ends and placed

Park's Travels, Svo. p. 248.

64

horizontally on twa forked poles. In one of the ends of the bamboo
is a small aperture for the passage of the insects, and when the season
for taking the honey arrives, the bees are expelled in the same manner
as in Europe. The mead manufactured among many of the tribes is
little inferior to that made in our own country. The beer, on the
contrary, is not for the most part good, because the process is badly
conducted, and the absence of hops renders it heavy and more liable
to sour. When Dalzel was at the court of Dahomy, he observed a
sort of liquor called Pitto, manufactured by the ladies of the palace,
of an agreeable flavour and heady quality, which was prepared from
maiz or millet regularly fermented. Visitors are always honored
with a glass of this beverage, or some other cordial, filled by the king's
own hand, which, if refused, gives offence. Favours of this kind are
received with avidity by his subjects as a great honour ; on such
occasions, the individual lies on his back while the king holds the
bottle to his mouth, in which posture he must drink till the royal
hand be withdrawn, which sometimes does not happen until the whole
contents are emptied, especially when lie has a mind to sport with the
drinker. No subject can drink out of a glass in presence of the king
of Dahomy ; and although that monarch does not eat in public, he
makes no scruple to drink in public. French brandy and other Euro
pean liquors are plentiful, as well as palm wine ; and convivial saluta
tions, in the form of toasts, are common. On one occasion, when the
king was going to battle, a warrior, who accompanied him, drank suc
cess to his arms, adding, that should he be unfortunate, he hoped he
would not survive the disgrace, but perish like the glass out of which
he drank, dashing it to pieces as he spoke. — Entertainments are fre
quently held in the market place of the capital ; and it has been known,
that 130 of the king's wives have been employed carrying provisions
for the accommodation of the parties — The drinking cups in general
use are made of gourds, or calabashes, from which are likewise formed
various utensils, such as bottles, jars, and pitchers : some of these
gourds are so large as to measure a yard in diameter ; they are often
converted into washing tubs, or vessels for fermenting the materials
of pitto. The king of Dahomy, although at the head of a rude and
barbarous people, displayed, according to Dalzel, sentiments worthy
of a civilized sovereign. In a speech which he made on hearing what
had passed In England, on the subject of the slave trade, he used the
following remarkable observation : — " What hurts me most," said he,
" is, that some of your people have maliciously misrepresented us in
books which never die, alleging that we sell our wives and children
for the sake of procuring a few kegs of brandy. No, we are shame-

65

fully belied, and I hope you will contradict, from my mouth, the scan
dalous falsehoods that have been propagated, and tell posterity that
we have been abused. We do, indeed, sell to the white men a part
of our prisoners, and we have a right so to do. Are not all prisoners
at the disposal of their captors, and are we to blame if we send delin
quents to a far country : I have been told you do the same."*

Of another Dahoman sovereign, it is related, that he displayed great
ingenuity and cleverness in subduing a powerful neighbouring
monarch. Being opposed by a great army, he saw that if he attacked it
in an open manner, defeat must ensue ; he therefore had recourse to
the following stratagem. Affecting to retreat, he placed a large
magazine of spirituous liquors under a strong escort, with directions
to rest at a neighbouring village. Leaving this in his rere, under the
expectation that his enemies would indulge themselves to excess, when
finding that liis stratagem was successful, he returned on the enemy*
and routed them with immense slaughter.

Captain Clapperton found at Wow- Wow, the metropolis of Borghoo,
a kind of ale, bearing the name ofPitto, obtained from the same grain
as that used for a like purpose in Dahomy, and by a process nearly
similar to the brewing of beer in England from malt, only that no
hops were added, a defect which prevented it keeping for any length
of time.f

The people of the countries from the Gambia to the Senegal use
palm wine diluted with water, and a kind of beer called JBalla.

In the centre of Africa, the same propensity for ardent spirits
actuates the followers of the Prophet as strongly as in Turkey. The
drinking of palm wine and bouza prevails to a great extent, particu
larly after the feast of the Ramadan. On the day following, every
description of persons, Pagan and Mahometan, forget all distinctions
of rank, sex, and age,' and are to be seen revelling together in all the
wild extravagance of intoxication. In the records of Clapperton's
last expedition to Africa, we are assured that inebriety, which was
probably unknown to the Aborigines, or, if known, partially indulged
in, is now familiar and carried to great excess ; and to this may be
attributed a great many irregularities committed in that quarter of the
globe. All persons, from the king to the beggar, evince an attach
ment to spirituous liquors. When the king of Badagry, with his attend
ants, honoured Clapperton with a visit, he drank rum till he forgot
what was due to Majesty, and became as convivial as the meanest of

* Dalzel's History of Dahomy, 4to. passim.

f Records of Captain Clapperton's last Expedition to Africa, 2 vols. 8vo. vol. i
p. 133 and 187.

66

his subjects. Seated with a large umbrella over his head and a
British flag, held by white men, floating in the air, his spirits exhila
rated by the soul-inspiring draught, and enchanted by the melodious
sounds of delicious music, he looked and spoke as if he were the
happiest man in existence, while the acclamations of the people, accom
panied by snapping of fingers, elapping[of hands, singing, hallooing, and
dancing, rendered the scene one of more than ordinary bacchanalian
cast. The same traveller and his companions were obliged to pay a
tribute of rum to the chief of a village near Humba, which, when
received, was taken by this personage in mouthfuls, and squirted so
adroitly into the gaping jaws of his thirsty attendants, that each aspi
rant for this mark of distinction, received a portion of the bewitching
fluid with peculiar satisfaction. Palm wine forms, in Badagry, an
article of commerce, and is as regularly exposed for sale in the markets
as any other commodity. At a village called Weza, Clapperton met
with a beverage termed Otee, which he describes as a kind of ale made
from millet, and of a very enlivening nature. Another sort of ale,
styled gear, drawn from Indian corn, 'was found at Ragada, besides a
liquor named bum of an intoxicating quality.

The practice of drinking bouza, as well as that of another
beverage called Merissah, prevails to a considerable extent in
Sudan or Dar Fur. The Sultan Abdelrahman, in 1795, published an
ordinance prohibiting the use of it altogether, under pain of death.
Even the unfortunate women who made it had their heads shaved
and were exposed to every possible degradation ; but as the habit of
using it was of_older standing than the profession of Islamism^com-
panies are yet known to sit from sun-rise to sun-set, drinking and
conversing, till a single man will sometimes carry off with him two
gallons of this liquor.* Bouza having a diuretic and diaphoretic
tendency, precludes the danger usually attendant on such excesses.
In Dar Fur, they have a species of bread called Ginscia, prepared from
the small kassob termed dokn, (millet.) The grain is coarsely ground,
saturated with water, and allowed to undergo a slight fermentation.
Tins mixture is worked into paste called Kissery, and, when about to
be used, water is added, which renders it a palatable food, slightly
acid, and of an inebriating quality, with a narcotic tendency. This
preparation is very convenient for travellers, and hence the caravans
take care to have a constant supply. Perhaps this is the description
of bread mentioned by Lobo, which so intoxicated him, that one of his
friends considered it to be the effects of wine. The Lbians of the

Brown's Travels, 4to. pp. 222, 248, 333.

67

desert drink beer, brewed at Alexandria, though they frequently use
native wine.

The inhabitants of Fezzan are much addicted to drunkenness : their
favourite beverage is the fresh juice of the date tree, called lugibi, or
a drink termed busa, which is prepared from dates, and is very intoxi
cating. When friends assemble in the evening, the ordinary amuse
ment is mere drinking and conviviality. A revenue of some conse
quence arises from the dates, wlu'ch, according to Ben Ali, his Fezzanic
majesty collects by a tax on the trees and not on the quantity of fruit
they produce.*

Amidst the beverages which are common among the natives of the
interior of Africa, we do not find that any of them appears to be pro
duced by distillation. That art seems to be altogether unknown to
them, a circumstance the more surprising as they are acquainted with
other inventions more complicated. The working in iron, tanning,
and dyeing are familial* to them, in which to such a degree of perfection
have they arrived in some places as to rival European ingenuity.
The early acquaintance of the Arabs with the tribes of the interior of
Africa, might lead one to think that the intercourse would have less
or more promulgated their acquirements in chemistry and of conse
quence in distillation ; but we do not find, either from the writings of
the learned, or the observations of travellers, that even the slightest
traces of such knowledge are perceptible, a proof that distillation was
not known or practised by the Arabians at the time of their first con
nexion with the people of the interior of Africa.

The tribes inhabiting the western coast are equally prone to the
pleasures of inebriation as those already described. In Congo, the
people cultivate the palm for the love of its juice and shew consider
able expertness in the manufacture of the wine, which is obtained as
follows : — at certain times of the year they ascend the trees by the
help of a hoop, and when they perceive a flower blown they cut it off
with a knife, and fasten the point of the cut stalk into a calabash
called a capasso. It remains suspended in that way for a short time,
and on being taken down is found full of a liquor as white as whey.
This they ferment, and having racked off, give it the name ofMilqffb.
The whole, however large the quantity, must be consumed in three
days, otherwise it would become sour and turn rancid. In this
country are to be found eight or nine species of the palm from which
wine is drawn of various denominations : 1st, Jamata ; 2d, Matoba ;

* Horneman's Travels from Cairo to Mourzouk, the capital of Fezzan, 4to.

68

3d, Coccata ; 4th, Congo ; 5th, Maccebecco, or Maonger ; but of all
these sorts the Congo is the best.

In such parts of Congo as do not produce palm wine, a substitute for it
is procured from Indian corn or wheat soaked in water, pounded and
fermented in the usual way : this is called Guallo. In the entertainments
of the Congoese, the master of the ceremonies, after having served the
company with meat in the most exact manner, holds the moringo, or
flask, to the person's mouth that drinks ; and when he thinks he has
got sufficient, he puts it away, and observes the same practice with all
the other guests to the end of the feast ; for they, with the exception
of the monarch, never use cups or glasses.* Calabashes are the prin
cipal drinking vessels used by most of the tribes along the western coast
of Africa, and they are extremely useful for all manner of domestic or
household purposes. Small ones are employed for holding snuff, or
liquids, and they are generally ornamented with figures sometimes cut
in high and sometimes in low relief. The annexed drawing is a
representation of the moringo, or flask, formed of the calabash ; and is
similar to that attached to the branches of the palm tree to receive the
juice or toddy.

Voyage to Congo, part i. p. 564, apud ChurchilK

69

The Portuguese introduced the vine into Congo, but gave it no
encom-agement lest it should hurt their home trade, or induce the
natives to excessive indulgence, who were already too much prone to
intoxication from their native beverages — so much so, that parents have
been known to sell a child for a bottle of wine or brandy. Here is a
prodigious quantity of honey ; not a hollow tree, a cliff of a rock, nor any
crevice in which bees have not combs, the wax of which forms an exten
sive article of commerce, but whether the honey be converted into any
kind of beverage is uncertain. A portion of the royal revenue is de
rived from free-will offerings of palm wine, which not only supply
the consumption of the palace, but enable the monarch to regale his
soldiers occasionally. He is not, however, wholly dependent on this
description of liquor to gratify his appetite, his table being supplied
by a variety of foreign wines and other liquors. It is a practice with
the Congo monarch to have his wines tasted, lest they should contain
some deleterious or poisonous principle. His cups and vessels are made
of silver, gold, or other materials, consecrated solely to his own use,
as he always eats and drinks by himself, his nobles and courtiers all
the while standing. At marriage ceremonies amongst the Congoese,
the banquets are costly, the guests seldom come to the feasts but
with whetted appetites, and they never retire till all the victuals and
liquors are consumed, which, on some occasions, occupies two or three
days.

In Angola, palm trees grow in great variety and perfection. The
oil palm (Elceis Guineensis) is common to this country with all Wes
tern Africa, and its wine is exceedingly pleasant and refreshing ; but
the natives on the coast prefer the European liquors introduced by
the Portuguese and Dutch traders and settlers. At marriages and
funerals, there is a great consumption of native as well as foreign beve
rages. At an interment, the blood of the victims offered to the manes
of the deceased, together with palm wine, is plentifully poured over
the vault or grave in which the body is deposited, while quantities of
wine are consumed by the mourners.

The drinks common to Congo and Angola are familiar in Loango.
The people worship a male idol, called Marambas ; it is carried before
the chief ruler wherever he goes, to which, whenever he eats or drinks,
the first bit or first cup of wine is offered. They have also a female
idol, named Gomberi, whose festivals are celebrated by music and
excessive drinking ; the priestess on this occasion so modulates her
voice, as to make the worshippers believe that it is the statue that
speaks. The practices of the king are equally singular ; he has two
halls in his palace, one for eating, another for drinking in, and it is

70

criminal to look at him while he is at either, in consequence of which he
is shut up during that time, his nobles waiting in an ante-chamber.
As soon as dinner is finished, he retires to his drinking hall, one of
the grandest apartments in the place, accompanied by his nobles. It
is hung round with costly tapestry, and at one end stands the throne
made of fine palmetto pillars, white and black, curiously wrought, and
interwoven in the manner of basket work. Behind a screen in the
front of the hall, is kept the palm wine from the view of the atten
dants. On each side of the monarch stand two cup-bearers, one of
whom hands him the cup when he signs for it, and the other strikes
two iron rods, not unlike drumsticks, to give notice that he is about to
drink, upon which all the nobles fall on their faces, and the cup-bearer,
after presenting him with the wine, turns his back, in which position
they all remain till notice is given that the monarch has done drinking,
when they rise quickly and clap their hands in approbation. When
any one is permitted to drink in the presence of the monarch, he turns
his back to him, through respect, and no one is ever allowed to drink
out of the same cup with him. In the neighbouring state of Ardrah,
these observances are kept up with great precision, and every viola
tion of them is punished with the utmost rigour. Of this there is a
melancholy instance of a child that, having fallen asleep by the king's
side, and awaking at the striking of the two rods, unconsciously cast its
eyes on his majesty while he was drinking, for which the child was
immolated on the spot, and the blood of the innocent was sprinkled
over his majesty, lest any harm should befal him. Various ceremo
nies connected with the superstitions of their religion give occasion to
revelry and irregularity. When their idols are consulted, it is usual
for the priest to obtain a butt of beer, as his reward for the delivery
of the oracles, and then to give a bumper in honour of the idol, while
he and his attendants seldom separate till all the liquor is consumed.
At the funerals of their kings, great quantities of palm wine are
consumed, not only in offerings, but in regaling the mourners admitted
within the palisade of elephants' teeth by which the monarchs' graves
are surrounded. Palm wine is a useful article in the manufacture of
their cloth, which is made from the young shoots or leaves of the palm,
by soaking and softening them in the wine, and afterwards rubbing
them with the hand until they become so pliant, that they can manu
facture them into a comfortable article of clothing, of various dyes and
qualities. From the Metamba tree a pleasant wine is obtained, little
inferior to that of the palm, while its leaves are so large as to afford a
complete shelter from excessive heat and heavy rains. The Alicondi,
a tree of large dimensions, is sometimes hollow, containing a large

71

quantity of water, which often yields to the inhabitants a grateful
supply when other sources fail. The shell of the fruit serves for
holding- wine, oil, and other liquors, and is usually ornamented with
carved devices and grotesque figures. From the branches of these
trees are suspended hollow pieces of timber, that the bees, which are
numerous in the country, may resort to them, and there deposit their
treasures.

With the Giagas, or mountaineers of Congo, the palm wine is a
favourite drink, and none of their festivities are without it. When
the king goes abroad, it is customary for his wives to carry his drinking
utensils, and when he takes a draught, they kneel, clap hands, and
sing : — at funeral rites, they sprinkle palm wine over the grave, and,
among the rich, libations of this liquor are offered for several days
successively.

The inhabitants of Cacongo, a small kingdom adjoining Loango,
prepare a wine called Embeth, an extract from the palm tree, as well
as another agreeable beverage from the juice of plums.*

In the island of Annabon, in the gulf of Guinea, the rivulets are
covered with palms, from which the inhabitants draw, by incision,
quantities of palm wine. In the island of St. Thomas, the sugar-cane
once flourished to such perfection, that seven ships \vere annually
freighted with sugar for Portugal, two for Madeira and the Canaries
and one for England. In 1645. there were in this island up wards of
54 sugar mills in constant employment, each furnishing annually six
or seven hundred loads of coarse sugar, or rather of the unprepared
juice ; the whole computed to amount to forty ship loads. Since the
sugar plantations in the West Indies have become so extensive, the
trade of St. Thomas has fallen off. Wines have been made in this
island from the produce of the native vine, but not to any great
extent.

The kingdom of Benin has, in common with the other parts of
Africa, an abundance of palm wine, which is daily exposed for sale in
the streets and places of public resort. There are also two other
sorts of wine, one called Pali, and the other Pardon or JBordon, drawn
from a tree of the same name ; the former is drunk in the morning,
and the latter in the evening. At marriage festivals and funerals, there
is a great consumption of these wines, as also at the circumcision of
children. On the last occasion, quantities of these wines, with provi
sions, are placed in the avenues or entrances to the house of entertain
ment, in order to appease the evil spirit, and to prevent its doing the
child any injury. On the demise of a monarch, a splendid banquet is

* Dambcrger's Travels.

given, and on his tomb the most delicate wines and dainties, that can
be procured, are placed, in order to regale the mourners and visitants.
When they become intoxicated, they rush into the street, kill all they
meet without distinction, and throw the heads of those they have
slaughtered into the sepulchre, as a peace offering that the flight of
the monarch to eternity may not be solitary. The anniversary of the
great coral feast is productive of much irregularity. On this day the
monarch makes his grandest appearance, and distributes immense
quantities of wine and provisions, while the day ends in riot and
drunkenness.

Along the slave coast, Pitto, a refreshing beer, with palm wine and
most European liquors, is in consumption ; while pitchers and vessels
made of gourds finely ornamented, are in common use for holding
these liquors.

In Whidah an excellent beer is made from two sorts of maize, one
of a large and another of a smaller description. In the art of brewing
the women are so well skilled, that they are said to make beer not infe
rior to any in Europe. Their skill, in this respect, is attributed to
the danger of drinking the water of the country, and hence even the
slaves drink nothing but beer.

On the Gold Coast, the Dutch and Portuguese early established
settlements, and introduced European liquors. Of their native drinks
there is nothing differing from those of the states already mentioned. Palm
wine is an article of great trade, and is sold extensively through the
country. In the public markets the palm wine merchants commence
sale at noon, and there is scarcely any other commodity which has so
quick a sale. In the evening, droves of men and women may be found
singing and dancing with great happiness. When the palm wine is
brought into the market place, it is usual amongst the negroes for
kings, masters, and slaves, to sit down promiscuously and drink to
gether, without distinction of rank or station, in the most familiar man
ner and with increasing good humour ; they delight in full bumpers,
and he who takes a pint at a draught is accounted a clever fellow.

Of the palm wine used along the Gold Coast, there are four species.

1 . That made from the palm tree properly so called, which is drawn
off by incision, after lopping away the branches, when the tree is full
grown. For this purpose a hole is bored in the thickest part of the
trunk, into which a small pipe or reed is introduced ; the sap con
tinues running for nearly a month, and when the tree is apparently
exhausted, a fire is kindled at the bottom to force out the whole juice.

2. That called Quaker., which is drawn from a sort of dwarf palm,
exceeds the other, not only in delicacy of flavour, but in strength.

73

3. Pardon, the produce of a peculiar species of palm, which is very pala
table, but weak in quality. 4. The Kriska, or Crissia, a wine of no
great strength, but which is said to beget a voracious appetite, a con
stant desire for eating, and an extraordinary love for sensual grati
fications.*

At Sierra Leone, although sugar is cultivated, no rum is manu
factured, so far as I can learn ; but amongst the Negroes a drink is
made from the manioc (jatropha manihot,) a plant of great importance
not only in this quarter, but in most parts of the West Indies and in
South America, as noticed in the articles relating to those countries.
Bread, of a very palatable and nutritive kind, is made from the farina
or meal procured from the roots of the manioc, which constitutes the
principal food of the lower classes of the natives.

The oil of the palm trees is used as a substitute for butter, and is
also employed with the alkaline lixivium of the plantain or banana
tree, for making soap, and, by incision in the trunk, a liquor is drawn
from the tree like wine, but, from its proneness to the acetous fermen
tation, it becomes useless in three or four days. Were it distilled, it
might afford an excellent spirit, and come much cheaper than what is
imported by European settlers. As the method of procuring the liquor
of the palm is different here from that practised elsewhere, a short
description may be necessary. The trunk of the tree being too rough
to permit a person to ascend by the hands and feet alone, an elliptical
hoop of bamboo, open at one side, is made to pass round both the body
of the climber and the tree, and then knotted. With the hands on
each side of the hoop, and the feet pressing against the stem of the tree
he raises himself by a spring, shifting the hoop behind his back each
time, and then advancing a step with his feet ; and in this manner
gains the desired height, when with no other support but his back to
the hoop, and his feet firmly applied to the trunk, he makes a hole
with an augur about half an inch deep below the crown of the tree,
into which he inserts a leaf in the form of a tube through which the
liquor runs into a calabash provided for the purpose, and capable of
holding several quarts. The liquor flows more freely during the night
than in the heat of the day. About half a gallon may be procured for
the space of a month from a single tree each day, without any injury to
it, for several years. But if the drain of the juice continue longer than
a month, the tree either dies or requires a very long respite till it
recovers. After the wine has been drawn off, the auger-hole is
secured with some clay to prevent insects from leaving their eggs in it,
the larvae of which would eventually ruin the tree. j

Bosnian's Description of Guinea, p. 286.
f Winterbottom's Account of Sierra Leone, 2 vols. 8vo.

74

There are three species of the palm in this region yielding wine.
The first, the sweet kind, is afforded by that named Maha, and the
second by the Mosombie, the third from the Masongoi of a superior
quality. The sweet wine, when properly fermented, produces a very
agreeable beverage. An inebriating drink is also produced from
maize, called baamboo. From a species of cream fruit found in the
settlement of Sierra Leone, the natives draw a pleasant saccharine fluid
to quench thirst ; this, when fermented, quickly intoxicates. Here also
is a plant called the water-vine, (Tetracera potatoria) the stems of
which are a sort of vegetable fountain, discharging, when cut across,
a cool, limpid, and refreshing fluid. In the centre of each town, in
this settlement, stands a building erected on wooden pillars, and called
by the natives a kalde, or conversation hall. The doors of it always
stand open for the free ingress and egress of visitors, and here no one
can be at a loss for palm wine and cheerful company. The kalde is
something similar to a coffee-room in Great Britain.

The vine was introduced by the Portuguese into this colony, the
plants were brought from Candia, and they are said to yield grapes
in some parts twice in the year, yet, no wine has been made, owing
perhaps to the fear of injuring the home manufacture.

Among the various vegetable productions of Africa, there is none
more remarkable than the Boabab, or Goui, called also Adansonia
digitata, from its discoverer, a tree of such stupendous magnitude, that
it measures, according to Adanson, from 65 to 78 feet in circumfe
rence, every branch being equal to a moderate tree. When in full
foliage, it is a forest in miniature ; stripped of its leaves it is like an
immense wooden tower. The fruit, resembling a gourd, is made into
drinking bowls and vessels for various purposes ; the bark furnishes
a coarse thread, which is converted into ropes and cloth : — the small
leaves afford food in times of scarcity, and are commonly employed
as leaven for bread, and to ferment beer brewed from millet, while
the larger leaves serve as coverings to the huts ; when burned, their
ashes form an ingredient in the composition of soap : — bees hive in the
hollows of the trunk — the pelican constructs its nest between its mas
sive branches — monkies betake themselves to it for shelter and sub
sistence, hence the name of boabab or monkies' bread — while the wan
dering negro finds refuge from the storm in its time-worn cavities. The
leaves of this tree, dried and reduced to powder, constitute Lalo which
the Africans mix with their food, to diminish the excessive perspi
ration to which they are subject, and Europeans find it serviceable in
diarrhoea and other maladies incidental to the climate. The pulp of
the fruit is slightly acid, and so agreeable, that it is frequently eaten ;

75

while the juice expressed from it, when mixed with sugar, constitutes
a refreshing drink possessing many virtues, and is much valued as a
specific in pestilential fevers — fermented, it inebriates, and when ana
lyzed, the pulp is found to be composed of a gum resembling gum
Senegal, a sugary matter, starch, and a substance which appears to
be the malic acid.* — This tree, which is chiefly found in Senegal, is,
in the opinion of Humboldt, " the oldest organic monument of our
planet." Some of them are supposed to have stood 5000 years. The
natives hollow its huge trunk into chambers, in which they deposit
the bodies of malefactors, or persons to whom the rites of sepulture
are denied : here the bodies become dried up, the tree acting as an
antiseptic, and preserving them like mummies.

With the boabab may be associated the Cobai,f a tree little inferior
in magnitude, the fruit of which, about the size of a hazel-nut, is reck
oned so delicious, that the inhabitants require no other food when it
can be procured ; and their ingenuity has succeeded in making it
subservient to the purposes of drink.

The people of Gabon, Calbongas, Biafra, and Ashantee, are
all skilled in the making of intoxicating beverages. Bowdich,
who visited the latter country in 1817, found its inhabitants well
supplied with palm wine, of which they are very fond. One of
the lords of the council, named Oudmata, on one occasion, seemed
quite astonished at an English gentleman drinking only half a bumper,
and remarked that he would drink three pots, about fifteen gallons,
before he went to bed.J

Among the privations that superstition imposes on them, one day
of the week is considered fetish or sacred, on which they are exempted
from labour, and deprived of their favourite beverage.

It forms a portion of the traffic for slaves in Ashantee to present
the king and his ministers with different kinds of liquors, the better to
secure his favour, and at an entertainment given by that monarch to
Bowdich's mission, they had port, Madeira, spirits, and Dutch cor
dials, with wine glasses. Healths were frequently drunk, such as —
" The king of Ashantee" — " The king of England" — " The Governor"
— " The king's captains" — " A perpetual union" — " The handsome
women of England and Ashantee."

Rum is a favourite liquor, both with the king and people ; it is
poured out along with palm wine, as a peace offering, to the manes of
the dead ; and in the national processions and celebration of religious

Hooker's Botan. Magaz.

t Mollien's Travels to the Sources of the Senegal and Gambia in 1818, 8vo.
J Bowdich's Ashantee, p. 386.

76

rites, the king's cook is obliged to bear, amongst other utensils, silver
punch bowls, waiters, and tankards, to accommodate the monarch and
his attendants ; while in sacrifices for deceased relatives, quantities
of those liquors are consumed in drinking and sprinkling their graves.

Before the committal of desperate acts, the Ashantees drink largely
of rum, to inspire courage. One of their monarchs, being unsuccessful
in war, knew that he must eventually lose his head ; and to prevent
such disgrace, he summoned his ministers in order that he might sacri
fice his life for the quiet of his people. They insisted on sharing his
fate, and a barrel of gunpowder being brought for each to sit on, they
drank to excess, and blew themselves up, at the same moment, with fire
from their pipes.

In paying interest on money, it is accompanied with what is called
a dash of liquor ; and a portion of the penalties for an intrigue is a
pot of palm wine, or pitto, which is here accounted as good and plea
sant as some of our brisk ales ; it is made from dried corn. It is cus
tomary, when they drink, to spill a little of the liquor on the ground,
as an oifering to the fetish, somewhat similar to the practice of the
ancient Greeks, as referred to in Homer's Odyssey. In drinking
palm wine it is deemed a luxury to suffer the liquor to run over the
beard, and many pride themselves on the adroitness with which they
can draw this ornament of the chin tlirough the fingers while wet. —
The drops are usually caught by a boy with a bowl, which he holds
kneeling, and these precious tricklings are swallowed with pleasurable
avidity. Feasts are generally held in the market place, and it is
almost a daily ceremony with the king to drink there in state, seated in
an elevated chair. On immolating victims for success in war, he holds
a silver goblet of palm wine in his hand, and when the head of a sub
ject is cut oif, rising on tip-toe, he imitates a dancing motion, as he
drinks with joy, inspired by expectations of conquest. A man of con
sequence, in private circles, never drinks before his inferiors without
hiding his face from them, believing that at this moment only his ene
mies have the power of imposing a spell on his faculties in spite of his
fetish guardian. It is considered, whether at a public or private meet
ing, a proof of superior strength in those who can drink most without
being overcome. After marriage, it is usual for the bridegroom to
present the bride's family with a flask of rum, the day following the
nuptials ; and as it is presented full or partly so, it indicates either
her purity or frailty before the marriage. In visiting, the chief gives
his principal slave a few sips of the liquor offered to himself, not as a
matter of precaution against poison, as in Abyssinia, but as a testi
mony of regard.

77

Bosman, when he visited the coast of Guinea, found the inhabitants
willing to barter every thing for brandy. If any of them happened
to get a mouthful more than another, they began to fight without
respect to king, prince, or priest. Some joined in the scuffle through
envy, and lest they might be accused of being idle spectators. It is
said of one of the chiefs of Bamba, that he refused the crown in order
to be near the Portuguese, that through their means he might the
more readily indulge in wine and brandy.* The Negro women of
the Slave Coast brew an excellent description of beer from milhio, a
species of millet or maize. Water, being drawn from wells of from
twenty to thirty fathoms in depth, is so cold as to render the drinking
of it dangerous : hence beer is in great consumption, being one of the
safest beverages to allay thirst in that very warm climate.

Rene Caille, one of the latest travellers in Africa,f has not added
much to our information respecting that almost unknown quarter of
the globe. He states, that he found palm wine in use, and, near the
settlement of St. Louis, he observed that from a fruit called caura> a
sort of plum, an agreeable beverage was made, which much resembled
cider : this fruit, when bruised and fermented with water, produced a
liquor highly intoxicating. He mentions another liquor termed jin-
jin-di, made from the root of a plant of that name. This root is first
burned and then pounded with the bark of a certain tree, after which
it is immersed in water and kept constantly stirring for about the
space of two hours. It is then left for a few days to ferment, after
which it is drawn off and becomes a drink of a sweet and pleasant
flavour. The Koorankos, a people living to the East of Sierra Leone,
make an exhilarating, effervescing drink, called singin, which they
extract from a root of the same name. Among the Bagos, an enterpris
ing tribe, palm wine is plentiful, and as early matrimonial contracts
are made there, it is a curious regulation, that as soon as an engage
ment of this kind is entered into, the parties are compelled to live in
the same house, and are brought up together with the knowledge that
they are designed for each other. From that time, when they are
generally about seven or eight years of age, the male is enjoined to
bring each day to the relations of his intended partner, two calabashes
of palm wine, one in the morning, and another in the evening. His
parents supply him with this, until he is himself capable of making the
wine. Major Laing, speaking of another tribe, { says, that the court
ship does not employ much time ; for if a man form an attachment

* Bosnian's description of Guinea,8vo. p. 403. Adanson's Voyage to Senegal,
t Travels through Central Africa to Timbuctoo, &c. 1824, 1828, 2 vols. 8vo.
J Laing's Travels in Western Africa, 8vo. p. 83.

78

for a female, he never considers whether the feeling is reciprocal, but
immediately carries to her parents a jar of palm wine, and declares to
them the object of his visit. Should his suit be approved of, he is in
vited to return, when a second jar of wine, with some other trifling-
present, terminates the courtship. A tribe called the Timannus, in
the vicinity of Sierra Leone, not only employ palm wine in this man
ner, but use it as offerings to the dead ; for which purpose they
deposit not only quantities of this liquor, but of provisions in the charnel-
houses, particularly of their kings and chiefs, under the impression that
they are necessary for the deceased, and consumed by them as a sup
port for their spiritual existence ; thus shewing a belief in the immor
tality of the soul. It is a prevailing practice, among many of the
pagan nations of Africa, to consign a portion of both food and drink
to the dead, associating the pleasures of the temporal with the Spiri
tual world. Their attachment to palm wine is so strong, that many
are so relaxed by its effects, that they become afflicted with diseases
not unlike those produced by ava> in the Sandwich islands.

The Caffres and Tambookies prepare an intoxicating drink from
millet, or Guinea corn, which they call pombie. It is manufactured
much in the same way as the liquors already described, and in large
quantities ; for the longer it remains so as to become tart or sour, the
better they reckon it and the more eagerly do they covet it, as posses
sing great virtues.*

In Morocco, the Jews are extremely active in preparing intoxica
ting liquors, and making wines both white and red ; and in the pro
vince of Suse and Tetuan, they not only make wine, which, in Wind-
hus's opinion, is equal to the sherry of Spain, f but distill brandy from
the refuse of the grape as well as from raisins. £ An ardent spirit is
also extracted from figs called mahayah, which they drink almost
immediately from the alembic. When it is kept for a year or two, it
resembles Irish whiskey, and is preferred to European brandy or rum,
because, as they pretend, it does not heat the blood. A glass of it is
generally taken before meals : cider is made in many parts of Barbary,
and affords an excellent drink. Usuph is common, but consists of
little more than the water in which raisins have been steeped. Sir
Capel De Brooke, when in Morocco, found that the Moors were not
scrupulous in drinking wine, which they take after boiling, that pro
cess, in their opinion, removing the objection made in the Koran, as it
is the simple fermented juice of the grape which is forbidden : in this

Joano Dos Santos' Hist. Patterson's Travels in Caflfraria, 4to.p. 92.
f Journey to Mequincz.
$ Jackson's Account of Morocco, 4to, p. 18.

79

state its taste and appearance resemble sour mead. Lempriere
asserts, that there are very few of the inhabitants who do not joyfully
embrace every private opportunity of drinking1 wine and spirits to
excess. Several of their monarchs were guilty of great extravagancies
in their drunkenness. Abdelmelech was odious to his subjects on this
account, and was guilty of the greatest cruelties while under its influ
ence. Another emperor, in an intemperate moment, caused the teeth
of a favorite mistress to be drawn out ; and to atone for his barbarity,
he ordered the dentist to be served in the same manner, whose teeth
he sent her by way of consolation. Muley Dehaby destroyed his con
stitution and shortened his reign through an obstinate dropsy, occa
sioned by an inordinate devotion to wine.

The materials for which, and the proportion of brandy drawn
from those materials, as practised by the Jews in their manufacture
of that spirit, are —

From 1501bs. of pears, which, when in season, cost about ten pence
they make about two gallons.

From 1501bs. of raisins, which cost about ten pence, from eight and
a half to nine gallons are extracted.

From 1501bs. of figs, which cost about sixpence, they make about eight
gallons.

From 1501bs. of dates, costing from twenty-five to twenty-eight
pence, about seven gallons are obtained.

The brandy from dates is considered the best, and is sold for 3s. 6d.
per gallon.

The brandy from raisins and figs sells for about 2s. 6d. per gallon.

The brandy from pears brings about 3s. 6d. per gallon.

From 1501bs. of grapes, about eight gallons of very tolerable wine
are obtained, and four gallons of brandy.

Were the Jews more careful in the selection of their grapes, and
the making of wine, it is considered it would be of good quality. In
August, the wine is made, and the process of boiling is usually con
ducted in the open streets. The white grapes are simply pressed
under foot and then boiled ; the black grapes, or their refuse, undergo
the process of distillation. The brandy is of a white or clear colour,
and is generally flavoured with aniseed of which the Jews are very
fond : a glass is usually taken the first thing before breakfast, and is
considered very wholesome. To the taking of spirits is attributed the
freedom of the Jews from the elephantiasis, or swelling of the legs, a
disease quite common amongst the Mahometans. Both Moors and
Jews make very good sweet-meats from the orange flower, which the
rich boil in clarified sugar, and the poorer classes in honey : orange

80

peel is also made into a preserve with sugar and honey ; the sugared
almond cakes are very good. In Morocco, the oath of a principal
alkaid, or Talib, is equal to the oaths of six common persons,* but
there are different offences, of which if he be proved guilty, detract
from the validity of his oaths ; amongst these offences are those of
drinking wine, smoking, &c.

The people of Tripoli make an excellent wine from the Lotus tree,
(zizyphus lotus) the fruit of which is considered superior to that of the
date : from this tree, it is alleged, that the ancient Egyptians took
the name of lotophagi. The lotus of the ancients appears to be the
same plant as the seedra of the Arabs. It is very common in the
Jereede and other parts of Barbary ; it has the leaves, prickles, flowers,
and fruit of the zizyplim, orjujeb. The fruit is luscious and in great
repute ; it tastes something like gingerbread, and is sold in the mar
kets through all the southern districts of these kingdoms.f The Lybian,
or Rhamnus lotus of Linnaeus, is a shrub of about four or five feet
high, bearing berries which are very nutritive, and used in various
ways as food. Whether this be the same as the lotus mentioned by
Xenophon, in his address to the Ten Thousand, cannot be determined.}:
Pliny alludes to it, as furnishing subsistence to the Roman army?
when passing through a portion of Africa.§ Mungo Park notices the
Rhamnus lotus, the berries of which are, by some of the negro nations,
termed Tomberongs, and converted into bread by pounding them in a
mortar till the farina is separated from the stones. This farina, or
meal, is then mixed with water, formed into cakes, and dried in the
sun. The stones are put into a vessel of water, and well shaken to
separate the remaining particles of meal, which communicate an
agreeable taste to the water, and being mixed with a little pounded
millet form a pleasant gruel, called fondi, the common breakfast in
many parts of Ludamar.|| In other places they ferment it, and thus
make an excellent beverage from it.

The Jews at Taffilet use beer of their own brewing, but, in the
vintage season, make a little wine. Palm trees are very abundant in
Tripoli, and the inhabitants draw from them, by incision, a frothy
liquor termed laghibi, which, when drunk immediately after being taken
from the tree, is very palatable. It is also fermented, and produces a
strong inebriating wine in great request among the people, notwith
standing the prohibitions of the Koran. The laghibi is obtained from
the annual buds at the top of the tree, and the juice flowing from the

Sir Capel De Brooke's Sketches of Spain and Morocco, vol. i. p. 145.
f Shaw's Travels. J Anab. lib. iii.

§ Pliny, lib. v. c. 4 ; lib. xiii. c. 17, 18. || Park's Travels.

81

bounds is collected in vessels. Trees, having undergone this opera
tion, bear no fruit during the next three years ; but, according to Paolo
Delia Cella, that which is then produced is of a more delicious kind. —
In some parts are excellent grapes, but no wine is made from them
owing to the indolence and ignorance of the people.* Wine and
liquor shops, as well as some taverns are kept by the Mahometans of
Tripoli, who, regardless of the prohibition by the law, drink wine
without any restraint or limitation : so great is the consumption, that
it is said to produce a revenue of one hundred thousand francs annu-
ally.f In the mausoleums have been found various sorts of drinking
vessels : a proof that the early inhabitants were familiar with wine and
and other seductive liquors.

The Deys of Algiers, though possessing one of the most fertile
States in Barbary, do not encourage the manufacture of inebriating
liquors ; yet Jamaica rum, as well as good wine, is among the merchan
dise always in demand. Grapes of a superior quality grow in Al
giers ; and, according to Shaw, some wine is made not inferior to the
best Hermitage, both in taste and flavour ; but the locusts are so des
tructive, that they frequently annihilate whole vineyards. Since the
conquest of Algiers by the French, in 1831, it is to be presumed that
their ingenuity has not been slow in bringing to bear the resources of
that country to supply the wants of the army with such liquors as the
native fruits afford. In Tunis, the taverns are kept by slaves, who
have considerable authority, which they sometimes exercise with good
effect ; for if any one get drunk or behave irregularly, they have the
power of chastising him at the instant ; by which means taverns and
public-houses are protected from broils and disturbances. White wine
made in the country is the common beverage, which is cheap and of
good quality, but, in order to render it more inebriating, it is mixed
with quick -lime.

In Barca, great quantities of a liquor made from the date tree are
consumed, and which is called date tree water : it inebriates when
taken to any excess. This country is remarkable for the superior
flavour of its dates, which are in such abundance, that they are fre
quently used in feeding cattle.

Along the Barbary coast, as well as in the Levant, sherbet is
the common drink. The term sherbet is applied generally to every
beverage consisting of water holding, in solution, a sweet and an acid ;
and is preferable to lemonade in its extended acceptation. In Algiers

* Narrative of an Expedition from Tripoli to the Western Frontiers of Egypt, in
1817, 8vo. London, 1822, p. 16.
f Travels of AH Bey, vol. i. p. 238.

82

it is made of sugar, juice of lemons, apricots, plums, violets, or other
fruits. Mead also abounds, honey being gathered in large quantities,
not only in the Barbary States, but, as already observed, through
almost every part of Africa. The wealth of many of the tribes, it is
well known, consists in nothing but honey and wax. The modes of
rearing bees are various ; the hives are generally shaped like ours, but
more of a cylindrical form, and placed lengthwise, and are commonly
suspended from the branches of trees : the entrance is at the bottom
which is furnished with straw. This, however, is only the case
where the bees are domesticated ; but wild honey is procured from the
forests in large quantities. Flowers being very scanty in many States,
the bees collect the honey from trees, shrubs, and even underwood :
hence African honey, in general, is coarse and insipid to European
palates, and is full of particles of leaves that give it a blackish appear
ance ; some ingenious natives clarify it, and render it beautiful, rich?
and agreeable. The art of making brandy from fermented honey is
said to be practised by some of the native tribes, a use to which it has
never yet been applied in Europe. Molien, in his Travels, informs
us that the Poulas make brandy from honey after being fermented in
the usual manner. The sugar obtained from honey is of two sorts,
one resembling that of the grape and the other like the granulated pro
duce of the sugar-cane. In some of the interior districts, a kind of
beer, called Ballo, is made from rice or millet.

I shall conclude this circuit of Africa, by observing, that the know
ledge of its most enlightened inhabitants in chemistry is not more
solid than their pretended acquirements in alchymy ; since the boasted
discoveries of the Saracens are to them wholly lost : — even in the
most simple medicinal prescriptions, the Moors, from whom great infor
mation might be expected, display the grossest ignorance. So limited
is their education, that the only book in use among them is the Koran
with its commentaries, to which may be added a few blundering tracts
on geography, with some historical memoirs — for such branches of
history, as are older than the Mahometan era, are a medley of romance
and confusion. Thus circumstanced, even did their laws permit, they
could not manage any experiment in chemistry, much less the process
of distillation : to the Jews and Christians residing among them, they
are indebted altogether for the products of the alembic.

In the Persian empire, as well as in the Turkish, the Mahometan
faith precludes indulgence in inebriating liquors ; but in few countries,
perhaps, is there less attention paid to the prohibitory mandate of the
prophet. Sherbet is the fashionable drink at meals, but wine is the
favourite in private. The love of the Persians for this liquor is well

83

known from the earliest antiquity ; and it often led them into the
most extravagant excesses. Herodotus tells us, that they were accus
tomed to debate on matters of the highest moment when heated with
wine ;* and Strabo, says their counsels and decrees were firmer, if
made at that time, than when sober .f It was a familiar phrase among
them, that " there was equal sin in a glass as in a flaggon." So
impressed are they with the idea that the sole pleasure of wine is in
its intoxicating effects, that they think Christians are all drunkards ; and
say, that since it is a privilege of our religion to drink wine, it is neither
attended with shame, nor disgrace. Hence many of the blunders or
singularities of Europeans are often attributed by the Persians to
drunkenness. The following anecdote is a familiar illustration. An
English officer, riding on one of their most spirited horses, had great
difficulty to keep his seat, and presented so awkward a display of horse-
mansliip, that he was laughed at by the spectators. A Persian friend
who was witness to the scene, in order to save the credit of the English
man, exclaimed, "Oh! he rides admirably, and as becomes one of a
nation of soldiers ; but he is drunk, and that accounts for his not keep
ing his seat as he otherwise would." This had the desired effect, and
saved the officer from further observation. Hafiz, the elegant and
favourite poet of the Persians, though he may have indulged his ima
gination to the extreme of fiction, has strongly marked, in the follow
ing verses, his attachment to the popular beverage of his country :

" I am," says he, " neither a judge, nor a priest, nor a censor, nor a lawyer ;
why should I forbid the use of wine ?

" Do not be vexed at the trifles of the world ; drink, for it is a folly for a wise
man to be afflicted.

" That poignant liquor, which the zealot calls the mother of sins, is pleasanter
and sweeter to me, than the kisses of a maiden."

" The only friends who are free from care4 are a goblet of wine and a book of
odes.

" The tulip is acquainted with the faithlessness of the world ; for, from the time
that it blows till it dies, it holds the cup in its hand.

" Give me wine ! wine that shall subdue the strongest ; that I may for a time
forget the cares and troubles of the world, f

" The roses have come, nor can any thing afford so much pleasure, as a goblet of
wine.

" The enjoyments of life are vain ; bring wine, for the trappings of the world
are perishable."

* Herod, vol. i. s. 133, p. 137. f Strabo, Geo. chap. 15.

J Johnson called brandy, " drink for heroes." Hafiz distinguishes his liquor by
an uncommon epithet, " the tercllcr of men "

84.

This flowery imagery of Hafiz, so descriptive of man's attachment
to wine, brings to my recollection an epitaph on the tomb of a wine-
bibber. " Wine gives life ! it was death to me. I never beheld the
morning sun with sober eyes ; even my bones are thirsty. Stranger f
sprinkle my grave with wine ; empty the cup and depart."

Travellers assure us, that intoxication is common in Persia, and that
the laws of moderation are frequently as little regarded as those of re
ligion. It is related of a certain Khan of that country* that he was so
fond of spirituous liquors, that the king had often reproved and even
chastised him for it ; but finding those measures of no effect, his Ma
jesty ordered him to continue drinking, which order he so faithfully
fulfilled, that he was intoxicated during forty days, and, in consequence
became so disgusted with the practice, that he gave it up altogether,
and solicited the king to revoke his command.*

At an entertainment, at which Mr. Morier was present, he de
scribes very minutely the various articles served up to the guests. —
Amongst these were trays, with fine china bowls filled with sherbets,
some of which contained sweet liquors, and others a most exquisite
kind of lemonade ; besides, small cups with delicious liqueurs. While
in vases of sherbet were spoons made of pear-tree, with deep bowls?
and made so fine that the long handle gently vibrated, when carried to
the lips, as if to tantalize the desire of the guest. Wine formed no
part of the banquet, for the prohibition of the Prophet was religiously
observed by the entertainer, who was a rigid Mussulman, and an
exception to the generality of his countrymen.

The Jews and Armenian Christians are, in Persia, the principal
manufacturers of wine, and though there is scarcely a province in the
empire which does not afford it, yet the wine of some is much more
esteemed than that of others. Shiraz is universally allowed to pro
duce the best. Tavernier states, that 4,125 tuns of this wine were
annually made in his time.f It has so strong a body, that it will keep
from eighty to one hundred years without diminution of colour or
flavour. To eat the bread of Yezd, and drink the wine of Shiraz, is,
proverbially in Persia, to be happy. The name of Shiraz, or Sheraz,
is said to be derived from Sherab, which, in the Persian language,
signifies a grape, because that fruit abounds in this place and its
vicinity, where the finest orchards and vineyards in that empire are
found. Among the grapes most esteemed for wine, the Recsh Baba,
which is without seed, is luscious and agreeable to the taste : the

* Kotzebue's Travels, p. 207.

f Tavernier, p. 421. Waring's Tour to Shiraz.

85

Askeri, also wanting seed, is as sweet as sugar; the black fruit of this
species produces the celebrated Shiraz wine ; and the Sahibi, the
bunches of which weigh from seven to eight pounds, is a red grape
of a sharp rough taste that yields a good wine, but is chiefly employed for
making vinegar. The Kishmish is a small grape, and, like the Askeri,
without any stone ; in the opinion of Olivier, it is preferable to all
others, not only for eating, but for wine. The anguur asji, from
which is manufactured the rich red wine so nearly resembling Her
mitage, is in high estimation.

At Shiraz, Ispahan, Casbin, Teheran, and other places, the vineyards
are numerous, and planted in the most advantageous situations, both
with respect to soil and exposure to the sun's genial influence.

In making wine in Persia, the fruit is trodden in a vat, or cistern
formed of mason work, plastered with a material or stucco like Ro
man cement. From this the juice is collected into an under vessel, or
receiver, from which it is conveyed into immense jars, containing
nearly 100 gallons, to undergo the process of fermentation. In these
it is left about three weeks, during which it is stirred daily by a person
appointed for the purpose. The wine is afterwards strained and put
into other vessels, in which it remains nearly five weeks, and under
goes another slight fermentation ; after this it is considered fit for use.
The brandy made from the lees and weaker sort of wine, is ardent,
harsh, and unpalatable, when compared with that made in France ;
but what is drawn from the better description of wine is of excellent
quality. Were the same measures pursued in Persia in the manufac
ture of wine as those observed in Europe, there is no doubt that the
produce of that country, already so celebrated, would far excel that
of any part of the world.

Both brandy and wine are put up in thin flasks or bottles, and
packed in chests, to the amount of about twelve English gallons each,
for transmission through the empire and to different parts of the east.
The character of the Ispahan wine is not less estimable than that of
Shiraz ; it is stronger, and is as clear and transparent as glass, owing
to the white grape from which it is made. The red wine of Teheran
is preferable to that of Casbin, where it is manufactured in conside.
rable quantities. There the vine is not supported by props, the stem
or trunk, rising to the height of five or six feet, is sufficiently strong to
support the fruit. The Casbin wine is represented as having a disa
greeable and bitter flavour, supposed to be occasioned by permitting
the stone of the grape to remain in it to the injury of the fermenta
tion and the saccharine properties of the liquor. According to Sir
John Chardin, the finest grape in Persia is that at Casbin called

86

i, or the royal grape: itis of a transparent gold colour, and is said
to produce the strongest and most luscious wine in the world. Some
of the grapes in this quarter, as well as in other portions of the em
pire, are so large, that a single bunch is nearly the size of a man's body,
and one grape is a sufficient mouthful. In many places the grapes are
kept fresh on the vines, during the winter, by securing them from birds
and the weather in little bags : thus preserved, when brought to
table, they display all the luxuriance and freshness of the ripe vintage.
The Persian historians say, that to this country, wine owes its origin.
One of their earliest writers asserts that the monarch Jemsheed, famous
as the founder of Persepolis, was the first who discovered the making
and use of this liquor. He was long anterior to Cyrus, must have
lived shortly after the Flood, and is celebrated as the inventor of many
useful arts, and the introducer of the solar year amongst his country
men. On the day of the vernal equinox, or when the sun enters
Aries, he is said to have instituted one of the greatest festivals celebra
ted in Persia, that called Nouroze, or new year's day ; and there is ye*
observable, on the sculptured ruins of Persepolis, representations char
acteristic of this festival. It is observed with great rejoicing and
public exultation. The affluent relieve the distressed, poverty is dis
carded, wine flows in abundance, while every species of amusement is
resorted to, in order to enliven the conviviality of the occasion, and
render the whole a scene of pleasure and delight. Even the dead
and the ideal things of futurity are not forgotten, since rich viands
are exposed on the house tops and towers, to gratify the palates of the
Peries and the spirits of departed friends.* Jemsheed, it is affirmed, was
passionately fond of eating grapes, of which Persia was the nursery, and
desirous of preserving his favourite luxury, he deposited a large quantity
in a vessel carefully secured in a vault. On repairing to his- treasure
some time afterwards, he was surprised to find that the fruit had burst
and become acid. Ignorant of the nature of fermentation, and unac
quainted with the virtues of the grape, in this new form, he considered
it to be deleterious and dangerous ; and with this impression he got
some vessels filled with the juice, on which he inscribed the word
poison. To prevent bad consequences, he had those vessels placed in
one of his own apartments. A favourite concubine, then labouring un
der pain and nervous debility, sought death as a relief from her afflic
tions ; and observing the word poison on one of the vessels in the
monarch's room, she opened it, and swallowed the contents with avid
ity. The draught overcame her, and she soon fell into a sound sleep,
from which she awoke, to her great surprise, much renovated. —

* D'Herbelot. Bib. Orientalc, art Neurouz. Chardin. tome i. p. 173.

87

T!harmed with the effects of the restorative, she repeated the draughts
so frequently, that the poison soon became exhausted, which Jemsheed
discovering, learned from the lady how her recovery had been accom
plished. Immediately after this, he caused grapes to be gathered, and
left in the same manner in large vessels. Wine w<is thus collected
without further labour, and the court of Jemshee J. soon resounded
with the pleasure which the Zeher-e-koosh, or the delightful poison, as
it is called, to this day, inspired.*

Many of the Persian monarchs, although they prohibited the use of
wine, indulged privately in it themselves. Ul-Kausim was so enthu- \
siastic in supporting the law of the prophet, that he caused all the
vines, in the vicinity of one of the principal cities, to be cut down, lest
the disciples of the Koran should be tempted to taste the juice of the
grape, and hence he was nick-named the destroyer of vineyards. —
When Sir Robert Ker Porter visited Persia, in 1819 and 182Q, a pro
hibition against the use of brandy was enforced by the reigning mo
narch, who not only abstained from it himself, but ordered the officers
of police, on the discovery of any jars containing it, to have them
broken. This strictness did not, however, extend to foreigners, who
it appears, are allowed the most liberal indulgence in the use of it, and
a shop is even licensed in the metropolis for the special accommodation
of the Russians, or other foreigners, who may be in the service of the
Sultan. Age and infirmity serve as an excuse to many of the natives
who secretly apply to this cordial ; but no such indulgence is allowed
in public under pain of severe punisliment.f When several casks of
brandy w ere presented to one of the kings of Persia by the Russian am*
bassador, he, although in the habit of taking wine moderately, fancied
that he was accused of a fondness for drink, and sent the casks back
observing that he had no occasion for so much strong liquor, and
knowing that the ambassador and suite, like all Russians, were accus
tomed to drink copiously, he was unwilling to deprive them of what
he was certain, must be so gratifying to themselves. The Sultan*
Abas Mirza, when visited by the Russian Envoy and suite, regaled
them with the delicacies of the country, but, when they expected wine
he gave them nothing but Sherbet, which singularity wras imputed to
his taste and love for that beverage, and to impress on their minds the
strict respect he entertained for his religion and its injunctions ; such
were his feelings, that, when receiving the presents sent to him by the
Russian emperor, he observed, on taking up a beautifully ornamented
goblet, " truly this glass is so fine, that it might seduce

* Vide Sir John Malcolm's History of Persia, 2 vols. 4tq.
f Travels in Georgia, Persia, Armenia, &c. 2 vols. 4to.

88

me to drink, a crime of which I shall ever be afraid," and returned the
goblet. How great the contrast between that monarch and Shah
Abbas, who died in 1628. This emperor was much addicted to wine,
and instead of treating his guests in the manner of Abas Mirza, he re
galed them with wine out of golden goblets filled from flaggons of the
same metal. It is stated that he was accustomed to drink goblets of
pure wine on every great occasion, and particularly after a battle,
when he would sit to receive the heads of his enemies until a late
hour at night. On one of these occasions, a captive Kurd, of gigantic
appearance, passed his tent, " deliver that prisoner to Roostum Beg,"
said the king, who knew there was an animosity between the friends
of that chief and the Kurd tribe. " Pardon me," said the noble-minded
Roostum, " my honour, it is true, calls for his blood, but I have made
a vow never to take advantage of a distressed and hand-bound enemy."
Irritated by this reply, the monarch ordered the head of the prisoner
to be struck off, when on the instant, the athletic Kurd burst the cords,
by which he was bound, and, unsheathing his dagger, rushed upon the
sovereign. All was bustle, and confusion, and, in the hurry, the lights
were extinguished. No one dared to stiike lest the king might fall
a victim, but, during the awful suspense, Shah Abbas exclaimed, " I
have seized his hand !" In a moment, the unfortunate Kurd perished
from the wounds of innumerable swords, and the king, resuming his
seat with the utmost composure, passed the goblet to the health of his
attendants ; and continued to receive the heads of his enemies, which,
the historian states, amounted on this occasion to 20545. Among the
many anecdotes related of the attachment of Shah Abbas to wine,
one states that he was, on a certain occasion, so intoxicated and out,
rageous that he stabbed his favourite queen ; and when he recovered
from his delirium, and understood the dreadful act he had committed,
under the influence of the deepest contrition, he issued orders to have
every wine flask in the kingdom destroyed. The laxity of manners,
so prevalent in this prince's reign, was suppressed by his son and suc
cessor, Abbas the II; but he, however, soon neglected the wise coun
sels of his ministers, and fell a victim to the same excesses as his father :
so great was his love of wine, that he spared no expense in keeping a
constant supply of every description, which, not only his own country,
but foreign nations, could afford ;and this stock he had stored in flasks
of the purest Venetian crystal. It is related of Soliman, the next sove
reign, that he was actually addicted to intoxication ; and finding his
prime minister a censor of his irregularities, he was determined to over
come, if possible, his extreme prudence and sobriety, " you must
relax sometimes," said the monarch, to AH Khan, amidst one of his

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drinking parties, " or we never can agree." The minister observed
that he lived as became his age and character. " Very true !" said
Soliman, " but your conduct is my reproach, and I can no longer
endure it," you must get drunk with us immediately, either with wine,
or a preparation of opium, choose which you like best, but the dose
must be swallowed ; it is the command of your king, who must be
obeyed." The minister was obliged to yield, and, preferring the
opium, soon fell senseless on the ground. In tin's state the virtuous
Ali Khan, after having his beard shaven, was sent home ; but, on his
recovery, finding the indignity he had sustained, he refused to return
to court notwithstanding the repeated entreaties of the king, who
soon became sensible of the loss of so excellent an adviser. Soliman
continued to indulge in the same loose habits, and about four months
after, in a drunken frolic, he condemned to death four of his favou
rites for a mere trifle ; but the moment that the sentence was about to
be put in execution, Ali Khan rushed into the presence of the monarch,
and begged for their pardon — " You are very bold," said Soliman,
" you continue to slight my earnest entreaties that you should again
serve me, and yet you intercede for others." " I am your slave," said
the minister, " and ready to obey your commands." " Very well !"
said Soliman, " I forgive them all on your account, resume your office,
and I will promise in future to respect both you and myself more than
I have done."

Shah Husseyn, son and successor of Soliman, published an edict
prohibiting the use of wine, as forbidden by the Koran, and ordered
all wine-vessels, in his own cellars, to be publicly staved, and for
bade the Armenians to bring any more, under a heavy penalty. This
gave great alarm to the grandees and eunuchs of the palace, in con
sequence of which they applied to the king's grandmother, who was
herself a lover of wine. Resolved to conquer the monarch's scruples,
she feigned sickness. The physicians prescribed her wine, but this
she refused to take unless the Shah himself, who had presented it to
her, should first drink of it. This he was unwilling to do, through
religious motives, but these she overcame, by quoting the Persian
maxim, that kings are subject to no law, and that whatever they do,
they commit no sin. By this artifice the prince was ensnared, he
drank a large cup of the liquor, which he liked so well that he was
scarcely ever sober afterwards.

In several reigns, since the conquest of Persia by the Saracens, in the
first century of the Hegira, the prohibition of wine and brandy has
been more or less observed ; but, as already noticed, the morality of
the Persians has never been strictly regulated by the precepts of the

90

Koran, and old habits in a great degree still prevail.* After an even
ing's repast, supper being a favourite meal, the night is often enli
vened by music and dancing. On these occasions, they frequently
deviate from their sober habits by indulging in the use of wine and
spirituous liquors, and particularly in the latter, as they more speedily
create a vivacity and cheerfulness, not otherwise so easily excited. —
This indulgence has often been known to hurry them into inordinate
excesses. Although the liquor, of which they are so passionately fond,
is, in many instances, a bad quality of spirits manufactured in Russia,
and fit only for the palate of a Cossack ; yet they express surprise
when Europeans shew a dislike for it, and even laugh when they see
them putting water into their wine. The excuses which they form
for indulging in drink are as ingenious as those resorted to by other
Mahometans. Kotzebue tells us that, when on his way to Ispahan, he
observed that the people of Erivan took plenty of frozen punch in the
form of ice-cream without any scruple of conscience, because it was
given as an eatable, and as a medicine for strengthening the stomach.
In many respects, the Persians differ from other Mahometans ; and
although the religious, or those who have performed the pilgrimage
to Mecca, do not take wine, yet their good sense often induces them
to overcome a prejudice imposed on them by the cunning designs of
the prophet. A pleasing instance of this kind is related of a Mussul
man who had been employed, for forty or fifty years, about the Eng
lish factory at Gombroon. Being on the point of death, he was
ordered a glass of wine by a European physician, which he atfirst
refused, observing, " I cannot take it — it is forbidden in the Koran."
After a few minutes' pause, he turned to the Doctor, saying, as
he raised himself on his bed, " Although it is forbidden, give
me the wine ; for it is written in the same volume, that all you unbe
lievers will be excluded from paradise ; and the experience of fifty
years has taught me to prefer your society in the other world, to any
place to which I could be advanced with my own countrymen." —
How contrary is the conduct of Al Malec Al Saleh, a rigid Mahome
tan, who, when on the point of death, though ordered by one of his
physicans to drink a little wine, as necessary for the cure of his dis
temper, chose, from a principle of religion, to die rather than to take it.
Since chemistry has not been cultivated by the Persians as among
Europeans, their liquors owe little to its aid ; and hence, from their
ignorance of the discoveries to which it has led, their arts also remain
in some measure stationary. They are yet infatuated by the pursuit

* Kruiiinkis' Memoirs, with Ducerceau's Hist, of the Sophies, 8vo. p. 54-56.

9)

•of alchymy In the hope of discovering the philosopher's stone ; but as
that study is conducted with the greatest secrecy, and under circum
stances veiled in impenetrable mystery, nothing can be expected that
would add any thing substantial to their stock of scientific knowledge.
At what time the use of the still was introduced into Persia is] not
known, but the export of its distilled waters formed an early item
in its trade with India. Whatever may have been the knowledge
of this people, previous to their submission to the Arabs, it is gene
rally allowed that medical science was soon afterwards cultivated
among them with considerable success ; and to the preparations which
that art required, may, perhaps, be attributed the early celebrity of
their Rose-water, in the distilling of which they excelled all other
nations, and of which they are considered to be the inventors. The
Arabians alone rivalled the Persians in this respect, since it appears
that, in 1188, when Saladin became master of Jerusalem, it required
upwards of 500 camels to transport from Yemen the quantity of
Rose-water necessary to purify the temple from the stain it was
considered to have received from being in possession of the Chris
tians. Could it have been from the Persians, that the Emperor Helioga-
balus procured the distilled rose-water, with which, amongst his other
extravagancies, he filled his fish-ponds ? If so, it would place distilla
tion as being earlier known amongst them than that of which we have
any record. Avicenna,who died in 1036, speaks of the distilled water
of roses, and appears to have been familiar with its properties, and
the virtues of the flowers from which it was drawn. No country on
earth, it is thought, can boast of a greater variety of fruits and flowers
than Persia. There are no less than twelve or fourteen species of
grapes ; the most esteemed are the violet, the red, and the black. The
dates are of the richest and best description, and the sirup they yield
is considered of a very superior quality. All the European fruits
are found growing in Persia in great luxuriance, with apricots, nec
tarines, and peaches that weigh sometimes sixteen or eighteen ounces
each. Oranges, pomegranates, melons, pistachios, almonds, and figs
abound. Sir John Chardin saw fifty different kinds of fruit produced
at an entertainment near Ispahan, from a number of which, various
descriptions of drink were manufactured, some of a mild, and others of
a very intoxicating nature. Of these we find that, at an early period,
dates and raisins were converted into a drink called Nubcez, and in
the first* century of the Hegira, the use of this liquor was permitted
by certain sectarians who considered it not within the strict meaning
of the prophet's prohibition. The Gaurs, or ancient Persians, whose
religion did not prevent them from drinking wine or other strong

92

liquors, cultivated dates, not only for their use as food, but in order
to afford them an exhilarating beverage. The dates of Persia are
esteemed the richest in the world, their sirup being sweeter and more
pleasant than virgin honey. The palm, which produces them, is the
highest of all fruit-bearing trees, and has no branches but at
the very top : it produces fruit at fifteen years' growth, and continues
bearing till it is two hundred years' old. In several places, the date
stones are ground, from which an oil is extracted, and the residuum,
or paste, is given to cattle and sheep, and is considered very nutri
tive. A drink, called jS/ieerah,is also made from theinspissatedjuice
of the grape, and which is the same as that produced from debs in
Arabia. Chardin speaks of pomegranate wine being had in great
quantities, and, in Canticles viii. 1., notice is taken of wine of pome
granates, which shews that it was in very early use. This fruit is
frequently alluded to in Scripture ; the modern Turks about Aleppo
make a description of drink from it, as it is not forbidden by the
Koran. The fruit is as large as an apple, and is useful in warm
countries for allaying heat and quenching thirst, as it contains a finely
acidulated juice, which, as well as every other part of the fruit, is highly
agreeable. Mr. Harmer, in his observations on various passages of
Scripture, has made some curious remarks on this description of wine,
but beseems to be in doubt whether it was pomegranate wine, that is
to be understood in the portion of Scripture, above quoted. On this
point there is no difficulty, as it has been made in such quantities as
to be sometimes exported. The Persians have several sorts of pome
granate, such as the sour, the sweet, and a mixture partaking of both
qualities.

The mild and temperate heat of the climate of Persia has covered,
as with a carpet, a great portion of the country with flowers of the
most gorgeous and brilliant hue. Neither those of Europe, nor those
of India, can vie with them. Their roses are celebrated for uncom
mon beauty, the bushes bearing often three different sorts on one
branch, such as yellow, black, and red.* From the neighbour
hood of Shiraz are yearly exported 2000 chests of rose-water,
each chest containing twelve English gallons put up in glass flasks,
while ten times that quantity is consumed in Persia, Arabia, and
Hindostan.f In India, particularly in the district of Ghazeepoor, are
extensive rose fields, from which immense quantities of rose-water
are distilled, and the after, or otto, of roses is made. This valuable
perfume is obtained, after the rose-water is distilled, by exposing the

* Univ. Hist. vol. iv. p. 539. Morier's Journey, &o.

t Hamilton's Account of the East Indies. Bernier, &c. Franklin's Tour;

93

Crater to the atmospheric air, in large open vessels during the night,
and at sunrise skimming off the oil, which floats on its surface. It is
said that it requires 200,000 well-grown roses to produce one rupee's
worth of attar. The love of the Persians for the rose is so great,
that Saadi, one of their most eminent poets, has given the name of
Gulistan, or Garden of Roses, to one of his poems, and their passion
for this flower he thus beautifully expresses: — " What," says a friend,
" hast thou gathered for us in this garden of delights ?" " I fancied,"
replied the poet in an ecstacy, " that I was opposite a rose tree, and
that I filled the skirt of my robe with flowers to present them to my
friends ; but when I had nearly reached them, the perfume of the roses
so overpowered me, that my garment slipped from my hands, and
thus gave to the envious winds the treasures I was about to bestow."
Various kinds of grain are cultivated in Persia, but few undergo
the fermenting process. Wheat, barley, rice, oats, rye, and millet,
are reared with much care and success. Wine and brandy are sold
by weight and not by measure, and at Shiraz, as well as in most other
cities of the empire, these commodities are stored in large well-glazed
earthen jars, or in glass bottles, called Karabas, which are a finger-
breadth in thickness, and hold near thirty quarts. These are arranged
in spacious well-built cellars, constructed for coolness with fountains,
and provided with seats: in these retreats of silence and of solitude, the
wearied visitants are often made to forget their cares, with copious
draughts of those exhilarating liquors.

About Derbent, and its vicinity, the wine jars are buried under
ground, for the sake of preserving the flavour and strength of the
liquor, for a longer time than if exposed in the cellars. The juice of
the grape is converted by the Turcomans, bordering on the Persian
empire, into a thick jelly by boiling ; and in that state it is carried by
them, in their warlike excursions, and forms a nourishing kind of food.
In Persia, according to Sir John Malcolm, a tax is levied on vine
yards and fruit trees, at the following rates : —

Deenars.*

Vineyards, faryab, or " certain water," 6 per vine.

If bukhs, or " uncertain water," 5 do.

Apple, pear, peach, &c. 20 per tree

Walnuts, 100 do.

Grapes are so cheap, that the finest are obtained in the markets of
Shiraz, at less than a half-penny the pound ; and in some parts, these,
as well as other fruit, have hardly any value, so that, with the cheap
ness of provisions, the lowest order of the people live comfortably. —

* Accounts in Persia are kept in deenars, a nominal coin, of which there are
1000 to the piastre, or about 500 to the British shilling.

94

When Bell was in that country, grapes were so abundant, that they
were left hanging in clusters on the vines, twisted round the trees in the
woods, as a prey to the fowls of the air. Though the vine nourishes
luxuriantly, in the southern provinces, yet, in the north-western, they
are obliged to bury the shoots, to protect them from the winter frosts.

In the distillation of brandy and other liquors, the apparatus
employed by the Persians is simple, and, for the most part, consists of
earthen vessels, the still being merely ajar, sufficiently strong to bear
the action of the fire. The condensation of the vapour is effected by
the old and clumsy method of pouring cold water on the cucurbit, or
head, which presents a broad surface to the water, that surrounds it
in the tub, and when the still is to be charged, the lid is removed,
and the liquid, to be distilled, is poured in by an attendant. The
time of charging is determined by the weakness of the spirit from the
condenser, and the whole operation is completed with little fatigue,
expense, or trouble.

In the preceding survey of the principal nations, where the influ
ence of Mahometans has rendered the use of intoxicating liquors
objectionable and penal, we have seen that tliis prohibition has tended
to render men artful and hypocritical, and although abstinence from
inebriation is at all times commendable, yet, when carried to a com
plete deprivation, it has a contrary effect. The Romans prudently
forbade their wives to drink wine, lest they should fall into criminal
intercourse through intemperance.* The Egyptians, from temperate
motives, would not allow their priests to indulge in wine, but this
abstinence was not always observed. Their dislike to this liquor is said by
some to have arisen from the circumstance of Noah's inebriety,
the recollection of which still excites great abhorrence among them,
and this is supposed to have been the real origin of the antipathy to
wine, shewn by many eastern nations. The Jewish Levites were
forbidden to drink wine, only before their entrance into the sanctuary ;
but there was no perpetual prohibition, as the great object was to
prevent the abuse, not the use of a wholesome and exhilarating
beverage. The Holy Scriptures have no absolute command against
the use of wine, nor any other liquor, unless it should amount to intem
perance, and against tliis the sacred volume is explicit and deter
mined. That an antipathy to wine, founded either on policy, delu
sion, or superstition, has influenced certain portions of mankind, from
the earliest ages, is evident, and traces of it are found in the writings of
Moses, even so early as the time of Joseph. But the prohibition of

Valerius Maximus, b. ii, ch. 1.

95

this drink does not appear to have originated through anxiety for the?
preservation of health, or purity of morals, but rather from an econo
mical prudence, or to promote the interests, and secure the policy of
nations, or individuals. Abstinence from wine was manifestly bene
ficial to the Egyptians, because their country was not a land of grapes ;
hence its prohibition was enforced, under the pretext of morality and
philosophy: it was even forbidden to be used in divine worship, though
there was no objection to eating the grapes. Moses, to obstruct the
return of the Israelites to Egypt, enjoined the use of wine, and made it an
accompaniment of the Jewish offerings, that, as a judicious writer
expresses it, no person might consider it as impure, or abhor it from
a motive of religion ; nay, he every where speaks advantageously of
wine, the principal production of the Land of Promise : thus, although,
in the earliest ages of its existence, wine met with wise opponents,
it found, nevertheless, still wiser advocates. The philosophers and
moralists of ancient times condemned every description of excess :
Galen, although he called wine the nurse of old age> was against its

abuse. Mnestheus would indulge men in harmless potations

Seneca thought the senses ought not to be overcome, but the cares
of life might be lightened, by an exhilaration of the spirits. Plato
considered wine as the renovator of old age, and the enlivener of
society, when kept within the limits of discretion. Pythagoras, with
all his stoicism, is said not to have been insensible to a well regulated
indulgence in the use of wine. Asclepiades, a physician, who practised
at Rome, ninety-six years before the Christian era, successfully
administered wine, with every remedy, to all his patients, and wrote
a treatise on its virtues, in which he observed that the gods had not
bestowed a more valuable gift on man. Diogenes, though so rigid a
philosopher in self-denial, drank wine with more than common grati
fication : and though he threw away his water bowl as superfluous,
when he beheld a man drinking water out of his hands at a brook, yet,
it is affirmed, that he never refused the wine goblet, when presented
tojiim at another's expense. Hippocrates, the father of physic, recom
mends a cheerful glass, and even Rhases, a Mahommetan, says no
liquor is equal to good wine. Amongst its many modern advocates
in the medical profession, Doctor Whitaker, physician to Charles the
Second, undertook to prove, by the use of wine, the possibility of pro
longing life, from infancy, to old age, without sickness or infirmity.

The opinion of the prophet is also contradicted by the conduct of
our Saviour, on the occasion of the marriage at Cana, when he turned
the water into wine, not only with a view of shewing his miraculous
powers, but of making the parties more cheerful. From the earliest

96

periods, wine seems to have formed a portion of the entertainment,
not only at marriage ceremonies, but at the most solemn sacrifices
where libations were poured out ; and it requires no force of argument
to shew that the moderate use of wine must have been sanctioned by
the Almighty himself, when our blessed Lord had recourse to a
miracle, to supply the wants of the guests where he was present. St.
Paul advisedTimothy to use alittle wine for his stomach's sake,and the use
of it, in the institution of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, isa further
unquestionable proof of its value and excellence; and that it is the abuse
of it only that is objectionable. To use the language of Blair, it is
that thoughtless and intemperate enjoyment of it, which wholly absorbs
the time and attention of men ; which obliterates every serious thought
of the proper business of life ; and effaces the sense of religion and of
God, that is to be dreaded and avoided.

On what rational grounds, Mahomet forbade the entire use of wine,
has never yet been determined, but that the prohibition has not been
accounted just, is proved both from its direct and indirect violation,
as well as from its having engendered more vicious habits, than it has
prevented evil consequences — facts that have been but too well attested,
and of which the following is a melancholy illustration. Aureng-
Zebe in the frenzy of his zeal to support this Mahometan dogma,
entered the tent of his brother when he knew he was in a state of intox
ication, and, surrounded by soldiers, directed his head to be taken off,
which cruel act he justified by saying, that he deserved death for dis
obeying the laws of his religion, and rendering himself unfit for the
duties of life. This is but one of a thousand heinous acts that might
be produced to strengthen the justice of these observations; but
enough has been said to prove that this extraordinary command of
the Prophet was issued rather from a view to distinguish his religion,
and render his doctrine more imposing, than from a principle of moral
rectitude, or a wish to promote the happiness of mankind.

The general use of opium and other exhilarating substances, with
all their concomitant evils, may, therefore, date its origin from this
mandate of the Prophet, while the restriction shews to what subter
fuges men have recourse, when injudiciously forbidden to exercise
their discretion and common sense, in either the gratification of the
passions, the protection of the moral virtues, or the freedom of opinion,
whether in religion, politics, or philosophy. The properties and
consequences of these natural inebriants I shall now proceed to
describe.

The poppy^opaver somniferum in botany, is a plant remarkable for its
peculiar properties. It was so called, because it was commonly mixed

97

with the pap, (/>#/>«,) given to eliildren hi ordqr to ease pain, and induce
sleep. The term papa is also applied by the Peruvians to their chief
article of subsistence, the potato, which they mix with other ingre
dients in a very savoury and substantial manner. There are various
descriptions of the poppy, one of them, papaver album, or white
garden poppy, is indigenous to most countries, and is so called, not
from the colour of its flowers, which is diversified, but from the white
ness of its seed. Its juice is called by the Persians qfioun, and by the
Arabians aphium, from which, says a learned writer, is derived our
word opium. Others think it comes from the Greek opos, succus in
Latin, implying any kind of vegetable juice ; but it has been subse
quently confined to the juice of the poppy alone. At what time
opium first came into use is uncertain ; but Homer is reputed to have
known of its virtues, and the Nepenthe mentioned in the Odyssey, is by
some supposed to have been a preparation of this drug, which was origi
nally brought from Thebes, and on that account called the Thebaic tinc
ture, and known by that name at the present day. The composition
of the Nepenthe is said to have been imparted to Helen by Polydamna,
wife of Thonis, king of Egypt.* No allusion is made to this drug in
Scripture, and it may consequently be inferred that it was unknown
to the Jews. Herodotus asserts the M assagetse and all the Scythians
had among them certain herbs, that they threw into the fire, the ascen
ding fumes of which they anxiously inhaled. With these they became
as much intoxicated as if they had taken large portions of wine, and
exhibited in their songs and dances all the ridiculous frolics and ges
ticulations which are the result of inebriety .f Opium is not mentioned
by Hippocrates, though it is affirmed that it was known to Diagoras,
who was nearly his contemporary. Some writers consider the use of
opium as very ancient, and it is asserted that the Pagan priests had
recourse to a narcotic, previously to the delivery of their oracles, and
under the influence of which they acted on such occasions.

For the sake of this drug, the poppy is cultivated to a great extent in
several parts of the East. In some of the Turkish provinces of Asia,
particularly Natolia, it is reared to perfection, and opium of the best
description is obtained. The poppy of Persia, however, is esteemed
the finest in the world, not only in respect to its beauty, but because
its juice is much stronger than the juice of the same plant elsewhere,
yielding a greater quantity of opium, and therefore in the highest esti
mation. It grows in some places to the height of four feet and upwards,
with a beautiful corolla of white leaves at the vertex. In June, when

* Odyssey, L. iv. v. 228. f Herodotus, b. i. sec. 36.

H

98

it is ripe, the juice is extracted by incisions in the head, and gathered
every morning before sunrise. The effect of collecting the opium, in
this manner, is said to have such an influence on those employed for
that purpose, as to make them appear as if buried and again taken up,
and their limbs tremble as if they were affected with palsy. Amongst the
Persian bakers, it is a practice to strew poppy seed on the bread, with
a view to enhance its sale, and the common people eat the seed at any
time with pleasure, a practice common in our own country.

This plant is indigenous to most countries, and the method em
ployed to procure the drug is almost everywhere the same. In India,
opium is the staple commodity of many of the provinces; the method of
cultivating the plant, which requires a dry soil prepared for the purpose,
and obtaining the opium, is nearly the same throughout Hindostan,
and is commonly as follows : — The seed is generally sown in October
and November, when the periodical rains cease. The plants are kept
about eight inches distant, and well watered by means of furrows, till
they rise nearly six inches above the surface. A fortnight or three
weeks after sowing, some of the seeds are dug up, in order to see
whether they have germinated, and if so, the process is commenced.
If the plants happen to be too near each other, some of them are pulled
and used as potherbs ; but they cannot serve for that purpose when
they become more advanced ; being then of a strongly intoxicating
nature. At these early stages, a mixture of dung, nitrous earth, and
ashes, is strewed round the plants, and a little before the flowers appear,
they are again repeatedly watered, till the capsules are half grown or
the petals of the flowers fall off; the collection of the opium then commen
ces, because when fully ripe little juice is obtained. The white kind yields
a larger quantity than the red, but the quality of both is the same, yet
the white is accounted preferable. When the capsules assume a
whitish appearance, incisions are made in them with an instrument
having three teeth at a very small distance from each other, merely
to perforate the skin without penetrating the cavity.

These wounds are made from the top to the bottom of the capsule
so as not to wound the inner membrane, for, should that be the case,
the root would instantly die. This operation is always performed at
sun-set, and repeated for three or four successive days, and the juice,
which is of a milky appearance flowing therefrom, is collected the fol
lowing morning, and permitted to purify itself by fermentation. In
this manner the whole crop of a field is wounded, and the opium col
lected from it in about fifteen days, an incredible number of men,
women, and children, being employed on the occasion. Thejuice[
having exuded and thickened by exposure to the air, is scraped off

99

with a shell or little iron instrument, previously immersed in oil. It
is afterwards worked in an iron pot in the sun's heat, till it is of a con
sistence to be formed into thick cakes of about forty pounds' weight.
These are covered over with leaves of poppy, tobacco, or some other
vegetable, to prevent their sticking together, and in tlu's condition
they are dried. They are usually packed in square boxes lined with
leather, and wrapped in a kind of canvass named goenje ; the boxes,
when packed, are weighed, and marked accordingly.

In India, opium brings about fifteen shillings a pound : in Bahar
alone, the quantity annually collected is about 16000 maunds, or
upwards of l,000,0001bs. In Malwa, above 350,0001bs. are yearly
produced, and of these 140,000 Ibs. are retained for home consump
tion.* Extensive warehouses for storing this article have been
erected in different provinces; at Banhypore, a portion of the suburbs
of Patna, there is a large emporium of this kind.

In the district of Bahar, irrigation is used in the cultivation of the
plant, and the juice is gathered in small brass pots or cocoa nuts, each
having a little linseed oil to prevent the opium from adhering to the
vessel. It is afterwards pressed in large pots, and left in the oil till after
the rainy season, when it is removed, and formed into flat cakes of
about one inch thick and three or four inches in diameter ;over these are
strewed dried leaves of the poppy, and, in this state, they are left under a
shade in the air until sufficiently dry. Retail merchants sometimes
adulterate it with pounded leaves, cow dung, coarse sugar, and other
ingredients, but it is seldom deteriorated by the growers. The
culture of this article and the sugar cane is the most profitable of all
the branches of husbandry in India. The poppy, like both vegetable
and animal life in all countries, is greatly influenced by the climate.
India produces opium of the finest quality, while Egypt and Natolia
furnish it much stronger than any produced in Europe. The manu
facturers in Bengal generally adopt the Turkish method of making
opium, and much benefit has been derived from their system. In the
Nepaul territory, particularly among the hills at the foot of the Him-
aleh mountains, the opium is gathered from the plant about the end of
July. All along the valleys which lie at the base of this stupendous
range, it grows luxuriantly, though an expensive crop, as it requires
much manure and great attention. It forms a considerable article of
trade with the people of the plains, who vend it to the merchants of
Bootan, and those of the adjacent countries.

Under the Mogul government, opium having been a monopoly

* Malcolm's Central India, vol. i. p. 8.

100

was sold to a contractor. The British Company followed the same
practice till 1785, when the sale of this article was exposed to public
competition. At that time, regulations were made not to compel the
cultivators to grow it at the contractors' price ; but as the government
still held the monopoly, a price wasfixed at which the ryots, or culti
vators, were obliged to furnish the article, so that the Company were
both contractors and purchasers ; yet they allowed the grower a fair
recompense for his labour and industry.*

In the whole of British India, the estimated revenue arising from
opium, at the commencement of the new East India Charter, in 1834,
was £1,427,9 17.

The revenue arising from the sale of opium to the government of
Bengal, in 1809 and 1810, amounted to £580,000. The export of this
article from Bombay, Fort St. George, and Bengal, respectively, to
the eastward islands, from 1814, to 1818 has been valued at
8,057,357 rupees.f To China were sent by country ships from Patna
and Benares in 1817 and 1818, no less than 485 chests, valued at
611,000 dollars, besides 1950 chests of Bengal opium, rated at
2,340,000 dollars, imported into Macao. In 1818 and 1819, there
were 4978 chests, valued at 4,393,000 dollars, sent to Macao from
Bengal, Malwa, Patna, and Benares.f From 1804 and 1805 to 1817
and 1818, there were carried 1780 peculs by American ships to
Canton ;§ and the whole quantity sent thither by the same traders,
from 1815 to 1819, appears to be 1834 peculs, which, at 550 dollars
the pecul, amounts to 1,008,700 dollars.|| The opium, exported in
1814 and 1815 to 1818 from the united kingdom to Bengal, Fort
St. George, and Bombay, exclusive of the trade of the East India
Company, has been valued at 122,815 rupees, or £12,281 lOs.f

A late writer informs us, that the trade in this article, with the ex
ception of what is imported into Macao for medicinal purposes, is
conducted by smugglers ; and so artfully is the practice carried on,
that about 4000 chests, weighing 533,3331bs. are sent in this contra
band way, notwithstanding the frequent edicts of the emperor
against it, and the use of it being rendered a capital offence. From
ten to twenty Portuguese, American, and British ships, of three and
four hundred tons burden, freighted with opium, are constantly an
chored at the small island of Lintin, in order to supply the demand
for this article.

* Mills's History of British India, vol. v. p. 4] 9.

f Parliamentary Report of 7th May, 1821, p. 319.

% Ibid. pp. 326, 327. § Ibid. p. 44. || Ibid, p, 181. f Ibid. p. 238.

101

Opium brings such a price in China, varying according to its qua
lity from 1200 to 2000 Spanish dollars per chest, that merchants run
every risk to supply the market. The sale is chiefly conducted by
means of the inferior Mandarins, as well as some of the higher ones,
who receive considerable bribes for their connivance. Sixty dollars
at Macao, and the same at Canton, are the common fees. Armed
boats, known by the name of opium boats, constantly sail between
Macao and Canton with this drug, sanctioned by the officers of the
customs, who likewise receive a bribe for their indulgence ; shewing
that in China, as in other countries, every man has his price.* The
ridiculous flourish made by the Imperial fleet, to disperse or destroy
those smugglers, is a farce carried on once or twice a year, the com
mander, contented with having his coffers well filled, returns to Canton,
boasting of services which he never intended to perform. The pro
hibition of opium shews bad policy, as the emperor by this means
loses, it is said, a revenue of from four to five millions of dollars
annually, since its use through the empire is as common as tobacco in
other countries. Opium is prepared for smoking among the Chinese
in the same way as it is to be found in our apothecaries' shops for
sale. The preparation, necessary to be used at one smoking, is
weighed and put into a pipe much resembling that common with us
for tobacco. A tincture, made from this drug, is introduced into a
tube resembling a flute in size and shape, and, when set on fire,
the exhalations are inhaled, and the effects are of the most exhilarating
and rapturous nature.

The Mandarins, besides smoking, use it also in the form of tincture,
and usually carry a small bottle of it about them. The present
emperor of China has been described as incapacitated for any busi
ness, through the excess to which he has carried the debilitating
practice of smoking opium. In the Chinese Register for September,
1833, it is related, that at one time, during a rebellion, the emperor's
troops were discouraged, and would not proceed against the enemy,
owing to the want of opium, their accustomed stimulant.

Besides the quantity of opium that is purchased at the East India
Company's sales, and sent to China in British country ships, there is
also smuggled an immensity of Malwa and Smyrna opium. The con
sumption of this article in 1819, was valued at 4,159,250 dollars, and
in 1828, at 10,356,833, making, in nine years, an increase of
6,197,583 dollars. Such is the extent of the opium trade, that from 15
to 20,000 chests are considered as the nearest approximation to the
actual quantity sent yearly into China ; and notwithstanding, this

* Parliamentary Report of 7th May, 1821, p. 18K

102

drug has been denounced as a poison, and also prohibited through
religious scruples, yet it is certain, that it not only makes its way into
the most remote parts of the Celestial Empire, but even within the
walls of the Imperial palace at Pekin. Though it is generally con
sidered that trade is carried on through the ports of Canton and
Macao only, yet it is known, that cargoes of opium have been landed
at Clungchoo and Chusen, as well as at places more northerly, and
also in the islands of Formosa and Hainan.

The importation of opium is prohibited in Cochin- China, but the
sale of it is readily effected, through the dexterity of the Chinese —
In 1822, the importation was reckoned at 150 chests, 40 of which
were for Cambodia, 10 for the capital, and 100 for Tonquin. —
Men and women of the better classes, in Cochin- China, always carry
about with them a pair of silken bags or purses, either in the hand or
thrown over the shoulder. In these are kept the betel box, tobacco,
and opium. Females, of the lower order, are denied this privilege,
while men of the same grade, when met by a person of condition, are
obliged to conceal those bags, as a token of respect.

The export of opium from Turkey is extensive, but confined to a
limited number of Jewish brokers. These are accused of adulterating
the article, and it is done so artfully, that the secret is known only to
themselves. The Americans are the most extensive purchasers, and
they carry it to China and other parts of the East. The Turks
accuse them of being slaves to the use of it, and that they purchase it
for their own gratification ; but the fallacy of this accusation is con
tradicted by the fact, that the Americans are too fond of ardent
spirits to become chewers of opium.

This drug is taken in different ways, and its effects are found to
vary, according to the constitution and temperament of the indivi
duals by whom it is used. Some it inspires with grand and sublime
ideas. The ambitious man beholds at his feet monarchs and slaves
in chains ; the bilious man is seized with visions of horror and
dismay ; the mild and benevolent man sees all the world applaud
him ; while the timid is endowed with courage, the lover with tender
ness, and the vindictive with ferocity. In some places it is taken in
pills, and in others smoked with tobacco. In the Ottoman dominions,
travellers carry it in the form of lozenges, or cakes, upon which is
stamped in Turkish character, as a legend, " Mash Allah," the gift
of God.* The Persians take pills of opium, which some of them
gradually increase to such a dose as would destroy half a dozen

* Griffith's Travels in Europe, Asia, &c. 4to. pp. 86, 87. Dalloway's Constan
tinople.

Europeans. la the course of an hour, when the drug begins to

operate, a thousand pleasing scenes are presented to the imagination,

raising the spirits to a degree of enthusiasm and rapture, known only

to those who have been affected by the delirium. When its influence

has ceased, the spirits become exhausted, and the votary pensive and

melancholy, till the dose is repeated. A decoction of poppy seeds,

termed kokemaar, is sold in the coffee-houses of Persia, and is usually

drank scalding hot. Tavernter mentions houses called kokemaar

krone, in which people drink this liquor, and afford considerable

amusement from the ridiculous postures, and gesticulations, which they

assume. At first they appear to quarrel with one another, using

abusive language, without coming to blows. As the drug operates,

they cease to be boisterous, and gradually becoming peaceable ; one

utters high-flown compliments, another relates stories, while all are

ridiculous, both in words and actions.* The drink just described, as

having intoxicating qualities, could not have been a mere decoction of

the poppy seeds, but having something superadded, as the somniferous

effect of this plant resides in the milky juice of the capsules, and the

narcotic power attributed to the seeds is without foundation, since it

is well known, that they are eaten without any such effect.

Doctor Madden relates, that while in Constantinople, he had the
curiosity to try the effects of opium on himself. For this purpose, he
repaired to the general rendezvous of the Tkeriakis, or opium eaters,
which is situated in a large square near the mosque of Solymania, and
where, on benches outside the door, the votaries await the voluptuous
and glowing images, which are presented by their excited imagina
tions. The Doctor's sensations are best described in his own words.
" I took my seat," says he, " in the coffee-house, with half a dozen
Theriakis. Their gestures were frightful. Those, who were com
pletely under the influence of the opium, talked incoherently ; their
features were flushed, their eyes had an unnatural brilliancy, and the
general expression of their countenances was horribly wild. The
effect is usually produced in two hours, and lasts four or five. The
dose varies from three grains to a drachm. I saw an old man take
four pills, of six grains each, in the course of two hours. I was told
he had been using opium for twenty-five years, but this is a very rare
example of an opium-eater passing thirty years of age, if he com
mence the practice early* I commenced with one grain ; in the course
of an hour and a half it produced no perceptible effect ; the coffee
house keeper was very anxious to give me an additional pill of two
grains, but I was contented with half a one ; and in another half hour,

* Tavernier, vol. I. b. v. chap. 1 7.

104

feeling nothing of the expected reverie, I took half a grain
making in all two grains, in the course of two hours. After two
hours and a half from the first dose, I took two grains more, and,
shortly after this dose, my spirits became sensibly excited, the pleasure
of the sensation seemed to depend on a universal expansion of mind
and matter. My faculties appeared enlarged ; every thing I looked
on seemed increased in volume, I had no longer the same pleasure
when I closed my eyes, which I had when they were open. It
appeared to me as if they were only external objects, which were
acted on by the imagination, and magnified into images of pleasure ;
in short, it was " the faint exquisite music of a dream" in a waking
moment. I made my way home as fast as possible, dreading at every
step, that I should commit some extravagance. In walking I was
hardly sensible of my feet touching the ground ; it seemed as if I slid
along the street, impelled by some invisible agent, and that my blood
was composed of some ethereal fluid, which rendered my body lighter
than air. I got to bed the moment I reached home. The most
extraordinary visions of delight filled my brain all night. In the
morning I arose, pale and dispirited, my head ached ; my body was
so debilitated, that I was obliged to remain on the sofa all the day,
dearly paying for my first essay at opium eating."* — Opium is sold
at the public bazaars, in the drug market at Constantinople, and is
exposed in large black balls, or cakes, which appear like Spanish
licorice. These balls are cut smoothly with knives, to shew their
interior, and half a dozen, or more samples, at different prices, are
placed together. The cheapest and worst sort, is of a brown colour,
filled with stalks and leaves ; that of the highest, is almost jet black,
and is perfectly free from impurities.

Rigid Mussulmans condemn the use of opium, and their preachers
declaim against it from the pulpit. One day, a very holy and zealous
preacher, in holding forth with more than ordinary warmth against
the pernicious qualities of this drug, by great bad luck, let fall his
own opium-pouch, among his auditory. Without being in the
least abashed, he, with the greatest presence of mind, affected to have
premeditated what had happened so much against his will, and
exclaimed — " Behold the enemy, the demon, the fiend, I have been
speaking of ! Be upon your guard lest it spring upon some of you,
and gain possession of your souls !" By this delicate turn he escaped
from public ridicule or indignation.

From Salonichi and other parts, the French draw opium to the
value of £2,400, and the Italians, to that of £3,600. The Turks,

* Maddcn's Travels, in Turkey, &c. 2 vols. 8vo. vol. i. p. 24.

105

according to Beaujour, reserve for their own use, that which flows
naturally from the head of the poppy, and they dispose of the con
densed liquor, which they extract from the plant by incision, or
expression. This fascinating drug, which places its votary, as it were,
between life and death, or in that state of lethargy, which lulls all
thoughts asleep without excluding the sensations, is sought after with
avidity, by the voluptuary and the Epicurean Theriaki. Many
persons are found to spend their whole lives in drinking coffee,
smoking tobacco, and swallowing opium. Beaujour gives an account
of a Turkish Eifendi, who took every day thirty cups of coffee,
smoked sixty pipes of tobacco, and swallowed three drachms of opium,
while his solid food consisted of only four ounces of rice. The appear
ance of this singular character was that of a species of mummy, with
the muscles apparently glued to the skin : he adds that every opium
eater becomes in the course of time extremely bent in the back bone ;
and he tells us that the Janissaries were in the habit, when going to
battle, of taking opium as an exciter of courage, as the German
soldiers take brandy for a similar purpose. The Turkish opium is
said to soothe or excite the senses, according to the preparation it
undergoes. That, which is mixed with nutmeg or saffron, becomes
aphrodisiac, and inspires amorous desires. It is made up in small
pills, of which the wealthy Turks know how to take advantage, to
administer most to their own sensualities.* Many of the opulent, at
Surat, indulge in this drug from the same motives ; for which purpose,
Grose tells us, it is usually taken in milk, boiled from a large to a
small quantity, and when a check is desired to be put on the effect, a
spoonful or two of lime juice, or of any equivalent, is applied, which
instantly destroys the influence the opium had previously excited.!
Sir Astley Cooper, in his lectures on the principles and practice of
Surgery, gives it as his opinion, that the use of opium diminishes the
virile powers and the disposition to sexual intercourse ; for notwith
standing, it is asserted, that the Turks often take it for the purpose
of increasing amatory indulgence, he found it to produce an opposite
effect. This he corroborates, with several examples.}: The justice
of the remark may perhaps be questioned, since almost every writer,
who touches on the use of opium, in eastern countries, concurs in the
opinion, that its stimulating propensity is one of the strongest
pleasures it affords ; but to reconcile these opinions, it appears to
operate like the use of ardent spirits in this country, which, while it

* Beaujour's View of the Commerce of Greece, 8vo. p. 1 76.

f Grose's Voyage to the East Indies, vol. i. p. 119.

f Sir Astley Cooper's Lectures on Surgery, 8vo. pp. 450-1-2.

106

contributes to indulgence in this respect, eventually diminishes the
powers of its accomplishment. In Siam, the sale of opium is contra
band, and many have suffered death for importing it, as its use in that
empire has been productive of the worst consequences. Mr. Abeel
relates that the king, on one occasion, finding that Ms son was in the
habit of smoking opium, immediately commanded his property to be
sold, and himself to be arrested and imprisoned, for execution ; and it
was not without the greatest exertions, by the mother and princes in
authority, that his doom was averted.* The Chinese, however, can
sell it through the country, without inconvenient restriction. It has
been known, that a few of their junks have disposed of 100,000
Spanish dollars' wrorth, in a few days. The Siamese use it, first
beginning with a grain, and encreasing the number to half a dozen,
or more. It is swallowred and smoked indiscriminately, the usual
effects of which are soon visible, by producing a sleepy drunkenness,
yet such is their fondness for it, that it sells for its weight in silver ;
but this is not surprising among a people who believe that dreams
are books in which the fates are written.f

The inhabitants of Borneo smoke opium with tobacco in the same
manner as the people of Sumatra. The mode of preparing- it for use
is as follows : — The raw opium is first boiled in a copper vessel, and
strained through a cloth, and then boiled a second time ; the leaf of
the tobacco is cut fine and mixed with it, in a quantity sufficient to
absorb the whole, when it is made up into small pills, about the size
of a pea, for smoking. At convivial parties, a dish of this is brought
in with a lamp, when the host, taking a large pipe, puts into it one
of those pellets, blowing the smoke through his nostrils, and, if he be
an adept, through the passages of the ears and eyes. He seldom takes
more than three or four w^liiffs, ere he passes it round to the rest of
the company, (one pipe serving them all,) who act in the same manner,
and so continue smoking until completely intoxicated. They are
sensible that it shortens life, but that does not cause them to abstain
from it ; and their women encourage the use of it, because they con
ceive that it heightens the love of their husbands. This preparation
of the opium is called maa, and it is often adulterated in the process,
by mixing jaggory, or palm sugar, with it, as is the raw opium, by
incorporating the fruit of the plantain.

On the western coast of Sumatra, about 150 chests, or 20,0001bs.
weight of opium are consumed annually, where it is purchased on
an average at 300 dollars the chest, and sold again at 500 or 600 : but

* Abeel's Residence in China, 8vo. p. 224.
| Chamont, Voy. dc Sium.

107

on occasions of extraordinary scarcity, it lias been known that a
single chest brought upwards of 3000 dollars.

The inhabitants smoke it through a pipe, or apparatus, like the
Turkish hookah. Anderson met a Rajah, who smoked in the even
ings, until he became so stupified and giddy, that he was incompetent
to pass his own threshold without support. He told him that he used
a ball, or catty, annually ; and, like all slaves to this drug, he had a
very sickly and emaciated appearance.

It is a curious fact, as remarked by that writer, that in most of the
places he visited, where opium was in the greatest consumption, there
were fewer children, than where the people entirely abstained from
it ; thus furnishing a strong proof, that the inhabitants addicted to it
were practical Malthusians.*

Besides opium, the Sumatrans have recourse to other stimulants, of
native produce, and they are so deeply skilled in their use and power,
that they ensnare fish by steeping the root of a parasitical plant, called
tuba., and casting it into the water. This has so great an effect, that the
fish, as if intoxicated, float apparently dead on the surface ; and while in
that state are taken up by the fishermen. In the same manner, the
people of Jamaica employ the Tephrosia Toxicaria, after pounding
its leaves and branches. These they throw into ponds and rivers,
and the fish, which greedily eat it, become stupified, and are easily
caught. It is also used like opium for its intoxicating qualities.

Maddat is a term for opium on the eastern coast of Sumatra,
where it is imported at a duty of 20 dollars per chest, and, in some
parts, at 76 dollars per cake.

Opium is sold in Sumatra and Borneo by persons authorized to deal in
it, and a fine of 50 dollars is imposed on any person found selling it illi
citly. So far back as 1708, the king of Sumatra limited the importation
of opium to three chests, each containing IGOlbs. weight, and if any
person were found smuggling this drug, his goods and life were
forfeited.

Among the Celebes, opium is used in great quantities. Even the
Rajah and his family are constantly in a state of stupidity from its
use, and uniformly refuse to admit strangers during the time of its
influence. At Penang, 28 chests of opium are annually imported for
the Malay and Chinese inhabitants ; and to retail this drug, the
farmers pay to the East India Company from 3000 to 4000 Spanish
dollars per month ; which license, with the prime cost of the article,
causes the consumer to pay dearly for it.

* Anderson's Mission to the East coast of Sumatra, Svo. p. 209.

108

The people of Java indulge to excess in the use of this drug. Upon
such of them, as well natives as slaves, who have become desperate
by the pressure of misfortune or disappointment, it operates in a
frightful manner, giving them an artificial courage, and rendering
them frantic, in which state they sally forth, in all the horrors of
despair, to attack the object of their hatred, crying amok ! amok !
which signifies kill ! kill ! Thus infuriated, they indiscriminately stab
every person they meet, till self-preservation at length renders it
necessary to destroy them. This is what is termed running a muck.
Captain Beekman was told of a Javanese, who run a muck at Batavia,
and had killed several, but being met by a soldier who ran him
through with his pike, such was the desperation of the wretch, that
he pressed forward on the instrument of death, until he got near
enough to stab his adversary with a dagger, when both expired on
the spot. It is common amongst the Indian soldiery, when about to
perform some daring act, to intoxicate themselves with opium, in such
a manner as to render them reckless of danger.

It is a curious law in Java, that any one crying amok may be
destroyed ; but, in the event of its being a false alarm, and an indivi
dual being killed by the crowd, the person that exclaimed amok is only
liable to be fined. At Batavia, if an officer take a person calling
amok, his reward is very considerable ; but, if he kill him, nothing is
awarded : such is the frenzy of those unfortunate beings, that generally,
three out of four are destroyed in the attempt to secure them. Some
are of opinion, that the sanguinary achievements effected when
running a muck, for which the Malays have been famous, or rather
infamous, are more owing to the inherent ferocity of their nature,
than to the influence of opium, or any other drug. But it is to be
feared, that tyranny and oppression have too often driven them to
seek a fallacious consolation in the use of this article, rendering them
desperate and reckless of consequences. The Javanese government
farm the privilege of vending opium in a medicated or prepared state.
When the supplies were regular, the cost to the consumer was about
3,500 Spanish dollars per chest, or £787 10s., being an advance on
the market price of 133^ per cent, upon the monopoly price of
Bengal, of 168J per cent., and upon the first cost, that of 3025 per
cent. Were the duties fairly collected in Java, it is computed, that
the net revenue would be £225,000 sterling. The opium sent from
Bengal, to the different Indian islands, was, at one time, nearly 900
chests annually, 550 of which were consumed in Java ; but the extent
of the consumption, like other articles, greatly depends on the price.
When the retail price was about 5000 Spanish dollars a chest, the

109

consumption was only 30 chests per year ; when 4000 dollars, it was
50 chests a year ; and when 3,500, it increased to nearly 100 chests
annually. When the price was moderate, many used it who had
never done so before ; when it was extravagantly high, several, who
had used it moderately, desisted from it altogether, while those,
whose habits were confirmed, had recourse to other stimulants, as
substitutes. The introduction of Turkish and other opium, into the
Indies, has caused a great revolution in the sales of this drug ; and
the American and other free traders, it is thought, will eventually
put an end to the monopoly of the East India Company. This
opinion is confirmed by the fact, that a chest, which formerly sold at
from 1,200 to 1,500 dollars, fell lately to 800, and since that, the
sales, at Calcutta, have fallen upwards of 30 per cent. Before the
East India Company commenced dealing in opium with the inhabi
tants of Sumatra, Malay, and other places, Mr. Lucas, a factor in the
service at Java, had monopolized the whole trade, and secured to
himself a property of ,£100,000. This beneficial traffic was not
known to the Dutch before 1 685, when Lucas disclosed the secret. —
Soon after, a society was formed at Batavia, for the purpose of con
ducting the opium trade. The stock of the society was divided into
shares of 2000 rixdollars each. Such was the prosperous state of
the business, that the shares were soon sold at a high premium. The
affairs of this company were under the control of a director, two
acting proprietors, a cashier, and book-keeper. Every chest of opium
delivered to them, by the East India Company, stood the society 500
rixdollars, or upwards ; and such were the regulations, that they were
obliged not to sell to any others who might come in competition with
them. The profits of the society, on every chest, were calculated at
8 or 900 rixdollars. To prevent smuggling, the society took every
precaution ; and in order to make their monoply more secure, they
interdicted the trade to their servants, and particularly to the seamen,
who were prohibited from dealing in it, on pain of death ; besides,
ships and cargoes were confiscated, when opium was found on board.
Notwithstanding all these regulations, the temptation was so great,
that vast quantities were conveyed into various parts of the East, to
the injury of the monopolists. The sale of this drug produces to the
Dutch a revenue of 1,120,000 rixdollars ; but the abuses, which the
monopoly engendered, brought the trade under the review of the com
missioners, who, in 1803, sat at the Hague, to examine into the affairs
of Java, and they found it necessary to limit the sale of it to 1,200
chests. Upwards of 100,0001bs. weight of opium were annually
imported into this island from India, whence it was transmitted to the
Moluccas, and the other eastern parts of Asia.

110

Vast quantities are consumed by the crews of the piratical vessels,
in the Indian Ocean, which are principally composed of Malays —
When they are about to engage in any desperate enterprise, they
infuriate themselves with opium, in order to strengthen their courage
and inspire them with a determination to give no quarter. Unfortu
nately, too many temptations, for acts of this description, present
themselves in those seas, which have been the means of stamping a
character on these people, that will require a long lapse of time to
eradicate.

The Rajpoots, Gracias, and other Hindoo tribes, present opium at
their visits and entertainments, with the same familiarity as the snuff
box in Europe.* As they are strongly addicted to this drug, they
indulge in it to great excess, but they seem to be less affected by it
than Europeans ; which some attribute to the simplicity of their food,
and the use of no other stimulant. Their women are also in the
habit of using it, and even administering it to their new-born children ;
and it is deemed by both sexes, as constituting one of the chief
pleasures of existence. Many of these poor creatures, who undergo
voluntary tortures from religious motives, use opium in order to allay
the poignancy of their feelings. Heber saw a man having a small
spear through his tongue, who was so stupified with opium, that he
appeared insensible to pain. The parts through which the spear was
thrust, are said to have been rubbed till numbness ensued, and rendered
them callous.f The Rajpoot princes seldom hold a Durbar, without
presenting a mixture of liquid opium termed kusoombah, to all present.
The minister washes his hands, after which some of this liquid
is poured into the palm of his right hand, from which it is drank, by
the highest in rank present. He washes his hand again, and pours
more liquid into the palm for the second in rank, and so on till all the
company are served. In settling quarrels, the parties drink this
liquid from the palms of each others' hands, as a pledge of the most
sacred friendship.:): The Rajpoots are remarkable for taking opium
on a day of battle ; at this time they double the dose, which, says
Bernier, makes them insensible to danger, and to fight with the
ferocity of tigers. They never yield, but front the enemy like a
wall of brass ; and before entering on the contest, embrace one
another like brothers, resolving to conquer or die.§ To all classes in
those regions, opium, whether smoked, eaten, or drunk, affords recrea-

* Forbes's Oriental Memoirs. f Heber's Journal, &c.

J Malcolm's Central India, vol. ii. p. 146.
§ Bermor's Voyage to the East Indies,

Ill

tion and enjoyment. The Halcarras, a description of persons who
carry letters and run messages through the provinces of India, with
a small piece of this luxury, a bag of rice, and a pot to draw water
from the wells of the charitable, perform incredible journeys ; while
the messengers of Turkey, in like manner, with a few dates, or a
lump of coarse bread, traverse the trackless desert, amidst privations
and hardships only supportable under the influence of this fascinating
drug. The Pattamars, or foot messengers, who travel between Surat
and Bombay, use opium, in order, they say, to fortify their minds, and
increase their strength ; by this means, they will keep running, and at
the same time apparently dozing, without feeling the fatigues of the
way. The labouring classes, especially the hamals, or porters, use
immense quantities of it, and will carry loads, much heavier than
those usually borne by the stoutest Europeans. Some of them have
been known to swallow above an ounce of opium at a dose, under the
pretence, that it supports and strengthens them during the heat and
toils of the day.* " I once saw/' says the author of the Memoir of
an officer in the East India Company's Service, " a wretch extended
on the ground, with glazed eye and sunken features, apparently in the
last stage of existence, with only just strength enough to mutter
prayers for a supply of opium. Some was given him by a pas
senger. I waited to see its effects. They were truly magical. —
From the time he swallowed it, his lamp of life seemed to rekindle ; in
a few minutes his features became flushed and animated ; he rose up
on his haunches, twisted his mustachios, sprung upon his feet, seized
his wallet, and trudged off as quick as a lamp-lighter." It is related
of a Turkish messenger, who coming from Constantinople, to a mer
chant at Smyrna, on entering a gentleman's house, fell down in a state
of insensibility, at which, while the whole family were surprised and
concerned, one of the servants rightly judging that this swoon was
occasioned by the stock of opium laid in for his journey being
exhausted, forced a little of the drug into his mouth ; and by this
means he revived, and acknowledged that the servant had preserved
his life.

Aureng-Zebe and other tyrants used a preparation of opium, called
poust, to despatch such as were hostile to their interests, and whom
they could not openly destroy : thus it was, that this despot carried
off his nephew Sepe Chekauh, liis brothers Dara and Morad, his son
Mahommed, and others of his relations in the fortress of Gualior in
the Mahrattas. The manner of effecting this was, by administering
a cup of this fatal drink, in the morning before eating any thing, which

* Grose's Voyage to the East Indies, vol. i. p. 119.

112

produced loss of appetite, weakness, and insensibility, till, becoming
debilitated both in body and mind, they gradually grew torpid, and
passed into the other world, unconscious of sickness, care, or the fears
which approaching dissolution usually inspire : through this means,
many of the native princes of India perished ingloriously.* In the
same way, it is said, that Shah Abbas gave a pill of opium, every
morning, to Sain Mirza, his grand-son, in order to stupify him, and
render him less agreeable to his subjects ; he being jealous, and
fearing that he might have too much influence with his courtiers —
To counteract this, the mother of the young prince made him take
treacle, and other antidotes.

Doctor Poqueville, in his Travels through the Morea, gives a minute
account of the opium eaters termed Theriakis, an appellation by
which they are designated, in consequence of their being extravagant
and irregular characters. " They begin," says he, " with only half a
grain, and increase the dose, as they may find it to produce the desired
effect. They take care not to drink water after it, as that would
bring on violent colics, but the man who, at twenty, takes to opium,
seldom lives beyond the age of thirty or thirty-six. In the course of
a few years, the dose is increased to upwards of a drachm, or sixty
grains. At this time, a pallid countenance and extreme leanness
announce a state of cachexia, which is only a prelude to a general
marasmus, or consumption of flesh. The infatuation is so great, that
the certainty of death and of all the infirmities which lead to it, is
incapable of correcting a theriaki, or a person addicted to the use of
opium ; he coldly answers, any one who apprizes him of his danger,
that his happiness is incomparable, when he has absorbed his pill of
opium. If he be asked to define this supernatural felicity, he only
says that it is impossible to describe it, as it is a pleasure not to be
explained. These miserable beings, however, towards the close of
their life, or rather of that state of stupefaction, into which they are
plunged, experience the most severe pains, and a continued hunger ;
they are tormented by a desperate satyriasis, without the capability
of satisfying their desires ; in short, they experience pains which even
the delicious paregoric cannot assuage ; and having become hideous,
deformed by numerous periostoses, deprived of their teeth, their eyes
sunk into their head, and afflicted with an incessant trembling, they
cease to exist a long time before their life is at an end.f The Baron
De Tott, writing on the same subject, gives a miserable picture of
those who frequent the opium market, at Constantinople, describing

Bender's East Indies,
f Dr. Poqueville's Travels through the Morea, Albania, &c. 8vo. p. 132.

113

them as having pale and melancholy countenances, with meagre neck*,
heads twisted to one side, backbones distorted, shoulders drawn up to
the ears, and other extraordinary appearances. Seated in the twilight
of the evening, or reclining on sofas in the little shops, ranged along
the walls of the mosque of Solyman, may be seen the infatuated
theriakis swallowing their opium pills, in proportion to the degree of
want, which habit has rendered necessary. Each poor votary anxi
ously awaits the agreeable reverie that is to follow, as the effect of
this indulgence. He soon retires to his home, full of an imaginary
happiness which neither reason nor the realities of life can procure ;
and in this manner, each succeeding day witnesses a repetition of the
same irregularity, till, worn out with debility and intemperance, he, at
last, sinks like a shadow into the grave. In addition to these observa
tions, the following anecdote will be read with interest : — An English
ambassador, lately sent to a Mahometan prince, was conducted,
upon his arrival at the palace, through several richly- decorated and
spacious apartments, crowded with officers arrayed in superb dresses,
to a room, small in dimensions, but ornamented with the most splendid
and costly furniture. The attendants withdrew. After a short
interval, two persons, of superior mien, entered the saloon, followed by
state-bearers, carrying under a lofty canopy a litter covered with deli
cate silks, and the richest Cashmere shawls, upon which lay a human
form to all appearance dead, except that its head was dangling loosely
from side to side, as the bearers moved into the room. Two officers,
holding rich fillagree salvers, carried each a chalice, and a vial contain
ing a black fluid. The ambassador, considering the spectacle to be
connected with some court ceremony of mourning, endeavoured to
retire; but he was soon undeceived by seeing the officers holding up the
head of the apparent corpse, and, after gently chafing the throat and re
turning the tongue, which hung from a mouth relaxed and gaping,
pouring some of the black liquor into the throat, and closing the jaws
until it sank down the passage. After six or seven times repeating
the ceremony, the figure opened its eyes, and shut its mouth volun
tarily ; it then swallowed a large portion of the black fluid, and,
within the hour, an animated being sat on the couch, with blood
returning into his lips, and a feeble power of articulation. In
the Persian language he addressed his visiter, and inquired the par
ticulars of his mission. Within two hours this extraordinary person
became alert, and his mind capable of arduous business. The ambas
sador, after apologizing for the liberty, ventured to inquire into the
cause of the scene which he had just witnessed.

" Sir," said he, " I am an inveterate opium-taker ; I have by slow

i

114

degrees fallen into this melancholy excess. Out of the diurnal twenty-
four periods of time, I continually pass eighteen in this reverie.—
Unable to move, or to speak, I am yet conscious, and the time passes
away amid pleasing phantasies; nor should I ever awake from
the wanderings of this state, had I not the most faithful and attached
servants, whose regard and religious duty impel them to watch my
pulse. As soon as my heart begins to falter, and my breathing is
imperceptible, except on a mirror, they immediately pour the solu
tion of opium into my throat, and restore me as you have seen.—
Within four hours I shall have swallowed many ounces, and much
time will not pass away, ere I relapse into my ordinary torpor."

When Macfarlane* was travelling in Turkey, he entered into a
bazaar at Gallipoli, the proprietor of which he found labouring
under the influence of the madjoom, or opium. He is described
as an old man with a white beard, sitting on a table with his
arms crossed over his knees, his head sunk beneath his shoul
ders, and his eyes fixed in a vacant, immoveable stare. To a
demand for an okka of tobacco he made no reply ; the words seemed
to have struck the ear of a statue ; his eyes remained fixed and
motionless ; nor could any object be procured to attract his attention
except the white wall opposite, on which hung a pisgillah, the name
of God in Arabic characters. Conceiving that he was praying, he was
pulled by the sleeve in order to rouse his attention, which having no
effect, it was bawled into his ear that an okka of latakia was wanted.
By this means, his attention seemed awakened for a moment, a wild
unmeaning smile stole across his countenance, an unintelligible word
'or two escaped his lips — and in an instant he became fixed and ab
stracted as before. Every future effort to arouse him proved unsuc
cessful, and he remained wrapped up in the enjoyment of the visions
that his intoxicated fancy had created. It is thus that in many parts
of the East, the old men and dervises who have, by irregularities in
early life, blunted and enervated the finer feelings, endeavour to revive
them by the use of opium, a drug which, sooner or later, annihilates
all the faculties of the rational man, leaving nothing behind but a
mouldering temple, and a loathsome ruin.

The sedative influence of opium is less observable among the Turks,
than it would be were the people more active, and had less leisure to
indulge in habits of idleness. Even during the time they devote to
smoking tobacco, they seldom open their lips except to exhale the fumes
of their pipes. A striking proof of their perseverance in this lethargic
and stupifying custom is related by a gentleman, who was eye-wit-

* Constantinople in 1828.

115

ness to the fact of two Turks sitting cross-legged upon a straw mat
before a door in their loose gowns, exposed to an intense heat. In
this way, they remained for three hours and a half without once
uttering a syllable, looking at each other with the same immoveable,
yet unmeaning gravity ; hence travellers may very readily mistake
the use of tobacco among them for that of opium, as both arc
indiscriminately used in smoking, and may, to superficial observers,
appear to produce similar effects.

Although opium seems to induce stupor or insensibility, as evinced
by a heavy look, yet the appearance is deceptive, if we believe various
anecdotes related on the subject, of which the following is an illus
tration. A Gentoo rajah and a governor of Surat, attended by their
respective officers and guards, met by appointment in a garden near
the city to arrange some affairs of state ; while conversing, the
governor observed that the soldiers of the rajah squatted down and
appeared as if nodding or sleeping on their naked swords. Turning
to his friend he remarked, " you must have a very just opinion of my
good faith, since you would venture yourself to an interview with me
with guards so overcome by the influence of opium." " In that you
are mistaken," said the rajah, " and you may easily put the matter to
the test by directing one of your attendants, for whom you have little
regard, to pluck a flower out of the turban of one of my drowsy
soldiers." A person, deputed for that purpose, proceeded with all
possible caution to one who appeared the most overcome ; but scarcely
had he put his hand on the flower, when his arm was severed from
his body, and all the rest of the guards were on foot in an instant.*

The effects of opium might be exemplified in many ways, but I do
not recollect a more singular one than the following mentioned by
Mrs. Gutherie, who, writing to her husband from Eupatoria, remarks,
that she observed at a Tartar mosque a sort of holy wheel composed
of whirling fanatics, who, having indulged in the use of opium, kept
flying round a circle, more like the votaries of Bacchus, than the dis
ciples of Mahomet. In the middle of the circle, an aged dervise
hurried round like a top, muttering all the while, in concert with his
brethren in the circle, the following maxim from the Koran, " This
life is precarious ; but it is here, (pointing to the earth,) that we must
take up our abode." The centre of this curious group is always the
place of honour and of danger, as the reverend father, who occupies
it, in right of his years and wisdom, keeps spinning round, till he turns
his brain, and if he expire on the spot, which sometimes happens, he
becomes a martyr saint of the Mahometan church, and the envy of hist

* Grose's Yovaere to the East Indies,

116

surviving stronger -headed companions.* It is related of Lord
Tyrawly, that during his residence in India, in order to punish ine
briety among the troops under his command, he invented a machine
similar to that of the Tartars, having a rotary motion, and which served
to sober such drunkards as were subjected to its rapid evolutions.
This effect was caused, it is supposed, by the violent shock sustained,
by suddenly stopping the machine at intervals, that being the inva
riable practice, until the individual appeared to be in the full exercise
of his reason.

That the juice of the poppy in its natural state has any inebriating
quality, has been questioned ; but Grose relates a circumstance, which,
if true, would lead to the conclusion that it possesses powers highly
narcotic, deleterious, and dangerous. A young gentleman belonging
to an English factory, while amusing himself in the garden of a
Nabob with whom he was spending the day, thoughtlessly pulled a
poppy and sucked the head of it, not apprehensive that it possessed
greater power than those plants usually have in England. The con
sequence was, he fell immediately into a profound sleep, with which ,
when the nabob became acquainted, he eagerly inquired from what
bed the poppy had been taken that produced this effect. On this
being pointed out, he said, he thought the nature of the poppy in India
was too well known to have required from him any caution against
it, particularly as the taste was by no means tempting, and lamented
that the young gentleman was so unfortunate as to pitch on this des
cription of poppy, it being of so deadly a nature as to admit of no
human remedy or antidote, as nothing could awake him from that
sleep, which unhappily proved his last.

The Lion, it is said, is sometimes taken in India, after having satis
fied his hungry appetite on the flesh of an ass surcharged with a
quantity of poppies, and previously put in his way, that by feeding on it,
the narcotic power of the plant might overcome him, and render him
an easy prey to the hunter. The truth of this has been questioned,
but there can be scarcely a doubt that the poppy, if taken internally,
would have a deleterious or overpowering effect, and it is certain that
the leaves, which are used in Persia as pot-herbs, will not be employed
for that purpose, after a certain stage of growth. The effects of the
poppy on the lion will not appear so incredible, when it is known
that hyenas are destroyed, in the settlement of the Cape of Good
Hope, by feeding on lambs poisoned by the fruit of a small tree called
hyaenanche, which grows in Cafrraria, and different parts about the
Cape. In order to kill those animals which are so destructive to the

* Tour in the Crimea, 4to. Letter xviii. p. 65.

117

flocks of the settlers, the fruit of the hyaenanchc is pounded and
mixed with the food given to lambs, after which it is placed in
the paths of the hyenas ; and these ferocious beasts, fastening on it
with insatiable appetite, soon fall victims to the insidious venom of
the plant so craftily administered for that purpose.

Medical men assert that opium has a greater effect on carnivo
rous than on graminivorous animals, since a rabbit can take a conside
rable portion of opium without any fatal consequence, when half the
quantity would destroy a dog. The jockies of India have recourse
in the sale of horses, to tricks with opium, unknown in Europe,
Captain Skinner, in his Excursions in India, relates, that a pony was
brought into the camp near Cawnpore, for sale, and it appeared so
gentle that it was eagerly purchased, being pronounced the most
tractable of its race. Two days after its purchase, there was not a
man to be found that could ride it. The reason was, it had been
drugged with opium, and though a most wicked and obstinate creature,
its vices were perfectly subdued during the time it was under the
influence of this opiate.

How this inebriant affects the animal system is a matter yet unde
termined ; whether it is by action on the nerves, or by absorption
into the blood : but the recent and generally-received opinion is, that
it enters the blood-vessels, and produces on their inner coat an impres
sion which is conveyed along the nerves to the brain ;* and experiments
have proved that, when directly introduced into the blood, its effects
are most energetic as a poison. Vinegar, lemonade, and other acids,
have been administered to counteract the effects of opium, but anti
dotes of this kind are little to be depended on, unless in certain cases,
and should always be used in conduction with an emetic. The appli
cation of the stomach-pump is, perhaps, the most effectual means of
removing this baneful material.

The leaves of the hemp plant, (cannabis sativa,} known in India
by the name of beng or bangue, are often substituted for opium with
the same familiarity and effect. Ray says that beng is the produce
of a different plant which grows in Hindostan and the neighbouring
countries : perhaps he alludes to the datura stramonium. But as the
natives in those parts are well acquainted with its inebriating powers,
and as in some places hemp is alike known by the name of datura
and cannabis sativa, the botanist may have fallen into a mistake. The
people of the East use it differently ; some take it as an electuary,
while others either smoke or chew it. Beng, by many of the sects
in India, is used, as opium is by the Turks, to produce inebriation, as

* Christison on Poisons, p. (>13.

118

they cannot legally, or without the risk of losing caste, drink spirituous
liquors ; and hence they are even permitted to take ganja, beng, or
hemp leaves, with impunity. The Sikhs of India do not smoke tobacco,
but they are allowed to chew beng and drink spirituous liquors. The
kief, which includes the flower and seeds of the plant, is the strongest ;
and a pipe of it, half the size of a common English tobacco-pipe, is
sufficent to intoxicate. Among the Moors, it is usually pounded and
mixed with el mogin, an invigorating confection which is sold at an
enormous price ; a piece of this, as big as a walnut, will, for a time,
entirely deprive a man of all reason and intellect.* This, which the
traveller Ali Bey calls kiff, is commonly made use of by boiling,
having been previously dried and nearly reduced to powder. It is
often mixed with sweetmeats, or swallowed in the form of pills. The
plant is sometimes boiled with butter in an earthen pot for about
twelve hours ; it is then strained, and afterwards serves to season
their victuals.! Brook has fallen into an error in believing that the
keef is the common hemlock ; the flower, he says, is called el keefe,
and the leaves hascischa. In Morocco, he adds, the plant is reduced
to powder, and the quantity of two or three spoonfuls generally taken
with the addition of sugar and water. It is also prepared with butter,
honey, and sugar, made into a sweetmeat, most of which the Moorish
ladies sometimes eat. Those wlio indulge in the use of keefe are
distinguished by their sallow-jaundiced complexion, and its effects
are usually those of a slow poison. Many of the Indian nobles and
military officers take it in the powdered state, and add to it an areca
or green hazel-nut with a little opium and sugar ;J and, to make the
visions it occasions the more lively, they mix with it some camphire,
cloves, nutmegs, and mace, and not unfrequently ambergris and musk.
Rhumpius says, that it is sometimes taken in a liquid form mixed
with areca and pinanga. This plant is very aptly called by the
Malays, jingi, or the " herb of fools." Another description of bangue
is made from the leaves of the hibiscus sabdariffa and also used in
India. The cannabis sativa is used in Egypt as an aphrodisiac and
narcotic ; the Arabs use a preparation of its green leaves for the
purpose of exhilaration. General Menou, when in Egypt, was obliged
to prohibit the use of its seed among the French soldiery, and we find
that, in the time of Galen, cakes were made, infused with this seed,
and served up after supper to encourage drinking ; but, when eaten
too freely, they affected the head. In the Barbary states, it is pre
ferred to opium from the voluptuous sensations which it never fails

* Jackson's Account of Morocco, p. 78, 79

f Travels of Ali Boy, vol. i. p. 81. J Vide Acosta. p. 2!>0, c. M.

119

to produce. The hashisha, or leaves of the plant, are mostly dried
and cut like tobacco, with which they are smoked, but the luxurious
generally smoke them pure. The nuts of tliepalma christi have the
same effect, and the intoxication produced by them exists for some
hours, while during their influence the person affected talks without
reserve or reflection.

In the Nepaul territory, according to Hamilton, the extract of the
cannabis sativa is denominated charas. The dried leaves have the
name of ganja and are said to be of a heating quality, but are not so
much used as the juice or extract. The best charas is procured by
making incisions in the stem of the plant, and collecting the exuda
tions. From the bruised or pounded stalks of the hemp, a coarser sort
of charas is prepared ; the strongest and best article of this description
is made in Thibet. Doses of charas are taken in pills of from ten to
twelve grains and smoked like tobacco. The ganja or dried leaves
are used in the same way, and both produce the same inebriating
effects. The inhabitants of those countries are passionately fond of the
charas, and" indulge in it to excess. It produces all the effects of
opium, and is sometimes attended with the same fatal consequences,
Its habitual votary becomes first stupid, weak and debilitated, but
never irrational, though apparently so ; next he labours under thirst,
and, in order to allay it, he is induced to repeat the cause of his
malady, and thus proceeds till death in a short time puts a period to
his infatuation. While charas has this fatal effect on some, it produces
different effects on others : it has been known to cause a total depri
vation of sense, and to subject its votary to incarceration in a mad
house for life. Mr. Crawford tells an anecdote of the effects
of the datura or charas on a Javanese boatman, who, while proceeding
in his canoe up a river, was accosted by a Chinese from the bank,
requesting a passage, offering payment and a share of refresliments.
The boatman received him cordially, and ate heartily of the viands.
These, which had been previously mixed with the datura, immedi-
diately caused stupor and profound sleep. When the victim of this
piece of knavish artifice awoke, he found himself lying naked in a
forest, fifteen miles distant from the place where he had taken in the
Chinese, robbed of his canoe and all his property. The rogue was
shortly afterwards apprehended, obliged to confess the fact, and make
restitution.

The datura, or ganja, is well known over the East as an intoxicating
plant, and is, in many places, called gunja. Captain Dillon relates
that, in his passage to Van Dieman » Land, in 1827, he was one day
alarmed by the fall of a Lascar, from the upper deck of the ship into

120

the hold, and found that the accident was occasioned by smoking this
plant. On examining the chest of the individual, a large parcel of
this deleterious plant was discovered and thrown overhoard, to the
great vexation of the voluptuous Lascar, who had secreted the article
as a solace for his care and anxiety on the voyage.* To a very intox
icating drug called bung, the Persians are said to have heen early
attached, even so far back as the first century of the Hegira, and its
strength is represented as being so great, that it was never taken in a
quantity larger than a pistachio nut. It was employed to banish
lowness of spirits, excite cheerfulness, and renovate the mind ; but
what this drug really was, there is no certain information : it is gene
rally believed to have been datura or charas. In many places, the
preparation of bung or beng goes under the name of majoon ; and in
the Persian empire a confection of this nature is so denominated, as
it produces the same effects as opium. Among the hills at the foot
of the Himaleh mountains, the herb bhang or beng grows spontane
ously, and in its prepared state it meets with a ready sale. Fraser,
in his tour, says that when tobacco cannot be procured for smoking,
its place is supplied with bhang and other substitutes of an intoxi
cating nature, and a number of expedients are made use of when a
hubble-bubble, or a machine for inhaling its fumes, cannot be had. He
observed that a refreshment of this nature is indispensable for the
coolers on the march ; and when allowed to smoke a chillum, and
take a draught of cold water, they were enabled to proceed with
vigour ; but whenever they were deprived of the means of inhaling
the smoke of this stimulant, and quenching their thirst, they were at
times unable to pursue their journey from exhaustion ; the force of
habit having rendered such renovation absolutely necessary.f

During the severe campaigns of the late war, the French surgeons
were in the practice of administering opium and Cayenne pepper to
the fatigued soldiers, with a view of recruiting their strength, and exhi
larating their spirits, and they found them to have the most salutary
effects.

Burckhardt saw in Syria the hemp plant cultivated for smoking, on
account of its intoxicating qualities. The small leaves, which surround
the seed, are laid upon the tobacco in the pipe to produce a more ine
briating effect. The same custom prevails in Egypt, where the hemp
leaves, as well as the plant itself, are called hashysh ; and the Egyp
tians are even said to prepare from it an intoxicating liquor ; and
also by pounding the seeds a description of paste is made to effect
the same object. In India, a drink called brug is made from hemp,

* Dillon's Voyage to the South Seas, | Fraser's Journal, p. 217.

121

which is also partially used by the Circassians* To form this beve
rage, the hemp plant is taken while in seed, and, when dried and
reduced to powder, it is suspended in a small bag in a vessel full of
water, by which the strength is extracted. This water, when sweet
ened with honey, produces intoxication.

The natives of Madagascar chew the leaves of hemp, as well as
tobacco, which produce a narcotic effect, and they smoke another
plant resembling hemp, known by the name of Ahets-manga, which
causes drunkenness approaching to madness, the eyes assuming a
fierce, fiery look, and the countenance becoming wild and ferocious.
Like the slaves to opium, those accustomed to its baneful effects are
stupid and inactive when its influence has ceased to operate ; and
hence they are obliged to have constant recourse to a repetition of
the ingredient. The Ahets-manga rises to about five feet in height,
bearing a pod containing nearly a dozen of seeds, and carrying a long
slender leaf. The Jermaughla, mentioned by Drury, appears to be
the same as the ahets-manga, since the description and their effects
are exactly alike. The seeds of the jermaughla are exposed to the
sun, for three or four days, till quite dry, and in that state are used.
The pipes, employed in smoking, are made of reeds or small canes ;
but sometimes a long shell is used as a substitute. An European,
who had the curiosity to smoke a pipe of these seeds, was so intoxi
cated, that his head remained giddy for three days, and it caused such
a sickness, that he never could be induced to do so a second time.
The natives are so fond of it, that they smoke it with the same plea
sure and avidity that our countrymen smoke tobacco.*

The drug called Chirs^ so much used among the people of Caubul
to excite intoxication, is made from the cannabis sativa ; and the
practice of chewing it is carried to some extent in Beloochistan and
Sinde-t The quantity taken at a time varies in proportion to the
habits or constitution of the individual. A drachm is a moderate dose ;
but when we consider that this quantity is sufficient for twenty
persons unaccustomed to its use, we may conclude that its effects must
be powerful. Garcias mentions a woman, who took ten drachms
of opium, daily ; and although she appeared heavy and sleepy, she
could dispute learnedly on any subject. It is a remarkable property
both of opium and bangue, that while they give a heaviness to the
looks, they are productive of great watchfulness. Doctor Edward
Smith, while at Smyrna, took pains to observe the doses of opium

* Drury 's Account of Madagascar, 8vo. p. 216.

t Elphinstone's Account of the Kingdom of Caubul, 4to. p. 263.

% Pottinger's Travels, 4 to. p. 63.

122

taken by the Turks in general, and he found that three drachms were
a common quantity among the larger takers of it, but that they could
take six drachms a day without danger. A Turk ate this quantity in
his presence, three drachms in the morning and three in the evening,
which had no other effect than that of producing great cheerfulness.

At Djidda, in the Hedjaz, Burckhardt found amongst the shops
one frequented by the smokers of hashysh, a preparation of hemp
flowers mixed with tobacco, which produced intoxication. The
better classes, he says, eat it in a kind of jelly or paste prepared in.
the following manner : a quantity of the leaves of the hemp, after
being sufficiently boiled with butter, is put under a press ; the juice
is then expressed, mixed with honey, and sold publicly in the shops
held for that purpose. The hashysh paste is termed bast, and the
sellers basty, (i. e. cheerfulness.) Persons of the first rank use bast,
in some form or another, to exhilarate the spirits, as it produces all
the effects of opium. Even in the Holy City, Mecca, there is a coffee
house, in which are sold preparations of hashysh and bendj, and
which is frequented by an inferior description of people. On these
articles, a heavy tax has been imposed in order to discourage their
sale, but with very little effect.*

The Turks, besides opium and bangue, usepeganum liar mala, or the
seeds of Syrian rue, with which, as Belonius relates, the emperor
Solyman kept himself intoxicated. The seed of the datura stramo
nium, or thorn apple, is also much employed by them, as well as by
the mountain villagers, in the province of Sirinagur and other parts
of India, who use it to increase the intoxicating powers of their
common spirituous liquors. The datura ferox, so common in China
and Thibet, is employed in Bootan as a powerful stimulant, and its
narcotic virtues are well known to the inhabitants of all those
countries.

Pe?iang, or betel, is in great demand all over the East. The
Indians chew it at all times of the day and night ; like tobacco, it has
rather an enlivening quality ; though naturally of a bitter taste, yet
when wrapped round an areca-nut, or mixed with chinam, a species of
burned lime made of shells, the flavour is not so disagreeable. The
rich and sensual frequently add perfumes, conceiving it a powerful
incentive to love. The betel, it is said, is used for preserving the
gums from becoming foul, giving a sweet breath, fastening the teeth,
but more frequently for reviving the spirits. It causes an excess of
saliva, and, to preserve cleanliness, a spitting-box is always kept in the
apartments of those who chew it. These boxes are frequently richly

* Burckhardt's Travels in Arabia, vol. i. p. 288.

123

ornamented, but the cases in which the betel is enclosed are usually
made of gold, silver, horn, or some valuable wood, inlaid with preci
ous stones. In Siam, the king commonly makes his attendant*
presents of these betel-boxes, which are returned to him at the death
of the individuals. The contents of one of those boxes consist of cut
areka, betel leaves, lime, and tobacco, together with a small gold
handled knife for cutting these materials. Notwithstanding the par
tiality of the Siamese, and some other orientals, for betel, yet many of
them loose their teeth by its use, and their tongues become often
ulcerated from its influence. Many of the Easterns would rather want
food than betel, and its use is so general in many places that the very
slaves are allowed a certain quantity daily to prevent them from
pilfering it.

At the Cape of Good Hope, there is an herb called dacha, a species
of hemp, the leaves of which are eagerly sought by the slaves and
Hottentots, and smoked sometimes alone and at other times with
tobacco. This plant has strong inebriating qualities, which sometimes
render its votaries mad ; and it is estimated in proportion to its intoxi
cating effects. The settlers cultivate the dacha for the use of their
servants, and from the attachment of the Bushmen, or wild Hotten
tots to it, they succeed in retaining them in their service.

In America, some of the native tribes extract a narcotic liquor
from the root of a species of poppy, bearing a rose-coloured flower,
which as well as the stem, when touched by the hand, leaves an
agreeable odour. The plant, says Chateaubriand, which I saw, was
destined to adorn the tomb of a savage in his native wilds : the roots
procure sleep, and the perfume of the flower, which survives the
flower itself, is a pleasing image of the recollections which an innocent
life leaves behind in the desert. A species of the Cannabis Sativa,
or hemp plant, is cultivated in New Spain, merely for the purpose of
smoking or chewing the leaves to excite a narcotic sensation. The
Othomacos, a people of South America, were in the habit, before they
entered into battle, of maddening themselves with a snuff, made from
the grains of yupa, to which the most powerful tobacco is inferior, and
the most confirmed snuff taker could not bear a pinch of the yupay
without sneezing so violently as to threaten death.* Its effects on
those people were to make them fearless of all danger, and irresist
ible in their attacks on their enemies. Peru yields a shrub or small
tree, called coca, about six feet high, the leaves of which serve much
the same purpose as the opium of the East. The leaves of this plant,
which are of a pale bright green, are plucked three or four times a

* Southey's History of Brazil,

124

year, and, after being carefully dried, are packed in small baskets.
Many chew those leaves as others do tobacco, and such is the sus
tenance derived from them, that they frequently take no food for
four or five days, though constantly working ; and, while they have a
good supply, they feel neither hunger, thirst, nor fatigue, and, without
injury to health, they can remain upwards of a week without the
refreshment of sleep. Coca proves to the Peruvian the highest
source of gratification, for under its influence his imagination presents
the most pleasing and fascinating scenes of voluptuousness. Many, to
indulge in its use, forsake the rational associations of civilized life,
and retire in the evening to the woods to revel in the uninterrupted
enjoyment of its magic qualities. Prostrated under a tree, its votary,
heedless of the storm, the darkness of night, or the attacks of wild
beasts, reposes happy and contented, until the morning awakes him
to a sense of his own degradation, and induces him to return home,
a frightful picture of unnatural indulgence. When a Peruvian starts on
a journey, he carries with him a small leather pouch, for holding coca, and
a calabash for lime, or ashes of the molle to mix with the coca : thus
equipped a man will undertake to convey intelligence, or letters,
upwards of one hundred leagues, without any other provision. These
persons are termed chasquis, or chasqueros, a name given to the con
ductors of the mails. Men of this description were employed for the
transmission of intelligence by the Incas, long prior to the invasion
of the Spaniards, and some of these couriers have been known to
convey news a distance of six hundred leagues in the course of six
days.* What a similarity exists between the practice here and that
observed by the messengers in India and Turkey !

The roots of black henbane, or hyoscyamus, are employed as a
strong inebriant. Three grains of the extract are considered equal to
one of opium, without its evil consequence ; it is thought however not
so certain in its operation as that drug, but there are many well-
attested instances on record of its amazing effects.f Dioscorides
notices its intoxicating powers ; and the anodyne necklaces, still in
superstitious use to allay the irritation of teething, are made of the
roots of this plant. Wilner, on vegetable poisons, relates the history
of six persons, of the same family, who were destroyed by eating at
dinner the roots of the hyoscyamus by mistake, instead of parsnips ;
several were delirious and danced about the room like maniacs ; one
appeared as if he had got drunk, and a woman became profoundly
and irrecoverably comatose. With this narcotic, it is stated that

* Stevenson's Narrative, vol. ii. p. 64.
•f Christison on Poisons, p. 486.

Hassan Subah, or, as he was called, " The old man of the mountains,"
institutor of the celebrated heretical sect of the Assassins, continued
to secure the devotion of his disciples. — He administered to them doses
of this drug, which produced sleep, and, while in that state, had them
conveyed into a splendid palace surrounded by beautiful gardens, where
they were regaled with whatever could delight the eye, or gratify the
appetite. The delusion was continued by a repetition of the dose,
until the victims were restored to their homes, under the impression
that Hassan had the power of making them partake of the joys of
paradise. Of what this intoxicating potion was composed seems
doubtful. Marco Polo says the matter was accomplished by a sleeping
potion. Von Hammer, in his history of the Asiatics, attributes it to
hyoscyamus, others to opium, while Sir John Malcolm thinks the
whole an invention of the Mahometans to bring the sect of Hassan
Subah into abhorrence. The last opinion seems the more probable,
from the circumstance that Hassan enjoined the strictest abstinence
from wine, and two of his sons fell victims to the punishment inflicted
on them for a breach of the injunction. Nor is it likely, that on the
summit of the elevated Allahamout, appropriately termed the " Eagle's
Nest," there could be enchanting gardens, murmuring streams,
roseate bowers, or conduits flowing with milk and honey, where the
vine, the pomegranate, the orange, and the nectarine, intermingled
their attractions, as if the whole formed that sensual paradise pro
mised by Mahomet to his followers. Neumann says he knew a
preparation of opium, by which a whole room-full of men may be
presently stupified, deprived of their senses, and even of their lives,
without swallowing a single grain ; and he thinks opium operates much
in the same manner as burning charcoal, or as the exhalations of fer
menting liquors. By means of soporific exhalations, thieves in China
commit great depredations. The houses, seldom exceeding one story,
are fumigated with narcotics and charcoal ; when the inmates are
overcome by their influence, the robbers easily descend through the
tiled roofs, and convey away whatever property comes in their reach
without detection. It is related of a person of considerable wealth,
whose premises had been entered in this manner, that he lay as if in
a trance, clearly observing the robbers effecting their purpose, yet
unable, from the lassitude to which he was reduced, to offer any
resistance. Hyoscyamus is to be found in almost every country,
growing spontaneously on road-sides and among rubbish. In many
botanical gardens, it is cultivated on account of its medicinal proper
ties, and every where gathered by the misguided slaves to opium,
when a supply of that drug is scarce, or difficult of procurement. —

126

The berries and leaves of the atropha belladonna, or deadly night
shade, hold, if possible, a more intense control over the mind of their
victim, producing symptoms of the most sottish drunkenness, and, if
taken too largely, occasion death. To this Shakspeare alludes in his
Macbeth, when he says,

Or have we eaten of the insane root,
That takes the reason prisoner.

A dose of the dried leaves of this plant, reduced to powder, is usually
limited to a few grains ; but if taken under the form of an infusion in a
considerable quantity of water, a scruple has been swallowed in the
course of the day. Ray relates, that a mendicant friar, having drunk
a glass of wine in which some of this herb was infused, was seized
with a delirium and grinning laughter, accompanied by wild and
irregular movements, which would have ended in death, had not an
immediate and counteracting remedy been applied. The bad effects
of the belladonna are said to be most powerfully prevented by a
glass of warm vinegar. It is stated on the authority of Buchanan,
the historian, that the destruction of the Danish army, commanded by
Sweno, king of Norway, when he invaded Scotland, was owing to the
intoxicating quality of the berries of this plant, which the Scots
mixed with the drink that they were obliged to furnish their invaders ;
for while the Danish soldiers lay under its soporific influence, the
Scotch fell upon them and slaughtered so many, that there were
scarcely men sufficient left to carry the king on board the only ship
that returned to Norway — Another species of the night-shade, atropha
mandragora, abundant in Spain, Portugal, Italy, and the islands
of the Levant, has wonderful soporific virtues, and is supposed to be
the mandrakes, mentioned by Moses, which were brought by Reuben
to Leah, and obtained from her by Rachael, under the impression
that they would render her prolific. It is also recorded, that the
emperor Julian used an infusion of this plant to excite amorous
passions. The Turks, in many instances, have yet recourse to it for
a similar purpose, as well as for the visionary pleasure it occasions.

The leaves and flowers of milfoil, or yarrow (achillea) inebriate,
and are used by the Dalecarlians to render their beer intoxicating,
Several medical practitioners in Ireland have used them with great
success, in the cure of many diseases. Some of the patients in
hospitals, who had been addicted to the use of ardent spirits, and
afflicted with the delirium tremens, or disease of drunkards, when in
course of recovery, were so fond of the yarrow tea; that they preferred

127

it to almost every other decoction. — Clary and Saffron, (crocus offici*
nalis,) have the same effect. The last exhilarates the spirits to such a
degree, that when taken in large doses, it occasions immoderate mirth
and involuntary laughter. Darnel, or lolium temulentum,* vulgarly
known by the name of sturdy, when malted with barley, a process
which the seeds of it undergo, causes the ale brewed from it to be
quickly intoxicating. It produces the same effect when mixed with
bread and eaten hot. It is not perhaps generally known, that the
seeds of the field poppy, when ground among meal, have caused sleep,
and the other affections common to narcotics. Among these inebri*
ants, the inspissated milky juice of the common garden lettuce is
considered as powerful in its operation as opium itself. The seda
tive qualities of the lettuce, (lactuca sativa,) seem to have been well
known to the ancients, since Venus, after the death of Adonis, is
represented as reposing on a bed of lettuces, with a view to repress
her grief, and overcome her affections. This will remind the classic
reader of its effects on Juno, from the fable of the birth of Vulcan.
Besides Cybele, the mother of the gods has been drawn, crowned
with a wreath of poppies as a symbol of fruitfulness, shewing that
both the poppy and lettuce were regarded by the ancients as
possessing peculiar powers of solace and fecundity. From experi
ments, it has been ascertained, that the opium, drawn from the
lettuce, is identically the same as that of the poppy : many are of
opinion, that besides diminishing the price of this expensive article, its
extraction from the lettuce would prove a profitable species of culture.
Hemlock, cicuta, or conium maculatum, is also a powerful narcotic,

possessing intoxicating qualities, and dangerous in its application

By the juice of this plant, state convicts at Athens were put to death,
of whom were the celebrated philosopher Socrates, and the famous
general Phocion. Christison, a late writer, is of opinion, that the
poison, by which criminals were thus put to death, must, from its
activity, have contained more powerful ingredients. But he was not
perhaps aware, that, in the southern climates of Europe, the poisonous
qualities of hemlock are much more intense than in northern lati
tudes. M. Steven, a Russian botanist, assures us that the peasants
in the Crimea eat it with impunity, after having boiled it in several
waters. Conium, another species of hemlock, is inebriating if taken
in small doses, and is free from the constipating effects of opium. An
extract from the seeds produces giddiness sooner than that taken
from the leaves. Digitalis purpurea, or Foxglove, has an intoxicating

* This plant is the zizanion of St. Matthew, the ziwan of the Arabian botanists,
the zHvan oT the Turks, and the rosch of the Old Testament.

effect, and operates on the system, by lowering the pulse, restrain
ing the circulation, and sensibly affecting the vision ; while its
application in epileptic attacks has often been attended with fatal
consequences. M. Richard, in his Dictionary of Drugs, gives an
account of the attempts of the chemists, who have endeavoured to
isolate the narcotic, or inebriating principle of foxglove, of which it
possesses a considerable portion. This is a vegetable to which
recourse is seldom had except as a medicine. Leopard's-bane,
(arnica montana), a plant chiefly found on the Alps, and other moun
tains of Europe, possesses properties nearly the same as hemlock. —
Some of the common people of Germany smoke it, and make snuff of
it like tobacco, as it possesses an acid taste, and when bruised, emits
a pungent effluvium, which, while it causes sneezing, gives a sensation
of giddiness bordering on drunkenness. Betony (betonica offici-
nalis,) produces the same effects as Leopard's-bane, when powdered
and snuffed, or smoked ; and, according to Bartholinus and Simon
Pauli, physician to Christian V., king of Denmark, it affects those
who gather it, as they would have been if exposed to the exhala
tions attendant on the mixing, or tunning of spirits. Wolf s-bane,
(aconitum napellus^) is likewise of an intoxicating and deadly nature,
and has the peculiar quality, when applied to the head, of occasioning
a lightness or giddiness, much resembling that produced from spiritu
ous liquors. The plant epilobium angustifolium, when infused in
water, is a powerful narcotic, and from the pith an agreeable ale is
manufactured. This is a ccomplished by drying it first, and then boiling
it, in order to collect the saccharine matter, which, when duly
fermented, yields a very inebriating beverage. The fruit, or berries,
of the menispermum cocculus, or, as it is called, cocculus Indicus,
have considerable intoxicating properties ; and are too frequently
employed by brewers as a substitute for hops, and to bring up weak
ales or porter to the desired strength. These berries are sometimes
used to catch fish, by throwing them into ponds, or reservoirs, and as
they eagerly feed on them, they soon become intoxicated, and fall an
easy prey to their captors. The Hop (humulus lupulus) is soporific,
and pillows have been filled with it, to procure sleep. During the
illness of George III., in 1787, he received great relief from a pre
scription of this nature, and Doctor Thompson tells us of a lady who
was attacked writh fever, and remained perfectly sleepless and deliri
ous for four weeks, but on recourse being had to a hop pillow, she
enjoyed an uninterrupted sleep of 14 hours, from which she recovered
refreshed, invigorated, and free from delirium. In spring, the young
shoots of this plant are eaten as asparagus, and these hop-tops are

1 29

considered a delicacy, while a decoction of the roots is accounted a
good sudorific. In Siheria, the leaves of the Rhododendron chry-
santhum are infused in water, and denominated intoxicating tea, from
their inebriating effects : a weak infusion of it is in daily use among
the natives, as a substitute for the tea of China ; but its strength is
sometimes tried beyond the limits of prudence, or discretion.

The effects of the Amanita Muscaria, a species of reddish fungi,
or mushroom, plentiful in different parts of the Russian empire, and
in Kamstchatka, where it is called moucho-more, are familiar. The
account of it given by Dr. Langsdorff, a Russian physician, is
worthy of recital. The Amanita Muscaria, so called from its power
of killing flies, when steeped in milk, though of the most poisonous of
our fungi, is used by the inhabitants of the north eastern parts of
Asia, in the same manner as wine, brandy, arrack, opium, &c. are
used by other nations. It is collected in the hottest months, and
dried by being suspended in the open air ; some found on the ground,
naturally dry, is esteemed as the most powerfully narcotic. The
common mode of using it is, to roll it into the form of a bolus or pill,
and swallow it without chewing. It is frequently eaten dry, but
oftener taken when infused in a liquor made with epilobium. It is
sometimes eaten fresh in soups and sauces, and in this state loses
much of its intoxicating property. When steeped in the juice of the
berries of the vaccinium uliginosum, its effects are similar to those of
strong wine. One large fungus, or two small fungi, is a common
dose, to produce a pleasant intoxication for a whole day, particularly
if water be drunk after it, which augments the narcotic principle.
From one to two hours, after taking the dose, giddiness and drunken
ness ensue, cheerful emotions of the mind are the first symptoms, the
countenance becomes flushed, incoherent words and actions follow,
and sometimes a total want of consciousness. It renders some very
active, and proves highly stimulant to muscular exertion. Too large
a dose brings on violent spasmodic affections, and such are its excite
ments on the nervous system, that it renders many very silly and
ludicrous. If a person, under its influence, wish to step over a
straw, or small stick, he takes a stride or jump sufficient to clear the
trunk of a tree ; a talkative person can neither keep secrecy nor
silence, and one fond of music is perpetually singing. The most
extraordinary effect of the amanita, is the change it makes in the
urine, by impregnating it with an intoxicating quality, which con
tinues to operate for a considerable time. A man moderately intoxi
cated to-day, will, by the next morning, have slept himself sober ; but,
as is the custom, by drinking a cup of his own urine, he will become

x

130

more powerfully intoxicated, than he \vas the day preceding. It is
therefore not uncommon for confirmed drunkards to preserve their
urine as a precious liquor, lest a scarcity in the fungi should occur.
This inebriating property of the urine is capable of being imparted
to others, for every one, who partakes of it, has his urine similarly
affected. Thus with a very few amanitae, a party of drunkards may
keep up their debauch for a week. Dr. Langsdorff states, that by
means of the second person taking the urine of the first, the third
that of the second, the intoxication may be propagated through five
individuals. The relation of Strahlenberg, that the rich lay up great
stores of the amanitae, and that the poor, who cannot buy it, watch
their banquets with wooden bowls, in order to procure the liquor after
a second process, is fully confirmed by the statement of Langsdorff,
and gives a lamentable picture of the debasement of our species in that
quarter of the world.

By experiments made on potatoes, during the manufacture of
starch, the water which was drained from the pulp, while in thekeive,
on being carefully evaporated to an extract, gave out a strong odour
of hemlock. Its narcotic powers were put to the test by two persons,
one of whom, having swallowed three grains of the recently prepared
extract, soon fell asleep, out of which stupor he had to be forcibly awak
ened, after a repose of twenty-one hours. The other, who took three
grains and a half, fell asleep while undressing, and in that state he
continued for eighteen hours, till aroused by an accidental visitor.
No peculiar consequence followed in either case.

The discovery of Sir Humphry Davy of that species of Gas,
ermod Nitrous Oxide, which has the power of exhilarating the spirits
to an extraordinary degree, is not likely ever to be resorted to as an
inebriant, particularly in those countries where chemistry is little
practised, and it is therefore unnecessary to enter into a description
of it.

In Great Britain, opium has been more used as a medicine than as
an exciter of the spirits, although its infatuating influence is not alto
gether unknown in those countries, since the reveries of Asiatic
luxury and effeminacy have in too many instances infected the man
ners and habits of the British people. To what extent an Englishman
may be brought to take this opiate, is exemplified in the admirable
and well- written " Confessions of au Opium Eater," first published in
the London Magazine for October, 1821, and since in a separate
volume. In that work, the writer, speaking from the result of a long
and profound personal experience, assures us that he had by regular
gradation brougnt himself to take no less a quantity than 8000 drops

131

of laudanum, or 320 grains of opium, per day. The description of
his pains and pleasures for the space of seventeen years, and the
struggles he under went to break th? charm which kept him spell-bound
for such a length of time, are highly interesting and curious. As a
specimen of the imagery with which he was sometimes haunted, the
reader is here presented with an extract in his own words : — " Under
the connecting feeling of tropical heat and vertical sun-lights, I brought
together all creatures, birds, beasts, reptiles, all trees and plants,
usages and appearances that are to be found in the tropical regions,
and assembled together in China or Hindoostan. From kindred
feelings I soon brought Egypt and all her gods under the same law.
[ was stared at, hooted at, grinned at, chattered at, by monkeys, by
paraquets, by cockatoos. I ran into pagodas, and was fixed for
centuries, either at the summit, or in secret rooms ; I was the idol ;
I was the priest ; I was worshipped ; I was sacrificed. I fled
from the wrath of Drama through all the forests of Asia; Vishnu
hated me : Seeva laid wait for me : I came suddenly upon Isis
and Osiris : I had done a deed, they said, which the ibis and crocodile
trembled at. I was buried for a thousand years, in stone coffins, with
mummies and sphinxes, in narrow chambers at the heart of eternal
pyramids. I was kissed with cancerous kisses by crocodiles ; and
laid, confounded with unutterable slimy things, amongst reeds and
Nilotic mud.*" All this, and much more, the reader must enter into
before he can comprehend the horror which those dreams of
oriental manners and customs impressed upon him* The power or
this drug affects the imagination with visions of substantial delights,
which no other narcotic has ever yet been found to produce ; and
man under its influence associates, with his own station in life, those
pleasurable images which he is led to believe would render him
liappy. But it may be said, that the usual effects of opium are to
raise the spirits and elevate the mind, and when the body is not
labouring under disease, it raises the moral affections to a state of
cloudless serenity, over which the diviner spirit of our nature is para
mount. This effect of the drug continues so long as the constitution
is able to bear the ravages of its influence, for its fascinations are
such, that, like the wand of a magician, it creates a visionary temple
round its victim, and leads him through the mazes of delights, till
at length he falls a sacrifice at the altar of his own imagination.
Willis, in Pharmacop. Ration. Part i., informs us that he has known
a small doseof opium to take so contrary effect upon some constitutions,

Confessions of an English O>>ium Eater, Svo. n 171.

132

that they could hardly sleep at all, Imt that they quickly became worse
with respect to their pulse, respiration, and heat ; they became more
breathless, and could not be restored by cordials, but gradually languished
till they died. He also tells us, that by means of opium, he knew
several persons who contracted slowness of genius and stupidity, and
ethers confirmed folly. And one man in particular, who, by taking
a large dose of laudanum when he was feverish, lost his memory
totally.

Many of the middle and lower classes in England are opium eaters ;
and this taste has in a great measure been diffused through the example
of persons retired from the army. Of this class I was acquainted with
two persons whose devotedness to opium led them to spend large
sums in its purchase. The inroad of its effects was visible in both,
sallow and sunken about the eyes, sometimes pensive, sometimes con
vivial ; always in proportion to the time of its operation. Neither
could assign a reason for his attachment, but each felt unhappy during
its absence ; both admitted, but could not describe, the pleasurable
sensations it created. One imputed his attachment to it from habits
of association, the other to disappointment in a love affair, which,
baring pressed upon Ids spirits, led him to try this mighty assuager of
care and sorrow. Numbers use it from a notion that it supports
nature under the privation of food longer than it could otherwise be
sustained, and therefore many are known to be seldom without a
piece of it in their mouths. The Turks have an ingenious method of
using it to prevent hunger. When obliged by their religion to
abstain long from eating, they take three pills of opium at the same
time ; the first covered with two folds of paper, the second with one,
and the third without any : by this precaution the pills dissolve suc
cessively and retard the cravings of appetite in proportion. Doctor
Jones, in his book entitled " The Mysteries of Opium Revealed,"
assures us that he knew several persons in England, who were in the
habit of taking two, three, four, five, and six drachms daily, and that
he heard of one that could take two ounces in a day, a quantity not
exceeded, perhaps, in the history of man.* In the Philosophical
Transactions, we have an instance of a Mr. Lovelock, who, in a fever,
in the space of three days, took one hundred and two grains. Mus-
tapha Shatoor, a celebrated opium eater at Smyrna, took only three
drachms of crude opium daily, yet he was so debilitated, that he
could not rise in the morning without first swallowing half a drachm.
I knew something of the habits of a young lady, who being prevented

* Vide, "Mysteries of Opium Revealed," 8vo. p. 308.

133

by her friends from an excessive indulgence in ardent spirits, had for
a considerable time substituted opium, and, from its constant use,
could swallow an ounce of it in the crude state, with as much ease
and indifference as a boy would eat licorice-ball. A gentleman of
good fortune, in a provincial town in the north of Ireland, had like
wise allowed this propensity to gain upon him to such an extent, that he
regularly retired in the evening, to the solitude of his apartment, to
enjoy the luxury and grandeur of the visions which this favourite
paregoric occasions.

From what has been said respecting the infatuating use of this
drug, it will appear evident, that it is no easy matter to shake off an
attachment to it, when of any standing ; indeed it is much more diffi
cult to do so, than for those in this country who have become slaves
to spirituous liquors, to divest themselves of their enjoyments. That
it has been condemned by its warmest votaries, there is sufficient
evidence, and that its consequences lead to pain, anxiety, and death,
there is no doubt, yet to get rid of its magic influence requires the
utmost exertion. Mr. Dobell, in his Travels, assures us, that he cured ,
two or tliree of his acquaintance of this mania, by the following
method. When the person, says he, who was in the habit of smoking
it, wished for a pipe, I gave him a close of laudanum, nearly equal to
the quantity of crude opium that he was accustomed to smoke, which
caused him to sleep ; and, immediately on his waking, he was made to
swallow a glass or two of Madeira with some substantial food. As
the laudanum had a less stimulating effect than the opium, by a
regular observance of this process, and by reducing the quantity daily,
the individual was in a short time weaned from the use of the opium
. pipe, and readily substituted that of tobacco, so that by this regimen,
he soon recovered his wonted strength and constitution. That a
person, leaving off the use of opium, requires some substitute, or
stimulant, is further illustrated by the striking anecdote related by
Acosta and transcribed by Doctor Aliston in the Edinburgh Medical
Essays.* " There were," says he, " some Turkish prisoners and
Arabian captives in the ship in which I returned from the Indies to
Portugal, who had a small quantity of opium concealed and used it only
as a medicine. When they had consumed it all, one of them, a Turk
of Aden, said to me, since you have the care of the sick, I must tell
you, that, unless you give me and my companions opium, we cannot
live two days. I denied I had any ; the only remedy then, said the
Turk, whereby we, who have been accustomed to eat opium, can be

* Vide vol. v. p. 1. art. 12, sec. 3.

131

recovered, is by a draught of pure wine every morning ; though this!
is very hard and uneasy to us, being contrary to our law, yet, since
our health depends upon it, we must submit. By his advice I gave
them all wine j they recovered, and in a month's time would take no
more wine, and neither needed nor desired opium." Ahmed Khan,
governor of Tauris, in the Persian Empire, was so great a slave to
opium, that he would be laid up for whole days, in a state of delirium
or stupefaction, which was the cause of his dismissal from office.
Being a sensible man, and seeing the disgrace this weakness brought
upon him, he so far conquered the propensity, that he was restored
to his former rank and dignity, and when the French embassy, under
General Gardane, was passing through his government, in 1807, he
entertained them with a hospitality and splendour becoming an
oriental prince.*

Although opium is so destructive to the human constitution, many
instances might be brought forward of persons, addicted to the use of
it, who lived to an advanced age. One of a curious nature is related
of Mahomet Riza Khan Byat, of Shiraz, who had been accustomed to
cat every day a quantity of this drug, sufficient, according to the cal
culations of an English Doctor, to poison thirty persons unaccustomed
to it. He was at the age of sixty-eight, when first advised by this
Doctor to leave off the practice, or he would destroy himself. Ten
years after, when he was met by the narrator of this anecdote, he
looked younger and brisker, than when he first saw him. — He
enquired for the Doctor, and on being informed that he was in India,
" I am sorry," said he, " that he is not here, I would shew him that
Christian Doctors are not all true prophets. He told me I should die
if I did not diminish my allowance of opium, I have increased it four
fold, since he predicted my demise, and here I am, near four score,
as young and as active as any of you." On saying this, he put his
horse to full gallop and fired his match-lock, with the ease and
precision of a person in the full vigour of life.f

Christisoii) in his treatise on poisons, records several cases of the
length of time that some have taken opium, without very material
injury. 1. A young lady, habituated te it from childhood, was in
good health at the age of twenty-five. 2. A lady died of consump
tion at the age of forty-two, though she had taken daily a drachm of
solid opium, for ten years of her life. 3. A literary character of about
forty-five years old took laudanum for twenty years, with occasional

* Tangerine's Narrative of the French Embassy to Persia.

f Sketches cf Persia, 2 vois, 6\o. vol. i. p. 96, 97. London, 1627.

135

intermissions, but sometimes an enormous quantity, yet he enjoyed
tolerably good health. 4. A lady, who died at fifty, was in the
practice of drinking laudanum twenty years. 5. Another lady of
fifty, in good health, in the practice of taking opium for many years,
used three ounces of laudanum daily. 6. A lady of sixty, gave it up
after using it for twenty years, during which she enjoyed good health,
and again resumed her former practice. 7. Lord Mar, after using
laudanum for thirty years, to the amount at times of two or three
ounces daily, died at fifty-seven of jaundice and dropsy. 8. A
woman who took, for many years, two ounces of laudanum daily, lived
upwards of sixty years. 9. An eminent literary character, novr
above sixty, and in good health, has drunk laudanum to excess, since
he was fifteen, and his daily allowance has sometimes been a quart of
a mixture, consisting of three parts of laudanum and one of alcohol.

10. A lady now alive, at the age of seventy, has taken laudanum ia
the quantity of half an ounce daily, between thirty and forty years.

1 1 . An old woman at Leith, lived to eighty, though she had taken
about half an ounce of laudanum nearly for forty years, and enjoyed
tolerably good health. — Sir Astley Cooper relates, that he kneAY
persons to take a drachm of opium daily, in divided portions, without
any bad effects.* — Notwithstanding these examples in its favour, it is~"\
well known, that opium, when applied externally, will produce
poisonous effects, and that if injected into the veins of an animal, it
will bring on so high a degree of circulation, that it will cause convul
sions ; how much more fatal then must be its effects when taken inter
nally ! — The action of opium is said to be very analogous to that of
wine, or vinous spirits ; the good and bad effects of both differ little,
and it is as common a remark in the Turkish dominions, that, " he
has eaten opium," as with us, " he has drunk too much wine." Its
attendants are violent head-ache, furrowed brown tongue, high fever,
constipation of the bowels, distorted motions in the eyes, pulsation
frequently too quick to be reckoned, and finally a respite from its,

pains in the chambers of death Such are the anomalous and

distressing miseries which the use, or rather the abuse of opium, has
entailed on man, the origin of which may be dated from the com
mencement of the Mahometan superstition, which, while it forbade
our fellow-men even the simple indulgence of an exhilarating and
wholesome beverage, has permitted a substitute that has proved too
generally deleterious and destructive.

The Chinese government seem latterly to have taken up the

* Lectures on Surgery, &e.

136

matter with increased interest, seeing the dangerous consequences
resulting from the general use of opium in the empire. Several pro
clamations have been issued, examples made, and every means tried
to prevent its importation, but to no purpose. — Where the infatua
tion is so general, reform is almost hopeless. The following edict,
issued by the viceroy of Canton, in 1828, is a sample of the various
proclamations that have been published on the subject : —

" The use of drink and food is to introduce harmony into the sys
tem : the gulping of luscious things must be with a desire to obtain
strength ; but if there exist a drug, destructive of life, incessant
efforts should be made to keep it at a distance. Having used the drug
for some time, the men accustomed to it can by no means relinquish
it, their faces become as sharp as sparrows, and their heads sunk
between the shoulders, in the form of a dove, the poison flows into
their inmost vitals, physic cannot cure their disease, repentance comes
too late for reform."

The number of chests imported into China, in the following years,
will shew the extent of this branch of commerce, as conducted by
private ships from India : —

1832 15,823 Chests.

1833 21,249 ...

1834 15,962 ...

The imports of opium into England, from Bengal and other places,,
from 1786, to 1801, a period of 15 years, amounted to 286,2711bs.r
and the consumption to 247,61 9lbs. At the East India Company's
sales, in 1809, there were 199 libs, of this drug sold for the immense
sum of £2,249. In 1831 and 1832, the quantity entered for home
consumption in Great Britain averaged 28,0971bs. per year.

Having thus detailed the most important facts relative to the
extent, use, and effects of some of the principal natural inebriants,
I shall return to the artificial or chemical part of the subject, more
immediately the object of consideration.

Among the inhabitants of that extensive region known by the name
of Tartary, a variety of inebriating liquors is found to prevail. To
point out the quality of each, with their shades of difference, would
be extremely difficult, particularly as the tribes are so thinly and
remotely scattered through a territory of 460,000 square miles in
extent,* of which the greater part remains as yet but imperfectly
known. Koumiss, or the vinous liquor, prepared by fermentation from
mares' milk, seems to be the great and leading beverage of the Tartar

jMaltc-Brun, vol. ii. p, 36,

137

hordes. Of its origin we know little, but that it was familiar to
many of the nations of Asia, long1 before they had any intercourse
with Europeans, is unquestionable. Caprini, a friar, sent as an am
bassador by Pope Innocent IV., to the Tartar, and other nations of
the East, in 1245, is the first who mentions this liquor, and speaks of
ale also as a common beverage. At the court of the Khan Batou, he
met with great hospitality, and he informs us, that a table was per
manently placed before the door of the tent of the Khan, on which
stood many superb cups of gold and silver, richly set with precious
stones, full of cosmos or koumiss, for the accommodation of visiters
and strangers ; and that neither the Batou, nor any of the Tartar
princes, drank in public, without having singers and harpers playing
before them. — De Rubruquis, a monk, who went as ambassador from
Louis IX. of France, in 1258, into different parts of the East,
describes its preparation with tolerable accuracy ; and says, it was so
plentiful in his time, that he knew one person alone, who was served
daily from his farms with a superior kind of it, made from the milk
of 100 mares, and that a number of his acquaintance together received
the produce of 3000 mares. This is not to be wondered at, when we
consider that the riches of a Tartar consists in the multitude of his
cattle, and that some individuals, according to Pallas, have been
known to possess 10,000 horses, 300 camels, 4000 horned cattle,
20,000 sheep, and upwards of 2000 goats, and, in many instances, have
such a quantity of sheep as to be wholly ignorant of their number.
Marco Polo, who passed through a great part of Asia, in the
middle of the thirteenth century, speaks of koumiss as a common
drink, and tells us that the great Khan of Tartar y had, in his time,
a, herd of white horses and mares, to the amount of 10,000, of the
milk of which none but the royal family were permitted to partake ;
and so artful were some of the attendants at court, that they could
draw koumiss from a secret reservoir, without the appearance of any
agency. Late writers describe it as a wholesome, nutritious beverage,
and allow that it possesses important medicinal qualities.* Koumiss,
is said to be so healthful and renovating, that the Bashkir Tartars,
who, from the impoverished state of their living during winter, are
weak and emaciated, soon after returning to the use of koumiss in
summer, become fat and invigorated. Those who use it say that
they have little desire for other sustenance, and that it renders their
veins replete, infuses animation, prevents langour, without producing

* Edinb. Phil. Trans, vol. i. p. 17, &c. Outline's Tour, 4to. pp. 277-8-9.
Whittington's Journey, in 1816, through Little Tartary, &c-. in Walpole's Travels,
pp. 4fi3 and 4(58.

138

indigestion, nausea, acidity, or any of those consequences which
usually follow excess in other beverages. It renders those who us«
it extremely active. A Mongul, who was accustomed to subsist upon
it, was able, at the advanced age; of sixty, to ride 200 wersts in a day,
without being fatigued — a proof of its salutary influence. This
liquor is prepared in various ways, but all coming to the same issue.
The most simple; mode appears to be the following : — To any quantity
of mares' milk, a sixth part of warm water is added, and as it is usual
to make the liquor in skins, the mixture is poured into a bag of this
kind, in which had been left as much of the old milk as would render
the new sour. In summer, fermentation speedily takes place, the first
l of which are the appearance of a thick scum, or substance, on
the surface. After this has gathered, the whole mass is blended
together, much in the manner of churning, but which process lasts but
a few minutes : it is then allowed to remain quiescent for some hours,
and again agitated in a similar manner. Thus treated alternately, it
soon assumes that stage of vinous fermentation necessary to effect its
completion. In summer, this is accomplished in 24 hours ; but,
according to Pallas, it can be effected in 12 hours by a forced process.
In winter, it requires a longer time, say three or four days, with the
assistance of artificial heat and a greater frequency of agitation.
Very different from the effect produced by churning milk in this
country, this process of agitation affords neither cream nor cards ;
but yields a beverage of a very agreeable vinous flavour, which ine
briates in proportion to the quantity taken. To throw the milk into
fermentation, a little sour (tow's milk, koumiss, a piece of sour leaven
of rye bread, or a small portion of the stomach of a colt, a lamb, or a
calf, is indispensable, and indiscriminately used as rennet. In making
koumiss, Strahleriberg says, that the Calrnucks take off the thick
material at the top of the milk, after it has become sour, and use it in
their food, leaving the remaining liquid for distillation. This is quite
erroneous, as a closer acquaintance with the Tartar practice has
proved; for it is well known, that no perfect fermentation, even
though the usual ferment be added, can be effected from any one
of the component parts of the milk alone, nor will it; afford a spirit
unless the milk has all its parts in their natural proportion. Doctor
Clarke, in the observations which he makes on koumiss, seems to
have fallen into a similar error, when he says, that the milk collected
over night is churned in the morning into butter and the buttermilk
distilled. This it must appear, from the proceeding remarks, cannot
be the case, since no butter is obtained from the milk, as koumiss
be made at all, should any of the constituent* of the milk be

separated, and therefore- the Tartars must have boon in jest, or h<*
misunderstood them, when they told the Doctor their brand V \v;w
distilled merely from buttermilk.* Nieuhoff states, that while in
China, he drank Samtehoo as strong1 as brandy, which had been dis
tilled from ncu' milk ; and says, that it was obtained from the Km-
j>eror's cellar as a fa\ our ; but how this species of lieuor was inanu-
factured he has given no account. From experiments made on milk
during- fermentation, it appears that the closer the vessel is in which
it is kept, and the less fixed air allowed to escape during the process,
the greater the quantity of spirit obtained, so that the proportion of
the brandy produced from the material in the close vessel, to that
fermented in an open one, is as one gallon to three. This experi
ment shews the policy of conducting the process of fermentation in
close vessels in our distilleries, in preference to that of open ones,
since it evidently prevents the escape of a considerable portion of
alcoholic material. The milk collected for koumiss is fermented
mostly in leathern bags formed like a stone jar, wide at bottom
and narrow at top, and containing about an anker each. These uro
usually made of the hides of cows, goats or horses, fresh skinned ;
they arc steeped in water till the hair rubs off, and where no astrin
gent herbjige is to be found, are soaked thoroughly in blood and
dried in the; most warm and smoky parts of the huts. IJy this means,
the bags are rendered waterproof, and even made to retain oil. — The
practice of keeping milk in skins is of great antiquity, as we read in
Judges iv. 19, of .lael, wife of lleber, when Sisera, the Canaanihsh
general, visited her tent, opening a bottle of milk ami giving him
to drink because he was thirsty. The Tartars display much ingenuity
in the construction of these bottles: from the skins of kids they pre
pare small ones, which answer as well as flasks, and among the
Calmueks these are rendered transparent and durable by means of
smoke. This preparation is perhaps similar to that alluded to in the
119th Psalm, 83rd verse.

The largest bags of whirh we have any account, were those
employed by Kutuki, the widow of Alcrgus, one of the Mongnl Khans,
in order to have revenge of Nawr, a neighbouring Khan, for betray
ing him into the hands of a prince of China, by whom he was sewed
up in a sack, and left to expire on a wooden ass. Affecting fl passion
for Nawr, formerly one of her admirers, Kutuki invited him to an
interview, which being accepted, she set out to meet him carrying with
her, on waggons prepared for the purpose, immense vessels made of

* Clarke's Travel*., 4lo, vol. \, p. 23!'.

140

ox hides filled with koumiss, together with one hundred sheep and
ten mares, already prepared for a feast. The meeting was apparently
joyful, while the prince and his attendants were closely plied with
liquor until they became intoxicated, when, by a signal from the prin
cess, the vessels were opened, out of which a number of armed men
issued and cut Nawr, whom she had already stabbed, and his fol
lowers into pieces. The ancient Romans, it appears, used skin bags
of a large size for holding wine ; for in a picture found in the ruins of
a wine-shop in Pompeii, there is the representation of an enormous
bag placed on a wine cart, and occupying the whole of the machine,
which is in the shape of a boat. Two men are seen as in the act of
drawing off the wine into amphora, or vessels employed for that
purpose.

The well known hospitality of the Tartars renders the accumula
tion of these bags, particularly among the chiefs, sometimes incredible,
since 500 ankers of koumiss is considered no uncommon stock. At
marriage ceremonies, (a time of peculiar rejoicing,) it is not unusual
to see from two to four gallons of that liquor swallowed at three
draughts.*

The Usbecks, Mandshurs, Monguls, Calmucks, &c., are very
expert in making koumiss : that properly so called is from the milk
of mares. When a sufficient supply of this milk cannot be obtained,
recourse is had to that of the cow, and, amongst the Monguls, to that
of the sheep and camel, from which a wine is produced, usually called
koumiss, but by the Tartars termed air en, or airik. The milk of the
mare is preferred, being more fluid, though imbued with a slight
alkaline taste much esteemed by all the nomade tribes.

In distillation, mare's milk yields nearly one-tenth of alcohol, more
than that of the cow. The spirit from both is indifferently called
arrack^ araka, or arika, and sometimes koumiss ; it is often pre
sented under the title of vina. The common people are generally
content with the spirit obtained from the first distillation ; but the
wealthy, to encrease its strength, have it distilled a second time, when
it becomes highly intoxicating. The word arrack is decided by
philologers to be of Indian origin ; and should the conjecture be
correct, that it is derived from the areca-nut, or the arrack-tree, as
Kcempfer calls it,J it is clear, that as a spirit was extracted from that
fruit, the name was given to all liquors having similar intoxicating

Sauer's Account of Billing's Expedition, 4to. p. 128.
t Timkowski's Travels, vol. i. p. 53.
* Vide Amenitatum Exoticarum Fasciculi. 4to.

141

effects. The term arrack being common in eastern countries where
the arts of civilized life have been so early cultivated, it is more
reasonable to suppose that the Tartars received this word through
their eastern connexions with the Chinese, or other oriental nations,
than to attribute it to a derivation foreign to their language, or as a
generic term of their own. The great source of all Indian literature,
and the parent of almost every oriental dialect, is the Sanscrit, a
language of the most venerable and unfathomable antiquity, though
now confined to the libraries of the Brahmins, and solely appropriated
to religious laws and records. Mr. Halhed, in the preface to his
Grammar of the Bengal language, says, that he was astonished to find
a strong similitude between the Persian, Arabian, and even the Latin
and Greek languages, not merely in technical and metaphorical terms,
which the mutation of refined arts or improved manners might have
incidentally introduced, but in the very groundwork of language —
in monosyllables — in the names of numbers, and the appellations
which would be first employed on the immediate dawn of civilisation.
Telinga is a dialect of the Sanscrit, in which the word areca is found,
it is used by the Brahmins in writing Sancrit, and since to the latter
all the other tongues of India are more or less indebted, the term
areca, or arrack, may be fairly traced through the different lan
guages of the East, so that the general use and application of this
word in Asiatic countries cannot appear strange.* — To these consi
derations may be added, that in Malabar the tree which yields the
material from which this oriental beverage is produced is termed
areca, and, among the Tongusians, Calmucks, Kirghises, and other
hordes, koumiss, in its ardent state, is known by the general term,
" Arrack or Rak." Klaproth says, that the Ossetians, (anciently
Alans,) a Caucasian people, applied the word " Arak" to denote all
distilled liquorsf — a decided confirmation of the foregoing observa
tions and opinions.

The distillation of koumiss is generally effected by means of two
earthen pots closely stopped, the upper one of which is usually
covered with wet clay, the condensed vapour running slowly through
a small wooden pipe into a receiver. Some distil it in copper vessels
after the manner of the Chinese. The spirit is at first very weak,
but generally brought up by a second operation, when greater

* Vide the Grammar and Dictionary of the Mahratta Language by Dr. Carey ;
also the translation of the Laws of Menu, by Sir William Jones,
f Asia Polyglotta, p. 89. Hist. Tatars, 8vo. vol. ii. p. 517.

112

strength is required. — Doctor Clarke,* saw this process performed by
a still constructed of mud, or very coarse clay, having for the neck
of the retort a piece of cane. The simplicity of the operation, the
rudeness of the machinery, and the material from which the spirit is
drawn, are highly characteristic of its great antiquity. The annexed
is a view of a Calmuck still at work, as above described, with a
female carrying water to wet the mud on the head of the still and
receiver.

In Iceland, several preparations of milk have been long in
common use, such as struig or whey boiled to the consistence of
sour milk, and syra, or sour whey fermented in casks, kept and only
deemed fit for drinking at the end of a year.f But the Icelanders
were unacquainted with the distillation of fermented milk, so that
the Tartars appear to be the sole iriventers of this art. Indeed from
their pastoral habits and from subsisting chiefly on milk, its intoxi
cating qualities would soon be developed ; for, as want and privation
lead to many discoveries, and as rural life seeks with avidity what
ever enlivens a solitary hour or exhilarates the spirits, the Tartars
would naturally seize on those properties afforded by the milk of their
flocks and herds to turn them to that account, which would best afford
pleasure or banish care. That the method of extracting an intoxi
cating drink from milk was long practised by these people, before the

' Travels in Russia, Turkey, and Asia.
f Mackenzie's Iceland, 4to. p. loG and 277.

143

*rt of distillation was known either to the Saracens or Genoese,
there cannot be a shadow of doubt. Caprini, De Rubruquis, and
Marco Polo everywhere found koumiss and other liquors in abun
dance, at a time when the knowledge of distillation in Europe was
known only to the learned, and practised as an extraordinary dis
covery, while the sale of the spirit was confined to the apothecaries ;
it being considered rather as a medicine than a luxury. — In their
social intercourse, the Tartars have occasional meetings for the pur
pose of enjoying the produce of their distillations. Clarke, speaking
of theCalmucks, says, that at such times, every one brings his share of
brandy and koumiss ; and the whole is placed on the ground in the
open air, round which the guests, male and female, seated on the
ground, form a circle. One of the party performs the office of cup
bearer. The young women all the time chaunt songs of love, or war,
fabulous adventures, or heroic achievements ; no one rises, the cup
being passed from hand to hand till the whole is consumed, without
the least interruption of the harmony, either from inebriety or other
wise — a fine example of propriety to more civilized nations. Like
the Indians of Paraguay, not only the domestic affairs are committed
to the women, but like them also, the distilling or manufacturing of
intoxicating drink is always under their immediate management,
though they indulge not in its abuses. It is customary, both in tap
ping the produce of the still and bags of koumiss, to thrust in a tuft
of camel's liair tied to the. end of a stick, and when saturated wit'i
the liquor, to squeeze some of it into the palm of their hands, tako
a little, and then scatter it around as an offering to their god : — a
practice common amongst many hcatlten nations in giving tlie first
fruits to the deity. De Rubruquis observed amongst the Tartars a
practice in which koumiss was alike rendered sacred, by placing tho
image of a deceased friend over Ms tomb with the face towards the
East, holding a consecrated drinking-cup before his stomach.
At one of these monuments, he saw sixteen horse hides hung
on high posts, four towards each cardinal point, with koumiss, or
cosmos for the deceased to drink in order to refresh him in his pas
sage to the other world. It is usual amongst the Monguls, as a token
of respect to a deceased friend, to pour on the ground a libation of
koumiss as a peace-offering to the deity.

In order to obtain milk from the mare, which is usually done three
or four times a-day, the foal is generally allowed to be present, from
the idea that the dam yields a greater quantity in conseqence, and
more readily than if it were absent. For this purpose, the foal i*
even allowed fb suck a little from the dam, particularly in rases

144

where she is refractory. The animal is all the time fastened to a
long line between two poles, and to which the foal is likewise secured.
This singularity of the mare, yielding her milk freely when the foal
is present, is not to be wondered at when it is asserted that the ass
gives her milk no longer than the impression of the foal is on her
mind : Doctor Hunter proved this by an experiment which shewed
that even the skin of the foal thrown over the back of another was
sufficient to induce the animal to give her milk without reluctance.*
In Scotland, it was formerly a practice to place a Tulchan, or calf s
skin stuffed, before a cow that had lost her calf, in order to induce
her to part with her milk without opposition.f A reason assigned
by the Eluths for preferring mare's milk to that of cow's, is not on
account, in their estimation of its being better and richer, but that the
latter cannot be so easily procured, because, after the calf is taken
away, the cow will not suffer herself to be milked with the same ease
and familiarity : hence necessity induced them to employ mare's milk.

The horse, which is always entire, is allowed to rove in common
with the herd, so that a constant succession of breed is kept up
and milk is in greater abundance. — The faculty in this coun
try recommend the milk of the ass as beneficial in pulmonary affec
tions, yet it is extraordinary that this milk has never been subjected
to the same process as that of the mare amongst the Tartars, and
why the milk of the mare has not been tried with us as a specific
remedy, in the same manner as that of the ass, has not been explained.
The scarcity of brood mares need not be urged as an objection, since
the experiment might be made from a singe animal. It is worthy of
remark, that Scheele, a Swedish chemist, although he made himself
early acquainted with the fermenting powers of this liquid, never
seemed to suspect the possibility of extracting a spirit from it. New
man, a German, Voltolin, a Hollander, and Macquer, a Frenchman,
laboured under nearly similar mistaken notions, conceiving that no
spirit could be obtained from milk without the addition of some vege
table matter. Doctor Grieve was among the first who determined, by
experiment, that milk alone was capable of affording spirits without
the admixture of any extraneous or adventitious substance : — a secret
which, although unknown to us, was familiar for ages to the unculti
vated wanderers in the Scythian deserts.

In almost every country, though milk is resorted to as a nutritious
and agreeable beverage, yet some portions of mankind have been
found to dislike it. The Cochin-Chinese have an antipathy against

* Vide Journal of the Royal Institution, No. 2.
f Tvanlioe, eliap. xxiii. p. 32 ].

115

it, amounting to loathing : they insist that the practice of using it is
little better than that of using the blood of the animal. Among some
of the tribes on the Zaire, Captain Tuckey observed,* that, although
cows were numerous, no use was made of their milk, from some
superstitious aversion, arising, perhaps, from notions similar to those
of the Cochin Chinese, or some other unaccountable prejudices. Not
so in Abyssinia, where the wealth of an individual is estimated by
the number of his cattle ; for he is accounted rich who bathes several
times a- year in milk, as every man possessing a thousand cows appro
priates one day's milk annually to form a bath for his friends. In
South America, where cattle are numerous, we do not find that they
are domesticated for the same purposes as those to which they are
applied by Tartars and Europeans. Nature, however, has been boun
tiful in giving to man in every part of the world, necessaries to sup
port his wants and gratify his appetites. — " We have seen," says
Blumenbach, in his Elements of Physiology, " the analogy between
vegetables and animals in structure and functions, as well as in
elementary and proximate principles. The secretions of both may
be innocuous or deleterious. The most remarkable analogy in secre
tion respects milk."f In South America, Humboldt saw a tree that,
when wounded, yields abundance of rich milk, which the negroes drink
and grow fat upon, and which affords a caseous coagulum. The tree
grows on the barren rock, has coriaceous dry leaves ; for several
months is not moistened by a shower, yet if an incision be made in
its trunk, the milk pours forth. This sweet vegetable fountain is
most copious at sun-rise, and the natives are then seen hastening from
all quarters with bowls to the cow-tree, or palo de vaca, to collect
this nourishing fluid.

. The art of preparing koumiss seems to be familiar or common to
all the tribes inhabiting the extensive regions of central Asia. The
yowrt of the Turks and thepwta of the Laplanders are but modifica
tions of this liquor. That acidulated material in India, called dhy, is
found among all the Tartars. In the provinces bordering on Bootan,
it is dried in masses till it resembles chalk, and is used mixed in water
as a pleasant beverage. The operation of drying the dliy is some
times performed by tieing it tight in cloth bags and suspending it
under the bellies of horses. Amongst the Calmucks, Khirghises, and
other Tartar tribes, the process of distillation is carried on by means
of fuel collected from the dry dung of their j^mels, horses, and other

* Tuckey's Narrative of a Voyage to Explore the River Zaire, 4to p. 111.
f Elliotson's Edit. 8vo., p. 508.

JL

146

animals, by slaves, whose province it is to gather it, and carry it home to
their tents where it is baked into cakes resembling peat or turf: it makes
a clear and excellent fire, yielding great heat. A similar mode of
obtaining fuel is practised in India. The women follow the herds of
horses, sheep and black cattle, and gather the dung, which they carry
home in baskets. The dung is formed into cakes of about half an
inch thick and nine inches in diameter. The walls of their best
houses are frequently stuck round with these cakes. At Seringapa-
tarn, numerous females are to be found carrying baskets of this dung
for sale. The horses are so numerous in many parts of Tartary, that
they are found in herds in a wild state, and some of the tribes procure
supplies by means of hawks. These birds are taught to seize upon
the head or neck of the animal, and so tease and weary him, that
while endeavouring to get rid of his enemy, the hunter approaches
and captures him. In the same manner wild sheep are taken, many
of whose tails are said to weigh from 20 to 30 pounds. — The expert-
ness of the Tartars in training falcons or hawks for the chase is such,
that it is a standing law among the Mongols subject to China, to fur
nish the emperor with a number of these birds every year.

The milk of the sheep affords a beverage to the Calmucks, Kerghis,
and other hordes, to which is given the name of arjan ; it is more a
preparation of sour milk than of real koumiss. Besides the drinks
already noticed amongst the Tartars, De Rubruquis met with a
variety of others, such as wine ; caracina or teracina, a very intoxi
cating drink made from rice, very like white wine ; caracosmus^ clear
cows' milk or clarified whey ; and ball or mead drawn from honey.
In the palace of Mangu Khan, he observed a curious artificial tree
with various devices, intermingled with branches and leaves, inter
twined with golden serpents. This tree contained concealed pipes
through which the four kinds of liquor just mentioned flowed in
abundance, and at the root or base were four silver lions holding the
different liquors, which were supplied from reservoirs outside the
palace. On the top of this tree was a figure of an angel with a
trumpet sounded by artificial bellows whenever a supply of drink
was wanted. As soon as the sound of this trumpet was heard, a
man appointed for the purpose poured liquor into the respective
pipes, from which it was handed to the guests in waiting. — This
elegant piece of mechanism shews to what degree of taste and polite
ness the Tartar princes had arrived and the luxury which surrounded
their tables : they still keep up considerable state, and by those tribes
subject to China, the refinements and customs of that country are
undeviatingly maintained. Their hospitality, however, is more

147

extended, for in every Tartar tent there is always a kettle on the
fire full of tea, mixed with milk, butter, and salt. Here the weary
traveller may at all times freely enter and quench his thirst ; but he
must have his own wooden cup, whicli every Mongol carries about
him, as an article indispensably necessary. The most esteemed of
these cups are brought from Thibet ; the rich generally have them
lined with silver. Two kinds of bowls, of a very costly description,
are used at their drinking parties. They are richly varnished, and
adorned with clouded streaks which give them an elegant appear
ance. One of them is composed of yellow wood, and called djamd-
jaya ; the other is also of a yellow tinge, and named Kounlar ; both
are considered to possess the properties of counteracting the effects of
poison.

Besides the public meetings held at certain periods, all the Tartar
tribes have their private and domestic associations, during which they
indulge in smoking, drinking, sallies of wit, anecdote, and poetry,
descriptive of their exploits in hunting, the swiftness of their steeds,
boldness of adventure, commemorating the deeds of their ancestors,
or their happy meeting with friends.

The following Mongol effusion on an occasion of this description,
which I have versified, may prove acceptable as a specimen of their
ability and genius for poetry : —

How sweet the draught our generous prince bestows,
Arrack, than honey sweeter to the taste ;

Come, let us drink, the sparkling liquor flows !
To cheer the silence of the boundless waste.

Firm on the plain, our tents in order stand,
The flocks or feed, or indolently rove ;

Our wives, our children, and our friends demand
To share the banquet and the smile of love.
In social converse, let our hours be pass'd ;
But no excess be-cloud the cheerful day —

Like shrubs that bend beneath the sweeping blast
Are those who drink the strength of life away.

Past are the steppes,* the arid hills retire
Far in the distance, clothed in misty hue ;

Here pastures green our fondest hopes inspire,
And murky scenes no longer cloud the view.

Since chance has brought us face to face once more,
Let us unite to quaff the flowing bowl ;

What greater joy has life itself in store
Than brethren met to mingle soul with soul ?

* Steppes are, for the most part, extensive elevated regions, found in many of the
northern Asiatic districts — in sterility, some of them resemble the Desert of Sahara,
in Africa, affording scarcely any thing for the subsistence of either man or beast.

H8

In summer, the men and women of Turkestan assemble under
trees to drink, dance, ride on horseback, and play on various musical
instruments: at these, and their other festive meetings, wine, arrack,
and koumiss, are consumed in abundance. These meetings generally
take place after their lent, and when the sacrifices, called oshour, have
been offered for the souls of their relations : the fetes, on these occa
sions, are termed Nourouz, and are times of great rejoicing. The
Jakuti Tartars have many ceremonies and festivals, at which they
use a great deal of liquor. At one of these, where animals are sacrificed
to idols, they sit in a circle and consume immense quantities of
koumiss, and become so intoxicated that they are unable to stir
from their positions for a length of time. Quantities of drink
are thrown into the air with an unsparing hand, which, they conceive,
allay the angry feeling of the offended deity and those spirits which
govern the elements.

Such of the tribes as profess the Mahometan faith, particularly
those of Great and Little Bucharia, are forbidden the use of inebriat
ing drinks ; but with them, as with their more enlightened neighbours,
a want of attachment to the Prophet's precept occasions excesses, ren
dered contemptible by the hypocritical arts employed to conceal them.
When Eversmann and Jakovlew visited Bucharia in the train of the
Russian Embassy in 1821, wine and brandy were consumed in great
quantities, chiefly manufactured by the Jews. These people, as well
as the Armenians, are permitted to make as much as they please, and
to use it in their houses where they may get intoxicated, but they
dare not go abroad in that state, lest the Khan would punish them,
which lie sometimes does with great severity. An instance of his
cruelty in this respect occurred some years ago, in the treatment of a
Jewish physician who had got drunk on the occasion of his son's
marriage. This gave the Khan such offence that he ordered him to
be immediately executed. The Khan is very capricious in his obser
vance of this law : sometimes he orders the houses to be searched,
and where any liquor is found he causes the owners to be beaten, yet
he himself often drinks to excess. The police never venture to
examine the houses of the Usbeck officers, though many of them are
drunkards, but the poorer sort are strictly watched, and if any of
them are detected in the streets of the capital with a bottle, or intoxi
cated, they are severely punished, and even sometimes put to death
if they had ever before been guilty of a similar offence. The wine
of Bucharia is of strong quality, and of greater body than most
European wines, being the produce of the richest grapes. Their
brandy is made of the lees of the wine or from raisins, is always

149

rectified, and of a strength equal to West India rum ; it is colourless,
and has an empyreumatic taste and flavour. The stills employed are
much the same as those used by the Jews in Turkey.

It was in this part of Asia, that Tamerlane, or Tirnour the Tartar,
gave, on the marriage of his six grandsons, the celebrated feast of
which so many thousands were partakers, and which conveys to us a
knowledge of the liquors then in use. The scene was truly magni
ficent : a plain, studded with tents and pavilions, displayed all the
grandeur of oriental pomp and magnificence ; forests were cut down
for the supply of fuel, pyramids of meat and vases filled with every
description of liquor, such as koumiss, oxymel, hippocras, brandy,
sirma, sherbet, and wines of various countries, attracted the attention
of the voluptuary, and were presented to the guests, on salvers of
gold and silver, in cups of agate, crystal and gold, adorned with pearls
and jewels. At this banquet, all the subordinate rulers and chiefs of
Tartary, together with ambassadors from European courts and
envoys from the conquered countries, were assembled ; and the public
joy was testified by illuminations and masquerades, a general indul
gence was proclaimed, every law was relaxed, every pleasure was
allowed, the people were free, and the sovereign presided, a delighted
spectator. Pearls and rubies were showered on the heads of the
brides and bridegrooms, and left to be collected by their attendants.*
At another feast given by a Khan of Tartary, which lasted for seven
days, there were consumed daily eight waggon loads of wine, two of
brandy, and twenty of koumis, while, during each day, there was a
slaughter of three hundred horses, as many cows, and a thousand
sheep. But, how are the mighty fallen ! those states which were once
governed by the gigantic powers of a Tamerlane, are now dwindled
into insignificance, and the intellect of their rulers, narrowed by the
barbarism which surrounds them, is unable or unwilling to encourage
the growth of science, or the progress of arts.

Wherever rice or any other kind of grain is cultivated in Tartary,
the fermenting process is not unknown : in the same manner, the
virtues of the grape are not allowed to remain unnoticed by the most
ignorant of the hordes, since wine is familiar throughout a large portion
of this extensive region. The beer to be met with is, for the most
part, of indifferent quality ; that brewed from barley and millet by the
Turkestans, termed baksoum, more resembles water boiled with rice
than beer. They admire it, and affirm that it is an invaluable remedy
for dysentery : it is of an acid taste without smell, has little of an

* Vide Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,

150

intoxicating1 quality, and keeps but a short time. — Such of the grain as
they distil, is put into a vessel carefully covered, and, after being
allowed to run into a slight state of acetous fermentation, it is put into
the still and drawn off at a good strength, under the usual name of
arrack.

The Turkestans have various beverages, among which is an excel
lent cooling drink obtained from melons. This fruit is of the finest
description, and so large as to be from three to four feet in circum
ference ; every part of it, except the rind and seed, is equally good
for eating and of a most agreeable flavour. The melons are fre
quently sent to a great distance, even so far as St. Petersburg : those
of Khorassan are sent to Ispahan, the capital of Persia, for the use of
the monarch, a journey of thirty days ; and melons are conveyed
from Agra to Surat, a distance of nearly 700 miles, by pedestrians, in
baskets hung at the extremities of a pole carried on the shoulders, at
the rate of seven or eight leagues a day. The emperor Babas says,
that he shed tears over a melon of Turkestan, which he cut up in
India, after his conquest, its flavour having brought his native country
and other tender associations to his recollection. The value of this
fruit was in such high estimation, that it is related of Aly Sultan, that
he caused a soldier, who had taken two melons from the field of a
planter, to be hanged on the spot where he committed the theft.

Before quitting the subject of Tartary, it may be proper to observe
that the Mantchoos who conquered China, and whose descendants still
hold the sovereignty of that empire, prepare a wine of a very peculiar
nature from the flesh of lambs, either by fermenting it, reduced to a
kind of paste, with the milk of their domestic animals, or bruising it
to a pulpy substance with rice. When properly matured, it is put
into jars, and then drawn off as occasion requires. It has the
character of being strong and nourishing, and it is said that their
most voluptuous orgies consist in getting drunk with it. Whatever
remains, after the supply of domestic wants, is exported into China or
Corea, under the name of lamb wine.* Gerbillon says, 'that the rich
Mongols leave mutton to ferment with their sour milk before they
distil it. This explains the mystery of the spirit said to be made
from the flesh of sheep by the Tartars in China, of which it has been
said the emperors have been so fond.

During the sojourn of Michailow among the Kiwenses, he saw
them prepare a drink called bursa from a description of berries
termed psak, which much resembled dates. This liquor was made

* The Natural and Civil Hist, of Tonquin, by the Abbe Rickard.

151

by boiling the berries, pressing out the kernels, and filtering the
juice — the fermentation followed, and was so rapid that it became
highly intoxicating, and fit for use the morning after it was made.
He says that two cups of it inebriated him as much as if he had
drunk an equal quantity of brandy ; and that its qualities were so
fascinating that the more he drank, the more he was inclined to drink-
The Khirghises and Karakalpaks are fond of it, and, when a supply of
berries can be obtained, they frequently indulge to excess. — From the
strong likeness of these berries to dates, it is not improbable but that
the bursa is the ancient date wine mentioned in Scripture and so
celebrated along the banks of the Euphrates as well as in other parts
of Asia, and is perhaps the same as that which was brought in skins
down the Tigris and Euphrates to Babylon. Notwithstanding the
prohibition of Mahometanism and the strictness of Budhism, the love
for intoxicating liquors is so prevalent in Tartary, that some of the
northern tribes not only barter their cattle with foreign merchants,
but even part with their children for the trifling consideration of
tobacco and spirits. — Such is the degradation to which the absence
of true religion and the refinements of education has reduced so many
of our fellow creatures!

In extending our views to India, we are led to contemplate an
immense portion of our species as existing at a remote period, in a
very advanced state of civilisation, successfully cultivating the arts
and sciences, and spreading their renown to distant nations. Although
some of the wisest philosophers of Greece, viz. Pythagoras, Anax-
archus, Pyrrho,]and others, visited that country and returned enriched
by the wisdom of its sages,* yet the early arts of these nations still
remain unknown. Since, however, we are assured, that they were
proficients in metallurgy, the manufacture of sugar, indigo, dyeing,
embroidery, working in ivory, engraving on precious gems and
stones, in the production of the loom and needle, in mechanics,
architecture, astronomy, and mathematics,'!' it is natural to infer that
they must have been early acquainted with the composition of some
kind of intoxicating beverage ; drink being indispensable in tropical
climates.

In the Padma Puran, a sacred book of India, there is sufficient
evidence that fermented liquors were invented in the days of Noah ;
.and the story of Satyavarnmn having become intoxicated with mead,
and in that state discovered by his three sons, Shema, Charma, and

* Hist Phil, vol i. p. 51.

f Asiatic Researches, vol. iv. p. 33, 34.

152

lya'peti, is but another version of the relation contained in the 9th
chap, of Genesis respecting Noah and his three sons.*

According to the mythology of the Hindoos, their deities are said
to have drunk at their feasts a liquor termed amruti, in the same
manner as the Grecian deities drank their ambrosia ; so that by attri
buting to their gods a passion for exhilarating drink, they alluded to
an origin anterior to any human record.

What the early drinks of the people of India were, there is no
correct account) but, as sugar was in extensive use, it is likely that it
formed a principal ingredient of their liquors. The raw juice of the
cane from its palatable nature, was first made use of; afterwards it
was boiled, and, in process of time, its inebriating properties were
developed by fermentation.

Sugar is supposed to have been one of the articles forming the pre
sents made by the queen of Sheba to king Solomon ; as fine sugar is
to this day sent as a present to the Grand Seignior by the Egyp
tians, in the same manner as Jacob sent honey to a viceroy of
Pharaoh. Nearchus, the admiral of Alexander, is said to have been
the first who brought any information respecting sugar into Europe ;
and although the Arabians cultivated the sugar-cane and supplied
the city of Rome with its produce, yet it is well known that they
were indebted to the orientals for it, as well as for the knowledge of
its manufacture. Soukar, or, Sukhir, the Arabic term for sugar,
etymologists say, comes from the Hebrew word siker, which signifies
an intoxicating liquor ; and it is remarkable that this Hebrew term is
translated in nineteen instances in our Scriptures as implying strong
drink. Some philologists say, that gur, both in the ancient and
modern languages of India, signifies raw sugar •, and that Sarcara is
the term applied to it in its manufactured state.

From the middle syllable of the Sanscrit word ich-sucasa, it is
alleged that the Arabic name for sugar is derived, and there seems
to be good grounds for this inference, as the Sanscrit suca, the Hebrew
siker, the Greek sikera, the Persian shukker, the Indian sukur> the
German sucker, the Dutch suiker, the Danish sukker, the Swedish
soccer, the French sucre, and the English sugar, appear to have one
common origin, if we judge from orthography, pronounciation, and
acceptation.

But although the Arabians were the first who wrote of sugar
extracted from the sugar-cane, which they called honey of cane ; yet
it is not to be inferred, that to them other nations were indebted for a

* Vide Sir William Jones's Works.

153

knowledge of its uses, or the conversion of it into an intoxicating
liquor. Lucan mentions an Eastern nation, in alliance with Pompey,
that used this liquor as a common drink. Quintus Curtius, in his life
of Alexander the Great, states, that at the time of the invasion of
India by that monarch, the natives made use of a sort of wine which
is supposed to have been no other than toddy, or the unfermented
juice of cocoa-nut. Nearchus in his Periplus* mentions an island
called Oigana or Wroct, now Kismis, which was abundant in vines
and palm-trees. The latter name it obtained from a grape, called
kismis, peculiar to it to this day. Doctor Vincent, the translator of
the Periplus, says, that at that time, a great trade was carried on in
Arabian and Syrian wines ; but the former, he thinks, was palm or
toddy wine : of this there can be little doubt, from the great abun
dance of that wine in use amongst the Arabians, it being an article of
commerce with them from a remote period, previous to the era of the
Hegira. The people of Hindostan dealt largely in the importations,
and their acquaintance with a variety of native drinks shews the
extent to which they had arrived in their manufacture.— From the
Institutes of Menu,f we learn that the inebriating liquors of the
Hindoos may be considered as of three principal sorts ; one extracted
from dregs of sugar, another from bruised rice, and a third from the
flowers of the Madhuca tree. The latter, which is better known by
the name of Mahwah, has afforded materials for distillation from time
immemorial ; and in India, when first visited by Europeans, the
inhabitants were found in possession of the art of extracting a spirit
from its flowers. Now, it, may be asked, how could they have
acquired this art from the Arabians, a people prohibited, even before
the name of the Saracens became so eminent, from using the mildest
intoxicating liquors ? Some, however, think that distillation was not
known to the inhabitants of India before their intercourse with the
Saracens, and that their drinks were mere extracts procured by com
pression and fermentation ; but why the era of the introduction of
distillation into India should be settled at the commencement of the
Saracen ascendancy, is not only unaccountable, but at variance with
the historic records respecting the knowledge and acquirements of
the Eastern nations ; and is purely attributable to that prejudice which
gives the invention to the Saracens. The trade of the East, which
had continued long in the hands of the Egyptians, was, in 640, trans
ferred to the Saracens by the Caliph Omar. It is therefore more
natural to infer that the Saracens had received, through the Egyptians,

* Periplus, part i. p. 58. f Chap xi. Inst. 95.

154

a knowledge of the use of the still from the inhabitants of India,
than that they, themselves, had been in possession of the art to which
the genius of their religion was so directly opposed, because it is
certain from the researches of Sir William Jones, that the Hindoos
were acquainted with all the chemical arts which were said to have
been invented by the Egyptians, apparently before the latter had even
acquired the rank or title of a civilized people. The expedition of
Osiris to India, where it is said he reigned 52 years, and established
many Egyptian colonies, joined to the conquests of Sesostris, furnishes
proofs that the Egyptians had an early intercourse with India.
When Cambyses invaded Egypt, it is well known that many of the
inhabitants fled to India, as a country with which they were familiar.
It is also asserted, that in the time of Solomon and during the Trojan
war, the Egyptian and Phoenician fleets, as well as those of the
Hebrews, visited India and traded thither ; so that there must have
been a reciprocal interchange of such arts, sciences, and manufactures
as were at that time known to the world. To use the expressive
language of Doctor Robertson, " what now is in India always was
there and is likely still to continue — neither the ferocious violence
and illiberal fanatacism of its Mahometan conquerors, nor the power
of its European masters, have effected any considerable altera
tion. The same distinctions of condition take place ; the same arrange
ments in civil and domestic society remain ; the same maxims of reli
gion are held in veneration, and the same sciences and arts are
cultivated.*"

Wine being, among the Mussulmans, a prohibited article, no com
merce could be carried on by them in that commodity. The Indians,
however, continued to manufacture wines from various substances
and under different names. The chief of these was the Tari, or the
fermented juice of the palmyra tree, procured from the Borassus
flabelliformis of Linnseus, the Tal or Tar of Bengal, and the Panna-
maram of the Tamuls. In some parts of India, this tree grows
spontaneously ; in others, it is cultivated with great care. When
planted in a fertile soil, and of thirty years growth, it yields, according
to Buchannan, callu or palm wine, from the llth of January to the
llth of June. One active man is considered competent to manage
forty trees. Previous to the bursting of the membrane which covers
the flowering branch, called by botanists the spatha or spadix, the
workman mounts the tree by means of a strap passed round his back^
and a rope round his feet, and bruises the part between two flat

* Robertson's Ancient India, Appendix, p. 152.

155

pieces of stick ; this is done for three successive mornings, and on
each of the four following ones he cuts a thin slice from the top to
prevent the spatlia from bursting. On the eighth morning, a clear
sweet liquor begins to flow from the wound, which is collected in a
pot suspended for that purpose. A good tree will discharge daily
about three quarts of juice, which, if intended for drinking, will keep
three days ; in the fourth, it becomes sour, and what is not sold or
drunk is distilled into arrack. This exudation, if continued for three
years, will kill the tree ; which, however, is generally considered as
yielding more profit in this way, than if preserved for the sake of its
nuts or for any other purpose. As there are different species of
palm trees, there is a diversity of quality in their respective produce,
which have accordingly distinct appellations among the natives; but to
all of which the English apply the general name of Toddy, a corruption
of the Mussulman common term Tart. The wild date (Elate Sylves-
tris) the Mahometans call Sinday ; in the Carnatic language, Hinda ;
and in the Telinga and Tamul dialects, callu. This latter term
signifies thief, on account of its stealing away the senses. The Sinday
is never drunk till after fermentation, which is soon effected by the
influence of the sun, and then the liquor is exceedingly intoxicating.
When distilled and rectified, it affords a good spirit. Toddy is con
sidered as a cooling and extremely wholesome beverage, operating on
some constitutions as a gentle cathartic. European soldiers use it in
large quantities when they cannot get arrack, and render it more
potent, according to Captain Mundy, by the addition of chillies.* In
some parts of India, whole woods of the cocoa-tree are set apart for
the purpose of procuring toddy, and the saccharine quality of the
fluid is so great as to produce a yeast or barm, similar to that obtained
from our malt worts. In the pots intended to receive juice to be boiled
mtojaggory, (a kind of sugar to which it is occasionally converted,) a
little quick lime is put to prevent fermentation, or absorb any acidity
which might arise, and the juice must be boiled the same day on which
it is taken from the tree. — Twelve trees, on an average, daily fill a
pot, which, when boiled down, gives six gallons of jaggory. In some
places, the tori is used oidy for drinking ; but where it is very plenti
ful, it is made into jaggory ; and the poor people use it as a substitute
for that extracted from the sugar-cane. Forbes says, that three
quarts of the tari produce a pound of sugar .f

It is stated, that the wild date tree, from which toddy is extracted,

* Pen and Pencil Sketches of India. f Oriental Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 452.

156

was formerly very abundant in the dominions of the late Tippoo
Sultan, who, observing that his subjects frequently debased them
selves with tari, commanded all the trees to be cut down, and in
places near the capital the order was strictly executed.* He even
attempted the absolute prohibition of spirituous liquors.

The order of Tippoo to destroy the palm tree is very extraordinary,
as this tree has been held in great estimation, from the most remote
period, both in Asia and Africa; while the followers of Mahomet
believe it to be peculiar to those favoured countries in which his
religion is professed, notwithstanding the prohibition in the Alcoran
of the use of intoxicating drinks. " Honour the palm tree" says a
Mahometan writer, " for she is your father's aunt," because, says he,
"this tree was formed from the remainder of the clay from which
Adam was created." — Thus it would seem to have been considered
a distinguished inhabitant of paradise, and a rival of the vine in its
use and excellence.

Heber tells us that the vine seemed to thrive well in some of those
parts of India which he visited, and that the plants looked beautiful,
but were not sufficiently trimmed, at least so close as to render them
productive.!

When Fitch, a London merchant, was in India, in 1583, he found
the people well versed in the making of palm wine and its distilla
tion. In 1644, Bennin met with arrack as a drink very familiar j
and mentions a liquor called bouleponge, made of arrack, black sugar,
juice of lemon, water, and a little muscadine. Sir Thomas Roe, who
visited the Great Mogul, from the court of James the I., found pal-
miso wine and cocoa milk in current use ; and at that time, the
people appeared to be well acquainted with wine and various other
sorts of drink. The cups, then in use, were of massive gold set with
the most brilliant gems. These were usually handed to the visiter
on a plate of the same metal : the one presented to Sir Thomas was
adorned with about 2000 precious stones, and the gold of it weighed
about twenty ounces. It was customary in those times to mix pearls
and precious gems witli wine and other strong drink. A present of
this kind was offered to Mr. Burnes, during his late tour through
India, by Runjeet Sing, a native prince.

In India, the sugar-cane is cultivated to a great extent. In the
whole range from Decca to Delhi, says Heber, and thence through

* Buchanan's Journey through the Mysore, vol. i. p. 56.

f Heber's Narrative of a Journey thro' the Upper Provinces of India, 2 vols. 4 to.

157

the greater part of Rajpootana and Malwah, the raising of sugar is
as usual a part of husbandry as that of turnips or potatoes in England ;
and sugar is prepared in every form except the loaf.

It was a practice among the Mogul monarchs, when in the splen
dour of power, to have their elephants, usually amounting to 5000,
fed on sugar and arrack. The Punjabee chiefs still feed their horses
on sugar, and these animals are very spirited, and do not agree with
any other food.*

The jaggory, which is extracted from the sugar-cane, and from
which the greater part of the native rum is manufactured, is thus
procured. The canes are cut into pieces six inches long, and bruised
in a mill ; the juice which flows from them is strained through a
cotton cloth into a boiler, to which is added a certain quantity of
lime water. When the evaporation has reduced it to a proper con
sistence, it is put into a large pot to cool, then poured into a mould
having a hundred holes, each in shape of a quadrilateral inverted
pyramid. The frame being turned over, the balls fall out, and after
being placed on leaves for a day, are exposed for sale, at a price
varying from six to twelve shillings the hundred weight. Thus
jaggory appears to contain both sugar and molasses, and resembles
the product, which in Jamaica comes out of the cooler before it is
taken to the curing house, being a little more inspissated, and requir
ing about 37 gallons to the hundred weight. Heber, during his
perigrination through the upper provinces, observed a very simple
description of a machine for extracting sugar from the cane. It con
sisted of a large vat under ground, covered with a stout platform, in
the centre of which was a wooden cylinder, apparently the hollowed
stump of a tree. In this was a strong piece of timber fixed as in a
socket, turned round by a beam, to which two oxen were fastened.
Behind the oxen, a man sat thrusting in pieces of cane, about a foot
long, between the upright timber and its socket. These being
crushed by the action of the timbers, the juice ran down into a vat
below.j Stones would be preferable to this mode of grinding, on
the principle of a common mill ; but they cannot be procured thereof
a durable and proper quality: hence the article produced in the
remote provinces is of a coarse description. The profit of jaggory
either from the cane or the palm is equally divided between the farmer
and the goverment. From palms alone, a considerable revenue is
raised, the regulations for which differ in different districts. In one

Jacquemont's Letters from India, vol. ii. p. 215.
f Heber's Narrative vol. ii. p 252.

158

place, when a person plants a garden, the trees are considered as his
property, he paying one half of the produce to the state ; in another,
they are let in lots at the rate of £40 per annum. Those are again
farmed to some of the inferior villagers, who extract and distil the
juices. Could the jaggory from the sugar cane, observes Buchanan,
be generally converted either into a palatable spirituous liquor or
into sugar, the barren plains of the Carnatic might be rendered pro
ductive. The former suggestion appears to be not impracticable, and
deserves attention in the way of experiment. If it should answer,
the whole of the grain distilled in Europe might be saved for food.*
On the same principle, Heber is of opinion that almost the whole of
the Deccan'might be cultivated with vines ; and that it would be wise
in the British government to encourage a speculation of that kind,
were it only for the purpose of obtaining a better beverage for the
troops than the brandy now in use.f The grapes of Nusseerabad
are said to equal those of Shiraz, and the vineyards there are become
famous all over India : a sufficient encouragement to make the plan
tation of the vine more general in that quarter. Such speculations
would be well repaid by the employment of so vast a population as
occupy those regions:

Throughout the Carnatic, the distillation of rum or brandy is car
ried on by a particular caste ; and the process observed in some of
the provinces is described as follows. — From the Topala, (Mimosa
leucophlea,) a tree common in the country, the bark is taken and cut
into chips, of which about four pounds are added to the twenty -four
pounds and quarter of sugar-cane jaggory, with a quantity of water
equal to twice the bulk of this sweet substance. The mixture is made
in an earthen jar kept in the shade ; the fermentation, commencing in
about twenty -four hours, is completed on the twelfth day, when the
liquor is distilled by means of the following apparatus : — The body of
the still (a a a) is a strong earthen jar, capable of containing three
times the bulk of the materials. On this is luted with cow-dung a
copper head (b b b) having on the inside a gutter (c c) for collecting
the vapour that has been condensed into spirit by a constant small
stream of water, which falls on the head at (f). This water is conveyed
away by the pipe (g), while the spirit is conducted into ajar by the pipe
(d). The mode of condensing the spirit is very rude; and the liquor, whicli
is never rectified by a second distillation, is execrable. The natives allege
that the bark of the Topala, which is very insipid to the taste, is

* Buchanan, vol. i. p. 6. f Heber, vol. iii. p. 123.
t Buchanan, vol. i. p. 39,

159

useful, by diminishing the too great sweetness of the jaggery. "To
me, however," observes Buchanan, " it appears to be rather of use, by
regulating the fermentation, which in such a warm climate would be
apt to run suddenly into the acetous."*

In the first volume of the Asiatic Researches, there is a description
of a method of distillation practised at Chatra, in Ramgur, and other
provinces in India, differing but little from that now described.
Through the kindness of a gentleman for some years resident in that
quarter, I have been favoured with the drawing of a still, which with
the section of that used in the Mysore district, as above described, is
subjoined.

When the material for distilling, whether rice, molasses, or the
simple fermented juice of the cocoa-nut tree, is ready, a hole is dug
in the earth suited to the size of the still or jar to be employed ; and
level with the bottom of this hole there is an underground commu
nication made for the purpose of feeding the fire with atmospheric
air ; near the edge of the hole a chimney is erected, which serves as
well for the supply of fuel, as for the discharge of smoke. A fire of
dry wood is first kindled in the pit, and, when the ground is thoroughly
heated,* the still is fixed in it, and so bound round with earth, that

* This idea was probably taken from the ancient mode of baking bread in the
East. Instead of what we call ovens, they dug a hole in the ground, in which
they placed a kind of earthen pot, and to its interior surface, when sufficiently
heated, thin cakes were stuck and speedily done.

160

no heat can escape. When the jar begins to boil, and the steam to
ascend, an Indian with a pot or kettle pours a gentle stream of water
upon the head of the still already described, or on the broad and thin
surface of a plate of tin or copper (Avith a gutter for the water to run
off, represented above), which is fixed on a pan, with a hole in the
bottom, luted to the neck of the still, and serving as a condenser.
The extreme cold excited by the evaporation of the water on so
broad a surface, occasions the vapour from the still to be immediately
condensed, and to run in a trickling stream into the receiver.

Maria Graham, in her Journal of a residence in India, thus des
cribes the working of a native still, which she had an opportunity of
observing. The still, says she, was simply constructed. Round a
hole in the earth, a ledge of clay, four inches high, was raised with an
opening about half a foot wide, for the purpose of feeding the fire.
Upon the clay a large earthen pot was luted ; to its mouth was luted
the mouth of a second pot ; and where they joined, an earthen spout,
a few inches long, was inserted, which served to let off the spirit
condensed in the upper jar, which was kept cool by a person pouring
water constantly over it. When she went into the cottage, or still-
house, she found a woman sitting with a child on one arm, and with
the other she was cooling the still, by pouring water on it from a
cocoa-nut shell ladle. The woman informed her that she sat at her
occupation from sunrise to sunset without scarcely a change of posi
tion ; and while they were talking, her husband entered the cottage
laden with toddy for distilling. He was a bandari, or toddy -gatherer.
On his head was the common gardener's bonnet, resembling in shape
the cap seen on the statues and gems of Paris, and from his girdle
were suspended the implements of his trade.*

fin 1782, two gentlemen, named Crofts and Lennox, constructed a
distillery at Sooksagur, near Calcutta, at which spirituous liquors were
distilled in the European manner, and with all the improvements of
the day. As these spirits were applied to all the purposes of Batavia
arrack, the establishment was found to be of much benefit to the
province of Bengal.f If such undertakings were encouraged by the
East India Company, they would not only be a means of enrich
ing individuals, but a source of considerable revenue, particularly
in a country where there are such abundance of fruits and grain
of every description, and where the population, exclusive of Euro
peans, is estimated at 110,000,000; only ten millions of which

* Foster's Journey from Bengal to England.

f Journal of a Residence in India, 4to p. 25 and 2C.

16J

are Mahometans, who are not more strict in the observance of
their religious duties than their brethren of the Ottoman empire.
The Hindoos, it is well known, although forbidden to use ardent
spirits, are not more abstemious in that respect than the natives
of other countries. They account brandy an infallible medicine,
and, under that impression, frequently rub their joints with this
panacea. Even the Brahmins, whose ordinary drink should be water,
sometimes run the risk of a loss of caste for an indulgence in
the use of intoxicating liquors. Like the Turks, they drink in
secret, and like them take every precaution to avoid detection ; but
their hypocrisy is sometimes discovered, to the no small amusement of
their neighbours. From Heber, we learn that, in opposition to their
respective religious creeds, both the Hindoos and the Indian Maho
metans are great drunkards ;* though, according to Hamilton, the
civil as well as the ecclesiastical law forbids the use of wine and all
distilled liquors. Duboisf relates an anecdote of a Brahmin
in the village of Tanjore, whose house took fire, and he being the
only person of that caste in the place, the inhabitants flocked from all
quarters to assist in the removal of his effects ; but what was their
astonishment, when, among other things, they discovered a large jar
half full of arrack, with which this luxurious disciple of Vishnu had
been in the habit of regaling. Tennant says that he, himself heard
a Hindoo confess that he was drunk, who did not seem to be deserted
by his companions on account of that misdemeanour. Notwith
standing the weakness of some, the Brahmins of high caste are very
scrupulous in taking wine. Heber found much difficulty in con
quering the doubts of two of them who refused taking physic when
dangerously ill, for fear of its being mixed with wine, declaring they
would rather die than taste it. Intoxication amongst the natives is not
common, but at the time of the Hoolee, or Hindoo carnival, the people
of central India indulge in all kinds of riot and festivity, and men
may be there seen inebriated, as in other parts of the world, on similar
occasions.

For what object laws were enacted in the East prohibitory of the
use of all kinds of spirituous or intoxicating liquors, has not been
explained on any civil or religious principle, whether for the sake of
health, temperance, or morality. It is, however, a curious fact, that
amidst the numerous class of gods in the Indian mythology, there
is none to correspond with Bacchus, except Suraderi, the goddess of
wine, who arose, say the Hindoos, from the ocean when it was

" Narrative, vol. iii. p. 26 7.

f Manners and Customs of the People of India. 4 to.

M

162

churned with the mountain Mandar ; a notion which seems to indicate
that the Indians came from a country in which wine was anciently
made, and considered as a blessing ; though the dangerous effects of
intemperance induced their early legislators to prohibit the use of all
spirituous liquors.* Picart says, the most probable reason that can
be given for the prohibition of wine is the high sense entertained for
virtue by some ancient Brahmins, who had the greatest aversion to
any thing that might contribute to plunge them into irregularities, or
disorder the senses. They considered that drink as highly pernicious
which would extinguish a man's reason, and therefore found them
selves obliged to inspire the people whom they governed with similar
sentiments. f

The manufacture of arrack in India is carried on extensively ; a
fine description is distilled at Goa, from the Toddy of the cocoa-nut
trees which grow abundantly in the neighbourhood. It is sold in
casks of 21 gallons each, and the price differs according to its quality ;
but it is for the most part cheap. An idea of the importance of the
arrack trade may be formed from the following account of the imports
and exports of this article from part of the territory of Tippoo
Sultan and other districts : —

In 1797. In 1798. In 1799.

Leagers. Gallons. Leagers. Gallons. Leagers. Gallons.
Imported from

Colombo 16 75 210 10 75£

Batavia 73 32 1 1

Cochin 42 97 12 25 43£

Anjengo 25 11 23 128

Canara 2 3

Exported in 1797, 20 18 25 28 12

Imported by sea, from 1st January to 31st December, 1799, into
the Pye Nada District, viz. : —

Arrack, 485 canad. Cochin arrack, 4 leagers. Country arrack, 4 leagers.
96^ leagers, 4 pipes, 1 1 0 pipes.

31 casks, 2 casks, 392 canad.

15 kegs, 92 bottles,

17^ cases, Cohimbo arrack 16^ leagers, Rum, . . . 2 chests.

5 jars, 5 casks, 20 cases.

21 pipes, 4 kegs, Gin, . . 37 do.

Brandy, . 14 dozen, 7 pipes,

2 casks, 1 5,000 bottles,

29 cases,

Exported in 1799 and 1800, from the above district : —

Arrack, 36|- leagers, Rum, 4 pipes, 4 casks Arrack.

16 kegs, 1 chest, 2 chests brandy.
150 bottles, Rum, shrub, 2 boxes, Col. Arrack, 15 leagers.

Brandy, 7 chests, 30 gallons.;

Gin, 53 cases, Gin, 10 chests.

* Vide An Essay on the gods of Greece, Italy, and India, in the Asiatic
Researches, vol. i. p. 250.

f Picart's Religious Ceremonies, vol. iii, p. 274.

163

The value of the wine and spirits imported from the eastern islands
into the ports of Bengal, Fort St. George, and Bombay, from 1814
to 1818, amounted to 1,359,884 rupees.* And of the same articles
it has been computed that a quantity valued at not less than 9,196,221
rupees, had been imported into those places from the united kingdom.f
In the six years ending 5th January, 1820, the free trading ships appear
to have imported into all parts of India, of beer and ale, 6,282,214
gallons, valued at £535,358 8s. 5d. ; of British spirits, 24,808^
gallons, valued at £16,997 5s. ; of foreign spirits, 907,255 gallons,
valued at £195,937 Is. Id. ; and of wines 1,351,365 gallons, valued
at £375,379 9s. Id.J The Company's ships imported of beer and
ale from 1814 to 1818,— 291 hogsheads, valued at £2057.§ From
China, 98,099 rupees' worth of wine and spirits, exclusive of the
Company's trade, were also imported into Bengal, Fort St. George,
and Bombay, during that time ;|| while the export of wine and spirits
from those places to the eastward and other islands in the same period
stands as follows : —

In 1814-15, to the value of 425,436 rupees.

1815-16, do. 293,720 do.

1816-17, do. 217,354 do.

1817-18, do. 267,654 do.

In 1810 were exported from Calcutta to Rangoon, 3,000 gallons of
rum alone ;f and from 1815 to 1818, there were 794 pipes of Madeira
wine, valued at 19,290 sicca rupees, and other liquors to the
amount of 4,840 rupees, carried from this quarter by American
traders.** For further information the reader is referred to the table
of imports given in this work at the conclusion of the observations on
the spirit trade of China. — A very considerable commerce is carried on,
through different parts of India, in the article of jaggory, or native sugar,
and the imports and exports of it in the Mysore prove highly advanta-
geous.ff The distillation of the flowers of the Mahwah or Madhuca
tree (bassa latifolia,) affords a branch of important trade. The
people of Bahar make a strong spirit from them, which they sell so

* Parliamentary Report, No. 476, p. 316. The intrinsic value of the Bengal
sicca rupee is 24d. 566; Madras rupee, 23d. 247 ; and of the Bombay rupee, 23d
004, the common or average value of which is 23d. 606 ; but to avoid fractions, say
2s. the rupee.

f Vide Report, p. 238 and 239. J Ibid. p. 322—25.

§ Ibid., p. 336. || Ibid. p. 240.

^[ Franklin's Tracts on the Dominions of Ava, 8vo. 1811.

** Parliamentary Report, p. 345.

ft For a more particular account of these matters, see Buchanan's Journey
through the countries of the Mysore, Canara, and Malabar, 3 vols. 4to,

164

very cheap, that upwards of an English pint may be purchased for one
half-penny, and the most seasoned drunkard can intoxicate himself for
that sum.* The tree is nearly the size of an oak, which it strongly
resembles ; its flowers fall towards the end of February, the juice of
which is fermented and used in various ways. The part chosen from
which to collect the juice, is the calix or bulb that supports the petals,
which are of a pale pink colour. When dried, it resembles a small
raisin both in appearance ami flavour, and tastes like that of Malaga.
The flowers of the Mahwah differ considerably from those of every
other tree, bearing a striking likeness to berries, and falling spontane
ously as they ripen. They are then gathered and dried in the sun.
Vast quantities of those flowers are consumed during the Hoolee, or
great Indian carnival, and are conveyed in common with grain and
other commodities, and sold in various parts of India. Besides their
inebriating qualities, they form a considerable portion of the sustenance
of the wilder tribes of the Bheels, who, as well as the low castes of
Rajpoots, distil them into arrack. The Bengalese also manufacture
from them a good spirit. The flowers, whether eaten dressed or raw,
are good nutritive food ; and from them is expressed a kind of oil
resembling ghee, or clarified butter, with which it is often mixed.
This oil is frequently burned in lamps, and applied as a salve in cuta
neous diseases. A more extensive cultivation of the Mahwah could
not fail of being attended with many advantages in different parts of
central India, and might be equally as profitable to the natives, as the
Agave to the Mexicans, even were it merely for the purpose of distil
lation, independent of its other valuable properties.! As it is, the
government raises a considerable revenue from it, retaining a right to
the fruit and timber. In the opinion of Sir William Jones, were the
sale of the liquor which it affords duly restrained by law, it might be
applied to sundry serviceable purposes. The same observation is
applicable to the drink made from toddy, the vending of which, from
want of being properly regulated, renders it so common and cheap
that it has been contemptuously called pariah arrack, on account of
its being a favourite with the lowest order, or pariahs, who rank
among the meanest castes of India. It is not, however, determined,
whether the term pariah arrack be used generally to imply an infe
rior and adulterated spirit, or is only applicable to that liquor with
which Ganga, (cannabis satwa) and a species of Datura have been
compounded. At Lahore, drink is taken by weight, and Burnes

* Asiatic Researches, vol. i. p. 303. Oriental Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 452.
t Malcolm's Memoirs of Central India, vol. ii. p. 47.

165

relates that the prince Rnnjeet Sing usually took about eight pice ;
at one entertainment, he saw him quaff the measure of eighteen
pice.* Of this chief it is said that he felt greatly annoyed that he
could not drink like a fish without being drunk, nor eat like an ele
phant and escape a surfeit.f His favourite beverage was a spirit
distilled from Cabul grapes, which is very fiery, and stronger than
brandy. It is told of one of the Mogul monarchs that he was accus
tomed to drink upwards of twenty cups a day — a quantity equal to
five wine-bottles of our measure.

Some of the tribes call spirits Jire water, probably from the circum
stance of their being easily ignited. Jacquemont,f when in the Thibe-
tian mountains, was surrounded with a number of the natives, who,
on seeing him burn a little brandy on a lump of sugar and afterwards
drink it, exclaimed that he was drinking fire, and must therefore be
the devil.J

The different kinds of grain cultivated in the Nepaul territory,
afford ample materials for making intoxicating drink ; and hence we
find the various tribes, occupying that region, are much addicted
to inebriety. So strong are their propensities in this respect, that
they make offerings in some of their temples to the priests, who repre
sent their deities, of a portion of their favourite drinks, which they
quaff out of human sculls, and so largely, as to caus& them to dance
furiously ; an extravagance often attributed to inspiration. A beve
rage termed phaur, made from rice or wheat, is brewed much in the
same manner as our ale wlu'ch it strongly resembles, and is in consi
derable repute ; and, according to Hamilton, the wheat and barley
are reared for the express purpose of making spirituous liquors. At
some of the marts where rice or mumma, salt, extract of sugar-cane,
hogs, dried fish, tobacco, cloths, bang, opium, and other articles are
sold, inebriating beverages form no inconsiderable portion of the
traffic.§

As bees are numerous in the north of India, vast quantities of
honey are collected, and the mode of doing so is without that cruelty
towards the insect which is the practice in other countries. — The
cottages have either hollow trunks of trees or cylindrical earthen pots
built into the walls in such a manner, that while the insects have
access through perforations on the outside to construct their cells, and

* A small copper coin. Burne£' Travels, vol. i. p. 30.
f Jacquemont's Letters from India, vol. ii. p. 22.
% Ibid. vol. i. p. 271.
§ Hamilton's Account of Nepaul, 4to,

166

deposit their stores, the cottagers within can open and shut the hive
at pleasure, by different simple contrivances, such as a lifting shutter
or sliding door. When the hive has arrived at maturity, the bees
are expelled by a great noise made at the inner extremity which
drives them out, and by means of a secret valve they are prevented
returning until the whole of the honey has been removed. Materials
are thus easily procured for domestic purposes, as well as for various
drinks, both cooling and nutritive.

Fraser, in his tour, informs us, that the people residing among the
hills at the foot of the Himaleh mountains, make intoxicating liquors
from grain and other materials, and that they procure from the
grapes common to the country two sorts of strong drink, one of
a superior kind used by the higher classes and called sihec, fermented
in the usual manner ; the other is prepared by pouring hot water on
the residue of the fruit, fermented and distilled by means of an
apparatus of a very rude construction.* At Cursalee, on the Jumna,
lie observed that they intoxicated themselves with a sort of beer
brewed from grain and particular roots which they sharpened with
pepper. During his stay there, he witnessed the ceremony attendant
on the bathing of the images of their gods in the waters of the Jumna.
The concourse of people was immense ; they danced in the most
grotesque and savage manner, to the sound of strange music under
the influence of their liquors, a multitude of men taking hands, some
times in a circle, sometimes in a line, beating time with their feet,
bending and distorting their bodies in various ways. The men kept
dancing all the day, and in the evening were joined indiscriminately
by the women, who supported the dancing and revelry till the night
was far advanced. This frantic kind of worship was continued for
several successive days, and mostly ended with the exhaustion of
their liquor s.f

The people inhabiting the Garrow hills, north east of Bengal,
though extremely rude and uncultivated, have, according to Mr,
Elliott, various sorts of drinks ; but that most in use is drawn from
rice soaked in water three or four days. From the kebul, a tree
resembling the palmira, a fine spirit might be made, as it possesses
much saccharine matter ; but the inhabitants are too ignorant to
appreciate its value and turn it to good account.!

* Tour to the Sources of the Rivers Jumna and Ganges.
f Tour to the Jumna and Ganges, p. 492.
$ Asiatic Researches, vol. iii. p. 22.

167

In Cashmere, a good wine is made resembling Madeira, and
brandy is distilled, which, according to Jacquemont, resembles a
mixture of bad Anisette, with indifferent Kirchenwasser. The vines,
particularly in the gardens, are gigantic, and some of them, though
young, have been found to measure two feet in circumference.*

The Afghanistans prepare a strong drink from the milk of sheep,
which is said to possess a very invigorating property ."f These people
are not wholly dependent on this species of liquor, since the Greeks
and Armenians, who settled in that country, distil spirits and make
wine to a considerable extent. About Cabul, grapes are so plentiful
as to admit of exportation ; and cattle are fed on them for three
months in the year. Of the Afghanistan grapes there are ten diffe
rent kinds. The best grow on frame works ; the inferior are suffered
to creep on the ground. Pruning takes place in the beginning of
May. The people of Cabul convert the grape into more uses than
the inhabitants of almost any other country ; they employ its juice
in roasting meat, and during meals have grape-powder for a pickle.
This powder is made by drying unripe grapes and pounding them
afterwards : it looks like Cayenne pepper, and has a pleasant taste.
Grapes are often purchased for a half-penny a pound, large quantities
are preserved as raisins, and grape sirup is in great consumptio .
In the city of Cabul, during the month of May, the Falodish is in
high estimation. This is a white jelly strained from wheat and drunk
with sherbet and snow. There are no date trees at Cabul, but they
are to be found about Candahar and Pashawur, yet the people are
ignorant of extracting from them any intoxicating material. In
Afghanistan, the grains of a species of rice are so long, that fourteen
of them are said to make a span.

The vines in some parts of Afghanistan are not cut or pruned, but
allowed to ascend the highest trees ; and they are sometimes found
growing on lilyoaks about eighty feet from the ground. Tiie grapes
thus produced are inferior to those reared on frame work. The
amor patricB is so prevalent here, that every one conceives his own
nation to be superior to all others. Hence the emperor Babu,
whose memory is still held in the greatest respect in Cabul, thought
no portion of the world equal to his own, and used exultingly to say,
" This climate is extremely delightful, and there is no such place in
the known world. Drink wine in the citadel of Cabul, and send
round the cup without stopping, for it is at once a mountain, a sea, a
town, and a desert."

Forster's Journey, &c. vol. ii p. 21. Jacqucmont's Letters.
f Elphinstone's Account of Cabul, &c. 4to. p. 236.

168

In Cabiil, the Armenians are the principal dealers and manufac
turers of intoxicating drinks, but the present governor, with the best
intentions, lias put an end to the Armenian influence by a strict pro
hibition of wine and spirits. Hence the Armenians, together with
the Jews, have fled to other countries, as they had no means of sup
port but that of distilling spirits and manufacturing wine. Previous
to this edict, 40 bottles of wine or 10 of brandy might have been
purchased for a rupee.

Among the fruits of Bokhara, melons are in the highest estimation ;
water-melons in particular have a superior flavour, and grow to such
an enormous size, that twenty people may feast on one, and two of
them are said to form a load for a donkey : they afford a delicious
cooling beverage. In that country, there is a curious and common
substitute for sugar, called Turunjubeen. It is a saccharine gum
which exudes from the well-known shrub called camel's -thorn, or the
Khari-Shootur. Towards the end of August, when this shrub is in
flower, it may be seen in the morning covered with drops like dew,
which, when shaken into a cloth placed beneath the bush, is the Tur-
^mjubeen. Some hundred maunds of it are collected annually, and
the whole sweet -meats of the country are prepared with it. From its
nature and properties, it strongly reminds us of the manna given to
the Israelites.

From grape jelly, or sirup mixed with chopped ice, the Bokha-
rians draw what they term rahut ijan, or the delight of life. Here
ice is an indispensable article : in winter, it is stored in pits, and sold
in warm weather at a very low price. No one drinks water in
Bokhara without icing it, and a beggar may be seen purchasing it,
while he proclaims his poverty and implores the charitable bounty of
the passengers. The water, which the king drinks, is brought in
skins under the charge and seals of two officers. It is opened by the
vizier, first tasted by the people, and then by himself, when it is
once more sealed and despatched to the king. The daily meals of
his majesty undergo a like scrutiny ; the minister eats, he gives to
those around him ; they wait the lapse of an hour to judge of the
effect, when they are locked up and despatched. His majesty has
one key and his ministers another. Fruit, sweet-meats, drinks, and
every eatable, undergo the same examination.

In Bokhara, there is a disease called the Mokkom or Kolee, a kind
of leprosy that renders the skin dry and shrivelled, the hair of the
body falls off, the nails and teeth drop out, and the whole frame
assumes a horrible appearance. This disease is prevalent in the rice
districts, and is said to be caused by the use of bouza> a strong drink
distilled from black barley.

169

Honey is abundant in Bokhara and the adjacent countries ; but it
is not much employed as an ingredient in the beverages. Captain
Burnes states that he observed bees feed on mutton, that in winter
they are often supported with flesh instead of sugar ; that which he
saw given to them was fresh ; and he adds, that they sometimes
attacked dried fish.

Throughout the whole continent of India, the people are well
acquainted with the different virtues of all the species of palm. Of
these, the cocoa-nut tree (cocos nucifera) is the mos tvaluable, as it not
only affords food but a large supply of toddy, though not in so great
a quantity as the palmira. The date tree (phoenix ductylifera)^ the
Tamar of the Hebrews, yields toddy also, but neither so much nor of
so good a quality as that which is produced by the other species of
palm. This tree, as well as those of the same genus, has been the
subject of great research and investigation with many eminent
writers, of whom Larcher, in his learned notes on Herodotus, has
been elaborate ; after him Pontedora, Tournefort, and Ksempfer may
be consulted ; the latter, in his Amcenitates Exoticse, has been happily
minute in illustrating this portion of natural history.

The skill and ingenuity which the inhabitants of India gene
rally display in making intoxicating beverages from the produce
of their trees, as well as from other portions of the vegetable
kingdom, have been clearly exemplified ; and the ease with which
they are procured, and the habits, therefore, which their use
has engendered, have tended much to the injury of Europeans
and natives, both in a moral and physical point of view. Dr. Bucha
nan, however, has questioned this, particularly as repects health; and
observes, that intoxication is less frequently a cause of disease, than is
usually alleged ; it chiefly, he says, proves injurious to the health of
our seamen and soldiers in warm climates, by making them impru
dently expose themselves to other causes of sickness. " The two
persons in my service," continues the Doctor, " that are most subject
to fevers are my interpreter and painter, although from their situ
ation in life, they are exempted from all hardships ; but from their
caste, they ought not to taste spirituous liquors, and are really sober
men. At the same time, a man who takes care of my tents, although
he is exposed to all weathers, and at times to much fatigue, enjoys
perfect health, probably keeps off the fever by copiously drinking
spirituous liquors, to the use of which he is exceedingly addicted."
But with all due respect for the Doctor's opinion, this example should
not be received as a precedent, because it is well known, that those
who are addicted to a slavish use of ardent spirits, are more subject to

170

disease, tlian those who use them with moderation. In India, as in
Europe, where the cholera morbus has been so fatal in its effects, it
has been proved that drunken and dissipated characters were the first
and most numerous victims of that terrible disease.

"Drinking spirituous liquors," says Heber, "is highly injurious to
our soldiery in India. Nothing can be more foolish, or in its effects
more pernicious, than the manner in which spirits are distributed
among the troops. Early every morning a pint of fiery, coarse, undi
luted rum is given to every man ; and half that quantity to every
woman ; this the greater part of the new comers abhor in the first
instance ; or would, at all events, if left to themselves, mix with
water. The ridicule of their seasoned companions, however, deters
them from doing so, and a habit of the worst kind of intemperance is
acquired in a few weeks, more fatal to the army than the swords of
the Jats, or the climate of the Burmese. If half the quantity of
spirits, well watered, were given at a more seasonable hour, and, to
compensate for the loss of the rest, a cup of strong coffee were allowed
to each man every morning, the men would be quite as well pleased,
and both their bodies and souls preserved from many dreadful evils."*

Captain Mundy, who had a good opportunity of forming a correct
opinion of the matter, says, that many a liver complaint, laid to the
charge of an Indian climate, owes its origin to this lava-like potation ;
alluding to the general use of arrack, and its cheapness unfortunately
adds to its fascinating qualities, which are further heightened by an
infusion of chillies, to render it the more intoxicating.f Speaking
on this subject, Hamilton observes, that one cause of the prevention
of the spread of Christianity in India, may have been occasioned by
the dissolute lives of some of the early Christians ; and the clergy not
only indulging in the use, but actually trafficking in the sale of arrack ;
a practice equally obnoxious to the Brahmins and Mahometans.^:

The kingdom of Thibet, although not so early known to Europeans
as some other eastern countries, yet we were partially acquainted with
it from the visit of Marco Polo. He observed that the Thibetians
had no wine, but an excellent drink made from corn or rice, flavoured
with various spices. Oderic, in 1318, found bread and rice-wine in
that country in abundance. Turner, in the account of his embassy
to the Teshoo Lama, makes us more familiar with the arts, manners,
and customs of the Thibetians. They cultivate wheat, barley, and

Heber's Narrative, vol. iii .p. 201.
f Pen and Pencil Sketches in India, vol. ii. p. 215.
$ Vide Hamilton's Account of the East Indies.

171

rice, although the state of agriculture is not by any means in a
flourishing condition. They extract from rice or wheat, a drink
which is called chong : this beverage is prepared by an infusion of
grain in a state of fermentation ; wheat, rice and barley are used
indiscriminately. To a given quantity of grain, is added rather more
water than will completely cover it ; and the mixture is placed over
a slow fire till it begins to boil. It is then taken up, the water drained
off, and the residue spread on mats, or coarse cloths, to cool. When
cold, a ball called bakka, composed of the blossoms of the cacalia
saracenica of Linnaeus, is crumbled over the grain and mixed with
it. The common proportion is one of these balls, about the size of a
nutmeg, to two pounds of the grain. After this process, the grain is
put into baskets lined with leaves, and slightly pressed down with
the hand, so as to squeeze out the superfluous moisture It is then
covered with leaves and cloths to defend it from the air, and put into
a place moderately warm, where it is allowed to remain for three
days. At the end of this period, it is put into earthen jars, when cold
water is poured on the top in the proportion of a tea-cup full, to
every gallon of grain, and the top of the jar is made close with a strong
compost of stiff clay. In this state it remains for at least three days,
before any of it is taken out for use ; but, if suffered to continue
longer, it improves by age. When chong is wanted, a quantity of
this fermented mass is put into a capacious vessel on which boiling
water is poured, until it is completely covered by it. The whole is
well stirred together, and, after remaining a short time to settle, a
small basket of wicker work is thrust into the centre, and the infu
sion called chong immediately drains through and fills the empty
space with the liquor. The drink is then distributed to those around
by the segment of a gourd fastened upon a staff in the form of a ladle ;
each person holding a shallow wooden cup on the points of his fingers
for its reception. This liquor is accounted pleasing and grateful,
having a slightly acid taste, but possessing little intoxicating quali
ties. From the nature of this liquor and the peculiar manner of
making it, it is evident that the invention is purely oriental, as there
is nothing in Europe of a similar description from which any idea of
such a manufacture could have been borrowed. Chong is also used
for distillation, and from it a very powerfully inebriating spirit is.
drawn, termed arra, The apparatus employed for this purpose must
appear, from an examination of the annexed plate and a perusal of its
description, to be of a simple and rude construction. Chong, or arra, is
always served to visiters, both on their arrival and at their departure,

172

without regard to the hour, and, contrary to the practice of Japan and
China, it is never drunk warm.*

STILL USED IN THIBET AND BOOTAN.

A. An earthen vessel, in which the chong is placed, immediately over the fire.

B. Another without a bottom.

. C. A smaller earthen vessel, which is the recipient.

D. An iron basin filled with cold water, renewed occasionally as it grows warm,
and may be termed the condenser.

e e e. Three cross staves of wood on which the recipient is placed.

The junction of three vessels, A, B, and D, being secured with cotton bandages
and clay lute, a fire is lighted under A, which contains the chong. The spirit
rises through B, is condensed upon the convex bottom of the basin D, and the
spirit arra is received into the smaller vessel C.

f. The fire-place — g g g. openings over the fire for the reception of a similar
apparatus.

Turner's Embassy, 4to. p. 343.

ITS

The religion of the country confines the consumption of cfiong and
arra to the laity, as those who assume the rohe of Gylong, or priest,
are bound to abstain from every sort of inebriating drink, as well as
from animal food, lest they should be the indirect cause of putting an
end to the existence of any creature. This privation seems to have
been felt by Gyeung, the mother of the infant Lama, who, when
entertaining Mr. Turner, at the monastery of Terpaling, complained
that while nursing the young pontiff, she was not allowed to use any
kind of fleshmeat, or exhilrating liquor.

In Bootan, Turner observed thriving crops of wheat and barley,
and a small grain which he does not designate by any name, from
which a fermented liquor is made. In this country, the traveller is
always found with a buffalo's horn slung across his shoulders filled with
arra to regale himself, whilst struggling among the acclivities of this
mountainous region. The Rajah of Bootan, the high priest, or pope
of the country, when he invited Mr. Turner to an entertainment at
the palace of Tassisudon, declined tasting wine, being contrary to
the rules of his sacred order ; but here, as elsewhere, human weak
ness is observable; for claret and raspberry jam, having been left by
Mr. Turner as a trial of the Lama's virtue, it soon disappeared, and
application was made a few days after for a fresh supply of the wine ;
certainly, as the writer observes, with no intention that it should be
reserved among the relics. Before a battle, the soldiers of Bootan
take copious draughts of chong or arra, having previously charged
their stomachs with an ample meal of substantial food. This drink is
here usually taken warm, a practice recommended for imitation,
whenever heat and fatigue lead to intemperate thirst. In Bootan,
the people seem unacquainted with mead, although bees and honey
abound. So domesticated are these insects, that the honeycombs hang
from the balconies of the houses clear of the walls, seldom exceed
ing six inches in thickness and sometimes three or four feet long.
The bees are not suffered to be disturbed, the Rajah conceiving that
their labour is employed for the benefit of the community, in laying
up a stock which serves to rear their young, and as a resource
when they cease to find food abroad. " Were I," said he, " avail
ing myself of superior power, to deprive them of this store, accumu
lated for their future support, how could I expect to enjoy unmo
lested, that of which I am myself possessed ?" — Hence the religious
protection they experience.

Although the vine, it may be generally observed, forms no part of
the common agriculture of the East Indies, yet delicious grapes are
found to grow luxuriantly in many of the provinces ; those of Malwa

17*

have been long celebrated, and the wine made at Nishapore is con
sidered excellent. The grapes of Cabul yield a liquor no way infe
rior to many of the wines of Europe. Even on the northern slope of
the Himaleh mountains, reaching towards Thibet, grapes are indi
genous, and grow in the open fields without any care, save that of
preserving them from the depredations of the bears. In flavour and
delicacy, they vie with any hot-house grapes of England ; and are of
two sorts, white and red.

In the Birman empire are several kinds of palms ; wheat is com
mon, and of good quality, in different districts of the country ; the
cocoa-nut and sago-palm grow wild ; rice and sugar-canes are to be
met with every where ; vines are found in the forests, and though
they are at present inferior to those of Italy, Spain, or Portugal, yet
it is asserted, that the inferiority is owing to want of proper cultiva
tion. No wheat is reared in Pegu ; but bread made from rice is a
common article of food: wine from the latter grain, such as is found
in many other parts of the East, is here familiar, and from which the
monarch draws a portion of his revenue. Sugar, although it might be
plentiful in Pegu, and a spirit made from it, yet the elephants are
permitted to consume the canes with so little restraint, as to render
its produce unavailable. Here, and in other parts of India, the ele
phant makes nightly excursions into the plantations ; and when once
allowed to do so with impunity, he constantly repeats his destructive
visits. In some places, when the marks of the animal's feet are disco
vered, in order to prevent a repetition of these predatory incursions,
sugar-canes filled with bruised fruit, of which this animal is fond, are
placed in Ms way ; a quantity of poison is infused in the pulpy matter ;
the outside of the canes is marked with salt, to which the elephant is
very partial, and having gratified himself by feeding on these mate
rials, he either dies from their effects, or is so intoxicated that he
becomes an easy prey to the people. As the Peguesc profess the
worship of crocodiles, their common drink is the waters of the ditches
in which those rapacious animals live, though they are often devoured
by them. A liquor distilled from the cocoa-nut is used in some parts
of Pegu which differs little from common arrack : this drink is fer
mented and preserved in well-glazed earthen jars, some of which,
according to Hamilton, are so capacious as to contain two hogsheads.
Another description of liquor, very agreeable to the palate, is made
from juice drawn by incision from a tree called Annipa or Niper, and
hence termed Niper wine. From Syrian, the Peguese export rice-wine
of their own manufacture. The city of Pegu receives much of its orna
ment from the numerous cocoa trees with which the sreets are tastefully

175

planted, and while they afford the citizens a supply of fruit, serve as
a cooling shade from the scorching heat of a vertical sun. Through
out the whole of the Birman empire, the chief spirit in use is shou
chouy or that description of ardent liquor wlu'ch is distilled in China.
Symes says, that he met with no other, and that it appeared to him a
very fiery, deleterious spirit.* More recent visiters met with several
kinds of wines among the Burmese, and, at the entertainments of the
higher orders, drinks are served up in small jars, out of which they
are poured into gold cups, richly embossed with figures and orna
ments of different descriptions ; amongst some of which were
observed the twelve signs of the zodiac. These cups, when filled,
are usually presented by the attendant in a crouching posture, for an
inferior to stand before a superior is deemed insulting : and when
water is presented with the liquor, it is taken from a jar of cold
water, wrapped in a plantain leaf to keep it more cool. During
the late war with Great Britain, it was found that the Burmese had a
great predilection for spirits, and would rather be recompensed for
any exertion by a little English gin or brandy, than with money.
" Bevandi, pay, tekein" — (Give some brandy, prince !) — was the con
stant request; and so much has this request taken root, that it will
require many regal edicts to make them again abstemious.

By the laws of Alomprah, the founder of the present empire,
intoxication was punishable with death ; but, during the prevalence of
cholera, spirits being deemed useful in checking its progress, the
interdict was taken off, but again put in force when the disease
disappeared.!

Late travellers have described the remains of religious edifices in
Pegu and Ava of the pyramidal form ; and of sphinxes, griffins, mer
maids, crocodiles, and other templar ornaments, so resembling those
of Egypt, as to lead to the inference that there was a former connex
ion between the religion of the ancient inhabitants on the banks of
the Nile and the Buddhists of the East. This is a corroboration
of what has been already advanced, that the eastern parts of Asia had
the precedency of the west in a knowledge of the arts; and it is fur
ther confirmed by the paintings that have been found in some of their
ancient pagodas, far excelling any thing of the kind at present among
the Burmese ; while no modern architectural edifice in those coun
tries can bear a comparison with the structures of modern times,
notwithstanding the progress of civilisation and the mechanical

* Symes's Embassy to Ava, 8vo. vol. ii. p. 307. t Two years in Ava,
8vo. p. 307.

176

improvements in other parts of the world — a proof that, while we
have been advancing through their discoveries, they have been retro
grading.

Arrack is drunk in Siam ; but its consumption, as well as its manu
facture, is confined to the Chinese resident in that country. The pri
vilege for its distillation brings to the government a sum of 460,000
ticals, or £57,500 per annum, for the whole kingdom. The greater
portion of arrack is distilled at Bankok, the capital ; and the rest at
thirteen other principal towns of the kingdom. The tax on arrack is
farmed ; hence its amount has been ascertained with a considerable
degree of accuracy. The following detail will shew the relative impor
tance of some of the towns at which it is distilled : —

Ticals.

Bankok, or Bangkok ..* "--l,T - 144,000

Yuthia, (the old capital) 'V1 . . 48,000

Sohair, . . . . . . 8,000

Tachin, 8,000

Raheng, 8,000

Kampeng, . . , • , . . 8,000

Chainat, , 1,600

Lanceang, (capital of Laos) ... 24,000

Korat in Lao, ... . . . 16,000

Kanburi, 1,600

Champon, 2,400

Patyn, . . . . . . 1,600

Chaia, 640

Talung, o . . . . 2,400

Besides this, there is likewise a tax on fruit trees. At Penang,
among the duties levied are those on opium, spirits, and hemp used
as an intoxicating drug. Here the distillation of arrack from rice is
conducted, but not to any great extent. Tannasserim is celebrated
for its Niper wine, or rather for the spirits distilled from it, and
which is considered the best in the East. The Siamese, being strict
followers of Buddha, like the Mahometans do not indulge in the
pleasures of intoxication, strictly fulfilling the fifth commandment of
their religion, which is, " you shall not drink intoxicating liquor, nor
any substance calculated to intoxicate." Still, however, there are
amongst them many who, like their fellow-mortals in other parts
of the world, forget, not only the principles of their religion, but that
respect which they owe to themselves and to society. Mr. Finlay-
son, when there in 1822, remarked, that ardent spirits were fre
quently taken at meals undiluted, but not to such extent as to cause
inebriety. Most of their liquors are taken warm ; and they assign as
a reason for using it in that state, that cooling remedies are deadly,

177

from a belief that heat is a principle of life. Mr. Crawford is of
opinion, that a strong passion for arrack, notwith standing the prohi
bition against it and vinous liquors, appears nowhere more general,
than amongst the lay Siamese; and although their Talapoins or
priests, are enjoined to abstain from the use of wine, or intoxicating
drugs, yet he suspects they are subject to a similar infirmity. They
freely partake of tobacco and the preparation of betel and areca,
from which he concludes that they secretly indulge in all these for
bidden luxuries. The government feigns to take considerable care
to enforce the observance of the prohibitory law ; but it is certain
that they wink at its infringement, in a manner very discreditable,
since they receive the duty not only on its manufacture but on its
sales. No present is more acceptable to the lower classes than a
supply of ardent spirits; yet upon the whole, the Siamese are a mode
rate and temperate people.* The use of the areca and betel-nut is more
extensive here than in any other part of the east, exceeding even
in this respect the consumption in Malay. Rich in all the valuable
productions of nature, Siam lias vast advantages; rice is cultivated
to great extent, and the sugar-cane affords employment to an immense
portion of the population. The strength of the soil maybe conceived
from the enormous size of its yams, one of which was found to weigh
4741bs. and to measure nine and a half feet in circumference. The
sugar-cane in Siam has been known from the earliest period ; but its
culture, in reference to useful and extensive purposes, was little
attended to before 1810. This favorable change was wholly owing
to the industry and enterprise of the Chinese settlers, resulting from
various concessions yielded to them. In 1822, they exported to the
extent of 60,000 piculs, or about 8,000,0001bs. of sugar, esteemed,
from its whiteness and flavour, the best in India : this article now
meets a ready sale in China, the western parts of Hindostan, Persia,
Arabia, and even in Europe. The canes planted in June are cut in
December, and the sugar brought to market at Bankok, in January.
The cultivators of the cane are always Siamese ; but the manufac
turers of the sugar are invariably Chinese. From some districts, palm
sugar is largely exported, and such is the abundance of grain, that a
farmer expects forty-fold for the seed which he sows, and he would
consider thirty-fold but an indifferent crop. Some of the rigid
Siamese priests consider that the punishment in the other world, for
the crime of drinking, shall be to have a stream of melted copper
poured perpetually down the throat. From the flourishing state of
: .-'"I •< ."•'.» .tf^i; L ^1£ : :• >v--»

* Crawford's Embassy.

178

the sugar plantations, the ingenious Chinese will, no dou1|| manufac
ture rum from the molasses and render it a staple commodity. The
chief food in use with the Siamese is rice, and of this, there are several
kinds, such as white, red, coarse, and fine. Countrymen alone eat
red rice ; the black is only used mixed with sugar, and the pulp of
the cocoa nut scraped over it. Fine rice is seldom thicker than a
needle and is as transparent as crystal; but it is used only in feasts
and at festivals ; a certain quantity of it is sometimes dressed with a
fowl, a quarter of a goat, or a piece of fresh pork. This ragout is
called poulo, and in colour is as white as snow ; but this description is
seldom or never employed in distillation. The king derives an
immense revenue from rice ; those dealing in it pay a sort of license
to the amount of £35 annually ; and of these there is an incredible
number. This, as well as most other branches of industry, is princi
pally carried on by the Chinese, whose labours are as conspicuous
abroad as at home; they, with a peculiar economy, seldom let any
thing go to loss, and as the distilleries are in their hands, they employ
the feculence of the stills in feeding pigs, as the sale of all other
butchers' meat is prohibited on the principle of the metempsychosis ;
animals being considered the sanctuary of their deities. What a ridi
culous anomaly ; as if pigs were not to be ranked amongst the animal
creation ! By them, swine's flesh is deemed a great luxury, being, as
they think, more delicate and easy of digestion than any other food ;
hence it is prescribed by their Doctors to convalescents, in preference
to poultry or boiled meats, as the best renovater of the constitution. The
Chinese are very particular in the feeding of swine, as they study to
impart a sweetness and tenderness to the flesh seldom observed by
others. The apparatus employed in the distilleries is on the same
principle as that generally used by the Chinese elsewhere. The
Siamese fall short of them even in this respect, as they understand
nothing of chemistry, although they affect it and boast of profound
secrets in the art. The mania of discovering the philosopher's stone
prevailed here, as well as in China; and one of the Siamese monarchs
is said to have spent two millions of money in search of this visionary
talisman. The Siamese have also been long occupied in the foolish
inquiry after an universal elixir to render them immortal. In using
brandy, they have it served up for the most part in a large
bowl, on a wooden plate sufficiently capacious to admit a number of
small pots, in which are commonly either dried or roasted fish,
fruits both pickled and salted, with baked or hatched eggs; the latter
of which are considered a great treat. On such occasions, each helps
himself to whatever is most grateful to his palate, and takes from the

179

bowl a draught of the brandy by means of a little cup, which is float
ing on the top ; conversation being all the time kept up with much
vivacity.

Honey is very plentiful in Siam and several pleasing beverages
are made from it. The bees hive on the trees in the open air,
and those, on which it is intended that they should construct their
combs, are cut at certain distances, from twenty feet above the base
to the apex. Holes are made in them, in which are inserted pieces of
wood projecting about three feet from the trunk. Round this arti
ficial branch, tiie bees never fail to form their hives ; and it is no uncom
mon thing to see three hundred of them on a single tree ; the best
of the produce may be purchased at three half-pence a pound.

The States of Assam, Laos, Cambodia, and Aracan, furnish few
materials of interest differing from those of the kingdoms just des
cribed. They yield the same fruits and the inhabitants apply them
to the same purpose. In Aracan, they tap the palm, and either
drink its juice in the state of toddy or distil it into arrack. The
fertile country of Cambodia produces excellent rice, from which, as in
Siam, they manufacture a good spirit : sugar is also reared, but in a
limited manner. In Assam, they make no wine, though they have
excellent grapes, which they dry to make brandy ; but although the
more ardent beverage is preferred, yet the people are not character
ized as drunkards. On the whole, it may be said, that agriculture is
much neglected in the eastern peninsula of India ; nature being so
bountiful in the spontaneous productions of fruits and vegetables, as
to render manual labour almost unnecessary ; hence the natives seldom
take advantage of the richness of the soil to increase the gifts of
providence, or administer to their own luxuries.

In Malacca, rice is the principal grain cultivated : the quantity is
not sufficient for the support of the people, but the deficiency is sup
plied by a peculiar preparation of the produce of the sago, or bread
palm tree. This tree, which requires no cultivation, rises to the height
of from twenty to thirty feet, and is from five to six feet in circum
ference. The bark is very thick, and has, within its fibres, a kind of
gummy powder resembling meal, which is extracted by a scoop. This
substance, when thus procured, is diluted in water and strained
through a cloth, and allowed to evaporate for some time : it is then
put into earthen vessels of various forms, where it remains and
hardens. This paste or flour may be kept for several years ; it is
accounted nourishing and wholesome, and considered an excellent
remedy for many complaints of the stomach. When blended either

180

with cold or boiling water, it forms ;v whiteish jelley very palatable;
und, if fermented, produces an agreeable beverage. The Malay
chiefs rear considerable plantations of the sago tree, as it forms one
of their principal sources of subsistence. There are several descrip
tions of palm in the country, yielding toddy, some of which are
largely drawn on by the natives.

In the Nicobar islands, the use of inebriating beverages is very
prevalent. The inhabitants, being unaccustomed to wine, do not
like it ; yet they are said to drink bumpers of arrack at their feasts,
till they can no longer see. Their principal and common beverage is
the milk of the cocoa-nut, and a liquor called soura^ (in some of the
islands, tauri/^) which is nothing more than the fermented juice
of the palm : this, they render highly intoxicating by the method they
employ of sucking it through a tube made either of a reed or quill.
These people are so very ingenious, that, according to Forbes,* they
convert the cocoa tree to almost every possible useful purpose. Their
A^essels are built of it, the cordage, rigging, and sails are made of it,
and it furnishes even the cargoes of arrack, vinegar, oil, sugar,
cocoa-nuts, black paint, and other inferior articles, exported to
the neighbouring islands. They are so remarkably honest and
unsuspicious of fraud, that the crime of robbery is so little known
as not to be dreaded. Their houses are left constantly open, so that
any one that pleases may enter; and, when going to a distance, the
traveller is at liberty, when he finds himself either tired, hungry, or
thirsty, to go into any house, and help himself to both meat and drink,
which he frequently does, without being questioned, or even inter
changing- a word with any of the family. Plow happy would it be for
mankind, were such hospitable practices more common in the world!
The island of Ceylon, being one of the most remarkable in the
Indian ocean, deserves particular notice, not only from its soil and
produce, but from its being the early resort of Europeans trading to
the Eastern continent. Some assert, that it was peopled by a colony
of Singhs, or Rajlipoot?, 500 years before Christ; and the people of
Malabar are said to have invaded it about 300 years after that period.
The Macedonians, who accompanied Alexander on his Indian expe
dition, were the'first who brought to Europe an account of this island,
under the title of Taprobane. Dionysius, the geographer, who flou
rished under Augustus, speaks of its elephants — Ovid and Pliny men
tion it ; and it has been alluded to by several early writers as being
well peopled, and in a high state of civilisation. With the manners
and custom- of its ancient inhabitants, we have not been made
* Oriental Memoirs.

181

acquainted; nor with the nature of their beverages; but it is
unquestionable that they were the same, with, perhaps, some local
variations, as those of their continental neighbours. At mar
riages, immense quantities of meat and drink are consumed ; the same
practice is prevalent at funerals ; but the indulgences on all occa
sions of death are confined to houses adjoining that of the deceased ;
and where the male sex are accustomed to assemble and partake
largely of Soura. On the anniversary of a deceased friend, men and
women indiscriminately assemble. Soura is consumed in abundance ;
and when the mind is in a high state! of intoxication, the women, at a
certain hour of the night, when the commencemeut of the ceremony
is announced by the striking of gongs, set up the most dismal howls
and lamentations. The party then walk in procession to the grave
of the deceased. There, a woman, nearest akin to the inmate of the
tomb, steps out of the crowd, and, tearing up the skull, she
screams most piteously ; then washing it with the cocoa juice, or some
other liquor, rubs it with an infusion of saffron; rolls it carefully up
in new cloth and replaces it in its mansion of rest. Thus the night is
spent going from grave to grave, repeating the same ceremonies, and
the morning sun is welcomed in with copious potations of Soura. The
modern inhabitants are rather a temperate people ; but, unhappily*
they have had a bad example set them by Europeans, and many of
them at present are not exempt from the charge of excessive indul
gence in the sensual gratification of drinking. At the time the island
was first visited by the Dutch, intoxication was considered a hei
nous offence ; and great astonishment was expressed at, the attach
ment which the Christians evinced for strong liquors. The king of
Candy, on one occasion, having called a Dutch merchant into his pre
sence, in whom he placed great confidence ; but who was in the habit of
indulging in this propensity to excess, exclaimed, " Why do you thus
disorder yourself — so that when I send for you on business, you are
not in a capacity to serve me ?" The other, who was not altogether
overpowered by his glass, ingeniously excused himself by replying,
" that as soon as his mother had deprived him of her milk, she sup
plied the want of it with wine ; and that ever after he had accustomed
himself to it." Hence the Cingalese adage—" Wine is as natural to
white men as milk to children.*

Among the various kinds of trees found in this delightful island is
the kettulc, which seems to be the same as the hebul already

* Knox's Ceylon.

'182

mentioned. It yields a very sweet sap of wholesome quality : one of the
ordinary size will afford several quarts of juice in a day. From this
juice, a sweet spirit is made, similar to that drawn from the palm tree.
When the buds on the top of the kettule become ripe, and wither
away, they are annually succeeded by others still wearing year
after year down the branches, until they reach the trunk, and in this
stage the tree may be said to be worn out. The wood is so hard,
that it is frequently used for pestles in pounding rice. This island
bears the sugar-cane, as well as all the fruits of the Indies ; and the
canes produce every month of tlie year, except the three rainy ones.
Rice is abundant, of which there are five different species; and
from this grain, for many years back, large quantities of arrack have
been manufactured. The average annual export may be estimated at
5600 leagers of 150 gallons each. The great marts for this article
have hitherto been Madras and Bombay, with the Malabar and Coro-
mandel coasts; here, it is sold for about one shilling and three pence
per gallon; the prime cost varying from eight to ten pence per
gallon — a duty of ten per cent, is levied on the exports. During the
years 1815, 16, and 17, some hundreds of leagers were brought to
England, and sold at from five shillings and six-pence, to six and six
pence per gallon. The revenue arising from arrack, in Ceylon, is very
considerable ; in the land rents are included the duties on cocoa-nut
trees, which exceed that on rice by £14,573 annually ; the charge
on the former being £35,573, and that on the latter, £21,000 — The
following are the particulars of the duties levied on the cocoa-nut
plantations of 1831 : —

Distillation of arrack, '-»'.. i"v; ** - £3,645

Retail of do. ..;,.;,; 24,975

Export of do. . ;. 3,136

Export of rope made from the tree, •'''.'. 153

Export of jag-gory, . 162

There are a few Europeans who distil arrack and rum from sugar,
and which to them is a source of great profit.

This island is remarkable for its woods of palm trees ; and so
early as the time of Marco Polo, palm wine was the current beve
rage ; yet so cautious were the natives of its effects, that those, who
were addicted to it, were held as disreputable witnesses in a court of
justice. From the Borassus flabelliformis, sugar is extracted, as in
India, and the persons employed to manufacture it are denominated
hakooroo'y their business, according to Davy,* is to prepare it from the

* Davy's Account of Ceylon, 4 to.

J83

juice of different palms, but chiefly from that species termed ketoolga,
(caryota urens) which contains the largest proportion of saccharine
matter. For the lands they farm they have to furnish u certain
quantity of jaggory annually to the king's stores, and to supply the
chiefs with that article and with toddy, the drawers of which are
named usanno, and belong to the caste of the Chandos Mandinno.

A very strong kind of arrack, possessing an unpleasant heavy
smell, is distilled from palm-wine and the bark of a certain tree ; this
spirit is termed vellipatty ; another sort is also made from nearly the
same materials, and is known by the name of talwagen. Thepalpa-
lam, or milk-fruit, which abounds in the woods, both in shape and
size, resembles an olive ; it conceals under a thin yellow rind a white
gluey moisture, very sweet and tasting like cream. Bears and wild
boars are fond of it, and the natives dry it in the sun after which it
tastes like raisins, and might yield a brandy not inferior to that fruit,
but it has not yet been converted to any fermenting process. Arrack
is distilled in every village all round the coast, and the great source
from whence it is drawn is from the juice of the cocoa-nut and pal
myra tree. Whole woods are set apart for no other purpose than
that of procuring toddy. The saccharine quality of this liquor is so
great that it produces a yeast similar to that of our malt worts, and
is used by bakers instead of barm. Not only in Ceylon, but in vari
ous other quarters of the east, the cocoa tree is the most valuable
gift which nature has afforded to the indolent natives, as it yield?
almost every thing calculated to sustain and sweeten life. Viewing
it in this light, and in reference to its application to this island, a sen
sible writer has observed : " Give a man a cocoa tree, and he will do
nothing for his livelihood — he sleeps under its shade, or perhaps builds
a hut of its branches — eats its nuts as they fall — drinks its juice, and
smokes his life away."* The word cocoa is said to be derived from
the Portuguese coco or coquin, the name for a monkey, the three
holes at the end of tlie nutshell bearing some resemblance to the head
of that animal. At the time the two Mahometans visited Ceylon, so
far back as the year 851, they found the people expert in making
shirts, vests, and tunics, all of one piece, of the fibres of the cocoa-nut,
and skilful in various works of mechanism formed from its material?.
This tree is so productive, and yields its juice so freely that it
may be said to be choked in its own exuberance, so that to assist
it in the munificence of its overflowings during the season of its

* Heber's Journal of a Tour in Ceylon, vol. iii. p. 140, 153,

184

vintage, it must be relieved by frequent incisions for the discharge of
its precious liquor. The Cingalese strip off a species of net-work from
this tree, and use it as a strainer for their toddy, to free it from
impurities and the innumerable insects which its sweetness attracts-
The Otaheitans use this bark net-work as a sieve for straining arrow
root, cocoa-nut oil, &c. ; they often join pieces of it together, and use
it as a covering to save their more valuable bark clothing : it is also
remarkable, that to the water of the green cocoa-nut is ascribed the
property of clearing the face of all wrinkles and imperfections, and
imparting to it the rosy tints of youthful days. Besides the copious
stream of toddy which it affords, by a similar process another fluid of
a more pure and limpid quality, called mirra, is obtained, from which
jaggory is manufactured. Cordiner and others assert, that the toddy
drawn from the palmira tree is considered to make better arrack
than that procured from the cocoa, and both the toddy and pulp of
the fruit yield a sugar which is highly esteemed in the neighbouring
parts of India. This sugar is of a dark colour, an imperfection which
might be easily remedied by a proper process of refining : when
exported, it is packed in the leaves of the tree to which it owes its
origin, and in that state is delivered to the purchasers. Percival calls
the palm from which this sugar is obtained, the sugar tree, and he
is of opinion that, if properly attended to, the natives might obtain
from it such large quantities of sugar as to render it a substitute for
the cane, and afford sufficient material for the distillation of rum.
There is not a province in Hindostan in which this tree grows to so
great a height as in Ceylon. Its umbrageous top gives splendour to
the humblest hamlet round which it is planted, but, as it is here usually
to be met with in groves, it is curious to behold with what dexterity
the natives climb its straight and slender trunk in order to suspend
the chatty or earthen pot on the branches, for the purpose of procuring
the juice. Having gained the summit of one tree, their ingenuity is
such that they have no occasion to renew the toil of climbing, for, by
means of the branches and some ropes fastened at different places,
they pass from tree to tree with the greatest ease and facility. In
this manner they collect the toddy from a whole plantation without
even once descending ; and their feats of agility, on these occasions,
are seldom outdone by the most expert sailors in the rigging of a ship,
or the gambols of the monkey in its native forests. It is not unwor
thy of observation, that the usual duration of the cocoa tree is from
sixty to seventy years, and that, about the fifth year, it is capable of
producing fruit, as if its existence had been measured by providence

185

to answer the limited life of man. Its height is from sixty to ninety
feet, and from one to two feet in thickness. At the top, are about
twelve or fifteen leaves, each twelve or fourteen feet long, resembling
an immense ostrich feather. The terminal leaf bud is occasionally
eaten, when boiled ; it is a substitute for cabbage, and is frequently
preserved as a pickle : on the removal of these terminal buds, the tree
dies. The leaves are employed for thatching houses, constructing
fences, ceiling rooms, and making baskets, some of which are so closely
worked as to serve for water-buckets, while others are employed for
catching fish ; the ligneous fibres are used as pins, toothpicks, brooms,
and several culinary purposes. The young leaves being translucent,
lanterns are made of them, bonnets for females, hats for soldiers and
sailors to protect them from the rays of the sun. The leaves are like
wise used to write on, in the same manner as the papyrus of Egypt.
Elephants are fed on them, and temporary huts constructed through
their means, as they resist all kinds of weather. Travelling at night
being customary, in order to avoid the intolerable heat of the day,
torches are made of these leaves, and, when burned, the ashes serve all
the purposes of soap. The cordage that is formed from the fibres is
equal to that from the best hemp. The root is sometimes chewed
instead of the areca nut ; the hard bark of the stem is converted into
drums, and the mid rib of the leaf serves for lancets and for oars.
The daily produce of sweet juice drawn from a tree is about three or
four gallons, and it continues to flow for four or five weeks together.
To prepare the bud for the run of the juice, they check its expansion
by laying on it a mixture of pepper, lemons, garlic, and salt ; this they
cover with leaves to preserve it from the sun's influence, and, after
treating it in this manner, a thin piece is daily cut from its vertex, by
which means the juice trickles copiously in proportion to the healthy
state of the tree and the congeniality of the atmosphere.

The indigenous growth of the palm seems to be circumscribed by
parallels of latitude, twenty five degrees equidistant from the equator ;
hence this zone excludes all Europe, and many portions of Asia,
Africa, and America. But while providence lias bestowed this
invaluable production on the inhabitants within those boundaries, it
has compensated other countries lying beyond them with the luxury
of the vine, so nicely balanced are the gifts of our impartial and
munificent Creator.

Though arrack, among the Cingalese, has, from time immemorial,
been a common drink of the country, yet their method of manufac
turing it is rude, and indicates an ignorance of chemical knowledge.

186

The still employed for this purpose is of earthenware and of the sim
plest construction: the subjoined is a true representation of the one in
general use.

A. b. is the alembic and capital luted together. D. e. a refrigera
tory and receiver of one piece, and the latter connected with the head
by a bamboo, c.

The British settled at Columbo, as well as in other parts of the
island, have introduced the modern European improvements in this
branch of business, but the natives, tenacious of their old arts, seem
insensible of such advantages and continue to use their own rude
apparatus. In this, however, they are not more singular than in the
exercise of other arts, which continue to be practised by them as they
have existed from the most remote antiquity. They cannot even be
prevailed on to give up some of the most absurd customs. They
drink water out of a vessel having a tube like a tea-pot, and receive
the contents in their mouths without suffering the pipe to touch their
lips. In sharing with a. stranger, rather than suffer him to touch the
sacred tube, they pour the liquor into his hands. Other habits,
equally superstitious, prevail, and a slavish reliance on old customs
renders the progress of knowledge slow and difficult. Their weak
ness is such, that they become dupes of jugglers, pretending sooth
sayers, and conjurers. In crossing rivers, they endeavour to avert
the dangers apprehended from crocodiles, by charms which they call
pilisuniam, but neither these, nor their numerous magical spells, pre
vent them from being frequently devoured by those ravenous mon
sters. Percival informs us, that the conjurers employed at the bay of
Condatchy to charm or keep away the sharks from divers in the
pearl fishery, are enjoined neither to eat nor drink during the day, lest

187

f heir incantations or prayers might prove ineffectual ; but it fre
quently occurs that they regale themselves with plenty of toddy or
arrack till they are no longer able to stand at their devotions, and the
divers often fall victims to the intemperance of those enthusiasts and
their own silly credulity.

At marriage feasts in Ceylon, there is much revelry, such as
dancing, singing, music, playing at various games, besides drinking
surie (fresh fermented palm juice,) punch, arrack, and vellipatty.*
These feasts are held at the bride's house, where the happy couple
eat out of the same dish, have their thumbs tied together, sleep there
that night, and repair the next morning to the bridegroom's habitation.
In the island of Madagascar, where nature has been profusely
munificent of her gifts, the natives are for the most part temperate
and abstemious. Their ordinary drink is hot water or the broth of
boiled meat, except on occasions of ceremony and festivity, when
wines of their own making are 'used. Among these wines, great
quantities of toak, a liquor made from honey, are consumed at a feast
on the circumcision of their children, when those who drink most are
considered to have done the greatest honor to the repast. To guard
against accidents, the men are deprived of their arms before they are
permitted to drink, after which they are suffered to indulge in riot and
noise until the whole of the liquor made for the occasion is exhausted .
Four sorts of wine are made in Madagascar ; the most common is the
toak, manufactured much in the same way as our mead. In the com
position, three parts of water are added to one of honey in the combs,
and the mixture reduced by boiling to one-third of the quantity : it
is then skimmed and put to ferment in large tubs or pots of black
earth, after which it has a pleasant, luscious taste. Honey is one of the
most profitable as well as the most useful articles produced in Mada
gascar. In the management of bees, there is little trouble. They
are very numerous, and readily come to their tohokes, or hives ; hence
is derived the name of toak. These hives are trunks of a tree called
fontuoletch, cut about a yard long, split, scooped, and again bound
together in their natural position, leaving a hole at the bottom
to enter. These hives are placed in the woods to enable the bees the
more readily to collect the honey from the shrubs and flowers.

From a tree, called Safer, which resembles the cocoa-nut, but not so
large, a pleasant liquor, termed Arqffer, is produced. The leaves or
branches are first burned off, leaving the trunk bare. The top being
cut away, a hole is formed in the middle by lancets, which, in a short
time, fills with the juice issuing as if from a spring. The liquor being
* Haafner's Travels through Ceylon.

188

drawn oft', the hole fills again the same day, and thus continues to
yield a supply for six or seven days before the tree is exhausted.
This liquid is not like a sirup, but is very sweet, cooling, and refresh
ing.* If fermented, it intoxicates like other liquors drawn from the
palm tree.

From the cane another wine is procured, termed toupare, signifying
wine from sugar. This is obtained by boiling the canes in water till
they are reduced to two-thirds of the original quantity, after which the
liquid is put into calabashes, and, in three days, it becomes so strong
and corrosive as to dissolve or penetrate an egg-shell in the course
of eight or ten hours. The toupare has a pungent, bitterish taste,
much resembling beer highly hopped. In this island are fourteen
species of the cane much larger and producing more sugar than those
of the West Indies ; they are used merely for making toupare, the
natives not knowing the value of them for any other profitable purpose :
they are as thick as a man's wrist, and a foot of them in length will
weigh two pounds. The third description of wine is derived from
the banana fruit (musa-paradisiaca,) by boiling it four or five hours,
and, after a short fermentation, it becomes in taste and flavour very
like cider. From the vontaca (cydonium Bengalense,) a fruit, the
size of a quince, a fourth sort of wine, not unlike beer, is manufactured.
When the vontaca, or Bengal quince, as it is called, is ripe, the juice
and pulp have the most delightful flavour, and, when opened, diffuse
a most agreeable odour. This fruit is highly nutritive, and is there
fore much used in fattening swine.

With their drinks the Madagasses mix the red fruit of the aughive
in the same way, and for the same purpose, that we use lemon and
limes, to impart a palatable tartness. Vines, bearing grapes of a good
quality, grow spontaneously in some parts of the island ; but previous
to the settlement of the French, under Flacourt, in 1 655, they were
not considered by the natives as eatable. Here also is a curious sort
of vine which bears a fruit very much admired by Europeans, and
having a root said to be a species of yam ; it is called the Madagascar
grape, but, whether the root is used for food or to what purpose it is
converted, we are not told. In most of the villages of Madagascar,
it is a prevailing custom to keep an open house for the entertainment
and accommodation of travellers, and, as indicative of its use, it is
open on all sides, as if to invite persons from every quarter, and to
afford shelter indiscriminately to every individual Although hos
pitable in the extreme, the Abbe Rochon assures us, that in all their

* Drury's Fifteen Years' Captivity in the Island of Madagascar, Svo.

189

entertainments they never fall into those excesses, which are but too
common amongst more polished nations : yet, like other mortals, they
are subject to occasional aberations from rectitude of conduct and
sobriety. In the account given of the loss of the Winterten, East
Indiaman, on the coast of Madagascar, the benevolence and kind
ness of the king towards the sufferers are spoken of in high terms ;
but it is said, that although he had one fault in common with many of his
subjects, that of being addicted to spirituous liquors,he never seemed to
forget his dignity. Like the Macedonian monarch, he gave frequent
occasion to appeal from Philip drunk to Philip sober ; and though
the idea was not clothed in the garb of classic taste, it was perfectly
intelligible, when he used to say " To day, brandy speak, to morrow,
king speak !"

Botanists have enumerated eleven kinds of rice in this island, all
cultivated to considerable extent, besides the several species of yams
(ignanames), some of which are as large as a man's body. Fruit is
abundant and of various descriptions. Water melons are of two
kinds, one black, and the other with red seeds : both cooling and
much used in the hot seasons. The gourds are of two sorts, one long,
the other globular; the former dressed with milk, affords a good
nutritive dish, and,, after being scooped, the rinds are converted into
bottles for wine and other liquors. Though they have other vessels,
the king drinks out of an earthen cup which none is permitted to use
but himself, not even his wives or children. Toake is most com
monly drunk out of bowls, and on occasions of rejoicing, the women
as well as the men indulge in the sympathetic pleasures of quaffing
this favourite beverage.

The inhabitants of Madagascar, when first visited by Europeans, had
no notion of letters, of a horse, nor of any kind of wheel machine or
carriage ; and to the Mahometans, who first traded with them, they
are said to be indebted for most of their arts ; yet that of distillation
seems to have been wholly unknown — To this day, they may be said
to be in a state of barbarism, and, overwhelmed by superstitious
notions, they yield to the most absurd practices. Infants are sacri
ficed because they are brought forth on unlucky days, fathers and
mothers even assisting in the destruction of their innocent offspring.
The island of Bourbon , when discovered in the sixteenth century,
presented nothing in the vegetable kingdom of any importance for
food, the palm tree excepted ; but, since that time, it has been planted
with various European productions, as well as those of the neighbour
ing islands. The narrow valleys, the sides of the hills, and the plains,
the island being chiefly mountainous, are the only parts cultivated.

190

and although these amply compensate the labour of the tiller, the pro
duce is principally taken up in cotton and coffee. Partial attention is
paid to the sugar-cane, rice, maize, and potatoes, but more particularly
to the culture of yams, cassava (jatropha,) as they form the chief sup
port of the slaves. From the cassava, is manufactured a drink com
mon amongst the lower order, the same as that in the West Indies,
and, as the cocoa-nut is abundant, arrack is also made : the houses,
in which this liquor is sold, yield a considerable item of revenue.
The crops of rice, wheat, and maize, produce sufficient surplus for
exportation to the Mauritius, while oranges, plantains, pomegranates,
bananas, melons, raspberries, citrons, tamarinds, and a variety of other
fruits, may be had almost for nothing.

The Mauritius, or Isle of France, famed as the scene of the inte
resting tale of Paul and Virginia, is little distinguished from Bourbon
in its productions. The great commodity in consumption amongst
the slaves is thejatropha or cassada, of winch there are two species,
the jatropha janipha, and thejatropka manihot, both indigenous to
South America and first brought to this island by M. de la Bour-
donnois, one of its early governors. The cassada is a strong vege
table poison before it undergoes the process of boiling ; the manihot is
a kind of narcotic ; both sorts are easily converted into wholesome
food by a process described in treating of the West Indies and the
Brazils. The Mauritians form it into cakes resembling oaten or
barley bread, and in this state it is called manioc. By a different
management, the manihot is turned into a pulpy consistence, known
by the name of tapioca, and some believe that the farinaceous powder,
Indian arrow-root, is but a more delicate preparation of this substance.
Tapioca, while it thus serves for food, is also a pleasing anodyne. In
the Mauritius, sugar is reared nearly equal in quality to that of any
other country : a considerable quantity of it is consumed in the
island, some of which is refined, but a great deal is used in its crys
tallized state, and prepared by many, particularly for tea. The
planters distil a considerable portion, as the consumption of spirituous
liquors is carried to some extent, and the blacks, who are passionately
fond of tippling, inj ure themselves by too free an indulgence in this
and other beverages of their own making ; hence the cause of the
early decrepitude so common amongst them.

Of the minor islands lying in this direction, there is nothing remark
able, except the coco de mer. an indigenous production of Praslin, one
of the Sechelles adjacent to Mahee. This fruit, found in no other
part of the habitable globe, was first discovered on the shores of
India, whither it had been carried by the gales and currents from

191

Praslin ; hence, its name, the coco of the sea. Prior describes it to be
a large species of the cocoa nut, commonly double, frequently triple,
quadruple, and sometimes quintuple, enclosed within one common
rind and fibrous coat ; each of the nuts is about the size of a large
melon, distinct in itself, though united on the outside to the others ;
the whole is of an oval shape, resembling three or four large eggs,
united in a circle and slightly flattened at the point of contact. The
Indians valued it highly, from supposing it to stimulate the worship
of the Paphian goddess ; and while some considered one side of the
nut an active poison, the other bore equal reputation as an antidote.
The coco de rtier is not only an object of curiosity, but an article of
the utmost utility to all classes of the people. Yet Boteler says,
although the fruit is so valuable, it is unbearable on account of its
strong, offensive smell, resembling that of urine, and increasing the
longer it is kept. The timber, which is sufficiently firm, except in the
heart of the tree, may be used for many domestic purposes. At
the summit of the tree, which is from 60 to 89 feet high, is the cab
bage, which, though more bitter than that of the common palm, forms
an excellent pickle. One hundred of its leaves make a good house,
including roof, sides, partitions, doors, and window shutters ; and of
such materials the majority of the houses in Praslin are constructed.
The down of the leaves is used in mattresses and pillows ; the stalks
are formed into baskets and brooms, and the heart of the younger
stems cut into narrow lengths, from which hats for both sexes are
made, and scarcely any others are worn in the island. The fibrous
covering of the nut is coverted into ropes, and the shell is univer
sally employed as a pitcher, and commonly holds six or eight pints : it
is divided longitudinally, and makes plates and dishes for the Negroes ;
and when small, forms drinking cups. Within the island, this homely
furniture takes the name of the " Praslin crockery ware." No part
of this tree is lost, and, without it, the inhabitants, simple as they are,
would, perhaps, be ill supplied with many domestic comforts. Besides,
the drink which this tree affords, other beverages are made from fruits,
particularly from citrons ; while rum and arrack are procured from
the different vessels trading to those parts.

When Marco Polo visited Sumatra, he observed, that there was
excellent wine, both red and white, made from the palm tree,
and considered good for consumption, dropsy, and disorders of the
spleen. The cocoa nuts that he saw were as large as a man's head,
and full of a pleasant liquor, in his opinion, better than wine. In
1599, Davis found aqua-ritce, arrack, and brandy, quite common; and
he describes one of the kings as having a number of attendants to

192

supply him with those beverages, in which he indulged to excess, in
company with his women, banqueting from morning till night.
Mechanics and tradesmen, of various descriptions, were then nume
rous, among whom he particularly mentions distillers of aquavitce
(arrack) from rice ; as being Mahometans, drink from the grape was
prohibited.* A rude species of distillation was known to the Suma-
trans from a more remote period, and is supposed to be of their own
invention. It was practised only in the preparation of the oil of
Benjamin, with which they perfumed their hair. The still consisted
of a prceoo, or earthen rice-pot, covered closely ; in the side, was
inserted a small bamboo, well luted with clay and ashes, tlirough
which the oil dropped into a receiver. What was brought over in
this way was empyreumatic ; and valued by them at so high a price,
that it could only be procured by the affluent. This mode of distil
lation still continues in some parts of Sumatra,!

The inhabitants import immense quantities of sugar and arrack from
Java ; but as this island produces sugar-canes in abundance, and is
stocked with great plenty of the anou, an excellent species of palm,
together with rice and other grain, it was expected, in Marsden's
time, to rival Java in the manufacture of those articles of trade. The
expense of employing slaves in the labours of the field was found at
one time to exceed the advantages ; but it was seen while the manage
ment of the plantations and works were under the care of an Eng
lish gentleman of the name of Botham, that the end was to be
obtained, by employing the resident Chinese, and allowing them a
proportion of the produce. From the juice of the anou, called neero,
or toddy, a description of drink is made, termed brum, which, from
the process, similarity of taste, and name, with the brow, of Java, seems
to indicate a common origin. The late discovery of coal mines in this
island, may lead to improvements in all the arts of civilized life, and
tend much to give an impetus to the physical as well as the intellec
tual energies of the people ; while it may lead adventurers and
capitalists to take advantage of the immense resources of the coun
try ; and when coupled with steam navigation, it opens a prospect of
incalculable benefit to our connexions and settlements in the East.

Ardent spirits are manufactured in larger quantities in Java than
in any other island in the Indian ocean ; this may be accounted for
by the great industry of the Dutch, and the celebrity which the arrack
of Batavia so early acquired under their auspices. According to Sir

* Voyage of Captain Davis, in 1598.

f Marsden's History of Sumatra, 4to. p. 14G.

193

Thomas Raffles, the manner of making it is as follows : — About 701bs.
of ketan, or glutinous rice, are filled up in a small vat ; round this
heap, a hundred cans of water are poured, and on the top, twenty cans
of molasses ; after remaining two days in this vat, the ingredients are
removed to a larger vat adjoining, when they receive the addition of
four hundred cans of water and a hundred cans of molasses. Thus
fur the process is carried on in the open air. In a separate vat within
doors, forty cans of palm wine, or toddy, are immediately mixed with
nine hundred cans of water and one hundred and fifty cans of molasses,
both preparations being allowed to remain in this state for two days.
The first of these preparations is carried to a still larger vat within
doors; and the latter, being contained in a vat placed above, is poured
upon it through a hole bored for the purpose near the bottom. In this
state, the entire preparation is allowed to ferment for two days, when
it is poured into small earthen jars, containing about twenty cans
each, in which it remains for the further period of two days, and is
then distilled. The proof of a sufficient fermentation is obtained by
placing a lighted candle or taper about six inches above the surface of
the liquor in the fermenting vat ; if the process be properly advanced,
the fixed air rises and extinguishes the light. Another mode of
apportioning the materials for the making of arrack is,

62 parts molasses,
3 do. toddy (or palm wine),

35 do. rice.

One hundred parts of these yield, oa distillation, twenty-three and
a-half parts of proof arrack. The stills are made of copper, and are
much like those used in the West Indies ; the worms consist of about
nine turns of Banca tin. The spirit runs into a vessel under ground,
from whence it is poured into receiving vessels, and is- called the third,
or common sort of arrack, which by a second distillation in a smaller
still, with tlie addition of some water, becomes the second sort ; and
by a third operation is what is called the first sort. To ascertain the
strength of the spirit, a small quantity of it is burned in a saucer, and
the residuum measured ; the difference between the original quantity
and the residuum gives the measure of the alcohol lost. The com
pletion of the first sort does not require more than ten days, six hours
being sufficient for the original preparation to pass through the first
still. The Chinese residents who conduct the whole of this process,
call the third, or common sort, sichew, the second, tanpo, and the first,
kiji. The two latter are distinguished as arrack apt. When cooled,
it is poured into large vats in the store-houses, where it remains until
put into casks. The making of arrack is distinct from that of sugar,

194

which is manufactured to a considerable extent in Java. The arrack
distillers purchase the molasses from the sugar manufacturers at the
rate of about a dollar and a-half a picul, delivered at the distillery.
The best arrack is made for seven Spanish dollars the picul ; or
2TVo- dollars the cubic foot.* In 1795, the receipts on arrack at home
and in India, exclusively of the trade to China, being 140 leagers,
amounted to 46,000 florins. The export duty on arrack from Bata-
via rates as follows : — on the leager (of 388 jugs) of first quality, at
lOf ; on the second, at 8f ; and on the third, or lowest quality, at 6
florins; rice and maize are the chief articles of home consumption, and
therefore cultivated to very great extent : some wheat is likewise
raised, but the staple article is rice. Two kinds of fermented liquor
is prepared from the latter grain by the natives. In making the first,
called badek, the rice is first boiled and stewed with a ferment called
razi, consisting of onions, black pepper, and capsicum, mixed up into
small cakes, and daily sold in the markets. After frequent stirring,
the compound is rolled into balls, wliich are piled upon each other in
a high earthen vessel ; and when fermentation has commenced, the
badek exudes and is collected at the bottom. The remainder, after
fermentation is completed, has a sweet taste, and is sold as a dainty
in the markets under the name of tape. Brom is the second kind of
liquor, and it is made from ketan. This glutinous substance is boiled
in large quantities, and, being stirred with razi, remains exposed in
open tubs, till fermentation takes place, when the liquor is poured off
into close earthen vessels. It is generally buried for several months
in the earth, by which means the fermentation is checked, and the
strength of the liquor increased — it is sometimes made strong by
boiling. The colour varies from brown to red and yellow, according
to the ketan employed. Brom, kept for several years, is considered
excellent by the natives, and is very intoxicating. It is, however,
ardent and apt to give a head-ache.f The white arrack, called kneipy
is generally boiled strong, and sent to India; the brown arrack
receives that tinge from the cask, and it is that description of this
liquor which is sold in Europe. The casks are made from
the teak tree, which imparts to the liquor a particular flavour,
much relished, and which is supposed to arise from an essen
tial oil peculiar to this wood. The Chinese drink the weaker
sort warm, as is the practice in their own country.^ The Batavia

* Crawfurd's Hist, of the Indian Archipelago, vol. i. p. 478.
f Raffles' Hist, of Java, vol. i. pp. 176, 177.
% Thunberg's Travels, vol. ii, p. 283.

195

arrack is celebrated all over the East for its superiority ; and when
mellowed by time, is certainly an excellent spirit. The Chinese, to do
them justice, have arrived at a degree of perfection in its manufacture
not equalled by any other people. Here the palm is of the
greatest importance, as it yields sugar and toddy so indispensable to
those distillers. Of this tree, there are many varieties in the island ;
that termed Sagivire, or Gomuti palm (Borassus Gomutus) affords
to the inhabitants abundance of fruit, about the size of a medlar and
of a triangular form : the fruit of a single shoot yields a sufficient
load for a man. From the inside of the fruit, a good sweet-meat is
prepared, while the outside rind is of a poisonous quality, and when
macerated, the infusion is, from its peculiar pungency, termed by the
Dutch " hell water? The native Javanese turn the material of this
tree to various useful and domestic purposes ; so that not a particle
of it maybe said to be thrown away.

The enterprise and energy displayed in the working of the coal
mines in the district of Bantam, cannot fail of adding much to the
facilities of trade and manufactures in Java, and ultimately serve to
enhance its commercial interests. Wood is the chief fuel ; but its
price and bulk are, from many considerations, a considerable draw-
back to its general usefulness.

At Batavia, the Dutch make a kind of beer of a very effervescent
nature, called klein bier, which they usually drink in the evenings.
This beverage not being hopped, merely serves for present use, and has
good medicinal effects ; when the calabash, or vessel in which' it is con
tained, is opened, a very loud report is heard, and in the glass it sparkles
Jike champagne. Were more care taken in the brewing of this liquor,
it might supersede, in a great degree, the importation of a foreign
article, and prove more wholesome than many of the native drinks.

Although sugar is extensively manufactured in Java by the Chi
nese, no rum is made : in refining sugar, the process followed is much
like that observed in the West Indies. The quality is considered
equal to that made at Manilla, or the Antilles, though the machinery
is rude. Considerable quantities are sent to the Malabar coast ; but
the principal exportation is to Japan and Europe. The sugar
produced in Java amounted, in the year 1818, to 200,000 piculs, or
27,200,0001bs.

Here, as wrell as in other of the East India islands, where Euro
pean influence has made an inroad, the revenue is collected by farm
ing it either to the natives, or to Chinese speculators, who are usually
the chief contractors and manufacturers. The better to secure it,
the farms are put up to public auction; which is often the cause of

196

fraudulent and exorbitant exactions. A leager of arrack, of the highest
proof, including duties, sells at the merchants' stores at from 60 to 75
dollars ; or 45 cents of a Spanish dollar per gallon ; and a leager of
the second quality at from 45 to 55 dollars, or 33 cents per gallon.
Sometimes the best sort may be had for 20 pence; and the ordinary
kind for about 15 pence a-gallon.

At a remote period, the proprietors of inns and taverns were obliged
to pay two rials per month for their Ucense ; besides, 70 rials excise on
every pipe of Spanish wine which they sold ; while the distillers of arrack
paid 50 rials for every chaldron, or gosper , which they manufactured.

As the great portion of the population of Java, computed at
5,000,000, are Mahometans, an indulgence in intoxicating liquors is
not prevalent, though the people often barter their credit and char
acter in private for the produce of the still. Crawford says, that
notwithstanding the professors of the Mahometan faith, in this island
are no drunkards, all classes partake of wine, or spirituous liquors, with
out reserve. Among the native cliiefs of highest rank, he found but
three examples of persons refraining from the open use of these
beverages.*

Many of them, during their convivial moments, when excited by
bacchanalian frenzy, often commit the most extravagant acts. On
one of these occasions, the son of a chief, professed with a belief of
his own invulnerability, put the matter to the test, by drawing his kriss
and killing himself on the spot.

To the widows, who immolate themselves on the funeral piles of
their husbands, it is customary to give, the night before the ceremony,
whatever tends to the gratification of the senses ; and among these,
wines and spirits form no inconsiderable share. They are given in such
quantities that few objects appear terrific : hence the horrors of the
burning sacrifice are met in a state of excitement or stupefaction,
which deprives death of all its terrors.

At feasts and entertainments, there is much conviviality, with great
indulgence in the pleasures of the table. The cups used by the
princes, chiefs, and most of the higher orders, are costly and splendid,
buing studded with precious stones and otherwise highly ornamented.

Batavia, the capital, from being situated in a low, swampy ground,
intersected with foetid canals, and surrounded by stagnant marshes,
is so unhealthy, that few Europeans, who can avoid it, even sleep in
the city. Soldiers and seamen have often neglected this precaution ;
hence a night or two spent there has proved fatal. Much of tlus is

* Hist, of the Indian Archipelago, vol. ii. p. 270,

197

to be attributed to excess in eating, but a great deal more to excess
in drinking- arrack; a liquor so cheap that a man may get drunk for a
half-penny. Hence, it has been observed, that a person found
drunk at Batavia is a fit subject for a doctor's care ; and this remark,
which is there prevalent— or, rather a common adage, has often had
the good effect of preventing repetitions of inebriety; as a regimen
suited to the nature of the indiscretion, added to a fear of death,
carries with it a cure for the most determined drunkard. Such is the
mortality which sometimes prevails among new-comers and settlers,
that when a lady, who kept lodgings, was applied to for accommoda
tions, she regretted her inability to comply, but exclaimed, with flip
pant earnestness, " Do not be impatient ; my lodgers are foreigners
or strangers, and you know we are certain of death-vacancies in a
short time !" As a provision for contingencies, in consequence of the
mortality that prevails, it is common to have graves ready made for
the first that may offer, as it too unhappily occurs, that the influx
of strangers is a constant source of support for the speculation of
the undertakers. It has been remarked, that Europeans are here the
principal sufferers ; next the Creoles, and half castes ; then the Chinese,
Javanese, Malays, Baliers, Buggese, Amboynese, Negroes, &c.

The next island that claims attention is Borneo, a place, which from
its being, with the exception of New Holland, the largest island in the
world, ought to afford ample materials for an extended article ; but,
like many other portions of the globe, it is yet little known. The
coasts are possessed by the Malays and other settlers, while the abo
rigines occupy the inland parts, and are styled Beajus, a term, which,
in the Malay language, signifies a wild man. Some accounts say,
they are little better than men in a wild state, and if Commo
dore Roggewein relate facts, we ought to consider them among the
basest, most cruel, and perfidious people in the world.* Perhaps the
most authentic account of this island is that given by Antonio Venti-
miglia, an Italian missionary, sent from Macao, in order to convert,
the natives to Christianity — he died there in 1691. His account is
more favourable to their moral habits, as he represents them, par
ticularly the Beajus, as honest and industrious, having a strong affec
tion for each other ; sowing and reaping for mutual benefit ; each
taking what serves his family, and leaving the remainder to the tribes
in common. By this means, both scarcity and disputes arc prevented,
and general harmony prevails.

The Chinese early traded to this island, and many of them
hecaming settlers, instructed the natives in tho^e arts with which

* Voyage round the World by Roggewein, in 1721-1723.

198

they were themselves familiar. Magellan found arrack in abundant
use among them, and Captain Beckman* was regaled with the
beverages peculiar to other equinoctial regions. As Borneo furnishes
most of the trees and fruits common to the East, hence the same
description of liquors are prevalent — toddy and arrack from the palm ;
sugar and rice ; with cooling draughts from melons, oranges, citrons,
bananas, pomegranates ; a variety of other fruits and honey. Their
Pagan practices have many offerings and ceremonies connected with
the worship of their idols, which, with their feasts and superstitious
observances, give occasion to the consumption of a vast quantity of
their intoxicating beverages. Besides the native supply, a large pro
portion is imported from Java, for which gold and diamonds, so
abundant in the island, are bartered. The ava, or intoxicating
pepper plant (piper methysticum)^ is much cultivated by the Beajus,
and affords them equal pleasure with the betel and areca, of which
they chew immense quantities. The ava is a shrub with thick roots,
forked branches, long leaves, and bearing a clump or spike of berries.
The root being chewed, a little water or milk from the cocoa-nut is
poured upon the masticated pulp, and from the fermentation which
ensues, a strong inebriating drink is produced, in which the natives
delight, and indulge often to excess. Their physicians, as among
other rude nations, have recourse in the cure of diseases, to charms
and necromancy ; and most of their incantations and mummeries are
the effects of intoxication. The piedro di porco, or pork stone,
which is so highly esteemed among them, that it some times brings
300 crowns, is exhibited with the liquor in which it is steeped before
the draught is administered, in order that the doctor may infallibly
ascertain whether his patient is to live or die.

Throughout the whole of the Sunda islands, a vast number of
the Chinese are scattered ; and their affairs are managed for the most
part agreeably to their own national observances. Those in the island
of Timor have a code of laws by which they are governed ; and
amongst other regulations, they have secured to themselves an exclu
sive right to manufacture a spirituous liquor called anis, a description
of arrack highly esteemed. The natives extract from the fan-palm,
a beverage termed bacanassi ; this is fermented in baskets made of
the leaves of the pandanus, and suspended from the branches of the
tree for a few days till it becomes fit for use.

In examining the group of islands classed under the name
of Celebes, or Macassar, I find that naturalists are very little

* Capt. Beckman's Voyage to Borneo, 1718, 8vo.

199

acquainted with the interior of any of them ; they seem, however, to
differ scarcely any thing in their productions from those already
described. Most of the oriental grains and fruits abound, and rice
is reared in such quantities, as even to afford much for exportation .
cocoas, sugar, betel, areca, and different kinds of palms are plentiful.
The plantain is of the very best description, and the natives in a
great measure exist on the fruit and regale themselves with its inebri
ating juice. From the Sagwire, (Gomuti palm) a very strong species
of wine is made, which, in Macassar, goes by the name of the tree
from whence it is drawn. The religion in those islands, being chiefly
Mahometan, has hitherto prevented the inhabitants from carrying on
distillation to any extent, although they are supplied with every
article necessary for the purpose. The arrack and foreign liquors
consumed here are principally brought from Batavia ; but, since
many of the natives have become Christians, it is not likely that they
will continue so scrupulous as the followers of the prophet. The
introduction of the Mahometan faith is somewhat singular — one of their
kings having heard of various modes of wrorship, particularly the
Christian and Mahometan, became dissatisfied with his own religion.
He convened a general assembly, and, ascending an eminence, with
fervour addressed the deity, entreating him, as he had the winds and
waves in his own hand, to send first to those islands those mission
aries who taught the true religion, declaring, that he would reckon
such an arrival a declaration of heaven in their favour ; and disclaim
ing all blame, if he were thus misled. The Mahometans first arrived,
and their religion was instantly embraced) as that for which heaven-
had openly declared.

The next islands that arrest attention are the Molucca or Sprce
islands, with which, although there is constant communication, our
acquaintance is but slender. With their valuable products, which
have added so much to the refinements of luxury, all are familiar ; but
the manners, habits, and domestic economy of the inhabitants, are yet but
imperfectly known to us. Fruit is rather scarce, and grain is but partial! y
cultivated, the whole attention of the people being directed to the
rearing of spices. In Ternat, which is the largest of the groupe, a
meal is extracted from the pith of a species of palm, thought to be
a description of sago. From a luscious root of this name, which is
sold in bunches, a kind of bread rs made, held in high estimation.
Canes, yielding a liquor between the joints, afford a cooling drink,
while the defect of native beverages is supplied by foreign importa
tions. In the Moluccas, some sugar-canes are grown, but they are
of little importance ; the bread-fruit abounds, and a kind of honey is

200

obtained from a fly (a species of bee), scarcely the size of an ant.
The rapacity of the Dutch and their fear of invasion have induced
them to discourage the cultivation of the various esculent commodities
which the nature of the climate and the richness of the soil would
warrant.

Amboyna is noted for an excellent description of Sagwire; the
tree from which it is extracted, is of the same genus as the cocoa-nut,
sago, siri, and date-tree ; from sago and siri, it appears to derive its
name, as if the liquor were indiscriminately made from each. To keep
this beverage for any length of time, the roots of a tree called the
Sasoot, or Oubat, are infused, which occasion fermentation, and the
process is usually completed in eight hours. It is generally bottled
for convenience and safety, and is considered wholesome, refreshing,
and strongly inebriating. The juice or toddy is collected in the
same manner as elsewhere described, and is here called tyffering.*
From the Sagwire, an arrack is distilled, and sold so cheap as a
farthing a glass. When Arago touched at the island of Rawack, one
of the Moluccas, he observed, that both before and after a repast, a
libation was made, in honour, as lie supposed, of some deity — the milk
of the cocoa-nut appeared to be the principal beverage.]"

In the Manillas or Phillippine islands, the sugar-cane is success
fully cultivated ; the valleys are fertile in Sago and many kinds of
fruits, and the bread-fruit has lately become an article of importance.
The aborigines are called Negrellos, and, it may be presumed, they
are much attached to inebriety, as they make drinking vessels of
the skulls of such unfortunate Spaniards as fall into their hands, owing
to the gross treatment they received from the first invaders.

At Manilla, the largest of these islands, palm trees grow in great
perfection, and there is not less than forty species : such is the magni
tude of some of them, that a Jesuit missionary having touched there^
had, through the kindness of a friend, a place prepared for him so-
capacious, that under two leaves of one of those trees, he was enabled
to say mass and to sleep securely from the most violent rain. The
palm to wThich these leaves belong, is somewhat similar to the talipot
of Ceylon (licuala spinosa) — the leaves lie in folds like a fan, and
are so large, when expanded, that they measure five feet every way.
Here they are used as umbrellas, and are sufficient to protect five or
six persons from the heaviest rain. This tree rises to a great height,
and never blossoms but once, and that is said to be in the year in

* Stavorinus's Voyage to the East Indies, vol, ii. p. 349.
t Arago's Voyage, 4 to. p. 234.

201

which it dies, when some beautiful yellow flowers appear at the top
ornamenting- the wide-spreading- branches, and these are surrounded
by a fruit as large as a cherry, of which no use is made, except that
of preserving it for seed. Thunberg, speaking1 of the talipot, says,
that when the sheath, which envelopes the flower on its lofty sum
mit, comes to maturity, it bursts with an explosion like the report of
a cannon, and after that it shoots forth branches on every side to the
surprising height of thirty or forty feet. When cut down for the
sake of its seed, the pith, like the sago-tree, yields a sort of meal which
is made into cakes, and tastes like fine bread, forming a good substi
tute for rice. Davy, in his account of Ceylon, questions the reality
of what is related respecting the talipot, and says that a good deal of
it is fabulous, but that the leaves are from twenty to thirty feet in
circumference. Here, as well as in Mindora, another of these islands,
a liquor called tuba is drawn from a palm much like the cocoa: large
quantities of it are consumed in the country, and produce a consider
able revenue. This beverage obtains the name of tuba, in conse
quence of the liquor being infused with calinga, the bark of a tree
like cinnamon, which is put into it, in order to give it a colour and
a more pungent taste. Large quantities of cocoa-nut wine are
consumed in that country, producing a considerable revenue. The
ricli distil this juice either once or twice, as they wish it stronger or
weaker ; it is a clear spirit of an astringent quality.

The liquor called Chilang is a simple beverage, made by first
boiling the juice of the sugar-cane, and then allowing it to ferment,
after which it assumes the colour of wine. Another drink, termed
Pangati, is made by first putting some herbs with leaven into a pot,
then covering them with rice till the vessel is half full and afterwards
pouring water on the entire mass. When fermentation has subsided,
water is again added, and the liquor thus diluted is usually consumed
by sucking it through a cane tube. A substance, not unlike marma
lade, is made from toddy, enclosed in sections of the cocoa-nut shell,
and exposed in that state in the public bazaars for sale. Sugar,
however, is so abundant, that the manufacture of this article is ren^
dered less necessary. Rice is reared with little labour, and even
grows on the tops of the mountains without being watered ; it affords
the Chinese, who live on and frequent the islands, an opportunity for
the exercise of their ingenuity in all the varieties of the brewing pro
cess. Abundant materials for the making of an excellent brandy are
obtained from the cocoa, nipe, and cabenegro trees : the nipe or nipah
is chiefly cultivated for its juice ; it is a low description of palm,
seldom exceeding the height of a man j the fruit affords an excellent

202

sweet-meat, and the leaves, called atap by tlie Malays, are employed
in covering cottages and constructing mats.

As Manilla is the great mart and centre of all the Spanish traders
in the East, and the several nations with whom they deal, much of
the luxuries and comforts of other countries are brought thither. The
viceroy lives in great splendour, and at his table, as well as at the
tables of the higher order of merchants, may be found most of the
wines, spirits, and liquors of Europe, Asia, Africa, and America.
The imports are chiefly brandy, gin, and wine: sugar is exported to
the amount of 75,000 piculs annually, which, at 1421bs. the picul, is
equal to 10,650,0001bs. The sugar is equally packed in earthen
vessels, called pelons, three of which contain two piculs; the export
duties are 12 cents, the picul. In 1817, the revenue on cocoa-nut-
wine, was 153,641 dollars, and on rum 483 dollars.

In Mindanao, another of the Phillippine islands, among the various
fruits, plants, and grain which it produces, there is a tree, called libby
by the natives, yielding a kind of sago, and of which there are groves :
and plantations several miles in length. It resembles the cabbage-
tree, or rather the bread-palm of Malacca, having a strong bark and
hard wood, the heart of which is full of a wThite pith like that of the
elder. When the tree is cut down, the pith is extracted and beaten
in a mortar until it becomes a complete pulp ; in this state it is laid on
a cloth, or sieve, water is poured on it and kept stirring until all the
farinaceous, or mealy substance, is strained into a receiver. When
settled, the water is drained off, and the residuum or sago baked into
cakes and used as bread. Considerable quantities of this valuable
article are exported to different parts of the East and eaten with milk
of almonds, being deemed, from its astringent nature, an excellent
remedy in diarrhoea.

The interior and mountainous parts of Mindanao produce honey in
such abundance, that bees' wax is an article of export, and the inhabi
tants are not ignorant of the uses to which the honey may be converted
in administering to the comforts of life. The Phillipine islands are
also noted for a water drawn from a tree justly termed " the fountain
tree" and for a kind of cane called by the Spaniards vaxuco, each joint
of which yields sufficient for an ordinary draught ; and it is singular
that the vaxuco abounds in the mountainous and barren parts, where
a cooling beverage is most required.

Leaving the extensive range of islands connected with the two great
Indian Peninsulas, the first kingdom on the Asiatic continent that
daims notice, is Cochin-China, in which the manufacture of rice-wine
and distillation from that grain are carried on to great extent.

203

Plantations of sugar-cane are very numerous, and sugar of prime
quality is made, in the refining of which the inhabitants have arrived
to a degree of perfection unknown, perhaps, in any other part of the
world.* This is accomplished by intermixing layers of the sugar-cane
of one inch in thickness with similar layers of the herbaceous parts of
the plantain tree. The aqueous juices which exude from this filter,
carry along writh them all impurities, and leave the sugar clear and
crystallized. In this state, it is light and porous as a honeycomb.
The trade in this article is immense, the Chinese alone are said to take
800,000 quintals yearly. It is, however, strange, that the inhabitants
do not manufacture rum. Vines are said to grow spontaneously, and
grapes are produced in abundance, but they do not appear to be con
verted into wine. This has been attributed to their ignorance of
knowing how to check the fermentation of the juice of the grape or
of other vegetables before they pass from the vinous to the acetous
state, else it is most likely that wine would have been common with
them instead of distilled liquors.

From the periodical rains and consequent inundations, Cochin"
China is remarkably fruitful in rice, which is divided into two classes,
one growing on a dry soil, the other on a soil that is wet. In all the
provinces, there are great granaries filled with it, where it is some
times kept in good preservation for upwards of thirty years. Of
this grain, there are six different sorts ; one description is long, fari
naceous, and opaque, from which arrack is chiefly made.f This pre
servation of grain is not uncommon ; for we find that in some of the
Barbary states, corn is kept in the matamores, subterraneous vaults,
or holes made in the form of a cone, for thirty years or more.
These vaults are closed at the opening, and atmospheric air carefully
excluded. J In distilling from rice, the Cochin-Chinese are not
inferior to any other eastern nation. Their arrack is their chief and
favourite drink ; and " they have it in such plenty," says Borri,§ " that
all people in general drink as much as they will, and become as drunk
as people among us with wine. Graver persons," he adds, "mix that
liquor with some other water distilled from calamba, which gives it a
delicious smell, and forms a delicate composition." Calamba is a
wood of the Kemois mountains ; a species of lignum aloes. When
cut young, it is denominated Aquila or Eagles-wood-, when old, it is

The curious reader may find this described at large in Staunton's Embassy,
vol. i. p. 258.

f White's Voyage to Cochin-China, 8vo. p. 252.

% Jackson's Account of Morocco, p. 102.

§ Borri's Account of Cochin-China, Churchill's Coll. vol. ii. p. 801,

204

called Calamba. This wood is so celebrated for its perfume and
virtue, that it belongs only to the king* ; and it is said of it that, even
though buried four feet under ground, it is discovered by its
fragrance. Lord Macartney and the gentlemen of his suite were
regaled with a portion of this spirit at an entertainment given by the
governor of the town of Turon, while the ships were anchored in the
bay. It was served in small cups, and resembled, in Staunton's opinion,
Irish whiskey. The host on that occasion, by way of setting a good
example to his guests, filled his cup to the brim, in a true European
style of joviality, and after drinking, turned it up, to shew that he had
emptied it to the bottom.* The Cochin-Chinese are a kind-hearted
people, and do not bear the character of intemperance. Hospitality
is common amongst them, and as practised in the Nicobar islands, a
traveller in want of money is always sure to obtain subsistence at any
house he may choose to enter, partaking, in common with the family,
every thing at table, and retiring without any body inquiring his
business, — whence he came, or whither he goeth, it being enough for
them to know that he is a fellow-mortal in distress."}" Various descrip
tions of drink are made from the fruits and vegetables with which the
country abounds. The areca-nut and betel are in much request, and,
before they are used, are formed into a paste with lime and water.
For the purpose of carrying this material about them, the inhabitants
go to great expense in making pouches and boxes, which both sexes
wear indiscriminately. The men carry their 's suspended by a riband
from the shoulders in the form of a belt, while the women attach
their's to a girdle round the waist. To the practice of chewing betel
and smoking tobacco may be attributed the chief cause of the great
consumption of rice-wines, in order to supply the constant drain on
the animal juices.

Betel is a favourite over all the East, and its general use is such
that no feast or occasion of ceremony is observed without it ; and to
partake of it in company with persons of high rank is accounted an
honour. It is related of the king of Quedah, that in order to express
a high mark of his respect for any of his courtiers or visiters, he made
him sit near his throne, and having chewed a little betel, sent it fresh
from the royal mouth on a gold saucer to the distinguished indivi
dual, who was obliged, as a matter of courtesy, to chew it after him
with every apparent mark of satisfaction.

The highest affront one can offer to an Oriental is to refuse his
betel. Bernier tells a story of a young nobleman, who, to prove his

* Staunton's Embassy, vol. i. p. 255.

f Le Poirre'* Observations on Various Nations, 12mo,

205

loyalty, took and swallowed the betel from Shah Jehan, though he
knew it to be poisoned.

As the kingdoms of Tonquin and Chochin- China were at one
period governed by the same laws, there still exists an affinity in the
manners, customs, arts, and sciences of the inhabitants. A reciprocity of
habit prevails, and we do not find that the Tonquinese are acquainted
with the making of any beverage with which their neighbours are not
familiar. The fertility of the country and temperate nature of the
climate are said to enable them to cultivate a great variety of grain.
Besides the rice common to the rest of India, they rear five other
kinds peculiar to the soil. The first is the small rice, the grain of
which is long, thin, and transparent ; it is accounted the most delicate,
and is generally the only kind which the physicians allow their patients.
The second is the long thick rice, the form of which is round. The
third is the red rice, it is so called because its grain is covered with a
reddish coloured pellicle. These three kinds of rice require much
water, and never grow but on lands that are frequently overflowed.
The dry rice, which is of two kinds, grows in a dry soil, and has no
occasion for any water, but what falls from the heavens. These
two last kinds produce a grain as white as snow, and are the principal
articles of their trade with China. They are never cultivated but on
the hills and mountains, wrhere they are sown in the same manner as
our wheat, about the end of December, or beginning of January, at
which time the rainy season ends. The dry rice is generally three
months in the ground and is very productive.* The wine from these
appears to be excellent ; and the arrack, of which large quantities are
distilled, is much esteemed throughout the East. In Tonquin, there
is also an odoriferous kind of rice, which is said to intoxicate by
merely eating it without its undergoing any process of fermentation ;
but as this is contrary to the quality of any other grain, the truth of
the statement is questionable — this rice, however, yields by distillation
a strong kind of arrack. From the palm, which is abundant, toddy
is extracted, but it is reckoned by Barron to be bad for the nerves ;f
not from any peculiar quality in the juice, as obtained from the tree,
but from the mode in which the fermentation is conducted. The
sugar-cane abounds, being indigene us to the country. Two kinds are
common, the one is large and exceedingly high, with long joints,
appearing always green, and is very full of juice; the other is smaller,
of a yellow colour, and although it affords less liquor, it furnishes more

* Grosier's China, vol. i. p. 292.

f Barren's Description of the Kingdom of Tonquin.

206

sugar. Until lately, the Tonquinese were ignorant of the mode of
refining it, contenting themselves with bruising the canes, boiling the
juice twice, and allowing it to settle into a thick sirup called honey of
sugar : perhaps it is well for the peace and happiness of the inhabi
tants that the art of making spirits from molasses or sugar is to them
still a secret. Even the vine, the natural production of the climate,
is neglected, and the art of making wine from the grapes unknown.
Rice-wine, the common liquor, is drunk warm, and much of it is used
at religious sacrifices. On those occasions, a strange custom prevails,
of trying the animals intended as offerings, by pouring warm wine
into their ears : if they shake their heads, they are judged proper to
be sacrificed; but if they make no motion, they are rejected. In the
course of the ceremony, the flesh of the victim sacrificed is uncovered,
and the priest, raising a vessel filled with spirituous liquor, (arrack),
sprinkles it over a human figure made of straw, invoking the spirit of
Confucius to be their tutelary guardian and benefactor. After a
lengthened orison, the priest regales himself with the remains of the
liquor, which he cautiously secures for that purpose. A custom
equally ridiculous, as the one of choosing the animals for sacrifice,
prevails amongst the people of Laos — that of rubbing the head of ari
elephant with wine, enriched with a drop or two of human gall, under
the impression that the beast will thereby become more robust, and
the owner more courageous.

The mountaineers of Tonquin, denominated Miao-tse, have devised
a peculiar system of religion and rites, of which their priests are at
the head. It is generally in the house of one of those spiritual father*
that their gods are consulted and deliver oracles. On sucli occasions,
a great noise announces, as is supposed, the arrival of their deities.
Previous to this, the time is passed in drinking and dancing, but, on
this announcement, all diversions cease, and the multitude send forth
loud shouts of joy, crying, as they address themselves to their princi
pal god, " Father! art thou already come?" A voice answers, " Be
of good cheer, my children; eat, drink, and rejoice; it is I who procure
you all those advantages which you enjoy !" Having listened to these
words with profound silence, they again return to their pleasures and
revelry. The gods, becoming thirsty in turn, ask for something to
drink, when vases ornamented with flowers and full of liquor are
immediately presented, which the crafty priest insidiously carries to
the gods, he being the only person permitted to approach or converse
with them.

IlieMiao-tse collect large quantities of honey from the bees, which
feed on the wild flowers tlmt everywhere adorn the sides and valleys

207

of the mountains where they reside ; this honey they convert to various
purposes, and prepare a beverage from it which is considered very
palatable and wholesome. Honey is held in such high estimation
among these people, that they believe it forms an essential ingredient
in the food with which the souls of their departed relatives are nou
rished in the paradise of their gods.

The Tonquinese are of a social disposition ; but too much form
and ceremony are observed in their visits and entertainments to
render them agreeable to strangers. Father Horta saw a card of
invitation for dinner couched in the following terms : " Chao-ting has
prepared a repast of some herbs, cleaned his glasses, and arranged hig
house, in order that Se-tong may come and recreate him with the
charms of his conversation and the eloquence of his learning; he there
fore begs that he will not deny him that divine pleasure." When all
the persons invited on such occasions are assembled, and before the
entertainment begins, the master of the house takes a cup of gold or
silver filled with wine, either of the country or the Mandarin of China,
and proceeding to the outer court, with his face turned towards the
south, pours it out as a peace-offering or libation to the tutelary spirit
of his dwelling. This ceremony being over, the guests approach the
tables, and before they commence eating, waste an hour in compli
menting each other. The person of the greatest distinction in com
pany drinks first, all the rest in succession, and each salutes the master
of the house. The cups employed to hold the liquor are very small,
being scarcely deeper than the shell of a walnut ; these, however, are
often replenished, which make amends for their diminutive size. If
the guests chance to play at small games, the losing person is con
demned to drink freely as a forfeit for his ill luck. Being great
lovers of tea, they frequently mix arrack with it and drink to intoxi
cation.

The end of these entertainments is generally suited to the begin
ning, pompous and formal. The guests praise in detail the excellence
of the dishes and the politeness and generosity of their host, who, on
his part, makes a number of excuses, and begs pardon, with many low
bows, for not having treated them according to their merit.

In this country, the adoption of children is customary, and it is a
practice on the occasion, for the person so adopted, when presenting
himself before his patron, to give him a hog with two jars of arrack.
A similar ceremony is observed in courtships; the lover or his parents
offering the father or mother of the lady a jar of arrack, a hog, a box
of betel, or some other gift, which is either accepted or rejected accor
ding as the young man appears eligible or otherwise. At weddings,

and on all occasions of ceremony, the people indulge freely, though
they seldom go to excess, in drinking strong liquors, except persons
about the court and the military, of whom it is said " that the greatest
drinker is the bravest man."

Here also is a singular mode of settling quarrels : when the parties
are obliged to appear before a magistrate, the usual adjudication
being that of ordering the offender to treat the injured person with
arrack, fowl, and pork, so that, by thus feasting together, they may
forget the injury and put a stop to future animosity. Not less re
markable is the annual renewal of allegiance to the Choua, which is
performed by cutting the throat of a fowl, and receiving the blood in
a basin filled with arrack ; after which, each in his turn drinks a glass
of the mixture, repeating aloud his professions of loyalty — this is
accounted one of the most solemn and binding obligations, and is fre
quently had recourse to on various occasions. The arrack and rice
wines are sold everywhere throughout Tonquin ; and in the public
markets, held every fifth day, they are exposed for sale like any other
article of traffic. A very nice description of cider is made from the
miengou, a fruit resembling the pomegranate, the tree producing it is
somewhat like the fig ; its branches are pliant and delicate, the wood
soft and porous, its leaves nearly circular and of a pale green colour.
In wet weather, a tart milky sugar runs from it, which the peasants
collect in small porcelain vessels, it soon hardens, and is said to be
very efficacious in curing head-aches, fevers, and dysenteries. Various
other beverages are prepared from the different fruits of the country,
consisting of pine-apples, oranges, bananas, pomegranates, and a red
species of fig, which, in taste and smell, resembles those of Turkey or
Provence.*

When going to any distance, they bring with them a supply of these
liquors to allay their thirst and recruit their strength. Throughout
the whole of Tonquin, during the different festivals, some of which
last ten or twelve days, there is a great consumption of arrack and
other exhilarating beverages, and, on these occasions, recourse is had
to every of kind amusement resulting from intemperance.

China, a country which has preserved its civil polity for so many

msand years, the art of distillation was known far beyond the date
of any of its authentic records. The period of its introduction into
that country, in common with the rise and progress of other chemical
arts, is, however, concealed amidst the darkness of ages. But taking

* Les Voyages et Missions de P. .Alex, de Rhodes, 4to. — Relation Nouvelle et
Curieuse du Royauvne do Tonquin, et de Laos, Traduitc de 1'Italien du P. de
Marini, 4to, »

209

dates as we find them, sanctioned by respectable authority, and leav
ing the assumed antiquity of the nation as a point for the discussion
of clu-onologists ; I am led to attribute to the people of this empire
the merit of an invention which seems to have eluded the grasp of the
human intellect in the rest of Asia, Africa, and Europe, until a more
advanced period in the history of the world.

There is no doubt whatever, that from the earliest ages the Chinese
were acquainted with many of those useful and ingenious preparations
which are still considered indispensable in the practice of the arts and
manufactures of every civilized country. Their knowledge of gun
powder, before it was discovered in Europe, seems to be a fact undis
puted, and appears coeval with that of their most distant historic
events. An intelligent Chinese writer states, that it was used by them
in fire-works upwards of 2000 years ago ; but its application to the
purposes of war was of a late introduction. Shut up within the
bosom of a country yielding in abundance all the necessaries and even
luxuries of life, and satisfied with the articles which it aiforded, they
felt no desire to seek or encourage an intercourse with foreign nations.*
The first missionaries, who visited China, also assure us that the pro
perties of the loadstone were early known to the inhabitants, and the
compass used as a guide in their journies through the empire.
Marco Polo is said to have brought the invention with him in 1260 ;
and it is even affirmed, that the emperor Chiningus, a famous astro
loger, had a knowledge of it, 1120 years before Christ. Their inven
tions, therefore, appear to be entirely their own ; the annals of the
empire, in the language of Staunton, bear testimony to the fact, and
it is confirmed by the consideration of the natural progress of those
inventions and of the state of the Chinese arts at this time.y Estab
lished authority in China is decisive of public opinion, and abridges
the liberty of private judgment, — error is consecrated by antiquity,
and the free excursions of genius are unknown. Further advances,
therefore, are not likely to be made until the prejudices of habit and
the clouds of ignorance shall have been dispelled by the diffusion of
scientific knowledge on sound philosophical principles.

That the Chinese were versed in all the secrets of alchymy; or
rather in that branch of it which had for its object a universal panacea,
long before this fancy engaged the speculations of European practi
tioners, there is abundant proof, J since some of their empirics have,

* Barrow's Travels in China, 4to. p. 276 and 434, &c.

f Embassy to China, vol. ii. p. HjO and 162.

£ Du Halde, Le Compte, Martini, Chbeek, Grower, &c., &c.

210

from an early period, boasted of a specific among their drugs, which
ensures an immortality like that conferred on Godwin's St. Leon.
The search after this elixir vitce originated, it appears, among the
disciples of the philosopher Lao-kiun, who flourished six hundred
years before Christ. Not content with the tranquillity of mind which
that teacher of wisdom endeavoured to inculcate, and considering
death as too great a barrier to its attainment, they betook themselves
to chemistry, and after the labour of ages in a vain endeavour to pre
vent the dissolution of our species, and after the destruction of three
of their emperors who fell victims to the immortalizing draught, they,
like the alchymists of Europe, ended their researches under the pre
tence of discoveries which were never made, and of remedies that
could only be administered under all the extravagancies of magic.
The emperor Hyen-Tsong, in the year 820 of the Christian era, pro
cured some of this liquor, with which it is thought his eunuchs mixed
poison, as he died immediately after drinking it, at the age of forty-
three.* Swen-Tsong^ it appears, had no sooner taken it in the year
859, than he became a prey to worms and died in a few days.f Shi-
Tsong, or Kya-Tsing, also died of the effects of this liquor in 1556.
This monarch built a place called Van Xeutien, or the palace of ten
thousand lives, for the express purpose of distilling these waters of
immortality. It was surrounded by a high wall and battlements per
fectly round, as were also the halls and chambers, presenting in the
interior, hexagons or octagons. The architecture was beautifully
magnificent, and very romanticly situated on the great artificial lake
within the enclosures of the monarch's residence in Pekin.f

The emperor Vu-Ti, who reigned in the year 177 before Christ,
when about to put one of his ministers to death for drinking a cup of
this liquor which had been prepared for himself, was convinced of his
weakness and folly by the following wise and sensible remonstrance
of his minister : " If this drink, Sire, hath made me immortal, how can
you put me to death ? but if you can, how does such a frivolous theft
deserve it ?"§

In any country, where medicine has not been established as a
regular study, it can scarcely be expected that the profession of a
chemist could be supported with dignity or respectability. But,
whether to this search, or to other circumstances, the early knowledge
of the Chinese in distillation is to be ascribed, it would be no easy
matter to determine. Their acquirements in medicine are so limited,

* Du Halde, Annals of the Monarchs, vol i. p. 200. f Ibid. 202.
J Magaillan's China, p. 317, and 327.
§ Du Halde, p. 177.

211

that Navarette says, the greatest part of their physicians are mere
farriers ; that they know nothing of potions, and their chief care and
skill consist in little more than the recommendation and observance of
a regular diet.*

From this unimproved state of an art so important to human exis
tence, it is clear that they owe nothing to foreign or factitious aid ;
and although it might be urged that the Arabians, at an early period,
advanced as far as Canton, where they might have communicated
some of the discoveries of their physicians and philosophers, it ought
to be recollected that it was the spirit of commerce which carried the
Mussulmans to the confines of this remote region,! and that the power
of the still, if known to them at that time, was altogether applied to
the improvement and advancement of medical knowledge ; a use to
which, as far as I can learn, it has never yet been devoted in China.
That the Arabs knew any thing of distillation previous to their inter
course with this empire, appears strongly questionable. It was under ,
the Caliph Walid, in the year 715, that they sent ambassadors and
merchants to that country. In 850, they had carried their commer- \
cial intercourse so far as to have an agent for conducting their affairs
stationed in the province of Canton, and they were then permitted to
extend their trade to some towns of the interior. Now, it is natural
to infer, that a people so ingenious as the Chinese, and whose inven
tions do not seem to have been borrowed from any other nation, were
more likely to impart information respecting the properties of the still
than to procure it, as they had at a date long anterior to this period,
possessed all those drinks with which they are familiar at the present
day. Further investigation confirms this inference, and it is strength
ened by the opinion, of Humboldt, who says, that the process used by
us in making sugar was brought from oriental Asia, and that even the
cylinders placed horizontally and put into motion by a mill, with
cauldrons and purifying apparatus, such as are to be seen in the West
Indies, are purely of Chinese origin, and were in use at a period long
anterior to the visit of any European to that country.

We find from the two Mahometan travellers who visited China in
the ninth century, that the Chinese had no wine, but drank a liquor ;
made from rice, a proof that they were acquainted with the great
staple of the country then as at present, that of a distilled liquor from
that grain ; and Marco Polo tells us, that in his time arrack paid a

* Vide Navarette's Account of China. Barrow's Travels in China, 4to. p, 344,
Abel's Journey, Staunton, £c.

f Robertson's India, 12mo. pp. 92, 93.

212

duty of three and a-lialf per cent, to the government, and he observed
shops for the express purpose of selling rice-wine.

The Chinese annals trace a communication with other countries
2000 years before Christ ; and their intercourse with Hindostan and
Persia is familiar in their records 1000 years previous to the Chris
tian era. Doctor Morrison, who has thrown considerable light on the
history and antiquities of this interesting portion of the globe, states
in the Chinese Repository for January, 1833, that the people of India,
Egypt, Arabia, and other countries, came by the southern sea to Canton
with tribute (gifts) and for trade. Besides, it is certain, that in the
seventh century, the Chinese monarch sent ambassadors to the sur
rounding nations for social and commercial purposes. Silk and many
other commodities were, it is well known, originally brought from
India and China ; and we have the testimony of Ptolemy, that Maeses, a
Macedonian merchant, sent an agent to China, a distance of 2,800
miles, for the purpose of procuring this and other commodities, the
luxuries of the times.* In the reign of Augustus Csesar, among
other eastern nations that sent embassies to Rome to court the em
peror's friendship, are mentioned the Seres, now the Chinese, who,
after a journey which occupied four years, presented him with pearls,
precious stones, and elephants.

As learning leads to the highest posts of honour, the love of litera
ture has long prevailed among this people ; and their progress in moral
philosophy and the belles-lettres has been by no means inconsider
able. To this advancement the knowledge of printing has greatly
contributed ; but although that art, according to Trigaucius and others,
has been known to them above 1776 years, or as some affirm, beyond
the date of the records respecting gunpowder, it has remained
comparatively stationary, doubtless from the nature of the language,
which renders the printing of books troublesome and tedious. It is
said to consist of 60,000 characters and upwards : those employed
for the ordinary purposes of life do not, however, amount to any con
siderable number. He who is acquainted with from 15 to 20,000
characters, is esteemed very learned, and he may well be accounted
so, since it takes nearly half his life to acquire them. People in trade
are conversant with such of the characters only as answer the despatch
of business, depending on the more intelligent when any difficulty
arises. The printer, or rather the engraver of a book, has to trace
the characters of each leaf on a piece of plank, or a block of hard wood ;

\

* Ptolem. Gcogr. Lib. VI. c. xi. xviii. Vide M. de Guignes' Memoirs of the
Commerce of the Romans with the Tartars and Chinese.

213

and Abel says, that nothing could be more simple than the method of
printing which he saw. On a piece of wood, mostly pear-tree, about
two feet square, carved into the necessary characters, and covered
with ink, a thin paper was laid, which, being pressed down by the
hand, received the desired impression. The use of moveable types
in wood is confined to the printing of the Pekin Gazette and a few
other periodical works. All others are printed in stereotype. The
use of moveable metallic types may, perhaps, at no distant period?
become general in the empire, as a manufactory of them in block tin
is already established at Macao for the use of the British factory.
The founders and cutters are Chinese, who execute their work with
great precision and despatch.* For printing a work of any extent,
a store of some magnitude is required. What must have been the
room requisite for the materials of one of their dictionaries, consisting
of 120 large volumes; or for the ancient and modern laws of the
country which the emperor Tay-tsuf ordered to be printed in 1380
in three hundred volumes ! It was a whole age after its commence
ment before this work was completed.

But, notwithstanding this apparent difficulty, books are said to be
numerous ; they are printed on one side only, and stitched in thin
white paper, their size answering generally to that of our royal
octavo.J The emperor Tay-Tsong is represented to have had a
library of 80,000 volumes, the composition of native authors, which
were neatly distributed in three large rooms, richly adorned ; and
that monarch was so fond of reading, that he daily turned over one or
two volumes ; and the famous library of Ywen-ti, which was burned
in 552, consisted of 140,000 volumes.

The whole nation, says a Jesuit missionary, who had a good oppor
tunity of observation, is much addicted to study and learning. In one
province, we are told, there are sometimes upwards of 10,000 licen
tiates and bachelors, and the number of candidates for degrees, at a
moderate computation, amounts to 2,000,000. In the Southern pro
vinces of the empire, there is scarcely a Chinese that cannot read and
write. " I have met," says Navarette, " men on the road in sedans and
palanquins on men's shoulders, with a book in their hands. In cities,
I have often seen Mandarins occupied in the same manner ; and to
induce their children to learn, the tradesmen and shopkeepers might
be seen sitting behind their counters with books before them." For
<****Vih >-.»-: : ^

* Abel's Narrative of a Journey in China, 4to. p, 229.

t Du Haldc, vol. i. p. 2 1 8.

% Oshcck's Voy. to China, 8vo. vol. i. p, 277.

214

the encouragement of students, says the same writer, the example i$
related of a poor young man who herded cows and rode upon one of
them, as is usual in the country, keeping a book on her horns in such
a manner that it served as a desk, and enabled him to read all the
day ; by which means he attained to a high station in the state.
Another instance is mentioned of a youth, who being so poor that he
could not buy oil for his lamp, studying at night by the light of the
moon and the stars ; his erudition procured him equally honorable
advancement. But, although the application of the Chinese has been
sufficiently laborious, we have no account of any of their publications
on the useful or speculative arts. To this circumstance, combined
with a constant jealousy and fear of imparting to others a knowledge
of their inventions, which they consider purely their own, is, perhaps
to be attributed the very brief and unsatisfactory accounts, which
writers have been able to collect, of the nature and extent of their
inebriating beverages. We read that, under the government of the
emperor Yu or Ta-yu, before Christ 2207,* the making of ale, or
wine from rice, was invented by an ingenious agriculturist named
I-tye ; and that as the use of this liquor was likely to be attended
with evil consequences, the emperor expressly forbade the manufac
ture or drinking of it under the severest penalties. He even re
nounced it himself, and dismissed his cup-bearer, lest, as he said, the
princes, his successors, might suffer their hearts to be effeminated
with so delicious a beverage.j This, however, had not the desired
effect, for having once tasted it, the people could never afterwards
entirely abstain from the bewitching draught. Some have conjec
tured, with seeming plausibility, that I-tye was a near descendant
from Noah. This is supported by the opinion of Doctor Hales, given
in his Analysis of Chronology, who thinks that it was the family of
Shem that peopled China. But the writers of the Universal History
allege, that Noah himself being discontented with the party that had
been formed to build the tower of Babel, separated from the main
body, and with some followers, travelling eastwards, at last entered
China, and laid the foundation of that vast empire. /Be that as it may,
a love for rice-wines was, at a very early date, carried to such excess
and consumed in such abundance, that the emperor Kya, the Nero of
China, in 1836 before Christ, ordered 3000 of his subjects to jump
into a large lake which he had prepared and filled with it; while Chin-
vang, in 1120, thought it prudent to assemble the princes to suppress

* Du Halde, vol. i. p. 145.
f Ibid, p. 433.

215

its manufacture, as it was the source of infinite misfortune in his

dominions. *H

- , *

It is related of Kee, that he carried his propensities for drinking
and extravagance so far, that, to indulge a favourite mistress, he built
a room coated with jasper, had the furniture adorned with precious
stones, and constructed ponds for wine in his palace. f

The produce of the grape, it would seem from this, was not so
early attended to, although the cultivation of the vine had been known
and practised in China from time immemorial. All the songs, which
remain of the early dynasties down to that of Han, which commenced
206 years before the Christian era, confirm this statement, and
give reason to believe that the Chinese have always been fond of wine
made from grapes. Grosier says that the emperor Ouenti, of the
dynasty of Ouei, celebrated it with a lyric enthusiasm worthy of
Horace or Anacreon ; and we find in the large Chinese Herbal, book
133, that wine made from grapes was the wine of honour, which
several cities presented to their governors and viceroys, and even to
the emperor. In 1373, the emperor Tay-tsu, who ascended the throne
five years before, accepted some of it for the last time from Tai-yuen,
a city in the province of Chensi, and forbade any more to be pre
sented. " I drink little wine," said the prince, " and I am unwilling
that what I do drink should occasion any burden to my people.'*
According to the same writer, the vine has undergone many revolu
tions in China. When orders were issued for rooting up all trees
that encumbered the grounds destined for agriculture, the vine suf
fered in common with the others ; and the extirpation of it has been
carried so far in most of the provinces, during certain reigns, that
even the remembrance of it was entirely forgotten. When it was
afterwards allowed to be planted, it would appear from the manner
in which some historians express themselves, that grapes and the vine
began then for the first time to be known. This probably has given
rise to the opinion that the vine has not been long introduced into
China ; it is however certain, without speaking of remote ages, that the
vine and grapes are expressly mentioned in the Chinese annals, under
the reign of the emperor Vou-ty, who came to the throne in the year
140 before the Christian era; and that since his time the use of wine
maybe traced from dynasty to dynasty; or as we may say, from reign
to reign even to the fifteenth century. With regard to the present
state of the culture of vines in China, Grosier declares that the two

* Du Halde, vol. i. p. 150, 159.

f Gutzlaflf's Hist, of China, vol. i. p. 149.

216

preceding emperors to Kien-long, with that monarch himself, who
was on the throne when Lord Macartney visited the country, caused
a number of new plants to be brought from foreign parts, and that
three of the provinces in particular, viz. Honan, Shan-tong, and
Shan-si, repaired their former losses by the cultivation of them.*
Barrow remarked, that in his time no wine was made from the juice
of the grape, except by the missionaries near the capital.j Bell, speak
ing of this wine, of \vhich he partook at an entertainment given by the
Jesuits, says it was not of the best quality, although the grapes of the
country were excellent. According to Ellis, who left China in 1817,
the vine is cultivated to considerable extent in diiferent parts of the
empire, and the Chinese having an abundance of grapes, he was sur
prised that they should not have wines of the choicest quality. Our
wines, liqueurs, and cordials are, if possible, more relished by them
than by ourselves, from which, and their general attachment to the
richest and most expensive sorts of drink, it is singular that they have not
had recourse to the manufacture of those beverages common in other
countries. This, however, like their other peculiarities, may chiefly be
accounted for by their jealous policy of not imitating foreign nations.
But it might be attributed to another cause, namely, the quantity of
rain, which, at the time of the ripening of the grape, falls for a period of
five or six weeks, to the great injury of its vinous quality. Besides,the
people look more to the size of the fruit than to its produce in wine,
and for that purpose, as if not content with the quantity of rain which
falls in this season, they cut trenches for the conveyance of water to
the roots of the vine, in order to increase the size of the fruit. Ta
cultivate the vine successfully in any country requires heat, a good
soil, with little humidity. At Pekin, during the winter, the vine must
be buried in the same manner as practised by the Cossacks of the
Don, and put into training in summer. Dried grapes are in great
demand. The finest description is brought from the Ha-mi country.
Lord Macartney was presented by the emperor with grapes of an un
common form, being more oblong than olives and about the same size.
The people of Turkestan pay to the Chinese court a part of their
taxes in grapes ; from which, and the considerations just enumerated,
it is manifest that the Chinese only partially cultivate the vine, and
even that for the mere sake of the fruit as a table luxury. Such is
their frugality, that they consider it a sin against humanity to cul
tivate fruit on account of its liquor; whilst the ground, that its growth

* Grosier's Description of China, vol. i. chap. v.
| Barrow's Travels in China, 4 to. p. 304.

217

would occupy, could produce sustenance for many individuals who
might otherwise perish from hunger.

Of rice-wines there are different sorts, but none of them have any
resemblance to the wines of Europe, either as to taste or quality;
being variously compounded, and never allowed in the manufacture
to preserve the mere flavour of the original material. That called
mandarin, being considered of a superior class, is drawn from rice of
a particular description, different from that which is eaten.* The
grain is steeped for twenty or thirty days in water, and then gently
boiled. When it is quite soft and pulpy, and completely diluted and
dissolved by the heat, it is allowed a considerable time to ferment in
proper vats prepared for the purpose, generally of glazed earthen
ware. The yeast employed is made from wheat, in which several
wholesome ingredients are added during the process of fermentation.
These consist of such fruits and flowers as impart an agreeable flavour
and pleasing colour. At the end of several days, when the motion, or
agitation occasioned by the fermenting process, has subsided, and
when the liquor has thrown up all the scum or dross, it is drawn off
into glazed vessels, where, by a second species of fermentation, it
clears itself and developes, by the taste and smell, its good or bad
qualities. When sufficiently fined, so as to show by standing for some
time, its body and colour, it is put into small jars, in which way it is
commonly sold and sent through the empire, or to Tonquin and Corea.
This wine is usually so strong, that it will keep for a great many
years, or, as some say, for ages. Within the empire it is principally
consumed among the higher orders, who can afford to buy it ; and
when exported it sells very dear. The lees are distilled, and yield a
strong agreeable kind of spirit, like brandy. This is called show, ckoo,
sau-tchoo, sam-tchoo, (literally burnt) or hot wine. The town of
Cha-tching, north-west of Pekin, near the great wall, is celebrated for
sam-tchoo. The city of Kyenchang, in the province of Kyang-li, is
also noted for a fine species of this wine, while that of Vu-si-hyen in
Kyang-nan, is in great esteem, owing its excellence to the goodness of
the water found there.f The city of Ta-chew is a great mart of this
spirit, from which it is exported to all parts of China. Navarette, in
his journey to the imperial residence, remarks, that in the district of
the city of Kian-hoa, the liquor of this class was made so good, that
he felt no regret for the wines of Europe. He represents it as exceed
ingly wholesome, and gives a proof of it in the instance of a person of
rank, above seventy years of age, with whom he was acquainted, and

* Du Haklc, vol. i. p. 303. f Ibid.

218

who had been in the habit of drinking at breakfast, for the greater
part of his life, a pint and half of this wine. Some of the rice-wines
are so highly perfumed, and so odoriferous, that on opening a bottle
the air of the apartment assumes an agreeable fragrancy ; such is the
state of perfection to which these people have arrived in the making
of this luxury. Captain Hall, when in Chili, met with a kind of lemon
ade, the fragrance of which filled the whole house.* A description
of liquor termed Sew-heng-tsow is distilled in China from millet, or
kao-laing, (the holcus sorghum of naturalists) which is very pala
table, and, from its mildness, gently excites the animal spirits without
producing intoxication, or any other bad effects, unless immoderately
taken. This is a favourite beverage used even at the breakfast table
of every man of quality, where it is always drunk hot, and seldom in
less quantity than two cups at a time by any individual.

The denominations of the wines made from rice and other grain
are distinguished by their respective colours, which are generally
yellow, red, white, or pale ; hence if the wine be yellow, it is called
hoang-tsieou, hoang signifying yellow, arid tsieou fermented liquor.
But it has different names, and is differently estimated from the res
pective places of manufacture as before stated. A bottle of Kian-
nan wine, there called hosi-kuen from the name of a fountain, is sold
for about eight pence. A wholesome and much esteemed liquor,
termed Chao-tsing-tsieou is so called from a town in the province
where it is made, and is sold at a moderate price, being from four
pence to six pence the bottle. Tse-kiang, another fermented beverage,
has an agreeable tartish flavour, with strong intoxicating qualities, and
is in high repute. To tell a man that he drinks Chao-tsing-tsieou, or
Tse-kiang, is the same as to say, he lives too voluptuously, or drinks
too deeply.

In many of the provinces, an excellent description of wine is made
from the palm-tree, and is called Cha, a term which, in the amplitude
of the Chinese language, is also given to tea ; but the process of
making it differs little from that as practised in India, and already
described. Navarette says that a ;most superior and delicate species
of wine is prepared from the quince. But in a country so extensive
as China, abounding in every variety of fruit that grows in other
parts of the world, as well as some peculiar to the soil, with grain and
esculent substance that contain saccharine matter, what, it may be
asked, in the hands of so ingenious a people, must be the number of
wines or vinous liquors that daily sparkle on the tables of the luxurious?

* Capt. Hall's Journal, vol. i. p. 31.

219

The festivals and private entertainments of the Chinese, which arts
numerous, give consumption to every description of drink. At all
their entertainments much ceremony is used, but this need not be
wondered at, when it formed a matter of state policy to regulate even
the etiquette to be observed at social and convivial parties. When
an invitation for dinner is given, a large sheet of red paper is sent
several days before, couched in terms of the most polite nature, and
written in all the pomposity of the oriental style. The following is
a copy of a note of invitation sent from a Chinese of consequence at
Canton, to a foreigner, inviting him to a marriage feast : —

" To the great head of literature, venerable first-born, at his table
of study. On the 8th day of the present moon, your younger brother
is to be married. On the 9th having cleansed the cups, on the 10th
he will pour out wine, on which day he will presume to draw to his
lonely abode the carriage of his friend. With him he will enjoy the
pleasures of conversation and receive from him instruction for the well
regulation of the feast. To this he solicits the brilliant presence of
his elder brother ; and the elevation to which the influence of his
glory will assist him to rise, who can conceive ?"

Nor is such an invitation supposed to be given with sincerity, until it
has been renewed three or four times in writing. On the day previous
to the feast, another solicitation is sent on rose-coloured paper, by way
of a remembrancer, and in order to ascertain whether the guest will
attend. Besides, on the day appointed, the invitation is again repeated
to inform the persons invited that the feast is ready, and nothing
wanted but their presence. When the company have arrived and
partaken* of some refreshments, the dinner commences, the wine cups
are filled with Sew-heng-tsow, the host arises, all the guests follow
his example, and each holding a cup in both hands, and saluting each
other, drink the contents and sit down to the repast. The cups are
sometimes replenished with other domestic liquors, or cordials made
from lytchees, oranges, pine-apples and other fruit, which, although
rather strong, are pleasing to the taste. Sam-tchoo, or Fan-Tsow, is
always offered after the commencement of the second course, and on
the serving of every new dish, cups of Sew-heng-tsow are swallowed.
During the repast, the guests pledge each other after the European
manner, and sometimes with such etiquette that, with the cups held
by both hands, the parties remove to the centre of the room raising
and lowering their cups even to the ground, repeating the ceremony
three, six, or nine times, watching each other's movements strictly,
till their cups are brought to their lips at the same instant, when they
empty them of their contents; and, turning1 them downwards, shew

220

that not a drop has been left, after which they retreat in the same
ceremonious order to their seats. Every movement from the begin-
ing to the end of the entertainment is equally formal. Instead of grace
or a prayer before dinner, as is the custom in Christian countries, the
master of the house, when his guests are assembled, takes a cup of
wine, and after bowing to the company, solemnly advances to the
court-yard and raising his eyes and the cup to heaven, pours out the
contents on the ground as an offering of respect and satisfaction to
the deity, to whom he thus expresses gratitude for the pleasure of
seeing his friends. Each guest at these entertainments has a table to
himself, and the one for the master is always below the rest to shew
his regard for the company. It is customary on those occasions to
call in strolling comedians to add, by their performance, to the plea
sures of the social circle, which are seldom considered complete with
out them. When the guests are about to sit down to dinner, four or
five actors richly dressed enter the room, and, as a mark of reverence
to the assembly, bow so low that their foreheads touch the ground,
which ceremony they repeat four times. Then one of them presents
a book in which are written, in letters of gold, the titles of a number
of comedies that they can perform. One being chosen, the acting
commences to the music of drums, flutes, fifes, and trumpets. A
large vacant space left between the tables, which are placed in two
rows, serves for the stage ; and instead of side-scenes, the actors make
use of the adjoining rooms, from which they come to perform their
parts. A number of persons are frequently admitted into the court
yard to enjoy the performance, but they form no part of the guests.
The women are also present without being seen, having accomoda-
tions behind a lattice, through which they can behold all that passes.
Jugglers and mountebanks are often engaged to enliven the entertain
ment, and their pranks and deceptions are wonderful. One of them
will desire a guest to choose a glass of some favourite liquor ; when,
by boring a hole with a gimlet in any of the pillars by which the roof
of the apartment is supported, he will draw through a quill the liquor
required. In a similar way, other extraordinary feats of leger
demain, with pantomimic tricks, are exhibited. A dessert, or supper,
follows the dinner, when the same ceremonious conduct is observed.
Larger cups, however, are then used, and the master of the house
drinks with less reserve in order to encourage the company to follow
his example, which they generally do pretty freely. All is over
about midnight, when the party repair to their respective homes,
carried in chairs, preceded by domestics who have large lanterns of
oiled paper, on which the name and rank of their master are usually

221

inscribed. Without these precautions they would be stopped by the
watchmen, to whose officer a card of thanks is usually presented the
next morning. On the day after the dinner, the host sends a large
red paper to each of the guests apologizing for the badness of the
dinner (which, by the bye, always consists of the greatest delicacies),
and an immediate reply is returned on the same sort of paper, praising,
in the like bombastic style, the unbounded gratification his feast had
afforded, and complimenting him on the polite manner with which he
conducted himself towards all his guests.

Dinners, when given to Europeans, are sometimes served in the
English fashion, with such meat and wines as they have been accus
tomed to at home ; and on these occasions the usual ceremonies are
dispensed with. In Pekin, it is common for some of the higher orders to
resort to hotels or taverns for the purpose of entertaining their friends,
where a dinner of twenty different dishes may be had at from nine to
ten francs for each person.* The Tartars have a good deal altered
the ancient ceremonial of the Chinese repasts, but there is still too
much form observed to render their entertainments pleasing, parti
cularly to strangers.

The following mode of making beer is observed in China. The
liquor is called tar-asun, and is extracted from barley or wheat.
The grain from which it is produced undergoes a certain degree of
malting, and after which it is coarsely ground and put into a keive,
where it is moistened slightly with warm water, and closely covered.
After it has stood for some time, boiling Avater is again poured upon
it, and the whole is stirred until it appears completely wetted and
mixed. This operation being performed, the keive is covered a third
time, and permitted to stand as before. It is then opened again,
stirring the whole contents and pouring in boiling water, until the
light material rise to the top, and the liquor assumes the strong
flavour of the grain, which is known by its having gained a deep
colour, and an adhesive or glutinous consistency. When the liquid
has become lukewarm, it is poured into a narrower vessel than the
keive ; and after being mixed with a small portion of Chinese hops,
the vessel containing the liquor is put down into the earth for the
purpose of fermentation. The Chinese hop is a prepared one which
bears its leaven within itself, and excites fermentation, though the
humulus lupulus, or common hop, is found climbing through the hedges.f
As soon as the working has ceased, and the liquor has begun to sub
side, large bags are filled with it, or rather coarse sacks made of a

* Timkowsld's Travels, vol. ii. \\ 173.
f Osbeck's China, vol. i. p. 33C.

222

thickness suitable for tlie purpose, after which they are put into ii
press. The liquor extracted is poured into barrels, bunged up with
care, and immediately after placed in a cellar, as without this precau
tion it would soon become sour. In the distilleries, the same process
is observed for the preparation of the wort, or wash, from wheat, rye,
or millet, except that no hops are used when the liquor from the grain
is intended to be distilled. Before this extract is submitted to any
kind of fermentation, it is mixed with a preparation called pe-ka, con
sisting of rice-flour, licorice-root, aniseed, and garlic ; this, it appears,
not only accelerates fermentation, but is supposed to impart a peculiar
flavour. The whole of the mixture being duly fermented, undergoes
distillation, and the Sau-tchoo thus prepared, may, as Barrow remarks,
be considered as the basis of the best arrack, which in Java, as already
noticed, is exclusively the manufacture of the Chinese, and is nothing
more than a rectification of the above spirit, with the addition of mo
lasses and juice of the cocoa-nut tree.* Before distillation, the liquor
is simply called tchoo or wine; after that, the word show, sau, or sam,
is added, to express its hot, burning, or fiery nature. The tar-asun
is a sweet liquor, sometimes equal in strength and purity to Canary
wine ; but to strangers it has a disagreeable flavour. Bell, who
accompanied the Russian ambassador to Pekin, in the year 1720,
observed, that the emperor Kanihi and his courtiers were very fond
of this liquor, and a good cup of it warm, was presented to him of a
cold morning by the emperor's own hands, which he found very
refreshing.f

The great materials of distillation tlu'oughout all China are rice and
millet, the former of which, according to Sir George Staunton, is
produced in great abundance in the middle and southern provinces of
the empire; while the latter supplies its place in the northern. The
millet of the northern provinces is the holcus sorghum, or Barbadoes
millet : the Chinese call it koiv-leang, or lofty corn. It is worthy of
remark, that as the barley-corn was made a standard of measure by
Europeans, so the Chinese formed their measures of capacity by the
number of grains of millet which they contained. May it not, there
fore, from the antiquity of this nation, be inferred, that the practice
of measuring by grain was borrowed from them, when it appears
from their most ancient records to have been in use from the earliest
period. An idea can scarcely be formed of the immense culture of
rice and millet, even on learning that the mere tribute, paid from the

* Barrow's Trav. p. 304.
f Bell's Travels, vol. ii. p. 9.

223

different provinces into the royal treasury, yearly, as a duty on the
lands, amounts in those different kinds of grain to 40,155,490 sacks.*
According to the Chinese geography, Daisin-y-tundshi, the tribute
of wheat in Chinese da?i, or bushels, amounts to 6,396,286.f But
when the steepest hills and mountains are brought into cultivation, we
need scarcely wonder at the agricultural riches of China. The vrater
which runs through the level of the valley, is there taught to flow
across the mountain, and from terrace to terrace, to give nourishment
to vegetable matters, and assist the hardy labours of the husbandman.
The principal depot for rice and other grain is at Pekin. In that
city are immense magazines for storing the contributions from the
several states. The corn and rice are conveyed to the capital by
small boats, or junks, to the number of 10,455. The barges appointed
by the government for the conveyance of provisions, silk, rice, and
other necessaries from the southern provinces to Pekin, amount to
9,999, which number is kept up with a sort of religious punctuality.
The canal by which these are conveyed is said to have been con
structed for that special purpose, and was, therefore, denominated Yun
leang /to, which signifies the " grain -transmitting river." At every
dike, the cargo is shifted into other boats placed on the opposite side ;
and thus, at immense labour, is transported the produce of the extre
mities of the empire to the central parts. For the convenience of
removing the cargo from one boat to another, the rice is carried in
sacks and stowed on deck. Adjoining these magazines, is one belong
ing to the government, for the express purpose of holding rice-wine,
arrack, and other commodities. A missionary relates that, in the year
1664, he bought the very best wheat for three ryals (eighteen pence),
and rice of the first quality, " every grain as big as the kernel of a pine
apple," for five ryals (half-a-crown) the bushel. In the province of
Shan-tong, in the same year, wheat was sold for one ryal, or six-pence
the bushel. The wheat sent yearly to the treasury from this province,
is upwards of 1,271,494 dans. The produce of this empire being
so little liable to change, unless from unfavourable seasons, I am

* In 1696, the quantity of rice and corn brought into the emperor's stores con
sisted of 43,328,834 sacks with 38,550lbs. of dried fruits, viz. grapes, figs, nuts,
and chesnuts.

f The dan is equal to 12, 070 cubic inches French. The Daisin-y-tundsJd is very
scarce, and not to be had even among the booksellers at Pekin ; and if a copy of it
could be procured, it would cost at least 200 rubles of silver. Timkowski, who
was in China, in 1820, was informed by Father Hyacinth, of the Russian college,
that he had translated the greater part of this valuable work into the Russian
language, and it is to be hoped that it will speedily make its appearance in an Eng
lish dress.

224

inclined to think that the prices are still the same. When Barrow
was at Pekin, rice sold from three -halfpence to two-pence per lh.,
bread four pence, and wheat-flour from two-pence halfpenny to three
pence. Dobell, a late writer,* makes the price of rice cheaper, it
generally selling from three quarters of a dollar to one and a quarter
dollars the picul of 133^ English pounds.

As there does not appear any regulation confining distillation to
particular individuals, all the makers of wine distil from the lees, wliile
other persons manufacture from the grain direct. The produce is
*^ distinguished in Europe under the general appellation of rack, raki, or
arrack, a term in use from the earliest dawn of civilisation. The
manufacture of this liquor, Grosier tells us, is carried on to a great
extent through the whole of the Chinese dominions. Its strength
generally exceeds the common proof, and is free from that empyreu-
matic odour so often perceptible in European spirits. Numbers of
carts laden with it enter Pekin daily. The duty is paid at the gates,
which are nine in number, three on the south front, and two on the
other three sides, and the liquor is sold publicly in more than a thou
sand shops that are dispersed through the city and suburbs. The
sale of this attractive article is conducted in the same way through the
whole of the cities, towns, and villages in the fifteen provinces ; and
it is not a little surprising that, amidst a population of 333,000,000,
the consumption of so dangerous a beverage should be attended with
so few fatal consequences, since we are assured on the testimony of
the most respectable writers,f that a quarrel or murder occasioned by
intoxication is rarely or ever heard of. But, I apprehend, that to the
strictness of the police, and to a regulation rendering every tenth
housekeeper accountable for the conduct of the nine neighbouring
families, J more than to the steadiness of the Chinese, must be attri
buted this forbearance, since human nature is much the same in every
region of the world. As to the population of this empire, writers
disagree. Lord Macartney and Staunton rate it as just stated ; the
Abbe Grosier makes it 200,000,000; and Father Allerstain,
198,213,713; others limit it to 150,000,000. Most writers, how
ever, agree with Staunton, and from the opportunity he had of
obtaining accurate information, it may be presumed his estimate is
more to be relied on than any other. The population, as given by
order of the emperor Kea-king,in 1812, appeared to be 360,279,897*

* Travels, vol. ii. p. ) 92.

f De Guignes, Barrow, Osbeck, Van Praam, Sil. t!et Sacy, &c.

J Staunton' Embassy, vol. ii. p. 56.

223

The census of this vast empire is taken annually, and therefore ought
to be more accurate than that of any other nation, as officers appointed
for the purpose visit every village, town, and city, to collect the
returns of the householders, who are obliged to attach, on the outside
of their doors, the number of the inmates, male and female, attested
by their signature. These returns are made up and forwarded to the
government. No kind of imposition can be practised, as the reporter
is held accountable for the truth of his statement ; and any deviation
from accuracy is most severely punished. Were such a practice
adopted in this country, parliament could never be at a loss to ascertain
the physical and disposable strength of the empire at any time, and thus
make a considerable saving in the expense of obtaining such returns.

In so dense and populous a country, houses for general accommo
dation are very numerous. Abel gives the following picture of the
public houses he had an opportunity of visiting, while the embassy
stopped at the city of Tong-chow, on its return from Pekin : — These,
says he, were large open sheds, fitted up with tables and benches, and
affording means of gambling and drinking to the lower orders of the
people. They were generally filled with players at dominos or cards,
who seemed to enter with intense earnestness into their game. The
cards were small pieces of pasteboard, about two inches long, and
half an inch wide, having black and red characters painted on them.
The beverages most largely partaken of in those houses were tea,
wine, and Sam-su. All the guests were smoking from pipes of
various lengths, from two to five feet, formed of the young and tender
twigs of bamboo, fitted with bowls of white copper about the size of
a thimble.* Every person smokes to excess, and should any one in
company refuse to smoke, he is accused of affectation, as it is deemed
necessary that every man should make a chimney of his mouth.f The
Chinese, in their cheerful and idle moments, amuse themselves at a
game on the fingers to procure drink and enjoyment, called houa
thsionan, or tsoey-moey. It is thus described by Dobell: — The wine-
cups being filled, the two persons engaged stretch forth their right
hands towards the centre of the table, with their fingers closed. When
the hands come almost in contact, they open as many fingers as they
please, and each person cries out the number he opens, as one, three,
five, &c. Whoever hits on the exact number of fingers presented by
both persons, obliges his adversary to drink. " I have seen," says
he, "this game continued for an hour, until one of the parties, finding
himself the loser, and his head affected, is forced to retire. It is an

* Abel's Narrative, p. 117. f Dobell, vol. ii. p. 264.

226

extremely noisy amusement when any number of guests engage in it.
In passing up and down Canton river on a holyday, one's ears are
assailed on all sides with this boisterous merriment." Another festive
trick, which they practise, is that of rapidly passing a bunch of flowers
from hand to hand, during which a kettle-drum is kept beating ; and
whoever holds the flowers, the instant the drum is stopped, is
obliged to drink a cup of wine as a forfeit. The public inns
and victualling houses have their fiddlers and comedians to entertain
their guests at meals, and other occasions of refreshment.* Such
houses, however, are seldom frequented for the mere love of drink
ing, and although intoxication is not unusual, that vice forms no part
of the general character of the people. Mr. Dobell says, that the
Chinese are in general sober, and that habitual intoxication is very
'• rare.f J£Uuus of a contrary opinion, for he says, that whatever may
/ have been the assertion of travellers, his experience led him to con-
1 sider the Chinese scarcely less addicted to the use of spirituous liquors
than Europeans ; and that it is only their superior sense of decorum
that prevents them from exhibiting themselves as often in public
under the influence of spirits. There are likewise laws to regulate
the sale of spirituous liquors and to guard against irregularities. One
of these enactments says, " A man, who, intoxicated with liquor,
commits outrages against the laws, shall be exiled to a desert country,
there to remain in a state of servitude." This judicious ordinance
can scarcely fail in producing the desired effect, as the dread of punish
ment ought to counterbalance every inducement to criminal indulgence.
Martini and Navarette have stated, that the Chinese sometimes
drink to excess, although they are the reverse of a drunken people.
Occasional intoxication is not considered shameful, but treated with
ridicule or pity ; and the enactment here cited is only to restrain
habitual and egregious offenders.

The rice-wines are all drunk warm, as indeed is almost every
other kind of fluid. Whether this practice is owing to national habit,
or that it is more salutary to the people, who are of weak constitu
tions and subject to pulmonary and bowel complaints, it is not so easy
to determine ; but a general opinion prevails that fermented and spiri
tuous liquors made hot, are accounted not only agreeable, but preven
tives of disease, and hence one reason why the custom is so preva
lent. In warm climates, it is considered that heated beverages are the
most wholesome, and contribute to alleviate the sensations of fatigue.
Even in the parching climate of Hindostan, weak but warm liquors

* NieuhofTs Travels in China. f Travels, vol. ii. p. 239.

227

are ready for all travellers at the public inns or choultries. Through
China, in like manner, warm tea and other hot beverages are sold at
public inns, along the roads, canals, and rivers ; and it is not un
common to see porters or carriers lay down their burdens to refresh
themselves with a cup of tea, and afterwards pursue their journey.
In Bootan and Thibet, it is the first object of a traveller to procure for
himself a dish of hot tea, which is generally served to him the moment
he arrives at a caravansary. The Chinese, rather than drink their
liquor cold, plunge the jug in which it is contained into boiling water,
until it obtains the proper temperature ; but the general practice is to
warm it over a fire. So careful are persons of rank respecting the
quality of their drinks, that besides the heating of all manufactured
liquors, they seldom take water without its being first subjected to
distillation, in order to free it of animalcule or other impurity. Some
philosophically account for the Chinese and other Orientals drinking
their liquors warm, on the grounds that in all hot countries the
stomach loses its activity by a too copious perspiration ; and conse
quently, every thing which warms it, not only invigorates it but
repairs its losses. The contrast is remarkable ; when we compare
the Chinese custom of drinking warm beverages even on ordinary
occasions, with that of the Russians, who, when in a profuse perspi
ration after coming out of a warm bath, drink copious draughts of
mead as cold as it can be procured, without sustaining the least injury.
It is customary in China to eat cold meats, though the drinks are
warm, and they are so particular in this respect, that attendants are
appointed at feasts to pour hot wine into the cups, and remove that
which is cold. The drinking cups usually employed by these people
are either of silver, porcelain, or precious wood. Very small cups
are used at first, but about the middle of an entertainment they are
changed for larger. They are always presented full, having no idea
of half -measures. It is facetiously related that a parsimonious host,
afraid of filling a bumper, presented a friend with a glass only half
full, when the guest, attentively looking at it, said, — " This glass is
too deep ; one half must be cut off." The astonished host inquired
the reason, to which the other replied, — " If the upper cannot hold
wine, of what use is it ?"

Among the Chinese, it is a common saying that wine is the way
to try people's strength ; and that those, that are strong always
shew it by their eating and drinking ; but that there are only three
occasions on which it is strictly proper ; and for eacli of these, three
cups are allowable ; these are for friendship, mirth, and to satisfy
nature. Sir William Tt-mple's regulation, mentioned in the Spectator,

228

far surpasses this for its temperance. — " Let the first glass be for
myself, the second for my friends, the third for good humour, and the
fourth for mine enemies."* After dinner, in order to promote a relish
for a cup, some highly seasoned or salt meat is used, which they term
a guide, and among friends when the liquor begins to exhilarate, or
the party are desirous of retiring, the same enticing inducements to
detain them are practised as in Europe ; so that social moments, we
may see, greatly assimilates man in every country.
/ As distillation occupies the attention of multitudes in China, it is
/ generally conducted on a limited scale by each individual. The
machinery of a still-house much resembles that in use on the continent
of Europe, or what is employed in this country by illicit distillers,
with the exception that the head and condenser of the still are of a
different construction, having no worm-tub. The condensation is effected
by a cylinder full of water surrounding the head, and kept full either
by a small stream or being poured in by the hand. The head is, for
the most part, globular, with a neck to fit into the breast or body of
the still. Near the neck, inside the head, is a gutter from which a
tube projects through the cylinder of water to convey the condensed
vapour into a receiver, as shewn in the annexed drawing.

* Spectator, vol. iii. No. 105.

229

The process of distillation is laborious, but, as already observed,
the mechanical arts in this country are not progressively advancing,
and, therefore, the Chinese are regardless of the toil, which a little
exertion and ingenuity might obviate. The still is placed in a furnace
of brick work, and the fire so directed that the whole force of the
flame may bear on the central parts of the bottom. By this means
much saving of fuel is effected, and the economy of the people is
shewn here as in the other pursuits of life, it being a maxim among
them to let nothing go to loss that can be turned to advantage.

Although coal is plentiful in some of the provinces, yet a great deal
of it is deficient in that gaseous quality which renders it valuable.
Hence wood becomes expensive, and is for the most part sold by
weight, bringing a price in proportion to its goodness for fuel. Soft
pine is the cheapest, because it is easily consumed. Charcoal is com
mon, but very expensive. Under these circumstances, great caution
is displayed in every instance in which fuel is requisite.

When scarcity or famine is dreaded, distillation is prohibited, as in
Great Britain, by proclamation. Where stills are found afterwards
at work, the still-houses are destroyed, the workmen thrown into
prison, whipped, and condemned to carry the cangue or kia, a degrad
ing frame of wood placed round the neck, weighing from one to two
hundred pounds, which renders the culprit unable to do any thing for
himself so long as he is obliged to wear it.* The facility with which
fuel is conveyed by canals through the provinces, and the ease of pro
curing grain in every town and village, tend greatly to the encou
ragement of distillation.

The skill of the Chinese in distillation is not confined to the manu
facture of brandy from rice or millet alone. Besides the quantities
that are distilled from the produce of the palm and other fruits, a very
ardent spirit, said not to be unworthy of the emperors, is produced
from the flesh of sheep.j

The nature of the process seems to be as yet a secret to Europeans ;
some indeed have stated, that several vegetable substances are em
ployed, but this assertion appears to rest on mere conjecture. The
use of this liquor was first introduced by the Tartars, whose fondness
for the repasts which the flocks and herds of their native wilds afforded,
induced them to subject to the action of the still, the flesh of an
animal that had long formed the basis of a more simple, though per
haps not less intoxicating beverage. I allude to their lamb wine.

* Staunton's Translation of the Penal Code of China, 4to. p. 12
f Du Halde, vol. i. p. 303. Duvis's China, volt i. p. 330.

230

The Chinese term for this liquor is Kau-yang-tsyew. It is said to
be a very strong, nutritious beverage, and the Tartars delight to get
drunk with it.* Kang-hi, who was of Tartar origin and wielded the
Chinese sceptre for sixty years, encouraged the manufacture of this
spirit by the use he made of it himself. It has, however, never been
a favourite in China, and we have little reason to expect that its
admirers, should any of them visit Europe, will ever be regaled with
a cup of this exhilarating draught. Of a similar description is, per
haps, the spirits made at Surat, denominatd spirit of mutton, spirit
of deer, spirit of goat > which derive their names from the practice of
throwing into the still a joint of mutton, a haunch of venison, or a
quarter of goat, with a view, as is conceived, to add a mellowness
and softness to the spirit.f

The inhabitants of the province of Quang-tong distil a very plea
sant liquor from the flowers of a species of lemon tree, which are said
to possess an exquisite odour, and like those of the Mahwah or Mad-
huca of Bahar, in India, have a strong saccharine quality. The fruit
of the tree is almost as big as a man's head ; its rind resembles that
of the orange, but the substance within is either white or reddish, and
has a taste between sweet and sour 4 The spirit is perfectly clear
and transparent and is held in high estimation.

From the refuse of their sugar plantations, in which the cane grows
to great perfection, particularly in the southern provinces, much rum
might be manufactured, but no attempt has yet been made to distil
that article. So great is the trade in sugar, that 10,000,0001bs. were
exported from the country in 1806. The sugar exported from Canton
for American consumption in four years, from 1815 to 181 9, amounted
to 39,670 piculs ; and from that port, in the same period, were ex
ported for European use, 21,400 piculs.§ The entire quantity car
ried from Canton by the American traders, from 1804 to 5th January,
1819, appears to be 67,673 piculs ;|| and the quantity imported into
Great Britain, the produce of the East Indies and China, for seven
years from 5th January, 1815, to 5th January, 1821, amounts to
1,073,730 cwt., which, at £2. 2s. per cwt., gives a sum of £2,254,833,
being at the rate of 4\d. per Ib. The Chinese are expert in the
manufacture of sugar and sugar-candy ; the latter has been celebrated.

* Grosicr, vol. ii. p. 319.

f Grose's Voyage to the East Indies, vol. i. p. 112.

J Du Halde, vol. i. p. 109.

§ Parliamentary Report, 7th May, J821, p. 183.

}| Ibid. p. 315.

231

So far back as 1637, both these articles could have been purchased
for three half pence per Ib. of a quality as white as snow.

In their sugar establishments, simplicity seems to be the prevailing
consideration. Mr. Abeel, who visited one of these manufactories in
the island of Whampoa, describes the mill which expressed the liquor
from the cane, as composed of tliree vertical cylinders made of coarse
granite, with wooden cogs. The coppers or boilers were made of
cast iron, which the Chinese have the art of reducing almost to the
texture of common paper, and of welding, when broken, with entire
facility and firmness. These boilers were arrayed triangularly, and
with little regard to those principles of granulation which are else
where observed. All were performed by manual labour ; the mill
was placed below the level of the boilers, and the liquor carried in
tubs from the one to the other. As it attained consistency in each
of these vessels, instead of being passed through a strainer into the
next, it was transferred by hand to another part of the building,
whence, after the process of filtration, it was returned to its appro
priate cauldron.*

The wines of Europe are now imported into China, like other
articles of merchandise, and are often sold to considerable advantage.
The Xeres, or Sherry wine, is preferred on account of its strength,
and because it is not liable to change by heat. The Spaniards send
wines to Manilla, Macao, and other parts, from whence the Chinese
bring a considerable quantity, especially for the court of Pekin.f J)

The East India Company exclusively exported to China in ten
years, from 1810 to 1820, beer alone to the value of £14,309, and
wine in bottles and packages for the same period to the amount of
£7,383. This trade is on the increase, and the reader is referred to
an account of all beer, ale, and spirits, both British and foreign, as
well as wine, exported from Great Britain to the East Indies and
China for a period of seven years, as given in the Addenda, for the
purpose of shewing at one view the extent of this commerce, and its
importance as a source of wealth and consumption to our home and
foreign manufacture. The Americans also are carriers of these
articles. In the year ending 5th January, 1819, one thousand gallons
of gin were imported by them into Canton. The superior quality of
European spirits renders their importation desirable, as much confu
sion and danger have arisen in the immoderate use of the ardent

* Abeel's Journal of a Residence in China, p. 83.
f Osbeck's Voyage to China, vol. i. pp. 315, 31fi.

232

spirits of the country by the British sailors who frequent this port,
and of whose habits the Chinese take advantage by mixing their
liquors with ingredients of an irritating and maddening effect. It
superinduces a state of inebriety more ferocious than that occasioned
by any other spirit, and leading the men into the most riotous ex
cesses, tends to establish in the minds of the peaceable inhabitants
the most unfavourable opinion of the English character. When a
European vessel touches at Canton, it is common for the natives to
come on board and barter whatever articles may mutually answer the
parties. Among these, sam-su is not the least in request. This
liquor is generally carried in small pots ; and is so cheap, that nearly
three pints may sometimes be purchased for about three pence half
penny ; and for a small coin called joss, value about one-tenth of a
penny, a very strong dram of sam-su may be obtained. The gentle
man who assured me of this, was some time in China, and was often
surprised when his vessel lay in the roads off Whampoa, to see with
what despatch a quantity of sam-su, when ordered, was brought on
board from the shore. He was informed by the inhabitants that there
was no restriction on the making of it by any enactment of the state.
The sam-su brought to the vessel was generally of a yellowish colour,
and to his taste rather disagreeable ; but custom rendered it palatable.
He also added that he had drunk arrack distilled from rice, not infe
rior either in strength or quality to any of our best whiskey. Two
boats, called hoppoo-boats, are usually fastened to the stern of every
ship anchoring at Whampoa. lliese are supplied with every neces
sary that the sailors stand in neechof, and among the rest with a large
store of sam-su* Notwithstanding this convenience, adventurers
throng from the shore carrying quantities of drink and other articles ;
an intercourse often attended with unpleasant consequences. The
liquor now distilled at Canton is of a superior description to that
formerly manufactured, owing to a Chinese from Penang having
lately introduced the making of rum, since which that spirit can be
purchased at a cheap rate.

rln contrasting the habits of the Chinese with those of other
nations, we cannot but admire the general regularity and tempe
rance of this people, and the wisdom of the government by which they
are held in such moderation. Montesquieu has asserted, that drunk
enness increases in proportion as we recede from the equator to the
poles.* This assumption is highly questionable, particularly as
regards China, for, if such were the fact, the Chinese in the northern

* Spirit of Laws, vol. i. b. 14, chap. If).

233

provinces would be greater drunkards than those of the southern ;
although the contrary is the case. For it does not appear that inebriety
prevails more at Pekin than at Canton, and still much less in many
parts of Europe, than in several portions of the torrid zone. To
other circumstances, therefore, rather than to approaches towards
the poles, should the love of strong drink be attributed. We find
that man in every clime has recourse to inebriants, either in a liquid or
in a vegetable form, and that more is to be imputed to the genius of
the religion than to either the climate or the want of inclina
tion for indulgence in intoxication. The Mahometans, the Budhists,
or Lamaics, the Brahmins, and other sectarians of the East, although
prohibited the public use of wine, often indulge in it to excess ; and
when it cannot be procured, they purchase enjoyment of a similar
nature, not so favourable to the prolongation of animal existence.
The sobriety and moral rectitude of the Chinese have been secured,
through a long succession of ages, by a systematic combination of
laws which have so blended the wisdom of the government with the
virtue of the people, that the stability of the empire has been preserved
unshaken from all external force and internal commotion, since the
days of Confucius to the present time.

In the tributary state of Ha-mi, which, though surrounded by
deserts, is accounted one of the most delightful countries in the world,
pomegranates, oranges, peaches, raisins, and prunes are of the most
exquisite taste ; and the jujubes, or dates, are so juicy, and of such
delicious flavour, that the Chinese call them perfumed jujubes. The
melons are brought to Pekin for the emperor's use, and have the
singular property of keeping fresh during the greater part of the
winter. Raisins are a most important production, and are of two
kinds ; one like the Corinthian, and the other like those of Malaga.
They are said to possess high medicinal virtues, and are much extolled
for their efficacy in many obstinate diseases. Wine is made, and of
such excellent quality, that it is transported in skins by means of
camels into various parts of China. It was from this region, that
Tai-song caused the vine plants of the species called majou to be
brought and planted in the imperial gardens at Pekin, and it is
asserted by some, that the art of making wine was first learned here
by the Chinese. The climate of Ha-mi, it is thought, is more favour
able to the culture of the vine than that of France; and the quality
of the grapes far exceeds that of most European states. The coun
try is embosomed in mountains, which protect it from the north and
east winds, and as it seldom or never rains, the vineyards are watered
from reservoirs constructed at the foot of the mountains, from which

234.

they arc supplied by copious streams that trickle from the melting
snows on their lofty summits. Vast quantities of the grapes are
preserved, and form a valuable branch of commerce. They are not
pulled until quite ripe, and being carefully picked and dried in the
sun, are packed in mats, in which they become shrivelled, but without
losing much of the richness and flavour for which they are so remark
able. Large packages of these grapes form a portion of the annual
tribute sent to the government stores at Pekin. After supplying the
imperial tables, they are sold to the Mandarins and such of the inha
bitants as can afford to buy them. A most excellent description of
brandy is distilled at Ha-mi ; and drinks of various kinds are made
from the fruits which so plentifully abound. Many of the nomade
tribes of Eastern Tartary consume a good deal of the liquors of this
oasis of the wilderness, for which they barter a variety of articles.

The island of Hainan, although between four and five hundred
miles in circumference, has not been described by modern geogra
phers with that accuracy of delineation which an island of such mag
nitude merits, owing to the paucity of information arising from the
want of that intercourse which the extent of European enterprise
lias enabled us to obtain concerning other portions of the globe. The
defect, however, is in a great degree supplied by the late journey of
a gentleman from Manchao, in the south coast of Hainan, to Canton, in
the years 1819 and 1820. He describes the inhabitants to be in a high
state of civilisation ; the towns and villages numerous, and some of the
cities so populous as to contain 200,000 inhabitants. The agricultural
products of the island are much the same as those on the continent ;
and every portion of it is well cultivated. Rice is the principal
grain raised for food, and from which the wine used in the island is
principally made. The palm abounds, and cocoa-nuts form an article
of export. The cane is cultivated so extensively as to afford a
considerable supply of sugar for China. In the towns and cities, the
shops are represented as highly respectable, while the artisans have
arrived at an astonishing degree of perfection in the mechanic arts.
In carving, polishing, and mounting cocoa-nut shells, they display great
ingenuity, forming out of this material various domestic articles of
a beautiful jet black, elegantly ornamented with silver.

The liquors of Hainan are much the same as those used in the
Chinese empire, and are all drunk warm. An anecdote is related by
the traveller just mentioned, who, having called on the governor of
Keung-chow-foo, the capital, was treated with wine : but the servant
who attended him, in his officiousncss to fulfil his master's orders,
poured the hot liquor down the traveller's throat, cup after cup, in

235

such quantities, and so rashly, that he made him not only tipsy, but
scalded his month into the bargain. The inhabitants of this island,
in their commerce with China, employ a great number of junks, some
of 400 tons burthen. They generally go in fleets ; that in which our
traveller passed into China was very numerous ; ihe river, for a con
siderable distance, as he expresses it, being covered with a forest of masts.
The cargoes, in general, consist of sugar, betel-nuts, salt, indigo, tanned
hides, tobacco, and cinnamon, for which are brought in return the
various matters necessary for the wants of the Hainanese. Among
these are cotton, furs, English broad-cloths, sweet-meats, liqueurs,
flints, porcelain, and opium. The habits and moral conduct of the
people of Hainan resemble those of China so much, that further
observation on that head is unnecessary. As in Tonquin and Cochin-
China, they distil arrack mixed with ealamba, which imparts to that
liquor a flavour highly esteemed by the natives. This wood grows
in the wild and mountainous parts of the island, and has a most deli
cious perfume. It is highly valued both in China and Japan, where
it is sold in logs at the rate of 200 ducats the pound, to make articles
of furniture for the courts. Being chipped and pounded, it is mixed
with the fermented rice, and in that state distilled like the juniper in
Holland. This wood is so hard, that the mountaineers of Hainan
make spades of it to dig gold from their mines, which they barter
with the people of the plains for such matters as they may stand in
need of.

In the island of Tai-oun, or Formosa, situated in the Chinese sea,
the inhabitants, particularly those on the coasts, manufacture rice-wine,
and distil a spirit from it, much in the same manner as already des
cribed. But the people of the interior, who are less civilized, make
their drink in a very different manner. Like their neighbours, they
plant rice and live on the produce ; but as they have no wine, or
other strong liquor, they make in lieu of it another sort of beverage,
which, if we may believe Georgius Candidius, a missionary, is very
pleasant, and no less strong than other wine. This liquor is made
by the women in the following manner : — They take a quantity of
rice and boil it until it becomes soft, and then bruise it into a sort of
paste. Afterwards they take rice flour, which they chew, and put
with their saliva into a vessel by itself, till they have a good quantity
of it. This they use instead of leaven or yeast, and mixing it among
the rice paste, wrork it together like baker's dough. They then put
the whole into a large vessel, and after having poured water upon it,
let it stand in that state for two months. In the mean time, the liquor
works up like new wine, and the longer it is preserved, the better it

236

becomes ; and, as is said, will keep good for many years. It is an
agreeable liquor, as clear as pure water at the top, but very muddy
and thick towards the bottom. Though this residuum cannot be used
as a beverage, it is too precious to be thrown away or lost ; hence, to
make it potable, itr is sometimes diluted with water, but more fre
quently supped with a spoon, as a ragout or exhilarating pulp.

When the labourers go to work in the fields, they bring with them
some of this thick or muddy substance in cane vessels, which they
blend with fresh water, and after the mixture has stood a little time
for clarification, it is taken as a refreshment during the heat and
labour of the day.* The Formosans have another liquor, called
Masakhauw, or MacJiiko, made from rice. A vessel, about the sJze of
a hogshead, is nearly two-thirds filled with rice, chewed, and boiled ;
and then filled to the top with water. It is then luted and buried
seven feet under ground, where it is suffered to remain for a year,
when it is taken up and the liquor pressed from the grain by the
bands. In about eight days, during which it wrorks and settles, it
becomes a clear, wholesome beverage, equal to the strongest wine,
and will keep good for twenty or thirty years. Some of the wealthy
inhabitants Lave 200 or 300 vessels of it at one time stored in their
cellars. At the birth of a child, the parents prepare some vessels
of this liquor, and preserve it till the time of marriage. They have
another sort of drink called Cuihay, which is nothing more than the
second washings of the pressed rice, made by putting a small quan
tity of it into a calabash containing about two gallons of water. It
makes a cool, refreshing drink, having a slight flavour of the Masak-
hauw, bearing the same proportion to it in strength as small beer does
to strong. In the northern parts, between Keylang and Tamsay and
between Tamsay and Mount Gedult, a drink is made from wood ashes,
of considerable strength, but injurious to Europeans, from its excoriating
effects on the bowels, which usually lead to dangerous hemorrhage. Al
though these liquors are common as well as many others from China, yet
the natives seldom indulge in them to any degree of excess, j The palm
grows luxuriantly. Toddy is drawn from it, and the uses of the tree
for the various purposes of life are known to many of the inhabi
tants. The leaves are sometimes formed into cylindrical caps with
crowns, one above another, and surmounted with waving plumes,
which give them a majestic appearance.

Candidius's Account of the Island of Formosa, apud Churchill, vol. i. p. 405*
Ogilby's Atlas Chinensis, Fol. Lond. 1671, p. 10.
f Ogilby's Atlas Chinensis, p, 22,

237

The products of this island are sugar, corn, rice, with most other
grains, fruits, and vegetables, common to the continent of China. But,
though fertilized and intersected by a great number of rivulets from
the mountains, it is very extraordinary that every kind of water in
the island is said to be a deadly poison to strangers, for which no
remedy has hitherto been found.* This, however, can only apply to
the water in its simple state, as by boiling, nitration, and other precau
tions, it may be rendered sufficiently safe for every purpose of life.
Neither is it natural to suppose, that a place of such magnitude as
Formosa would be unprovided by Providence in so essential an article
as that of good water, without which neither man nor beast can exist.
The climate is represented to be salubrious, the soil fertile, the ani
mals vigorous and numerous ; and the ox, a creature greatly depen
dant upon water, capable of exerting a strength and speed unknown
in any other part of the world. This assertion, respecting the delete
rious quality of the water, seems to be as preposterous as the story of
John Strays, who would make us believe that he saw a man with a
tail more than a foot in length, covered with red hair, and greatly
resembling that of an ox ; and that this deformity proceeded from
the climate, and was peculiar to all the inhabitants of the southern
parts of the island — a relation too extravagant and incredible to
require refutation. Stripped of the marvellous, Formosa is a valu
able acquisition to China ; and were it not for the exactions of the
Mandarins from those who emigrate to it, numerous manufactories
would be established, and that island would rank high in commercial
importance; since it is known, that immense quantities of rice are ,
raised in the plains, and that to the amount of 100,000 bushels are
annually exported from its harbours. The tribute imposed by the
Chinese on the inhabitants is paid in grain, and the contributions of
this article to the government stores are as respectable as many of
those from the most fertile parts of the empire.

The Coreans, an ingenious and enterprising people who inhabit
that extensive peninsula washed by the sea of Japan, and lying to
the north-east of the Chinese territory, manufacture a species of wine,
or vinous liquor, from a grain called paniz, (panicum or millet), or
from a coarse kind of rice.f They distil arrack in the same man
ner as the Chinese. In this country there are numerous taverns, but
no regular inns for the accommodation of travellers. In these houses,

* Grosier, vol. i. p. 227.

f Mod. Univ. Hist. vol. vii, p. 329. Malte-Brun, vol. ii. p. 498. P. Regis'
Geog. Observ. in Du Haldc, vol. ii. p. 376, &e.

238

music and dancing are kept up with the use of betel, tobacco, and
drink in the style and manner of the Chinese, whose habits and
customs they greatly imitate. Their subjection to the Chinese, and
their consequent intercourse with that people have given to the
Coreans a knowledge of almost all the liquors to be met with in
China. The southern districts are very productive in wheat, millet,
barley, rice, and a variety of fruits. The mountains are cultivated
in many instances by terraces to the tops, and the hand of industry is
visible in almost every part of the country. Traders from Corea go
every year to Pekin with the ambassadors, and carry with them whatever
articles of rarity they consider acceptable to their neighbours, and in
return, bring home a supply of all the productions of the capital,
among which the choicest wines form no inconsiderable portion.

Of this country it is to be regretted that so little is known. The
voyage lately undertaken by Captain Lindsay, in the Amherst, at the
instance of the president and committee of super-cargoes at Canton,
gives us little more than a glimpse of the country, as the jealousy of
the people prevents foreigners of free intercourse or even entrance
into their towns and villages. Captain Lindsay was accompanied
by the Rev. Mr. Gutzlaff, a zealous and pious missionary, and after
several vain attempts to procure an interview with the king, for
whom they had a letter with some presents, all they could effect was
a meeting with some of the chiefs, who entertained them in a tempo
rary shed, where they were served with some wine, or rather with
a spirit resembling once-distilled whiskey. Of this the chiefs par
took first, not through any incivility to the strangers, but as a national
custom.*

Of Japan, as of the other distant and oriental nations, the early
history is but little known. Marco Polo, in the third book of his
account of eastern countries, imperfectly describes it under the name
of Zipangri. The Portuguese, about the year 1542, were the first
who laid open to Europeans a knowledge of those islands.j The
inhabitants, though far advanced in civilisation, appeared altogether
unacquainted with chemistry as a science. In the practice of several
of the useful and ingenious arts they had made astonishing proficiency,
and in the manufacture of Sacki, a strong and wholesome beer pro
cured from rice, they were not excelled by any other people.J This

* Documents of a voyage to the North-East coast of China, in the Amherst,
printed by order of Parliament, 1833.

f Koempfer's Introd. Hist. Japan, vol. i p. 32. Thunberg, &c,
% Koempfer, vol. i. p. 121.

239

liquor lias been the favourite drink from the most remote ages ; and
it is related of one of their emperors that, taking precedent from the
Chinese monarch Kya, he employed 2000 men to dig a large lake,
and having filled it with Sacki, sailed over it in a stately barge.
Captain Saris, while in Japan in 1613, met with several kinds of
strong liquor ; and when he delivered his presents to the emperor,
amongst which was a large drinking cup of superior workmanship and
value, the monarch proposed to drink, standing, the health of his Bri
tannic majesty, in a cup of spirits distilled from rice and as strong as
brandy, termed Sotschio. Having filled his goblet, containing about
a pint and a-half, he drank it off, ordering his secretary or cup-bearer
to see that every individual present had followed liis example. Sacki
is the beverage in general use.* It is as pure as wine, of an agree
able taste, and intoxicating if taken to any extent. When fresh, it is
whitish, but if permitted to remain long in the cask, it becomes
brown. Koempfer met with it in all the inns at which he stopped on
his journey to the metropolis ; and although no person whatever is
exempt from brewing it, yet there are numbers in the empire who
follow no other business than that of making sacki. It is manufac
tured to great perfection in the city of Osacca, and in such abundance
that it is sent from thence all over the kingdom, and even exported
to other countries by the Dutch and Chinese.f The term Sacki is
said to be derived from the name of this city, being the genitive case
of the word, omitting the initial letter. It is very probable that our
wine called sack had its name from this Japanese liquor, as that term
must have been introduced into Europe by the Spanish and Portu
guese traders, by whom sack was first made and sent from Malaga, or
the Canaries. This seems the more likely, as both those nations were
early acquainted with Eastern countries, and the names by which they
distinguished their favourite. The writers of the Universal History
state that Sacki was first brewed in the city of Jenkinosari, in the
year of the era 1347, answering to our A. D. 687 ; but this is at
variance with the annals of the country, in which it is mentioned
many years previous to that period.

The town of Muru, in the province of Bisen, is inhabited chiefly by
the brewers of Sacki, and the quality of the liquor made there is said
to be excellent. In 1825, the Dutch alone exported to the value of
nearly 14,000 florins. This liquor, for the most part, bears a great
resemblance to Canary wine, is sold in every tavern like our beer, and

* Titsingh's account of Japan, Ogilby's Atlas Japanensis. Folio, London, 1670.
f Koempfer, vol. ii. b. v. p. 426, 469, and 477.

210

is used by the wealthy at their ordinary meals.* The common mode
of using it is by heating it in a kettle, and then pouring it into tea
cups made of lackered wood. At Batavia, sack! is drunk out of
wine glasses before meals to excite an appetite, the white or purest
kind being preferred on such occasions. Although Sacki is drunk
freely by all descriptions of persons, from the emperor to the meanest
subject, its immoderate use is seldom productive of much mischief.
Some, indeed, of the lower orders have been known to be beheaded
for being drunk and quarrelsome ;f but this is of rare occurrence.
The beer of Japan, as already remarked, is considered wholesome
and pleasant to the taste, but it is of such a nature, that it should be
taken not cold but moderately warm ; for when it is not heated, it
frequently occasions that dreadful and endemial species of colic,
which the Japanese call sen/ti, a disease which has proved fatal to
many, as well foreigners as natives. To cure this distemper various
means are used, but the principal is the acupunctura, or pricking of
the abdomen with a needle, so as to let out the hidden, or morbific
vapours. " I have been myself," says Kxempfer, " several times an
eye-witness, that in consequence of these three rows of holes, (Tor
such are the number of punctures) made according to the rules of art,
and to a reasonable depth, the pains of the colic have ceased almost
in an instant, as if they had been charmed away."^ Surgeons are
usually furnished with drawings of the parts where it is proper to
apply the needle. This instrument is generally made of gold or silver,
and the operation seems to be a species of cupping as practised by
the faculty in Europe. — Caron informs us that the higher orders are
always entertained at visits with wine served out in varnished cups
called beakers, and when a person happens to be overcome by drink
he retires to sleep off his intoxication. Like wine and spirits in our
own country, sacki is made a medium of social intercourse, and intro
duced not only on joyous but on solemn occasions, such as holydays,
festivals, marriages, and funerals. The holydays are numerous,
being two in every month, besides five great annual festivals which
some devote to piety, but the greater number to amusement. These
afford opportunities of great indulgence in the use of national beve
rages, and those days being considered unlucky and all business stopped,
great liberty is taken, and few restraints are imposed either on the
passions or the appetites. Drinking parties are never held in public

* Thunberg's Travels, vol. iv. p. 39, 40, 41.

f Koempfer, vol. ii. p. 667.

$ Kcempfer, vol. ii. b. v. p. 426, 4G9, and 477.

211

taverns in Japan, but always in private houses. The inns and
taverns are numerous, but they are chiefly appropriated to travellers
and strangers : hence there is seldom any public exhibition of intem
perance or irregularity. To be drunk in the day time, is, according
to Golownin, considered disgraceful; hence the lovers of drinking
do not indulge their propensity until evening, after the termination
of all labour and business. The Japanese are said to exceed most
other nations in the magnificence of their entertainments and fes
tivals. To these they invite not only their living but their dead
relations and friends ; the latter, by going in troops to their graves with
burning lamps in their hands, calling them by their names, and
entreating them to favour them with their presence. This is a
superstitious but innocent weakness, which influences many of the
oriental nations to pay respect to the memory of the departed by
frequent and ceremonious visits ta the city of the silent.

The following anecdote related by Titsingh, while it shews the
partiality of the Japanese for their Sacki, gives an interesting speci
men of their capabilities of sincere friendship, somewhat similar to the
well-known affecting story of Damon and Pythias : — A certain
prince, named Tchouya, having conspired against the ruling monarch,
was condemned to death with some of his accomplices. At the
moment of execution, a man carrying two gold-hilted sabres and
covered with a flowing mantle, rushed through the crowd, and
addressing himself to the commandant, said, " My name is Sibata-
Zabrobe ; I am the friend of Tchouya, and am come to embrace
him, and to suffer with him." " You are a worthy man," replied the
commandant, " it wereto be wished that all the world were like you—
I give you permission to speak to Tchouya." The two friends con
versed together for some time. Sibata expressed the extreme pain
he felt at his condemnation, and that he had come to Yeddo to share
his fate, as he would be ashamed to survive him. He then took from
the sleeve of his robe a small pot of sacki, and, after drinking it, the
two friends bade farewell to each other. Tchouya was melted into
tears ; he thanked Sibata for his kind and courageous resolution, and
declared that he was most happy in the opportunity of once more
embracing him before he died. Sibata weeping, replied, " our body
in this world resembles the flower Asa-gawa, which before sun-rise
is beautiful and magnificent, but immediately after fades and dies ;
or like the kogero insect, that exists only for a day : but after death
we shall be in a better world, where we shall enjoy each other's
society without interruption." With these words he rose, thanked
the commandant, and retired. The executioner had done his office,

B

242

and Tchouya with his fellow-sufferers lay prostrate on the scaffold.
Sibata approached, and offering the commandant his two sabres, said,
" To you I am indebted for the consolation of having conversed
with my friend, taking a cup of Sacki, and bidding adieu to him
before his removal to a better world ; I entreat you to denounce me
to the governor of Yeddo, that he may order me to suffer like my
friend." " The gods forbid," replied the commandant, " were I to
do what you desire, you would die like Tchouya ; your courage
deserves a better fate. While all his other friends are hiding them
selves in dens and caverns, you have braved death to embrace him ;
such men as you are rare, and I could not betray them." The drink
ing of Sacki forms the last ceremony of those condemned to commit
suicide, which is an established punishment for all offenders against
the state. When the culprit receives the order for self-destruction
he invites his friends to meet him on the day appointed, and regales
them with sacki. Having drunk together for some time, till, perhaps,
the spirits have become exhilarated, the victim takes leave of them,
and the order of the court being read, he addresses the company in
a farewell complimentary speech ; then bending his head towards the
mat, he draws his sabre, cuts himself across the belly? penetrating to
the bowels, wrhen one of his confidential servants, placed behind for
the purpose, instantly strikes off his head. No disgrace is attached
to this unnatural mode of punishment ; on the contrary, the son
inherits all the father's property and honours, and none but persons of
the higher grade are privileged to be their own executioners.

Independent of Sacki, the Japanese have a variety of exhilarating
liquors made from wheat, rice, and other grain, and from these they
distil spirits to some extent. From the fruits of the country a very
nice description of wine is produced. Ko3mpfer, during his stay at
Jeddo, tasted an excellent sort made from plumbs. They tap the
palm, birch, and other trees, from the juice of which they manufac
ture various beverages with no inconsiderable skill. — The vine is
planted merely as a curosity in the manner that wre plant oranges and
lemons ; because the grapes do not readily ripen, and the people are
so attached to sacki, that they rarely think of any more agreeable
substitute. Grapes, however, according to Thunberg, are reared in
such quantities as to form a portion of the dessert at the dinners of
persons of rank.

Sacki, distilled from the flowers of motherwort, (a splendid odori
ferous plant, supposed to be the chrysanthemum Indicum, or the
hiou-hoa of the Cliinese, and celebrated by all the poets of that
country,) is a favourite drink at the court of the Dairi, being

243

considered to Lave the properties of prolonging life. These flowers',
as soon as they open, are gathered ; and it is usual to mix leaves and
petals with boiled rice, from which a fermented beverage is prepared
and used in celebrating one of their favourite festivals. The partiality
for this drink is traced to the following traditionary legend : — From
the sides of a hill near a village in the province of Nanyo-norekken,
a stream of pure water was formed from the dews and rains that
washed the luxuriant flowers of the motherwort with which this place
abounded. This stream, in its passage through the valley, served
the villagers for their ordinary drink, to the virtues of which the
extraordinary longevity of the inhabitants was attributable, some
living to the age of 100, others to 120, and 130, while a person
dying at 70 was considered to have a premature demise.

It is also customary to drink sacki distilled from peach blossoms for
the purpose of obtaining long life and good health, as the peach is
supposed by them to possess the properties of repelling all kinds of
infection. This practice originated in the following Chinese tale : —
A female of exquisite beauty, said to be one of the immortals, having
presented one of the emperors with a peach, he was so struck with
its appearance, richness, and delicious odour, that he inquired where
it was procured. She replied, it was the produce of a tree not of
earthly growth, but came from one that bore fruit but once in 3000
years, and assured him that if he ate it, he would attain that age.
From this superstitious fable, the Chinese and Japanese regale them
selves with a beverage extracted from peach blossoms at the second
of their great annual festivals.

The apparatus for distilling is here, as in other countries, in pro
portion to the extent in which the manufacture is carried on ; and to
such perfection have they brought the art of distillation, that indivi
duals have been known to carry a portable still. Golownin saw one
in the possession of a Japanese traveller, with which he made spirits
from rice, drank freely of it himself and shared it liberally with others.*
The ingenuity of these people in the mechanic arts is well known,
and is nowhere more conspicuous than in the neatness and perfection
to which they have arrived in the formation and elegance of the bowls
and cups used for holding sacki. Many of them are so large as to
admit of ornamental figures, some of which are so artfully contrived
as to represent the actions of real life. Titsingh describes two of
this kind, one representing a young lady, and the other a servant
holding a parasol, which, when floating in a bowl of sacki, the servant

* Golownin's Captivity in Japan, vol. i. p. 273.

244

would open the parasol, and follow his mistress, who always took
precedence.

The brewing vessels and stills in Japan are made of copper, a
metal very abundant in the country. Those used in the making of
sacki at the court of the Dairi, or spiritual prince, are only once
employed for that purpose, so that on all occasions of brewing and
distilling a new apparatus must be procured. In like manner, the
culinary utensils, in which his meat is prepared, are changed, and the
plates, dishes, bowls, and other table appointments, are broken after
each repast.

Rice is the principal food, tea is the common beverage, and as all
liquors are drunk warm, the kettle is seldom or never off the fire.
There are no casks for liquids ; but tubs that hold ten or twelve
gallons. These are broader above than below, and are bound with
wooden hoops, and have a small square hole at the top. The best
sacki, as well as sotschio is kept in large glazed earthen jars, or
lacquered and gilt flasks.

The early missionaries affirm that wine was common in Jesso and
in the vicinity of Matsmai, and that it was drunk freely, yet, as before
observed, grapes do not flourish in the country ; those which are found
are wild and tart, but are salted and eaten as a salad by the common
people. The sugar-cane is reared, but not to any extent, and its pro
duce is of a black colour. The principal supply is imported, and the
neglect of its culture is owing to the scarcity of land and the ease
with which it can be procured from the neighbouring countries.
Thunberg says that no canes have been imported for cultivation ;
and that the Japanese shewed him the juice of a tree that grows on
the adjoining islands, from which sugar was manufactured. This
juice had a disagreeable appearance, and was of a brownish hue.
According to this writer, the sugar-maple does not grow in Japan ; it
is, therefore, probable, that the juice alluded to was obtained from
the birch, which abounds in various parts of the empire.*

Honey, though frequently found in Japan, is confined to medicinal
purposes, mead being unknown. Many of the native fruits are pre
served in sacki, the acid of the liquor imparting to them an agreeable
flavour, highly prized by the people. It is common to see firkins of
cucumbers, immersed in sacki, exposed for sale in the public markets,
and to give a zest for drinking this favourite beverage, dhulish, from
which sloak is made, is frequently eaten before and after meals.f

Cordials of the nicest quality are prepared by the Japanese, and

Thunberg vol. iv. p. 93. f Golownin's Recollections of Japan, passim.

245

what are prized as luxuries in many places are with them quite fami
liar. Buck- wheat (polygonum fagopyrum,) is reared to great extent,
and forms a portion of the food of the inhabitants. It is to be found
at the inns and places of refreshment on the roads, in the form of
cakes, and a pleasant beverage is brewed from it. But although the
hop (humulus lupulus,) was observed by Thuriberg to grow wild in.
the country, the people seemed altogether ignorant of its application
to the purposes of brewing.* In the ceremonies of drinking, in pre
senting a cup to a friend, it is usual to make a slight bend of the body^
and lifting the left hand to the forehead, first taste the spirits to show
there is nothing in it injurious, and then hand it to the guest*

The passion for strong liquors among the Japanese is much the
same as that of other orientalists ; and it is held by them as a maxim,
that " to drink seldom but heartily when at it, is better than to tipple
frequently and in small quantities," an adage, however, little attended
to, as many of them take it as often as they can conveniently procure
it, and that without any restraint. It is a custom before dinner to
drink to the health of the guests, which act is always accompanied
with a profound bow. The women eat by themselves during the
courses, they drink a glass of sacki, and repeat the draught occasionally*
It has, notwithstanding, been said, that spirituous liquors are not used
by the women, except on some extraordinary occasions, or on public
festivals ;f but from the picture which Krempfer gives of a large
portion of the Japanese females, I am disposed to think that they are
not quite so abstemious. Thunberg asserts that sanctuaries for
women of pleasure are very numerous, and commonly the handsomest
houses, frequently situated in the vicinity of their idol temples. Such
is the want of decency, that these places are indiscriminately resorted
to by male parties as taverns for drinking sacki. Many of the Chinese
repair to Japan to mingle in its debaucheries ; hence it has been deno
minated the brothel of China, though at home, frailties of a similar
description are not wanting to stigmatize the character of the Celestial
Empire.

The trade with Japan has, for a series of years, been confined to-
the Dutch, who are allowed to send thither only two ships annually,
so that we know little of the internal policy or commerce of this
interesting empire, but what has been communicated through the
medium of writers, who, it may be feared, would not disclose what
might be prejudicial to the monopoly of their countrymen. Since
the year 1601, when the Dutch were first permitted to trade there,

* Thunberg, vol. iv. p. 85. f Mod. Univ, Hist. vol. vii. p. 376.

246

those islands may be said to be shut up from every other nation ;
and we are taught to believe that every precaution is observed, with
which jealousy can inspire ingenuity, to keep foreigners from their
shores, and to prevent them from acquiring their language. Were
an embassy sent from Great Britain to Japan, it is not improbable
but that it would be followed by favourable results, and an immense
trade opened for the enterprise of English speculators. That the
Japanese are not averse to an intercourse with British merchants, is
evident from the circumstance that during the late war several of our
vessels were received at Nangasaki as Dutch ships, although the
people were well aware that they were English, but they could not
acknowledge them under any other flag than that of the Dutch. This
opinion of their favourable disposition towards the British is confirmed
by the fact of a ship from Bengal having got on their coast, to which
the natives rep-aired in great numbers to purchase such articles of
British manufacture as tliey could procure. Even the government
officers, who liad boarded the vessel for the purpose of directing the
captain to leave the country, shewed an anxiety to purchase cloth
such as that worn by him. When he said he had none, they desired
him to be sure to bring articles of that kind on his return ; adding
ironically, " But on no account was he to come back."

When the Portuguese were in possession of the trade of this
country, the export in gold alone, according to Koempfer, amounted
to 300 tons annually, making the enormous sum of £2,500,000 ster
ling. In exchange for this, the articles were various, and among
these, wines formed no inconsiderable share.

There can be no doubt that were judicious efforts made to promul
gate a true knowledge of Christian principles among a people so
shrewd and intelligent as the Japanese, free intercourse would be the
result, and the prejudices of paganism would fade away before the
superior light of the gospel.

Between the island of Kinsire, the most southerly of that group
Avhich forms the empire of Japan, and Formosa, are situated the Loo-
Choo islands, which have lately attracted considerable attention from
the interesting accounts given of them by Dr. M'JLeod and Captain
Hall of the Alceste and Lyra. The inhabitants are represented by
these gentlemen as possessing most amiable dispositions, and enjoying
all the comforts of a land rich in every beauty which nature can
bestow. The orange, the lime, the tea-plant, and sugar-cane abound,
while rice, wheat, peas, melons, pine-apples, &c. are reared in great
plenty. Samtchoo is distilled by them to considerable perfection, and
is made much in the same manner as in China. Becchey speaks of a

247

drink called Mooroofacoo, a dark-coloured cordial, possessing1 a bitter
sweet taste, but inferior in strength to samtchoo. At a repast wit
nessed by this navigator, the company were closely plied with samtchoo,
or, as it is sometimes here called, sackee, in small opaque wine-glasses
which held about a tliimble-full : the example set by the host was
followed by the guests, each turning down his glass when empty.
This spirit is very ardent, and hence the propriety of using such
small glasses ; but the Mooroofacoo, which was distilled from grain
was drunk out of a small enamelled cup.* Of the samtchoo, or spirit
made from rice, nine jars, each containing about fifteen gallons, were
sent on board the Alceste and Lyra during their stay at Loo-choo.
Sacki is in use, and of a good quality, little inferior to that of Japan ;
besides which they have a liqueur named Chazzi, which resembles
rosolio, and is of a strong intoxicating quality .f

Gutzlaff, in his late visit to these islands, tasted some of their spiri
tuous liquors, which he says were v^ry clear and of excellent flavour.
Among the articles of export from Loo-choo, samtchoo spirits form
a portion, and are sent to Japan and China, J where they meet a ready
market.

It is customary with the inhabitants of these islands, as with the
people of China, to have games for the encouragement of drinking
and social intercourse. One of these consists in holding the stalk of
a tobacco pipe over the head, in which position the individual, by the
motion of his hands, turns it quickly round. And when he stops
twirling it in this way, whatever person in company the open bowl
of the pipe points towards, must drink a cup of wine. Another game
is that of forfeits by the fingers, which subjects the performer or his
opponent to drink a cup of wine, should either be unsuccessful in
calling the number extended by the sudden opening of the hand. It
is not a little remarkable, that a similar game, termed Mora, is prac
tised in the South of Europe, where it is generally played to deter
mine who shall pay the reckoning.

This game is said to have been known to the ancients, and would
imply an early intercourse with Eastern nations.

In some of the adjacent islands, they make a strong drink from the
remainder of their crops of corn, rice, pulse, &c. called Awamuri.§
On the island of Jesso, although the people are but little advanced

* Beechey's Voyage, vol. ii. p. 473-4.

"j" M'Leod's Voyage to China and Loo-Choo, 8vo. p. 78.

J Beechey's Voyage, vol. ii. p. 198.

§ Mod, Univ. Hist, vol. vii. p. 993.

218

beyond the state of hunter* and fishers, they make a kind of wine
resembling sacki, which is very strong. This they drink in great
quantities, although they are seldom intoxicated ; a circumstance
ascribed by Father de Angeles, a Jesuit, to their use of the todo-
noovo, a kind of oil drawn from a fish of the same name, with which
they season their rice, and almost all eatables.* This fish, sometimes
spelt todo-noevo, a species of seal, is described as a small fish covered
with hair, having four feet like a hog's ; its oil is said to be an infal
lible preventive of inebriety. There seems nothing extraordinary
in the effect attributed to this oil, since it is common in our own
country to have recourse to melted butter to recover persons labour
ing under excessive intoxication. Ovalle, in his History of Chili,
mentions a similar effect to that produced by the todo-noovo, from
the use of certain star-fish caught on the coasts. These, when
reduced to a powder and mixed with wine, have the effect of making
the individual who drinks it abhor wine as much as he before loved
it. Another singular remedy for drunkenness mentioned by Ovalle,
is that of drinking the sweat of a horse infused in wine, which ever
after causes an utter dislike for that liquor. In many parts of Jesso,
Avild grapes are abundant, while millet and other grain are plentiful,
but the chief beverages drawn from these are manufactured by the
Japanese settlers, who have imparted to the Aborigines a taste for
those luxuries.

The islands lying near Jesso and Kamtschatka are commonly called
the Kuriles ; several of these, such as Kunashir, Exetooroop, and
Saghalien may be considered Japanese colonies, and have their chief
supplies of rice, tobacco, sacki, and other luxuries, from the mother
country. The Kurilians are warmly attached to tobacco and strong
liquors ; the former, often moistened by sacki, is sold by them without
restriction, but the latter only to a limited extent, lest excess in their
use might lead to the dangerous consequences of sickness, discord, or
criminal indiscretions.

In casting our eyes over the broad expanse of the Pacific Ocean,
we are presented with so many states and islands, that to describe all
would be superfluous ; and as they greatly resemble each other in
the productions of the soil, it may be sufficient to give a general idea
of the most considerable. The Mariana isles, about twelve in number,
were first discovered by Magellan, who had reason to form so unfa
vourable an opinion of the inhabitants, that he bestowed on them the
name of Ladrones, or island of thieves, in memory of the repeated

Pe Angeles apiul Charlevoix. Hist. Japan. Mod, Univ. Hist. vol. vii. p. 442,

249

thefts which he experienced. The people were found to be extremely
rude and ignorant, but subsequent navigators have represented them
in a more favourable point of view. Wallis, in 1 767, remained upon
Tinian a month, and seemed pleased with the refreshment he pro
cured. The people speak a language bearing so close a resemblance
to that of the Philippine islanders that they are supposed to have sprung
from one common stock ; the productions are much the same, and they
closely resemble each other in many respects. Since the establish
ment of the Dutch in Guam, one of the principal settlements of this
group, the inhabitants have become better acquainted with the enli
vening qualities of the cocoa-nut tree, and of the rice cultivated at
Rota. In the island of Guam, a liquor called Touba is in use, of
which the natives seem to be extremely fond. De Pages represents
the brandy made from the fermented juice of the cocoa-tree as excel
lent.* The Manilla ships usually touch at these islands for refresh
ments in their voyage from Acapuleo. The Carolines, a cluster of
islands which lie to the south of the Ladrones, are but little known.
They are said to resemble the latter, both as to the natural produc
tions and the manners of the people. Captain Wilson, whose ship was
wrecked in 1783 upon the coast of Pelew, one of the principal of the
group of islands of that name, gives a pleasing picture of the inhabi
tants. The island is stocked with a great variety of plants and with
trees of various kinds ; among these may be reckoned the cabbage-
tree, the bread-fruit, and a tree producing a fruit like an almond.
Plaintains, bananas, oranges, and lemons are found. The leaves of
the palm serve as thatch for their houses, the milk of the cocoa sup
plies them with drink. A kind of sherbet is made, to which the
juice of the orange is added. It is remarkable that the crews of the
ships which were sent from Bombay to these islands, in 1790, among
the other supplies, introduced liquors to the notice of the inhabitants,
who thus acquired a taste for the luxurious drinks of their more
enlightened visitants. Captain M'Clure, who commanded the ships,
remained on this island, resolved to pass the remainder of his life
among these ingenious and virtuous people — Of New Britain and
New Ireland we know little, but such parts of them as have been
explored are considered abundantly fertile. The cocoa and different
kinds of palm trees flourish in the forests, while numbers of esculent
roots and vegetables are met with in the plains and valleys. The
natives are said to be unacquainted with the juice of the palm. The
Solomon islands seem to be as little known as the two just mentioned,

* Travels round the World, vol. i. p. 171.

250

writers being divided as to their number and extent. Alvaro <le
Mendana, the Spanish navigator who discovered them in 1567, gives
a description of their inhabitants, little different from that applicable
to other islanders in the Pacific, their arts and habits being much the
same. When Cook visited the islands of the New Hebrides in 1773,
about sixteen in number, he found them well wooded and stocked
in abundance with sugar-canes and yams. The plantain, cocoa,
banana, bread-fruit, figs, oranges, and other fruits, appeared, though
not so abundant as in some of the other islands of this occean, but
from the fertility of the soil, they might be augmented with very
little labour to a supply sufficient for any exigence. Vegetables grow
in great profusion, and where the hills are covered with trees to the
top, the juice and intoxicating effects of the palm, or other material,
we may reasonably conclude, are not unknown.

Among the Friendly, Society, Feejee, Sandwich, and Navigators1
islands, the Cava is in general used as a beverage. The best descrip
tion that has been given of it is by Mariner, who resided in the Friendly
Islands for many years, and was familiar with all their manners and
customs.* The cava plant, partly described under the appellation of
ava in the article on Borneo, is a species of pepper cultivated solely
for the purpose to which it is applied. It seldom exceeds five feet,
and has large leaves shaped like a heart with jointed stalks. The
root is carefully dug up, scraped clean with muscle-shells, and split
into small pieces. It is then distributed among the people, seated in
two circles, to be chewed. The deadly silence which had previously
prevailed is then broken by the cry of " my ma cava ; my ma cava ;
my lie cava" give me some cava, give me cava, some cava, by each
of those who intend to chew it. No one attempts to chew it but
young persons with good teeth, clean mouths, and free from disease.
Women often assist, and it is curious that in the process of chewing,
the root is kept wonderfully dry. In some places, says Kotzebue,
the old women only chew the root, and the young women merely
spit on it to thin the paste. The chewing of each mouthful occupies
about two minutes, and when thus masticated, it is placed on a piece
of plantain or banana leaf, and handed to persons appointed to collect
and place it in a wooden bowl of about three feet in diameter and
one foot in depth. In this vessel it is arranged in distinct and
separate portions, in order to give an idea of the quantity of drink
that it will make, to ascertain which it is shewn to the chief,

He was one of the crew of a vessel that was seized by the natives in the
year 1806.

251

who, if lie considers that it will produce enough, gives orders
for its preparation, or directs an additional quantity to be
chewed. Two men, wrhose business it is to mix the material in the
bowl, sit opposite to each other with the bowl between them, one of
whom fans off the flies with a large leaf, while the other pours in
water from cocoa-nut shells. Then, with his hands carefully washed,
he intermingles and compresses the chewed matter; water contriving
to be poured in until it is deemed necessary to stop. Having gathered
all the ingredients equally and firmly together, a large quantity of
the fibrous substance is thrown over the entire surface of the infusion,
after which the man who manages the process commences the most
difficult part of the operation. By various, curious, and singular
evolutions of his hands and arms, he succeeds in working the fibrous
subject round the pulp, till it encircled by it in a roll, as if screwed
in a net. The mass is then taken out of the fluid, and raising it
breast high, is twisted more firmly by other surprising and graceful
motions of the arms, the muscles swelling and playing all the time in
an extraordinary manner. Great strength is exerted on these occa
sions, and the dexterity with which the whole is accomplished never
fails to excite admiration from all present. " Every tongue," says
Mariner, "is mute and every eye is upon him, watching each motion
of his arms, as they describe the various curvilinear turns, essential
to the success of the operation." Three times the fibrous substance
is thrown on the surface of the fluid, and the same operation each
time repeated, in order to collect all the dregs from the liquor, and the
roll is twisted and suspended over the bowl till not a single drop
will exude from the substance. In the mean time, some are distri
buting provisions, consisting of yams, ripe bananas, or plantains, to
be eaten with the cava, while others are busy making cups of leaves
of the banana tree. These leaves, having been cut into lengths of
about nine inches square, are folded in a particular manner, and
secured with a fibre of the stem, so as to form a cup not undeserving
of praise and imitation. In other islands, the drinking cups are made
of the cocoa-nut, rendered transparent, sometimes curiously carved,
but generally plain and of a yellow colour. The cava being strained
and clear, a ball of the fibrous matter already mentioned, which acts
like a sponge, is then dipped into the fluid, and squeezed out into the
cups which are alternately held over the centre of the bowl, giving to
each about the third of a pint. The cups are distributed with great
regularity according to the rank or stzitbn of the individual, whose
name having been announced, he claps his hands to shew in what part
of the circle he is seated, If he be a chief, the bearer presents the

252

cup kneeling, but to every other person it is presented standing. On
one occasion, where Cook was present at a funeral ceremony, a bowl
of this drink, containing about a gallon, was prepared ; the first cup,
(which was formed of a plantain leaf,) being presented to the king, he
ordered it to be given to another person, the second he drank himself?
and the third was handed to Captain Cook ; cups were then given to
the other persons present, until the liquor was exhausted. Each cup,
as it was emptied, was thrown upon the ground, whence it was taken
up and carried to be filled again. Scarcely a wrord was uttered during
the whole of this drinking bout ; but the utmost gravity was observed
by all, from the king to the meanest person present. On those habi
tuated to the use of cava, it has no great effect, but on strangers it
operates like spirits, occasioning intoxication, or a stupefaction like
opium, that deprives its votary of appetite, and renders him averse to
every kind of noise. From the ease with which it is procured, it may
be considered as a common beverage ; and there is no feast, nor cere -
mony, however trifling, without cava. The term cava, or ava, is
applied to every thing of a heating or pungent nature, whether relat
ing to ardent liquors or spices. At Otaheite, the cava root is for the
most part bruised, instead of being chewed before the infusion ; and
the leaves are also used in the same manner. This root, or drink, is
known in the Feejee islands by the name of Angona, and in most of
the neighbouring islands it is denominated ava, or uva. The com
mon drink among the South-Sea islanders is water, or the milk of the
cocoa-nut ; cava being only their morning beverage, or that which is
used at feasts, or on occasions of ceremony. It is taken to excess in
many places ; and its pernicious effects have been observed by several
navigators. Captain King saw a man who had drunk of it to such
excess, that he became delirious and convulsed. While in this situa
tion, he was held by two men, who busied themselves in plucking out
his hair by the roots as a sovereign restorative.* Its frequent use
has a tendency to emaciate tlie body, as testified by Captain King,
who, after an absence of some time, was surprised to find, on his
return, many of those who had been corpulent, in a short period
reduced to mere skeletons by the inordinate use of this liquor. When
a man first gives himself up to drinking ava., he breaks out in scales
about the head, while the eyes become sore and red. The infection
spreads gradually downwards over the body, till it is entirely covered
with a scale, or scurf, resembling a scurvy. These scales gradually
drop off, leaving the skin beautifully clear and smooth, and the body

* Cook's Voyage, vol. i. p. 350,

253

free of all disease. It is said to be a cure for the venereal ; b lit from
the women riot being permitted to use it, the baneful infection brought
to those islands by Captain Cook's vessel still remains to pollute and
punish the inhabitants. The latest accounts respecting this drink are
given by Captain Beechy, in his voyage to the Pacific and Beering's
Straits, who relates, that a course of it is most beneficial in renovat
ing constitutions worn out by hard living and long residence in warm
climates. He gives an instance of a gentleman who had undergone a
course of it to cure a cutaneous disease, similar to St. Anthony's fire :
he took twice a day, half-a-pint, one before breakfast, and the other
before dinner, and at the end of six weeks there was a visible amend
ment ; the skin wras freed of scrofula, and the whole system was
improved.* Spirituous liquors are in great repute amongst the chiefs,
one of whom thinks nothing of swallowing a tumbler of rum at a
draught. Women of the higher classes are, if possible, the greatest
drunkards. Dillon, in his narrative of a voyage for the discovery
of the fate of La Perouse, confirms this by a circumstance M hich
occurred at New Zealand ; proving, that no rank nor condition
amongst them is free from its influence. The high priestess, a
woman regarded by her country as more than mortal, came on board
the vessel to make some inquiries, and being invited into the cabin,
she seated herself without embarrassment, and after remarking that
the day was cold, demanded if there were any rum on board, and if
so, requested that some might be given to her. A full decanter being
placed before her, she filled a tumbler nearly to the brim, and quaffed
it to the bottom without hesitation.']' The missionaries have succeeded,
in a great measure, in putting down the use of ava, this drink benig
no longer allowed to be prepared, nor the root allowed to be culti
vated ; but unfortunately, its place has been partially supplied by the
introduction of wine and brandy. Kotzebue, however, who lately
visited those islands, says he never saw a drunken person during his
stay.

The intercourse, which these children of nature have lately had
with the civilized world, has put them in possession of different arts,
of which they were before ignorant, amongst the rest, distillation to
a certain extent.

In the Marquesas Islands, the aborigines use not only ava, but
procure a strong liquor from the root of ginger, for the purpose of
enjoyment, forgetting care, and sinking into profound sleep. In

* Beechy's Voyage to the Pacific and Beering's Straits, vol. ii. p. 434.
f Dillon's Voyage, vol. i. p. 228.

Santa Christina, one of those islands, the sugar-cane was observed to
grow spontaneously to the height of six or seven feet, but the natives
were unacquainted with its properties and the uses to which it could
be converted. The cocoas, witli the bread-fruit, are the chief food
of the inhabitants. Here also is found a kind of nut, called #/«', as
well as the Ti root, which, when baked under ashes, is an agreeable
and wholesome article of subsistence.* The inhabitants are so hospi
table, that they not only freely share their liquors with their guests,
but they consider it an act of kindness to give their friends food
already chewed, that they may have only the trouble of swallowing
it.

In the Sandwich Islands, an excellent spirit is distilled from the
Tec root, Draccena, resembling the Draccena terminalis, something
like the beet of this country, and which is found growing wild about
the mountains and valleys. The leaves of this plant, which are broad
and oblong, are woven into a sort of cloak by the mountain inhabi
tants, resembling that made from the palm leaves as used in various
parts of the East. The stalk is used like the olive as a symbol of
peace, and of this plant the Otaheitans reckon six species ; three with
red and three with white flowers. In the Pitcairn and the other
adjacent islands, the Tee plant is extensively cultivated. Its leaves
are the common food of hogs and goats, and serve the natives for
wrappers in their cooking. The root affords a very saccharine juice
resembling molasses, which is obtained by baking it in the ground.
The plant requires two or three years to arrive at maturity. It is
then about 2 J inches in diameter. It is long, fusiform, and beset
with fibres. From the root a tea is made, which, when flavoured with
ginger, is not unpleasant. The root of the plant is larger and much
sweeter than that of the beet ; it is of a brownish appearance,
and is in perfection all the year round. When the natives collect a
quantity of this root, they bake it well under ground ; when suffi
ciently baked, they pound it up in an old canoe kept for that purpose,
mixing water with it, and leaving it to ferment for several days.
Their stills are formed out of iron pots, which they procure from ships
that call there. These they can enlarge to any size, by fixing cala
bashes or gourds with the bottom cut off, and made to fit close on the
pot, cemented well with a sort of clay called peroo, a copper cone is
also affixed, with which an old gun-barrel is connected, and passes
through a calabash of cold water wliich condenses the spirit. The
stills are commonly placed by a stream of water ; they take the water

* Roqucfcuil's Voyage Round the World.

255

when warm out of the cooler, and replace it with cold, by which sim
ple process a spirit is produced, not unlike whiskey, only not so strong1.
This spirit is called by the natives Y-wcr-a, which signifies warm
water, or luma, in the imitation of the word rum. A man named
William Stephenson was the first who introduced distilling*. He was
a convict who had escaped from New South Wales, and lived on the
island, for many years. The credit of first discovering this mode of
distilling has been claimed by a person named Young ; but as it has
been justly observed, neither of them deserves much praise for the
introduction. Manning, who left Nootka Sound on the North-west
coast of America, at the time when the Spaniards formed an estab
lishment at that place, has cultivated the grape and peach on the island
of Woahoo, one of the most important of the Sandwich group,
from the former he makes very good wine, and from the latter good
peach brandy.* Arago says,f that Francis Marini, a Spaniard, was
the introducer of the vine into the Sandwich Islands ; and Captain
Lord Byron, who visited those islands in 1824, 1825, and 1826, J
attributed the introduction of the vine to the same person, and
expressed his approbation of some of the native wine. These islands
appear well adapted for the cultivation of the vine, provided that the
situations for the plantations be well chosen. Notwithstanding that
grapes are partially planted, and wine produced from them, the pre
vailing drink is ava, which most take for the love of it, while
others drink it to prevent corpulency. Kotzebue,§ one of the latest
circumnavigators, says that although ava has been represented as
tending to shorten life, particularly of those who use it freely, he met
several of its votaries in a very advanced stage of life. The chiefs
claim the drinking of it as their exclusive privilege, every one freely
partakes of it, but not until after he attains a certain age. Kotzebue
saw the son of a chief, a boy of ten years old, who boasted of having
obtained the right of drinking ava, and shewed, with much pride, a
spot on his loins where the irruption was already visible. The king
Tameamea II. was so addicted to drunkenness, that he would empty
a bottle of rum at a draught, a taste which unhappily tended to retard
the civilisation of his subjects. In Hanaruro, one of those islands,
runaway sailors have erected taverns, and have held out every induce
ment to profligacy in drinking, by the introduction of gaming and
other amusements.

* Vide Literary Gazette, November, 1821.

•j- Arago's Voyage Round the World, 4to. p. 193.

$ Voyage to the Sandwich Islands.

§ Kotzebuc's New Voyage Round the World in 1823-4-5 and 6, vol. ii. p. 170.

256

At Eimeo, one of the Georgian Islands, a group to the east of the
Friendly Islands, when visited by Mr. Ellis, intemperance prevailed
to a great extent; and he found that they were in possession of the
art of distillation from the Ti or Tee root (draccena terminates), which
art had been introduced some years previous to the Sandwich island
ers. Here as in other of the Polynesian islands, whole districts con
gregate to erect a public still, the apparatus of which, though rude,
answers the purpose intended. The body of this still consists of a
large stone, hollowed in the form of a pot, and placed on stones with
space beneath for a fire ; and on the top of this pot is placed a hollowed
trunk of a tree by way of a head, in which is inserted a long cane of
bamboo, conducted through a trough filled with cold water serving
as a condenser. Into this still the fermented Ti root, previously
macerated in water, is thrown, and the spirit runs into a calabash,
cocoa-nut, or other vessel used for the purpose. Annexed is a repre
sentation of a still of this description used in Tahite, the largest of the
Georgian Islands.

The process is conducted in a temporary shed erected on the occa
sion ; and here the men and boys of the district are anxiously awaiting
the produce. The first draught of the spirits, or ava, is given to the
chief, and which is denominated ao, the remainder is distributed
among the people who continue at the still for several days, or till
all the materials are exhausted, during which horrible excesses are
committed. At the preparation and work of these stills, the people
are insensible to every other pursuit, and often appear, in the course
of the revelry, more like demons than human beings. Sometimes in

257

a deserted still-house might be seen the fragments of the rude boiler,
and the other appendages of the still, scattered in confusion on the
ground, and among the dead and mangled bodies of those who had
been murdered with axes or billets of wood in the quarrels that had
terminated their dissipation.*

It is consoling to the friends of humanity to find, that since the
introduction of Christianity into the South Sea islands, intoxication
has become less frequent, and the stills have shared the fate of many
of their idols, having been either broken or hidden under ground. As
the sugar-cane abounds in most of the islands in the Pacific Ocean, the
distillation of rum might become an article of traffic; but to the use
of this liquor the chiefs of the Society Islands are opposed ; and their
attachment to Christianity has led them to consider the use of spiri
tuous liquors as the greatest curse with which they could be inflicted.
So destructive were the effects of intoxication in the Georgian and
other islands, that in many places the country was nearly depopulated ;
for people living on such low vegetable diet could not bear the stimu
lus and violence which ardent spirits give to the constitution. Even
so prevalent was its baneful influence, that the priests, before going to
the temples to sacrifice to their gods, among which sacrifices infan
ticide formed no small portion, intoxicated themselves to render their
feelings callous.

Of late, drunkenness has become so hateful, that in a code of laws
established at Huahine, one of the Society Islands, the following
enactment forms the twentieth article, the bearing of which would
do honour to any nation : — " If a man drink spirits till he becomes
intoxicated (the literal rendering would be poisoned), and is then
troublesome or mischievous, the magistrates shall cause him to be
bound or confined ; and, when the effects of the drink have subsided,
shall admonish him not to offend again. But if he be obstinate in
drinking spirits, and when intoxicated become mischievous, let him
be brought before the magistrates and sentenced to labour, such as
road-making, five fathoms in length, and two in breadth. If not
punished by this, a plantation fence, fifty fathoms long. If it be
a -woman that is guilty of the crime, she shall plait two large mats,
one for the king, and the other for the governor of the district, or
make four hibiscus mats, two for the king and two for the governor,
or forty fathoms of native cloth, twenty for the king and twenty for
the governor."!

* Ellis's Polynesian Researches, vol. i. p. 231.
. Ibid. vol. ii. 433.

258

Many islands in the Pacific Ocean produce wheat, rice, Indian corn,
and every description of frnit peculiar to the West Indies. In
Otaheite, the sugar-cane grows so luxuriantly, that from two small
enclosures five tons of white sugar are annually manufactured.

With a great number of the islands classed by modern geographers
under the head of Polynesia and Australasia, our acquaintance is very
limited and comparatively superficial. Previous to the residence of
the missionaries in New Zealand, the inhabitants are said to have been
so ignorant as not to know the simple process of preparing food by
boiling ; and that differing from the tastes of men in other regions,
they abhorred all kinds of intoxicating liquors. Unfortunately, how
ever, the crews of the Southern whalers have made these people
familiar with the use of rum, brandy, and other inebriating beverages,
and the pumpkin is now cultivated for drinking vessels.

The natives of New Holland were represented as equally unac
customed to the use of any kind of spirits ; but the colonization of
that country and the number transported thither, have completely
altered their habits, and given them a thirst for the vice of intoxica
tion. Reid, who some time since visited the colony, remarked that
one could scarcely pass through the streets of Sydney without meet
ing them in a state of inebriety.* This indiscriminate censure is,
however, really applicable to such alone as were permitted to amuse
themselves for a certain time in the week, a liberty that was found
to be grossly abused, and which is now mostly restricted, if not alto
gether abolished, by the governor.f

The policy of licensing stills has hitherto been discountenanced by
the government ; but from the rapid progress of agriculture, nothing,
it is conceived, would tend more to the relief of the industrious than
the adoption of such a measure. It has been strongly urged by the
landholders, merchants, and other respectable inhabitants of the
colony, in a petition to the British cabinet, dated the llth February,
1819.

The advantages attendant on a permission to distil are forcibly
illustrated by Wentworth, in a short review of the actual loss which
the colonists have sustained from the want of it during the last fifteen
years. This loss he calculates to be not less than £250,000, a sum
which, had it been applied to the immediate encouragement of agricul
ture, would have imparted life and vigour into the whole community.
Allowing the colony, says that writer, to require 60,000 gallons of

* Reid's Voyage to New South 'Wales and Van Diemen's Land, 8vo. p. 266.
f Parliamentary Report on the State of the Colony of New South Wales, 183 2,p. 30.

259

spirits 'annually, 20,000 bushels of grain would be expended in dis
tillation, the whole of which, when necessity required, might be
turned into the ordinary course of consumption, and directed to the
purposes of subsistence.*

That the erection of distilleries would be much to the advantage of
New South Wales, there can, from the improved state of that settle
ment, be no manner of doubt, and I see little more evil to be dreaded
from the domestic than from the foreign manufacture. The import
duty on spirits is ten shillings per gallon, while on wine it rates only
at nine pence. If spirits be abundant at this high rate of duty, why
need they be more so under a proper system of restriction and taxa
tion, although made within the boundaries of the colony ? The adop
tion of such a measure would not only improve the revenue, but offer
a sure and ready market to the farmer, as an encouragement for a
great portion of his labour and industry.

The manufacture of peach brandy, which is chiefly confined to the
Americans, might be successfully carried on by the people of New
South Wales, since the peaches grow in such abundance throughout
the colony, that the inhabitants employ them for no other purpose than
that of feeding pigs. This useful fruit appears to thrive in every
situation, as well on the most barren, as on the most fruitful soil.
Barley, rye, wheat, and oats grow in great perfection.

In the woods of New South Wales, wild honey is to be had in
abundance ; the natives are very fond of it, and in traversing woods
their eyes are continually cast up towards the trees in search of it,
or in watching the direction in which the bees fly when proceeding
to their retreat, and by these means their hives are easily discovered.
Bees generally fly in a right line when returning home, and, on this
principle, the Americans have invented several plans of ascertaining
the position of their nests. One of these is, that of procuring two
bees and marking their bodies by some white substance ; then two
persons, having each one of these, remove to some distance, and per
mitting them to escape at the same instant, and observing the line of
their direction, they easily determine where their cells are situated.
Some reckon the honey of New South Wales superior to European
honey ; the bee which makes it is very small, has no sting, and is
rather longer and more slender than a common fly, but very much
resembles it in other respects. The bees usually build at the joint of
a high branch to which the natives ascend by cutting notches in the

* Wentworth's Statist. Hist, and Political Description of New South Wales, 8vo,
pp, 114, 253, and 259.

260

trunk. Mead, however, has not been manufactured, as the natives
are ignorant of this beverage, but, as English bees have been lately
introduced, this liquor may soon become familiar.*

The spirits with which the colony is supplied are principally fur
nished by merchants in India. At first, no person could trade in this
article to the settlement without a license ; but the restriction was
abolished a few years ago, and permission given for any one to sup
ply it witli this commodity, in consequence of which a considerable
quantity was sent thither in 1822. The spirits imported from 1831
to 1832 amounted to 352,549 gallons, and the imports of wine for the
same period to 104,406 gallons. The quantity of spirits exported
was 29,256 ; and of wine 37,548 gallons. During this time, 11,000
gallons of gin were distilled in the colony of which none were
exported. There consequently remained 334,283 gallons of spirits,
and 66,858 gallons of wine.

By an act of 3d Geo. IV. c. 96, distillation was permitted in this
colony, and regulations for conducting it issued by the governor, and
published in the Sydney Gazette on the 3d of February, 1821.
Liberty was given to commence on the 1st August, 1822. By these
regulations, it appears that no still of less capacity than forty-four
gallons is to be licensed, and that no grain whatever shall be distilled
but that grown in the colony. The governor has the power of
suspending distillation, when the price of wheat in the Sydney market
shall exceed 10s. per bushel for two successive days ; but in that case
distillation from fruit will be permitted. The spirit is required to be
of a strength of at least seven per cent, above hydrometer proof, and
a duty of 2s. 6d. per gallon is to be paid for as much spirit of that
strength as every still shall be found capable of producing from the
number of charges that can be worked oif in the space of 28 days.

The system of charging the duty on working against time, as
practised in Ireland, was adopted as better calculated for the security
of the revenue, in a colony possessing such imperfect means for its
collection, than any mode of survey by officers. The form arid
dimensions of stills were fixed in proportion to the diameter and
altitude ;| but whether the extension of the plan under which the
distilleries of the united kingdom are conducted at present, namely,
that of working according to the gravity of the worts and the spirits
drawn therefrom, under the regulations of the 4th Geo. IV. c. 81,
should be extended to this settlement, is a matter of serious considera
tion for the legislature, inasmuch as they are better calculated than

* Breton's Excursions in New South Wales, &c. 8vo. p. 277.

f Set! the description of these proportions in the article on Ireland.

261

any other to prevent fraud and dereliction of principle, on the park of
those engaged in so important a branch of trade.

To prevent the sale of spirits in small quantities from the distilleries,
it is provided that no person who shall be a partner, or have an
interest in a licensed distillery, shall have a license to retail spirits,
and no licensed distiller is permitted to sell at any time a smaller
quantity of spirits than 100 gallons.

Great care has been taken to prevent a monopoly, and, to avoid the
expense and inconvenience of carrying grain to particular markets,
stills are allowed to be set up in any part of the colony. By recent
accounts from this settlement, it appears that at Sydney there is now
a number of breweries dispersed about the town, and at about a mile
distant an extensive new distillery, named the Brisbane, which pro
duces a good spirit from native grain, and also cordials of excellent
quality. In a different direction of the town, there is another estab
lishment of the same kind, not less respectable. Those concerns
furnish annually several hundred thousand gallons of a pure spirit
from barley and maize, while 8,000 hogsheads are the yearly average
of ale and beer supplied to the colony by thirteen breweries, the pro
duce of various descriptions of native grain. In the Sydney Monitor
of the 27th April, 1833, a gentleman who opened an extensive malt-
house and brewery at Windsor, proposed to supply the neighbour
hood with beer and ale equal to those of Edinburgh, while other
accounts shew the increase and efficiency of similar concerns. It
is a great encouragement to brewers, that the hop-plant thrives well
there.

It may be worth recording, that a Mr. Squires was the first brewer
in New South Wales, and his beer was of so good a quality, that to
commemorate its worth and the value of the manufacturer, the follow
ing doggerel couplet was placed on the tomb of one of its votaries
buried in the church-yard of Paramatta, now called Rosehill : —

Ye who wish to be here
Drink Squires's beer.

The duty on spirits distilled in the colony, as before stated, is 2,s\
6d. per gallon from grain, and 4s. 2d. from sugar and molasses, while
West India rum pays 6s. and all other imported spirits a duty of 7s.
6d. per gallon. These protecting duties secure a ready market to
the distiller when grain is low; but when it is high, the foreign article
is perhaps too nearly on a par with the colonial.

The duty is levied on the strength of all spirits imported in pro
portion to the degree in which they may exceed hydrometer proof.

262

The rum sent from Bengal to the colony has been estimated as high
as thirty and forty per cent, above proof, while that brought from
other places seldom exceeded from twenty to thirty. In 1819, the
quantity of spirits issued from the bonded store to dealers, amounted
to 58,079 gallons, and in 1820, to 69,745 gallons. To which if we
add in the first year 18,743, and in the second, 17,062 gallons, given
out on account of government, the annual consumption of the colony,
making some allowance for the strength, and for what is sold directly
from the importer, may be estimated at 100,000 gallons. This is a
prodigious quantity, when we consider the population, which, in 1820,
did not exceed 28,939 persons, and of these there were 5,668 chil
dren. Making no allowance for the latter, the quantity of spirits
swallowed by each individual, yearly, comes to somewhat better than
five gallons and three pints, which exceeds the consumption of the
proportion for the population of Ireland by four gallons, and of that
of Scotland by more than three. If to this consumption of ardent
spirits there be superadded the same quantity of wine and malt liquors,
the amount will vastly exceed that used by the same number of inha
bitants in any part of the world. This statement may be illustrated
by the following anecdote told by an Irishman, located there with
many of his countrymen, as characteristic of the habits of these people,
some of whom are seldom sober during the whole year : — " Why,
Denis," says an observer to one who was a great votary of St.
Patrick, " surely the saint could not be born on every day in the last
week ?" Och ! replies Denis, " it is only my own bad memory that
makes me so particular, for having a mighty love for St. Patrick, I
always begin keeping his birth a fortnight before hand, lest I should
forget the day ; and after it is over, why the devil burn me but I
always forget to leave off."

Masters are allowed, by an act of council, to pay servants part of
their wages in spirits, as they are found to be the best stimulants to
exertion ; and in order to prevent them from repairing to public-
houses to spend their earnings, which, before this regulation, was a
common practice, and productive of bad consequences. Servants
have been known to travel upwards of thirty miles to a public-house
to spend the few dollars which they had earned by hard labour. This
species of payment is a melancholy proof of the fondness of the inha
bitants for spirituous liquors. Breton states that a party of six
emancipated convicts drank, at one sitting, six bottles of sherry and
forty-one of porter. From this we need scarcely wonder at the
enormous consumption of the colony.

After the first settlement of New South Wales, it was a practice

lo license military men to sell rum and arrack, which, while it les*
sened the dignity of the army, increased the demoralization of the
people. To remedy this evil, alterations were made in the retail of
spirituous liquors, and the government took the control into their own
hands and established a store at Sydney ; but this being attended
with inconvenience, the sale got into the hands of the people, and
licenses were granted accordingly. The amount of a license is £25
per annum. In 1823, the number of licensed publicans was eighty-
tliree, the free population at the time being nearly 9,000, while in
1832 and 1833, the licensed persons were one hundred and ninety-
five ; and in 1834, the number was two hundred and seventeen, the
licenses producing £5,425 ; and the direct duties on spirits for the
whole colony, £80,000.

Delirium tremens is a disease of frequent occurrence in this quarter.
Dr. Lang,* who had good opportunities of seeing the awful effects of
ardent spirits when used to excess, pathetically describes this malady ;
and in the case of a person whom he in vain endeavoured to dissuade
commencing the trade of a publican, gives a specimen of its frightful
workings. A short time after this person entered on business, he was
attacked with this distemper, and the Doctor, on visiting him, found
him apparently in the jaws of death — his distracted wife and children
standing at the bedside in the utmost agonies. The patient labour-,
ing under this malady is distracted with imaginary horrors, he fancies:
himself haunted by apparitions, the whole frame trembles convul
sively under the influence of a disordered imagination, and the nervous
system is so frightfully excited, that the bodily functions are totally
enervated, and,, in many instances, death only brings relief to the
unhappy sufferer.

It is to be lamented, that although the settlers of New South Wales
are represented by Mr. Bigge as treating the Aborigines with kind
ness and humanity, yet they have adopted the practice of supplying
them with spirits, which sometimes stimulate them to the commission
of the most shocking outrages upon each other, and to acts very offen
sive to delicacy.f At Sydney, tho natives barter fish for old clothes,
bread, and rum, and their fondness for the last article has led to,
debaucheries of the most brutal nature — so much so, that the hus
band disposes of the favours of his wife for a small portion of this
liquor ; and, shocking to relate, the offspring of such intercourse is

, f. . , ..;.,}.,.. c. „.' Cj \.^

Account of New South Wales by Dr. Lang.

t Commissioners' Report, printed by order of the House of Commons, 1823,
p. 59.

264.

generally sacrificed at the instance of the unnatural husband.*
Scarcely, says a voyager, do the intoxicating fumes get into their
heads, when they breathe nothing but battle, and shout forth their
war-cries. Impatient for murder, they seek antagonists, provoke
them by ferocious songs, and demand death in the hope of inflicting
it. They find but too readily the opportunity they desire ; and their
war-hoop is answered by whooping not less terrible. Then the com
batants, drawn up in two lines, perhaps twenty steps from each other,
threaten mutually with their long-pointed spears, launch them at their
adversaries with wonderful strength and dexterity, arid finally attack
each other with ponderous and formidable clubs, called waddles,
JLimbs are fractured, bones smashed, skulls laid open ; no exclama
tion of pain escapes from these ferocious savages, the air resounds
only with frightful vociferations. He who falls without having found
a victim, dies rather of despair than from the hurts he has received ;
and the warrior, who has laid low a few enemies, soon expires, with
out regretting the loss of life.j In those conflicts, it is common to
see the combatants alternately stooping the head to receive the blow
of an antagonist, it being deemed cowardice to avoid a stroke.
Many of these rencounters are occasioned by the want of prudence in
Europeans, who exchange with them spirits for the skins of serpents
and other animals, instead of giving them such matters as would
administer to the comforts, ease, and civilisation of life. Fortunately
for the peaceable portion of society in that quarter, these scenes are
not of frequent occurrence, and the exertions of government are not
wanting to check them altogether. The settlers have succeeded to
engage many of the natives in the labours of the field ; and these poor
creatures ask no other reward for their toil than a good feast of boiled
pumpkin and sugar. Care is taken not to give them any drink till
their day's work is over, for, were their appetites satisfied, they would
do nothing after, hunger alone having the power of compelling them
to work. A draught of the washings of a sugar bag, which is called
lull, or a drink of grog, at the conclusion of the harvest, sends those
simple mortals happy and delighted to rove again among their native
wilds. Dawson, a late visitant, speaking of the Aborigines, says that
they are inordinately fond of bull ; which they sometimes prepare by
cutting up a sugar bag and boiling it in water. This they reckon
one of the greatest treats, and drink it till they are blown out like
an ox swelled with clover and can take no more.J They have an

* Cunningham's Residence, vol. ii. p. 20. f Arago's Voyage, 4to. p. 172.
% Dawson's Present State of Australia, 8vo. p. 60. Breton's Excursions in
New South Wales, 8vo. p. 1U5.

205

ingenious mode of making drinking vessels of the bark of the tea-tree^
a species of myrtle, and which display more ability than is usually
attributed to these savages. They strip the trunk of its bark, and
after neatly rolling it up, tie it at one extremity, and thus furnish a
goblet sufficient for the purpose. Of this bark they also make
baskets, and use its broad lamina as a shelter from rain ; it is
often spread as a carpet to keep out damp, and is as soft as velvet.
It grows in lairs, and is taken off the tree without a hatchet ; the
nearer the wood, the softer the coating, sometimes scarcely exceeding
brown paper in thickness.

Dawson assures us that the colony of New South Wales is in a
prosperous condition, and that at Sydney, houses are erecting on
every side, while distilleries are at work and steam-engines are com
mon. Grapes are found to succeed in every favorable situation
throughout the country. Not only does every establishment prosper,
but the vine is likely to afford a supply of wine. The sugar-cane is
said to thrive in many places, and fair samples of rum have been pro
duced. A plantation at Port Macquarie contains upwards of ninety
acres. As almost every species of fruit known to other countries
grows here, materials are afforded for the manufacture of all kinds of
drinks found elsewhere. In 1826, Mr. Townson, the author of
Travels in Hungary, with other enterprising gentlemen, was actively
engaged in the manufacture of Australian wine, and one of them, Mr.
George Blaxland, had succeeded so well as to have six pipes and a half of
it in his cellar. At present there are many acres of vineyards in the
colony; those of the more wealthy proprietors being, for the most
part, under the management of scientific and practical vine-dressers
from the south of Europe. Wine and brandy have been manufac
tured to a considerable extent from the grapes of the vineyards of
the Messrs. Macarthur at Camden, on the Cow-pasture river. The
quality hitherto produced had a strong resemblance to Sauterne, in
taste, strength, and appearance. The latest accounts say, that the
wine-crops afforded the best promise of a plentiful supply, and gave
every hope that tlu's portion of the globe may yet become a flourishing
wine country. The wine made in 1834, by Sir John Jameson, at
Regentville, was of a superior quality, and the saccharine property
of the grapes was such, that scarcely any brandy was deemed
necessary.

Cuttings of European and African vines have frequently been
imported into this settlement. Mr. Redfern, a respectable colonist,
brought with him from Madeira a number of cuttings, and encouraged
some Portuguese families acquainted with the culture of the vine, to

266

emigrate to New South Wales, for the purpose of training the plants
and laying down vineyards. Mr. James Busby, British resident in
New Zealand, brought to New South Wales upwards of a hundred
varieties which he procured in France, and gave them for general
cultivation. On the policy of cultivating the vine in this colony, Dr.
Lang has made some judicious remarks tending to show, that if wines
were manufactured to any considerable extent, it might be the means
of advancing the cause of temperance, by placing within the reach of
the people a cheap and wholesome beverage, to the exclusion of those
inflammatory, deleterious, and expensive liquors so prejudicial to
health and morality.*

Temperance Societies are now established in this settlement,
which originated in Van Diemen's land through the instrumentality
of Mr. Backhouse, a member of the Society of Friends, and salutary
effects may be anticipated. Few places, perhaps, on the face of the
globe require the exertions of such institutions more.

The only drawback on distilleries and breweries is the scarcity of
barley, but this grain is likely to become more extensively cultivated,
being so essential to distillation and brewing. Manufactories of this
description have every facility for promoting the interests of the pro
prietors. Though wood is the chief material for fuel in the country
portions of the colony, native coal is used in great abundance, and
may be had at the Newcastle pits for five shillings the ton, and at
Sydney for twenty shillings ; the freight being fifteen shillings of the
money.f

In 1833, the following beverages rated at: —

£ s £

English Ale perhhd. 6 0 to 6 5

Do. per doz.O 11 to 0 13

Colonial do. per hhd. 0 60 to 0 80

Do. do. per doz. 0 6 to 0 8

English beer per hhd. 5 Oto5 3

Do. do. per doz. 0 lltoO 13

Colonial do. per hhd 0 45 to 0 55

Do. do. per gal. 0 2 to 0 0

Rum per gallon 0 9 to 0 10

s. d. f.

Brandy per gal. 12 6 to 14
Gin do. do. 12 6 to 14
Colonial do. do. 7 6 to 0
Wine(port)per doz. 35 0 to 40
Madeira do, do. 35 0 to 40
Sherry do. do. 35 0 to 40
Claret do. do. 50 0 to 60

Cape per gal. 3 6 to 4

Elder per dozen 5 6 to 0

The imports into New South Wales for 1833, were :

Gal.

Beer and Ale . . 244,490
Cider and Perry . . 2,718

Rum .... 335,134

Brandy .... 20,899

Gal.

Geneva . . 17,368^

Whiskey . . 112

Other Spirits . . 86

Wine . . 161,410

An Historical and Statistical Account of New South Wales, by the Rev. Dr.
Lang, 2 vols. 8vo. London, 1834, vol. i. pp. 363 to 369.
f Cunningham's New South Wales, vol. ii. p. 3.

207

Duty on Spirits imported in 1832 .? . , . .
Do. on ditto distilled in the Colony ....

Licenses to retail Wine, Malt, and Spirituous Liquors
Licenses to Distil Spirits ........

Department of the Surveyor of the Distilleries

£ s;

81,585 1

1,032 0

7,785 0

25 0

520 16

ff.
7
0
0
0
8

The settlements of New Holland and Van Diemen's Land are
become places of such importance, that the government has turned a
great portion of the tide of emigration to their shores ; and many now
prefer going to those distant regions, than to those of the United
States or Canada ; the climate being more congenial to British settlers.
The agricultural products are valuable, and the efforts that are now
making by the settlers, who have already established themselves in these
quarters, as well as of those who emigrate there, are calculated to raise
the best expectations. Such is the fertility of Van Diemen's Land,
that Edward Curr, in his account of that settlement, relates that in
1821, fifty-thousand bushels of wheat were exported from that island
to Port Jackson,* besides what was sent to the Cape of Good Hope,
Isle of France, and Reio Janeiro : more recent accounts lead us to
conclude, that crops are as abundant there as in England. The
wheat is said to yield from 60 to 651bs. per bushel, and, what is sin
gular, it is not subject to the weevil.

In Hobart's Town, as well as in other parts of the settlement, are
several breweries and distilleries ; but the manufacture is not equal
to the consumption; hence there are considerable importations to
supply the defect, as is shewn in the following table : —

1827

1828

1829

1830

1831

£

£

£

£

£

Beer, in value . *

7,655

6,280

6,040

7,253

2,540

Gal.

Gal.

Gal.

Gal.

Gal.

Brandy, (Proof), .

12,894

35,352

7,315

1,776

2,273

Geneva, ....

3,857

4,420 4,231

1,758

1679

Rum,

87,043

77,132 24,441 20,204

58,983

Wines,

53,532

30,458 15,198 16,084

18,118

New South Wales is represented to be rather barren immediately
about the coast, but beyond that the country improves, and the trees
of the forest rise to the most stately dimensions. When a tra
veller has advanced about twenty miles into the interior, he beholds a
country truly beautiful, displaying an endless variety of hill and dale.

An Account of the Colony of Van Diemen's Land, 12mo. London, 1824.

268

clothed in the most luxuriant herbage, and disclosing regions fit to be
inhabited by civilized man. In those countries, the arts and manu
factures are progressing, and promise in a reasonable process of time
to emulate those in many parts of Europe.

Coasting along the east of Africa, little interest or information has
been obtained respecting the various nations extending from Abys
sinia to the settlements bordering on the Cape of Good Hope. In
the kingdoms of Adel and Ajan, the inhabitants are generally Maho
metans ; and though they pretend to comply with the restrictions of
the Koran, yet they indulge in the use of bousa and other intox
icating beverages. In Ajan, a species of brandy is made from dates
and raisins furnished by the Arabians, with whom the inhabitants
carry on a considerable intercourse. In Monemugi, which lies
west of Zanguebar, abundance of palm-wine is manufactured, and
honey is so plentiful that above the one-half of it is lost, the natives
not being able to consume it ; and therefore it might be to them a
valuable article, had they a regular intercourse with civilized
countries.

In Mozambique, the chief article of cultivation is the manioca or
mandioca root. The principal trees are the cocoa-nut, cachew,
mango, papaw, and orange. The natives are skilled in making beve
rages from the cocoa in the manner practised by the other nations.
They deal in palm-wine, and the Portuguese settlers have made them
acquainted with those liquors which they import from Europe.

The Zoola nation, which lies in the interior, between Delagoa bay
and the bay of Natal, has a description of beer with which the natives
regale and intoxicate themselves. This beer they make from a seed
termed loopoco : it is somewhat like rape in size and colour. It con
tains very powerful fermenting properties ; and when drawn off from
the vessels in which it has been prepared, it forms an excellent beve
rage, both potent and stimulating, and has a red or light brown tinge.
Mr. Isaacs, a late sojourner in this country, often partook of this
liquor, and acknowledges its enlivening and refreshing virtues. He
usually received it from the king, or as a present from some of his
chiefs.* They likewise make several sorts of drinks from their fruit ;
but the most common liquor used in the country is made from millet,
and is termed huyembo or puembo.

The Delagoa territory produces rice and maize to a great extent,
and from the latter grain are made various beverages. The sugar-
Isaacs' Travels and Adventures in Africa, descriptive of the Zoolas, their
manners and customs, &c. 2 vols, 8vo. vol. ii. p. 319.

269

cane is also found in great abundance, but it is not turned to the
advantage it might afford. The Persees on the coast of Malabar send
spirits to this territory, with other articles in exchange for the teeth
of the elephant and hippopotamus, ambergris, and gold dust. Besides,
since Delagoa bay has become the resort of many South- Sea
whalers, different liquors are sent thither from the Cape ; and the
Portuguese, carrying on a trade with the natives, introduce
wines, and other beverages. When a vessel arrives, an officer,
called the king of the waters, informs the chief, who imme
diately attends; and after receiving a present from the captain5
makes a more than ample return in provisions. By securing the
friendship of the king of the waters, for a few empty bottles, or some
old clothes, buttons, or iron hoops, a constant supply of animal and
vegetable food may be obtained. The inhabitants of the interior have
two kinds of native spirituous liquors peculiar to themselves ; one
termed Epeahla, and the other Wocahnyvye. The first is pre
pared in the following manner: — A large quantity of maize, with a
certain proportion of water, is put into a wooden mortar, and pounded
for half an hour, after which it is placed in the shade to ferment.
At the end of two days, it is taken out and boiled, and, when cold, a
small quantity of grain called Andrealo, a sort of millet well pounded,
is added to it, and the whole, after standing a few hours, is strained
through a mat bag, from which the Epedhld oozes out perfectly pure
and of a milk-white colour. In one day it is drinkable, and on the
next it is sour, and less than two bottles will occasion inebriation.
The Wocahnycye is obtained from the Makkahnyeyc, a fruit resem
bling guava, and which grows on a lofty tree of a whitish appearance,
called the Kahnyeye. When the requisite quantity of fruit is picked,
a small hole is cut in each, through wliich the juice is squeezed into a
large boiler, where, after having stood for some time over the fire, it
remains to ferment until the next day. More juice is then added,
and the same operation is repeated with the whole. At the close of
the second day it is drinkable, and will continue so for three days ;
yet its nature is not half so intoxicating as that of the Epeahla. It
is almost colourless, and has a sweet and pleasant flavour.*

In Sofala is made a beer from rice and millet, as well as other
liquors drawn from honey, palm, and different sorts of fruit. In
their feasts and funeral ceremonies, larger quantities of these liquors
are consumed. At stated periods of the moon, they pay an offering-

* Owen's Voyage to Africa, &c. edited by Boteler, 2 vols. 8vo, vol. i. p. 91.

270

to their dead friends, particularly to their parents, before whose bones
which they collect after the flesh has been consumed, they place
victuals and liquors, and ask requests of them as if they were still living.
Immediately after this, they eat and drink those offerings to the dead
in social harmony.

In Moriomotapa, the beverages are made from honey, millet, and
rice. Palm-wine is esteemed a royal liquor, because it is chiefly used
at court. It is preserved in curious vessels made of horn, and is
commonly mixed with manna, ambergris, musk, and other highly-
scented perfumes. At the court of some of the monarchs of Mono-
motapa, it was customary for some of the musicians to be veiled
during the time of the emperor's repast to prevent them seeing him
eat or drink, while the courtiers cried aloud on the drinking of a
goblet, " Pray for the health and prosperity of the emperor.''

In Quiloa, it was formerly a practice to drink human blood and
other liquors out of cups made of human skulls ; but since the slave
trade has diminished and civilisation advanced, this barbarous custom
has almost entirely disappeared.

At the Cape of Good Hope, since its colonization by the Dutch
under Van Riebeck, in 1650, the vine has been cultivated with con
siderable success. This was owing to the encouragement given to a
number of French families, who had emigrated from their native
country and settled in this colony, in consequence of the revocation
of the Edict of Nantes. A place is still pointed out, within a mode
rate distance of Cape Town, which is named after the circumstance
Fransche hoekt or French corner ; and here the vine was first planted
and the foundation of the wine trade of the colony originated.

The wine called Constantia, so much prized in Europe, is the pro
duce of two farms known by that name, and situated within eight or
nine miles of the Cape, close under the mountains on gently undula
ting grounds between Table Bay and False Bay. These farms, on
an average, yield about 75 leagers* per year, which, at 160 gallons the
leager, gives a quantity equal to 12,000 ; but De la Caille and Barrow
have calculated the produce at a great deal more. According to
Stavorinus, these two farms cover about 40 acres, and their annual
produce is about 60 pipes of red and 90 of white wine ; the latter is
made on the farm called little Constantia. Besides this excellent
wine, many other sorts are made of different flavours. Among these,

A leager is nearly four awms, and an awm contains about forty gallons,
English .

271

the Madeira of the Cape, which is sent to Holland, America, the
Dutch settlements in India, and to England, is considered the best.
It is a boiled wine, and is said to be much improved by the voyage.
From 20 to 30 rix-dollars the leager, according to Barrow and
others, is the common price that the farmer obtains for his wine at
Cape Town, where it is afterwards sold at the rate of from 40, 50,
CO, to 80 and 100 dollars; and that too, perhaps, after undergoing
adulteration. Since the war has ceased, new common wine may be
had for a penny or three half-pence per bottle. A half awm, or 20
gallons of good wine may be procured for six dollars, or nine shillings.
Pontae rates at from 40 to 50 dollars the leager of 152 gallons;
others rate at from 25 to 30 dollars.

The trade in this article is of great consequence at the Cape, and
the merchants are particular in the mode of storing and securing the
wine. They generally keep it in vaults and cellars in large vessels
made of mahogany, or a wood resembling it, very thick, highly polished,
and shaped like a hogshead. These vessels are kept as clean as our
dining tables, and are bound round with great hoops of brass, while
the edges are secured with clasps of the same metal, so that neither
time nor accident can damage them. One of these tuns, or reservoirs,
will contain from six to seven hundred and even one thousand gallons.
The bung-holes are secured with plates of brass hasped down and
locked. The cocks are also strong and large, with locks aud keys to
them, so that the servants or slaves are prevented from abstracting
any of the wine, as the casks are never opened, except in the pre
sence of one of the proprietors. Many of these tuns are elegantly
carved and ornamented with figures.* A man-hole is usually made
near the cock and secured by brass screws ; it is occasionally opened
for the purpose of cleansing the vessel of the lees. Some of the
cellars are so spacious as to contain one hundred of these very large
casks. The wines are racked from vessel to vessel till completely
fined ; should any acidity appear, it is checked by simply dipping a
piece of rag in melted brimstone, and, when ignited, it is suspended
in the casks from the bung-hole, which has the effect of checking its
further progress. The lees of the wine is converted into argol, and
exported to England and other places for the use of dyers. The
licenses on the canteens are high ; they are mere dram-shops and
monopolies of the brewers, frequented only by the lower class of
people. When Mr. Barrow visited the Cape, a pint of good wine
might have been purchased for three -pence ; and, had it not been for

> * Pcrcival's Account of the Cape of Good Hope, 4to.

2T2

the license on the privilege of retailing, it might have been obtained
for three half-pence.

There is no duty on wine in the colony except upon what is brought
to the Cape market, and there it is subject to a tax of three rix-
clollars the leager. Brandy or Brandewyn, as it is called at the Cape,
is also exempt, except on passing the barrier, when it is charged at
the same rate of duty as the wine.

With the manufacture of this spirit the vine-growers seem not to
be well acquainted, as it has been hitherto considered of an indifferent
quality. The brandy of the Cape is principally extracted from the
husks and stalks of the grapes, mixed up and fermented with the lees
of wine ; other ingredients are sometimes used of a less grateful
nature ; hence it is so fiery and unwholesome as to be rather a source of
disease than of assistance to the functions of life. The whole of the
operation is generally committed to the care of a slave, who, having
neither knowledge of nor interest in the process, pays no attention to
the quality of the spirit. Through this neglect it contracts a strong
empyreumatic flavour, which it never loses.* This spirit has been
long in use at the Cape, though the better sort of people among the
Dutch seldom drink of it, yet it is eagerly purchased by the Hotten
tots and Caffre hordes, who barter their cattle and other commodities
for it. This branch of industry, if well conducted, offers a good
opportunity to persons of capital and ingenuity, and besides affording
a lucrative article of commerce by which a fortune might be realized,
it would improve the quality as well as enhance the character of the
wines. The stills are small, averaging from 40 to 80 gallons, they
are made for the most part at Cape Town ; and are sometimes made
wholly of copper, yet commonly have only the bottom of that metal.
!NTo art is displayed in their erection, they being frequently worked
in the excavation of a bank, or in an open shed, without any mecha
nical contrivance or convenience of buildings. Francis Collison, an
Englishman, in 1832, erected a respectable distillery in Cape Town,
and made brandy from the wine purchased on his own account, or
distilled for the growers at a certain premium for his trouble. Reeves
and Mills had a distillery at work in 1833, but, from losses in
trade, it ceased in its operations. At Stellenbosch, a village about
five hours' ride from the Cape, the firm of Muller and Company have
a good distillery, an excellent supply of water, and facilities for car
rying on business extensively. This concern is worked on the same
principle as that of Mr. Collison.

* Barrow's Travels in Southern Africa, 4to. vol. ii. p, 320.

273

The following quantities of wine and brandy, gtated by Barrow to
Lave passed the barrier, will shew the extent of the trade for a period
of four years : —

1799 6,953f leagers of wine and 598 J leagers of brandy.

1800 5,199J do. 472J do.

1801 5,463J do. 320 J do.

1802 4,03lf do. 273J do.

This includes the consumption of the town, the army and navy, as
well as the exportation for that time, which is said to be from 400 to
800 leagers of wine, and from 30 to 100 of brandy annually, besides
the produce of the Constantia farms. Since that settlement camo
into the hands of the British, this trade has gradually increased,
owing in a great measure to the salutary enactments of the legislature.
The revenue arising from spirits, beer, and brewing licenses, for the
year 1820, amounted to £1,527 10s. Od.

Great quantities of brandy are carried by means of waggons through
the most remote parts of the colony, and disposed of by persons deno
minated Smouses. The Dutch settlers prefer drinking brandy raw
or unmixed with water, and say of the English that they all murder
good brandy by making grog of it, adding, that punch and wine
are but foul water when compared to the pure, unpolluted, high-
flavoured brandy. A dram of this liquor is termed soopie, a word
synonymous with our glass. Drinking is often carried to excess, and
here, as elsewhere, productive of evil consequences, and sometimes
exciting to extraordinary feats. It is related of an individual, that
in his cups he laid a wager, that he would go into the forest and pluck
three hairs out of an elephant's tail, which he performed with great
eclat. Not satisfied with this chivalrous act, he made another bet,
that he would return to the forest and shoot the same animal. His
aim proving unsuccessful, the provoked beast rushed on him, forced
his tusks through his body, and trampled him to a mummy in an
instant. The negroes at the Cape, who sometimes carry their baccha
nalian propensities to excess, expose themselves to the damp of the
night. Quarrelling, arising from inebriety, is, however, rare ; nor
can it be said that the habitual drunkard is a character to be met with
in common. Many of the poor Hottentots, led astray by their weak
nesses, and exposed to the influence of the moon, have paid dearly
for their revels ; for strange as it may appear, it is unquestionable that
the lunar beams have produced the same effects as the solar, causing-
a mental derangement similar to that of a vertical sun. While meat
exposed to the influence of the moon, ha* been knowa to become

T

274

putrid in the course of a night, whereas, if secured from the lunar
influence, and exposed to that of the night air only, no bad conse
quences have been observed to follow.

The quantity of wine imported from the Cape into Great Britain,
&c. will be found in the Addenda.

The whole produce of the Cape is supposed at present to be about
12,000 Icagers, comprising only what crosses the barrier; with the
waste it may be computed at about 14,000 pipes. The consumption of
the colony is calculated at 6,000, the shipment to St. Helena about
2,000, arid the remainder is for this country and its dependencies.*
There are no breweries deserving of notice, though a kind of beer is
said to be made by the Dutch, in which a species of bitter herb is
used instead of hops. The whole of the malt drink comes from Europe,
and is of course very dear.

This colony is susceptible of great improvement, and might be made
of essential benefit to the British empire. Were the vine plantations
properly managed, and a due regard paid to the selection of the
grapes, and the manufacture of wine, much of the money that is sent
to foreign countries for this article might be saved and turned to our
own advantage. The vines, according to Latrobe, are permitted to
grow without espaliers, placed in rows like currant-bushes in our
gardens, in order to afford room to the vine-dressers to go between
them to weed them without injury. When arrived at a certain
height, the upper shoots are taken off to increase the quantity of
grapes, a method very different from that practised in Europe.
According to Stavorinus, a thousand of them will produce a leager
of wine and sometimes more. In the Constantia vineyards, few of the
planks exceed two feet in height, though some of them have been in
the ground for one hundred years. This peculiarity is said to be very
advantageous, for the fruit hangs so near the ground and is so shel
tered by a leafy screen of fine tall oaks, that the reflection of the sun
from the white earth below is nearly as powerful as his rays from
above.

The mdde of pressing the grapes in this colony, was formerly con
ducted in the following simple manner : — The fruit is thrown into a
vessel, the bottom and sides of which are perforated with holes ; and
this is placed upon a cross piece of wood within another larger vessel
having a spigot and fauset through which the juice flows into a receiver
underneath. The grapes in the wine vessel are trodden by three or
four slaves, who support themselves during the operation by a rope

* Parliamentary Report, No. 70S,, 1821, p. 56, &c.

275

from the coiling, continuing to trample till all the juice is expressed.
Since the time of the Cape wine getting into demand, presses of wood
have been introduced possessing a greater power in obtaining a larger
quantity of must, than what could be procured by the treading of the
slaves.

To the farmer the vine is the most profitable object of considera
tion, and may be considered the staple article of culture. The size
and flavour of the grapes in the colony are not inferior to those of the
best description in other countries ; but there are only certain portions
of the settlement consisting of light, dry soil which are the most con
genial to the production of good wines. That of Constantia, more
resembling a liqueur than a wine, is the best ; and it is singular, that
the vine, from which it is produced, loses its richness and luxuriance,
if removed to the distance of half a mile from that plantation. The
wines produced at the Drakenstein farm are said to be equally good
as the Constantia, though on account of the high character of the
latter, they do not bring one-sixth of the price. Ten or twelve diffe
rent kinds of wine are manufactured in the several districts, having
each a distinct flavour and quality, according to the situation and
nature of the soils in which they are produced. When the Dutch had
possession, the directors reserved to themselves the exclusive sale of
the Constantia wine, and as it could not be exported by others to
Europe under that name, the planters when thus prohibited, adopted
the expedient of giving to their wines the name ofmaag, or stomach-
wine, to secure a demand.

Much rain is unfavourable to the culture of the grape, and the juice
will not contain the same quantity of saccharine matter when exposed
to moisture, which it does when under a genial sun, and protected
from the coldness which always accompanies showers. To what cause
the poverty and want of richness and body in many of the Cape wines
may be attributed, it would be difficult to determine — whether the
vines, if supported by trellis work, or planted like currant-bushes,
might flourish best and be most productive. It appears, however,
that more is owing to the mode of making the wine than to the quality
of the grape ; and this will appear evident when it is known that the
grapes of every description, good and bad, ripe and unripe, clean and
unclean, are all put together with the stems into the same press, shew
ing that the quantity more than the quality is the object ; and it is
therefore clear, that the liquor must partake of the consequences of
such admixtures. It has been alleged that even where great pains
were taken to make wine of the best possible kind, the attempt has
fallen short of producing- an article equal to that made in France,

276

Portugal, or Madeira. Strange as it may appear, it is a certain fact
not yet accounted for, that good grapes sometimes produce inferior
wine, while bad grapes on the other hand have been known to yield
good wine. The grapes of Gascon y, Burgundy? and Champagne, as
well as those of the many celebrated vineyards on the Rhine, are
rather insipid. Other circumstances, therefore, besides fine materials,
seem to be required for the production of wine of a good quality.
A good deal must depend on the management of the fermentation,
and the fining of the liquor; while the bad quality of the brandy made
at the Cape and mixed with the wines must tend to injure them in
proportion to the use made of that spirit.

To whatever cause it may be attributed, the wines of the Cape do
not rank in such high estimation as those produced elsewhere. Some
endeavour to account for the earthy flavour of the wine as to its slightly
acid taste, by the shortness of the stems on which the grapes are
borne, as being consequently more exposed to the damps and vapours
of the soil from their low situation ; others think that these peculiar
ities are the consequence of the destructive effects of the east winds
bending the bushes to the ground, and causing the fruit to imbibe that
earthy flavour just alluded to. Perhaps a good deal is owing to the
soil, as well as to the salt-petre with which, it is said, the sands of the
country are impregnated. More, however, may be attributed to the
negligence of the vine-growers themselves, than to any other cause,
since the bunches of grapes are permitted to rest on the ground and
become coated with clay, in which state they are thrown into the
Avine-press, and consequently impart a disagreeable taste to the liquor.
The casks too, are bad, and often so much smoked with sulphur as to
leave its effects perceptible in the wine for two or three years ; and
often causing it to sour, especially if exported. The vines of different
countries ought to be tried here, as there are some better adapted to
particular soils than others. The muscadel grape is the one from
which the Constantia wine is principally made ; to this as well as to
the precaution of the farmer in not using the fruit nor bruising the
stalks until fully ripe, may be attributed the estimable qualities of
that wine. Were the grapes properly picked and assorted, previously
to being pressed, and strict cleanliness observed, there is nothing to
prevent the wines of the Cape from bearing a fair competition with
those of any other country, The earliest fruit of the season here is
the purple grape, next the hauny pod, both of Avhich are fleshy and
most used for the table or are made into raisins. The crystal grape,
which comes in last, is sweet and luscious, being all juice and quite
transparent.

277

The practice of the government in farming1 the retail licenses, has
tended to injure the character of the Cape wines, as the purchaser,
with the view of making the most of his speculation, employs tho
retailer to sell the very worst description of the article ; hence there
is a continual run on an inferior, cheap wine, to the total exclusion of
useful competition. Thirty three rix-dollars have been given by one
person for a year's privilege of licensing the retailers, and, like every
monopolist, the purchaser is always watchful of his own interest.

Wine, at the Cape, generally sells at from 20 to 40 rix-dollars the

half awm, or 20 gallons. In the frontier settlements, some thriving

vineyards are to be found, and the wine, particularly that kept for

the use of the owners, is of a superior quality. The vine-growers

have much to contend with from the nature of the seasons and the

rapid transitions which frequently occur in the state of the atmosphere,

while the labour of some years is destroyed by a sudden deluge of rain

or the sweeping blasts of an unexpected whirlwind. Many planters can

do little more than support a respectable appearance ; and although the

British government gave great encouragement to the cultivation of

the vine, yet the trade has not been successful in proportion to the

capital invested in it. Mr. M'Kinnon, in his place in parliament in

September, 1830, stated that there were £1,900,000 embarked in the

Cape wine trade by British merchants alone. Every inducement was

held out to further the interests of the planters, and the consequences

were for some time visible ; but it is to be feared, as already stated,

that the quantity was the object of greater consideration than the

quality, which, in a great measure, has entailed upon it the character

of inferiority ; besides which, there is, no doubt, a prejudice against it,

through the influence of those whose interest it is to extol the virtue*

of other wines. The wine districts do not extend farther than 30 or

40 miles from Cape Town, and from the sandy nature of the roads it

requires 18 oxen to convey two leagers, or 304 gallons, from the most

remote of these districts to that place ; but as conveyance of this

nature is easily procured, it is attended with very little expense.

This colony derives much advantage from the interchange of its wine

with other articles, from the Mauritius, Brazils, Van Diemen's Land,

and New South Wales.

The scenery connected with the vineyards does not convey any
thing striking or sublime, and the boundaries of many of them are
only distinguished by small pillars. The settlements of great and
little Drakenstein, however, are singularly beautiful, and embrace a
tract of country six or eight miles in circumference. They are
situated about seven hours' ride from Cape Town. Here, both red

2T8

and white wine of excellent quality are made, and that called pontac,
(an imitation of port,) when of a proper age, is a superior article.

The Wagon -maker's Valley, as it is termed, is three hours' ride
from Drakenstein, and is one of the most enchanting places in the
South of Africa. It is embosomed in hills, clothed with groves of
orange and citron, pomegranates and peaches, apples and shaddocks,
and every species of delicious fruit, which, heightened by the radiance
of a cloudless sun, and fanned by gently cooling breezes, render it
one of the most agreeable and fascinating retreats in nature.

The barley grown in the colony is of an inferior quality, resembling
bigg. Whether the process of malting is not there properly under
stood, or that there is a defect in the grain, is not well known, but it
does not germinate like the same description of grain in Great Britain.
For this reason, the breweries at Cape Town have been supplied
with malt chiefly from England, and the beer is of good quality and
in general use. The present brewing concerns are those of De Neys
and Co., Van Reenan, Letterstead, Le Britton and Co., Lyngenfelter
and Co., Whiskin and Co. — The beer and porter made by these
traders are chiefly from sugar ; but all of them use grain in greater
or less quantities ; and, latterly, they have got into the practice of
malting the grain of the colony more extensively than formerly. The
Dutch Company, at an early period of this settlement, introduced the
Deventer method of brewing under the superintendence of Jacob
Lonwen. Hops are brought from Europe for the use of these esta
blishments, although it is thought that they might be cultivated in
some places of the settlement with success.* Maize is reared in
several varieties, particularly among the Caffres, one species of which
tastes like the sugar-cane, but is astringent and of a bitter flavour.
This kind is cultivated solely for the purpose of making beer, which is
conducted in the following manner : — The grain is first malted,
afterwards dried and ground, and then boiled to a thick consistency
which is subsequently mixed with two parts of water. Before it is
completely cooled, a portion of the malt finely powdered is thrown
into the mixture, fermentation speedily commences, and the liquor is
in a short time fit for use. This beer is said not to be unpleasant,
and that with a little care it might be rendered valuable.f

Amongst the tribes on the coast of Caffraria, grain is preserved in
small pits about a foot in width at the surface, but gradually widening

Vide Notes on the Cape of Good Hope, 8vo. passim.

f Vide Appendix to 2d vol. p. 360, of Thompson's Travels in South Africa,
1827.

270

to the bottom, all the sides being plastered with a mixture of sand
and cow-dung, and holding from about 10 to 28 bushels. The top is
secured by a flat stone, arid the whole is rendered impervious to water.
A similar practice is current in Malta, Egypt, and other parts of the
world. Dumont, when in slavery among the Koubals in Africa,
describes the matamores of this people as vast souterrains or immense
granaries of wheat, lodged under ground for its better preservation.
The excavations are made to the depth of 80 feet, wide in propor
tion, arid sometimes equal to a whole field in extent. The flooring
and walls are of timber, over which mats are spread, and over them
planks are placed. These reservoirs are filled to the height of 70
feet, and they are covered at the top with mats and planks as at the
sides and bottom. Over the whole, earth is spread to such a depth
that it may be cultivated with the same ease and success as any part
of the adjoining lands. This contrivance prevents strangers or
invaders from discovering those valuable repositories ; and the grain
within these souterrains keeps fresh for twelve or fifteen years.
Similar contrivances for the preservation of grain were resorted to
in France ; and during a season of scarcity, M. Ternaux, the cele
brated agriculturist, opened siloes or subterraneous granaries which
had been several years closed, out of which he supplied the public
with fresh and wholesome corn.

The Moors in Spain were likewise in the habit of depositing grain
in the caverns of rocks, lined with straw, the mouths of which were
covered with the same material, where it was preserved for a long
succession of years. On the birth of every child, a cavern was filled
with corn, which was destined to be its portion when it arrived at
maturity.

Distillation is unknown to the Caffrarian tribes, most of whom
have scarcely a vessel that would endure fire. The Caffres make a
sort of coarse earthen-ware by kneading clay and fine sand together,
and afterwards shaping the paste into a vessel with the hand. They
are again exposed to the influence of the sun for some time, and
hardened in a fire made of cow-dung ; these vessels serve for cooking
victuals and other culinary purposes. Notwithstanding they are so
numerous, yet the people carry their milk and other liquids in baskets
made from rushes, which are so close as to prevent the escape of any
fluid. One tribe of Cafires, the Amazizi, have the art of making a
spirituous drink from millet. A wine of fine flavour and of highly
intoxicating quality is made from a fruit, termed yayahoguhct, by the
Jamatians, a Caffre race that resides to the south of Mucaranga.

280

During the stay of Damberger with the Jamatians, he often drank of
this liquor, and warmly enjoyed its taste, flavour, and influence.

The Koramas possess the method of making a very intoxicating
sort of mead or hydromel, by fermenting honey with the juice of a
certain root, and the colonial Hottentots, who are in possesion of the
secret, frequently sell portions of this fermenting substance for spirits
and tobacco. Of the latter article, the Bushmen at the Cape are so
excessively fond, that they smoke it with such adroitness as to diffuse
the steam through both the mouth and nostrils ; the pipe used by
these people is the shank-bone of a sheep. One circumstance
attending the weddings of the Hottentots is laudable, which is that,
though at other times prone to drunkenness, they never drink on these
occasions, neither do they dance nor play upon musical instruments.
Honey is plentiful in various parts of the interior ; the bees gene
rally construct their cells in the hollows of trees or cavities of rocks,
which are frequently discovered by means of a bird, known to natu
ralists by the name of the honey-bird. This creature serves as a
guide to the Hottentots for finding out the honey of the country.
When the voice of the bird is heard, the Hottentot answers by a
whistle and follows it, still whistling his response to every note, till
at length the little warbler conducts him to the luscious treasure from
which neither returns without the object of the pursuit. The honey
is, for the most part, mixed with an umbelliferous plant, termed Gli,
first reduced to powder and then blended with cold water ; after
letting it ferment for a night, a sort of metheglin is obtained, two
glasses of which are sufficient to produce intoxication. Of the pulve
rized root of this plant, two handfuls are considered quite enough to
make a few gallons.*

The sugar-cane might be cultivated to any extent, and rum and
sugar manufactured of a quality not inferior to any that are made
elsewhere. How far it might be the interest of government to give
a preference to the plantations in this quarter, I am not prepared to
say ; but, unquestionably, the country in the vicinity of the Cape is
more congenial to health) and affords better promise of a redundant
population than most of our other foreign colonies. For the emigrant,
it possesses many advantages and inducements, particularly as the
government patronise colonization ; but the prevalence and effects of
certain periodical winds render many parts of the country not so
healthy to Europeans as could be wished : still, however, from the

* Thunberg's Travels, vol. ii. p. 3J.

281

productive nature of the soil, it seems to offer a sufficient remunera
tion for the toil of the agriculturist. Wheat, Indian corn, and other
grain thrive well, and tobacco coidd be made a most productive and
valuable source of commerce : hitherto the colonists have not cultivated
more than what serves domestic consumption ; but what has been
raised is not inferior to the best tobacco of Virginia growth. Of the
vine enough has been said to show how far a person might embark
with safety in its cultivation ; and from the local position of the Cape
arid its facilities for trade, an adventurer could scarcely fail of success
in embarking a capital in speculations in this colony in preference to
many others.

The island of St. Helena has little to attract attention ; but as it
is a sort of rendezvous for vessels passing to and from India, it merits
some notice here not from anything indigenous, but from its locality
and its having been the residence of Napoleon Buonaparte. In
Brooke's History of this island, are found some curious and quaint
regulations of its early governors. From 1673 to 1687, a tax of 10s.
was imposed on every hogshead of wine and arrack that was landed
on the island, and to prevent a scarcity of timber, which was much
consumed in the distillation of spirits from potatoes, an impost of 12d.
was levied for every hundred weight of wood appropriated to that
purpose, besides 4d. for every gallon of liquor so manufactured. Not
withstanding this restriction, the number of stills in the island became
at length such a nuisance, that it was found necessary to suppress
them entirely, which was effected by an order from England in 1700.
By an edict of one of the governors, in 1709, to regulate the sales of
the public houses, it was ordered that a bowl of punch, made with
one pint of arrack and having a due proportion of sugar and lemon,
should be sold for two shillings and no more, while arrack rated at
six shillings per gallon ; and a violation of this order was followed by
the forfeiture of the license and double the value of the liquor. If
any person considered this a grievance, he was at liberty to give up
his license for any unexpired portion of the year, and be refunded
for that time at the rate of £A per annum. In 1754, the East India
Company issued laws to prevent intemperance in drinking ; for the
first offence, admonition only was resorted to ; for the second a fine
of five shillings was to be exacted ; and persons of rank were to pay
in proportion to their station, as it was expected that they should be
an example to others.

From a species of the gum-tree, which grows from 20 to 30 feet
in height, a kind of toddy is extracted by the inhabitants ; but it is
not collected nor used to any extent. Almost every valley in the

382

island produces vines but in too scanty a portion to afford wine ; the
supply of this and other liquors being- brought from other parts of the
world. The only revenue accruing to the East India Company,
according to Lord Valentin, was that derivable from the rents of the
lands and the monopoly of the arrack imported into the island, which
annually netted £6,000.

Passing to the islands in the Mexican gulf, known by the general
name of the West Indies, we find the distillation of ardent spirits
carried on there to an extent not surpassed within the same limits of
territory in any other quarter of the world. The time at which the
manufacture commenced there is not exactly ascertained, but the first
plantation of sugar-canes was established, according to Oveido Valdes,
in Hispaniola or St. Domingo, by the Spaniards, in 1520.* The rapi
dity of the culture was such, that, in 1535, there were not less than
thirty plantations on the island ; and, according to Bingo, there were
in 1544, thirty four sugar-mills established. As the use of the still
was then known, it may be conjectured that not long after this period
the distillation of rum suggested itself, as the only means to compen
sate the planter for the loss incurred in disposing of the skimmings
and molasses, after their separation from the sugar.

As to the name given to this spirit, writers are at variance, some
attributing its derivation to one thing and some to another. In the
German language, it is simply termed rum ; in the Dutch rum, and
keelduivel ; — in the Danish, rom, and geldyvel ; — in the Swedish, rom,
rum ; — in the French, rum, gueldive ; — in the Italian, rum, taffia ; —
in the Spanish ron, rom, tafia ; — in the Portuguese, ron ; — and in the
Russian, rom. The word rum seems to have been formerly used in
Great Britain to convey the idea of any thing fine, rich, best, or excel
lent ; thus to express a superior brandy, it was common to say rum
Nantz, because the best description of that liquor was distilled at
Nantz; and as spirits extracted from molasses could not well be
classed under the terms of whiskey, brandy, arrack, &c. it was called
rum, to denote its excellence or superior quality. This term is proba
bly taken from the last syllable of the Latin word saccharum (sugar) ;
and it is not a little singular, that the liquor itself has been always
known among the native Americans by the name of rum.

The process of manufacturing sugar from the cane, is too well
known to require a description here, and the molasses, from which
the rum is principally made, is the sirup of the sugar (or the drain-
ings after it is put into the hogshead), which no course of boiling can

Ilistoriu Nalui'al. dc las Iiidias. Foyer's Hist. Barbadoes, 4to. p. 40. Alceda's
Dictionary.

283

bring1 to a thicker consistence. The distillation of this substance,
together with the skimmings of the boilers, has been thus described
to the author by a gentleman long resident in Demerary and the
West Indies : —

From the liquor of the cane, which runs warm from the coppers
through a trough to a receiver prepared for that purpose, the skim
mings are taken, and, with some of the liquor itself, are pumped from
a cistern containing from 300 to 800 gallons, when the fluid is mixed
with water and molasses in the proportion of twenty-five gallons to
one hundred. When this mixture is sufficiently blended together in
the vats (which in some plantations amount to thirty), it is covered
over with boards or mats made of plantain leaves, and allowed to
ferment for three or fcfur days, or longer, should there be a want of
yeast or other ferment to make it work, which often occurs at the
commencement of the season. When reduced to a due degree of
acidity, which is ascertained by the subsiding of the fermentation, it is
run into a still proportioned to the vat, and wrought off as low wines,
in which state it is put into the still again. The first run, or discharge
after it is thus returned to the still, is taken off for high wines (as
they are termed), or strong rum, in the proportion of 25 gallons to
300, the strength of which, when tried by a glass-bead instrument, is
from 18° to 22°. The second run of the still, which is drawn off in
cans and carried by negroes to another vessel, is of a strength from
23° to 26°. From these two runnings of the still, the rum exported
from the colony of Demerary is made up. The deficiency in the
strength of the second distillation is supplied by an addition from the
first, which is always stronger than that exported, and of too ardent
a nature to be used by itself, 25° being colony proof. In the Wind
ward islands, one-third of the skimmings is mixed with one-third of
the lees, or dander, and one-third of water. When these begin to
ferment, which they usually do in twenty-four hours, the first mixture
of molasses takes place in the proportion of six gallons for every
hundred gallons of the fermenting liquor, and a day or two afterwards
an additional quantity of molasses is added. The fermentation is
tempered by the addition of cold or warm water. D under , a term
unfamiliar to the ear of a European distiller, is the lees or feculencies
of former distillations, serving all the purposes of yeast in the fermen
tation. It is derived from a Spanish word, redunder, the same as
redundans in Latin, and is well known among the planters in the West
Indies. The attenuating properties of this ferment are such, that the
materials, with which it is mixed, are said to yield a much greater
proportion of spirit than could be obtained if they were fermented

284

without it.* It serves the same purpose as jalap mixed with molasses,
which has been sometimes employed in Great Britain for cutting down
the frothy head at the close of the fermentation ; and it is usually
preserved from one year to another for this purpose ; and in such
large quantities as to fill most of the backs or fermenting tuns.
Dunder soon becomes covered with so thick a film as to exclude the
air, and the sediment leaves the intermediate fluid pure and of a
bright amber colour, which, when carefully drawn off, is employed as
already described, in proportions suited to the nature of the fermen
tation, and to this dunder many attribute the best flavour of the
rum. Besides this very essential ingredient, various mixtures are
used in the fermenting process, such as tartar, nitre, sea-water, or
common salt. In some of the islands, a still usually makes about
220 gallons of rum in the day. These are produced from about 530
gallons of low wines ; or 113 of rum from 1200 gallons of wash ;
this liquor is of such a strength that olive oil will sink in it, and seldom
exceeds proof, though, sometimes, by double distillation, it is made to
approach the strength of alcohol. The process of distilling is in
general slow, and much caution is observed in the condensation of the
spirit. To provide against a scarcity of water, which often occurs in
the islands, they preserve, in large tuns or tanks, a sufficiency of rain
water to enable them to mix the molasses, &c. and to cool the worm
of the still. As the water becomes heated in the worm-tub, it is car
ried to coolers or cisterns, and, when cold, is run again upon the
worm. In most of the islands, the curing-houses for sugar and the
distilleries for rum are constructed on the sides of canals, and the
canes are carried either in boats or by negroes from the plantations
to these houses. From five to six immense copper boilers are kept
in each of those houses, while the greatest cleanliness is preserved in
the distillery, a precaution highly necessary in every concern of this
kind, and which must contribute largely to the strength and purity
of the rum.f In Jamaica, the operations go on without intermission ;
the negroes being formed into what are called spells or divisions, two
or three occasionally relieving each other at stated intervals.

The richness of flavour peculiar to this spirit, which has rendered
it famous in almost all parts of the world, is supposed to be derived
from the raw juice and the fragments of the sugar-cane, which are
mashed and fermented with the other materials in the tun. The
essential oil of the cane is thus imparted to the wash, and carried

* Edwards' History of the West Indies, vol. ii. p. 232, 233.
f Williams's Tour through Jamaica, 8vo. p. 6.

2S5

over in the distillation ; for sugar, when distilled by itself, has no
peculiar flavour different from other spirits. Time adds much to the
mildness and value of rum, which the planters often improve by the
addition of pine-apple juice.

To calculate the cost of rum to the sugar planter is difficult ; in
general, it is estimated that one-fourth of the entire produce of a plan
tation may in point of value consist of rum, and accordingly one-
fourth of the expenditure may be taken as the first cost of the rum,
and the remaining tliree-fourths as that of the sugar. Some say that
the charge of making rum bears a similar proportion to that of home
made spirits, but this is an erroneous assumption. Rum is made from
the molasses or that part of the cane-juice which will not crystallize
into sugar as also from the scum which is taken off during the
saccharific process, and which in sweetness is equal to one-fifth of
molasses, Let us take, as a standard, a distillery on a plantation
producing 250 hogsheads of sugar yielding 15,000 gallons of molasses
and scum equal to 5,000 gallons, netting in all 20,000 gallons of
molasses. These would produce about 15,000 gallons of proof rum,
which, when brought to the British market, would be reduced by
the voyage to about 13,500 gallons, the average loss being ten per
cent. These would cost the manufacturer throughout the islands
from Is. 4d. to Is. Id. per gallon, independent of all charges for
puncheons, freight, commission, and other unavoidable expenses.

From this statement, it must appear that the distiller of rum has
little or no profit, but being the grower of the material, arid having
his capital embarked in the trade, he is compelled to manufacture it
from necessity, and the sooner he can turn the article to account the
better he is enabled to bear loss and meet his engagements.

The average exports of rum from the principal islands, in 1787,
amounted to 6,345,966 gallons. From Barbadoes, in the medium of
eight years, from 1740 to 1748, the export amounted to 12,884
puncheons of 100 gallons each. In 1810, as appears from the Parlia
mentary reports, 3,428,452 gallons were exported to Great Britain
from Jamaica alone, and in 1813, not less than 3,763,281 gallons.

In the island of St. Domingo, the juice of the cane is chiefly con
verted into sirup and afterwards distilled into taffia or rum, of which
there is a very large consumption ; it being the favourite liquor of
the natives. In the neighbourhood of Cayes, on this island, there are
eighty-one small distilleries, or, as they are termed by the inhabitants,
gueldiveries, which consume about two millions of pounds of sirup,
annually affording about one hundred and eighty thousand gallons of
taffia, an inferior kind of spirit. Four thousand five hundred

286

hogsheads of this liquor, with six hundred hogsheads of rum
of sixty gallons each, were made in 1826, most of the molas
ses having been purchased for the distillers ; the proprietors of
the plantations being generally too poor to erect distilleries. When
this island was in possession of the French, the manufacture of sugar,
both clayed and raw, was carried on to considerable extent : molasses
was then a limited export. In 1789, there were 25,7491bs. of it
shipped; in 1801, the quantity was 99,41 91bs., while for the nine
years previous to 1826, only once, (in 1822) were 211,9271bs.
exported ; the whole of the sirup being used in the manufacture of
taffia.* The quantity of rum sent out of this island has always been
limited ; all that is now made is required for home consumption ; but
considerable quantities of wines, brandies, and beer, are imported from
France ; — Hock, Rhenish wines, and gin from Holland, with porter
and cider from the United States. In order to form a correct idea
of the extent of the rum trade of the West Indies, it may be sufficient
to state that from the 5th of January, 1829, to the 5th January, 1830,
there were exported to Great Britain and Ireland alone, 6,901,607
proof gallons, and in 1832, 6,934,759 gallons, a detail of which, as
sent from each of the islands, will be found in a Table of the Addenda.

It has been calculated that the quantity of rum consumed in the
United Kingdom amounted in 1800, to 3,049,590 imperial gallons,
while the consumption of 1829 was 3,375,866, shewing an increase
in the use of this spirit of upwards of ten per cent. Notwithstanding
this increase, the planters complained of the distressed and almost
ruinous state of the trade, alleging, that although they contributed
considerably towards the revenues of the empire, and had important
claims on the government, yet the consumption of home-made spirits
was encouraged to a degree highly injurious to their interests. In
1829, there were 22,690,270 imperial gallons of British spirits con
sumed, while in 1800, there were only 5,386,313 used, thus showing
in that period a preference to the use of the home-manufacture of
420 per cent., a measure calculated to bring destructive consequences
on the West India planter.

The superior quality of the rum manufactured in the colony of
Demerary has, it is thought, injured the demand for the rum of the
islands. Its distillation, as appears from Bolingbroke, has been
carried to a high state of perfection by the perseverance and skill of
several scientific men, who have succeeded in causing the rum of
Kssequibo and Demerary to be as much in request in the American
market as that of Jamaica is in England.

* M'Kenzic's Notes on Hayti, vol. ii. p. 160.

287

The following exports of rum , since the last establishment of the
British custom-house on that settlement are thus recorded : —

From the 1st October, 1803, till September 10th, Pimchs. Hhds.

1804, 4,887 0

Ditto, 10th of September, 1804, till January 5,

1805. 504 0

Ditto, 5th January, 1805, till January 5th, 1806, 3,611 17

Ditto, 5th January, 1806, till January 5th, 1807, 4,722 17

Ditto, 5th January, 1822, till January 5th, 1823, 20,059 1839

The export from this colony into Great Britain for the year end
ing 5th January, 1823, amounted to 1,193,556 gallons; and for the
year ending 5th January, 1829, to 1,358,458 proof gallons.

The produce expected by a planter in Demerary is at the rate of
80 gallons for every hogshead of sugar which his estate produces,
each hogshead averaging 12001bs. The rum made on a sugar estate
is generally calculated to pay all its expenses.* In the West India
islands also, it has been computed, that if a plantation be carefully
managed, the sale of the molasses and rum together will defray the
ordinary charges of the estate.

Besides rum, the beverages common to most Europeans are fami
liar in the islands. Hospitality is a prevailing characteristic of the
inhabitants ; and the practice of drinking is too often carried to excess.
Most other liquors are preferred to new rum, which is considered
very unwholesome, and is not unaptly termed by the inhabitants
" kill devil." To its excessive use may be attributed the death of many
brave men in our naval and military service. A seaman, says Boling-
broke, belonging to one of his Maiesty's ships, stationed in the West
Indies, suddenly turned quite black in several parts of his body, and
was evidently in a putrescent state. The surgeon requested leave of
the captain to open and examine him, when a quart of new rum,
nearly as clear as when first issued from the still, was found in his
stomach, which had evidently caused his death.

Mr. M'Kenzie, during his residence in St. Domingo, remarked,
that the victims to the climate were chiefly the crews of foreign
vessels who made too great a use of new rum, which, with the climate
itself, proved overwhelming.f

In a country where the heat of the climate must tend to relax the
strength of the body, we need not wonder at the fatal consequences
of drinking to excess : even at home we have too many deplorable

* Bolingbroke's Statistical Account of the Settlements on the Demarary, &c.
4to. p. 100.

f Notes on Hayti, vol. i. p. 14.

288-

instances of a similar fatality caused by even a smaller portion of
ardent spirits. Moderation in all situations is conducive to health,
but in the warm regions of the tropics, where there are so many
sources of disease, forbearance and caution are especially neces
sary.

The cultivation of sugar has been lately introduced into the island
of Cuba ; but, from the indolence of the inhabitants, it is very unpro
ductive. In 1763, bees were introduced by emigrants from Florida,
and they multiplied so much in the hollows of the trees that they
soon obtained honey enough for their annual consumption. In 1777,
they exported honey to the amount of 715,0001bs.

Madeira, claret, punch, porter, and cider, are favourite liquors in
many of the islands, as also a drink, termed Sangaree, which consists
of half Madeira and half water, acidulated with lime juice and sweet
ened with sugar. This drink is also in much request in New Galli-.
cia, and other ports of South America. The ingredients in its coin-
position are a mixture of wine, sugar, lemon-juice, and spices. The
practice of partaking of these at all hours pretty generally prevails ;
even in the senate house at Barbadoes, the members drink punch.
On one occasion, when Pinckard was there, two persons suddenly
appeared with a large bowl and a two-quart glass filled with punch
and sangaree. These were first presented to the speaker, who, after
dipping deep into the bowl, passed it among the members. Nor were
the audience forgotten, as it was considered to be correctly in order
for strangers to join in this part of the debate.* The practice of late
breakfasts in different parts of the West Indies, particularly in St.
Domingo, has given rise to the introduction of wine and spirits at
those meals, and a succession of excess in their use through the day
has often been the consequence. Persons have been known to drink
so deeply on those occasions as to be carried off wholely senseless,
while the necessaries of life being procurable for a mere trifle, the
lower orders are thereby enabled to indulge more freely in the luxury
of their favorite drink, rum or tafia.

It is a custom in most of the West India islands to place on the
side-board a capacious bowl of cold punch, to allay thirst during the
heat of the day. To this a peculiar flavour is usually imparted by an
infusion of the juice of the acajou apple.

In the island of St. Kitts, a drink called Swizzle is much used ; it
is a mixture of rum with about six times the quantity of water,
rendered palatable by the infusion of some aromatic ingredients,

I

" Pinckard's Notes on the West Indies, vol. i. p. 469.

289

This beverage is often expensive, because water has frequently to be
brought from the neighbouring islands, and sometimes rum and wine
are given in exchange.

From the fruit of a tree called Mamme, or Mamme-Sapota (Achras)
is made the highly esteemed cordial, L'eau des noiaux. This fruit
the French term U apricot de Saint Dominique; it contains two
large stones, which are employed in giving spirits a ratafia flavour.
The Mamme is a splendid tree, lofty, shady, and green, shooting up
into a pyramidal figure, and producing only one large fruit in the
year. If eaten raw, it is indigestible, yet it makes an exquisite
conserve.*

When the negroes cannot procure rum, they make a fermented
liquor from cassada, resembling beer, which in Barbadoes is termed
piworree^ and in other places owjcou. This plant, the manioc or
mandioc of America, grows to the size of a large shrub, or small tree,
and produces roots somewhat resembling parsnips.J From both the
bitter and sweet cassada a nutritious bread is made, which is thus
prepared by the natives : — When the roots are washed and scraped
clean, they are grated very fine and squeezed through a coarse bag
or sieve, either of hair or hemp, into pot or stone vessel, and dried by
a gentle heat, until the mixture becomes farinaceous or mealy. In
this state it is fit for use, and is frequently made into excellent pud
dings ; previously it is a deadly poison. From the roots a starch
called tapioca is prepared, which is a profitable export to the Brazi
lians. In some of the islands, the juice expressed from the cassada
is made into starch by the simple process of letting it stand until the
heavier parts collect at the bottom of the vessel. The water being-
drawn off and the residue dried in the sun, the tapioca of commerce
is produced.

The ouycou is sometimes brewed very strong, and it is considered
both nourishing and refreshing. Molasses and yams are used in the
preparation, and the liquor, after fermentation, is of a reddish colour.
Great quantities of this beverage are consumed at feasts, of which we
shall have occasion to speak hereafter. Anciently they had a liquor
like the Mexican Atolle, which was of thick consistence, and composed
of maize and flour seasoned with sugar and spices. The ouycou was
made thus : — An earthen vessel, containing about sixty quarts, was
nearly filled with water, into which were thrown two pounded roots

* West India Skctcli Book.

f Vide Pinckard's Notes, p, 420.

| Robertson's Hist. America, vol. li. p. 7.

290

of cassada with twelve sweet potatoes, a gallon of juice of sugar
cane, and a dozen of ripe bananas. The vessel being closed, the mix
ture was left to ferment for two or three days, and when completely
attenuated, the scum was removed from the surface, and the liquor
was then fit to be used. Though the material of this drink was said
to be strong and exhilarating, yet it was considered inferior to Maby
or Mobby, which is said to resemble French wine. The Maby is
made by mixing about half a gallon of clarified sirup with about 30
quarts of water, twelve oranges cut into quarters, with a like number
of red sweet potatoes. In about thirty hours after, during which it
has undergone the operation of fermentation, it is ready for the goblet.
This drink, as the name imports, is probably an imitation of the fer
mented juice of the Mabal palm found in the districts lying along
the Congo, from which many of the negroes in these settlements
have been carried as slaves, and no doubt brought the term with
them.

The bitter cassada is poisonous when raw, but heat deprives it of
that quality. Raynal asserts, that the cassada or manioc plant was
originally introduced into the West Indies from Africa, and that the
Indians were first instructed by the negroes in the art of converting
the poisonous root into wholesome food. Edwards contradicts this,
and shews from the first decad of P. Martyr, which bears date Novem
ber, 1493, that the cassada furnished the islanders with the principal
part of their food at the time when they were visited by Columbus,
and long before any of the negro tribes were brought thither.*

The attachment of the aborigines to the pleasures of intoxication is
well illustrated in the following circumstance, and shews that when
drink could not be obtained to effect this delightful sensation, they
had recourse to many subterfuges to supply the defect. Among
others, the fumes of tobacco were a favourite substitute. These they
exhaled through a tube formed like a Y, the two branches of which
were inserted into each nostril, while the stem was embedded in a
vessel of burning leaves. The vapour thus communicated soon
affected the brain of the inhaler, and produced all the stupifying
results and visionary pleasures usually ascribed to opium. This mode
of intoxicating was often preferred to that excited by drinking, and
so sudden were its consequences, that the stoutest individual has been
prostrated in a few minutes. But since the introduction of distilla
tion into these islands, forced methods of inebriation are seldom
practised.

* Edwards' Hist, of W. Indies. Also Robertson's Hist, of America, vol. ii. note, p. 5J>.

291

In tho Antilles, the vine never succeeded to any extent, but
formerly the Spaniards resident in the north side of Jamaica, culti
vated considerable vineyards, and made a good wine resembling
claret. But the ease with which the wines of Europe can be procured,
renders the cultivation of the vine for that purpose unnecessary. In
many of the sugar plantations on the island of Jamaica, each of the
negroes is allowed to take in calabashes about half a gallon of hot
purified cane juice, which he sometimes ferments by means of the
chewstickwithe, or chewed cane, making thereby a palatable kind of
beer. At other times he uses it in the simple, unfermented state, to
refresh him during the toils of the day. The overseer often carries
a quantity of it in a bamboo staff, but more frequently substitutes
rum in preference, and may be seen occasionally walking with one
end of his cane elevated to the clouds, while he is regaling himself
out of the other. It is a custom among the negroes here, which has
been carried from Africa, to make a libation, or first-fruit offering, by
pouring a little liquor on the ground before they drink any of it them
selves, a practice also prevalent in several parts of Asia.

For a view of the extent and importance of the revenue arising to
Great Britain from the rum imported from those islands, the reader
is referred to that part of this work which treats of home distillation.

To enter into a detail of the value of rum as an article of consump
tion for the British nation, and the advantages which might arise
from its unrestricted importation, would lead to the introduction of
considerations foreign to the design of this work. But it may be
observed, that a preference ought to be given to this article as exclu
sively the production and manufacture of colonies subject to our own
laws and government, rather than to the consumption of foreign grain
brought into Great Britain, and made into spirits at considerable
expense, to the injury of our agricultural .interests at home, and of
those of our dependencies abroad.

Prejudices injurious to the West India planters have too frequently
been formed from erroneous impressions of the condition of the
slaves ; and, therefore, a disinclination is manifested to encourage any
branch of manufacture in which they are employed. But without in
the most remote degree advocating slavery, which, in its mildest state,
must always tend to the degradation of our species, it may be proper
to shew that the manner in which the negroes are generally treated is
different from what is commonly represented. Most of the regula
tions affecting the slave population are not determined by the will
of the proprietor, but are settled by law and are calculated to promote
the comforts of the slaves. They are either provided with provision.

292

ground, which they are permitted to cultivate, or furnished with an
equivalent in money or food. They are also clothed, and when ill,
have medical attendance and medicine. When old, their infirmities
are provided for hy a sort of superannuation allowance, averaging ten
pounds per annum. These regulations vary in different islands accord
ing to circumstances and localities, but all tend to soften the aspe
rities of slavery. In many of the islands it is the practice to give
each slave, in the morning before going to work, a cup of coffee, a
glass of rum, or some other warm beverage, such as ginger tea;
besides which he gets, once or twice a day, weak diversion, that is
rum and wrater sweetened with molasses. That cruelties from harsh
and brutal taskmasters have been inflicted on many of those unfor
tunate beings, there can be no doubt ; but to brand all the planters
with a savage barbarity and want of feeling, would be wanton and
unfounded. Man here in a civilised state is not insensible to the feel
ings of humanity, nor does he act in opposition to those laws which
regulate society in other countries.

Since writing the foregoing, slavery in the colonies has, by an act
of the British legislature, been abolished; and it remains to be
seen whether, under a different system of treatment, the condition of
the Africans in the West Indies will be more conducive to their hap
piness by putting them on an equality with the intelligent and
polished inhabitants of those regions.

The Church of England, the Wesleyan Methodists, and other mis
sionaries have been, for some time, engaged among them in the incul
cation of sound religious principles, wrhich have for their object the
fear of God, the love of their fellow-men, and a respect for the laws
and regulations of civilized society. These, with the influence of the
useful arts of agriculture, manufactures, and trade, must prove of the
highest benefit not only to the well-being of the present generation,
but to the descendants of those who have been emancipated from the
thraldom of slavery.

On directing our observations to the American continent, we find
that when the Spaniards first visited Mexico and Peru, the inhabi
tants understood the preparation of several intoxicating drinks procured
from maize or Indian corn, from the manioc or roots of the yuecay and
from the agave or maguey^ a species of aloes. The Indian corn,
when bruised and fermented into a kind of inspissated drink, was
called chica,* and much resembled beer in its qualities. Chica is a
generic term for any sort of inspissated drink, such as the juice or
the grape simply boiled, or the liquor of the sugar-cane. Acosta is

* Skinner's Present State' of Peru, 4to. p. 258.

293

of opinion that this word is of Ilaytian origin, as it does not belong to

any known language in the Indies; the same observation applies to

the word maize. Chica, denominated the nectar of the Peruvians,

is made by pounding the maize into a fine powder and placing it in a

heap, around which a number of females place themselves, and chew

the material into a sort of paste. After chewing, it is taken from the

mouth and rolled between the hands into round balls, which are placed

in the form of a pyramid, like cannon shot in a fortification. This

operation being finished, they are then baked over a fire and put into

a, certain quantity of water where they ferment and form the fluid now

under consideration. Chica tastes like a mixture of table beer and

cider. It is considered as nutritious as porter, and, notwithstanding

the forbidding mode of preparation, is extremely grateful in hot

weather, and not by any means prejudicial to health. During the

time of the carnival, great quantities of Chica are consumed, as the

people, on such occasions, are permitted to amuse themselves in

various indulgences. Even females are often seen on horseback at

full gallop, contending for no more than a draught of Chica. In Peru,

is another kind of Chica, made from the Algaroba tree, accounted

very pleasing, and of which the people are extremely fond. When

taken moderately, it is considered wholesome, and conducive not

only to exhilarate the spirits, but to strengthen the constitution.

No Irishman shews greater partiality for his native whiskey, nor
indulges in it more freely, than the Peruvian does in his attachment to
his beloved Chica. To make the drink from the manioc or yueca, the
roots are boiled and bruised into a paste, which, as in the case of
Chica from maize, the women, by the application of their saliva, convert
into a fluid, called masato* in the manner practised for a similar
purpose by the inhabitants of Formosa, the South Sea islanders, and the
Brazilians. This fluid is left for three days to ferment, which, by the
infusion of some water, becomes a very powerful, intoxicating liquor.
When strained, it is sometimes called Kicbla, and the spirit distilled
from it puichiu. The Peruvians cultivate the yueca, and, in clearing the
forests for that purpose, they use hatchets made of stone, resembling
ours, but having, instead of a handle, two ears with a channel to secure
the extremity by means of cords.f Temple mentions a singular super
stition of the Peruvians, who, on one of their chiefs being slain, dipped
pieces of the clothes of the deceased in his blood, and afterwards sold
them to the women employed in making Chica, in order that these
rags might be thrown into it on particular occasions to produce a

* Skinner's Present State of Peru, p. 380. t

t Bonnyeastle's Account of Spanish America, vol. ii. p, 189.

294.

charm, when all the Indians in the neighbourhood, male and female,
assembled to drink of this horrible beverage. At dinner parties, it is
customary to have on a side-table several bottles of rum, spruce beer,
and other liquors, with cakes and confections, of which the guests par
take on entering the room. The same glass is used by the whole
company, and it would be deemed uncourteous if any hesitated to
drink after another. The more lips the glass has touched, the more
friendship in the acceptance ; and should any individual from squeam-
ishness look for a place that had been untouched, he would be treated
with contempt by the rest of the company. When a lady honours a
gentleman by drinking to him, he takes her glass and cautiously
observes to place his lips on the very spot which she had touched with
hers, and then drains the contents to the last drop. It is usual at
parties, when the guests become mellow and a favourite toast is drunk,
to shiver the glasses to atoms, implying that the subject is too good
ever again to suffer the same glasses to be denied by being made to
contain a bumper to any less exceptionable sentiment.* The juice of
the Agave is by the Peruvians fermented in the same way as in
Mexico, where it is made into a kind of wine called pulque orpouchra,
by others denominated octli. When Francis Pizarro had his first
interview with the Inca Atahualpa, he was presented with a golden
goblet of this wine. The Inca, holding a similar one in his hand,
pledged him on the occasion of his visit, which he hoped would lead
to the good of himself, his country, and his people. Pizarro observed
that the inhabitants, at that time, understood the brewing of beer from
oats, and found ale-houses established for its sale. Pulque, orPouchra,
is at present in great demand all over the South American continent,
and the spirit extracted from it is known by the name of Mexical, or
agua ardiente de Maguey, from the circumstance of its distillation
having been first introduced at Mexico by the Spaniards. The
manufacture of this liquor was prohibited by the Spanish government
as injurious to the trade of their brandies ; but as it was a general
favourite among the inhabitants, and smuggled to a great extent
through the country, its distillation was at length publicly permitted
on the payment of a certain duty.

In the Theatro Americano, published at Mexico, in 1746, it appears
that 161,000 peros were raised by the tax on pulque.^ The consump
tion of this liquor, in 1791, amounted to 294,790 cargoes, that of
wine and vinegar to 4,507 barrels of 4^ arobas, and 12,000 barrels

* Temple's Travels, vol. ii. p. 311.

"j" Robertson's America, vol.iii. note, p. 196. Bonnvcastle's Account of Spanish
America, 8vo. vol. i. p. 63.

295

of brandy. Since that period, wine is much more in use, and of pulque
the enormous quantity of 44 millions of bottles, each containing
58,141 cubic inches, have been annually consumed.

When Humboldt visited New Spain in 1804, the cultivation of the
maguey had become of great im portance to the exchequer. The
duties of entry on this article paid in Mexico, Puebla, and Toluca, in
1798, amounted to 817,739 piasters, or £178,880 sterling. The
expense of collection was 55,608 piasters, and the net profit to the
crown was 761,131 piasters, or £166,497. The entire revenue
derived from the fermented juice of the agave, through the whole of
New Spain, is said to exceed 800,000 piasters ; but it must be con
siderably greater, since a late writer computes the annual consump
tion in the city of Mexico alone at 1,000,000 of piasters. The
houses in that capital, for the sale of it, have of late become so nume
rous, that the police, to check the great irregularities which they
occasion, allow them to remain open no longer than from ten o'clock
to four in the day.* This drink is allowed to enter the city only by
one gate, that of Guadaloupe ; and a similar regulation prevails in
most of the other cities of New Spain.

Large plantations of maguey are now under cultivation, both by
the natives and Spaniards ; and the mode of conducting the crops is
thus described : —

The plants are set about nine feet asunder in rows, and require
little attention until the season of flowering, which has been averaged
at a period of ten years. In a plantation of 1000 aloes, it is calculated
that about 100 are in flower every year. The Indians know the
exact time at which the stem or central shoot, from which the flower
springs, is about to appear, when they instantly cut out the whole of
this stem, leaving a hollow or cup, formed by the rind, a foot and a
half in diameter and nearly two feet in depth. This is covered with
leaves, and the juice, which otherwise would have served for the
nourishment and support of the central stalk, flows into this cavity,
and in such quantities as to require its removal two or three times
a day. This sap is called aguamiel, or honey-water, from its ropy or
honey-like taste and consistency. A thriving plant yields from eight
to fifteen pints of this sap in a day. The exudation continues two or
three months, and each plant produces on an average about 150 quarts
annually. Great judgment is required in extracting the central
portion of the stem which bears the flower, for, if the operation be
made either too early or too late, the plant is wholly destroyed and
rendered unproductive.

* Bonnycastle'a Account of Spanish America, TO!, i. p. t>3.

296

A mistake prevails in Europe respecting the time which -the aloe
or agave takes to floweju which is said to be but once in a century ;
but we find that on the American continent, it blossoms after the date
of its being planted in a period varying from 8 to 18 years. The
plant is composed of a number of strong indented leaves at the base,
of from five to eight feet in length, with a stalk twenty-five feet high,
having twenty or thirty branches diminishing in proportion as they
are elevated from the base, and form a kind of pyramid bearing a
greenish yellow flower, standing erect in thick clusters from every
joint. Such is the majestic appearance of this plant, if undisturbed,
and it continues to produce these flowers for upwards of three months
successively. But it is at the critical moment that the central or
flower stem is about to appear that the ingenious planter extracts the
heart or central portion of the stalk, when, instead of an immediate
efflorescence, a flowing of juice commences and continues during the
period that the plant itself would have been ornamented with blossoms.
Annexed is a representation of the agave in the state at which the
juice is collected, with the skin, scraper, and gourd : the latter of
which has its smaller end terminated with a horn, and is used by the
planters in the same way as brewers in EuVope take samples from the
bungs of beer or porter barrels.

297

In the preparation of the pulque from the juice thus obtained, no
barm or yeast is employed to cause fermentation. A quantity of the
sap is allowed to stand in a vessel for ten or fifteen days, in which
time it ferments and is termed madre pulque -, or the mother of * pulque.
This is distributed in small portions into the troughs or skins along
with the aguamiel to excite fermentation, and in twenty-four hours
after, the pulque is finished and in the very best state for drinking.
The Mexicans attribute to pulque the same virtues that the Irish do
to whiskey. Europeans dislike it at first from its heavy smell, some
what like sour milk or slightly tainted meat ; but in a little time, when
this disagreeable flavour has become familiar, it is esteemed both a
wholesome, cooling, and nutritious beverage, being always drunk in
a state of effervescence, and no bad effects arising from its slightly
intoxicating qualities. Some plantations of agave have been known
to bring in upwards of £1,666 annually.

It is surprising that in a country where heat is excessive and water
scarce, that some better and speedier mode than that of conveying this
drink to the great towns in skins on the backs of asses has not been
adopted. By this means much time is lost and the liquor suffers in
flavour, becoming heavy in the smell, and its freshness and cooling
properties are in a great measure destroyed. Writers differ as to the
cause of the foetid odour of the pulque, some attributing it, as already
stated, to the skins in which it is conveyed. Others say that it has
the same disagreeable flavour when preserved in vessels. " Perhaps,"
says Humboldt, " the odour proceeds from the decomposition of a
vegeto-animal matter, analogous to the gluten contained in the juice
of the agave" In some parts of Mexico, there is a species of the
maguey which is inferior to that in the vicinity of the capital, as just
described. No pulque is made from it, but it is distilled into a strong
spirit called Chinguerite.

The utility of the agave or aloe plant is not restricted to the pro
duction of pulque, but its leaves and fibres have been converted to
many useful purposes. The Aborigines used the leaves, after a cer
tain preparation, as a substitute for paper on which their hieroglyphics
were written ; and pieces of it are still to be found in the country
resembling pasteboard, and some like Chinese paper. A durable good
sort of twine is manufactured from the fibres and twisted into ropes,
which are in great demand in the mining districts, and sometimes
employed as cordage for shipping. This is known in Europe by the
name ofpite thread, and preferred by naturalists to every other, as it
is not liable to twist. The plantations of maguey or agave are very
profitable, and, as the plants are propagated with great ease and
facility, many are engaged in its cultivation, from which an income of

298

from 10 to 12,000 dollars has been annually derived by one individual.
This plant requires little or no water, and, although the parent one
withers as the sap is exhausted, a multitude of new suckers spring
from the root, and, Avhen transplanted, more of them supply its place.
The length of time that must elapse from the first laying down of a
plantation till it begins to prove productive, which, as already stated,
is from eight to eighteen years, proves a great drawback and discou
ragement to agriculturists. But, when once a good establishment has
been effected and matured, the proprietor is soon amply repaid for
his toil, as, henceforward, there is an annual succession of plants to
afford a constant supply for the market. A planter, who lays down
from 30 to 40,000 plants, is sure, according to Humboldt, to estab
lish the fortune of his children. The same writer thinks that the
agave used for distillation is different from that used for pulque,
although the produce of both is occasionally subjected to distillation,
and the brandy made from them is very intoxicating. It is worthy
of remark, that the juice of the agave, before the period of its efflor
escence, is very acrid, and is successfully employed as a caustic in
the cleansing of wounds ; or, if the leaves are bruised and boiled, they
produce a balsamic sirup used to cleanse and cure ulcers. The prickles
which terminate the leaves served formerly like those of the cactus
for pins and nails to the Indians. The Mexican priests pierced their
arms and breasts with them in acts of expiation, analogous to those of
the Budhists of Hindostan.

If proper attention were bestowed on the distillation of pulque, it
would yield an excellent spirit ; but many obstacles have been raised
against this measure by the rapacity of the Spanish merchants,
These gentlemen, at one time, carried their efforts so far as to solicit
the government to extirpate the plant altogether, but as the country
has passed into more liberal hands, a better order of things may be
expected to arise, and in the course of some time, the spirit of the
maguey may be brought to rival the brandies of Europe. As it is,
pulque-brandy forms a considerable branch of the trade of the pro
vinces, through which it is transported in leathern bags on the backs
of mules. Whether, however, the use of this liquor, generally speak
ing, may not be of more injury to the morals of the people than the
good it would produce either in an agricultural or a commercial view,
is not here a point for discussion ; but the ease with which intoxi
cating liquors are procured by the Indians of New Spain tends much
to shorten their lives and demoralize their characters. Rum, spirits from
maize, and the root of the jatropha manihot, with pulque, are the
favourites. Pulque, when not subjected to distillation, is nutritive on
account of its saccharine nature, and hence those who are addicted to

299

it use little solid food ; used moderately it is nourishing and healthy.
Among those who inhabit the valley of Mexico, the environs of
Puebla and Tlascala, or wherever maguey or agave are extensively
cultivated, drunkenness is most predominant. In the city of Mexico,
tumbrels are sent round to collect the drunkards of the night who may
be found lying in the streets. They are carried to a watch-house in
the morning, and an iron ring is closed round their ankles, and in this
state they are compelled to cleanse the streets for three days succes
sively, as a punishment for their irregularities* — a policy of proceeding
that does credit to the government.

The sugar-cane is also productive ; and in Mexico, as well as in
some of the other principal districts and towns, sugar-mills and distil
leries of rum on a large scale are kept at work. The cultivation of
the cane has become a matter of great importance in New Spain.
When Humboldt was there, the exportation from Vera Cruz alone
was 13,793,7501bs., valued at £312,525, which has since consider
ably increased. Little is now exported to Peru, as that country pro
duces more than sufficient for its own consumption. Some of the
plantations in New Spain are known to yield from 1,103,500, to
l,655,2501bs. of sugar annually. The quantity and quality of the
produce have been found to be in proportion to the nature of the soil,
and the elevation of the land on which it is cultivated. Such is the
fertility in some parts of the torrid zone in America, that it has been
estimated that all the sugar consumed in France, say 44,140,0001bs.
might be produced on a surface of seven square leagues, an extent,
according to Humboldt, not equal to the thirtieth part of the smallest
department of France. The chief bulk of the sugar of New Spain is
consumed in the country, which has been calculated at 35,000,0001bs.
annually. In most of the plantations, rum is distilled from the mo
lasses and the refuse of the mills ; and it forms no inconsiderable por
tion of the beverages of the country. From the molasses of a sugar
plantation, 30,000 barrels of coarse rum are made yearly, and the
speculation in this kind of trade is found to be lucrative, as the barrel
of rum sells in Mexico for 32 dollars, netting, after paying duty and
carriage, 24 dollars*

Vines are cultivated in these settlements to great extent, and the
wine in some places is not inferior to the best Spanish wine. In the
environs of Passo del Norte, the vineyards produre such excellent
wines, that they are preferred to those of Paras, in new Biscay, so
much celebrated as being the produce of the Vitis Vinifera of Asia,

* Humboldt's Political Essay on the Kingdom of New Spain, vol. i.t p. 150.

300

planted there by the first settlers. Under the old government, the
vine could hardly he included among the territorial riches of Mexico,
the quantity being so inconsiderable. But the political changes which
have taken place in that country, have given encouragement to the
plantation of the vine and the consumption of native produce,
tin shackled by the prohibitory and tyrannical laws of the mother
country. The inhabitants of Mexico and New Spain will soon be
enabled to supply not only their home consumption, Ibut that perhaps
of the whole of North America ; and Mexico may yet serve to that
portion of the globe, what France, Spain, Portugal, and Italy, have
long proved to the rest of Europe.

In so extensive a region as that of New Spain, where the heat is
intense and drink in great demand, ice is considered indispensable and
an article of great luxury. The right to sell it was a monopoly of
the crown, and the poor Indian, who had scaled the summits of the
highest mountains to collect this important material, could not dispose
of it without paying a duty to the government. Humboldt informs
us that a similar monopoly existed in France, to which a stop was put,
as the magnitude of the duty produced a rapid diminution in the use
of cooling liquors. The sale of snow in New Spain amounted, in
1803, to 26,000 piasters.

To enter upon a minute detail of the vegetable productions of
Mexico would be irrelevant to this work and extend beyond its limits.
It is sufficient to observe, that the gardens contain all the fruits of
Europe, and the fields are cultivated with various sorts of grain.
The food of the people is chiefly composed of banana, manioc, maize,
wheat, potatoes, &c. The maguey, or agave, may be considered as the
Indian vine, which forms the basis of most of their beverages. In
some places a drink is used called pinole, which is Indian corn baked,
ground, and the flour mixed with either milk or water, having a little
cinnamon or sugar superadded. Maize is cultivated to the utmost
extent, and witli a success hardly credible. The majority of the popu
lation of New Spain subsisted entirely on the flour of the maize ; it
is used in various ways, and is eaten boiled or roasted. When made
into bread it is very nutritive, and it is often used under the form of a
gruel, called by the natives atolle, with which are mixed sugar, honey,
and often ground potatoes. Hernandez describes sixteen different
sorts of atolle. Maize is sold cheap ; even in the capital it is bought
for two dollars the fanega of 1501bs. At present, a very palatable
kind of beer or fermented liquor is made from this grain, as well as
from the stalks denominated pulque demaize (llalli, tlaolli), and which

301

is composed of a sugary juice or sirup, extracted by pressure from
the stalk. This compressed juice was formerly substituted for sugar.*
The Mexicans and Peruvians, previous to the arrival of Europeans
among them, were in the habit of pressing sugar from the stalks of
the maize, and were able to concentrate its juice by evaporation, as
well as to prepare the coarse sugar by condensing the sirup. Cortez
described to the Emperor Charles V. the Mexican sugar whicli he
saw exposed in the markets for sale, as " honey from the stalks of
maize and honey from the shrub maguey." The stalks of the maize
are so exceedingly sugary, that Humboldt says the Indians suck it as
the sugar-cane is sucked by the negroes, and it appears that they
were unacquainted with the sugar-cane previous to the landing of the
Spaniards.

The Mexicans domesticate bees for the purpose of obtaining honey.
As the insects are naturally prone to construct their cells in the
hollows of trees, the inhabitants excavate the trunks in portions of
from two to three feet in length, which they close at both ends with
clay, and bore a hole in the centre for the egress and ingress of the
bees. These receptacles are then suspended on a tree in a horizontal
position, and are soon occupied by an industrious colony. The honey
comb is so constructed, that it is unusual to have recourse at any time
to the destruction of the inmates ; all that is necessary being to
remove the stopper, introduce the hand and withdraw the honey-
sacks, for the Mexican bee forms cells for the reception of the larvae,
distinct from the combs. The hive generally affords two harvests in
the season. The honey is of good flavour but thin ; it is inferior to
that of Europe, and not easily fermented ; yet a good description of
hydromel is occasionally made of it, and much used in the country.f

The maguey is very common in Peru, a country susceptible of cul
tivation in such parts only as lie adjacent to the rivers, or whicli can
be conveniently irrigated. It makes a good hedge in consequence of
the strong prickles on the edge of its leaves, which prevent animals
from passing. The Indians build their houses of its flower stalks and
cover them with the leaves ; the fibres are converted into thread and
woven into clothing, while the prickles serve in the place of pins and
needles. The juice, when mixed with water, is allowed to ferment,
and forms a similar beverage to the Mexican pulque. Its leaves
supply the place of soap, for after the clothes are wetted, if they be
beaten with a bruised leaf of maguey, a thick white froth is produced,

* Ward's Mexico, (1827), 8vo. vol. i. p. 41, passim.

t Bcecliy's Narrative of a Voyage to the Pacific Ocean, vol. ii. p. 357.

302

out of which, when the clothes are rinsed, they become perfectly clean :
even the flower buds, when boiled or pickled, are delicate eating. Of
the two varieties of maguey found in Peru, the leaves of the one are
of a deep green, while those of the other are of a beautiful pale green ;
but the latter is the most useful.

The soil of Peru, though unfavourable to the growth of Tegetables,
yields crops of potatoes, wheat, and rice, which, with the sugar-cane
and vines, are reared chiefly on the banks of ravines where vegetation
is extremely rapid. The grapes are highly flavoured but afford indif
ferent wine : notwithstanding, this article, as well as brandy, has been
for many years of some commercial importance. Pisco has long been
famous for its manufacture of brandy. Near the city of Conception
de Mocha, the vine-yards are numerous and fertile, producing a large
supply of wine for home consumption, as well as for the Lima market,
the cultivation of the vine not being forbidden here, as it is in Mexico
and New Granada. For want of proper vessels a large quantity is
either lost or injured ; and a wine is made called Muscadel, superior
to that of the same name in France, and not inferior to Frontignac.
The simple vessels used at this place to ferment and preserve the
wine are made of baked clay, having only a wooden cover, and hence
their brandy is greatly deteriorated. The vines grow chiefly on espa
liers, and are not on detached stems as are the generality of Euro
pean vines. The wine and other liquors are carried in goats' skins
tanned for the purpose. These animals are carefully nurtured for
this object, as well as for their fat and for cord wain. A palatable
species of red wine with a flavour peculiarly aromatic, and denomi
nated Matte, is here prepared from the berries of a tree of that name.
These berries are black and formed in clusters round the slender
branches, being about the size of peas. Another beverage called
Theka, is made from the fruit of the maguc tree, and which somewhat
resembles a wild cherry. It grows in the woods in great abundance,
and the people make parties to gather it. From the city of Concep
tion, there are exported, at an average, 2,000 jars of wine containing
18 gallons each, chiefly to Lima, where Chili brandy may be had at a
very reasonable rate. About Lima, a great portion of the native
sugar is employed in making a drink called guarapo, which is the
expressed juice of the cane fermented ; it is the principal drink of the
coloured people, and of which the Indians of the interior purchase
great quantities, it being sold very cheap. Europeans consider this
an agreeable beverage, and when thirsty or heated, it is preferred by
many to every other sort of liquor. The Spanish monarchy, in con
junction with the Pope, prohibited the manufacture of rum among the

303

Peruvians under heavy penalties, in order to secure the monopoly of
making spirits to the proprietors of vineyards, which privilege was,
however, attended with weighty exactions and imposts.

About 150,000 gallons of brandy are annually made at Pisco from
the vines in that neighbourhood. It is usually kept in jars in the
form of an inverted cone, the insides of which are coated with a species
of naphtha, and usually contain 18 gallons each. Pisco brandy is well
flavoured and tinged with colouring matter as in France. That termed
arguardiente de Italia is of a mild nature, possessing a flavour like
Frontignac, and therefore much valued. Owing to the trade in
brandy, little wine is made, and that even of an inferior character, as
it is too thick and sweet to be esteemed, which is attributable to the
practice of boiling the grape, a considerable time before it is fermented.
There is in the neighbourhood of Pisco, a remarkable vineyard called
de las hoyas, formed in the pits and holes which were excavations origi
nally made by the aborigines in search of water for irrigation. Here
the vines produce in great abundance, requiring no care save that of
pruning, for the branches are allowed to stretch along the sands
without any other support or protection.

Cider is very common in Peru, and is made in the following
manner : — The women, after gathering a quantity of apples from the
woods, place them in a kind of trough formed by scooping the trunk
of a tree. They are then beaten until they become soft, when a
female presses them with her hands, and the juice is collected into
large gourds, calabashes, or prepared goats' skins.* It is then poured into
earthen jars, some of which contain upwards of 1,000 gallons, and left
to ferment. This cider is usually drunk out of horns, and sometimes
to excess. Any redundance of this liquor is carried by the Indian
women into the neighbouring towns, and sold under the name of
chica. From a species of myrtle berry called mutillas, which is about
the size of a pea, of a deep red colour and aromatic flavour, the
Indians prepare a pleasant beverage called chica de mutilla. This
is effected by breaking them down in water, and allowing them to
ferment for a few days. Some wine and a bad description of brandy
are made from the wild grape of the country. Great quantities of
drink are consumed at the marriages and festivals of the Indians, to

* In Peru there are many varieties of the gourd. Of the white flowered, gene
rally called calabashes, there are twenty species, of which two are sweet and eatable.
The bitter kinds are remarkably serviceable when dried, as the cshells serve for dishes,
bowls, plates, bottles, tubs, trays, barrels for water, and baskets for fruit, butter,
and eggs, and are often cut, stained, and bound with silver.

304

tlie amount, sometimes during a feast, of 1,000 jars, each containing
18 gallons. Even on the tomb or grave, liquor is poured by the
relatives of the deceased, as the last token of respect at the interment.
At the anniversary of a Saint, an Indian gives an entertainment to
all who choose to enjoy it ; when calabashes of chica, some holding
five or six gallons, are placed before the guests, with a number of
smaller ones, each containing about a pint. After the first course,
the chica is circulated freely, as well as during each successive
remove, and when about to depart, the stirrup cup is demanded,
much like the parting glass of the Irish, called deoch-a-doras.

Another curious practice among the Peruvians at their festivals, is
when at that stage of the repast where the women hand the small
tutema shells full of masato to the men ; all rise, and holding the cup
to the mouth, turn the head to the right and squirt the fluid through
the teeth as an offering to their departed friends, and afterwards
resume their seats. The same ceremony is again repeated as a pro
pitiatory offering to the aerial spirits, that they may protect their
property from the attack of wild beasts or the destructive influence
of the elements. The palm in Peru, as in other countries, adds a
luxury to the table. The leaves and stem, to which the nuts are
attached, yield by boiling an agreeable beverage, which, after fermen
tation, acquires a delicious flavour and vinous quality.

Large quantities of maize are, in various parts of Peru, converted
into chica, and it is remarkable that the grain used in all such cases
has been made to undergo the process of malting, a proof that the
making of malt must have been known to the Peruvians from the
most remote period. In making chica.no other ingredients are mixed
with the malted maize, called Jora ; when sufficiently boiled in
water, the fluid ferments like our ale or porter, and the produce is
very intoxicating. In some places, the natives believe that fermen
tation will not ensue if the malted grain be not previously subjected
to mastication. From this circumstance, many old men and
women assemble at the house where chica is to be made, and
are employed in chewing the Jora or malt. Having masticated a
sufficient quantity, they lay the chewed substance in small balls on a
calabash. These are suffered to dry, a little after which they are
mixed with newly made chica while it is warm. On account of a pro
hibition, no distillation of this article is carried on. The consumption
of chica in Peru is very considerable. In making one sort of it from
the grape, two or three hides are fastened together in the form
of a large sack, suspended by posts, and into this bag the grapes
are thrown. They are then trodden by a man, who is, during the

305

process, often immersed to his shoulders, and occasionally relieved by
another. All the time the juice is running through a small leathern
tube placed at the bottom, and one is constantly employed carrying a
fresh supply of grapes which he throws into the sack till a sufficient
quantity of chica is manufactured. Another kind of chica is made
from the pods of the Algaroba, a sort of Acacia, by infusing them in
water, straining them, and allowing the residue to ferment. At the
end of three or four days it is palatable, and it is thought it would
produce a delicate species of wine. Two kinds of chica are usually
made from the same grain : one is called cluro, the water in which
the malt has been infused. This, when drawn off, is afterwards boiled,
and has then some resemblance to cider. Another is made by boiling
the grain with water for several hours, after which it is strained, fer
mented, and termed neto. The sediment is used as a kind of yeast
in making bread. The great antiquity of this beverage is proved,
beyond all doubt, to have been familiar among the aborigines before
they were visited by the Spaniards, as Mr. Stevenson affirms that he
drank chica that had been found in the huacas, or burying places,
where it must have remained upwards of three centuries. This chica
must have been of a very strong quality to have preserved its strength
so long, particularly without hops or other antiseptic ingredients. In
some places, chica is made so strong, that from three bushels of jora
only 18 gallons are obtained.

The Peruvians are not habitual drunkards, although they some
times indulge themselves beyond what prudence would dictate ; and
a late respectable writer assures us, that, during twenty years' resi
dence amongst them, he never saw a female intoxicated. In Quito,
rum and brandy are most in consumption. From the rum distilled
here, a variety of liqueurs are made, but the lower orders prefer
chica from the maize, and in order to excite thirst or increase appe
tite, an Indian will sometimes swallow 20 or 30 pods of capsicum or
pepper, with some salt and bread, washing them down with two or
three quarts of his favourite beverage. Here, in the manrfer of the
Mexicans, delicate ices and ice beverages are made ; and at enter
tainments, ices are the greatest ornaments of the table, appearing
under every form and representing fruit of all descriptions so nicely
delineated, that, when mixed with real fruit, they cannot be distin
guished from it.

The Masato used by these people is a drink made by boiling a
quantity of ripe plantains, till they are quite soft, after which they are
reduced to a pulp by beating them in a trough. The matter is then
put into a basket lined with leaves, where it is left to ferment for

x

306

some days. When about to be used, it is put into a fruit-shell or per
forated vessel, to which a quantity of water is added ; the whole is
compressed, and the filterings are collected in another vessel and drunk
with much pleasure ; the taste, though sub-acid, is very agreeable.

In parts of Peru, the natives distil rum from the sugar-cane in a
very simple manner. After the juice has been sufficiently fermented
it is put into a deep earthen pot having a hole in the side near the top
through which passes a wooden conductor with a groove or duct in
the handle. To the top of the pot a pan is luted with clay, constantly
full of cold water, serving as a condenser .and causing the spirit to fall
into the spoon, it flows along t!ie groove into a bottle which serves
as a receiver for the spirit.

This apparatus seems to be peculiar to the Peruvians, and would
lead us to suppose that distillation was in some degree known in the
New World before the intercourse with Europeans ; and we are told
that the Peruvians had discovered the art of malting before that
period, and the Sora, a kind of beer, of a very intoxicating nature,
was made from it and prohibited by the Incas, because it intoxicated
sooner than the other liquors of the country. It is not improbable
that this Sora, as well as the Vinafer spoken of by Garcilaso de la
Vega, might have been a distilled liquor. This conjecture is the more
reasonable when we take into consideration the advanced state of
civilisation among the Peruvians, and the monuments which still
jemain as specimens of their industry and art. One of these in par
ticular, the great road from Cusco to Quito, a distance of 700 leagues,

307

is not to be surpassed by the labour of man, except by the great wall
of China.* Even the ruins of their temples evince such elegance in
architecture, that the very interstices of the stones are scarcely per
ceptible. From an infusion of ripe bananas in water, spirits are dis
tilled ; after the infusion has fermented, it is carefully strained before
the process of distillation, by which means the spirit is protected from,
any empyreumatic flavour which might arise from the sediment.

Chili is in fertility not inferior to any part of South America, and
is peculiarly adapted to European productions, as the corn, wine, and
fruits that flourish there sufficiently prove. In many parts the wine
forms a chief article of culture, and is planted in rows as at the Cape
of Good Hope, the plants being supported at intervals only as occa
sion requires. The wine-presses in general use are similar to those
of Spain, and the wine itself is stored in capacious cellars, in jars
termed batejas, each holding a quantity not less than a tun. Brandy
is distilled not only from the lees but from the inferior wines ; both
articles are transported in skins carried by mules to the neighbouring
provinces, as well as to Lima and to other cities, where they are sold
at a very moderate rate. At St. Jago, Valdivia, and Valparaiso,
wine can be had for three half-pence and two-pence the bottle.
Captain Hall observed, during his residence in Chili, that the natives
seemed to be well supplied with a good description of agua ardiente,
which was drunk after being made into punch ; and that it was cus
tomary to have at dinner a copious bowl of this beverage, out of
which, in common with wine, the guests pledged each other and toasted
their sentiments.f

Notwithstanding that aguaardiente not only abounds here but in
the other states of South America, it does not appear that the distil
lation of any kind of spirit was known before the discovery of this
region by the Spaniards ; for although we find in their arts considera
ble ingenuity and progress in civilisation, yet none of their inventions
seem to have extended so far as a chemical preparation of intoxicating
liquors.

Ovalle, in his History of Chili, says, that grapes were so plentiful
in 1646, that they could not be disposed of; and the wine was a
source of great injury to the Indians by their drinking it to excess.
White wines were made from that species of grape called Uba Tor-
routes and Albilla, which were much valued ; red wines were made
from the ordinary grape and a species called Mollar. The bunches

* Some parts of this road being conducted across the Cordilleras, are at the
astonishing elevation of 12,475 feet ahove the level of the sea.
f Hall's South America, vol. i. p. 180.

308

of grapes, he says, were enormously large ; and lie mentions one that
filled a basket, and served as a meal for a numerous convent of friars.
The branches of the vine he describes as very large, and the trunks
of the trees as thick as a man's body.

Although the Chilian vines have been very productive ; yet, from
some cause or other, they do not rank very high. The vino depenco
made near Conception, on the banks of the Itali, is most in esteem,
and in taste and flavour it resembles Malaga more than any other.
When Captain Beechey, in 1825, touched at this place, he found the
wines greatly deteriorated, and the only palatable wine which he
could procure was that made from the grapes on the estate of General
Friere.*

From the borders of Peru to the river Maule, the mode of cul
tivating vines is by raising the sets to the height of three or four feet
by means of props or forked stakes. Beyond that river, they are
planted on the declivities of hills and reclined on the ground. The
vintage usually occurs in the months of April and May.

The lower orders of the Chilians have little inclination for wine,
their drink being chiefly water and Chica made from the grapes,
(which abound in the woods Avhere the birds deposit their seed,) by
pressing out the juice and boiling it, without reference to fermenta
tion. From the variety and luxuriance of the fruits such as quinces
as large as a man's head, peaches weighing upwards of a pound, with
apples, pears, oranges, lemons, and citrons of the finest description,
valuable domestic wines might be procured. Even from the fruit of
the myrtus luma, a species of myrtle which frequently grows to the
height of 40 feet, a pleasant wine is made, which is a good stomachic,
is held in high estimation, and by strangers is often preferred to Mus-
cadel. From the fruit called quelu, which is very sweet, small, and
of a colour between red and yellow, a very palatable drink is drawn :
from Molle, another fruit of the shape and colour of pepper, is made
a drink termed Huigan by the natives and Molle by the Spaniards.
This liquor is very agreeable, and in great request by people of respect
ability. Of Molle there are two kinds, the common (schinus mollis) is
usually found in the marshes, and the other is termed schinus huigan.
From the berries of these, a kind of red wine of an agreeable flavour,
but very heating, is prepared. The Indians manufacture a beverage
from those berries as strong and as pleasant as wine. Antonio de Her-
rera describes a beverage of a bright golden colour made from the fruit
of the Murtilla-tree, which strongly resembles the grape. This liquor is

* Beechey's Voyage to the Pacific , 4to. vol. i. p. 29.

309

warm, very agreeable to the taste, and highly salutary, as it increases the
appetite, and never produces any painful consequences to the head,
though it bears a greater proportion to water than wine does.
From the grain of quinua (a species of chenopoduiin from tliree to
four feet high,) a very pleasant stomachic beverage is made. From
the berries of the maqui (cornus Chilensis) a species of wild grapes
which are very pleasant for eating, the Indians prepare a liquor,
termed theca, which is held in considerable estimation and is common
in Peru.

The aboriginal Chilians, long before the landing of the Spaniards,
employed leaven in making bread, and they were, besides, acquainted
with the process of fermentation, by which they obtained from their
grain and fruits, several kinds of inebriating liquors which they kept
in jars after the manner of the Greeks and Romans. From the clay
of the country they made every species of vessel suited to domestic
purposes, well glazed, and polished by a mineral varnish called colo.
Wooden vessels were also common, and even vases of marble of
excellent workmanship. According to Don Ulloa, the guaqueros, or
drinking vessels of the inhabitants of Quito, were of a very fine black
earth, and the place at which they were originally formed is unknown.
In shape they were round, having a handle in the middle with the
mouth on one side, and a representation of an Indian's head on the
other, whose features were so naturally expressed, that few workmen
of the present day could surpass it. Besides these, he adds, that
various sized vessels made of red and white earth were found among
the cemeteries of the aborigines, for the purpose of making and pre
serving the chica. Lane, in his account of the modern Egyptians,
says that he saw in the tombs at Thebes, many similar jars containing
the dregs of Bousa.* Some of the native Chilian earths have such
peculiar quality that the vessels made of them are said to communi
cate an agreeable flavour and smell to the liquors they contain.
Some of these vessels are handsomely ornamented with plants and
animals, and bring a great price in Peru and Spain.

At the interment of the dead, great quantities of chica are con
sumed, first in the entertainment of friends, and afterwards when they
arrive at the grave-yard. Here both provisions, and vessels filled
with chica and wine, are placed beside the corpse with a view of sus
taining it during its passage to the other world. Besides these, the
mound raised over the dead body is moistened with a quantity of chicay
as a libation to the memory of the departed. The attachment of
the people to fermented liquors is such, that they consider every

* Lane's Account of the Modern Egyptians, &c. 2 vols. 8vo. vol. ii. p. 34.

810

entertainment a mockery unless they have abundance to drink ; yet,
generally speaking, their habits are temperate.

The aborigines use beer and cider as their common beverages,
which they make from Indian corn and apples ; yet they are
extremely fond of wine, which they procure from the Spaniards. At
their banquets, at which it is common for 300 persons to be present,
more meat, grain, and liquor are consumed than would be sufficient
to support a whole family for two years. These feasts are called
Cahuin, or circles, from the company seating themselves in a circle
around a cinnamon tree.* No entertainment, however, of any sort is
considered worthy of the name of a feast, unless there is drink in
abundance.

At Potosi, wine is seldom used except at great dinners. Claret
rates at 12s. the bottle ; Champagne from 12s. to 16s. ; English cider
from 6s. to 8s. At Cinti, about 40 or 50 leagues from Potosi, a
good wine is made which is sold from about 2s. to 2s. 6d. the bottle,
and which is said to resemble Burgundy. Rum and brandy sell from
8s. to 10s. the bottle. The cultivation of the vine and wine-making
might be a speculation useful in many parts of South America. In
the province of Tarija, good wine is produced little inferior to Bur
gundy. In the vicinity of San Lucas, fine wine and brandy are made,
even to the extent of exportation, and after leaving this village and
entering the valley of Cinti, it is a continued vineyard for nearly
twenty leagues. This place is celebrated for its wines and brandies
which are in great demand and sent to all the upper parts of Peru :
\vine is sold at Is. 3d. per bottle.

The genial warmth of the climate and soil in the valleys and plains
under the Andes, are particularly favourable to the growth of the
vine. Some of the vineyards, especially those in the vicinity of
Mcndoza, are said to contain 60,000 plants. The grapes are large,
black, and highly flavoured, resembling the Hambro species more than
any other. A duty of one dollar is imposed on every cask of brandy,
and four reals on every cask of wine. The wines and brandies of
Mendoza, San Juan, and Rioja, make their way to the Rio de la
Plata to the extent of 12,000 barrels annually, where they are
bartered for English merchandise, besides which, large quantities are
sent to Potosi, Santa Fe, and other places. In transporting these
over the immense plains of the Pampas, oxen and mules are
employed ;f the former, to the number of six in a wagon, travelling
about eight leagues in a day ; and the latter laden with skins in pack-

* Molina's History of Chili.

f Yide Account of the United Provinces of Rio de la Plata, from the Spanish,
8vo. 1825.

311

saddles, travel in troops together at the rate often or twelve leagues
u day. At night their saddles are carefully placed in a circle in
which the muleteers make a fire and repose themselves after the
fatigues of their journey.* While treating of the Pampas, the method
of preserving the grain, as resorted to by the inhabitants, is so curious
as to be worth relating. The entire skin of an ox is taken, the legs
are sewed up, and the whole is filled with corn. It is then suspended
between four stakes, the legs hanging downwards, so that it has the
appearance of a living animal. In this state, it is covered with hides
to prevent rats, birds, or vermine getting at it, as well as to preserve
it from any external injury.

The province of Paraguay consists chiefly of extensive prolific plains.
Among their vegetable productions, may be mentioned maize, wheat,
palms, figs, peaches, pomegranates, lemons, with innumerable others,
together with the vine, many of which are found even in a wild state.
Real wine is made of a good quality, and pulque from the magueyy
while in Buenos Ayres, liquors of every sort may be obtained. The
Indians cultivate maize from which they make their favourite drink,
and from a root resembling a chestnut in taste, they make an intoxi
cating liquor of an agreeable flavour. Schemdel calls this root man-
dioch pobiore, and the liquor drawn from it mandebocre. Mead is
a favourite beverag-e, honey being abundant, and the only process
observed in its formation is the mere boiling of the honey. From a
vegetable termed Arrachaca, cultivated in Paraguay, but more parti
cularly about Santa Fe, is obtained an inebriating liquor. The arra-
chaca when reduced to a pulp, and combined with other materials, fur
nishes a drink of a most agreeable and refreshing description. This
plant is said to be one of the most valuable in South America, as its
properties are such as to compete with, if not excel, those of the
potato. It is used in the same manner, is grateful to the taste, and
the most delicate appetite may use it without the dread of unpleasant
consequences, being nutritive and easy of digestion. Superior starch
is made of it, and it forms the basis of a variety of confectionary.
Spain always shewing herself unfriendly to agricultural extension,
issued at Mexico, in 1803, an order to root up all the vines in the
Northern provinces, merely because the merchants at Cadiz com
plained of a diminution in the sale of their wines. Fortunately this
order was never executed, under the impression that it might drive
the natives into hostility with the government, as the culture of the
vine formed no inconsiderable portion of their agricultural pursuits,

* Colt-lough's Travels in South America, 2 vols. 8vo. vol. i. p. 165.

312

The greatest enemies to the vine in this country are the ants,
which give the planters the greatest trouble to subdue them. Owing
to the same jealous principle of the Spaniards, just alluded to, at Buenos
Ayres, grapes could not be cultivated but by special appointment, and
that only for the supply of the table. Grape-brandy was, until lately,
chiefly furnished from Europe, but at present it is principally distilled
in the country. The lower orders in Buenos Ayres are much prone
to irregularities, many of whom, when inflamed by spirits, are hurried
into the committal of very brutal acts. To repress extravagancies of
this nature, the government have put heavy licenses on the pulperias
or spirit-shops, from which a considerable revenue is obtained, while
25 per cent, duty is levied on all vines and liquors imported. Tra
vellers say that the effects of drinking are more perceptible here than
in England. In many it produces derangement, and others it incites
to the committal of suicide. In some of the South American districts,
the natives, in their drunken moments, carry gambling to such a
height, that even their wives are staked on the result of a game, and
the forfeit given up in case of loss. To the ease with which drink is
procured, the heat of the climate, and the consequent lassitude, may
be attributed those fatal consequences. To the native tribes border
ing on Paraguay and Brazil, the mandioc affords a drink both cooling
and renovating. The roots of this plant are sliced and boiled till they
become soft, they are then allowed to cool, the young women chew
them, and they are afterwards put into the same vessel which is filled
with water and again boiled, during which they are kept stirring all
the time. The unstrained juice is put into large jars which are buried
in the floor of the house for about half their depth. They are then
closely stopped and allowed to ferment for two or three days. A
notion is prevalent that if the liquor be made by men it is good for
nothing ; hence the labour falls to the lot of the females. On a day
set apart for drinking this beverage, the women kindle fires round the
jars, out of which they serve the men in half gourds with the hot
liquor, which they receive singing and dancing, and always empty at
one draught. Here it may be remarked, that no man when single is
suffered to partake of the drinking feast. During this drinking bout,
they smoke an herb called petun either in pipes of clay, the shells of
fruit, or in leaves rolled together in the form of a tube, forcing the
smoke through their nostrils, mouths, and artificial holes in their
cheeks. All this time the young married men dance with rattles on
their legs, but never eat anything during the interval, nor leave the
house until every drop is exhausted. In this manner they remove
from house to house, till all in the place or village is finished. These

313

meetings are commonly held once a month, and have been known to
continue upwards of three days and nights. There are two kinds of
this liquor called Caou-in or kaatoy, red and white, and in taste
resemble milk. There is a great similarity in name between the
kaawy and the cava of Otaheite, and, as they are both made by masti
cation, seem to be nearly the same liquor, and produce nearly similar
effects.* Wherever the mandioc is cultivated, it is chiefly from it
that drink is manufactured. Many of the Brazilian tribes prepare a
better liquor from the acajee, the fruit of the acayaba. The acajee
is a kind of wild apple, and is in great request among the people of
this country. It is held in such estimation, that the ages of persons
are numbered by it, because it bears fruit but once a year, which
ripens about the close of December or early in January. If the rains
be moderate in Brazil at the time of the equinoxes, they are hailed
by the people as a promise of plenty of the acajee, and hence they are
sometimes called the rains of the acajee. The juice of this fruit fur
nishes an excellent cider. This liquor is obtained by squeezing the
fruit or bruising it in a wooden mortar. At first it is white but in a
few days it gets paler, having an astringent effect, and, after fermen
tation, becomes highly intoxicating. In about the course of half a
year it gets like vinegar, but, with care in the process of making, it
might keep much longer. Of the pulp, a sort of flour is made which
the natives value as the highest dainty. From the fermented juice of
the Cashew-nut, (anacardium occidentale,) a native of Brazil, is
obtained a spirit which some account not inferior to the best arrack,
rum, or brandy. Nine different kinds of liquors are said to be made
by the Brazilians, each possessing peculiar qualities, and it is related
of these savages they are as choice in the selection of the water as the
Europeans are in the choice of wine. The reason assigned for making
the women plant the maize, prepare their drinks, and attend to the
labours of the field, is, " because," say they, " women know to bring
forth, which is a thing that we do not know : — when they sow and
plant, the stalk of maize produces two or three heads ; the root of
mandioc two or three baskets full, and every thing multiplies in like
manner from their hands. Why ? because women know to bring
forth and to make the seeds and roots bring forth also." A drinking
bout is customary at sowing time and at harvest. When a guest
arrives, this is his welcome ; when they rejoice, they get drunk ; and
when sorrowful, they get drunk likewise : thus making pretexts for
indulging in intoxication at all times. The liquors are kept not only

* Southey's History of Brazil, vol. i. p. 65.

314,

in large jars, as already stated, but in vessels hollowed in solid wood,
and in large baskets so close in their texture, that with a little gum
and calking they are perfectly water-tight.

In Brazil, the policy of the government had prevented the appli
cation of its native produce in the composition of liquors for the
sake of encouraging the consumption of wines and brandy from Por
tugal. But since the removal of the Braganza family from the
mother country and the establishment of a regular government, the
manufactures of the Brazilians are better supported and more extended.
Sugar plantations are numerous, and the exportation of that article
has considerably increased, although the apparatus of the sugar-house
is very simple, without any of the large machines used by the West
India planters. Rum is distilled, of which great quantities are sent
to various parts of the New World as well as to Europe. To almost
every sugar plantation a still is attached, but, in too many instances,
of very rude materials and awkward construction. The still is a
mere earthen jar writh a long narrow neck, on the top of which is
placed a head or cap having on one side a pipe about six inches long,
into which is fixed a brass tube four feet in length. This tube is put
through an earthen vessel sufficiently large to hold a quantity of water
for the condensation of the spirit, forming a substitute for the worm
and worm-tub. The liquor, in many instances, undergoes only one
distillation; but when a superior article is required, it is distilled a
second time. The wash is fermented in large earthen jars, but no
rules have been established for regulating the quantities of the mate
rials employed for its preparation. A strong lee is said to be poured
on the sugar juice in order to thicken arid purify it. This lee is
procured by infusing in water the ashes of a kind of polygonum,
which, by the Indians, is called Cataya, by the Portuguese herva
debichu. Tin's plant has a bitter pungent taste like pepper, and is
considered of use in the making of rum. Many of the planters dispose
of the molasses to small distillers, who are generally of the lower class,
and, with two or more of these rude stills, obtain a livelihood without
much trouble ; for fuel being abundant, and the apparatus simple, the
men often leave the management of the still-house to women, while
they are at other pursuits. Lately, however, copper-stills have been
procured from Europe, the introduction of which among the more
wealthy planters has produced a great reformation in this branch of
business, and enabled them to manufacture the whole molasses on
their own plantations.

The sugar works in Brazil have become, in many parts, respect
able. These are usually erected near rivers, and some of them employ

315

one hundred and fifty slaves. Besides the rum, from 4 to 5,000
arobas of sugar are made in one year. So far back as 1801, there
were calculated to be then in Paraiba and Mariache 180 sugar works,
\vhich have been greatly improved by the introduction of the steam-
engine.

Among the slaves and aborigines, besides rum, various other intoxi
cating liquors are used. A mixture of bleak sugar and water called
(jrapa is made by the negroes, which, although never fermented, is
drunk, on account of its cheapness with avidity, both by men and
women, who continue at it whole days, dancing and singing. To
give it a more intoxicating effect, the leaves of the acajee tree, which
are of a hot quality, are added. Cider is made by the Portuguese, as
well as another drink called kooi, of the apple acajee, and a sherbetta
of sugar, water, lemons, and nutmeg. The kooi is prepared by bruis
ing the acajee apples to obtain the juice, which is strained and allowed
to remain until cleared by fermentation.

From the root aipimakakara, a kind of manioc, a wine is prepared
called aipy. The roots are first sliced and chewed by the females,
then put into a pot of water and boiled until fit for expression. The
liquor thus obtained is called kaviaraku, and drunk lukewarm.
Sometimes the sliced roots are well mixed with warm water, and the
decoction is swallowed with avidity. In appearance, it is like butter
milk, and not having undergone any degree of fermentation, it can
not possibly keep many days. A better kind is made from barley or
maize, and likewise another liquor called vintro de batatas from the
batata root.

Drunkenness is not a prevailing vice amongst the Brazilians, but
the slaves are fond of indulging themselves in the pleasures of intoxi
cation when they can do so with convenience. Many excuses are
formed to effect this purpose, and some of them are ingenious enough
to defend this weakness. It is related of an old negro, who, as well
as others of his class, was supported at the expense of a neighbouring
monastery, that he would travel to a great distance to obtain liquor,
and, when reproved for his irregularity, he justified himself by saying
that he and his companions were not slaves to the monks but to their
patron saint ; and that the monks were only the distributers of the
saint's property in this world. The manner in which this honest
negro justified his attachment to spirituous liquors is, it is to be
lamented, much the same as that which is practised in more civilized
countries. It strongly reminds us of the reply of the Russian peasant
to his master on being reproved for intoxication : — when asked how
he could reconcile such irregularity to his conscience, he replied that

316

he could only have to make application to his saint to arrange all that
was requisite on that score.

As Brazil is now under a monarchy friendly disposed towards
Great Britain, and as vast advantages appear to offer to men of
capital and enterprise in the cultivation of the sugar-cane, it seems to
hold out inducements of no ordinary description to the adventurous.
The country is healthy, fruitful, and agreeable, and better adapted to
European constitutions than any part of the West Indies. From
these considerations it might be a good speculation to make an expe
riment in that part of the American continent. Agriculture is almost
unknown there, much less the improvements and machinery which
have advanced the arts and facilitated the labours of the industrious
artisans of this country. In Brazil, there is a species of myrtle called
pitanga,) (myrtus pitanga) which bears a fruit about the size of a small
plum, and is of a bright red colour, ribbed on the surface. It is of a
pungent, harsh nature, in consequence of which it is used as a conserve,
and from it a very agreeable spirit is distilled. Port is not so much
in use at Rio Janeiro as the Catalonian wine, or Cachaca, which is a
species of rum. When Dr. Walsh visited this country in 1829, he
found native Caxas, clear and transparent like water, much resembling
Scotch whiskey. In consequence of its cheapness, it has many
votaries, among whom sailors are not the least in number, as
it is found a salutary antidote against the effects of cold or damp.
The natives have a peculiar custom of bathing in a tub of punch
made of Caxas immediately before going to bed by way of refresh
ment, and as a preventive against cold. Servants have been known
to take a draught of it mixed with salt as if water, although it was
nearly as strong and pungent as aquafortis. The blacks are fond of
taking it in this way ; but it has less intoxicating effects on them than
on white people, which is no doubt attributable to habit. Some of
the negroes in the vicinity of Rio Janeiro meet annually and drink
for the space of sixteen days, during eight of which a sort of flagel
lation is inflicted daily on each of the parties. This is effected by
means of a thong with a small stone at the end. The tribes of the
Guaycuans never permit females to drink intoxicating liquors. A
species of snuff from the roasted fruit of the parica tree is prepared
by the women, and in the use of this powder a tube is applied alter
nately by one individual to the nostril of another, which, with the
drink, effects intoxication to such an extent that some lose their senses
and many their lives.

In the various towns of this territory are houses for the sale of
wines, and such other liquors as the country affords. In Rio Janeiro

317

alone, there were, according to Luccock. in 1821, one hundred vint
ners, commonly called vinder-keepers^ besides a vast number of other
retailers.*

Brazil abounds with a species of wild ananas,\)ut the edible sort of
this fruit is cultivated in the plantations on account of its being large,
juicy, aromatic, and possessing great nutritive properties. Brandy,
(sometimes called Nandi,) of good quality, is made from it, as also from
the fruit of the anacardium and the cajueiro, which is found in all the
brandy districts. Some of the savage tribes, according to M. de la
Condamine, have an intoxicating liquor called kakouin, for which they
evince a warm attachment. From the alfarroba or algarroba tree the
people of Santiago del Estero collect pods which they pound and press
into a mass, and mould into cakes or square boxes. This is called
patay, and is much used for feeding horses. When infused in
water, it soon ferments and produces a wholesome intoxicating
beverage. The Jesuits, aware of its fascinating qualities and the facility
with which it could be converted to sensual purposes, very prudently
obstructed the cultivation of the alfarroba in the settlements over which
they had control.f The cakes made from the pods of the algarroba
are sometimes called arepas, and, though very coarse, are not unpala-
table.f From the fruit of the Buriti, one of the loftiest and most
beautiful of the palm tribe, is prepared a liquor which is said to be
nutritious and palatable, but has the singular property of tinging the
whites of the eyes without injuring the constitution. The fruit, which
is covered with red scales, is about the size and shape of a hen's egg,
and under these scales there is an oily pulp of the same vermillion
colour. From the fruit or nut of the pot tree (lecythis ollaria) beau
tiful drinking cups are made. This tree, which rises to the height of
100 feet, bears at the top a majestic crown of rose-coloured leaves
vaulted in the form of an umbrella. The nut is about the size of the
cocoa, and is borne on a stem, which, as the fruit gets ripe, bends with
the pressure, till at length a sort of lid at the top of the shell is obliged
to give way and the kernel falls to the ground. In high winds, it is
dangerous to walk within the range of these trees, on account of the
fall of the nuts from so great an elevation.

The mandioc plant in Brazil is of infinite importance, and is used
as food not only in that country, but through all South America. The
flour made from the root is called farinha de pao, or stick-flour. Cattle
are fed on the roots and stems, after being cut small and exposed for

* Luccock's Notes on Rio Janeiro.

f Southey's History of Brazil, vol. iii. p. 439.

% Stevenson's Narrative, vol. ii. p. 186'.

318

some time in the sun to take away their noxious qualities ; though
some oxen from habit have been known to eat the roots quite fresh
without the least injury. Koster relates* that he had one of these
animals which was so attached to the mandioc that he would escape at
night from his stall and tare up the plants with such dexterity that it
was only from the marks of the feet that the thief could be discovered.
Yet it is singular, that although it has this attractive quality, its juice,
while pressing from the root in making tliefarinha, has produced fatal
effects. An instance of this given by the same traveller, in the case
of a sheep, which, in attempting to get some of the roots, had taken a
very small quantity of the liquid, the deleterious qualities of which
operated in a few seconds. The animal tottered, fell, rose, and fell
again ; and, although oil was administered, its body swelled to an
enormous size, and it died in about ten minutes afterwards. The
farinha of the mandioc is prepared much in the same way as that of
the Cassada in the West Indies and Mauritius. The roots are scraped
and then ground into a receiver, forming a pulp, which is afterwards
enclosed in long bags made of bark or reeds, and then hung up to
permit the juice to ooze from the material. The pulp, when thus
drained, is put on a pan either of copper or burned clay, to be dried,
during which operation it is kept constantly stirred to prevent burn
ing and to detach the mass into mealy particles.

The majority of the people use the mandioca, not merely as a
substitute for flour, but even in preference. It yields two crops in
the year, and is prepared by boiling and expressing the juice, which is
poisonous ; the sediment which remains after pouring off the water, is
the tapioca of the shops.

Patagonia is a region cold and inhospitable, consisting for the most
part of open deserts and savannas, yielding nothing but a few willows
on the rivers, without a single tree or shrub adapted for any mecha
nical purposes. Cayenne or French Guiana, celebrated for its pepper,
(capsicum armuum) affords little interest, though sugar, maize, cassia,
Indian corn, and several kinds of fruits are there to be found. Ama
zonia being little known and still uncivilized, nothing can be said of
it, except that it produces corn, grain, all kinds of tropical fruits, and
great quantities of wild honey, but to what purpose or advantage these
are converted remains yet to be ascertained.

Surinam, though fertile in general, is intersected by deep marshes,
or swamps, and extensive heaths, and the uncultivated parts are covered
with forests, rocks, and mountains. Sugar and other vegetable pro
ductions are to be found, among which the quassia tree, or bitter

* Korter's Travels in Brazil, vol. ii. p. 175.

319

drug, well known by the porter brewers, grows wild in the woods, and
was first exposed for sale by a native called Quas, from whom it
derives its appellation. The sugar plantations are numerous along
the banks of the Surinam and Marivine. The city of Parimaribo, the
capital, is beautifully diversified with orange and lemon trees, and
fruits hanging in all directions in the utmost profusion. The whole
resembles an immense garden, affording to the passenger a most
grateful perfume and a refreshing shade. Rum and sugar are manu
factured in this settlement which give an impulse and interest to the
speculation of the inhabitants. On the coast of Surinam, the Indians
have various sorts of inebriating liquors, among these the juice of the
conmoo fruit is the most esteemed. The conmoo tree is one of the
smallest of the palm species ; the berries grow in bunches of a purple
colour, resembling grapes, and from a solution of them in boiling
water, mixed with cinnamon and sugar, an agreeable drink is obtained,
having the flavour of chocolate. From Cassava bread, the females
make a drink, termed piworree^ similar to that bearing the same name
in Demerara and Barbadoes. This bread is chewed and fermented,
and the taste of the liquor which it produces has a strong resemblance
to ale. Piworree, or Pywarree, is also made by the females chewing
the cassava flower and spitting it into a wooden trough. This matter,
by the addition of water, soon runs into fermentation and yields the
desired beverage. When a sufficient quantity is produced, a feast
ensues, and the parties drink so freely that they roll on the ground in
a complete state of intoxication, while the revelry is frequently kept
up for several days. Piworree, however, is a harmless species of
exhilarating drink, as it leaves no bad effects ; for, after a sound sleep,
the votary is perfectly restored to his wonted health and vigour.

From maize or Indian corn, a drink is manufactured by maceration,
and which is called chiacoar. The grain is first baked into bread, and
after being crumbled and macerated with water, it is duly fermented
and produces the liquor just mentioned. They make another drink
from yams, cassava, sour oranges and sugar, or treacle mixed, mace
rated and fermented with water. This drink is much used by the
Indians, but rum is the favorite beverage. Palm wine is in abundance,
and generally procured from the fallen trunk of the tree by making
incisions about a foot square in which the juice is collected, and after
a short exposure to the sun, it ferments and yields an intoxicating
wine.*

Here the vine fvitis campestris) grows in abundance without culti
vation. The grapes are large and of various colours, having a rich,

* Stedman's Surinam, vol. i. p. 392 ; vol. ii. p. 115.

320

sweet juice. The Indians gather them and prepare them for keeping
by first sweating them on hurdles over a gentle fire, then drying them
in the sun, and afterwards storing them for provisions. These vines
are more of a creeping than of a climbing nature, extending their
branches horizontally to a considerable distance, and the pending fruit
almost touching the ground.

When Ferdinand de Soto invaded the Floridas in the middle of
the sixteenth century, the inhabitants w«re familiar with the use of
the maguey, and had even converted it into conserves. Ponce de Leon,
an adventurer of a romantic and chivalrous spirit, was the first of the
many enthusiasts led to this region under the imaginary delusion that
in Florida there existed a fountain which had the power of restoring
youth and giving immortality to those who should drink of it ; — a
notion quite in accordance with the superstition of the times and the
visionary pursuits of the alchymists of the age. No such fountain,
however, was discovered, many of those who attempted to find it,
never returned ; hence it was inferred by the votaries of the day, that
those persons had drunk of the immortalizing liquor, and had
discovered a spot too delightful to be abandoned through any
worldly or human consideration. That they had inebriating drinks
is certain; but it was beyond the range of intellect of the poor
Indian to ever think of a liquor that could render him immortal.
Their inventions never went further than the making of liquors from
indigenous fruit and grain. An acquaintance with the Spaniards,
however, soon familiarized them with European luxuries, and imparted
a taste for all exhilarating drinks. In the course of time, this incli
nation became so insuperable that the Spanish government, always
having a view to its own aggrandisement, encouraged distillation, and
in the Floridas as well as in the neighbouring districts, drew from it
a considerable revenue. But the manufacture at best was inconsi
derable when compared with the overflowing fertility of the country —
a country deriving its name from the very appearance of the efflor
escence of its groves, hills, and valleys. And where nature is thus
bountiful, to what advantages, under a liberal government, might not
her gifts be turned. Nothing remarkable is recounted as peculiar to
the natives different from those of the surrounding nations ; their
feasts, entertainments, and ceremonies being characterized by the same
uniformity that marks other American tribes, in a similar state of
uncultivated nature. Bartram, in his Travels,* describes an assembly
of natives which he witnessed at Attasse, exhibiting a striking picture

* Travels through North and South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, &c. 8vo. pp. 449,
50, 51. Also Adair's History of the American Indians.

321

of the aboriginal Floridans. During the ceremony, two slaves entered
the place of entertainment, carrying a couple of very large conch-shells
full of a sort of black beer. After various evolutions and move
ments, each presented his shell, one to the king, and the other to the
next in rank, uttering two notes extended as long as he could without
breathing, during which time from the king to the meanest individual
at the ceremony, each continued drinking. These two notes are of
such long and solemn duration that a spectator is struck with the awe
which they inspire, sounding somewhat like a-hoo-ojah and a-lu-jaht
and resembling the hallelujah of a Christian assembly. This cere
monious mode of drinking is continued as long as any of the liquor
remains. At the close of the autumn, the savages hold a solemn fast
in honour of the first fruits, or new crops having arrived at maturity.
To render this the more dignified, they renew their clothing, house
hold furniture, and cast away not only the old materials of this des
cription, but even the remaining grain, as well as the old provisions.
These are usually gathered into a heap and burned. To render the
ceremony still more imposing, they fast for three days, take medicine,
and put out all the fires in their villages, abstaining from the gratifi
cation of every appetite and passion. At this period, a general
amnesty is proclaimed, and even the captive is suffered to return
unmolested and rejoicing to his home. On the morning of the fourth
day, the sun illumines a scene of a very different description. Intoxi
cating beverages flowing in torrents, are accompanied for three days
by all the concomitant excesses which undue indulgence in every
gratification produces.

From a close observance of the manners and customs of the inha
bitants of the New World, and contrasting them with those of the
Old, a striking similarity in some instances appears. An attempt to
account for this would be foreign to the design of this work ; but it
may not be irrelevant to observe, that many are of opinion that the
American continent was peopled by adventurers from Africa, Asia,
or Europe. A very plausible conjecture is, that the posterity of
Japhet diverged eastward and westward throughout the whole extent
of Asia, so that those who arrived at the Pacific Ocean may have
passed to America by the way of Beering's Straits. Those who
came to the Atlantic shores may have crossed to this'continent in the
direction of Newfoundland ; and others coasting along Africa may
have been driven to Brazil or the West India islands by chance,
through severity of weather or a deficiency in the knowledge of navi
gation. The description given by the Mexicans of their forefathers,
is a proof of this hypothesis, since they are described as having come

322

from the north-west, and agreeing in their characteristics with the
Asiatic wandering Tartars. This opinion is strengthened by the
recent discoveries of Baron Humboldt and other scientific men ; and
it is almost certain that America was known to the Phoenicians.
Count Roehenstart, the Russian traveller, during his residence at
Mexico, writing to the Count De Legarde, says, that " guided by the
learned observations of the Baron," he was enabled to procure sepul
chral monuments of these people, which prove beyond a doubt the
fact of this matter. It is, however, to be regretted, that when the
Count was on his passage to Europe, these precious fragments of
antiquity, with a rare collection of natural and artificial curiosities,
were thrown overboard by a band of pirates who attacked and
plundered the vessel.

Portuguese writers allege that when they discovered in Tercera,
one of the Azore islands, an equestrian statue, made from a slab
of stone, was found, bearing an inscription on a rock beneath. The
head of the man was bare, his left hand rested on the mane of his
horse, and his right hand pointed towards the west, as indicating the
situation of another continent. If this be true, it evidently goes to
prove that the New World must have been known to the inhabitants
of the Old.

As it is well authenticated by Pliny* and others, that the Phoeni
cians frequently made voyages through the Red Sea, doubling the
Cape of Good Hope, and coming home by the Straits of Gibralter,
^here is no improbability of one of these vessels having been driven
westward and having arrived at last in America. One of these
vessels, it is said, was driven to an island very far west, (perhaps the
same as Plato's Atlantis) larger than Asia and Africa together, having
a fruitful soil and navigable rivers ; and that through the Phoenicians,
the Carthaginians came to the knowledge of it, in which new region,
says Diodorus Siculus, the Carthaginians would not permit any other
nation to settle, but reserved it for themselves, that if ever they should
be driven from their native soil, they might have an asyulm. ^Elian
says, Silenus asserted that there was an extensive continent beyond
Europe, Asia, and Africa, from which it has been inferred that the
inhabitants of the Old World had some faint knowledge of the New.
Another circumstance, which gives additional strength to this reason
ing, is, that Professor Seyffarth, of Leipsic, in 1827, found among the
learned and curious repositories at Rome, a Mexican manuscript in
hieroglyphics, marked with the Mexican zodiac, from which it was

* Pliny's Nat. Hist. L. ii. s. 67.

323

manifest that the Mexicans and Egyptians had intercourse in the most
remote antiquity, and that they had one and the same system of
mythology. Humboldt affirms that the ape forms one of the Mexican,
Mongul, Mandslmr, Tartar, and Chinese zodiacs ; and this analogy
is a further confirmation of the migration of the Americans from the
Old World.

It is remarkable that the people have preserved, in their traditions
and paintings, a record of the creation of the world, the building of
Babel, and the consequent confusion of languages. The artificial
mounds and apparent sites of extensive cities, the weapons of war
and other implements which have been found, some bearing Roman
characters indicative of their being made in the time of the CaBsars,
together with utensils composed of alloyed metals denoting the past
existence of an art at present unknown to the natives of the new con
tinent, are further proofs that the last hypothesis is more than conjec
tural, and that there is every reason to believe the inhabitants of
America had their origin from the Eastern hemisphere. Mr. Ferrell
states, that at the Bull Shoals, each a branch of White River in
Missouri, several feet below the surface, relics were found which
indicated that the spot had formerly been the seat of metallurgical
operations, where the alloy appeared to be lead united with silver.
Arrow heads cut out of flint and earthenware that had undergone
the action of fire, were also found in the same place. Lieutenant-
Colonel Galindo, while governor of Poten in Central America,
discovered the ruins of an extensive city called Palenque, extending
for more than 20 miles along the summits of the ridge which separates
the country of the wild Maya Indians from the State of Chicapas, in
the ancient kingdom of Gautemala. The principal buildings were
erected on the most prominent heights, and in several of them there
exist remains of stairs formed of stone and plaster. The stones of
the edifices are about 18 inches long, 9 broad, and 2 thick, gradually
inclining where they form a roof, but always placed horizontally.
The eaves are supported by large stones which project about two
feet. The wood-work lias disappeared, and the windows are small,
circular, and square perforations. Human figures in alto-relievo are
frequent on small pillars, and filigree work imitating boughs and
feathers, is perceptible in several places. Some of the sculptured
ornaments looked like the Corinthian foliage of the ancient architects.
These ruins are buried in a thick forest ; and the adjacent country
for leagues contains remains of the ancient labours of the people, con
sisting of bridges, reservoirs, monumental inscriptions, &c. Baron

324

Humboldt observes, that the half civilized people met with in 1537,
by the conqueror Queseda, were clothed in cotton garments, and had
the most intimate relation with the people of Japan. Colonel Galindo
is decidedly of opinion that the Mayscas or Maya language was
derived from the Japanese, and that the builders of the city of Palen-
que must have dated their antiquity at a period long anterior to that
of Mexico, and their civilisation must have surpassed that of the Peru
vians. In fact, Palenque is, in its historical importance, considered the
Thebes of America.

A circus and several stone pyramids in the valley of Copon, in
Honduras, are rather more celebrated than the ruins of Palenque,
or those formed near Ocosingo, in the same part of this continent, and
bespeak a high state of civilisation.

Other testimonials have been found, intimating that the inhabitants
of the old world had early visited America. A circumstance related
in the Universal Gazette of Bogota for 1832, is worthy of notice.
A planter discovered a tumulary stone near the village of Dolores,
about two leagues from Monte Video, covered with unknown
characters. On removing this stone, he found a vault of brick-work
containing antique swords, a helmet, and buckler, much worn with
rust, and an earthen amphora of large dimensions. The following
words in Greek characters were deciphered : — " Alexander son of
Philip, was king of Macedon, about the sixty-third Olympiad — In
these places Ptolemy" — On the hilt of the sword was an engraved
portrait, which appeared to be that of Alexander ; and on the helmet,
chased work representing Achilles dragging the dead body of Hector
round the walls of Troy. From this it has been inferred that Brazil
was explored by a contemporary of Aristotle, and that it is probable
that Ptolemy, the celebrated commander of Alexander's fleet, driven
by tempests into what the ancients called the Great Ocean, was cast
on the shore of the new continent, and had marked the event by the
erection of this monument.

During an expedition to the west of Montreal, undertaken by some
French travellers, pillars of stone were found at a distance of 900
miles from that capital, of great magnificence, and manifestly of
human structure, but of which the natives had no tradition ; nor did
they exhibit any marks relative to their origin or purport. One
stone, however, was discovered having another set in it bearing an
inscription in unknown characters, which was afterwards sent to
France to be deposited in the Royal Museum. The country in
which these pillars were discovered had the appearance of having been

325

once the seat of civilisation, still retaining the vestiges of agricultural
labour.*

From the preceding facts and observations, as well as the high
state of civilisation found in Mexico and Peru, when first visited by
the Spaniards, it is evident that the inhabitants were descended from
a superior race of people ; and that the knowledge of malting, brew
ing, and fermenting, so well known to those two nations in par
ticular, indicates an origin from a country in which these were
perfectly familiar.

In the United States, the distillation of spirits is a manufacture of
considerable importance. It was practised, though rudely, by some
of the early settlers, and has continued to increase in proportion to
the progress of agriculture. The resources of the country are great,
and, as fuel is plentiful, there is scarcely any check to the efforts of
the industrious in this branch of trade. In a table of the Addenda
will be found a summary of the distilleries and breweries existing in
the United States, the only collected view that could be obtained.
This return was made by the marshals of the districts, and by the Secre
taries of the territories ; but it is thought to fall considerably short of
the actual number of stills and gallons of sp rits, &c. The value
of the whole distilled and fermented liquors of the States, in 1810,
was said to amount to 16,528,207 dollars; and if its increase have
kept pace with the population, the amount must now be prodigious.
Mr. Seybert, in his Statistical Annals of the States, published in
Philadelphia, in 1818, says that the number of the distilleries was
about 15,000. To encourage these and the brewing establishments,
as well as the making of wine, government has made such salutary
regulations, as cannot fail to render them of great service to the
agricultural interests of the country. The restriction on home-manu
facture is comparatively trifling, and lias been computed to amount
to little more, throughout all the States, than about one cent or
scarcely a penny per gallon, while on all beer, ale, and porter, imported
in bottles, a duty is imposed of fifteen cents, or if imported other
wise than in bottles, of ten cents per gallon ; and on spirits from grain,
first proof, forty-two ; second, forty-five ; third, forty-eight ; fourth,
fifty-two ; fifth, sixty ; and on all above the fifth proof seventy-five cents
per gallon. If the spirits should be made from any other materials
than grain, the duty on the first and second proof is thirty-eight
cents ; on the third, forty-two ; on the fourth, forty-eight ; on the fifth,

* Vide Kahn and Carver's Travels through North America.

fifty-seven; and upon all above that number, seventy cents per gallon.
On wines imported from Madeira, on Burgundy, Champagne,
Rhenish, and Tokay, one hundred cents ; and on Sherry and St.
Lucar wines, sixty cents. On wines not enumerated above, when
imported in bottles or cases, seventy cents. Lisbon, Oporto, and
other wines of Portugal and Sicily, fifty cents. On the wines of
Teneriife, Fayal, and other western islands, forty cents; and on
different kinds not imported in cases and bottles, twenty-five cents
per gallon. The foreign spirits imported into America are consi
derable. It appears by the public returns, that in the year 1790,
3,678,199 gallons were imported; and in 1792, 4,869,992 gallons j
while in the latter year, 948,115 gallons of spirits, the produce of the
United States, were exported. During the years 1806 and 1807,
9,750,000 gallons a year were imported. The imports from various
parts of the world were, at a medium, during the same years, for
wine 3,881,000 gallons ; while those of rum from the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland, amounted to 41,836 proof gallons in the
period of five years, from 1826 to 1830, both inclusive.*

The Americans export spirits to Manilla, the Philippine islands,
and other parts of the East Indies ; to the Floridas, Honduras, Cam-
peachy, and the Mosquito shore ; also to the Spanish West Indies,
to their colonies, and even to China. In 1812, 101,243 gallons
of whiskey, besides wine and geneva, were sent to those places.
Large importations of wine are made from Madeira in return for
other merchandise. The wine is purchased at about 160 dollars a
pipe, and what is not consumed in the States is carried to the East
and West Indies.

The immense number of navigable lakes and rivers which intersect
this vast continent, affords great facility for the transportation of
spirits, and the interchange of commodities between the different
States. In the course of eleven months, terminating on the 1st July,
1811, among other articles, 3,768 barrels of whiskey were sent down
the Shenandoah and Potomac rivers ; whilst the spirits made at
Brownsville, near Pittsburg, are in such repute that they are fre
quently sent to New Orleans, a distance of nearly 2,000 miles. In
the year 1822, 7,500 barrels of whiskey, value 500,000 dollars, 3,000
barrels of cider, value 9,000 dollars, and 3,000 barrels of porter,
value 15,000 dollars, were sent from the Western States for consump-

* Vide Parliamentary Papers.

327

tion ; giving a tolerably correct view of the increase of agriculture
and husbandry in this portion of America.*

In 1810, as appears by the report of the Secretary of the Treasury,
the quantity of malt liquors made in the States was nearly equal to
the consumption. The annual importation was reduced to 185,000
gallons, while the exportation of native beer, ale, and cider amounted
annually to 187,000. According to Bristed, 25,000,000 gallons of
spirits were yearly distilled and consumed in the United States, as
calculated in 1817, which must have since considerably increased.

In the early stages of the manufacture, the distillers and brewers
seemed to have no other object in view than to meet the consumption
of the States, and of the Indian tribes connected with them. But
they have long since turned their attention to foreign markets ; and
from the ease and cheapness with which they can now procure and
manufacture the raw materials, they are likely to become successful
rivals of all the nations of Europe. The government viewing this
trade as of some consequence to the revenue of the country, in
1813, imposed a duty on all the stills, and the spirits distilled within the
states. This duty stood as follows : — viz.

Stills employed in distilling from native materials, such as rye, Indian
corn, apples, &c. including the content of the head : —

Dol. Cents.

For two weeks .... 0 Qi>

onemonth 0 18

two do 0 32

three do 0 42

four do 0 52

six do 0 70

twelve do 1 00

Stills employed on foreign materials, such as molasses, &c : —

Onemonth 0 25

three do 0 60

six do 1 05

twelvedo 1 35

In 1814, these duties were increased ; but at the close of the war
in 1815, the additional duties were repealed. The internal imports
remaining in 1817, were those on licenses for stills, boilers, refined
sugar, &c., the collection of which depended on the oath of the manu
facturer, a collector, but no other officer, being employed. To collect
any description of revenue by means of oaths, is manifestly impolitic,

* Vid° Excursion through the United States and Canada, in 1822 and 3, p. 118.

328

as it is well known that to evade enactments of this nature, perjury
is unfortunately too seldom considered a crime ; and certainly a
low duty, such as that detailed, is less calculated to induce persons to
swerve from the strict path of rectitude, than when the duties are
high and oppressive.

'The distilleries, for the most part, are conducted on a small scale ;
and, as might be expected when the trade is committed to a vast
number of people of opposite interests, a great deal of competition
as well as of ignorance prevails. Breweries not being generally
established, the want of barm has not failed to produce great
inconvenience; and the distillers in many of the principal towns,
as well as in the most remote parts of the Union, are obliged to
have recourse to various deleterious substitutes, for the fermentation
of their wash. Hence, combined with a want of due attention
to the attenuation of their pot-ale, arises that ardent quality which
renders their whiskey in many instances disagreeable to foreigners.
Great improvements, however, are said to have taken place ; and
their peach-brandy, which is now made in abundance, is allowed,
when matured by age, to be one of the most exquisite spirits in the
Vorld ;* yet, in making it, the peaches are suffered, in some instances,
to remain in the vat, till they are in such a state of putrefaction as to
be offensive.f Fifteen bushels are allowed to yield about six gallons
of strong brandy. In preparing them for the fermenting tuns, the
seeds are carefully taken out, and the substance of the peach is bruised
to a pulp and left for three weeks or a month in that state to ferment ;
a proper allowance of water is then added, and they are distilled.
Peaches are abundant in most of the States ; at Philadelphia, there
were 2,107 baskets of them at one market, and they sold for 12 cents
(6J.) per bushel ! The price at the same time in New York, was
about one dollar a bushel : — a single orchard has been known to
produce 1,1 00 bushels.

Brandy is manufactured in America from various fruits ; and from
the persimon apple a valuable spirit is made by putting a quantity of
the fruit into a vessel for a week until it becomes quite soft. Water
is then poured in and left for fermentation, without the addition of
any other ingredient to promote it. The brandy is then made in the
common way, and it is said to be much improved when mixed with
sweet grapes that are found wild in the woods.

* Cox's View of the United States, p. 176.

f The peach tree on the river Ohio comes to maturity in three years. Hellish.
p, 343.

329

Another kind of palatable liquor is procured from this apple. The
ripe fruit is bruised and mixed with wheat or other flour, and formed
into cakes which are baked in an oven. These are afterwards placed
over the fire in a pot full of water, and when they become blended
with the fluid, malt is added, and the brewing- completed in the usual
manner : thus is produced a beer preferable to most others.

In all the States, apples are abundant, particularly in New England
and New York, and therefore cider is the common drink of the inha
bitants. In a fruitful year, apples are so plentiful as to be given to
whoever will take the trouble to gather them. Vast quantities
are also consumed by cattle and swine. The cider, when well
made, is of excellent quality, and the least juicy apples afford the best
liquor. A barrel of cider sells from about one and a half to three
dollars. A field containing a thousand trees is not uncommon, and a
single tree has been known to produce six barrels of cider in one
season, — a circumstance the more extraordinary when it takes three
barrels of apples to make one of cider. Mr. Stuart, a late writer,
says that much cider is made from the crab-apple, which is worth
about six-pence per bushel ; but that a considerable quantity of
engrafted fruit is usually mixed writh it. This liquor, he adds, is for
the most part generally inferior to English cider. The Shakers, a
religious sect, have two establishments in the State of New York, at
which they manufacture cider of an excellent quality, which sells so
high as ten dollars per barrel.*

From the maple, which abounds in Massachusetts, Vermont, Penn
sylvania, Rhode Island, Ohio, Tenessee, North Carolina, and other
states, an extensive supply of sugar is drawn. Of this tree, there are
three varieties, — -hard, black, or rock maple ; white, silver, or middle
maple ; and soft, swamp, or red maple. Chemists have proved that
the saccharine matter is abundantly diffused through the vegetable
kingdom. Plants from which it is produced are most numerous in
the East and West Indies, and of these the maple is next in eminence
to the sugar-cane. Of the various kinds of this tree, the sugar-maple
(acer saccharinum), and the silver maple facer dasycarpum), are the
most productive. To the Americans it has proved a source of wealth
and domestic luxury. Even in Germany, it is asserted that those
trees will afford sugar equal in quality to any Muscovado of our islands,
and so cheap as 4d. or 5d. per pound.|

The sugar-maple trees grow to the height of from 80 to 120 feet,
and from 2 to 5 feet in diameter. They put forth a beautiful white

* Stuart's Three Years in the United State*, 2 vols. 8vo., vol. i. p. 267.
f Philosophical Magazine, vol. iii. p. J05.

330

blossom in spring before they show a single leaf, and arrive at full
growth in about 20 years. The wood is very strong and of a fine
texture ; being very inflammable, it is not employed in building, but
is used chiefly for fuel. The mode of tapping the tree is by perfo
ration with an axe or auger, the latter is the preferable instrument.
The incision being about three-fourths of an inch in an ascending
direction, is afterwards gradually deepened to two inches. A spout
made of sumach or elder is introduced about half an inch into the hole,
and projects from 3 to 12 inches from the tree and 2^ feet from the
ground. The sap flows from four to six weeks, and in greater abun
dance where there is frost in the night and a thaw during the day, and
in fact, does not flow at all without frost. There are three modes of
converting the sap into sugar, viz., evaporation, freezing, and boling,
the last of which is the most general and rapid. Farmers have no
better apparatus for conducting the process, than one or two small iron
kettles, and with these they will make 200 or 3001bs. of sugar in the
space of a fortnight or three weeks. Others, however, carry on the
manufacture more scientifically, on an extensive scale. For the collection
of sugar from the maple tree at the time when the frosts are breaking
up in the Ohio and other States, whole families from neighbouring
villages and towns resort to those woods where the trees abound. Here
they pitch their tents, and the rendezvous is called ^sugar-camp. There
is no means employed but that of reducing down the sap by boiling
from its limpid state to a pulpy or inspissated consistence, and, while
cooling, it is stirred a little with a stick in order to granulate more
readily until converted into sugar. There are several modes by
which it is graned by the French settlers, who make it into a hard
substance. Those practised in the West Indies are probably the best.
The grane of this sugar is sometimes as large and as fine as that of
the best Muscovado. The sap of this tree is a very pleasant drink,
and the sirup is by many preferred to honey. A single maple will
produce in the season from 8 to 14lbs. of sugar, and one family has
been known to collect from 9 to 20 cwt. in a good year. One hundred
trees tapped in April with the attention of one man for fifteen days,
have been known to yield 1121bs. of sugar, 10 gallons of molasses,
and 1 barrel of vinegar. The trees, when properly heated, do not
suffer by this exudation, and when the sap has ceased to flow from the
incisions, plugs of wood are introduced into the auger-holes, which
in the course of two or three years are covered with them. The
maple is a hardy tree, and found to grow well in the cold climate of
Canada. It has been suggested that it might thrive in Great Brituiu

331

and Ireland, and be productive of employment and profit to those who
would encourage its cultivation — a speculation that might not be un
worthy of a trial. The aborigines collect twice a year, (during- the
spring and fall of the leaf,) large quantities of this sugar, which is of
a greenish hue, and in taste a little acid. The first collection takes
place in February, March, or April, according to the latitude and
climate ; the second occurs when the juice has not a sufficient body to
become sugar, and when it is converted into a sort of molasses, which,
mixed with water, affords a cooling draught during the heat of summer :
some boil it with hops and make it into beer. The time of collecting
the sugar is a period of great feasting amongst the poor Indians, who,
at intervals, are seen in groups of both sexes at the foot of the trees ;
the young dancing and playing at different games, the children bath
ing under the direction of the different Sachems, while the aged,
awaiting at intervals the collection of the sap, enjoy the festivities of
the scene, and occasionally partake of the innocent delights of the
season. The profits of the maple tree do not arise from its sugar
alone, for it affords most agreeable molasses and excellent vinegar.
The sap, which is suitable for these purposes, is obtained after that
which affords sugar has ceased to flow.

These sugars and molasses form the basis of a large proportion of
the rums at present manufactured by the Americans, to the great
injury of the British colonies, as is manifest from the great decrease
in the exports of these articles from thence to the States. The extent
and value of the maple sugar manufactory will be best illustrated by
the subjoined view of the returns of a few of the Sates for the year
1810:—

Massachusetts 422,0001bs value, 82,400 dollars.

Vermont 1,200,000 120,000

Delaware 755,859 150,000

Virginia 1,659,447

Ohio 3,023,806 309,932

Indiana 50,000

Kentucky 2,471,647 308,932

Tennessee 162,340

Illinois 15,600

New York 64,000 10,000

The price varies from 7 to 16 cents per Ib. but it is in general cheap,
compared with that which is imported. It has been computed that
at least 71,000,0001bs. of sugar are required in the United States for
the annual consumption. Of this quantity, it will be seen that the
maple forms no inconsiderable portion. That made from the cane is

S32

rapidly increasing, particularly in Louisiana and Georgia. Cane
plantations are extending as far as 150 miles north of New Orleans,
along the banks of the Mississippi. Though the cane does not succeed
every year, yet the profit of one good season is a sufficient remune
ration for several indifferent crops. The canes are generally cut in
November and December, and the sugar is immediately pressed out
by rollers.

The maple sugar has arrived to that importance that it forms an
article of export : in one year this export amounted to 4,374 dollars.
This article is in such demand at home, and so cheap, that it always
meets a ready sale.

The sap of the hickory becomes a fine white sugar merely by drying,
and is, in its native state, a very pure and sweet sirup. The juice of
the beech and birch, when fermented, affords a good liquor resembling
beer. Indian corn, which is nearly the staple grain of all the States,
affords a never varying supply of material for distillation. This grain
rising to the height of from 7 to 12 feet, is well calculated for a climate
where there is little rain in the summer, as from the peculiar construc
tion of its leaves it has the power of retaining in the interstices a quan
tity of dew or rain for its nurture. Although Indian corn (zea mays)
is more productive than any other kind of grain, yet it often suffers in
common with other vegetable productions from the various changes of
the seasons ; but in particular from the ravages of squirrels. When
the common food of the squirrel, such as nuts, masts, &c. fails in their
native forests, those animals, congregated in legions, leave their
wonted haunts, and spreading in every direction, devastate whole
plantations of Indian corn. So numerous, destructive, and greedy,
are those mischievous little creatures, that sometimes three or four
of them have been seen on the same stalk contending for the ears.
The farmers unite for their destruction ; and it is said that in one
week upwards of 20,000 have fallen victims to their vengeance.

The vine is found in America both indigenous and exotic. Its
abundance in the wild state induced one of its earliest discoverers,
according to Icelandic records, to give it the name of Vinland, in the
year 1001, after which dried grapes or raisins became an article of
export from that country to Norway. The fruit of the vine, in the
northern parts of America, is of a diminutive size. In Canada, the
grapes are very small, and although Ellis, in his voyage, tells us that
grapes grew spontaneously about Hudson's Bay, yet 1 cannot agree
with him, that the fruit was equal to the currants of the Levant,
owing to the coldness of the climate, and the stunted growth of the
plant. The French settlers in the Illinois territory, have turned the

333

wild grape to some account ; and finding it growing there in luxuri
antly wild abundance, have made from it considerable quantities of
excellent wine, which they dispose of to the neighbouring settlers.
Hunter, in his Memoirs, says, when speaking of the Missouri and
Arkanzas country, that the grape vines producing black, red, flesh
and white-coloured fruit, are to be met with in astonishing quantities
in the hollows of prairies, the natural results when this plant is
exposed to a free circulation of air and the direct rays of the sun,
both of which it enjoys in the open prairies. He saw hundreds,
nay thousands of acres, covered with the vines, and loaded with the
most delicious grapes. And were it not for the wild animals, which
make paths in order to feed on the fruit, it would be impossible to
pass through the thickly intertwined branches. In parts of the country
bordering on the Osage river, the crab-apple, plum, and wild cherry-
tree abound, which serve as supporters to the vine, whose branches
are so thickly interwoven as to exclude the sun's rays from the ground
beneath.

The vine of late years has been much cultivated among the
Americans. In 1805, a company of emigrants, from the Pays de
Vaud, settled at New Switzerland, in Indiana, with a view of culti
vating the vine ; and formed an establishment there, extending about
seven miles along the Ohio. The vineyards are now very extensive,
and the settlement is in a prosperous state. In 1810, the crop of that
district exceeded 2,400 gallons; and in 1811, upwards of 2,700
gallons. The wine was allowed by correct judges to be nowise infe
rior to the claret of Bourdeaux. Vines have been also successfully
cultivated in some parts of Pennsylvania, and excellent wine made of
them.* Many sorts of foreign grapes grow luxuriantly in New Eng
land, and yield excellent fruit. The most delicate require to be
covered during the winter : — the purple Madeira grapes bear the
winter very well. The grapes that have succeeded best are those
from the Cape of Good Hope and the Island of Madeira. Those of
the country yield wine of tolerably good quality, and from them, in
1810, there were produced 96 barrels, valued at 6,000 dollars. These
successes joined to other considerations, have given rise to the belief
that America, in a few years, will be completely independent of France,
as well as of the other European States, in the article of wine.

The severity of the winters in America, is, in Mr. Cooper's
opinion, no objection to the successful cultivation of the vine ; for, in

* Neilson's Recollections of six years' Residence in the United States, Svo.
1830, p. 174.

334

a country which extends from the 27th to the 47th degree of latitude,
it is scarcely possible to suppose that the vine cannot flourish. The
grape that affords good wine is rarely fit to be eaten ; hence Mr. Cooper
says, that had the Americans patience to try the experiment, the com
mon little fox-grape would in time afford a fine wine. This grape
greatly resembles that of the best vineyards of Switzerland, and the
fact of its not being a good eating grape is altogether in its favour.
This writer is of opinion, that to a fat soil, should be prefered a
gravelly hill side, well broken up with a good exposure to the sun,
for the site and produce of a good vineyard, which might be easily
found in any of the middle states of the Union.* The fox-grape,
(vitis vulpinum) is remarkable for the large size of its vine, which,
in many places, climbs to the tops of the highest trees, and takes such
full possession of them, that, after the fall of the leaf, the tree to
which it is attached seems to be loaded with its fruit. The vine at
the bottom, is commonly six or eight inches in diameter ; and instances
have been found of its measuring thirty-seven inches in circumference
near the ground. The fruit is very good after the frosts have
commenced,

In some of the plantations, brandy is made from the lees of the
wine ; but the apparatus is often ill adapted to the purpose. It may
be observed in general, that in the manufacture of spirits, the
Americans seldom practise that cleanliness and caution in brewing,
fermenting, and distilling, which, in other countries, are so essential to
flavour and quality. They ferment the wash, in many instances, on
the grain, and put the mixed mass into the still — a practice calculated
to give the spirits a strong ernpyreumatical flavour, as no machinery
is used.

The error of mixing extraneous ingredients with the proper mate
rials is very prevalent ; among those is salt, which in Indiana is used
in great quantities. This custom prevailed a long time in Great
Britain and Ireland ; and in the highlands of Scotland, it is in some
places observed to this day. The affinity which salt possesses for the
watery particles of the material in the still, may, perhaps, render it
useful, but it is at present rejected by the great body of the distillers
of Europe.

The rums of New England are considered of good quality, and
some deem them not inferior to the best that are produced in the West
Indies. In 1810, they distilled in this State 2,472,000 gallons of rum ;
from grain, 63,730 gallons ; from cider, 316,480 gallons, while the

* Cooper's Residence in France.

$35

breweries yielded 716,800 gallons. Besides this extensive manufac
ture, much is imported. Geneva is successfully imitated, particularly
since the tide of emigration has brought many intelligent men from
Holland, who possess sufficient knowledge of this branch of trade, to
render the American article equal to that manufactured in the Nether
lands. Many of the Irish emigrants distil, in genuine purity, that des
cription of spirits commonly called Innishowen or potheen, which is no
less a favourite on the other side of the Atlantic, than on the shores
of Magilligan, or the banks of the Shannon. The following mode of
making it at an early period, is thus described by an eye-witness : —
To a bushel and a half of rye, four quarts of malt, and a handful of
hops, were added fifteen gallons of boiling water, which were allowed
to stand for four hours. These being increased by sixteen gallons
more, two quarts of home-made yeast were thrown in, and in this pro
portion either a large or small quantity of worts was prepared, which,
after being allowed ample time to ferment, was distilled in a simple
apparatus. One bushel of rye produced about eleven quarts of
a weak and inferior spirit, and sold at the rate of 4si 6d. per gallon.
The refuse of these small stills was used in feeding swine.

The use of malt liquors is increasing in all parts of America. Bot
tled porter is an article in much demand, but it is greatly inferior to
that made in Great Britain. Newburg, a town about 60 miles above
New York, is fanred for the brewing of good ale. Albany is also
celebrated for the excellence of its ale, which is sent all over the
States and greatly admired. This branch of manufacture, like many
others in America, is becoming of great interest and value. Besides
the advantages they possess in grain and water, hops are now culti
vated in different districts. New England affords a greater quantity
than any other spot of equal extent in the Union, yielding from 1,000
to l,5001bs. an acre, and sell for 6d. per pound. The manufacture
of malt liquors, although on the increase, is much below that in dif
ferent parts of Europe, but the preference is given to spirits, and
hence the distillery establishments are vastly more prosperous.

Honey is plentiful in different parts ; the bees are not only domes
ticated, but are often found lodged in the hollows of trees in the
forests, and men skilled in the business discover their retreats and
obtain great supplies. From the white clover which abounds, honey
is procured of the most pure and perfect sort, and might be increased
to any extent. In the Carolinas, there are prodigious quantities of
it, from which are made excellent spirits and very fine mead. There
is no plant in the States to which the bees are more attached than
buck-wheat. This is not, however, generally cultivated in Kentucky,

336

which is one of the principal reasons why honey is not collected to
any extent in that settlement^ In many parts of the States, bees are
partial to the rich low grounds commonly called bottoms, from their
abounding in a variety of plants, shrubs, and flowers ; among which
the Polygonum scandens (wild buck-wheat) is peculiarly attractive.

In the enumeration of the various kinds of drink common in
America, it would be unpardonable to omit noticing the Ballston
Waters, in the State of New York, which possess qualities highly
exhilarating, sometimes producing vertigo, that has been followed by
inebriety and drowsiness. These waters are considered by the
farmers of the neighbouring districts as an excellent beverage, and
are sent for at a distance of from 6 to 10 miles for refreshment to the
labourers during the hay-making and harvest ; thus superseding, in a
great measure, the use of any kind of ardent spirits.* The proper
ties of the Saratoga water, situated seven miles from that of Ballston,
are of the most remarkable nature, and the quantity of gas it contains
is such, that a very nice sort of breakfast-bread is baked from it
instead of yeast.

To entitle persons to retail wine and spirituous liquors, they are
obliged to take out a license at the following rates, viz :

Retailers of wine and spirits, including merchandise, 25 dollars.

Wines alone, 20

Spirits alone, 20

Domestic spirits, 15

Merchandise, other than wine arid spirits, 15

But in all places in which the population does not exceed one hun
dred families to the square mile : — .

Retailers of wine and spirits, including merchandise, 15 dollars.

Wine and spirits, 15

Spirits alone, 12

Domestic spirits, 10

Merchandise, other than wine and spirits, 10

These licenses are generally obtained from the mayor or chief
magistrate of a city or town. In New York, both wholesale and
retail wine and spirit dealers are termed grocers, and their premises are
labelled with the words " grocery stores" The small retail shops, com
monly called "grog shops" are for the most part at corners of streets,
and the proprietors are chiefly Irishmen. The principal article for
consumption is Yankee, or New England rum. The price varies
according to the quality from 2d. to 6d. the glass ; and it is rarely
drunk otherwise than with cold water. Any infringement on the

* Dwight's Travels in New England and New York, vol. iii. p. 399.

337

regulations by which licenses are governed is visited by different
degrees of punishment. All spirits brought into the city of New
York from the country are inspected on their arrival, as also the
spirits made in the city, by officers appointed for the purpose. One
is called Inspector General of domestic spirits, with five others who
act under him. In Connecticut, persons selling spirits without license
forfeit 10 dollars for the first offence, 20 for the second, 40 for the
third, and so on in proportion.

The following is a pretty correct view of the rates at which the
different kinds of liquors are sold in the United States : —

Brandy from 11 dollars (5s. 8d.) to 2 dollars (9s.) per gallon.
Holland Gin, 11 do. 2 do. do.

Jamaica rum, 1 do. (4s. 6d.) 1J do. (5s. 8d.) do.
New England rum and whiskey, 33 cents (Is. 3d. or Is.

6d.) to 50 cents (2s. 3d.) do.

Madeira wine, 12 to 18 dollars per dozen.

Claret, 3 to 15 do do.

Table beer, 6d. per quart.

Bottled beer, 6jd. do.

Common ale, 5^d. do.

Best ale, 7d. do.

Porter, 6jd. do.

Cider, 1 1 s. 3d. per bar.

From the cheapness with which spirits can be procured in the
United States, averaging scarcely more than 38 cents the gallon, the
people indulge themselves to excess, and run into all the extravagancies
of inebriety. Notwithstanding this round charge against the Americans,
it would be doing them injustice not to state that the beastly slave to
habitual intoxication is not a common character among them, although it
is admitted that there is a greater consumption of liquor in the States in
proportion to the population, than in any other quarter of the known work'.
How this happens it is difficult to determine ; some attributing it to
one cause and some to another. That it is a great evil all admit, and
it can oidy be accounted for from a combination of circumstances
which rarely occur in other places. The influx of emigrants, their
lack of acquaintance, want of employment, habits of former living,
new associations, excessive heat in summer, and cold in winter, alike
conspire to work on the frailties of human nature, and to reduce indi
viduals to this debasement of character. Indeed, when the moral
habits become once depraved, it is difficult to restore the mind to the
exercise of religious pursuits.

z

338

From the reports of several societies to the government oil tlie
growing evils of intoxication, it was found necessary that some active
and determined measures should be taken ; and in order to check this
baneful vice, the American legislature, in 1821, wisely enacted a law
which places the concerns and property of habitual drunkards in the
hands of a committee appointed by the Court of Chancery, thus ex
tending to them the jurisdiction, exercised by the court with regard to
the estates of lunatics.

So great was the consumption of spirits, that in New York, there
were not less than 1600 spirit sellers; and throughout the whole of
the Union, the number of dram-shops exceeded that among us in a
tenfold proportion. One-tenth of the entire population of the States
resides in that city, which, it is said, consumed spirits to the amount
of three millions of dollars ; and allowing for the remaining nine-tenths
a consumption in the same ratio, the money squandered in this way
would amount to six millions of dollars.

By a report of the trustees of the alms-house for the city and
county of Baltimore in 1827, it appears that of 623 adults, admitted
into that asylum during the year ending April, 1826, it was positively
ascertained that 554 of that number had been placed there from the
necessitous circumstances to which they were reduced by excessive
drunkenness. No wonder that so awful and calamitous a state would
await such a number of individuals, when we find that even boys
acquire the habits of drinking much earlier than they do in Europe*
Not only to the causes enumerated as laying the foundation of such
vicious propensities, but to the practice of smoking may be attributed
a great deal of this weakness. It is no uncommon thing to see a boy
of 12 or 14 years old, with a cigar in his mouth, walk into a tavern in
the forenoon to take a glass of brandy and bitters to quench that
thirst which the free use of tobacco always occasions ; and it is well
known that habits , when early contracted, become in some measure
constitutional. A bad practice also prevails in America of breakfast-*
ing very early, which creates a desire for food in the middle of the day,
at which time a glass or two of ardent spirits is taken, and hence the
excitement which this custom has established, was kept up during the
day. And we find that at taverns it was common to see a tub of
water, with a ladle in it, placed constantly on the counter, from which
every man that comes in, helps himself, while a decanter of spirits is
given to take out of it what quantity he may think proper, it being
considered that water taken without such mixture was dangerous.

339

An American for the most part justifies his grog-drinking propensity
by alleging the deleterious qualities of the water — a circumstance
confirmed in an anecdote told of a European emigrant \vlio had resided
many years in the New World, and who on visiting the Southern
States, was asked what kind of water they had in New York.
" Really," replied he, " I cannot pretend to say, as I never tasted
water there that was not mixed with some kind of liquor." By the
general practice of tippling a great deal of time is squandered and the
moral principles at length sink into degeneracy. Captain Basil Hall,
in his Travels through the States in 1827 and 1828, says that he did
not witness any extraordinary excesses, though he saw sipping to be
a universal practice, that is, taking a little at a time and that every
hour of the day,* though he adds, that in the aggregate they, perhaps,
do not take more than in other countries^ where the means of procur
ing ardent spirits are as ample, and the liquor is as abundant. If general
report respecting the character of the Americans be true, there is less
of social intercourse and enjoyment in their drinking than among
Europeans, for, instead of indulging themselves in chat over a glass,
they generally swallow at the bar of a tavern whatever they wish to
take, rather than retire to a room for the sake of conviviality. These
solitary drunkards usually distinguish their draughts by the low, cant
terms of "phlegm dispensers" " eye openers,'* "perfect love" " life of
man" " mint-julep" £c. Forty millions of dollars, it is thought, are
thrown away annually on spirits in the States, and it is frightful to
think that among the prosecutions for irregularity in one year at New
York, 800 of these cases arose from intemperance, while of 730 per
sons committed the same year to the work-house in Baltimore, 554
were for intoxication ; and in the entire of the States, it is conjectured
that not less than 31,000 fall annual victims to this debasing propensity.
No wonder, then, that the people of the States should be so anxious
for the establishment of Temperance Societies, since the good order of
the community depends upon its regular and moral constitution;

A brief sketch of the rise, progress, and effect of these societies
may not be uninteresting. The first meeting for the suppression of
intemperance was called at Boston, in February, 1824, and the result
was the formation of a society, the leading features of which were,
that its members pledged themselves to abstinence from drink, and to
endeavour to change the habits of the nation with regard to the use
of intoxicating liquors, as much as lay in their power. Subscriptions
were entered into to the amount of £2,480, and such was the increase
* Travels in North America, 3 vols. 8vo. vol. ii. p. 90,

340

of those societies, that in the close of 1 829, there had been formed
more than 1,000 Temperance Societies, upwards of 50 distilleries
stopped, above 400 merchants relinquished the sale of spirits, and
upwards of 1,200 drunkards had been reformed. The crew of the
United States sloop of war (Falmouih), was amongst the first of the
seamen that shewed an example of abstinence, 70 of them having
resolved to abstain from spirits, while between 40 and 50 of the crew
of the Brandy wine frigate followed the example. In 1824, the
imported spirits amounted to 5,285,000 gallons, while in 1830 they
amounted only to 1,195,000, shewing a difference in the consumption
/ of 4,090,000 gallons in the course of six years, which is mainly attri
butable to the influence of these societies. Between the 1st January,

1830, and 1st January, 1831, one hundred and fifty vessels sailed from
the port of Boston without carrying ardent spirits. On the 1st May

1831, the number of Temperance Societies had increased to 2,200,
and that of the members to 170,000, giving an addition of 179,000
members, being 70,000 members, and 1,202 societies increased in the
space of two years.

From their influence, and the state of public opinion, it was com
puted that 300,000 more had formed the resolution of not using
strong liquors, nor furnishing them for the use of others. One thou
sand distilleries had been stopped, and the use of ardent spirits excluded
from more than one hundred public-houses. The following year the
Society extended its efforts by a promulgation of its principles through
all parts of the States, Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia,
Mexico, all Europe, Palestine, and the Sandwich rlslands. In 1832,
the clergy endeavoured to exclude drunkards from the communion
table, and preached strongly against the use of intoxicating liquors,
which was a powerful auxiliary to this wrork of sobriety. In 1831,
fifty thousand members were added to the Temperance Society of
the State of New York, and it was computed that in that year,
1,500,000 people of the States abstained from the use of ardent spirits,
and from furnishing them to others. There were then 4,000 Tem
perance Societies, embracing 500,000 members; 1,500 distilleries had
stopped, 4,000 merchants gave up the spirit business, and 4,500 drunk
ards were reformed. To aid these moral efforts, the Adjudant General
issued an order prohibiting the distribution of spirits amongst the
army, and substituting Slbs.of sugar, and 4lbs. of coffee for every 100
rations as an equivalent for the spirits formerly in use. The same
order prohibited the introduction of spirits, into any fort, camp, or
garrison of the Union, and the selling of them to the troops. In 1833,

341

a " Congregational Temperance meeting" was held at Washington, at
which the Secretary at War, Mr. Lewis Cass, presided, when it was
declared that — " The liherty and welfare of the nation are intimately
and indissolubly connected with the morals and virtues of the people ;
and that in the enactment of laws for the common benefit, it is equally
the duty of the legislative body to guard and preserve the public
morals from corruption, as to advance the pecuniary interest, or to
maintain the civil rights and freedom of the community." — In that year,
the American Temperance Society contained 2,000,000 of members
out of a population of 15,000,000, of which 2,000,000 were slaves,
consequently every third man in the country was engaged in the
suppression of intemperance. In 1834, the number of Temperance
Societies had increased to 7, 000, while the same number of merchants
had ceased to sell ardent spirits, and 1,000 vessels belonging to the
States were performing their voyages without them. Even onboard
the steamers, through the influence of these societies, the practice of
giving brandy to the passengers has been discontinued, and a regula
tion, somewhat similar, has been introduced into many of the public-
houses, now almost wholly frequented by travellers, not to sell wine
or liquor of any description except to boarders.

As a further inducement to Temperance, the Boston Insurance
Company agreed to return 5 per cent, on the premium of every
vessel navigated without spirituous liquors, and such general encou
ragement to abstinence continues to be given, that the societies are
progressing with vigour and efficiency.

It must be admitted that few countries required a greater regene
ration in point of sobriety, and it is much to their credit that they
have as yet surpassed all other nations, who have followed their
example in this work of reformation.

The proximity of Canada to the United States, has rendered the
propensities of drinking familiar and habitual to many of the inhabi
tants, among whom the practice of manufacturing liquors is pursued
nearly in the same manner, but the trade is not equally extensive.

Numbers of distilleries are now to be found both in Upper and Lower
Canada. The Canadian distilleries arp mostly made of wood and
worked by steam. On the river Humber, seven miles from the city
of Toronto, a distillery has been erected by Mr. Robson, with a
description and drawing of which I have been favoured by a gentleman
lately resident in that country ; and the annexed engraving has been
expressly executed for this work.

343

343

A is the brick work, in which the iron boiler, with A cylindrical
flue running through the centre, is inserted. B and C are the first
and second wooden stills of the same size, being 4 feet 8 inches at
bottom and 4 feet, 6 inches at top, with an altitude of 6 feet. D is
the doubling or low wines' still, 2 feet 10 inches at bottom, and 2 feet
4 inches at top, the altitude being 3 feet, 9 inches. E is the worm-
tub, 6 feet at bottom, 5 feet at top, and 9 feet in altitude, supplied by
a copious stream of water. F the low wines' and feints' receiver. G
is the recipient for the spirits previous to passing through the recti
fiers or filtering vessels, and is 2 feet at bottom, 2 feet, 4 inches at
top, by 2 feet in height. The top diameter of H and I is 2 and the
bottom 3 feet ; the altitude being 5 feet. The vessels (H and I) are
filled with charcoal and other material tlirough which the liquor gra
dually descends in a limpid, gently-flowing current into J, the final
receiver or store cask. K is a tank or large vessel for holding warm
water for distilling purposes, supplied from the top of the worm-tub,
the heat of which is supported by steam from the tube c connected
with the boiler, and having a stop-cock for regulation at e. The tank
is a reservoir for supplying the mash-tubs with water, of which in the
concern there are 14, each measuring 3 feet 4 by 3 feet 6 inches in
diameter, ranged on a loft above the stills, in such a manner that after
the worts have undergone fermentation in these tubs, they are let
clown by a leader or trough into the second still C at g. When the
first charge is worked off, the remainder is let into the first still and
the second still is charged from the mash-kieve. To facilitate the
operation, there are pipes with proper stop-cocks from still to still,
such as that at/, and it will be perceived that the whole process of
distillation is effected by means of steam admitted through the tube d,
projecting from the main upright pipe of the boiler into the first still,
B, and so proceeding by other pipes through the other stills. The
tubes which convey the steam into the stills, descend to nearly 3 or 4
inches of the bottom.

All the vessels and pipes, as well as the stills, are made of pine ;
the pipes are 9 inches square with a bore of 2^ inches in diameter.
The steam-boiler is 7 feet deep, the height of which, at the fire-place,
is 8 feet, and it is supplied by water from the worm-tub by the
pipe «, regulated by a stop-cock or ball of lead which is worked
by the cord b. It is not necessary to describe the other vessels
of this concern, as they are similar to those employed in the
distilleries of Scotland and Ireland. The greatest disadvantage
attending this apparatus, is the liability of the timber becoming soon
unserviceable when the operations are discontinued far any time; but

344

in a country like Canada, where wood is so plentiful, this inconvenience
is easily remedied.

The wash is usually made from rye, wheat, or Indian corn, with a
mixture of one-twentieth part of barley-malt, or one pound to the
bushel of mixed grain : some use more. This is ground or crushed
in a mill, and then mashed with water at a heat from 158° to 162°,
others go so so high as 180° and 190° Fahrenheit. The mashing
continues till the material is well mixed, and the quicker the mashing,
it is considered the better. When mashed, a cover is immediately
put on the tub or tubs, or kieves ; in order to preserve the heat as
much as possible. The mash is then allowed to remain, with an occa
sional stir of the rakes, for about two hours, until the liquid attains
its proper sweetness ; at this stage, cold water is added to reduce the
heat to 60° or 64°, but mostly to 70° and 74°, when yeast is added.
This yeast is home-made, in country places in particidar, but in the
towns it is usually procured from brewers. The tubs or kieves are
again covered and allowed to stand until completely fermented, when
the operation of distilling commences. The grains and all are put
into the still.

Brewing and distilling are generally carried on in the Canadas from
the beginning of October till May. Every person is at liberty to
distil as much as he pleases on paying 3s. 9d. for the annual registry
or license of Ms still, besides Is. 3d. per gallon on its contents ; yet
it is asserted that excess in the use of spirituous liquors is not common,
particularly in country places. Distillers are not allowed to sell in
quantities less than three gallons without a license, which is obtained
from the clerk of the court of the district, and is termed " a store
license." For an offence against this regulation, a fine of from £5 to
£25, according to the culpability of the offender, is imposed, on the
testimony of a credible witness. The half of this fine was at one time
given to the informer, but latterly he gets nothing. Spirits thus made
are commonly sold at from Is. 8d. to 2s. 6d., Halifax currency, or
about Is. 4djf. to 2s. Id. sterling, per wine gallon. The spirits is
generally of an inferior strength.

No duty is charged on malt in the Canadas ; and the distillers have,
therefore, every encouragement to make use of it in what proportion
they may deem necessary for the production of a good and palatable
spirit : the ale made from it is celebrated in the West Indies.

Hops grow in abundance, but particularly flourish in the London
and Western districts of Upper Canada. Besides this native supply,
quantities are brought from the States and sold generally in bales at
from lie?, to I5d. (Halifax currency) per Ib.

345

The Dutch settlers cultivate apples to great extent, and make
a corresponding1 quantity of excellent cider, the climate being1
extremely favourable to the growth of this fruit and that of melons.
Culinary vegetables arrive to great perfection, as well as most of the
European fruits. Currants, gooseberries, and raspberries are very
fine ; the latter are indigenous and found every where. A sort of
native vine is also very common, bearing poor sour grapes not much
larger than currants. In almost every part of the country, are to be
found two species of the sugar-maple, one is called the swamp-maple,
from its being found in the savannahs or plains, the other is called
the mountain, or curled-maple, from its growing on hills or high dry
grounds and also from the grain of its wood being beautifully varie
gated with stripes and curls. The swamp-maple yields more sap
than the mountain-maple, but affords less sugar ; two or three gallons
of the one producing as much as six or seven gallons of the other.
The maple juice is collected in the early part of the spring, which is
a laborious business, as it is obtained from a vast number of trees
widely dispersed over a great space of ground, and the approach to
which is difficult in consequence of the snows. The process of making
the sugar is nearly the same as in the States. The juice when boiled
is thrown into vessels where it cools in the form and consistence of
cakes, and is sometimes mixed with flour, which renders it thick and
heavy ; but this is to augment the weight and is considered necessary.
It is seldom clarified, though in Upper Canada, it is often made very
white and nearly equal to loaf sugar. These cakes of maple-sugar
are so hard that they must be scraped down with a knife the better to
enable them to dissolve in fluids, and the flavour strongly resembles
Canadian horehound, besides which they are said to possess strongly
medicinal qualities.* A sampleof the common maple-sugar given to me
by a settler, manufactured by himself, resembles the brown sugar of
Jamaica ; but is more strongly granulated, and without any other
peculiar characteristic. A large quantity of this sugar is annually
manufactured, but not to that extent which the country could afford,
owing to the cheapness of the article imported from the East and
West Indies.

In the making of maple-sugar, in order to render it as white as
possible, it is customary, after the molasses has been partially drained
off from the tubs, to lay a piece of cotton cloth over the sugar and
apply a cake of rye dough, about one inch thick, which causes the

* Lambert's Travels through Canada and the United States, vol. i. p. 83.

346

dregs of the sugar to rise and adhere to the cloth, which must be
occasionally removed and cleansed, until the sugar has been fully
purified.

Rum might he manufactured from the maple sugar, but that liquor
is principally brought from the West Indies. The great consumption
of foreign spirits lessens the demand for those distilled in the
province, the French settlers preferring the imported article.

The following are the imports (in gallons) of the different kinds
of liquors at Quebec, Montreal, Gaspe, and New Carlisle, for seven
years : —

1829

1830

1831

1832

1833

1834

1835

Madeira wine

15,353

16,16X>

32,669

22,327

35,200

23777

17217

Port . .

39>394

44,809

56,619

79,592

78,800

62157

93257

Teneri|fe

24,590

66,781

29,049

94,227

40,750

46175

23872

Faval . . .

1,971

2,090

532

100

4,252

83

Sicilian and )
Spanish >

17,991

152,049

165,172

131,721

430,000

218731

81242

Other kinds .

65,122

58,368

66,011

62,376

91,000

50177

51771

Brandy . .

86,607

81,629

64,215

183,613

296,000

140300

273350

Gin . . .

13,873

67,124

73,414

60,520

160,000

71530

92406

Rum,Whis-7
key, &c. 5

1,133,150

1,449,758

1,428,283

1,099,578

1,082,000

915988

994191

In 1836, the following were the prices of the several beverages
in consumption in the principal towns of Lower Canada : —

Wine — Champagne per doz., from ..

Claret, do.

Madeira, per 110 gallons,

Port, per 130 do.

Figuiera, per do.

Sicilian red, per 120 gallons, .,

Sherry, first quality, 130 gal..,

Common, per gallon,
Spanish red, first quality, 120 gals. .

Do. common, do.

Teneriffe, L. P. do.

Cargo, do.

Canadian strong beer per gallon,

Table do.
Brandy — Cogniac per gallon,

Bourdeaux, do..

Spanish, do.

Canadian, do.
Hollands — Pale in casks, do.
Montreal gin, do.

Do. Whiskey, do.

£

s.

d.

£

s.

d.

0

65

0 to

0

72

0

0

50

0 ...

0

60

0

50

0

0 ...

80

0

0

40

0

0 ...

70

0

0

25

0

0 ...

0

0

0

8

0

0 ...

10

0

0

25

0

0 ...

60

0

0

0

3

6 ...

0

3

6

8

0

0 ...

9

0

0

6

0

0 ...

7

10

0

35

0

0 ...

36

0

0

12

10

0 ...

15

0

0

0

1

0 ...

0

1

3

0

9

6 ...

0

0

0

0

5

3 ...

0

6

6

0

4

6 ...

0

4

9

0

3

9 ...

0

4

3

0

3

6 ...

0

3

9

0

4

6 ...

0

0

0

0

3

6 ...

0

0

0

0

2

6 ...

0

2

9

347

£ s. d. £ 5. ct.

Montreal, made in imitation of Scotch, 0 5 0 .. 0 6 3

Rum — Leeward Islands, (1 a 5) do. ... 0 3 3 ... 034

Demerara, (1 a 4) do. ... 0 3 4 ... 0 3 6

Jamaica, (1 a 2-J) do. ... 0 4 0 ... 0 4 1

The number of inn-keepers in Lower Canada, in 1836, was 1180,
and of spirit stores 966 ; while the distilleries amounted to 85. The
import duty on wine, rum, brandy, and gin, is 6d. and on whiskey,
3d. per gallon, as an encouragement to British manufacture.

The number of inn-keepers in Upper Canada, in 1836, exceeded
(according to Evans,) 1007, whose licenses varied from £3 to £10 ;
and there were 1063 merchants' shops, besides 138 storehouses, in
most of which spirits were sold. The license for selling spirits and
wines in quantities not less than one quart, was £5. 3s. The penalty
for selling without a license, or less than tine regulated quantity,
was £20.

The stills as measured by gallons in the several districts of Upper
Canada, in 1836, were as follow : —

Eastern,

unknown

Prince Edward,

... 150

Ottawa,

120

Newcastle,

... 1463

Bathurst,

352

Toronto city,

uncertain

Johnstown ...

228

Home,

... 967

Midland,

848

Gore,

... 824

Niagara,

425

Western,

uncertain

London.

1 089

Total, 6,466

From the increase of emigrants, Canada is fast advancing in agri
culture and commerce ; the exports of grain to England alone, are
said to have been, in one year, nearly three millions of bushels.
Besides wheat, barley, rye, oats, &c., buck-wheat is reared to consi
derable extent in Lower Canada. At present there are upwards of
107,000, acres under cultivation of this grain, and large quantities are
consumed in the distilleries. In the States, buck-wheat is much
grown, and cakes made of its flour are the bread most in consumption
at breakfast : in this custom they resemble the Japanese. This grain
is also in use among the distillers of the Union. In Canada, Indian-
corn has been found an uncertain crop, owing to the coldness of the
climate, and the hardier grains are those most in requisition.

The beet-root, or mangel-wurzel, is cultivated, but not to any
extent ; although it is reared in the United States to such advantage,
that they, in the present year (1837), have sent a deputation to France
in order to ascertain the best mode of extracting sugar from it.

348

Wines are manufactured from the different fruits which are common
in the country. From frosted potatoes, the Canadians manufacture
a good wine, especially if the potatoes are not so much frosted as to
become soft and watery. They crush them to a pulpy consistence,
and to each bushel add ten gallons of water, which is first prepared by
boiling for one half-hour with -^Ib. of hops and ^lb. of common ginger.
This mixture is thrown upon the potatoes in a suitable vessel, and
allowed to stand for three days, after which a little yeast is added.
When the fermentation has ceased, the liquor is drawn off into a cask
clear of the dregs, when -Jib. of raw sugar is added to every gallon
which the cask contains. Here a partial fermentation takes place, and
after three months it is deemed fit for use. Some add the sugar in
the first instance.

The distillers make whiskey from potatoes when injured by frost,
and allege that they produce a greater quantity and a finer quality of
spirit than if they were used fresh ; the frost having more strongly
developed the saccharine principle. To promote the fermentation,
about one-fourth of malt-wash is added ; care, however, should be
taken to allow the malt-worts to ferment at least six hours before the
potato-wash is added ; otherwise the potato-wash, which runs quickly
into fermentation, will be sooner ready for the still than the malt-
wash. Hence the effect would be to generate an acid which would
render the spirit coarse, and, when diluted with water, produce a
milky or bluish colour, offensive both to the taste and to the eye.

The Canadas afford a sufficient supply of honey for the manufac
ture of mead, though wild and not of first rate quality. In the hollows
of the trees in the woods, bees' nests are abundant, but these sweet
treasures are unsought for by any but the bears. Chateaubriand asserts,
that bees are imports, not indigenous, in the New World, and that
they were emigrants with Columbus. " These pacific conquerors," he
says, " have robbed the flowers of the New World of such treasures
only as the natives knew not the use of, and these treasures they have
employed solely to enrich the soil from whence they derived them.
What a happy world if all invasions or conquests resembled that of
those children of the sky I" On the contrary, Dr. Dwight affirms that
the honey-bee is a native of America, since it was found in the forests
too early, and at too great a distance from European settlements, to
have been derived from importation.

Among the drinks of the Canadians, spruce beer is in considerable
repute. The mode of making it is, by first boiling the shoots, leaves,
chips, and cones, of the black pine tree in water, to which highly-
dried rye, barley, or maize-meal is added. The mixture is then

319

fermented by means of barm, but in order to overcome the resinous
flavour of the fir, sugar, or molasses, is superadded. This liquor, which
is fit for drinking on the second day, is of a fine amber colour ; it is
diuretic, wholesome, agreeable, and will keep for a length of time
without becoming acid, owing to the influence of the resinous principle
of the fir. A more simple mode is practised in Lower Canada,
namely, — The top branches of the spruce tree are boiled, and molasses
added to the liquid, and then fermented, after which it is commonly
bottled and fit for use.

As country taverns are numerous, they are generally established
on the public roads during the summer ; but in the winter, temporary
wooden establishments are erected on the rivers which are then frozen,
and are the public thoroughfare of travellers. Sometimes fatal acci
dents occur by sudden thaws and floods, by which these floating
taverns are swept away with their inmates. The trunks of trees are
sometimes scooped out and made convenient resting places, having
accommodations for travellers ; they are so large as to admit of being
moulded into temporary dwellings. An inn of this kind was made in
a sycamore growing on the banks of the Mohawk river, in Oneida
County. When cut down, it took 31 yoke of oxen to remove it,
though denuded of its branches. It formed a saloon, was handsomely
furnished, and sufficiently capacious to contain upwards of forty
persons.

The numerous hordes of savages who wander through the vast
woods and deserts of this great continent, use, for the most part,
beverages either made by themselves or furnished by their civilized
neighbours. Their propensity to intoxication is in general very
strong, but their poverty prevents them from indulging in it. Brandy,
says Kalm, has killed more of them than any of the diseases with
which they have been infected. That liquor was unknown to them
before Europeans visited the country. To die by drinking brandy
was considered a desirable and honourable death. A savage being
asked by a French officer what he thought this drink was made of,
gave for answer — " It is made of tongues and hearts ; for when I
have drunk of it, I fear nothing, and I talk like an angel." These
kind-hearted creatures, when a stranger appears among them, conduct
him to a hut where he is presented with the calamut of peace, and a
bowl, sacred to friendship, filled with maple juice, when after having
taken his pleasure of the liquor, the host quaffs the residue as a pledge
of future confidence and alliance. When they assemble together for
any purpose, they never separate without a drunken revel, which

350

often continues for several days. Regardless of what may be the
fatal effects, they continue till the last drop is exhausted.

One very extraordinary meeting, at which a great deal of the
native and foreign beverages is consumed, is termed the feast of the
dead. It is peculiar to all the American savages residing in the Gulf
of Mexico, the Mississippi, and the Ohio, and is strikingly worthy of
attention. During the feast, which is probably a remnant of Mexican
superstition, the bodies of all who have died since the last solemn
festival of the kind are taken out of their graves, though they may-
have been interred at the greatest distance, and brought to the carnival
or rendezvous of carcasses. It is not difficult to conceive the horror
that must be excited by this general disinterment, but the enthusiasm
of the [ndian mind renders it insensible to that feeling. When the
feast is over, the dead bodies are again interred ; and some indivi
duals perform incredible journeys with their deceased friends on their
backs to deposit them in the grave from which they had been raised.*
This ceremony of respect, though so rudely performed to the memory
of departed friends, is in coincidence with the annual festival kept in
Bengal, Thibet, and other Eastern nations, in honour of the dead ;
and it corroborates the opinion that the Americans are descendants
of the great Asiatic family.

The practice observed by many members of the Greek Church in
Albania, in Europe, is a further illustration of this fact. They hold
feasts at their interments, and have commemorations on the 15th, 21st,
and 40th days after, with repetitions at the end of the third, sixth,
ninth, and twelfth months ; and at the expiration of three years, when
the bones are disinterred, washed with wine, tied in a bag, and depo
sited in a church for three days before they are placed in the ceme
tery. Even the relatives give entertainments on those occasions in
in proportion to their circumstances.f

The Brazilian savages usually meet, on the day appointed for
a feast, early in the morning at the first house of the village, where
they consume most of the liquor, and make themselves merry with
dancing; They afterwards remove to the next house, and then pro
ceed until nothing is left, or until they can drink no longer ; the
scene that follows this general intoxication is disgusting in the
extreme.

Some of the tribes, bordering on the United States sensible of .the
dangers attendant on such excesses, have wisely decreed a prohibition
of spirituous liquors^ and one infringing this law is deprived of the

* Bolingbroke, &c. 4td; f Hughcs's Travels, vol. ii. p. 85

351

right of citizenship. The Ricaras evinced great resolution in this
respect, refusing, with a degree of indignation, an offer of whiskey
from an American party, and testifying surprise that their great
father, the President, should send them a liquor which possessed the
quality of making them fools. The Muscogulges, in a treaty with
the whites, stipulated that the latter should not sell spirituous liquors
to the allied nations ; these they called " French poison or liquid fire."
A warrior of the Kansas tribe exhorted his countrymen " not to
drink the poisonous strong water of the white people. It was sent
by the bad spirit to destroy the Indians. I have seen its evil effects,
but its victims are all gone ; like a decayed prairie tree, I stand alone,
the companions of my youth, the partakers of my sports, my toils,
and my dangers, recline their heads on the bosom of our mother :
my sun is fast descending behind the western hills, and I feel that it
will soon be night with me. Beware of the destroyer arid the magic
charms of its influence."

It is remarkable, says Dr. Robertson, that the women are not per
mitted to participate in the debauches of the Indians. Their pro
vince is to prepare the liquor, to serve it about to the guests, and to
take care of their husbands and friends, when their reason is over
powered. Although this observation is applicable to some tribes, it
is not universally so. A recent traveller assures us, that a drunken
Indian and his squaw act more like demons than rational beings when
under the paroxysm of inebriation ; and that sometimes a whole
village, both men and women, is so debased by it, as to bear no inapt
resemblance to the infernal regions. The white traders often unge
nerously take advantage of such occasions to defraud the Indians, who,
when they become sober, seek a desperate revenge either in the
destruction of life or property. A gentleman, who was an eye-witness,
gives the following description of a scene, that took place after the
interment of an Indian of the Occoquan tribe : — -

The dance, says he, took place by moonlight, and it was scarcely
finished when the chief or principal warrior produced a keg of whiskey,
and having taken a draught, passed it round among his brethren.
The squaws now moved the tomahawks into the wood, and a scene of
riot ensued. The keg was soon emptied. The effects of the liquor
became apparent in the looks and motions of the Indians. Some
rolled their eyes with distraction, others could not keep on their legs;
At length succeeded the most dismal noises. Such whoops, such
shouts, such roaring, such yells, all the devils of hell seemed collected
together. Each strove to do an outrage on the other* This seized
the other by the throat, that kicked with raging fury. And to com-

352

plete the scene, the whole warrior was uttering the most mournful
lamentations over the keg1 he had emptied ; inhaling its flavour with
his lips, holding it out with his hands in a supplicating attitude, and
vociferating to the byestanders, Scuttawawah ! Scuttawawah !
More strong drink ! More strong drink !

Amidst the weakness and depravity into which intoxication betrays
those uneducated beings, some admirable specimens of presence of
mind and firmness of disposition are related, that would do honour to
any country. An old warrior is said on one occasion to have been
placed in a very embarrassing situation, through the insulting conduct
of a set of drunken fellows that he met accidentally in a dram-shop, on
the borders of one of the States. This chief, after taking some drink
by way of refreshment, was so affected by it, that he seemed to forget
his native dignity, and entered into very familiar conversation with
the whites. Advantage was taken of this weakness, and the party
insisted on his drinking more, threatening, in case he did not, to drench
him writh whiskey. The man, with a noble and fearless countenance,
turned upon the company, and addressing himself, with a contemptuous
and scowling aspect, to the landlord, who was a highly respectable
person, said — " No blood when much talk — chattering belongs to
women and wild geese." — Then snatching a board on which was
pinned a piece of wrhite paper, he placed it at the distance of a hundred
yards ; and, taking aim with his musket, shot a ball through the centre ;
reloaded, and repeated the act with the same success. Immediately
after he grasped his tomahawk and threw it against a tree, with such
force and precision as to cleave the part intended. " Thus," said he,
addressing the astonished beholders, " Indian man provide for his wife
and little ones in peace — thus defend them in war." The effect was
such as anticipated, and his rude opponents retired without oifering
him further molestation. Another anecdote favourable to the char
acter of the American savages is related by Dr. Dwight. An Ame
rican called one evening at an inn in the town of Lichfield, and
requested of the landlady to furnish him with some drink and a supper,
observing at the same time, with great candour, that he could not then
pay for either, as he had no success that day in hunting. Both drink
and supper were refused, and he was ordered to go about his business
for a lazy, drunken, good-for-nothing fellow. The Indian was about
to retire, when a man that was present, observed that he appeared
much distressed, and showed by his countenance that he was suffering
very much from want and weariness. He directed the hostess to
supply him with what he desired and that he would pay the expense.
Accordingly, drink and supper were served up, which, Avhen the

353

Indian had finished, ho turned with a grateful heart to his benefactor,
and assured him that he should remember his kindness, and whenever
he was able he would recompense it. For the present, he observed,
lie could only reward him with a story, which he would relate if the
landlady would permit him. She having consented, and addressing
himself to his benefactor, he said, " I suppose you read the Bible."
The man assented. " Well," said the Indian, " the Bible says, God
made the world, and then he took him and looked on him, and says its
all very good. Then he made light, and took him, and says its all very
good. Then he made dry land and water, and sun and moon, and
grass and trees, and took him and looked on him, and say its all very
good. Then he made man and took him, and looked on him, and
say its all very good. Then he made woman, and took him and looked
on him, and he no dare say one such word ;" after saying which, the
Indian withdrew. Some years after, the man who had thus treated
the Indian was captured by a native tribe and carried into Canada,
where he would have suffered death but for the interference of an old
Indian woman, who adopted him in the room of a son that she had
lost in the wars. There he lived for an entire winter,, and, in the
course of the following summer, when one day working alone in the
forest, he was accosted by an unknown Indian, who desired him to
meet him on a given day, at a place which he pointed out. The fear
of fatal consequences deterred him from fulfilling his engagement ;
but, soon after, he was again accosted by the same Indian, who eluded
him for not performing his promise. The man apologized, when the
Indian told him he would be satisfied if lie would meet him at the
same place on a future day, which he named. He complied, and found
the Indian punctual to his appointment, and provided with two mus
kets, ammunition, and two knapsacks, which he divided between them.
Bending their course towards the south, they travelled for several
days, shooting such game as came in their way, and sleeping by night
in the forest, at a fire kindled for their preservation, till at length they
reached an eminence which presented a cultivated country interspersed
with houses, and bearing all the appearance of civilisation. The
Indian stopping short, turned to his companion, and asked* him if he
knew the ground. " Yes !" replied the man eagerly, " there is Lich-
field !" His guide, who had been mysteriously silent during the
course of the journey, then reminded him that many years 'before he
had relieved the wants of a famishing Indian in that town, and exclaimed,
" I that Indian, now I pay you ! Go home !" Having said this, he

2 A

354

bade him adieu, and the man joyfully returned to his own home."*
D wight, in describing the savages of New England, says, their
devotion to strong drink is excessive, and that they will part with
every thing they possess for ardent spirits or cider. The pleasures
which intoxication excites, vary the dull course of feeling, and impart
visions of transport which nothing else seems so well calculated to
elicit. To this passion for drink, the poor Indian is chiefly directed
by the allurements of the white traders, a great portion of whose
profits is derived not only from the sale of the spirits, but from the
advantage obtained by them over the natives in the moments of intoxi
cation. To encourage this "Vice among them seemed a part of their
trade, and the Indians, becoming familiar with the licentiousness of
these traders, imbibed a dislike and a distrust for all Christians ; and
hence the difficulties which missionaries have had to encounter
amongst them. The extravagance and folly which too often occur
among the white?, in their intercourse with the natives, have been
productive of great mischief to their moral habits : — ever ready
to grasp at whatever would afford immediate enjoyment, they held
strong drink to be foremost in the comforts of life, exiling it, in
the language of the Shakers, " one of God's good creatures." It was
a maxim among the Iroquois,that a drunken man ought not to be held
responsible for his actions, nor be accounted as a moral agent ; hence
at times they became intoxicated, that they might quarrel without
disgrace, as they never disputed unless when under the influence of
liquor ; it being considered scandalous for a man to fight when he
was sober. An old chief of this nation, being in Albany upon one
occasion, got intoxicated to such excess, that in the morning he found
himself lying in the streets naked, and, revolting at his self-degra
dation, he resolved never again to deliver himself over to the power
of strong water — a resolution he was never known to violate. The
fatal effects of ardent spirits among the native Americans, are too well
known to require further illustration, indeed these liquors have done
more mischief than their diseases and wars combined. Humboldt,
however, states, that in the forests of Guiana, on the banks of the
Orinoco, the Indians shewed an aversion to brandy; and he met with
several tribes who were very sober, and whose fermented drinks were
too weak to intoxicate. The missionaries have done a great deal
towards the reformation of the natives of North America. Some of
them are now preachers, and in many parts of Upper Canada,

* Dwight's Travels in New England and New York, vol. i. pp. 87, 88.

355

in particular, they will not allow spirits to be vended amongst
them.

Kotzebue, in his account of New California, describes the town of
Pueblo (a new Russian settlement), as seated in the midst of orchards
and hedges of vines bearing luxuriant clusters of the richest grapes ;
and good wine is consequently obtained. About Ross, another
Russian settlement in New California, (lat. 38J°) he thinks that the
vine might be cultivated to great advantage, as wild grapes were
found in abundance on the banks of the rivers, the clusters large, the
fruit sweet and well-flavoured, and eaten without any inconvenience
both by settlers and Indians. The vitis vinifera of the Greeks and
Romans was first planted in California by missionaries in 1769, though
they found a species of wild vine bearing large grapes of a sour
quality. Since that period, good wine is produced in various districts
of the country to a considerable extent. The natives manufacture
vases from the stalks of rushes, which they render impenetrable to
water by a lair or varnish of asphaltes, and in these they carry wine
and other liquors to suit their convenience. When the Californians
were solicited to carry on a trade with the Mexicans, they resisted
the measure nearly in the following words : — " There is amongst us
no quarrelling, nor fighting for another man's property ; we live happy
and contented ; we are trained to valour, not to revenge. How diffe
rent is the conduct of Christians ! They drink fire (spirits) ; they
beat their families, assassinate their friends, rob each other, and, under
the mask of religion, persecute the helpless, and betray the strong.
How then can we suffer Christians to come among us ?"

The Californians intoxicate themselves by a species of beverage made
from an herb, which they chew in the same way as some of the South
Sea Islanders inebriate themselves withava. They also make use of
drink from the infusion of the pod of the mosquite tree steeped in
water. It is naturally of a saccharine nature, and, when fermented,
readily intoxicates. Wine is made in some parts of California from
the grape, and a spirit from the Mezcal, a species of socotrine aloe.
In making this spirit, the green leaves of the mezcal are cut off to
prevent them from giving a bad taste to the spirits. The heart of
the plant is roasted in an oven, which is merely a hole three or four
feet deep, and twelve feet in diameter. This hole is heated by wood
until reduced to charcoal, when stones are spread over it, and when
they become hot the prepared hearts of the mezcal plant are piled on
them, and then covered with grass to keep in the heat. When suffi
ciently roasted, they are taken out and thrown into leathern sacks,

356

into which is poured a proportionable quantity of water which pro
duces fermentation. In the course of six or eight days, the liquor, is fit
for the still, and, after double distillation, acquires great strength and is
then marketable. The wild bears are so fond of the fermented mezcal,
that they often visit a distillery to obtain a draught of it, on which a
watchman is ever on the look out to prevent their dcpradations. The
vine yields excellent fruit, producing wine resembling Canary. Here
also maize and the jatropha manihot flourish luxuriantly. Roque-
feuil, in his Voyage round the World, describes that portion of Cali
fornia along the San Sacramento river as very fertile, vines growing
spontaneously, and maize so productive, as hardly to require any
attention. Jewett, in his account of the inhabitants of Nootka Sound,
says, that they were unacquainted with ardent spirits before their
intercourse with the whites ; but they soon became fond of rum, and
preferred it to any other liqtior. From a people so extremely rude,
that their choicest viands are eaten with a profusion of train-oil for
sauce, not excepting even the most delicate fruit, strawberries and
raspberries, little can be expected, particularly as they knew no other
mode of boiling them than that of throwing burning stones into the
water. The yama, a species of berry that grows on bushes, like
currants, of about two or three feet high, is black and about the size
of a pistol-bullet, of an oblong shape, and open at top like the blue
whortle-berry. The taste is sweet, mixed with a little acidity. The
women gather them chiefly on the mountains : great quantities are
collected, and, to preserve them, they are pressed, dried, and laid up
in baskets for use. Strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries
abound ; from all of which it is singular that the natives have never
discovered the art of extracting any inebriating liquor.*

Leaving the Western World, the first islands of any consideration
in the wine and brandy trade in the Atlantic Ocean, are the Azores
nnd the Canary Islands. The Azores are fruitful in grain, and the
vine is cultivated so extensively, that the island of Pico alone, accord
ing to Captain Mundy, produces 20,000 pipes of wine annually.|
The chief vineyards in this island are planted on the sides and base
of the peak, which is a conical mountain, giving name to the island,
iind rising to the height of 7,000 feet above the level of the sea. As
the peak was generated by the eruption of fire from the bottom of
the ocean, its soil is decomposed lava lying on a stratum of lavatic

_ * Jewell's Advenlures and Sufferings among the Savages of Nootka Sound,
8vo. 1824.

f Pen and Pencil Sketches of a Tour in India, vol. ii. p. 371.

357

stone. Hero the vines grow luxuriantly, and nothing can exceed the
grandeur of the decorations on the sides and base of this majestic cone,
consisting of gardens, vineyards, and corn-grounds, with groups of
people perpetually occupied, exhibiting a wonderful contrast to the
rude uncultivated summit of its snow-topt apex. This extraordinary
volcanic production has the singular property, that when the peak
is struck accidentally, or intentionally, it reverberates sounds causing
sensations as if the vibrations were issuing from unfathomable caverns
equally unknown as the depths of the ocean that surrounds it.

The wine is of the colour and flavour of Madeira, is cheaper by 50
per cent., and held in great estimation in the West Indies, from its
superiority over the wines in a hot climate. On this acccount the
colonial merchants keep an agent at Fayal, who contracts for the
principal portion of each vintage of the island ; same of thgse are so
fertile as to afford two crops in the year, and the export of grain and
pro visions is so considerable, as, in good seasons, to freight 70 vessels,
each from 80 to 100 tons burden. For the preservation of corn, pits
are dug with an entrance large enough to admit a man, and to receive
about three lasts of corn, each containing' 108 bushels of 401bs. a
bushel. Here the grain is stored in July, and secured by a stone-lid
with a lock, which is then carefully covered with earth to keep it air
tight. In this manner it is preserved to suit the convenience and meet
the wants of the inhabitants. A spurious spirit is frequently imported
into these islands from the Brazils, which the common people use in
preference to their own wine ; but the consumption has been nearly
counteracted by the pure West India rum and the liquors of their
own distillation.*

The Canaries, which at one time had large sugar plantations, and
were the only settlements likely to cope with our colonies in the West
Indies, have been long devoted to the cultivation of the vine. The
brandies distilled in those islands, particularly in that of Grand Canary,
are in great demand in the foreign settlements of the Spaniards and
in North America. The island of Teneriffe alone, produces about
25,000 pipes of white wine annually, of which the greater portion is
exported, and the remainder is kept either for home consumption, or
to be manufactured into brandy.f M. Bory estimates the average pro
duce of wine in this island to be but 22,000 pipes, while the whole of
the Canaries are said to yield 40,000 pipes. Among the Teneriffe
wines is to be included the vin de malvasia, or malmsey, a very rich
and luscious sack, which was, in the seventeenth century, a great

* History of the Azores, 4lo. p. 294.
f Staunton'* Embassy, vol. i. p. 88.

358

favourite in England. Sac was the beverage so highly prized by
Falstaff, and administered to the dying Lefevre, by the philanthropic
and warm-hearted hero of Sterne in his Tristram Shandy. This wine
was denominated Malvasia, or Malmsey, from the name of a town in
the Morea, and supposed to be a corruption from Malea, the ancient
name of a portion of Laconia, in the Grecian Peleponnessus. Various
reasons have been assigned for the application of the term sac, some
referring it to one origin, and some to another. Whether sac be a
corruption of the word sec(dry), or is derived from Xeque, a town of
Morocco, where this wine was produced in abundance, or else from
being made from half-dried grapes, as was frequently the practice, or
from the skins, sacks, or bags, in which the Spaniards preserved their
wine ; or from sacco, (saccus in Latin) the Spanish for a linen bag, or
that sac signified a white wine as being clarified by filtration through
a linen bag, as was the case with some of the wines of the ancients,
must ever remain a matter of mere conjecture, or of hypothetic assump
tion. For the probable derivation of the term (sack), which has
caused, perhaps, more research than the matter deserves, the reader
is referred to page 239. Sweet woods are so plentiful, that the
common utensils of the vineyards, as well as the wine-casks, are made
of them, which are said to impart to the liquor an odoriferous flavour.
A view of the quantity of wine shipped from the Canaries to Great
Britain, for a series of years, will be found in a Table of the Addenda.
The island of Madeira is remarkable for being the first place in the
western hemisphere, in which the Arundo saccharifera, or sugar
cane, was cultivated. Little sugar, however, is now raised in this
island, the grapes engrossing the whole attention of the inhabitants.
The little sugar that is made is uncommonly fine, and said to emit an
odour similar to that of the violet. It is a boast of the inhabitants
that they have the best wheat, the finest sugar, and the finest wines
in the world, besides the clearest water, the most salubrious air, and
a freedom from all noxious animals. The vine was introduced into
Madeira from Cyprus, by Prince Henry of Portugal, some time pre
vious to the year 1445, or, as Chaptal has it, to 1420. The cultiva
tors say, that the varieties of this plant in the island are unlimited.
The best wine is that made in the south ; the wines of the north
are very inferior, and remarkable for their acidulous qualities.
What is called Tinta, or tent, resembles Burgundy, when new, both
in colour and flavour. Age gives it the appearance of port : it is the
only red wine made on the island, and, to fix its colour, it is allowed
to ferment with the husks of the fruit ; but a great portion of it is
mixed with other wines. Here it may be remarked, that in making

359

Madeira wine, grapes of every description are mixed together,
except the Malmsey and Sercial grapes. The former affords a wine
superior to any sweet wine, and the latter, another preferable to any
dry wine, combining, as a late writer expresses it, with the ordinary
richness and flavour of the Madeira, an serative property and stimu-
lancy, as it were of spirit, that leaves nothing to be desired : the
grape from which the sercial is made, is said to have come from
Hockheim. The Bual, another wine of a rare grape, is excellent,
and said to be of Burgundy descent.* Of Malmsey there are three
kinds, the fermentation of which is checked at an earlier stage than
that of any other description made in Madeira, in order to increase
its richness and sweetness : about 500 pipes of Malmsey are the
annual productions of this article alone. It is calculated that one
pipe of wine to an acre is the average produce of the vineyards of the
island, making in all, according to Staunton, about 25,000 pipes, of
120 gallons each.f This produce, however, must vary in proportion
to the favourable or unfavourable nature of the seasons. In 1813,
the produce of the whole island was 22,314 pipes, of which 101 went
to the Bishop ; that of Porto Santo, was 695 pipes ; — according to
Walsh, who visited this island in 1828, the produce was about 30,000
pipes. In the management of the vineyards, the practice is much
the same in Madeira as in France, and the other wine countries of
Europe. The propagation is by cuttings, and it is only about the
fourth year after planting, that the fruit produces wine. It was not
until after disappointments in the produce of the grapes, that the
inhabitants were persuaded to engraft their vines, a practice which
has since proved to be of great advantage. The vines are supported
on trellis work of cane about three feet from the ground. Grapes
grow in Madeira, at an elevation of 2,700 feet above the level of the
sea, but no wine can be made from any reared at a greater elevation
than 2080 feet. The stony and poorest soils produce the best wines,
resembling in those respects, the vineyards of the Rhine, where
the vine grows among the dry shingles with scarcely a particle of
mould. The mode of obtaining the juice from the grape is pressure
with the feet and arms on the fruit, when collected and placed in a
trough, or reservoir, constructed for the purpose. The stalks are
afterwards subjected to the force of a lever, which, acting on a board,
causes the remaining fluid to exude, and thereby increase the
quantity of the must. Sufficient care was not taken for a long time,

* Rambles in Madeira and Portugal, 8vo. pp. 155, 156.
•f Staunton's Embassy, vol. i. p. 52.

360

in Madeira, to separate good grapes from those of an inferior quality ;
and hence the produce was often of an indifferent description. Of
late years, however, the greatest possible care has been taken to
select the best fruit for the wine- press ; and to that is owing the
character of the wines of this island. The general average growth
is from 25,000 to 30,000 pipes, the annual exports of which are said
to be from 15,000 to 16,000 pipes ; 7,000 of these are sent annually
to England, 3,000 to America, and 5,500 to India.

Madeira wine will not bear the sea without a powerful admixture
of brandy ; and this is generally added, immediately after the fer
mentation, and before it is refined with isinglass. But this opera
tion is often performed in England, after which it is termed London
particular, and the brandy is added more or less, according to the
climate for which it is designed.

In the making of the wines, gypsum is used to clarify and mellow
them, but how far this practice is valuable, must be for the considera
tion of those conversant with the manufacture. When one or two of
the planters have taken in their vintage, which happens in Septem
ber, all must immediately follow,* the example ; otherwise the rats,
the lizards, and the wasps, would commit great ravages, being the
principal enemies to be encountered. Besides those, the dogs have
to be chained, or muzzled, to prevent them from devouring the grapes,
of which they are so excessively fond. The brandy used in the
vineyards is made chiefly from the wines manufactured in the north
of the island, and from the lees of the several vintages. The streets of
the towns in Madeira, particularly those of Funchal, the capital, are
exceedingly steep and paved with small stones, set edgewise, which
render the way sharp and slippery. To carry burdens up those
ascents, a small breed of bullocks are trained for the purpose, and
yoked two a-breast. In the removal of wine, as well as of other
articles, a slide capable of holding two casks, is attached by ropes to
the bullocks, which are guided by a peasant with a prong, and having
a cord running through the tips of their horns, by which they are
managed. Another person keeps the slide constantly moistened with
a wet cloth, by which it glides along freely. The skins of goats and
calves are dressed whole and inflated, preserving the shape and size
of the animal, and employed for carrying water and wine occasionally.

Flowers and slirubs being abundant, bees are numerous, and honey
is to be had of the finest description. The people are so particularly
careful in their treatment of those insects, that they extract the
honey from the hive without killing any of them. This is effected by
means of a tube filled with dry cow-clung, which being ignited, the

SGI

smoke is driven into the hive, foul the bees forced from their cells,
to which they return their labours, after being deprived of their
former treasure. Mead, however, forms no part of the native
beverages, though it might be manufactured to an extent capable of
supplying a larger population.

For an account of the extent of the wine trade of Madeira for
several years, see the table in the Addenda.

As there are not any other islands in the Atlantic, -which afford
materials connected with this subject, and a survey having been
taken of the various beverages, wliich foreign nations have at dif
ferent times invented, Europe is next to be considered, as being the
most important portion of the civilized world, where the arts and
sciences have made the greatest advances, and where luxury is car
ried to a pitch of refinement hitherto unknown. To the efforts of
the Greeks much is to be attributed, and from them the Romans bor
rowed most of those inventions, the knowledge of which they dissemi
nated wherever their conquests extended. The crusades also laid
open to the observations of Europeans, a state of existence superior
to their own, that seemed to elevate the human character beyond
that of which they had any previous conception. To acquire the
luxuries of the East, a spirit of enterprise was excited, and an
impulse given to commerce that led men to the exercise of every
faculty, which could tend to surpass, enable them to imitate, or serve
to procure, whatever was considered in other countries as valuable,
rare, or magnificent. To these purposes, the discovery of the art of
printing and the application of the mariner's compass contributed
not a little.

Of the chemical attainments of the Saracens, a brief history has
already been given ; but whether to them is to be attributed the
introduction of the still into Spain, or to other factitious circum
stances, cannot be accurately determined. Anderson, in his History
of Commerce, has placed the date of the introduction in the year
1150, but on what authority he has not related. That this art was
known at an early period, there can be no question, even sup
posing that the Saracens were the first who introduced it into
Europe. From the writings of Rhazes and Geber, the former of
whom resided in Seville, at the court of Almanzor, in the ninth cen
tury, it appears that distillation was practised with success in their
time, proving that Anderson had not made himself sufficiently
acquainted with its origin and progress. When, therefore, this art
was so familiar in the ninth, why fix its introduction in the twelfth
century, as has been done by the various compilers of almost all our

362

Encyclopaedias ; thus resting on the solitary assertion of a writer,
who seems to have been little conversant with the subject, and who
displays neither research nor accuracy in so important a matter. In
a former part of this work, it was shown that the art of distillation
was practised by the people of the East, long before it was known to
the Arabs ; and this is further confirmed by the authority of an
ancient Hindu manuscript, cited by the Asiatic Journal, from which
it appears that a distilled liquor, resembling brandy, was known,
under the name of Kea-Sum, from an early period of antiquity.
Amongst the African Moors, it was practised with a rude apparatus
in the same way, as it is, at the present day, in many parts of the
East.

The first spirit of which there is any account in Europe, was made
from the grape, and sold as a medicine both in Italy and Spain,
under the Arabic term alcohol. The Genoese, in the thirteenth
century, dealt largely in it, and are said to have acquired consider
able sums in the sale of this article, named likewise aqua vitce. They
were the first Europeans who prepared this liquor from grain, and
they sold it in small bottles at a very dear rate. In 1270, a Floren
tine physician recommended spirit of wine, as possessing great
virtues and effecting valuable medicinal purposes. Mariana tells us,
that the vine was among the first objects of the early husbandry of
the Spaniards ; and that although the primitive inhabitants com
monly drank water, yet they were no strangers to wine, hence
affording them, from the most remote antiquity, an article on which
to exercise their inventive powers. If, according to this writer,
Tubal,the son of Japheth, were the first man that peopled Spain, after
the flood, no doubt the art of wine-making, as practised by Noah,
was made familiar to the Spaniards.* Strabo states, that although
the making of beer was peculiar to the Egyptians, yet it was com
mon in other countries, where different methods were employed in
manufacturing that liquor ; and that the ancient Lusitanians (Por
tuguese,) before wine was plentiful among them, used zythum as a
substitute, which, of course, must also have been familiar in Spain.

Polybius speaks of a Celtic king of part of Iberia, or Spain, who
affected great pomp, and had, in the middle of his hall, golden and
silver bowls full of barley-wine, of which every one quaffed at
pleasure ; a custom that afterwards prevailed in different parts of
Europe. The Egyptians, no doubt, communicated the invention of

Mariana's History of Spain, folio, pp. 2 and 5. Stephen's Translation,
1699.

363

this liquor to the Babylonians and Hebrews, who, it is probable,
transmitted it northwards to the Thracians and CeltH», both of Spain
and Gaul, and thence to the British Isles. Aristotle's notion of this
liquor is rather extraordinary. Those intoxicated with it, he says,
fall on the back of their heads, whereas those deeply affected with
wine fall on their faces. This wine from barley was called £%vrov
(brutonj, by the Greeks, which, in all likelihood, wras its original
Egyptian or Celtic name, and from the same word may have been
derived our familiar term brew.

A long period elapsed after the introduction of alcohol^ before it
was used in the preservation of wine. The improvements, which
were subsequently introduced in the manufacture, brought the spirit
into frequent and common use, and hence it became an article of
great value in commerce.

At present, brandy is distilled in almost every province of Spain ;
but the quantity produced and consumed is much smaller than that
of wine, the manufacture of which is carried on to a vast extent.
From Catalonia alone, it is computed that England receives annually
10,000 pipes ; Guernsey and Alderney, 4,000 ; Holland and the
north of Europe, 20,000. To other countries, 350,000 pipes have
been frequently exported. Valencia and Malaga, since the establish
ment of a free trade to America and elsewhere, export upwards of
12,000 pipes yearly.*

The quantity consumed in the kingdom is very considerable :
5,000 hogsheads, according to Townsend, are required for the supply
of Madrid alone, besides 18,000 arrobas of brandy.f From this state
ment and an inspection of the annual exports to Great Britain, con
tained in a table of the Addenda, a tolerably correct estimate of the
magnitude of the Spanish wine-trade may be formed.

Spain was at one time most extensive in the spirit business, and,
it is said, even more so than France ; but, the regulations of the
government, which obliged the manufacturer to vend his spirits to
none but the farmers of the revenue, with a heavy taxation on the
article, tended to cripple the trade, and eventually operated almost to a
prohibition. At preseut,one-eighth of the produce goes to the crown,
which claims, besides, the right of purchasing the remainder. The
provinces, however, to prevent confusion or embarrassment, generally
agree upon a composition for these exactions. The greater number
of the brandy distilleries are in Catalonia, Valencia, Murcia, and

* Burgoing's Modern State of Spain, vol. iii. p. 277.
f The arroba weighs 25lbs.

364

Gallicia. At Mataro, in Catalonia, there are six distilleries, and at
Villa Franca, twelve. In the entire province are made about 35,000
pipes annually, and in Valencia from 500,000 to 600,000 cantaras of
4 English wine-gallons each. The taverns, in which wine, brandy,
beer, and other liquors, are sold, pay a license for the privilege,
which, in Madrid alone, amount in one year to upwards of £2,300.

It may be here interesting to detail the process observed by the
Spaniards in the distillation of brandy.

Wine to the amount of four-fifths of the content of the still, is thrown
in, the head is luted on, the fire kindled, and in abont one honr and a
half, the still begins to run, producing a spirit of fifteen per cent, above
hydrometer proof, and equal in quantity to one-twentieth of the charge.
Afterwards it declines to glass proof, and then to feints. The over
proof and glass proof are drinkable immediately, and the feints are
either distilled again with the next charge of wine or rectified by them
selves. When wines used for distillation are old, heavy, or over
charged with thick substances, and when a very fine clear spirit is
desired a quantity of pure spring-water is thrown into the still along
with the wine ; but this expedient is regulated by the judgment of
the distiller, nor is it universally practised. No other ingredient is
employed in the distillation of brandy : but liqueurs are scented by
different aromatics, of which considerable quantities of a very inferior
sort are distilled for country consumption.

Brandy of the first distillation, retains more vinous flavour than
when rectified. When the wine is good, and a high proof is not
required, the first distillation is preferred. No brandy can be pro
duced from unfermented liquors, nor are grapes, in their natural state,
ever thrown into the still. About a gallon of the first run is put in
with the feints, rather for being of a low proof, than for any great
quantity of the essential oil that it contains, or for any bad taste that
it may have. All the art practised for preventing any disagreeable
flavour, consists in the skill with which the fermentation of the juice
of the grape is conducted, and in a proper management of the fire,
that the vegetable essential oil may not be too much raised, nor the
volatile salts forced over, in too great a quantity. The spirit, as it
comes from the still, is perfectly transparent ; but it frequently receives
a change of colour from the wood of the cask, or the contrivance of
the dealer.

It has always been supposed by merchants and distillers, that a
rapid distillation produces a fiery brandy, of a bad, disagreeable,
empyreumatical taste ; nor, is there any practicable method for pre-

305

venting the liquid from boiling over, or remaining foul, but a proper
management of the fire.

Iw Spain, stills are made of copper, as also are the heads and worms ;
but few of them are tinned. Those in general use, with few excep
tions, differ little from each other in shape, being cylindrical from the
bottom to the shoulder, commonly 33 inches in diameter, and the same
in altitude, but about two inches deeper in the centre than at the side.
The breast of the still is convex, the head is in the form of a com
pressed globe, and the pipe, which connects it with the worm, is joined
to the lowest part of the circumference, where a kind of gutter, or
canal, is formed in the inside, for the purpose of conveying the con
densed liquor to the pipe. The worms are small, only two inches
and a half in diameter at the mouth of the condenser, and fifteen feet
in length, making about five circular turns. A correct representation
of the whole is given in the annexed engraving.

The worm-tub is usually from five to seven feet high, and from four
to five feet in diameter ; some of them are built round with brick and
mortar. The furnaces are like ovens, the bottom of the still falling
about a foot under the line of the dome, or breast, arid about two feet
from the ground, on which the fuel is laid, without any grate, -vsh-pit,
or stopper to the entrance of the furnace. The still, when charged
with wine, is run off in about fourteen hours ; but, when rectifying,
in about eighteen or twenty-two hours, wood being principally used
for fuel. Distillation from grain is not practised.

The aloe, or pita plant, is much celebrated in Spain, and, possess
ing much mucilage, it yields, when fermented and distilled, a good
brandy ; and were not wine so plentiful, it would afford a supply of

366

this spirit, sufficient, perhaps, for the country. Sugar is made from the
fruit of the arbutus, and an excellent spirit is distilled from it.

The excise on brandy was first imposed in Spain under Philip II.,
in 1590 ; but the administration and monopoly were given up by
Philip V. in 1717, when a duty of three reals vellori* for every arroba
of brandy of all sorts was laid both on the exports and imports, and six
reals vellon for every arroba of aniseed, cordial, and all other waters.f
In 1747, brandy again became a royal monopoly, at which period
public warehouses were appropriated for its sale.

According to the statement of an early writer, quoted by Towns-
end,t three and one-eighth gallons of wine, (the amount of twice that
quantity of grapes,) as it comes from the press, cost one shilling and
two-pence for the labour ; and it requires four hogsheads of ordinary
wine to yield a hogshead of brandy, Holland's proof ; hence it has
been inferred, that corn would be a more profitable crop ; but the
attachment of the Spaniards to the cultivation of the vine has been so
long established, that, in many parts of the kingdom, they neglect
almost every other kind of agricultural pursuit.

During the time that the Moors had possession of the southern
parts of Spain, the cultivation of many valuable plants was intro
duced ; and among the rest the sugar-cane, which has continued to
be an object of attention for nearly 800 years. Yet there is no
account of distillation of any kind from it, — a circumstance much to
be wondered at, since it afforded a material for that purpose of the
most substantial nature ; and which, it might be thought, was as likely
to arouse the exertions of experimentalists, as it had done before in
India and various parts of the East. The sugar-canes of Andalusia,
as well as those near Granada, are as large and juicy as those of any
other country, while between Malaga and Gibraltar there are no less
than twelve sugar manufactories.

The Arabians were the first who introduced sugar into medical
preparation, and it was then called Sal Indicum, or Indian salt,
clearly indicating its origin ; and the Spaniards and Portuguese
afterwards communicated the secret of making it to the West Indies
and the American settlements, where the plant itself is said to have
been indigenous.

The Moors, during their sojourn in Spain, encouraged the cultiva
tion of the vine, with as much assiduity as they paid to other fruits ;

* A real vellon is equal to 2|d. British.

f The Theory and Practice of Commerce by Don Geronymo. De. Uztariz.

$ Osorio, who wrote in 1687.

367

for they wore not insensible to the pleasures of tire juice of the grape,
although forbidden — for forbidden pleasures too often form a main
source of the enjoyments of every country. That the Moors drank
wine is quite certain, from their luxurious mode of living and the
traditions of the nation. This is further confirmed by the circum
stance of a circular room in the Moorish palace, in Granada, called the
Alhambra, being still shown to strangers and travellers, as a place set
apart for men to drink coffee and sherbets, under which were
included wine and other liquors.

Vineyards are to be found in every province of Spain, but chiefly in
the South and East ; those of Valencia, Catalonia, and Andalusia, are
the most productive, celebrated, and numerous. In the neighbour
hood of Malaga, the mountains are clothed to their very tops with
vines. The vineyards are above 7000 in number, producing three
crops annually, and keeping 14,000 presses constantly at work dur
ing the vintage, which turn out upwards of 80,000 arrobas of wine,
of which more than one half is exported. In the district of Axar-
quia are produced those wines called in foreign countries Malaga,
and in England, mountain wine. Another wine produced in the
vicinity of Malaga, is the Pedro- Ximenes, distinguished for its deli
cate flavour, and as being the produce of a grape transplanted from
the Rhine. The Lagrima de Malaga is a delicious wine, something
resembling Constantia, and the Guindre is but common mountain wine,
having the juice of cherries incorporated.* Some exquisite wines
are produced from the Valencian vineyards, particularly those of La
Torra, Perales, Segorbe, Vinaroz, and Benicarlo ; and from the
tintilla grape of this province a vino (into is obtained, which bears a
strong resemblance to the rota wine. The Catalonian wines are in
considerable estimation ; the Malmsey of Sitgas is nearly equal to
some Malaga, and the wine of the Priory is of a choice quality. The
red wines of this province are inferior to the white, less care being
taken in the selection of the grapes, and in the management, fermen
tation, and refinement of the liquor. In this province, the inhabit
ants plant the highest cliffs with vines ; and, rather than allow a piece
of ground to remain useless, descend by ropes from projecting preci
pices to cultivate spots, which nature seemed to have intended solely
for the resort of the eagle, or for the habitation of the chamois.
Arragon also affords a good vino (into, especially that obtained from
the grape named grenache. The muscadine wine of Fuencarl, near

* Jacob's Travels in the South of Spain, 4to p. 246.

368

Madrid, ranks among the highest order, and the Navarre wine of
Peralta, as well as that sort named rancio, is in considerable repute.
The wines of Andalusia, particularly of the plantations of Xeres de
la Frontera, near Cadiz, with those of San Lucar and Trahugena, are
of the first character. Paxarete, a place eight or ten leagues from
Xeres, gives name to a 'luscious, palatable, Malmsey wine, the pro
duce of a vineyard belonging to the friars of the Convent of St.
Hieronomo. There is also a wine bearing this name at Xeres, which
is of equal quality, and in this vicinity the finest sherry is manufac
tured, a dry description of which, the Amontillado, is made in imi
tation of the wine of Montilla near Cordova. The Amontillado, which
is little known in England, is a very rare kind of wine of accidental
produce, and may be said to be a phenomenon in wine-making, as no
cultivator can be certain by what sort of grape it will be produced,
or from what treatment it may be obtained.

Of the light wines of Spain, the Valdepenas is, in the opinion of
Sir Arthur De Capell Brooke, the best.* The constitution of this
wine being remarkably delicate, renders the transport of it a matter
of risk and uncertainty; and this is the reason why it is not more
common in England. It resembles a light Burgundy, but it is far
more delicate and smooth in its flavour, and some think altogether
superior. It is difficult to meet with this wine free of that strong and
rancid taste imparted to it from the borracha or skin in which it is
conveyed. This flavour, denominated olor de bota, is esteemed by
many, who may be considered epicures in wine, and arises from the
pitch or other resinous matter with which the skins are secured.
Sometimes the vintage of the Valdepenas is so abundant, and ctisks
or bottles so scarce, that wine-growers often spill the old wine when
it happens to be the produce of an inferior vintage, in order to make
room for that of an inferior quality. Mr. Swinburn informs us, that
during plentiful seasons, casks cannot be found to contain the wine,
and large quantities of grapes remain ungathered notwithstanding,
public notice being posted on the church doors, that by giving a small
acknowledgment, all who choose may gather. The wines of La
Mancha and Manzanarez, though thinner, are next in estimation to
Valdepenas. Neither the wines of New or Old Castile, are in much
estimation, except those made near Valladolid, which, though light, are
very pleasing. The wines of Murcia are heavy, rough, and luscious ;
those made in the plains of Valencia are below mediocrity ; but the

Brooke's Travels in Spain and Morocco, vol. ii. p. 287-8.

369

vines on the hills which have had the benefit of a southern sun, afford
wine of a very good quality. The wine of La Torre is excellent ;
the wines made at Mos du Marquis de Peralez, are little inferior,
yielding au excellent brandy. In the environs of Murviedro, they
are of a heavier and richer quality : — in this province also, is manu
factured the noted wine called rancio.

The wines of Granada are aromatic, and preserve an agreeable
flavour, without the richness peculiar to some of the other Spanish
wines. The produce of the vineyards of Biscay is characterized as
sour and harsh, destitute of body, and of those pleasing qualities
which render other wines agreeable. The defects of the wines of
Biscay have been attributed more to the mismanagement of the
manufacture, than to the inferiority of the grape.

Grapes reared on gravelly soils, produce wines preferable to those
reared on rich or heavy soils ; and the vines are differently treated
in their growth. Some are trained on trellises, some on espaliers,
others, like currant or gooseberry- bushes, are not permitted to grow
high, and, therefore, gradually form thick and strong stocks, capable of
supporting the fruit, poles never being employed for that purpose.
In some places, the stalks or cuttings are planted in small hil
locks, of about two feet and a half high, and three feet in distance.*
The produce of the vines varies according to the soil and the care
taken in the cultivation ; and the size of the fruit is in the same pro
portion, so that in some places, a bunch of grapes may be found to
weigh twelve or fourteen pounds, while, in others, it does not weigh
one half as much.

In the districts of Malaga, three crops of grapes are obtained, one
in June, another in the beginning of September, and the last, four or
five days after. The grapes of the first gathering called earlies, yield
a wine of the consistency of honey ; those of the second gathering
produce a clear wine, stronger and better than that produced by the
earlies ; the third gathering, termed tardies, makes the real wine of
Malaga.

The Xeres wine, just spoken of, comes from the vineyards in the
neighbourhood of that city, called the Puebla district, which extends
over a tract of country 45 miles in length, and 18 in breadth, having
555 houses attached to the vineyards. This wine is called Sherry in
England, which term is but a corruption of the word Xeres, to
render the pronunciation more agreeable. The vines of this district,
of which there are several sorts, are usually trained low and close to

2 B
* Vide Laborde's View of Spain.

370

the soil, on account of the heat. The Sherry is made from a grape
tinged with a brownish red, of a dry flavour, and devoid of sweetness.
From the sweetened juice of the unripe grape, an agreeable cooling
drink, called agras or agrace, is in great request during the summer,
and has a pleasing acidulous flavour.

The vintage commences towards the close of September, and is
finished about the first of November. From the early gathering, or the
least ripe of the fruit, the inferior kinds of Sherry, known by the
name of St. Lucar and Manzanilla, are produced, the consumption of
which is very great both at home and in England. The real sherry
wine is procured from the full ripe grapes of Xeres. Should the
grapes be gathered in a wet season, particularly from young vines,
the quality of the mosto, or juice, is assisted with wine boiled down
and mixed with it, previous to the fermentation taking place, by
which means the deficiency of saccharine matter, arising from wet
weather and want of sun, is made up : — about two jars of this boiled
wine is added to each butt of mosto. In making sherry wines, there
is an indiscriminate use of red and white grapes, which are gathered,
dried on mats, and, when freed from the stalks and bad fruit, are put
into vats, in which they are trampled on by the peasants, having heavy
wooden clogs, or shoes with nails made for the occasion. After this
operation, the entire mass is submitted to the action of a screw-press,
turned by the peasants. Previous to this, a quantity of burned gyp
sum is strewn over the surface ; the must is next collected into casks,
in which it is allowed to remain nearly two months in store, for the
object of fermentation. When the process has ceased, the wine is
drawn from the lees, and then receives an addition of brandy, by way
of giving it body and ardour. If the ripe bunches of fruit at first
selected, be not sufficient to yield a butt or two of mosto, they are left
on mats exposed to the open air, until enough is obtained by the
ripening of the remaining fruit. Less wine is procured from the
grapes thus exposed, but the quality is better ; while, from the same
gathering, two descriptions of wine are obtained by two different
pressings. The juice of the first pressing is called yenas, or first
fruits, that of the second pressing, ayuapies ; and when brandy is not
to be made, there is sometimes a third pressing called esperigo, or
speregoit, in order to augment the quantity. In wet seasons, yesso,
or quick-lime, is used for absorbing the superabundant moisture.
Immediately when the pressing of the mosto is over, it is put into
clean butts, and after the fermentation has ceased and the liquor
appears clear, it is racked off into other casks well cleansed and
smoked with sulphur. In the following spring, when the second, or.

371

as it is called, tho insensible fermentation, has taken place, it is again
conveyed into other casks, but there sulphur is not smoked ; and, in
autumn, when the heat of summer has subsided, the same operation is
a third time repeated. The following spring, the wine is again
removed into fresh casks, when, if found weak or sickly, a jar of
brandy is added, the wine being now eighteen months old. The
wines of Xeres may be chiefly divided into two kinds, the dry, or
sherry, and the sweet or muscatel, and Pedro Ximenes, the latter of
which is more generally known by the name of Paxarete.

The wine trade at Xeres was some years ago confined to a few
individuals, but there is now great competition in the market, numbers
having embarked in it a large capital. At Xeres, nothing so much
surprises the stranger, and is more worthy of inspection, than the
bodegas, or wine-vaults, a term ill-suited to convey an idea of those
really splendid and extraordinary establishments. Instead of descend
ing into alow, dark, grovelling, and musty magazine like the London
dock wine vaults, spacious as they are, you first pass through a street,,
one entire side of which, for the extent of a quarter of a mile, is occu
pied by one of these bodegas ; and entering through large folding
doors, you find yourself, to your astonishment, in what appears to be a
church of considerable dimensions, with a lofty roof, and divided into
spacious aisles. In the centre you see, in large characters, " Bodegas
of Jesus," and at the sides, " Nave of St. Andrew, St. Pedro, St.
Jago." — Your eye runs along the lower part of the building, and you
see some thousand butts of wine ranged along the aisles and against
the arched pillars. A delicious fragrance soon convinces you, not
withstanding the pious inscriptions you have been reading, that you
are in a place exclusively dedicated to the enjoyments of the body.
On entering, you are waited upon by the superintendent of the bodega,
who accompanies you through the diiFerent aisles, and who explains
to you, on passing each barrel, the name, quality, age, and peculiar
flavour of the wine within it ; and in order that you may understand
it practically as well as theoretically, his observations are rendered
clear and intelligible by a full glass of the delicious liquor. You pro
ceed slowly through the whole range of the bodega, occasionally
reposing, like Bacchus, astride a huge butt, and sipping bumpers of
luscious Paxarete, fragrant muscatel, or dark creamy sherry, half a
century old. While on the outside, every thing is blazing with the
intenseness of the noontide heat ; within, a delightful coolness and a
soft mellow light prevail ; and you fancy you should like to pass the
remainder of your dayfe in this pleasant retreat. In this manner you

372

keep quaffing- the nectar which is so liberally supplied to you, until your
senses become not quite so cool and collected as when you first
entered, and you think it high time to make your retreat into the hot
and dusty streets of Xeres. Each wine establishment is conducted
by an overseer, who is called the capataz, and to whom is intrusted
the purchasing of the different wines from the grower, the selection,
and the mixing of them, as also the proving and tasting of the brandies
required; in all of which, considerable judgment, skill, and expe
rience are evinced. The interior of one of those large bodegas may
be compared to an immense hospital filled with patients, and the
capataz or superintendent to the visiting physician. The former goes
his daily round, accompanied by one of the superintendents of the
bodega, whom we will call apothecary. As he passes each butt, he
begins his enquiry into the state of his patient ; not by feeling his
pulse, but by tapping, which is immediately performed by his atten
dant, who runs a spike into it, and presents him with a bumper of the
contents. On tasting it, he may probably find that the wine is sick,
as it is called by merchants, being usually the case with young wines ;
ajar or two of brandy is, therefore, prescribed for the invalid, and the
dose is forthwith administered. A second butt may be found to be
equally qualmish, and is relieved in the same manner. The body, or
constitution of a third, may probably be naturally weak and delicate;
this is strengthened and improved by being mixed with wine which
is sounder and stronger : while a fourth may be at the last extremity,
so as to require the application of musk. Speaking, however, more
seriously, the bodega requires a great deal of skill, constant attention,
a nice taste, and a discriminating judgment, in the selection not only
of the wines, in improving the delicacy and flavour of the former,
increasing or diminishing the body, dryness, and colour, and finally
giving such a variety of shades and difference in flavour and price, as
may best suit the particular market and gratify the taste and caprice
of John Bull.

A recent visiter says, that the more respectable of the wine-mer
chants of Xeres never ship wine for England, till it has attained the
age of two years ; that is, till the bulk of the wine has attained that
age. But, according to the price it is proposed to bring, it contains
a larger or smaller mixture of a more or less expensive wine. The
higher qualities of sherry are made up of wine, the bulk of which is
from three to five years old, and this is also mixed in various propor
tions with older wines. Thus, from the gradual mixture of wines of
various ages, no wine can be farther from what might be called a
natural wine thati sherry. Brandy is added in very small propor-

373

tions to the good wine — never in greater quantities than four or five
per cent, while they remain in the cellar ; and frequently not at all,
unless the wine should become scuddy or mothery ; and thus the
finest wines are frequently entirely free from it ; but, on their ship
ment, a small dose of brandy is considered absolutely necessary, even
to fine wines to make them bear the voyage, as it is said ; but, in
reality, because strength is one of the first qualities looked for by the
consumers. When wines become mothery in the London docks, they
send them back to be cured, and this curing consists of nothing more
than an addition of brandy ; perhaps, indeed, it is chiefly effected by
the motion of the voyage. The soleras, or store-casks, in which the
wine is kept, are left with avoid of one-fifteenth of their contents, and
the access of the air is admitted through a loose wooden bung, which
merely covers without closing the aperture. The wine is purchased
by the exporters from the growers generally when it is one year old.
The whole extent of the Xeres vineyards, which supply the genuine
sherry for the British market, amounting to 2,500 butts, does not, it
is said, exceed 700 acres. A great portion of the wines exported to
England under the name of sherry, and sold by retail under forty
shillings per dozen, is either that of Port St. Mary, St. Lucar, or
Malaga.

In cleansing the wine-casks, a good deal of thyme is used as a
sweetener : a little of this plant mixed with the liquor is considered
to impart to it a more grateful savour, besides rendering it sudorific,
healing, and restorative ;* wrhile red beet is often infused into various
wines to improve their colour and appearance.

Around Alicant and the adjacent country, from which is obtained
the vino tinto, (tintilla) or tent wine, are reservoirs erected for hold
ing water for the refreshment of the vines, which must have cost
immense labour and expense. One of these, El Pontano, situated
between two mountains, within four or five leagues of the town, holds
water sufficient to supply the whole district for a year. The walls
of this reservoir are two hundred feet high, and at the base upwards
of forty feet thick. Another in the canton called Huerta de Alicante,
is surrounded by a wall sixty feet in height, and broad enough for
three waggons to go abreast. At one time, a stupendous basin near
Lorca in Murcia burst, by which 6,000 persons perished, and 24,000
other animals, while the loss was estimated at £2,083,333. In the
vicinity of Murcia, two grand reservoirs still remain as monuments of
the industry of the Moors, which have stood upwards of 700 years

* Phillips' History of Cultivated Vegetables, vol. ii. jp. 382.

374

unimpaired. Within one league of Merida, in Estremadura, are two
very large reservoirs resembling lakes. The country people call them
Albnfera and Albuera. One of them is ninety feet in length and
fifty-one in depth ; it is surrounded by thick walls ornamented with
two beautiful towers ; a fine flight of steps leads to the bottom. The
other reservoir is two leagues distant ; it is small, but the walls which
encompass it, and the great tower which serves it as an aperture for
air, are much finer than those of the former. The basins are supplied
by rain-water and by springs, and have fish in abundance. The great
reservoirs at Constantinople resemble these more than any others of
which there is a description. The roof of one of them is sup
ported by six hundred and seventy-two marble columns, consisting of
three tiers standing on the top of each other, enclosing a space capable
of holding 1,237,939 cubic feet of water. Dr. Walsh, in his narra
tive, describes another magnificent cistern, scarcely known to the inha
bitants of Constantinople, but which existed previous to the Turks
taking possession of that city, yet affords the great supply of water to
the inhabitants, is called the subterranean palace, and resembles a
great lake extending under several streets.

Among the many works of art in Spain, the subterraneous recep
tacles for grain, called Siloes and Stlhos, are remarkable. These
are large, excavations which were constructed by the Moors for the
preservation of grain to provide against scarcity. They resemble
inverted cones, and are cased with freestone. They are dry, secure
from damp and atmospheric air, and seem to have been made in
imitation of those constructed in Bcetia and other provinces of Cartha-
gena. These public granaries and extensive magazines are termed
positos, of which there are not less than 5,000 in the country. They
are under the regulations of government ; and when it is requisite to
establish any of these granaries, every landed proprietor is obliged to
deposit a quantity of corn proportionable to the extent of his farm.
The following year he takes back the corn he had thus deposited, and
replenishes the empty granary with a larger quantity; and in this
manner he continues to increase annually the stock till a certain mea
sure of grain is deposited. Then every one receives back the whole
corn which he has furnished, and replaces it by an equal quantity of
new corn. Whenever a scarcity happens, these repositories are
opened, and the corn dealt out to the people at a moderate price. In
some places, seed corn is also distributed to necessitous husbandmen,
who are bound to restore as much in lieu of it during the ensuing
harvest.

In a country where so much care is taken in the preservation of

375

grain, and its distribution is so well directed for the benefit of the com
munity, it might be supposed that the people would be comfortable ;
but notwithstanding these precautionary measures, added to the exten
sive cultivation of the vine, many of the farmers are very poor. In
the district of Malaga, distress is so great, that it prevents them from
making their crop into wine, or waiting to the proper time of vintage.
The consequences are, that they are constrained to gather the grapes
before they arrive at maturity, and to sell them at a low price, to the
great depreciation of the quality of the wines. To prevent these
results and to relieve indigent farmers, the council of Malaga estab
lished a bank that issues loans to poor cultivators, which enables them
to make their wine in the proper season and sell it to advantage.

Although wine-making principally occupies the attention of the
Spaniards, yet other beverages are manufactured, among which cider
is a favourite in some of the provinces. About the middle of the seven
teenth century? the orange plantations in the Asturias and Gallicia
were converted into orchards, because the demand for cider was so
considerable, as to render its manufacture a profitable speculation.
From the Asturias alone, 28,000 arrobas* are sent anually to the
settlements in America ; the Biscay as well as the Bastan cider of
Navarre is deemed excellent. Mead, from the quantity of honey
which Spain affords, might be manufactured to any extent, but the
wine and cider supersede its use. Honey of a peculiarly nice quality
is obtained from the mountain districts ; this article, which is in good
demand in Italy, is said to owe its aromatic flavour to the rosemary
plants, which abound in those mountains, and from which it is col-
• lected. In New Castile, the care of bees forms no inconsiderable
portion of property. Near Alcaria, and in the mountains of Cuenca,
the honey collected is of the best quality, and so abundant that 4,000
arrobas, or 1,000 quintals, equal to 96J cwt. have been secured in a
season. From the quercus suber, or cork tree, portable hives are formed
by rolling the bark, cut into lengths of three or four feet, into the
form of a cylinder, with rests inside, and apertures for ingress and
egress, and then placing them either in the fields or gardens.
Though honey is not an article of great importance in Spain, yet it
was stipulated by the articles of peace in 1715, between the Moors
and natives, that a certain quantity of honey should be a portion of
the contributions exacted by the Moors.

In Spain, there are but few breweries. On the coast of Biscay, at
Santander, there are three, one of which furnishes upwards of

The arroba of wine contain 947 cubic inches.

376

200,000 bottles of beer, for the consumption of their foreign settle
ments. Little of this liquor is consumed at home, wine being the
principle beverage. Grapes pay a tithe or duty, first as fruit, second
as wine, third when converted into brandy or vinegar ; hence the
importance of their cultivation to the farmer, the trader, the clergy,
the government, and the bulk of the people.

The Balearic islands, being contiguous to Spain, and forming as it
were a portion of the Spanish empire, may here be properly noticed :
In Majorca, vineyards are so numerous that they produce on an aver
age 952,748 arrobas of wine, of which the natives consume 575,630
annually, and distil brandy to the amount of 37,400 dollars, half of
which is exported. The quality of wine is excellent, of which the
lightest and most delicate are Muscadel, Malvoisia, Pampot, Reda,
and Montona. It has been computed that the whole exports of these
articles to Spain and America, are to the value of 685,590 livres in
wine, and to 177,000 livres in brandy. The quality of the brandy,
particularly that distilled at Palma, is considered fine. Here is a dis
tillery for orange-flower water. The vineyards are laid out with
great taste, while the rugged and almost inaccessible declivities of
rocks and mountains are rendered subservient to the comfort and
industry of the inhabitants. The mountain, on which is situated the
town of Banalbufar, is a striking instance of the care and enterprise
of the natives. This lofty eminence, from top to bottom, is cut into
steps, like a flight of stairs, and the earth is supported by little walls
of flint and stone, and by this means is entirely covered with beauti
ful and luxuriant vineyards. The town contains upwards of 6,000
inhabitants, most of whom are employed in making wines of various
descriptions.

In Minorca, the soil, though light and stony, is favourable to the
vine. Red and white wines are made, and some of both exported,
which, with the home consumption, may be valued at £1,600 annually.
The honey of this island is of prime quality, but no mead is manufac
tured, hence the superfluous quantity is exported. Wheat and
barley are cultivated, the grain is not thrashed, but trodden out by
asses and oxen on the bare rocks, but the supply is too scanty to
permit any distillation.

The small but fertile island of Ivica, produces fine fruit and good
wine, but little more than what the wants of the inhabitants require.

The Spaniards are not more zealous in the cultivation of the vine than
the people of Portugal. In many of the provinces of that kingdom, the
sides of the steepest hills and mountains are converted by means of ter
races into vineyards. In most places through the country, the vine grows

377

like a gooseberry or currant bush, two or three feet high and about
three yards asunder. In pruning, all the branches are cut off in
winter, leaving only the stump, with the remains of the stem, about
half an inch in length. These shoot again, and by the time of
vintage are ten or twelve feet long. The best grapes grow about the
stump, and so abundantly as to conceal it altogether. The fruit
is gathered in August and September, and conveyed to a house
prepared for the purpose, having a stone floor, with grooves to convey
the juice when pressed out through a tube into a cellar adjoining,
where barrels are ready for its reception. The grapes are trampled
by human feet and afterwards put under a press, wrought by
machinery, where they are again pressed, till all the juice is com
pletely collected, and the fruit becomes a solid mass. From this
latter, mixed with an infusion of weak wines after a proper fermenta
tion, spirits are distilled stronger than any brandy, and equal, for the
most part, to spirits of wine. The cellars in which the wine is depo
sited for fermentation, are so very warm, and the inflammable gas
evolved from the fluid so highly ignitible, that no candle can be intro
duced, lest it might take fire and blow up the concern. In 1681,
although the wines of the Portuguese were of an inferior quality,
large quantities were exported from Lisbon. The English, in par
ticular, encouraged the manufacture to such an extent, that from
1750 to 1755, a pipe of the best quality could be procured for ten
milreas, or £2 15s. 6d, of our currency.

During that period, many of the proprietors of vineyards, rather
than sell their wines at reduced prices, or run the risk of loss in
keeping them, converted the greater part of the poorer sort into
brandy. Large portions of this were used to strengthen the wines
intended for exportation, and the surplus was either sent to the
colonies in America, or bartered for slaves on the coast of Africa.

The taste of the English, says Link, and their fondness for drink
ing, are evidently the causes that induce the Portuguese to mix so
much brandy with the wines. All that they manufacture have now
some brandy added, even before fermentation.*

In 1756, the board which was appointed to superintend the wine
trade of Portugal, made a monopoly of the brandy distilleries for the
provinces of Beira, Minho, and Tras os Montes, and after some time
succeeded in procuring the entire management of them throughout
the kingdom. This board had the power of regulating and fixing
the prices of th» different sorts of wines, and even of prescribing the

* Link's Travels in Portugal, p. 371

378

limits within which they should be manufactured, with the privilege
of selecting those proper for exportation, from those fitter for home
consumption. This board, now better known by the name of the
Wine and Brandy Company, or the General Company for the Culti
vation of the Vineyards of the Alto Douro, hold their meetings at
Oporto, and are approached in all cases either by petition or memo
rial; the principles on which it was founded being now greatly modi
fied and almost abandoned. No wine could be sold or brandy distilled
but by their permission. All duties were laid on and. levied by them,
as well for what was manufactured in the country as for the spirits
imported ; but it has now in a great measure ceased to enforce its
right to this monopoly. Experience has proved that chartered com
panies have, for the most part, been productive of injury to trade and
commerce, and have tended much to the obstruction of improvement
in manufactures, enterprise, and general industry : of this the com
pany just spoken of is a striking exemplification, as it failed in accom
plishing any one of its purposed objects.

The chief wine districts of Portugal commence 50 miles from
Oporto, clothing in picturesque beauty the banks of the Douro. The
Rev. W. M. Kinsey, speaking of the cultivation of the vine in the
upper Douro, says the process is perfectly simple The vine plants
are pruned about December, when nothing is left but very small
twigs, similar to those planted in other parts of the country. As soon
as vegetation has commenced, the earth is loosened about the stems ;
and this process is frequently repeated till the blossoms appear. In
some places this practice is found requisite with the view to an increase
of produce acting on the richness of the soil, by intermingling plants
more abundant in alkali ; but this is contrary to the regulations of
the Wine Company ; and indeed, although a larger stock of grapes is
produced by this system, they acquire a taste peculiar to the herb,
which has been sown for the purpose of serving as manure to the
vineyard. Skill and attention are required on the part of the culti
vator after the plant has blossomed, and even when the grapes are
approaching to a state of ripeness. Either too much rain or too much
heat may spoil the grape under the most flattering appearances. A
good vintage principally depends on due proportions of heat and
moisture, particularly in the spring at the cleansing of the flower, as
at an after period, when the grapes are more advanced, cold fogs in
the spring often destroy a great part of the growth, and again too
much sun frequently dries up the coat of the grape, which does not
prove sufliciently succulent for want of rain. Previously to the
gathering, the farmers have recourse to water, which they throw into

379

the lagar, or wine-press, for the mass would not ferment without it.
The quality of the wine very much depends upon the care taken to
perfect the process of fermentation. The vintage in the upper Pouro
commences when the grapes begin to shrivel. In these parts it is
very difficult and expensive to convey the grapes to the press, the
whole district consisting of steep hills and narrow valleys. This
process is performed by treading, and a great number of men, assisted
by Gallegas, are thus employed at a vintage time.

After the wine has been pressed from the grapes, it is suffered to
stand in very large butts until the wine fair, which takes place annually,
according to the determination of the Company, either in February
or March. Immediately after the fair, the wine is brought down to
Villa Nova, and is there defecated or racked off into clean casks,
which the Oporto wine-merchants call giving it clean shirts ; and an
alinude of brandy, being in the proportion of about one to twenty-one
parts of must, is added to each cask. An additional quantity is
mixed with it from time to time, until about two almudes of brandy
have been thrown into the pipe, which is, with few exceptions, all
the brandy it takes to England. But it has been remarked, that it is
too much the custom at Oporto to cleanse the wine of its thicker par
ticles, the effect of which is, not simply to refine it, but to weaken, if
not destroy, those natural inherent properties, upon which both the
body and the flavour of the wine would otherwise depend. It fre
quently happens that a well-flavoured wine is deficient in colour ; and
to bring this up, the brighter wine of inferior vintage is mixed with
it. It is fair to presume, therefore, that the distinction of wine into
vintages is not so purely true, and so entirely a matter of fact, as an
Englishman supposes it to be. Mr. Kinsey quotes a writer who
expresses his regret, that the British merchants residing in Oporto
do not seem to be aware, that in one single pipe, and much more in
a single vat, different qualities of wine are to be found at the top, in
the middle, and at the bottom.* To heighten the colour of Port, the
Portuguese infuse the juice of the berries of the phytolacca, an ingre
dient much more pernicious than elder berries, formerly used
for the same purpose : these berries yield a spirit of a harsh and
unwholesome quality.

The Portugal vintages are usually conveyed under the distinctions
of primary or factory wines (vinhos da Feitoria) ; and secondary wines,
(vinhos de Ramo.) The factory wines are again ranked under the
head of vinhos de embarque, or export wines ; and vinhos separados,

* Portugal Illustrated, p. 329. 330.

380

or assorted wines. The lighter wines are improved by an admix
ture with the stronger ramo, a purpose for which the latter is com
monly purchased. Oeiras, Carcavellos, and Lavradio produce wines
of a high reputation, while the growth of Alenquer, Torres Vedras,
Lamego, and Moncaon, possess a high character. The wine of Barra-
a-Barra, near Lavadrio, is one of the best of Portugal. The vineyards
of Coimbra are said to produce inferior grapes of a tart flavour. The
Colares Port, a red wine of Colares near Cintra, the white wine of
Termo on the Douro, with the wines of Bucellas in the vicinity of
Lisbon, and of Setuval in Estremadura, are all in great estimation :
the sweet wines of Carcavellos, and the muscadine of Setuval are too
familiar to require description or panegyric.

The great exports of wine are from Oporto, or Porto, on the Douro ,
from the name of which city is derived our term port. The vicinity
of Oporto is said to yield annually 80,000 pipes of wine, 20,000 of
which are exported, and the whole quantity sent out of the kingdom
during the same period is computed at 780,000.* The exports to
Great Britain alone, are detailed in a Table of the Addenda.

The bad quality of the native brandy has, hitherto, made it of little
commercial importance, but the late introduction of the sirup of the
fig will, no doubt, if judiciously managed, improve its flavour and
retrieve its character.

No spirits are made from corn in Portugal, but some are occa
sionally made from damaged figs and raisins unfit for other purposes.
In Algarve, the project was once instituted for making spirits from
the carob, or locust pod, but it was not successful.

Many of the stills used in Portugal, particularly those in the neigh
bourhood of Lisbon, are made in London. The size is arbitrary,
varying generally from 140 to 4 or 500 gallons. The body and head
are of copper, but the worms are mostly of pewter. The farmers use
small stills of a bad construction ; a tube of copper, or a musket
barrel thrust through a cask, frequently performs the office of the worm
and cooler, and the spirits, of course, are bad. In charging the still,
the Portuguese fill it to within 8 or 9 inches of the top with wine,
which is slowly worked off, and, unless intended for exportation, it is
rarely distilled. In the second distillation, it is made of such a
strength, that oil will sink in it. White wine yields more spirit than
red wine, and on the purity of both depends the goodness of the
brandy.

In no country with which we are acquainted, has brandy been

* Playfair's Translation of Boetticher, Table No. 11.

381

manufactured to such extent or perfection as in France. The distil
lation of it commenced there, according to Le Grand, in 1313, but as
in the instance of Spain, little more was manufactured at first than
what served the purpose of the vineyard. Its superior quality, how
ever, soon recommended it to general notice, and at an early period,
large quantities of it are mentioned among other articles of Euro
pean commerce.

It is strange, that although the Phocseans are said to have cultivated
the vine in Gaul, COO years before Christ, we should have no authentic
notice of distillation earlier than 1313. The first attempt at the dis
tillation of wine is attributed to Arnaud de Villeneuve, professor of
medicine at Montpellier in the thirteenth century.

According to Macrobius, the Gauls had no knowledge of the culti
vation of the vine till Rome had arrived at a high state of prosperity.
Some Roman wine given by a Helvetian to the Gauls so delighted
them, that they were induced to attack the Roman capital with a view to
obtain this beverage ; but they were repelled by Camillus, and obliged
to retire. About 270 years afterwards, Fabius Maximus introduced
the use of the vine into Gaul, though some think it was introduced
by the Greeks when they were in possession of Marseilles, nearly 500
years before Christ ; but, however this may have been, there were no ad
vances in its culture till after the arrival and conquests of the Romans.
Beer was the common drink at Paris till the time of the Governor
Julian, who, in a Greek epigram, ridiculed the people, because Bacchus
did not smell of nectar, but like a goat ; and was only a god of oats
and barley. He disliked beer, which no doubt led to the introduction
of wine in its stead, and, of course, to the more extensive cultivation
of the grape His epigram has been thus translated : —

" Whence art thou, thou false Bacchus, fierce and hot ?

By the true Bacchus, I do know thee not !

He smells of nectar ; — thy brain-burning smell

Is not of flowers of heav'n, but weeds of hell.

The lack-vine Celts, impoverish 'd, breech'd, and rude,

From prickly barley-spikes thy beverage brew'd :

Whence I should style thee, to approve thee right,

Not the rich blood of Bacchus, bounding bright,

But the thin ichor of old Ceres' veins

Express'd by flames from hungry barley grains,

Child-born of Vulcan's fire to burn up human brains."

The liquors used at the ancient feasts of the Gauls were wine and
beer, the latter being the more common of the two. The beer was
termed zijthus^ highly valued, and given at their feasts to the warriors

382

with the best portion of their meats. In the time of the Romans,
there were merchants resident in Gaul for the purpose of carrying
wine from the southern provinces up the Rhine, and bartering it for
slaves. Diodorus Siculus says, that they became so fond of wine,
particularly that manufactured in Italy, before it began to abound in
their own country, that they have been known to give a slave for a
gallon.* Their love of this liquor hurried them into great excesses,
and whole armies are said to have fallen victims to their enemies
through its direful effects. It appears that Charles the Great was
forced to make some severe laws against it, one of which obliged the
judges on the bench and the pleaders at the bar to continue fasting.
Others forbade that any one should be forced to drink more than he
wished, or that the soldiers in the field should invite any man what
soever to drink upon pain of excommunication, or being condemned
to drink enormous draughts of water by way of punishment. When
Winceslaus, king of Bohemia, came to treat with Charles VI., at
Rheims, in 1397, he got intoxicated every day with the wine of the
country, and chose rather to forego every thing than not indulge in
this excess.

In ancient times, according to Strabo. a whole vintage has been
exhausted at one feast among the Lusitanians. The coryphceus, or
chief guest at an entertainment, who conducted the eating as well as
the drinking, always began first, and then presented to his neighbour
the cup, rather pitcher, which thus went round the circle, for it seems
that all drank out of the same vessel, and no man could drink before
it came to his turn, or refuse it when it did come : hence, in all
probability, is derived the custom of drinking to one another, which
was, it appears, common to the Scythians, Persians, Greeks, and
Romans, as well as to the Gauls and most of the northern nations.
At their feasts, the Gauls, like the Persians, talked upon affairs of
state as the cup went round ; and, as they generally sat till morning,
the liquor was sometimes productive of much disorder, frequently
terminating in desperate conflicts. These assemblies were usually
accompanied with music, songs, and dancing, and the dancers, who
were commonly armed cap-a-pie, beat time with their swords upon
their shields. On some occasions, the company dressed themselves
in the skins of beasts, and in masquerading habits, many of which
were very indecent ; but soon after the introduction of Christianity,
these practices were abolished. The liquors used on those occasions
were beer and wine, the beer being the more common of the two,

* Diodorus Siculus, Lib. v.

383

because the grape was not then in a flourishing state of cultivation in
France.

Pliny and Columella speak of the vintages of Gaul, and of particu
lar varieties of the grape, for which reason the Italian merchants at
that time carried on an uninterrupted lucrative traffic with the
Gauls. Posidonius, much about the same period, says that the terri
tory of Marseilles afforded abundance of the wines used in the loftier
grades of society. Strabo says that the whole of Gallia Narbon-
nensis afforded every sort of fruit to be found in Italy; but beyond the
Cevennes, grapes seldom came to any maturity. The banks of the
Cher, Marne, and Moselle, formerly abounded with vines ; but from
the uncongenial nature of the soil and climate, vineyards have now
given place to crops of wheat, rye, oats, potatoes, and other vegetable
productions more appropiate to the soil and valuable to the inhabi
tants. The greater portion of France, however, may be said to be
one continued vineyard, since in the culture of the grape, upwards
of 4,265,000 English acres are under cultivation ; producing annually
893,000,000 wine gallons or 3,563,000 tuns English measure, nearly
one-seventh of which is consumed in distillation, averaging in value
about 29 millions sterling.

In the cultivation of the vine in France, it is generally kept low,
the plants being three or four feet apart, and the rows so separated
as to admit of a horse passing between them without injury to them.
Plantations are made by dibbling in cuttings of the vines of two feet
in length, the earth being pressed firmly to the lower end, an indis
pensable part of the culture, as observed by Xenophon. In pruning,
the branches are cut away till within a foot of the ground, and after
wards the young shoots are tied to short stakes with wheat, or rye-
straw, or whatever is least expensive. In the southern provinces,
the vine is occasionally supported by the elm or maple, or it is grown
without bearers, and the intervals between the rows employed in rear
ing some other vegetable crop. In some places, the vine is conducted
along trellises or bound upon low rails in a horizontal manner : the
quincunx order of planting is, however, a favourite. Formerly the
wines of Orleans and the Isle of France were more estimable than
those of Burgundy and Champagne ; but they have never yet equalled
the wines of Cote d'Or or the Bordelais. The vinum theologicum, or
that raised on church lands, was always superior to other wines, the
clergy being more solicitous for the quality than the quantity ; and
from their retired habits and learning, they had greater skill in direct
ing the fermentation of the grape, better methods of improving its
produce, greater assiduity and experience in the culture of vines, and

384.

the treatment of the vintage. At present, the Champagne, Burgundy,
Dauphin y, and Bordelais wines, are the best in France ; those of
Langnedoc, Roussillon, and other southern districts, rank high as
sweet wines well adapted for distillation, but are more characterized
by strength than flavour.

The Champagne wines are principally produced in the department
of Marne, and, following a distinction that originated in the ninth
century, are divided into River wines (vim de la Riviere de Marne)
and Mountain wines (vins de la Montague de Reims), the former, a
white, the latter, a red wine. The red champagne is brisk and
sparkling, and distinguished by an agreeable flavour and aroma ; but
in the opinion of the first judges, the very effervescent wines are not
always the best, much of the strength evaporating with the froth,
carried off by the escape of the carbonic acid gas. On this account
the less sprightly frothing wines are by some connoisseurs preferred.
The white Sillery Champagne wines bear the character of superiority,
and the Ay wines are the most celebrated of the river wines ; of the
latter it is related that Charles V., Francis I., Henry VIII., and Leo
X., had each of them a commissioner, who resided at Ay to procure
intelligence of the best growth, while those of Verzy, Verzenay,
Mailly, Bouzy, and St. Basle, are the most esteemed of the Reims
mountain wines. The Clos St. Thierry furnishes the only red wine
that has the rich colour and agreeable aroma of Burgundy, combined
with the delicate lightness of Champagne. Those wines are placed in
cool cellars, and when well manufactured, will be in prime order from
ten to twenty years. The vaults in which they are stored are exca
vated in a rock to the depth of 30 or 40 feet. The white wines of
Arbois and Papillon resemble those of Champagne ; and if we
believe the anecdotes related by Sully of Henry IV, the Arbois wine
was a great favourite with that monarch. Whether Champagne, or
Burgundy, were the better wine, was long a matter of disputation
among the faculty of medicine, till, in 1778, a decision was pro
nounced in favour of Champagne.

The reputation in which Burgundy was so long held, arose not
only from its intrinsic value, but from its being the favourite of the
Dukes of Burgundy, who were, on that account, styled " Princes des
bons vins." The vineyards of Romance Conti, containing little more
than six English acres, are said to yield some of the nicest quality : — .
that of Chambertin, which is said to rival it, was the wine preferred
both by Louis XIV. and Napoleon Buonaparte. Next to these in
excellence was the wine of the Clos- Vougeot ; but since it has ceased
to be church property, it has considerably degenerated, and is now

385

supposed to b« inferior to that of Romanee da St. Vivant, Musigny,
Clos de Premau, and several others. The vineyard of Clos-Vougeot,
so long celebrated, is seated on the left side of the road between
Nuis and Dijon, and contains about 180 English acres, enclosed by
an eight feet wall ; in the centre are a dwelling-house and press-
house. This wine will not keep beyond twelve years, without losing
both its strength and flavour. The vineyard of Clos-Vougeot for
merly belonged to the Bernardino monastery of Citeaux, from which
it was wrested at the beginning of the Revolution. The Macon, or
red Burgundy, so familiar in England, comprises both the produce of
the Maconnais and the chief wines of the Beaujolais, forming part of
the department of the Rhone. But the white wines of Burgundy
are considered amongst the best white wines in France, arid the Mont
Rachet Burgundy, of which there are three varieties, A hie, Chevalier,
and Bdtard Mont Rachet, arc remarkable for their high perfume and
agreeable nutty flavour.

The wines of Dauphiny are reckoned among the finest in France,
of which those of Vienne and Vivarois are alluded to by Pliny ; and
the celebrity of the Condrieux, Cote Rotie, and Hermitage wine*
is of long standing. The famous vintages of the Hermitage, so deno
minated from the ruins of a hermitage on the rock on which the vine
yard is situated, are gathered immediately behind the town of Tain, oil
the left bank of the Rhone, about twelve miles from Valence. The Cote
Rotie and Hermitage have a strong similarity in perfume, taste, and
flavour, while the wines of Vaucluse, though resembling both, are
much inferior. The plants cultivated for red wine are the great and
small siraSj and for white, marsanne and roussanne grapes. They
have no supporters, and are pruned about eighteen inches from thcj
ground. All the grapes are small, though the yearly produce is from
fifteen to eighteen hundred hogsheads. The vineyards of Cote Rotie
are on the southern declivity of the hill, to the west of Ampujis, on
the right bank of the Rhone seven leagues from Lyons ; and the
wines, while they resemble the Hermitage, are inferior in point of
strength, richness of body, and powerful aroma. Dauphiny produces
likewise a wine resembling Constantia, but much more luscious and
renovating. In the manufacture of this wine, the richest grapes are
selected, and hung up on poles or lines, or else spread on straw for
about two months, until they are nearly half dried, from which pro
cess the liquor which they produce is styled " Vin de paille" tliat is,
" Straw wine."

Languedoc, Roussillon, and Provence produce wines, particularly
thos^e denominated sweet, which are of a most delicate flavour, but

2 c

386

• ,.jf.

not equal to the Hermitage or Cote d'Or. The Beaucaire red wines
of Languedoc, (the cante-perdrix of Rabelais,) have a bright rose-tint,
and the Comas is a stronger description of wine, having a flavour of
ratafia, and it will keep and improve for twenty years. Of a similar
description are the red wines of Tavcl, Chuzclan, St. Geniez, Lirac,
and St. Laurence. The Ronssillon red wines, being strong in body
and reckoned the most durable in France, are used most for distilla
tion, and for adding vigour to the Bordelais and other weak wines ;
those of Bagnols, Cosperon, and Collioure, are of the choicest descrip
tion. The Frontignac wine is long celebrated, the aroma of which
is thought to resemble that of elder flowers ; the muscadel of Lunel
is a delicate wine, less cloying than the Frontignac, while the vine
yard of Rivesaltes, about two leagues east of Perpignan, yields the
best muscadine wine in the universe. At Salces, a white wine is
manufactured from the maccabec grape, by which name it is dis
tinguished, and is thought to resemble Tokay, but in richness it is
inferior to the Rivesaltes : the Provence wines, however, are of ordi
nary quality.

The wines of Gascony and Guienne are much esteemed ; the vine
yards of Lafitte, Graves, Chateau Margaux, and Haut-Brion, produ
cing some of the best red wines,, while the vineyards of Sauterne and
Barsac are in considerable repute. In Gascony, the vines are planted
in the quincunx order, three feet asunder, and supported by frames
borne on props about twelve inches high. The sort most cultivated
is the verdot. Medoc, which is one of the most famous vineyards of
the Bordelais extending along the left bank of the rivers Girondeand
Garonne, within two and a-half leagues of Bourdeaux, comprehends,
Lafitte, Latour, and other famous vineyards. The plants cultivated
for the white wines are the malbec, sauvignon, rezinot, andsemillon,
and are usually trained on poles five or six feet high, and are propa
gated either by quicksets or layers. The Graves wines were so
termed from the nature of the soil that produced them ; but they
now comprise both the Avhite and red, which grow on the gravelly
lands near Bourdeaux. The regulation of the vintage varies in dif
ferent provinces, according to the whim of the grower, or the long
established custom of the district. In the manufacture of the better
sort of wines, great care is taken in the selection of the grapes, and
even a different management is observed between those of the red
and white descriptions ; a singular distinction is, that all rotten or
unripe red grapes are cast away, and the rotten or over ripe parts of
the. white grapes are preserved. In some places, the vintage occupies
eight or ten weeks ; in making the best wines the stalks are rejected.

SS'T

but no precise time is allotted for the fermentation ; and in making*
the white wines, the grapes are hut indifferently pressed and partially
freed from the stalks. The wines of Bordelais, celehrated by Auso-
nius, still maintain a high reputation, of which the red is in greater
consumption than the white. The Palus wines, being rough and
strong, are generally purchased for the purpose of heightening the
strength of other wines. Claret may be accounted a sort of artificial
or intermediate wine, since it is a compound formed by the admix
ture of several other wines, consisting of a hogshead of Bourdeaux
wine having incorporated three or four gallons of Alicant or Beni-
carlo, two quarts of stum wine, with a small portion of Hermitage.
The whole compound when sufficiently fretted, after undergoing u
partial fermentation, becomes that familiar vinous liquor designated
Claret.

Having described the wines of the first character in France, it may
be sufficient to say, that of the others that of the finest white are the
Sauterne, Beaumes, Preignac, and Barsac j and that of the red wines,
Rozan, Gorce, Leoville, Larose, Bran-mouton, and Pichon-Longue-
ville, are of second rate quality. Experience has proved that the
oldest vines invariably yield the richest fruit and afford the best
wines. In the Clos-Vougeot vineyard, from which issues the most
celebrated Burgundy, no vines have been planted during three centu
ries, but the plants are renewed by laying the old trunks without ever
separating the root from the stock or even using any manure what
ever. This vineyard contains about one hundred and sixty arpents,
from which nearly two hundred hogsheads of two hundred and sixty
bottles, value five francs a bottle, are annually produced*

Notwithstanding the natural goodness of most of the wines of
France, it has been found useful to heighten the colour of red wine
by the fruit of the vaccinium uliginosum, a species of bilberry ; the
juice of this berry, when distilled, yields a strongly intoxicating spirit.
In the south of the kingdom, bugloss (anchusa tinctoria,) is culti
vated for the sake of its roots, which are employed to give a rich red
colour to spirits of wine ; vintners use them in staining the corks of
their port-wine bottles, and in heightening the colour of inferior wines.
The climate in this country congenial to the growth of the vine,
does not run equi-distant from the equinoctial, but cuts tho parallels
of latitude obliquely, so that from 47 ^ in the west to 49 J" in the
east, seem to be the natural boundary, while in Germany the vines
thrive in the 52d degree of latitude. Normandy, Picardy, and Artois,
lying without these zones, are not, therefore, wine districts. Other
fruit, however, abounds. Orchards are numerous, particularly in

388

Normandy, and cider seems to be a staple article. The fields in this
province are filled with fruit of every description, among which are
pears of an enormous size, supposed to be the largest in Europe, and
seem, according to Mr. Webster, as if they had been sent for antedi
luvian giants.* The cultivation of the vine in France, although occu
pying so much of the soil and the industry of its population, is held
by some to be a national evil, by others a national benefit. That
both considerations may be true, is reconcileable on the ground that
one bad crop produces more absolute distress than can be alleviated
by a succession of several good ones, owing to the superabundant
population and the minute subdivisions of property ; while, on the
other hand, the vine renders lands valuable, which, without it, would
be of little or no value, and afford neither profit to the owner nor
employment to the peasantry. The extension, therefore, of vine
yards in France has been considered injurious more from the conse
quent diminution of the quantity of corn land than from any injury
arising from their produce. With this view, Charles IX, in 1567,
endeavoured to restrain the cultivation of the vine in order to favour
other branches of agriculture, and his measures were still more rigor
ously enforced by Louis XV. under similar impressions and for similar
purposes. The various uses to which the vine is applied are surpris
ing, amongst others, its leaves, dried in the shade and infused in a
tea-pot, produce an excellent substitute for tea ; and the vine prun-
ings, cut small and mashed in boiling water in the same manner as
malt, on being fermented, become a good beverage : if distilled, they
produce an excellent spirit of the nature of brandy. The fermented
liquor extracted by mashing the tendrils, when allowed to pass the
vinous and run into the acetous fermentation, affords an uncommonly
fine vinegar .f Wine, in a moral point of view, has. perhaps, been of
little injury to the French people ; but that perfect sobriety is charac
teristic of the nation has not been asserted.

The general impression respecting the comparative propensities of
the different nations of the world to stimulating beverages, is, that
in wine countries, drunkenness does not prevail to such a degree as
in those nations where the vine is not cultivated, which has induced
many to assert that in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Portugal,
the people are less prone to inebriety than the inhabitants of Great
Britain, Sweden, Russia, Denmark, &c. Travellers of experience
inform us that such is not the fact, one of whom, Mr. Cooper, the

* Webster's Travels through the Crimea, Turkey, and Egypt, vol. i. p. 49,
f Philosophical Magazine. No. 1 1 9.

389

distinguished American writer, says that a residence of six months in
Paris changed his views entirely. " You will," says he, " judge of
my surprise when first I saw a platoon of the Royal Guard — literally
a whole platoon, so far as numbers and the order of their promenade
were concerned — staggering drunk, within plain view of the palace of
their master. Not a day passed that I did not see men and women
in the same situation in the open streets. To convince some persons
who doubted this, I took them into the streets and satisfied them of
their mistake, and on one of these occasions, we passed thirteen drunken
men during the walk of an hour, many of them so far gone as to be
unable to walk."* The charge of drunkenness against the French
has been attempted to be palliated, by alleging that the practice was
introduced by the army during the Revolutionary wars, while others
assert that there never wras a time when drunkards did not abound in
France ; and Cooper asserts that he saw more instances of inebriety
in the streets of Paris than in London. An entire guard of soldiers
got intoxicated, and actually arrested innocent people in the streets,
whom they confined in the guard-house. The official reports show
ten thousand cases of females imprisoned for drunkenness in Paris,
during one year.

The duties on wine are collected in the following manner : The far
mer, after the vintage, goes to the nearest city or town with samples of
his wines, and as soon as he gets orders from a merchant or a private
person for a quantity, he accordingly brings it for delivery, and at
the barrier, or gate, the duty is paid either by the purchaser or the
farmer himself. It is scarcely possible to evade payment of this duty,
because every one who intends to remove wine must first procure a
permit from the Receveur principal of his department, which permit
accompanies the wine, is shown to the collector who receives the
duty, and is then entered in his book, and he initials the permit to
prove that it has been regularly entered. If the wi«e be for a private
person, the permit is kept by him as a protection, to show that it has
been legally obtained. Collectors, or receivers of this duty, are sta
tioned at each entry of the town or city like toll-keepers in Great
Britain ; and they account to the chief collector for the receipts at the
end of every week. The regulations for securing the duty on brandy
are the same as those for wine, but the rate is higher, and any per
son may make brandy of the produce of his own vintage, not, how
ever, without first specifying his intention to do so to the proper col
lector. There is a distinction between such persons as these and the
professed distillers of brandy ; the latter purchase the wine for that

* Cooper's Residence in France, val. ii.

3£0

purpose, and pay a license for permission to distil, while the former
pay nothing for their privilege ; the licensed distiller, moreover, is
subjected to the inspection of officers, who keep an account of his stock
of wine, so that he can neither add to nor diminish it without detec
tion and risk of forfeiture or a penalty, the whole business being con
ducted by permit. Frauds are sometimes detected, but from the
lightness of the duty, there is little temptation to commit them, while
a strict check is kept on all wine and brandy venders by the entries
of the visiting officers.

The manufacture of beer has been long familiar in France, and is
of such importance that so early as 1268, laws were drawn up and
approved of by the Mayor of Paris to regulate the trade. The brew
ers at that time were called cervoisicrs from cervoise, the term given
to beer. In 1489, the laws were revised on account of the abuses
that were practised in the breweries ; and again in 1630, ten new
regulations were added to the code, and registered in parliament in
1714. In 1801, there wrere seventy-eight master brcwrers in Paris ;
but it is proper to observe, that no one can open or carry on a ware
house in that capital without having regularly served five years of an
apprenticeship, and three years as a foreman. The law wisely
enforces that some of those corporations shall examine the ingredients
used in brewing, lest any noxious or deleterious substance be employed ;
and it likewise enjoins that barm shall not be sold in any place with
out a previous inspection. No oxen or other animals are allowed to
be fed, or kept within the range of the brewery in order to prevent
their filth and annoyance. Formerly, each brewer could have only
one pan, copper, or mash-kieve per day, containing fifteen septieres
of malt. Three members of the corporation annually elected, are
obliged to inspect the breweries, all of which they may visit when
ever they please.

While on the subject of French breweries, it may not be irrelevant to
describe the process commonly observed in preparing dry barm. When
a sufficient quantity of brewers' barm is collected, it is put into thick bags
or sacks, a number of which are- placed together in a press and squeezed
for some time. The first liquor which runs from them serves the work
men for drink ; that which flows on a second pressure is used by tanners
in the preparation of leather, which it is said to render more pliable.
When the liquor is completely extracted from the bags, and there
remains nothing but the spirit of malt and hops, the residuum is left
to dry in the bags under the weight of the press, and only drawn out
to be sold to bakers, or such as may require it. One pound of this
barm will serve to leaven five hundred pounds of dough for the

391

lightest bread. In the event of a dull sale, the maker is obliged to
keep this barm in a very dry place, and as free from air as possible.
A similar process is observed in Flanders. Cobbett, in his Cottage
Economy, speaks of a substitute for barm in America, which he calls
yeast-cakes^ and is thus described : — " The people of Long Island
make a parcel of these cakes once a year, and when they bake they use
them instead of leaven^ and the bread produced from them is excel
lent. The materials for a batch of cakes are three ounces of good
fresh hops, three and one-half pounds of rye-flour, seven pounds of
Indian corn meal, and one gallon of water. Rub the hops so as to
separate them. Put them into the water, which is to be boiling at
the time. Let them boil half an hour; then strain the liquor through
a fine sieve into an earthen vessel. While the liquor is hot, put in
the rye-flour, stirring the liquor well and quickly, as the rye-flour
goes into it. The day after when it is working, put in the Indian
meal stirring it well as it goes in. Before the Indian meal be all in,
the mess will be very stiff; and it will in fact be dough, very much
of the consistence of the dough that bread is made of. Take this
dough, knead it well, and roll it to the thickness of one-third of an
inch, and cut it into cakes with a tumbler. Take a clean board, or
tin plate, on which place the cakes and leave them to dry in the sun,
and occasionally turning them, they will soon become as dry as ship-
biscuit. After this they must be kept perfectly dry. When going
to bake, take two of these cakes and put them into hot water, first
breaking them into pieces, and leave them near the fire-place all
night. In the morning they will be dissolved, and then use them in
setting the sponge precisely as you would use the yeast of beer." In
some parts of France and the continent, bread is made by letting the
fermented dough turn sour, then mixing it with the flour intended to
be baked, care being taken to put only a sufficient quantity to raise the
bread without running the risk of acidity.

The mode of making beer in France does not differ much from that
practised in England. Formerly it was customary to subject the
barley to a partial germination, which was effected by steeping it for
about four and twenty hours ; after which it was spread on the floor,
until it had arrived at that degree of growth that the sprout or shoot
was nearly 4 or 7^ths of an inch in length. It was then dried on
hair-clothes placed on a floor with interstices to admit the heat from
an oven beneath. When sufficiently dried, it was ground so as to
free the meal from the bran ; it was then mashed in a vat, similar to
those now in use, with a regular and false bottom. The heat of the
water was ascertained by means of a thin wooden rod plunged into the

392

eopper, when tha ebullition on it* side determined the temperature ;
but this practice has been discontinued since the adoption of the ther
mometer. After the grain was properly mashed, it was suffered to
remain in the mash-tun for one hour ; and the liquid was then per
mitted to run into a reservoir by the removal of a stopper in the
centre of the kieve. New liquor was then poured into the mash-tun,
and worked a second and a third time with the same malt, till it had
discharged all its remaining substance. The quantity of liquor used
in the copper and mash-tun at these different operations, was properly
adjusted, and twelve bushels of malt were allowed to one hogshead
of water. The material of the reservoir was removed to the copper
where it was boiled with hops, in the proportion of eight and one-half
pounds to each hogshead of liquor. In order to deepen the colour of
the beer, it was boiled for the space of four and twenty hours ; but if
a pale colour were desired, it was merely allowed to begin to boil.
To ferment this liquid when properly cooled, about a wine-gallon of
yeast was allowed for every hogshead of the whole brewing, and it
was usual to infuse a little coriander-seed to heighten the flavour of
the beer. The French government, during the present year, (1837,)
have, it is said, refused to license many of the gaming-houses in Paris,
several of which have been converted into beer-houses.

The distillation of brandy and other strong waters in France,
became an object of such consideration, that in 1639, the public autho
rities made it subject to the direction of the law. As the regulations
under which the brandy trade is governed, are in some degree similar
to those established for breweries, a detail of them would afford little
interest. In various parts of France, distillation is carried on from
both white and red grapes ; the fermentation of the red is not gene
rally so perfect as that of the white, the spirit from the red being
less palatable. No reason, however, has been assigned for this diffe
rence, which may, perhaps, arise from a want of proper attention to
the fermentation ; several sorts of wine admitting of different degrees
of attenuation. Experiments have shewn that the decomposition of
the white exceeds that of the red grape from 20 to 25 per cent. In
this country, as in many other parts of the continent, a great mistake
has been committed in the improper selection of the grapes intended
for distillation. It must appear evident that bad fruit cannot produce
good drink, and it may, therefore, be inferred, that it is, in a great
measure, owing to this want of discrimination that an inferior liquor
is produced. The French are chargeable with not separating, at the
commencement of the vintage, the wines intended for drink from those
to be converted into brandies ; hence it frequently happens that gene-

393

rous and good wines, which might bo drunk without any modification,
are sacrificed to the still, while, on the contrary, the thin small wines,
both red and white, are set apart for the table, to the disadvantage of
the grower, seller, and consumer. To make a superior brandy, the
fruit, or wine, to be distilled, should be of the best description.
Formerly, aromatic seeds and juices were made use of as necessary
ingredients, but that practice has been long abandoned, since it was
found that a pure spirit was more easily obtained from the simple
fermented juice of the grape, than from any mixture to which recourse
had been made.

The general method now observed in the manufacture of brandy
differs in nothing from that practised in the distillation of malt- wash,
or molasses in Great Britain, except that a little of the natural lee is
thrown into the still along with the wine to improve the flavour.
The stills generally employed are made of copper, set in brick-work,
with proper flues and dampers, and differ in their conformation accord
ing to the taste or caprice of the owners. In some of them the bot
toms are broad, in others, narrow. The most common and appro
priate form is that of a frustrum of a cone, with a concave bottom,
having the greater base upwards. From its construction, the bottom
receives the force of the flame with greater precision than if it were
flat ; and from its convexity inside, the sediment falls on that part of
the bottom resting on the brick-work, and by this means saves burn
ing, and the consequent empyreumatical flavour which might be
given to the spirit. The stills are worked slowly and cautiously, and
the fluid kept at a regular temperature, so that the spirit may be drawn
off as pure as possible.

The ingenuity of the French chemists and the unlimited means
which they have had for the exercise of their talents, have enabled
them to effect improvements in the construction of stills and of distilling
machinery, which have considerably facilitated the progress of this
branch of business ; and a still has been lately employed by M. Charles
Derosne, so contrived that it has the advantage of continuous distilla
tion, without being attended with extraordinary expense in fuel, or any
of the disadvantages of the ordinary stills. A description of this
apparatus appeared of such importance, that I procured, through a
friend at Paris, a copy of the original design as engraved by Bernard
and Delarue. The conception of this still originated with M. Cellier
Blumenthal, who, in 1819, assigned it to M. Derosne, by whom, in an
improved state, it was exhibited in October, 1827, at Paris, before the
Society for the promotion of French industry, when, from its superi
ority, be obtained the gold medal.

394

395

An apparatus of this description on the largest scale can distil from
10 to 12,000 litres of wine, (each 2,113 pints) in twenty-four hours,
and produce from 1,500 to 1,600 litres of alcohol, or from 21 to
2,400 litres of hrandy, 22 decrees over proof. One of the great
benefits of this still is, that of requiring no water for condensation, the
wine itself serving that purpose, and its bringing over, without inter
ruption, a continued stream of spirit of sufficient strength for market
able purposes.

The body consists of a boiler, or still A, (sometimes two are
employed as in the engraving,) surmounted by a large cylinder, B,
which is divided into compartments by a number of copper shelves
perforated with holes. Through these the vapour rises, and, in its
ascent, comes in contact with the wine to be distilled, descending
through the same perforations, so that both are retarded in their pro
gress and blended together ; the lighter material still continuing to
rise through C, till at length it gains the condenser D, a copper
cylinder in which a worm is placed horizontally. This condenser is
filled with wine, which, while it serves the purpose of condensing the
vapours in the worm, becomes itself heated ; and, in that state, is
conveyed to the still by the junction pipe 5 and 6. To collect the
spirit thus condensed, each coil of the worm has, at the bottom,
a tube for the purpose of drawing off the liquor, either in the refri
geratory E, by the upper long inclined tube, or by the lower one
sent back again to the rectifier, or upper part of the cylinder, marked
C, for re-distillation. At b rising from the discharge-cock a, is a
glass tube to show the height of the liquor in the boilers, A A", and in
the first still forms a junction at the pipe c. The glass tube c shows
the process in the rectifier, which is only an extension of the lower
column B ; while the tube f shows the progress in that part of the
cylinder near the narrow pipe at 3, where the vapour passes into the
first coil of the worm in the condenser D, which is divided into two
chambers by a partition at k, but having a communication at the
lower part near the coils. The still is charged from the receiver F,
through a cock at t. This receiver is filled from the superior one G,
by means of a ball-cock at vt the ball floating on the top at u, which
opens or closes the cock, according as the liquor in it increases or
diminishes ; and thus regulates the quantity of wine required to be
distilled in a given time. The liquor in the receiver F, is conveyed
to the still, through the funnel and pipe at s and 9, communicating at
the bottom with the refrigeratory, E, and, rising through that vessel,
enters into the condenser, D, by the pipe 8 and 7, having a small tube
at its apex, n^ which is ahvays open. The refrigeratory, E, contains a

396

worm into which the condensed vapour passes through the pipe at 4,
having at bottom a cock p, for emptying the vessel ; also a cock at o
for the purpose of letting off water when the work is finishing. H is
a hydrometer attached to the lower part of the refrigeratory E, with
a thermometer to ascertain the temperature and strength of the
spirits which run into the receiver. On the top of the first boiler, A,
is a safety pipe, d. The figures 1, 2 are the junction between A, B,
and C. The pipe 11 and 11", with a cock at g, is for the purpose
of returning to the rectifier, C, the weaker spirit from the near coils of
the worm in D. The pipe 12, 12", brings by means of the two cocks
(Ji and it) the liquor condensed in the posterior part of D into the
superior part of C. The figure 13 shows a tube that communicates
with B inside the boiler A", but this is most frequently dispensed
with. The cock J is used for emptying into B the liquid to be dis
tilled and contained in D, when the operation is finished. The letters
k, /, m, mark the openings into the upper part of D, and are kept shut
and luted during the operation. In these openings, are small pipes,
two at k, one of which is generally kept shut, and the other goes down
a few inches into the liquid in D, and remains chiefly open to prevent
accidents.

Before commencing work, A must be filled with wine until within
two or three inches of the pipe 5. A" is also filled to the height of
six inches above the discharge pipe e. Before the fire is applied to
the boiler, all the other parts of the apparatus must be filled with
wine. The two receivers, G and F, must be also full, and when the
condenser, D, and the refrigeratory, E, are full, the further admis
sion of liquor is prevented until the wine in the coppers has parted
with its spirit, and the fluid in the condenser is of such a heat, as to be
admissible into the distilling column, B. When that part of the con
denser, D, which rests upon C, is so warm that the hand cannot be
kept upon it, the cock, £, at the receiver F is opened. At this stage,
begins what is termed the continual process, since the supply of the
vessels with wine, the evaporation, condensation, and cooling, go on
independently, attention to the fire being all that is necessary.

The system practised by this apparatus is founded on the action of
the vapour produced in A, as compared with the quantity of liquid
which runs from F to D ; and to regulate this and ascertain what
was passing in the apparatus, the indicators, e and /, were contrived.
A damper, as shown at z, has also been made to moderate or accele
rate the action of the fire. When the distillation is rapid, and the
vapour is quickly condensed, the liquid may rise in the column, and
when perceptible at the middle of the indicator, at c, it may be con-

397

eluded that there is too much of the aqueous vapour furnished by A.
The fire must then be decreased by pushing the damper into the
chimney. When the liquor in /is seen coloured, it is then also neces
sary to slacken the action of the fire, lest there might be an admixture
of the liquid passing through D, with the spirit as condensed in the
worm during the progress to E ; or the same end may be accom
plished by a prompt regulation of the temperature of D.

When there is occasion to stop the working for four or five days,
the most simple method of leaving the apparatus in such a state as to
be readily resumed, is to extinguish the fire as soon as the wine has
ceased to run from G ; by which means, a charge will remain in the
different compartments, sufficient for the re-commencement of
operations.

This very ingenious invention has not been applied in Great Britain
so far as I can learn, because it has been strongly urged as an objec
tion, that the heavy and inspissated consistence of our malt-wash would
not readily flow through the minute perforations in the shelves of the
cylinders, while it would subject the machinery to interruptions and
accidents, to which it would not be so liable in the distillation of
wines. If this objection could be overcome by any modification or
improvement the revenue might be readily secured, as there is no
part of this apparatus which could be converted to an improper pur
pose ; while, from the little expense attending the working of it,
persons of limited capital might find it their interest to employ such
a machine.

It is common among provincial distillers in France, to ascertain the
strength of the spirits by putting a quantity of the brandy, as it runs
from the still, into a clear glass bottle of four or five inches in length,
swollen at the centre, which, when well shaken, enables them to
determine by the size and stability of the head, the quality of the
liquor and the state of the still : although this is an old and a common
practice, yet all the improvements in the use of the hydrometer are
fully known and practised by the French distillers.

The stills are worked by small faggots, chiefly of ash : the head of
the still is taken off at each time of charging, and the furnace filled
with wood. The dampers are then closed and not opened, unless the
fire is too dull, or in order to give it air. This requires caution, for
if the fire get strong, there is danger that the still may be burned or
the head blown off; to prevent which, cold water is thrown on the
head and worm, an expedient that not only contributes to cool the
still, but to deprive the liquor of its pungency. Great quantities of
brandy are distilled at Bourdeaux, Rochelle, Cogniac, and in the

3B8

department of Charente, the Is!o of Rhe, Orleans, Bt>is, Poictiers,--
Angers, Tours, Nantes, Burgundy, Champagne, and Montpellier.

In the time of Ambrose Pare, who was physician to Charles IX.
and Henry III., stills were made in the country of glass and tin ; the
former were considered the best, but some wrere made of potter's
earth shaped in various ways, some cylindrical, viz. round and oblong,
others twisted, &c.* He gives a receipt for the manufacture of pure
aqua vitce, which was obtained by a seven-fold rectification, and was
considered a very valuable medicine in the cure of epilepsy, diseases
proceeding from frigidity, wounds and punctures of the nerves, syn
cope, gangrene, and putrescence. It was used by itself, as well as to
form a vehicle for other medicines. He also mentions a liquor similar
to that distilled in China from the flesh of sheep, which, he says, was a
restorative. This liquor was extracted from the flesh of calves, kids,
chickens, fat -hens, partridges, and cock -pheasants, pounded small;
to which were added some barley, the juice of fresh roses, with a little
citron and cinnamon- water ; the produce of these formed the liquor.

In the North of France, distillation is carried on from rye and
barley malt, and at Dunkirk and other places, cattle are fed on the
grains, wash, and refuse of the distilleries, as in Ireland and Scotland.
These distilleries are not more than one-tenth the size of our own
establishments ; and the old mode of fermenting the wash on the
grains is practised there, as is common with the Flemish and Dutch.
In the operation only one still is used ; but the required strength is
obtained by repeated distillations. In Normandy, a spirit is made
from sour apples, which partakes much of the flavour of the fruit; and
another spirit is manufactured, termed Eau d' vie de bic. A great deal
of brandy is made from cider generally, also from sirup and molasses,
particularly where there are sugar-houses. A spirit resembling whis
key is also made from the fruit of the sloe-tree. Some of this is
manufactured by the peasantry in the neighbourhood of Thionville,
and is preferred by many to real brandy. The fruit \vhen quite ripe
is gathered, and with the kernel bruised to a pulp, in which state it
undergoes fermentation for some days, and is afterwards distilled.

In some parts of the North of France, the root of the Jerusalem
su'iidioke (Helianthus tiiberosus), has been introduced for the purpose
of distillation. The wash made from this vegetable is found to yield
a very pure, strong spirit, which resembles that obtained from the
grape more than any other substitute that has hitherto been tried.
As the root grows readily in Great Britain and might be cultivated
abundantly, it would be well to try the experiment here, as we have

* Fare's Works, folio, c, 3. p. 848.

399

no medium spirit betvreen genuine French brandy and the fiery pro-'
duce of grain, sold under the denominations of gin and whiskey. I:i
Ireland, the cultivation of this plant would he attended with great
advantage, since it thrives well in a boggy soil, and in a country like
it, where there are so many unreclaimed and wastelands, its culture
would be a profitable speculation, for, while the roots would afford a'
tine material for distillation, the tops would yield more fodder than
the same space of ground, if sown with ordinary grain.

From potato-berries, large quantities of brandy have been distilled
in France for some years past. The process is very simple : the
berries being gathered at full maturity, are then carefully bruised by
means of cylinders, the pulp is put into vats, and left to ferment ;
when this is finished, it is distilled and brandy is obtained nineteen
degrees in strength (nearly Dutch proof,) being at the rate of a hec
tolitre (one hundred quarts,) for every twenty or twenty-four hecto
litres of uiicrushed berries. This spirit is pretty -well flavoured.
Some say that these berries produce, after fermentation, as much brandy
as the grapes of Lorraine ; these, however, yield little less than half
their volume in wine, which, one year with another, affords about one-
tenth of strong brandy.

From the potato itself, large quantities of spirit are drawn, and the
French have been particularly successful in the management of this
distillation and in procuring the greatest produce. But as the process
is fully treated of in other parts of this work, it is unnecessary to
dwell further on it here.

Distillation from beet-root is also carried on in different places in
France, and theFrench people have arrived to a degree of perfection in
this manufacture surpassing anything yet attempted in Great Britain.
The long struggle between England and France, during the domi
nation of Buonaparte, led to the cultivation of the beet and to the
various uses to which it has been applied. Sugar was so largely
extracted from it, that it served as a good substitute for foreign sup
plies ; and it has been so extensively grown that it now affords a most
valuable material for the manufacture of spirits. The sugar is gene
rally in the proportion of seven or eight parts to one hundred parts
of the root ; and it is computed that a hectare of land, (nearly two
and one-half acres,) yields two thousand four hundred kilogrammes,
(47 cwts. 36 Ibs), and such is its extent of culture, that some growers
obtain from 7 to 8,000 cwts. annually. It has been calculated that
the cultivation and other incidental expenses do not cost the farmer
more than from five to eight shillings the hectare. When the sugar
is prepared and the molasses is completely drained from the vats,

400

the pulp affords little less nourishment for cattle, than the root in its
natural state ; and the residuum of the distillery has latterly been con
verted into potash. A manufactory, exclusively for this purpose,
has, it is stated, been erected in the vicinity of Valenciennes.

The works employed in the manufacture of beet-root sugar, through
out France, amount to upwards of four hundred, and the produce is
stated to be thirty millions of kilogrammes. Such is the ardour with
which the French are said to pursue the trade, that Ferney, once the
residence of the celebrated Voltaire, has been turned into a manufactory
of this article. Chestnuts have been latterly used for the extraction
of sugar ; and, in many instances, they are said to yield a proportion
above that of the beet-root. But, without entering into further par
ticulars, it may be generally observed that as France exceeds almost
all other European countries of equal extent in the variety and rich
ness of its vegetable treasures, it would be difficult to give a more
comprehensive view of the matters on which a people so speculative
and ingenious might exercise their industry. It may therefore suffice
to say, that the spirits drawn from materials other than the grape,
have been estimated at 95,000 hectolitres at a strength of 19° by
Carder's areometre.

A great quantity of the brandy and spirits manufactured in France
^s used in the making of liqueurs in which the French have always
excelled. The introduction of these beverages took place, according
to Beckman, in the year 1533, on the occasion of the marriage of
Henry II. when Duke of Orleans, with Catherine De Medicis. The
art of making them was derived from the Italians, to whom the inven
tion is attributed ; they were termed by them liquor i, and vended
through foreign countries under that appellation. Their pleasing
palatable qualities ensured them a ready admission to the tables of the
great, while their seemingly mild and medicinal properties offered a
temptation to the weak and delicate, whose constitutional debility
required a succession of artificial stimulants. Louis XIV. became so
addicted to them in his old age, that he could scarcely endure exis
tence without them. A list of these compounds, with the mode of
making them, would occupy a small volume ; and it is to be feared
that advantage is too frequently taken of the innocency of the name,
to cover an indulgence in stronger liquors.

In making brandy from the skins of the grape, it has been lately
discovered that the presence of the stones communicates an empyreu-
matical taste to the liquor ; and hence it has been recommended to
separate them not only on that account, but as a profitable specula
tion, since an oil of a very superior description can be obtained from

401

the stones, that answers as a highly valuable lamp-oil, as well as being
preferable to many other oils used for the purposes of the table. As
a lamp-oil it yields a brilliant flame without either smoke or smell, and
is of so good a nature that an ounce of it, subjected for an hour to a
heat of 176* of Fahrenheit, loses only forty grains.

The value of the brandy annually exported amounted, at the com
mencement of the last century, to 5,852,900 livres ; in 1778, to
4,660,221 ; in 1784, to 11,350,200 ; in 1787, to 14,657,300. In the
year 1789, there were exported to the Baltic, 17,800 hogsheads, and
in 1790, 13,£22.* Townsend, when he visited Montpellier in 1787,
purchased the best wine for one half-penny per quart. The abun
dance at that time was so disproportioned to the demand, that the
inhabitants distilled us much as freighted 32 vessels, containing
2,400.000 gallons, the principal part of which, he says, was smuggled
into England.f Notwithstanding this vast manufacture, the impor
tation of foreign spirits into France is sometimes very considerable.
In 1787, the value of the corn spirits imported, amounted to 1,874,000
livres, and that of wine-brandy to 3,715,000.

The revenue arising to the state, according to Young, from the
duties on wine and home-made spirits, amounted under the govern
ment of Louis XVI, to 56,250,181 livres, or £2,460,444 sterling.
But it was not near so much during the late revolutionary wars ; it
has, however, since the general peace of Europe increased to a degree
highly beneficial to the French nation. In the beginning of the four
teenth century, so great was the export of this commodity, that the
port of Bourdeaux alone, sent out in one year 1,350 vessels laden
with wine to the amount of 13,429 tuns. In the time of M. Lavoi
sier, there were consumed in Paris 281,000 muids of wine, brandy,
cider, and beer, amounting to 18,928,000 bottles. In 1822, France
exported to England 1,179,687 gallons of brandy. The annual
exports of wine in France, are computed to be 22,000,000 gallons,
valued at £2,000,000 sterling ; but these form only 8X8 part of the
whole produce of the vineyards of the country. The consumption in
Paris alone, amounted, in 1834, to 596,585 hectolitres of wine; 27,794
of brandy ; 12,352 of cider and perry; and of beer to 78,948 hectolitres.
The wine-shops in the city, in 1833, were 2,000 ; while through the
entire country, the wine-sellers numbered 240,000, and the consump
tion averaged eighteen gallons for each individual. The total sums
levied on the wines amounted, in 1835, to £12,833,333 sterling.

* Oddy on European Commerce.

f Townsend's Travels, vol. i. pp. 47, 48,

2 J>

402

The market for wine in Paris is held in a large square called Halle
aiix vin$t and covers a space of 325,000 square yards. It is divided
into streets, with stores on each side, named after different kinds of
wines, or districts where the best descriptions are produced. One of
the large buildings is appropriated for brandy, and the others are set
apart for wines ; while suitable accommodations are provided for the
merchants and the officers, who superintend the entrance and delivery
of the wines. Here the dealers resort to select and make purchases
of such liquors as they require. It was computed that these buildings
would contain from 6 to 700,000 casks, each of which pays a duty of
ten-pence, and sometimes fifteen hundred are entered in a day ; the
quantity being measured and certified by the officers. This market
place forms a sort of promenade and is attractive from its appearance,
having rows of trees planted, and some of the buildings surrounded
with terraces. This commodious and extensive structure is a further
illustration of the genius and enterprise of Buonaparte. The wines
sold out of this market to merchants and others, in one year, have
amounted to 4,000,000 of hectolitres.

The rate of wine in Paris may be considered rather high, when
compared with the country prices, but this is owing to the duty and
the various expenses attending its conveyance to the capital. The
Vin de Mdcon varies from eleven-pence to one shilling and two-pence
the bottle. Indifferent Bourdeax sells at six-pence, while Champagne
of the best quality brings from four to five shillings the bottle ; and
other wines are sold, according to their quality, in similar proportions.
The environs of the city are filled with little ale-houses, termed guin-
guettes, where the middling clases resort on Sundays and holydays, to
regale themselves with wine and other beverages, which can be
obtained at a cheaper rate there, than in the city. The wine made in
the immediate vicinity of Paris is very inferior, and is termed Vin de
£urenne, from its indifferent character.

In concluding the subject of French distilled and fermented liquors,
it is much to be regretted, that in a country where there is such a
redundance of valuable wines, the restrictions of commerce should
have rendered access to these commodities so difficult, and their gene
ral use so limited on account of the heavy duties imposed on them,
In many parts of France, (particularly in the south-west,) as observed
by Dr. Bowring, the wine-cellars are glutted, and people complain of
the want of a ready sale, and ruin, in many cases, stares the unfor
tunate growers in the face ; since they have been known in some
instances to sell their wine at a half-penny a bottle, while in the region
bordering on the Moselle, they have disposed of it at from three-half-

403

pence to two-pence a gallon. When wines can be procured at so
cheap a rate, it might be for the general interest of the country were
the duties reduced so low as to permit a free intercourse between the
British and French nations. Many of our manufactures would natu
rally be received in exchange, and, as it would relieve the wine
growers of their superabundant produce, it would give an impetus to
our home-trade, and prove of mutual advantage to both countries.

Habit has rendered our palates familiar with Portuguese and Spa
nish wines, particularly with the former, to which it may, in a great
measure, be said we have been slaves, to the almost total exclusion of
the superior wines of other nations. The Methuen treaty has been
for some time abrogated ; but although the duties on French wines
have since become the same as on other imported wines, yet the duty
is still too high. Were some further reduction made in this respect,
it would ultimately tend to the increase of the national revenue, and
prove beneficial in its consequences to the moral state of the people
of this empire, by diminishing the use of many of those deleterious
beverages, to which the great mass of the lower classes are so strongly
addicted. A table of the exports will be found in the Addenda.

Few countries, from the nature of the soil and climate,~should afford
better wine than Italy ; and although rakia is imported, an excellent
brandy is manufactured in different states. The classical reader is so
familiar with the virtues and excellence of the produce of its ancient
vineyards, as to make a description and encomium almost unneces
sary ; its history, therefore, would afford little interest while it is so
imperfectly known, that it cannot be clearly shewn to whom the
country is indebted for its introduction. To Janus, stripped of his
fabulous clothing, the Italians are said to have been indebted for a know
ledge of agriculture and the use of wine, to the effects of which he fell
a victim by a body of drunkards, who, while labouring under its influ
ence, imagined they had been poisoned by him. The face of the
country is so diversified with hill and dale, wood and water, as to
render the prospect always delightful. The plantations, which are
picturesque and numerous, are intermingled with fruit trees of every
description, while the oak and the poplar serve as supporters to the
vine, the branches of which, spreading in every direction, train the
clusters of fruit, as they fall, into festoons, and cover them with a lux
uriant canopy. The walls of the cottages are often found covered
with vines, while the approaches to the doors are under an umbrage
of fragrant fruits and flowers. In other situations the vines are sup
ported by trellises of reeds or poles, presenting the appearance of
innumerable ranges of espaliers extending as far as the eye can reach.

404

Every vino plantation contains a handsome cottage for the vine-dresser,
and all has the appearance of active and animated industry.

In so diversified and luxuriant a land as Italy, the wines must be in
proportion to the nature of the soil and the management of the vine
yards. At one period, particularly in the time of Theodoric, wine
was so cheap, that a gallon of it was sold for less than three-farthings,
and a modern traveller says, that a goblet of the best sort can be pur
chased for the same money. For many years, however, the Italians
have paid little attention to the cultivation of the vine, no ground,
generally speaking, being exclusively appropriated to that purpose.
The vines are commonly planted without distinction of species, on the
edges of corn fields, trained upon trees, or found spontaneously clam
bering on hedge rows, and shooting up trees to the height of fourteen
or fifteen feet, affording the peasant without toil, a sufficient supply
of wine for his own consumption. The vine being but an object of
minor consideration, no pains are taken in the tillage of the vine
yards, in gathering the grapes, in selecting the good grapes from the
bad, nor in cleanliness during the operations of treading, fermenta
tion, or in casking and preserving the wine when manufactured.

The calcareous hills in the centre of Tuscany are said to produce
the best wines in Italy, and they are distinguished by different appel
lations from the names of various kinds of grapes from which they
are produced, as Aleatico, Columbano, Tribbiano, Vernaccia, fyc. all
red wines. Among the white wines formerly made in Tuscany, was
the Verdedy a greenish coloured liquor, the favourite of Frederick II.
of Prussia, and much celebrated by travellers. The white muscadel
wines of Albano and Monte-Fiascone, and the red and white wines
of Orvieto, are of an inferior description, though the produce of the
Church territory.

In Naples, wines are abundant, both red and white : many of them
rank high ; the best kind, termed Lacryma Christi, is produced from
the vineyards near Vesuvius. A notion prevails that this wine ought
not to be drunk by any but those long accustomed to the climate.
This, however, seems to be an erroneous opinion, for, if not taken to
excess, there is no more danger to be apprehended from it than from
any of the other wines of Europe, the proximity to Vesuvius having no
influence whatever on its valuable properties. The city of Pompeii, so
long buried under the eruptions of Vesuvius, is mantled with vineyards
planted on the lava by which it was overwhelmed ; and until 1748,
the wine-growers were ignorant that they were trampling on the ruins
of a once populous and magnificent city, within whose walls the
Falernian, the Coecuban, and the Rhaetican once flowed to the inspi-

405

ration of some of the best bards that ever struck the lyre. The value
of the wine and the extent to which it was consumed may be inferred
from the number of public taverns discovered within the ruins of
Herculaneum being no less than 900, while in Pompeii the counters
and flaggons that were chained to the posts, indicated the estimation
in which that beverage was held. It is remarkable, that in the villas
discovered at Pompeii, the wine- cellars are placed, as Columella directs,
at a distance from the bath and bake-house.

In Calabria, vines produce after being two years planted, and bear
during sixty and sometimes one hundred years. The wines are various
in quality, owing to the goodness of the fruit and the process in the
making. The Palina and Nicostra are said to be good for eight years,
while others, particularly the red wines of Monte Leone, do not keep
above three years, and the white wines not much beyond six months.
In the vicinity of Gierace is made the vino Greco, a rich, sweet, white
wine, the produce of vines brought originally from Greece.* Around
Reggio, vineyards are numerous and the wine is of good quality.
Were proper encouragement given to the rearing of vines, Calabria
might be made to yield a superior class of wines, but unfortunately
the poor peasantry have little interest in this, or any other improve
ment of the soil, beyond what supports existence, as they have been
greatly oppressed by the heavy exactions of their rulers.

No country should be supplied with a better wine than Italy, as
there is scarcely any other intoxicating beverage used, and as the
grapes form a great portion of the culture of th* country ; yet travel
lers complain that very little good wine is to be found in the whole
peninsula. One great cause of the Italian wine beir.g of so inferior a
character, is, as akeady stated, owing to the negligent mode of its culti
vation, and the want of cleanliness and attention to the process in the
different stages of the manufacture. Grapes are often gathered before
being ripe, and the good and bad promiscuously trodden in the same
trough ; hence the produce cannot be expected equal to that arising
from fruit perfectly ripe, freed from stem, and of prime character.
To the bad mode of fermentation may be added another cause, that
of constantly putting fresh must into the vat until the whole ceases to
ferment under an exhaustion of strength, and this is done from igno
rance of the real nature of fermentation ; besides, leaving the vats
open and exposed to the influence of the atmosphere, which must greatly
tend to injure the aroma and body of the liquor. In short, to the
ignorance, obstinacy, and carelessness of the Italians, the inferiority of

Elinhirst's Calabria, 8vo.

406

their wines is wholly chargeable — Even in the days of Pliny, nearly
2,000 years ago, the Italians were reproached with indifference in the
cultivation of the vine, their avarice inducing them to sacrifice the
quality to the quantity. It may be observed in general, that'notwith-
standing the complaint lodged against the Italian wines, excellent
descriptions of native produce are occasionally to be met with in
almost every town of Italy. The common wine at Florence and Rome
has little flavour. The better kinds are the Monte Pulciano, the
Orvieto, and the Aleatico, the first of which has not any peculiarity
and is comparable to weak claret. The Tuscan wines neither bear
carriage nor keep long, and are usually kept in chestnut casks : when
sent to England, they are generally put up in thin glass flasks packed
in chests, secured by a plaiting of straw ingeniously worked round
them ; and, before the wine is corked, a little oil is poured in, perhaps
to prevent the air from escaping. In some of the large palaces, wine
is sold by retail, that the proprietor may thus turn into money the
produce of his estate. For this purpose, a little window or wicket is
opened in some convenient part of the wall, just large enough to
admit the flask which the purchaser intends to be filled. The nobility
of Great Britain would consider such a practice as highly derogatory
to their rank and character. Near the town of Como, the birth-place of
Pliny the younger, and lately celebrated as the residence of the consort
of George the Fourth, vineyards are pretty numerous, particularly on
the hills adjoining ; and at various places in the rocks, which become
steep at the edge of the lake, there are wine-cellars in which the inn
keepers and dealers of the place keep their wines: from these a supply
is forwarded in boats to Como as occasion requires. No distillation
from grain is carried on, although Indian corn is cultivated in Carniola,
Styria, and Italy, to considerable extent ; this grain was introduced at
Verona upwards of 200 years ago. Here it is called fermentone ; at
Milan, melgone ; in Piedmont, granane ; in Tuscany, granturco ; in
South America, maize; and by Linnaeus, zea mays. It i& remarkable
that this grain does not thrive in a latitude farther north than that
which is congenial to the growth of the vine, say, 50 degrees from
the equator. It forms one of the chief articles of food in those coun
tries ; with the stalks cattle are fed, and the fogolia^ or chaff, is used
for mattresses.

In a country so particularly gifted by nature,, and abounding in
flowers, plants, and trees of every sort, honey must be plentiful. The
bees, however, are not left to their own instinctive operations, but
are reared in cylindrical hives, hollowed from the trunks of trees com
monly a foot in diameter and two feet in height. These hives are placed

407

on shelves at a considerable elevation on the outside of the houses,*
so that the owner may watch the industry of the insects and avail
himself of their labours.

The island of Sicily has been celebrated from the earliest ages for
its extraordinary fertility ; corn is said to have grown there sponta
neously, hence the poets made it the residence of Ceres, the goddess
of plenty. When the Greeks were at war with Xerxes, such were
the resources of Sicily, that Gelon, who had made himself absolute
at Syracuse, offered to furnish the whole Grecian army with a supply
of corn during the entire period of the war, provided they would
make him commander of their forces. In this island, the vine is said to
have been cultivated earlier than in any other part of Europe, and
this opinion seems to be borne out by the testimony of Homer, who,
speaking of this fertile place, says, —

" The soil untilled a ready harvest yields ;
With wheat and barley wave the golden fields :
Spontaneous wines from weighty clusters pour,
And Jove descends in each prolific shower."

Diodorus Siculus extolled the fertility of the Sicilian vineyards,
and the excellence of their produce.

Agrigentum and Palermo, the most noted cities in Sicily, were famed
amongst ancient records as the watchwords for luxury and dissipa
tion ; and the inhabitants were celebrated for their hospitality and
the liberal distribution of their generous wines. Plato, speaking of
the Agrigentines, says, they built as if they were always to live, and
supped as if they were never to sup again. The modern wines of
Sicily are said to be of an inferior character, the body of which is
rendered too ardent by the quantities of brandy with which they are
adulterated. The Sicilians do not take that care in the manufacture
of their wines which the quality and abundance of their grapes demand ;
and they tire equally inattentive to the distillation of their brandies,
which are disliked from their harshness and pungency ; and to this,
perhaps, may be attributed the disrepute into which the Sicilian wines
have fallen. What is called the Faro red wine is in great repute on
account of its strength and resemblance to port, which it rivals in
quality when kept three or four years. In addition to the quantity
consumed in the island, about 10,000 pipes are annually exported.

Fifty different sorts of wine are still produced in the district of
Syracuse, and the once celebrated Calabresian wine was the produce

* Cadell's Journey, vol. ii. p. 67.

4-08

of its vineyards. To this place, Polis, tyrant of Syracuse, and an
Argive by birth, transplanted from Italy the grape which produced
the Vinum Pollium, an article held in the highest estimation.

In the Lipari islands, some good wines are manufactured : from
the largest island of this group, about two or three thousand barrels
are annually exported. Two sorts of grape, (termed Passole and
Passolina) are dried ; the latter is more generally known as the
Corinthian grape, and affords from ten to twelve thousand barrels of
wine for sale. About two thousand barrels of Malmsey wine are
made in the island, and which for its excellence is much esteemed.

Spirits of a good description are distilled in many of the islands of
the Mediterranean. In Corsica, excellent wines are made: the white
wine produced about Capo Corso is of two kinds, one resembles Xeres,
so much, that large quantities are sent yearly to Germany, and sold
there under that name ; it is also sent to England and Leghorn, and
sold as Spanish wine : there are many other fine wines produced in
this island, one species of white resembling Frontignac, another kind
at Furiani might pass for Syracusan, while there are some very like
Tokay and Burgundy. Indeed, in few islands are to be found so many
varieties of wines, or grapes producing more rich or generous liquor,
and the brandy distilled there is of superior quality.

Of the wines of Sardinia little is said, but there is sufficient made
to enable the inhabitants to export to the north of Europe, particu
larly to Russia and the Netherlands ; brandy is also distilled in such
quantities as to aiford sufficient for exportation. In the small Island
of Elba, two kinds of wines are manufactured, red and white, the
grapes being of superior quality ; the wines are rich, strong, and well-
flavoured, the Vermont and Cleatico are highly esteemed. In making
them, the grapes are trodden under foot, as the inhabitants have not
hitherto used the press. Brandy of great purity and excellence is
distilled, and, were its value with those of the wines of this island
known in England, quantities might be imported much to the advan
tage of the British dealers.

Malta produces little or no wine, but a large portion of its revenue
is derived from a low duty on spirits and wine imported, the former at
l^d. per gallon, the latter, when of an inferior quality, at the same
rate, but the better kind of wine pays 2d. per bottle, and tLv tax
raised on this article amounted annually to nearly £10,000.

Among the Ionian islands, that of Cephalonia is the most respect
able, and its wines have been celebrated from the earliest periods,
especially its red wines ; and it is also noted for the goodness of its
muscadine raisins and currants, from which an advantageous commerce

is conducted. The native grapes are as large as plums and the wine
made from them is strong and pleasant. Abundance of well flavoured
honey is produced there, but mead is not common.

The vine in this island is principally cultivated on stony ground ;
hence the wines are called " Vino di Sasso" or wines of stone, from
the love of stony ground evinced by the plant. Muscadel makes a
sweet wine like Constantia : this vine delights in a rich soil, but the
Vino di Sasso is the best among the dry wines. Here there are a
great variety of grapes, and the Marsala of Sicily is not to be com
pared to that of Cephalonia.* The whole produce of the Island
amounts to from 30 to 35,000 casks, the half of which is red and is
of a spirituous nature ; the remainder consists of white wine of an
agreeable taste, including 8,000 casks of muscadel, some of which is
of inferior quality. From three to four thousand casks of brandy are
distilled annually, which are sent to Trieste, Venice, Leghorn, England,
and Russia. And from the aromatic herbs and flowers, liqueurs are
prepared in two establishments erected for the purpose ; honey to the
amount of 80 or 90,0001bs. is collected from the bees of the Island.

The island next in importance is Corfu, the wines of which, for the
most part, are also red ; but though sweet, they are not considered
equal in body to some produced in the neighbouring islands. The best
description may be obtained for 4d. or 5d. a bottle, at the capital.

The wines of Zante are accounted excellent, and some of them
approach to Tokay, they have the appearance of claret, but are rather
sweet, and sell at from 6d. to Id. the bottle : white wines are scarce
in this island. Here are to be found the finest muscadine grapes,
which are dried and exported to England and other parts of Europe.
Walpole enumerates no less than forty different species of grape
cultivated in this island, of which ihevitis corinthiaca is the principal.
The stem of the Eptakoilos, one of those species, is selected for a
matrimonial crown at nuptial ceremonies, and care is taken to select
a branch that has forty knots, which being a proof of the prolific
qualities of the vines is so communicated to the bride. f

According to Hughes, there are as many sorts of wine as grapes ;
some sweet like the muscat, others luscious like the Cyprus, a few
slightly acid like the Rhenish, but most are dry like the Sherry.
These last named wines bear the same comparative superiority in
point of strength over those of the other islands as they seem to have
done in ancient times ; yet many ages must elapse in the civilisation

* Napier's Ionian Islands, 8vo. p. 263. 1833.

t Memoirs Relating to European and Asiatic Turkey, 4to. p. 293, 4, 6, 6, 7.

410

of the people and the cultivation of their vines, before the produce
can rival that of ancient Greece, which was held in such estimation
as to be dealt out in single portions at the tables of the great, like
imperial Tokay at our modern banquets.*

Zante is remarkable for its abundant produce of currants, the proper
name of which is Corinths, from being originally cultivated about
Corinth in Greece. From seven to eight thousand millions of pounds
are the common annual produce. The price varies from 14s. to 18s.
per cvvt. The new currants always form part of the dessert at the-
tables of the respectable inhabitants.

From the arbutus unedo, the fruit of which is eaten and esteemed a
delicacy, a spirit is drawn, as also a vinegar of a bright golden colour.
The annual produce of wine in Zante averages about 45,000 Vene
tian barrels ; and of the honey of the island, of which there is a consi
derable quantity collected, the greater portion is sent to Venice.

The wine of Ithaca is esteemed the best in the Ionian islands ; it
is like port in appearance, of a sweet flavour, and, as has been remarked
by a recent visiter, excellent enough to justify the taste of Penelope's
suitors in draining large goblets of it to the health of their fair mistress.
Here it may be noted that the modern Greeks, who are strongly
attached to wine, do not follow the custom of putting a glass into the
goblet for each guest ; but use only a single goblet, out of which every
individual drinks in turn. Captain Jones, in his travels through
Sweden, relates that a similar practice is prevalent in that country.f
Ithaca abounds in currants, 5,000 cwt. of which are annually exported.
A small quantity of wine is also shipped from it, and reckoned
amongst the best in the Ionian isles : the colour and flavour are inter
mediate between port and claret ; arid the liquor is not spoiled by
impregnation with turpentine, as is commonly the case with the wines
of the Grecian continent.

From the island of Santa Maura the annual exports are about 1,000"
barrels, and the island of Zea raises about 7,000 barrels, and ships 3 or
4,000 barrels of wine of an excellent flavour while on the island, but
during the course of a voyage, it generally becomes sour and often
putrid, an effect produced by the want of brandy to preserve it.f

The island of Crete, now called Candia, is described with enthu
siasm by travellers, for the mildness of its climate, the fragrance
of the air, the fertility of the soil, and the picturesque beauty of its,

* Vide Hughes' Travels.

f Travels in Norway, Sweden, &c. 2 vols. 8vo. vol. i. p. 70.

| Gait's Letters from the Levant, 8vo. p. 252.

411

scenery. This was once the centre of arts, commerce, and politeness
it also contained above 100 populous cities: here, too, surrounded by
vineyards, is the immortalized Mount Ida, and the extraordinary
labyrinth of the famed Minotaur. Savary, when at the monastery of
Mount Ida, visited the cellar in which Tournefort had reckoned 100
casks of wine, but he found only 40 barrels of a large description. It
is customary for the superior, at the end of each vintage, to descend
into this cellar and bless the new wines. The following is the form of
the benediction used on the occasion : — " O Lord God, who lovedst
men, look down on this wine, and on those who shall drink it. Bless
our casks as thou didst bless the well of Jacob, the pool of Siloam,
and the drink of thy Holy Apostles. O Lord, who didst condescend
to be present at the wedding of Cana, where by changing water into
wine thou manifestedst thy glory to thy disciples, send now thy holy
Spirit on this wine, and bless it in thy name. Amen."* A similar
practice is observed in Russia, with regard to apples, before they are
eaten. As soon as they are known to be ripe, the high priest solemnly
blesses them in the most public manner, thus making it a regular
religious ceremony .f This custom is, perhaps, borrowed from the
Jewish practice alluded to in Exodus xxii. 29. Pliny informs us
that the Romans never tasted of the new corn and wine till the priests
had offered the first fruits to the gods ; and Horace accounts those
persons wicked who sent presents of the first fruits to the rich before
the gods had been thus honoured. The wines of Candia are said to
be generally of a fiery quality, to intoxicate quickly, and to be inju
rious to the nervous system.

In Cyprus, wine forms a considerable branch of trade, and is of a
superior quality. It may be obtained for about three pence a bottle.
The Greeks carry it to market in leathern bags, which give it an
unpleasant flavour, a circumstance adverted to in other places.J Some
of the Cyprian wines have a pitchy smell, owing to the vessels which
contain them being half sunk in the ground, and pitched over to pre
vent the earth from attracting the wine. The old superior wines are
deer, but the ordinary sorts are cheap and abundant. Limasol pro
duces the finest muscadine wine of Cyprus, some of which has the
consistence of oil, and may be kept to a great age. The muscat wine
is a perfect liqueur, but it cannot be purchased for less than a dollar
and a half the okka.§ The Commendaria wine, so called as being

* Savary's Letters on Greece, vol. i. p. 267.

f Johnson's Travels through part of the Russian Empire and Poland, 4to. p. 3 1 2,

J Bramson's Letters, vol. i. p. 312.

§ An okka or oke is 3lbs. 2oz.

the produce of a domain belonging to the knights of Malta, is held in
the greatest estimation amongst the natives. The muscadine is a rich
dessert wine ; the Commendaria is a sweet wine improving in delicacy
and flavour in proportion to its age. Perhaps there is no country on
earth which yields such abundance of luscious fruit. The juice of the
Cyprian grape resembles a concentrated essence. The wine of this
island is famous all over the Levant, so that in the hyperbolical language
of the Greeks, it is said to possess the power of restoring youth to
age and animation to those who are at the point of death. Cyprian
wine, however, is not much relished by Englishmen on account of its
sweetness which renders it repugnant to their taste. Though a
powerful aperient, it sometimes disorders the bowels even after being
kept a number of years. When bottled for 10 or 12 years, it more
resembles Tokay than any other wine, but the Cyprians prefer keep
ing it in casks, where, although exposed to the air, it will keep for
any number of years. After having thus withstood the vicissitudes
of the season for a single year, it is supposed to have passed the
requisite proof and it then sells for three Turkish piasters the gooze or
about 21 pints for five shillings, and afterwards the price augments in
proportion to the length of time it has been kept. Commendaria of
40 years' standing in cask is -considered a balm, and is preserved on
account of its supposed restorative and healing quality for the sick
and dying. The casks are never filled, and the bung is merely covered
with a bit of sheet lead, which is almost daily removed to let customers
taste it. Upon these occasions a hollow cane or reed is immersed in
the liquor, and by suction a specimen is brought up and poured into
a glass. Both the Commendaria and Muscad are white wines ; when
quite new they have a slight violet tinge which age soon removes ;
afterwards they retain the colour of Madeira. Cyprus produces red
wines also ; but they are little esteemed and used only as weak liquors
for the table. It seems to be want of attention that prevents the reci
wine being rendered as famous as the white as it possesses all the
requisites to make it excellent. The flowers of the smilax aspara>
called in Cyprus Zulobatos, which are extremely fragrant,are immersed
in wine to give it a grateful odour.* Cyprus and Candia, when
under the government of the Venetians, supplied the greater part of
Europe with wines : Candia alone is said to have exported upwards
of two hundred thousand jars of malmsey annually. Lately, the yearly
produce was equal to 40,000 jars, or 10,000 barrels, Italian measure.
Each of these jars holds about five bottles of Florence measure. The
Venetians carry off a great deal of it, and .some is sent to France,

* Dr. Clarke's Travels in Greece, &c. vol. 4. p. 18, 19, 20,

413

England, Holland, and to different parts of Italy. It is a custom iu
Cyprus to bury large vessels of wine on the birth of a child, which
are not raised until the solemnization of its marriage, which is perhaps
upwards of twenty years after. During this period, the wine is said
to acquire an exquisite flavour, and to become a real luxury to a deli
cate palate. The Cyprians, in making wine, carry the grapes from
the terraces with shovels into limos or cellars paved with marble or
covered with cement, and obliquely inclined. They are then squeezed
as often as is necessary, in small presses called patitiri, the juice flowing
into a cistern placed at the lowest part of the floor. It is afterwards
conveyed into large earthen conical pitchers, half immersed in earth,
where it is allowed to ferment for 40 days, and then closed with a
clod of baked earth. From dried grapes an excellent spirituous liquor
is made, partly for home consumption, and partly for exportation to
Syria.

After the conquest of Cyprus by the Turks, some of the wine found
there was eighty years old ; it was sent to the seraglio as a most
valuable rarity, and it kindled in the fire and burned like oil. It is
related of the Emperor Selim II., that he conquered Cyprus on
account of its delicious wines, remarking on that occasion to Mustapha
Ms generalissimo, " I purpose to conquer Cyprus, an island which
contains a treasure that none but the King of kings ought to possess."
In Cyprus, bees are reared and the honey collected in the following
manner : — The people build a wall formed entirely of earthen cylinders
each about three feet in length, placed one above the other horizon
tally, and closed at their extremeties with mortar. This wall is then
covered with a shed, and upwards of 1,000 may thus be contained
in a very small compass. The contrivance is simple, and was doubt
less suggested by the more ancient custom still existing in the Crimea
of harbouring bees in cylindrical hives made from the bark of trees.
The hives of Egypt and Palestine are of the same form ; those of
Egypt are, according to Hasselquist, made of coal dust and clay, well
mixed together. They are about a span in diameter, and from 6 to
12 feet long. They are dried in the sun and become very hard.
Walpole, in his route from Smyrna to Halicarnassus, passed hives of
this description made of earthenware, and from 2 J to 8 feet in length.

Rhodes, the largest island of the Cyclades, is extremely fruitful,
aud luxurious in grain, fruits, and flowers ; but owing to the igno
rance, despotism, superstition, and injudicious policy of the Turks, the
interests of agriculture are entirely disregarded, and a great portion
of the land is wholly uncultivated. Rhodes, so called from rhodon,
a rose, with which this island very much abounds, was renowned for

414

the brazen Colossus, a statue of Apollo, placed over the harbour,
holding a ship in the right hand, and in the left, a light -house for the
direction of mariners. Some say it was 120 feet, others 70 cubits in
height, so that ships passed in full sail between its legs into the har
bour of the capital. After having stood 1360 years, it was thrown
down by an earthquake, and it took nine hundred camels to carry
away the fragments. The basis on which it rested was triangular,
and its extremities were supported by sixty marble pillars. A wind
ing stair-case led to its summit, from which, by the assistance of a
great looking-glass hung about its neck, one could perceive Syria, and
the vessels steering through the Levant and the JEgean seas to
Greece, Egypt. Rome, and Carthage. The vine is little attended to
by the inhabitants, though Rodwell observed bunches of Rhodian
grapes three-fourths of an ell in length, and each grape as large as a
plum. Dandini saw others of the same size at Mount Libanus, and
Pliny mentions bunches of African grapes that were larger than an
infant. Wine has latterly become an article of export.

The tyranny of the Turks over the inhabitants of the Greek
islands, rendered the possession of property precarious, and induced
many of the wealthy to appear as if they were really poor. An
anecdote is related by a late traveller in Candia, illustrative of this
fact, and which may not here be considered irrelavant. He was invi
ted to a friend's house to dine, the approach to which was so wretched,
that he anticipated nothing but the most humble fare. After passing
through several winding and dirty alleys, he was ushered into what
appeared to him a complete lumber-room, dark, smoky, and filthy, and
even without a window to let in a single ray of light. The hostess,
dressed like a cook, placed before the traveller and his companions
some three-legged stools, on which wood, meat, and tobacco appeared
to have been alternately chopped. The door being barred, in an
instant, as if by magic, the walls were curtained with the most splen
did Persian tapestry, and the apartment lighted up in the most bril
liant manner. A service of the most beautiful porcelain adorned the
table, as well as knives, forks, and spoons of silver, with elegantly gilt
decanters of polished glass, filled with the richest Cyprian wines
The dinner was sumptuous, the confectionary rich and various, and
the entertainment altogether such as would not disgrace a monarch.
Copious libations of wine terminated the repast, and in a moment, the
whole disappeared as if by the wand of a necromancer, leaving the
room in the same dismal state as on the first entrance.

In all the islands of the Archipelago, wine is made in greater or
kss quantities j and from the abundant saccharine matter of the

415

grapes, it is customary to add one-fourth, or even one-third part of
water in the process. Throughout all these islands, the method
observed in manufacturing wines is nearly the same as that which
Tournefort describes as practised in Scio : — " They plant their vines
011 the hills, and cut the grapes in August, and let them lie in the sun
to dry for seven or eight days, after which, they press them and
then leave them in tubs, the cellar being all the while closely shut.
When they would make the best wine, they mix among the black
grapes a sort of white one, which smells like a peach-kernel ; but in
preparing nectar, so called even to this day, they make use of ano
ther kind of grape, somewhat styptic, which renders it difficult to
swallow. The vineyards most in esteem are those of Mesta, from
whence the ancients had their nectar. Mesta is, as it were, the
capital of that famous quarter, called by the ancient* Ariousia.*

The wine of Scio was famous from time immemorial, and of which
Julius Ca3sar was particularly fond. It is delicate and higlily fla
voured, but will not bear a sea voyage. The figs of this island, are
of an incredible size ; but mastich is the chief object of cultivation.
There, flocks of tame partridges are said to be common : they feed in
fields and vineyards by day, and at night are called home by a
whittle, to which they invariably attend. From the fruit of the mul
berry tree, the people of Scio distil a weak but agreeable brandy ;
and from Homer's wine, another description of brandy is distilled,
which ranks much higher in public estimation. This wine, according
to Delle Valle, grows in a district excelling all the others in beauty,
aud furnishes the wine just spoken of, sometimes called Homer's
nectar, from a tradition, that this was the birth-place, or burying
ground of the great bard, and that this liquor was given to him
when he was weaned from the breast. Some, however, affirm
that Homer was interred in Nio, an island which produced a
wine held in high estimation. Scio affords various wines, of wlu'ch
the red is the most relished, and which, it is asserted, was originally
manufactured there : little is exported, the inhabitants making too
good a use of it themselves. About three miles from the capital, on
the sea-shore, is shown the spot where Homer is said to have kept
Lis school, a most enchanting and beautiful situation, reflecting great
credit on the taste of the poet. It is a rock, on which are still visible
the remains of seats cut out, and a table with a noble group of trees
close by, shading a fountain of limpid water constantly flowing from
thexocks. Here also is a spring of water, famous for its medicinal

* Vovage in the Levant, vol. i. p. 253.

416

qualities, and in such estimation, as to be transmitted in large
quantities to Constantinople, for the use of the Grand Seignior's
seraglio. A magnificent harbour appears in front, cottages lurk
amidst delicious gardens in the rere behind precipices of purple
rocks, rising in their nakedness. Here the followers of the Pro
phet enjoy the coolness of the shade, smoking their pipes, and
performing their ablutions where Mseonides was inspired/ No
stronger proof can be given of the celebrity of the wines of Scio, than
the ancient coins of the island, which have in front a sphinx, with a
bunch of grapes ; for the reverse an amphora, with other symbols of
the island's fertility.

Milo is fertile in fruit, and affords wine of a respectable character.
Paros, another of the Cyclades, is not less celebrated for its wine,
than for its marble. From this island were brought those remarkable
stones, known by the title of the Arundelian Marbles, and which have
been so interesting to antiquarians. The wine of Lemnos, or Stali-
mene, is cheap, rough, and badly made. The earth called terra sigillata,
once much esteemed for its medicinal virtues, and of which were
made the drinking-cups of the Grand Seignior, being a test of poison,
was chiefly procured from this island. The antiquities of Naxos, or
Naxia, relate almost exclusively, to the worship of Bacchus. Naxia,
was formerly renowned for a kind of marble termed Ophites, which
was speckled like the skin of a serpent, and of which drinking cups were
made. It produces wine, oranges, and lemons : the lemon-juice arid
the distillation from the lemon-rind, are sent to Russia.

In Syros or Syra, among the ancient customs still existing, the
ceremonies of the vintage are particularly conspicuous. Before sun
rise, a number of young women are seen coming towards the town,
covered with the branches and leaves of the vine, where they are met,
or accompanied by their lovers singing, and joining in a circular
dance. Tenos produces a sufficiency of wine for its own consump
tion, of which there is a small quantity of that denominated Malvasia.
In Andros, a good deal of wine is made, but very little exported,
being all consumed at home : the inhabitants are characterized as
great drunkards.

Samos produces the rich muscadine wine, formerly esteemed under
the name of Malmsey. Unlike every other wine, the sweet muscato
is best in the first year, as its fine perfume passes off in the course of
the second ; and as it grows old it becomes strong and spirituous,
like the Commendaria of Cyprus. Mead might be manufactured
here, as honey is very plentiful. The Carob-tree is reared in Samos,
and a great quantity of its fruit is sent into Russia, where it is dis-

417

tilled into a spirit, used by the common people. In Turkey, this fruit-
is used chiefly in feeding horses ; among the Romans, the carob was
the standard of a weight, as the barley-corn is with us a standard of
measure. Mycone produces a red wine, of ewhich* about five thou
sand barrels are made annually ; the quality resembles that of claret,
but the inhabitants have a mode of making different kinds ; and as
the claret sort is the most expensive, they will rather cheat than give
it genuine. When the grapes are fresh pulled, the claret flavour of
the wine is best obtained by drying the grapes in the sun ; the other
sorts, and which stand the most watering, are produced'differently :
when the grapes are too much dried, the wine becomes rather sweet.
Most of the wine made on the island of Mytileue is sold to the
Greeks, who convert it into brandy. From Tenedos, upwards of
80t),000 okes of wine are annually exported. The Turkish govern
ment farmed the revenue on this article, which commonly amounted
to 30,000 piasters, or at four shillings each, to £6,000. The Avine of
Tenedos is sent in large quantities to Constantinople, Smyrna, and
Russia ; and although not celebrated by the ancients, like the wines
of Scio and Lesbos, yet it is considered superior to that of the sur
rounding islands. According to the writers of the Universal History,
the muscato wine of Tenedos is the most delicious of all in the
Levant ; and it may be proved that this island has in all times pro
duced great abundance of good wine, sin.ce on some of its ancient
medals, is to be seen the branch of a vine, charged with grapes, a
plain indication, that it was, at a remote period, famed for this article.*
The brandy made from it is reckoned very good, and the little that
is exported pays about four paras, or four-fifths of a penny per oke.
The wine of Tenedos will keep from 14 to 16 years; after that it
loses its red colour and becomes white, but retains its strength and
flavor to a much longer period. Good wine of Tenedos not only excels
every other wine of Greece, but, perhaps, cannot be equalled in
Europe. The red wine is strong, and as dark and rough as port ; a
small quantity of muscadel is made and much esteemed. The red
muscadel sells at eight paras, or four-pence the okc ; the white at
thirty. There is an export duty on wine of two paras the oke, and
rakee, the common raw spirits, pays four paras the oke ; a large tax is
levied on the vineyards : — from the Greeks, eleven paras, or 5-|d.

* Hobhousc, in his account of his Journey through Albania, &c., with Lord
Byron in 1809-10, alluded to these medals, and refers to a " Catalogue of Coirs
of the Grecian Commonwealth, chiefly out of Goltzius, in Walker on coins and
medals, p. 43, London, 1G92." Vid. Hobhousc, vol. ii. p. G74.

E 2

418

are taken for every thousand vines ; from the Turks only five paras
are taken. In 1829, the wine sold for l^d. a quart.

The Russians draw a considerable supply of wines from Santorin,
(the ancient Thera,) one of the most esteemed of which is vino santo.
This is sold at the vintage for three or four paras the oke, or one
penny per bottle, and is made from white grapes. The vine-growers
expose the grapes to the sun for seven or eight days, spread on the
terraces, or flat roofs of the houses ; they are then pressed, or trodden
in a vat, and the liquor is put into casks, and carefully bunged up till the
fermentation ceases. It soon becomes a sweet and luscious wine,
and is exported from the island to the amount of 1,000,000 of okes.
Some brandy is made, but the quantity is inconsiderable.*

The island of Skopelos, which lies south of Salonica, produces
grapes of good quality, and its wine has been long in repute, and is
preferable to many contine ntal wines of Greece. The inhabitants make
a cake from the must of wine, boiled with a certain proportion of flour,
which forms a paste of an agreeable flavour. This cake, in its com
position, is said to resemble the mustaceum, or bride-cake of the
Romans. Dr. Holland conjectures that this island is the ancient
Peparethos, the excellence of its wines being alluded to by various
writers, and particularly by Pliny, who maintains that the Physician
Apollodorus recommended its use to Ptolemy, adding that it was not
agreeable till it had been kept six years.

Of all the grapes cultivated in Turkey in Europe, there are none
which excel that of Corinth; it has fewer stones, is more juicy than
the common grape, and is in great request. It is said to have been
brought to the Morea, from Naxia, about the year 1580, although no
plant of that kind is at present in that island. This species of vine
now abounds in Patras, along the coast of Achaia, as well as in the
Ionian islands. A dry, light, and flinty soil seems the best adapted
to its culture, while a thick, moist, and close earth seems uncongenial
to its nature, whence it is alleged that a flinty soil, mixed with a
sufficient quantity of clay, is best calculated to yield the best vine
yards. Wrench vines flourish best in a southern or eastern aspect,
and prefer the hills to the plains, while the Corinthian vines, on the
contrary, prefer the plains to the hills, and though they delight in
being sheltered on the south, yet they regard a westerly situation,
beyond every other, and the vicinity of the sea to mountains and
wild prospects.

The process observed in the cultivation of the Corinthian vine

Olivier 's Travels through the Ottoman Empire, vol. 11. p. 259.

419

does not appear to differ much from that observed 2,000 years ago,
as described in the writings of Coluniella. In laying out a vineyard,
the slips are cut and planted in December, and procured from the
finest vines of a neighbouring district; those taken from the adjoining
vineyards never succeeding to any extent. In the greater part of Greece ,
the vines are permitted to creep unrestrained along the ground, and
to make use of each other for support. The Corinthian vines bear from
the seventh year, but their chief produce does not commence till the
twelfth ; they usually last from eighty to one hundred years. Like
the tobacco, which withers beneath the gnawings of a worm peculiar
to itself, the Corinthian vine has a vital enemy in a worm called
Scatari. During the winter, it lives on the roots, and in the summer
ascends the branches and consumes the young buds, with its double
saw and strong forceps. Its life is short, as it comes forth and dies in
the same year ; like a true wine-bibber, it fattens and expires in its
own gluttony : hence the adage so current in the Morea, " that glut
tons die of dropsy as the Scatari does." The gathering of the
grapes in the vintage is performed by women, with small knives bent
at the point. These grapes are dried, pressed, preserved, and
exported to different parts. A very fine species of brandy is made
from them by the Jews, in different places of the Turkish empire.

In the Morea, the vine is cultivated, and wine forms a consider
able portion of the exports of the country. The Malmsey, for which
Greece was once celebrated, has long become extinct. A sweetish
red wine is made at Horraa, which, according to Lake, has more
body and a richer flavour, than any wine he met with in the Morea.
Pliny, Theoplirastus, and ./Elian concur in reporting, that this wine
had the property of making men mad and women fruitful.

Vineyards are numerous in the neighbourhood of Mantinraa, and the
wine is made by treading the grapes with the feet, the liquor running
into a cistern, from whence, after fermentation, it is carried by the
customary usage in skins to Tripolizza. It is a small light-coloured
wine, to which resin, and often lime, is added. During the vintage,
the labourers have an allowance of bread and wine, with fifty paras a
day, for their support and trouble. The wines are generally stored in
vaults or cellars, most of which are of great magnitude. At Megaspilio,
there is a fine convent, which is said to be one of the earliest monastic
foundations in Greece. One of the barrels in its cellar contains one
hundred and sixty loads of wine, each load being two goats' skins,
which, calculating at 8 gallons the skin, amounts to 2,560 gallons.
Notwithstanding the influence of Islamism, the Greeks indulge in
the use of wine and brandy, which is in general consumption— even

420

the Turks themselves partake freely of these liquors. Spencer, one
of the latest travellers through Turkey, says, that every day during
his residence in Constantinople, he saw as many drunkards, as he had
ever seen in any city of Christendom ; while at marriages and fune
rals in the Morea, the social howl is handed round as in other parts
of Europe.

The medium annual average of grapes in the Morea may
be estimated at 10,000,0001bs., and the sales may be reckoned at
8,000,0001bs., at about l^d. per pound. A description of the mode
of drying and preserving the Corinthian grapes may not be uninter
esting : At one end of the vineyard is a floor in a sloping direction,

to allow rain or moisture of any kind to run off. The bottom of the
floor is of earth, so well beaten as to present a glittering surface, hard
and smooth like marble. This is effected by a mixture of cow-dung,
bullocks' blood, and straw tempered in water. This finely-polished
surface prevents the earth from mixing with the grapes, and as it reflects
the heat, dries the fruit the more speedily, which is spread on its sur
face bunch by bunch, care being taken to turn them every twenty-
four hours. In a good season, tenor twelve days are the usual period
of drying, but in a rainy season, twenty or thirty days are required.
The stones are taken from the dried grapes by means of small rakes
made of the stalks of the Lixivium Africanum of Linnaeus, and, when
properly cleansed, and separated from every thing extraneous, they
are conveyed to magazines called serails, which are buildings of a
peculiar construction. They are sealed hermetically, having only
two entrances, one above and another below, in the former of which
the grapes are .thrown, until the magazine is completely filled. In a
short time, they become so compressed by their own weight, as well
as by other means, that a small viscous liquor is exuded, which unites
them so closely, that it afterwards requires a shovel with an iron
point to detach pieces from the mass, when they want to pack them
in casks for exportation. It is only at the time of sale that the bot
tom door is opened. There is occasionally a pleasant wine extracted
from the Corinthian grape, which is as strong and sharp as brandy ;
but the quantity it yields is so small, that few vine-holders will sacri
fice their grapes, by submitting them to the press for so unprofitable
a purpose.*

Mount Parnassus, in Li vadia, is, whenever practicable, planted with
vines, and the wines of this district are of excellent quality, particu
larly those made from the grapes on the southern side : of these the

Seaujour's Commerce of Greece, Letter viii.

vineyards of Arracovia arc the most remarkable. These arc
managed with as much skill as any of the plantations on the Rhine.
The plants are all old stocks, from which one scion only is suffered
to grow for the year, and which are afterwards pruned again. Walls
are built to protect the ground from being washed down the steep
declivities by torrents, which present the appearance of terraces ;
and the views from these are highly picturesque and sublime, owing
to their great elevation. The Vale of Tempe produces wine resem
bling Claret, which is considered to possess a much better flavour
than any in Greece. On entering Pergetos, Dr. Holland saw four
or five stills at work by the side of the road ; the materials of distil
lation being the raisins of the country, the spirit of which is used to
a considerable extent in every part of the Morea.

In Albania, Macedonia, Epirus, and Thessaly, there are vineyards
of considerable extent and prosperity, which the Grand Seignior
encourages, on account of the advantages which they yield to the
revenue. The vine is cultivated in the valleys below the town of
Metzovo, in Albania, but their wine is thin, poor, and strongly
impregnated with turpentine — an ingredient considered necessary for
its preservation. In Greece and other parts of Turkey, wine is con
veyed from one place to another in skins, made secure by a resinous
preparation, which, from incorporating with the fluid, gives it a disa
greeable flavour. Some allege that this resinous odour makes it a
better stomachic, and tends to its preservation. From the Pinus
Maritima^ a resin is collected, used throughout Attica and other
places, to preserve tho wine from becoming acid, and is employed in
the proportion of an oke and half to twenty okes of wine. From
this it has been conjectured, that the pine-cone was rendered sacred
to Bacchus. To the worship of Bacchus the drama is supposed to
owe its origin, and the principal theatre in Athens was dedicated to
him. In the days of Lysicrates, the theatre was, in some respects,
more hallowed than the temple, and the exhibitions given there were in
honour of the gods, particularly of Bacchus.

At Kirk Iklisie, an inspissated juice is made from bruised grapes,
and which is a common marketable article in Constantinople. It is
usually formed into rolls about a yard in length, containing walnut
kernels. Persons fond of sweet-meats are very partial to this mixed
preparation. The whole trade of Kirk Iklisie consists in the sale of
this conserve, together with wine and corn. The wine is of a bright
gold colour, tinged with violet, very pleasing to the eye, and like
Champagne in flavour, but having a greater degree of strength. If

422

properly managed, it might rank among the choicest wines.*
The district of Boaotia furnishes very good wine, that of Orcho-
menus in particular, is considered equal to hock, having a flavour
somewhat similar, but possessing less acidity, while it is as clear as
spring-water.

The soil in the vicinity of Salonica is very favourable to the nur
ture of the vine, and from the exports of this port an idea may be
formed of the agriculture of that and the surrounding country. The
annual average quantity exported has been estimated at 1,000,000
kilos of wheat, 500,000 of barley, and 100,000 of Indian corn, the
kilo weighing about 551bs., and being from 5 to 6^ piasters in value.
Honey is so very easily obtained in Greece and many other parts
of European Turkey, that mead might be made an article of consi
derable importance in trade, and also a wholesome cooling beverage
preferable to most of the adulterated wines. The honey to be met
with at Athens is procured from Mount Hymettus ; it is quite trans
parent and of a tough consistency, so that the dish containing it may
be inverted without spilling, and the surface, if indented with a knife,
will yield to the impression like a mass of dough. As an article of
food, it is considered very heating, and sometimes causing fever.
This effect has been attributed by Dr. Clarke to the peculiarity of
the flowers on the mountain on which the bees feed. These are
chiefly wild thyme, tliymus serpyllum, salvia pomifera, and salvia
verbascum. The ancients believed that bees were first bred in Mount
Hymettus, and that all other bees were but colonies from this moun
tain ; so that the primeval breed may still exist among the numerous
wild stocks which inhabit the nollow trees and clefts of the rocks.
To the flowers of the Satureia Capitata is owing the celebrity of the
honey gathered on the mountains of Pendeli and Hymettus ; indeed,
most of the honey of Attica is drawn from the flowers of this plant.
Galen speaks of it as the favourite food of bees. Attic honey is, still
in high estimation, and presents of it are sent to Constantinople. The
honey of Lebadea, or Livadia, in Bceotia, is conveyed to the Grand
Seignior's seraglio ; but is much inferior to the Athenian honey,
which is as clear as crystal, and so solid that it may be cut with a
knife. In the Morea are many apiaries, the produce of which is of
the finest quality, and equal to the honey of Hymettus, hut much paler
in colour. From Mani and Bardhunia are annually exported 10,000
okes of honey to Constantinople, Candia, and the other islands. To

Vide Clark's Travels in Greece. Frankland's Tour to and from Constanti
nople in 1827-8, 2 vols. 8vo. vol. i, p. 70;

423

the south of St. Angelo, in the Morea, stands Cerigo, anciently Cythera,
which is celebrated as the birth-place of Venus. In this island, honay
is a staple commodity : in 1811, it contained no less that 1280 bee
hives, producing honey of prime quality. For a table of the exports
and imports, see the Addenda.

In the northern provinces of Turkey, a good deal of spirits is manu
factured. At Zara, the capital of Dalmatia, is distilled from the
Marasca or Amarma cherry (so called from its bitter taste), that liquor
or liqueur denominated Maraschino, so celebrated through Europe.
This liquor is consumed to great extent along the coasts of the Adri
atic. To the essential oil of the nut or stone of the Marasca or Ama-
rasca, when ground and brought over in the still, this drink is said to
owe its exquisite flavour.* There is also made among the islands on
the coast of Dalmatia an excellent kind of brandy called rakia., which
is drawn from the husks of the grape mixed with aromatics. About
two thousand Venetian barrels of this spirit are manufactured, one
year with another, at the town of Pago, in the island of that name.
These the inhabitants principally export to Italy and Venice.

The white wines of the Moldavian mountains are considered deli
cious. The slopes of the hills are covered with vines, which produce
wines in such abundance that large quantities are sent into Russia and
Transylvania. The severity of the winter, instead of proving inju
rious to their wine, is turned to good account, as it is exposed in large
butts to the open air. As soon as its watery particles become frozen,
they are perforated with a hot iron, by which means the vinous part
being higlily concentrated is drawn off, and equals that of Hungary
in strength and flavour. To this practice of freezing wine, Ovid, in
his letter to Vestalis at Rome, makes allusion, and lamenting the situ
ation he was in during his exile, bitterly complains, that not only the
Euxine was frozen, but even the wine that he was to drink. Virgil
also notices the freezing of wine, when describing the misery and
hardship of a Scythian winter : —

" The brazen cauldrons with a frost are flawed.
The garment, stiff with ice, at heart is thawed :
With axes first they cleave the wine, and thenc^
By weight the solid portions they dispense/'f

Wine is made in such quantities as to be exported. It forms also
an object of public revenue, and an excellent brandy is distilled from
it. Bees are reared in great numbers ; the hives are formed in the
trunks of trees, which are hollowed for that purpose. Those hives

* Vide the Abbe Fords' Travels in Dalmatia, p. 291, also Cadell's Journey in
Carniola, Italy, and France, p. 18.
f Georg. B. iii. v. 364.

424

intended to be preserved till the next year, are kept in cellars covered
carefully with straw to protect them from the inclemency of the wea
ther. Mead is manufactured, hut to no great extent, as the honey is
chiefly exported to Constantinople and the. wax to Venice and Vienna.
These matters form a very valuable article of trade, but, contrary to
the practice in Great Britain, a duty is charged on the bees and not
on the manufacture. This impost amounts on an average to £50,000
annually.

In the neighbourhood of Jassy and the adjoining country, there
are vineyards producing an abundance of grapes, the wine of which,
for the most part, is consumed in Poland. It is reported by a late
traveller, that the wine of the environs of Patnar is, without exception,
one of the most generous wines of Europe, and not surpassed even
by the best Tokay. When kept in a good cellar for three years, it
is as strong as brandy, and three glasses of it are said to make a man
drunk. It is of a green colour, and becomes deeper in proportion to
its age.

The quantity of wine made in Wallachia has been estimated at
eleven millions of piasters annually ; notwithstanding this, the mer
chants of this province are obliged to import from other countries to
the amount of nearly six millions of piasters for home consumption,
while they export to Russia a kind of wine called Tokchany. At
Schumla,a principal article of commerce with the interior is wine, and
at Rustchuk, a trade in wine is carried on with Vienna.

Since the introduction of the vine into Hungary by the Emperor
Probus, in the third century, the culture of the grape has continued
to be an object of great importance, not only there, but throughout
the whole of the German empire. Previous to that time, Germany
was without vines, and so meanly did the Romans think of the coun
try, that they even doubted whether fruit could grow in such a soil
and climate. That the vine was unknown while Hungary was under
the dominion of the Hims, is certain, since in the verses of a Chinese
princess who was married to a Tanjouor Hungarian chief, she laments
that sour milk was her only drink, raw flesh her only food, and a tent
her only palace. At the time of Attila's conquests in the fifth cen
tury, wine, it appears, was a common beverage, as it is spoken of with
much familiarity on the occasion of the feasts given to that monarch
as described by Gibbon.* But as to the exact period of its introduc
tion, it is not perhaps a matter of such importance, as the success with
which the plant has been cultivated, it having met with nearly equal
encouragement to that which it has experienced in any other portion
of Europe. The common mode of planting the vine is scarcely ever

* Decline and Fall, &c. vol. vi. chap. 34, pp. 77-78.

425

more than from four to five feet high. This method of planting is
considered favourable to extensive produce, but not to goodness of
quality. Were the sap, by a different treatment of growth, permitted
to ascend through higher and more numerous ramifications of the
branches, it would cause, it is conceived, a greater delicacy in the
fruit and prevent that harsh, acid, and watery taste, which is attri
buted to many of the Rhenish wines where a similar culture is observed.
To this practice also, it may be recollected, has been attributed the
sourish and earthy taste of the Cape wines, as noticed when treating
of that colony.

The produce of the wine districts of Hungary alone, has been esti
mated by Schwaitner at 18,000,000 eimers, which is more than one-
half of the whole vintage of Austria and its provinces, calculated by
Blumenbach at 32,873 eimers, or 2,522,955 pipes of 126 gallons each.
The principal vineyards are those of Ofen, Pesth, Tokay, Gross war
den, Erlau, Werchetzs, Honthu, CEdenburgh, Rusth, &c. with the
Syrmien wines and the red wine of Menes. Schwaitner computes
the annual value of Hungarian wines to be 110,000,000 florins, or
289,300,000 francs. The wines made at the vineyards from Pres-
burgh to beyond Posing, are considered excellent, and known by the
name of St. George.

Great as the quantity of wine yielded by these vineyards may
appear, it is said to be equal to no more than one-sixth part of what
France affords. The consumption of wine in Hungary is very consi
derable, but it scarcely exceeds the export, as may be inferred from
the commercial tables of Austria Proper in 1807, from which it appears
that among the goods exported were —

Common Tokay wine, 2813 casks, worth 168,780 florins

Tokay Ausbruch, worth 10,800

Other kinds of Ausbruch, 124 eimers, worth 3,720

Common Hungarian wine, 39,077 eimers, 474,462

So great is the encouragement given to the sale of the produce of
the country, that the emperor, in 1804, forbade the use of foreign
wine at his table. The most celebrated wine of the empire is Tokay,
which has continued to maintain its character since the thirteenth
century ; and is among other wines as is the pine-apple among fruits.

This delicious wine takes its name from an inconsiderable town of
Hungary, around which are vineyards extending over a country about
twenty miles in diameter from Szanto to Tolesva. The vineyards in
the vicinity of the mountains bear the name of Hegallya or Submon-
tine, by which the wine itself is sometimes denominated. Those
plantations are superintended with a care and assiduity unequalled in

426

any other part of Europe, displaying a regularity and neatness which
give to each the appearance more of a flower-garden than of a vine
yard. The plants are supported by upright props at measured dis
tances, leaving ample space for an approach to each, while proper
shelter is provided to guard the young plants during the winter.
The vintage takes place late in October, by which time the fruit
arrives at the greatest possible maturity : even some of the grapes
are partly dried on the trees. Much depends on the season for the
quality and quantity of the produce, should unhealthy dews or pre
mature frosts set in , the vintage must be unproductive in proportion.
In gathering the grapes, those thoroughly dried are separated from
such as are nearly ripe, while all the damaged sorts are cast aside,
thereby preventing any unpleasant taste or flavour to characterize the
wine. Of the Hegallya there are four or five varieties, which are
studiously kept separate ; the ripe grapes are pressed by themselves
from which the ordinary sort of wine consumed in the country is
produced, being in general sweet and strong in body. The
description of Tokay, which is chiefly made for foreign consumption,
is made from a mixture of half-dried grapes with the common kind.
This juice, which is very rich and luscious, forms the basis of those
two celebrated wines termed Tokay Ausbruch and Tokay Maslas-
The half-dried grapes are piled together, which, from their own weight,
cause the flow of a thick sweet sirup, commonly called Tokay essence.
After this, a slight pressure is made on the heap by which there is an
increase of juice ; care, however, being taken not to permit any par
ticles of the fruit to be carried with it, lest they might injure the
flavour. The juice thus obtained is mixed in a certain proportion
with that of the common grape pressed in a hogshead with holes in
the bottom, so that none of the gross matter is suffered to be incor
porated with the liquor : this mixture, after undergoing fermentation,
yields the prime Ausbruch. The Maslas is obtained by mixing juice
prepared from the residue of the half-dried grapes with the common
wine, both that which is procured by treading, and that winch is had
from the press. The Tokay wines are of different colours ; those of
a straw colour, having a greenish tinge, are accounted the best. Some
are clear, others thick and turbid ; the latter sort is often very excel
lent. Poland affords a ready market for Hungarian wines, where the
best description of them is to be procured, from the length of time
they are preserved. In the vicinity of Tokay, good old wines are to
be had for a ducat or twelve francs the bottle, while in Poland, they
are sold according to their age at from two to five ducats the bottle ;
and at Vienna, they rate at £12 sterling the dozen. At the late Duke

427

of Queensbury's sales^ some years since, Tokay was knocked down at
£150 per dozen, or about one guinea a glass. It is a prevailing notion
that real Tokay is to be had from those vineyards only which are in the
possession of the Emperor of Austria ; but this is now considered ail
erroneous opinion arising from a compliment to the monarch ; as it is
well known that from the vineyards in possession of the nobles and
other land-owners, wine equally excellent is produced. On the whole,
it is generally acknowledged, that the wines of Tokay are superior to
those of any other country in the world. Hungary abounds with
luscious wines made after the manner of Tokay, both white and red.
The wine manufactured at Menes, on the borders of Transylvania,
vies with that of Tokay. It is of red colour, sweet and strong, having
a most delicious flavour ; but in this and in many other things, a name
often conveys a meaning of superiority when not justly merited
Having been thus minute in describing the manufacture of wine of
such celebrity as that of Tokay, it may not be uninteresting to give
the method of making the common wines in Hungary, as well as in
other parts of the German empire.

When the season arrives for gathering the grape, all the wine
presses and the casks, both new and old, are carefully cleansed with
boiling water, or sometimes with boiling wine, or a decoction of the
vine-leaf. Every thing being prepared, the labourers, accompanying
their work with songs, or cheered by the well-known music of the
bagpipe, commence the vintage. The vine-gatherers stand in varied
ranks ; women and children, young and old, freeing the vines from
their bonds, and collecting the grapes into the wooden troughs, or
pales, which they carry with them ; behind them follows weinzedler,
watching that no grapes are left ungathered. The men collect from
each the grapes that have been gathered, and carry them in tubs to the
persons employed to prepare the must, who throw the grapes into a vessel
for the purpose, and beat them with large sticks. This vessel has a
double bottom, the upper one of which is pierced with holes, so that
the juice which is pressed out escapes through it ; and when the
upper part is full, the grapes are emptied into the wine-press, or, if
they are to be carried from the place, into a cask set in a frame.
The gathering is generally divided into two parts, the white and the
red ; for the white wine, all white and rose-coloured grapes are
taken, the mouldy and rotten are seldom rejected, but all bruised
together, and placed without delay upon the press, and the expressed
juice is immediately put into casks. In the Rhinegau, the vessels
usually hold eight ohms, or 346 gallons ; and they are made thus
spacious, under the impression that the greater the body collected, the

428

better for the fermentation and quality of the wine. This made
the wine-growers emulous of each other, in the size of their vessels :
hence the cause of those enormous tuns built in different parts of
Germany. The Tun of Heidelberg, which stands in a cellar, under
the Elector's Castle, is 33 feet in altitude, 24 feet in diameter at the
bottom, and contains 800 hogsheads, or 50,400 gallons.* On the
top of the tun is a platform and balustrade, the ascent to which is by
a stair-case of 50 steps. It is adorned with vines, grapes, glasses,
large festoons, and other devices, in basso-relievo, with a number of
apophthegms in the German language. This tun was broken to pieces
by the French, in 1693, but rebuilt in 1729; it was usually filled
with tlie wine, termed vin du Neckar, the produce of grapes which
grow on both sides of the mountain. Mrs. Trollope, in her late visit
to Heidelberg, seems to think that this tun is vastly inferior to
Meux's great vat.f The tun at Konigstein, made in 1725, though
less celebrated, holds 3709 eimers, exceeding that of Heidelberg by
609 eimers, or 49 hogsheads. The approach to it is by a staircase of
32 steps, a smaller tun is suspended within the large one, which is
34 feet deep, and 24 feet wide. The top is railed round, and affords
space for nearly twenty persons to regale themselves at a time.
Cups are preserved for the use of visitants, and the Latin inscription,
which graces the head of this enormous cask, welcomes the traveller
to exhilarate himself freely, according to the dignity of the vessel,
and drink to the prosperity of the whole universe. At Griiningen,
near Halberstadt, is a tun 30 feet long, by 18 feet deep ; and at
Tubingen is a cask 24 feet long and 16 feet deep. When a vintage
is great and the press small, the bruised grapes are often put into
sacks and trodden under foot. The husks are brought from these
sacks to the press, and what remains after pressure is put into vessels,
where they are kept to be distilled into brandy. The red grapes are
gathered precisely in the same way as the white, only having been
bruised, they are put not immediately into the press, but into large
vats, where they undergo a kind of fermentation .J

Respecting Hungarian wines, Dr. Clarke justly observes, that " the
opinions of different individuals are so opposite, that one traveller
will probably condemn what another has extolled ; perhaps, there
fore, the best judgment may be afforded by comparison. The finest
wine of Tokay is very like that of Cyprus ; it has the same sweet
ness j and it is also characterised by that slight effervescence, from

Chauchard's Germany, 4to. Chaptal on Wines,
f Belgium and Western Germany, vol. i. p. 325.
J Hungarian Miscell. Ap. Bright's Travels.

429

which the Commendaria of Cyprus is nevqr exempt. To com
pare it with other preparations brewed by English housewives, it
is something like Mead, or very luscious old raisin wine ; and we there
fore pronounce it bad. The wines of Buda we thought were better,
because they have more of a resinous flavour. But nothing is more
likely than that the very reasons we have now urged, in affirming
the bad quality of genuine Tokay, may be considered by others as
proofs of its excellence.*" On the whole, if the wines of Hungary are
not found to be so palatable to our taste, it is, perhaps, owing to the
custom of drinking the wines of Spain. Portugal, and France, not to
any inferiority in the wines of this country. Having scarcely any
beer, and the waters of Hungary being generally impregnated with
minerals, wine is, therefore, made in great abundance, and for the rea
sons just given, the inhabitants have every inducement. It is a prac
tice in the Bannat for every nobleman to keep on his grounds an inn
to sell wine to the miners.f In Temesvar, the capital, red Tokay
may be procured for two florins a pint, while the native wine is cheap
and good.

In Hungary, though brandy is distilled from the grape, yet the dis
tillation of a species of it from potatoes is carried on to considerable
extent. An excellent brandy is likewise made from plums, fermented
and treated nearly in the same manner as peaches in America.
Were agriculture in Hungary on a level with that in other countries,
the produce would be immense. Oats, barley, rye, sarrazan, or
buck-wheat, grow most abundantly in Sclavonia, Transylvania, and
Croatia, and wherever the height of the mountains, or the diversity
of the forests, does not affect the temperature. In good years
they export upwards of six millions of bushels of wheat into the
neighbouring countries. Millet and rice are also cultivated, as wrell
as maize ; and in Transylvania, maize is the main article of suste
nance, while rye is grown for the purposes of distillation.
From elder-berries, when properly fermented, a pleasant and whole
some wine is made, and a pure and strong spirit is distilled from
them.

Hungary, in fact, may be said to afford, in its various districts, all
the beverages which promote the comforts and contribute to the
luxury of the human race. Its grain, fruits, and vegetables, all yield
their several proportions ; and the vineyards are computed to pro
duce from 18 to 20,000,000 eimers, (fifteen gallons each,) of various

* Clarke's Travels, vol. via. p. 405.

f Travels through the Bannat, Let. xi. p. 97.

430

sorts of wine ; while the brandy distilled from the grape and the
plum, (the latter termed Slivovitza,) is of enormous extent.

In the beautiful valleys formed in many parts of the Croatian
mountains, the vine flourishes exuberantly ; the valley of Vinodol,
adjacent to Ezirquenicza, takes its name from the number of vine
yards with which it is crowned, and the wine made there resembles
Champagne. The wines produced in the northern and eastern dis
tricts are said to be of great strength and excellent flavour ; some are
thought to rival the best Burgundy. It has been computed, that in
the whole of Croatia, there are not less than 28,000 acres occupied
as vineyards, yielding 160,000 seaux of wine. Plums being the
most common fruit of the country, there is a very favourite spirit,
termed Schliwowitza, distilled from it, which is in general use, as also
a liquor made from pears and barberries, which latter is used instead
of wine. Honey is obtained in considerable quantities, and is, toge
ther with the wax, chiefly exported. The wine manufactured there
is not sufficient for the consumption of the inhabitants ; the imports
of this article are principally from Dalmatia, and annually average
800,000 florins. At Fiume, one of the principal cities, 1,GOO eimers
of liqueurs are manufactured yearly, which are mostly consumed in
the Austrian dominions.

Although the Croats are generally poor, yet they go to great
expense in their marriage and funeral ceremonies, the anniversary of
a saint, or the baptism of a child. An entertainment on one of these
occasions will last for several weeks, and will cost more than would
support a family for half a year.

In the German districts bordering on the Rhine, the vine is culti
vated to considerable extent, and the vines are of every variety. No
ingenuity is wanting to promote its growth, as well on the barren
rocks, as in the valleys. Opposite to the village of Remagen, on the
road from Bonn to Coblentz, is a vineyard containing 200 acres, on a
singularly picturesque, basaltic hill, called Erpeler Ley. This was
once a barren rock, and it was planted by setting each plant in a
separate basket, filled with earth and grass, and then placed in the
cavities and interstices of the rock ; and thus the place became, in a
few years, beautifully clothed and ornamented with luxurious vines.
The heavy impost on wines in this quarter has rendered the article
rather unsaleable, and instead of proving advantageous to the govern
ment, it has pressed heavily on the agriculturists. This duty rates at
one rix-thaler on every 160 bottles; hence the owner, being seldom
able to pay the taxation before he can remove the wine from the eel-
lar, is deprived of the benefit of a ready and profitable market ; and

431

in consequence; the wines of one vintage are seldom removed, till
they are intermingled with those of another. The Moselle wines
are superior to the Rhenish, less injurious to the stomach, and more
easily preserved, but, like many other impositions, the name of this
valuable wine is often attached to a spurious or inferior article. The
various windings of the Rhine (termed the father of wine,) present
romantic, sublime scenery, which in many places is heightened by the
abundance of vines that adorn the surface. Near the town of Ober-
wesel, on the right bank of the river stands the perpendicular rock of
Rostein, which, by means of terraces, bears vines to the very summit,
that afford a wine equally esteemed, and ranking with the best
Rhenish. The cultivation of the vine, it is to be regretted, is not so
profitable on the Rhine, as one might be led to expect. Its produce
and sale are of rather a precarious nature, being a commodity of
luxury, not of necessity ; and if not of a commanding quality, will
scarcely obtain a price sufficient to pay rent and labour. This remark*
however, is not to be understood as applicable to the whole of the
wine districts, for where a moderate duty is charged, and the quality
of the drink superior, there is always a ready consumption. In some
places, the wines bring, even on the spot, from five to six florins the
bottle.

The king of Prussia encourages the wine-growers on the Rhine,
by giving a preference to their liquor, which makes it have a general
consumption in that kingdom. One district, called the Rhinegau,
may be said to be an extensive vineyard, being a succession of undu
lating hills, completely covered with rich verdure, and forming an
amphitheatre truly enchanting, the vines of which obtain a celebrity
in proportion to their aspect and position. The vineyards of the
Duke of Nassau, called the Steinberger Cabinet, produce wine, now
more estimable than that of Johannesberg, in the same neighbourhood.
The hill of Johannesberg contains about 55 acres, and is the property
of Prince Metternich ; it produces about 25 butts of wine, each con
taining 1,300 bottles, bringing at an average 28,000 florins. Of this
wine, the Emperor of Austria gets a tithe for his own immediate use.
This vineyard was in full bearing upwards of a century ago, and the
vintage is generally a week or two later than in any other part of the
Rhinegau ; the grapes are permitted to fall, from their extreme ripe
ness, and are gathered by means of wooden forks continued for the
purpose. Prince Metternich has an old-fashioned castle on this hill,
once the religious cloister of St. John, under which there are cellars of
most capacious and singular construction, in which the wine is deposited.

The Bacchanalian paradise, denominated the Rhinegau, extends along

432

the right bank of the Rhine to Lorich, several leagues below Ding-en,
and, from time out of mind, has been renowned for its superior vines.
This district was presented by an old Carlovingian king to an Arch
bishop of Mayence, and a remnant of the rampart and ditch, with
which it was surrounded, is yet visible at Biberich. Writers have
remarked, that the right bank of the Rhine is much more fruitful than
the left, which is accounted for by the direction in which the river
runs, exposing that bank to the southern sun, while the left is kept
comparatively barren by the winds from the north, and scarcely any
of the celebrated wines are made on the left side of that river. The
Rhinegau is divided into superior and inferior cantons, relatively to
the excellence of their wines — the former contain the villages on the
heights — the latter, those on the banks of the river. The strongest
wines are said to be made on the most elevated situations, the most
wholesome on those of moderate height, while the wine of the low
grounds is sour, and requires keeping. In travelling through this dis
trict, the eye is delighted with the undulating landscape, presenting
vine-covered slopes, spotted by white country houses, villas, and
steeples — villages and ruined convents resting in the valleys, which,
contrasted with the black purple aspect of the rocks and with the deli
cate green of the vines, gives a mellow, luxuriant richness to the
scenery. A bacchanalian might be supposed to drink intoxication
from the prospect : — every thing having a blushing vinous colour.

The vineyards of Grafenberg }jjield as choice a vintage, and pro
duce as good wines, as any on the banks of the Rhine, and superior
tD those of the Moselle. The Rhine wines constitute a distinct order
of themselves. They are drier than the French white-wines, and
characterized by a delicate flavour, and an aroma quite peculiar, and
which should be reckoned sourness by the uninitiated. In the Aus
trian states, the wines are almost all of an inferior quality, being sharp
and often entirely acid. The Hock, or Hochheimer, is a Mayn wine,
and derives its name from the village Hochheim, which is situated
above Mentz, on the banks of the Mayn. Riesbeck tells us, that the
vineyards here belong to the chapter of Mentz, and that the
Dean enjoyed the revenue of it. This wine, although it still has
a good character, is considered inferior to the best wines of the
Rhinegau, and, in Riesbeck's opinion, was the only wine in Germany
which he found to be without any sour taste.* Hock wine is of such
strength and body, that a tea-spoon full of it has been known to
flavour a large tumbler of water. The vineyards which produce this

Baron Riesbeck's Travels through Germany, vol. ii. p. 319.

433

wine, are on a little hill consisting of about eight acres, and so situated,
that they seem to court the influence of the sun, and are protected by
the town from the northen blasts. Every one contains about four
thousand vine-plants, valued at a ducat each, and this little spot pro
duces in a good year, upwards of twelve large casks of wine, bringing,
as soon as made, nearly £150 a cask. This place has been rendered
remarkable by Buonaparte making a present of it to General
Kellerman.

Frankfort is the great mart for the sale of Rhenish wine, which
consists of two sorts, red and white ; the former the stronger of the
two. The white wines are distinguished by their particular proper
ties, or by the places where they grow. According to the former
classification, those of Nierstein, Markobrunner, Steinberg, Rudes-
heim, Bingen, and Bacharach, are the strongest, and have more
body. Those of Schlossberg, (Johannisberger,) Steinberg, Geissen-
heim, Rothenberger, and Hochheim, are the most endowed with
aroma and perfume, and of moderate strength. Lastly, those of Lau-
benheim, Asmannshausen, (red) Bischteim, are the most agreeable, pos
sess a most delightful flavour, with a requisite degree of perfume, and
are the most wholesome of all the Rhenish wines.

The wine Bacharach has been celebrated from the earliest period.
The Romans called that place Bacchi ara, (the altar of Bacchus) ;
and Pope ^Eneas Sylvius used to import a tun of it to Rome every
year, and the Emperor Vinceslus was so fond of it that he sold the
citizens of Nuremberg their freedom, for four casks annually. Near
Worms, on the road towards Mayence, stands the gothic monastery
of Leibe Frau, (the Dear Virgin,) noted for the excellence of its
wine, denominated by way of eminence, Liebfraun-Milch, (the
Virgin's Milk,) the produce of the Tokay grape being of a peculiar
and delicate flavour, and almost as colourless as water.

The several sorts of wines in the Rhinegau and other districts along
the Rhine, take their names from the respective places from which
they are produced, being as follows : —

Hellenberg, f ^ Asmanrihausen and

Hinterhauser,* \ / Rihlesheim.

Rodlanberg,

Kapellgartcn, j near Gcissenhcim.
Rothenberger, (

Schlossberg, at Johannisberg.

Markobrunner, at Hattenheim.

Steinberg, at Everback.

Graefenberg, at Kiedhich.

* Hinterhauser, or Stinterhauser, signifies behind the houses, so called from the
vines standing on lower land from the hill, behind the village.

2 p

434

Hauptberg, at Rauenthal.

North of Mayence, on the left bank of the Rhine,

Scharlachberger, (red) near Bin gen.

Rheiii-Dieboch, (red.)

Muscateller, f

Kuhlberger, ( near Bacharach.

Engeholle, (red) near Oberweasel.

South of Mayence.

Dienheim, South of Mayence.

Niersteiner and Oppenheim.

Laubenham.

Liebfraumilch.

West of the Rhinegau, on the right bank of the Rhine.
• Guttenfels, near Caub.

Rosteiner.

East of the Rhinegau.

Hochheim.

Wiekesh.

Costheim.

Most of the vineyards enumerated are of small dimensions, and
the quantity of wine they aiford is trifling in proportion to the
immense quantity sold under the denomination of Rhenish wine. To
procure a genuine article, it is necessary to have recourse to the pro
prietor of a vineyard, or to some respectable merchant, from whom
alone may bo expected wine of the best quality. Dr. Granville, who
was in that country in 1827, gives the following rates at which wines
were disposed of, which will convey an idea of the imposition prac
tised in the wine trade : —

Riideskeim wine of 1825, was sold at Frankfort in 1827, for 1,100
rix-dollars the ohm, or 15 dozen bottles, at 17 shillings the bottle-
The Schlossenberger, (Johannisberg,) for 700 rix-dollars ; the Stein-
berger, for 900 rix-dollars ; while in 1822, the same three kinds of
wine brought respectively 1400, 750, and 980 rix-dollars. The same
growth in 1818 produced :

Johannisberg, 3,000 rix-dollars, for 15 dozen.

Riidesheim, Bergwein, 910 rix-dollars.

The Tavern wines of Germany are, according to Cooper, of a
superior quality to those of the same class in France.

Wine of a great age is frequently offered for sale. Markobrunner,
said to be of the vintage of 1719, and Johannisberg of that of 1726,
were disposed of; the former at £590 sterling for 15 dozen, or 48
guineas for one dozen, while the latter was sold at £664 the 15
dozen, or 55 guineas for one dozen.* The passion for old wines has

Grnnville's Journey to St. Pctcrsburgh, 2 vols. 8vo. vol. i. p. 189, et passim.

435

sometimes been carried to great excess. At Bremen, there is a wine-
cellar, in which five hogsheads of Rhenish wine have been kept since
1625, which cost £50 ; and it has been calulated, that had this sum
been put out at compound interest, a bottle of this wine would be
•worth £908,311, and a single wine glass of it would cost £113,492-

In the days of Riesbeck, Austria exported to the adjacent German
States upwards of two millions of guilders' worth of wine, equal to
£175,000.

Along the banks of the Rhine, vineyards are to be found every
where, and the vines growing on places the most inaccessible, even
among fragments of slate rock. The towns and villages are sur
rounded with vineyards. On every spot of ground, against every
wall, against every house — every garden in a little arcade is formed
by vines — every stick, every piece of wood, is a prop for a vine, or
contributes to form a trellis. — " Lend me your walking-stick to sup
port my vine," is, according to a recent traveller, a familiar expres
sion : — " The vine will support you when the stick cannot : lend me
your umbrella to prop my vine ; the vine will some day shelter you
from wet, much better than frail silk."* Such are the sayings which
the value and estimation of the vine have occasioned.

Among the Germans, the vine is of such high agricultural interest,
and wine of such commercial importance, that the establishments
connected with them are, in many cases, on a most extensive scale.
The immense wine-vaults in Bremen, particularly those called the
Rosenkeller, are a specimen. These subterraneous stores are so capa
cious as to be able to contain 2,000 hogsheads, besides enormous
vessels for holding wine, one of which alone is said to hold 120 hogs
heads ; and that the wine it contains has remained in it upwards of
two centuries. Twelve of those casks occupy one apartment, and by
way of distinction have been denominated the Twelve Apostles : one
of them is termed Judas, being said to contain the best wine, as if
from its age and strength it is better qualified to betray. These
vaults are finely arched in the Gothic style, and are remarkable for an
echo little inferior to the whispering gallery in St. Paul's, as a person
speaking softly at one end may be distinctly heard at the most remote
extremities by placing the ear against the wall. In travelling along
the banks of the Moldau not far from Prague, from time to time the
doors of spacious wine-caves meet the stranger's eye in places quite
remote from human dwellings. Speaking of the monastery at Erbach,
Dr. Render says, the wine-cellars excited the utmost astonishment,
being so capacious that a coach and four might easily drive round and

* Two Hundred and ftiue Days on the Continent, vol. i. p. 107.

436

turn in it with the greatest facility, and the number of large casks it
contained was really amazing, each being seventeen or eighteen feet
in height. The monks were hospitable to an extreme, each of them
had four bottles of the best wine for his daily allowance, and when they
entertain strangers they were allowed an ad libitum.

At the Green Man Inn, St. Goar, are preserved two large silver
goblets of great antiquity and curious workmanship, the sides of which
are embossed with various figures and inscriptions. One of them was
presented to the city of St. Goar by Christiana, Queen of Sweden,
and the other by one of the Princes of Hesse. Before drinking out
of one of these cups, strangers have to undergo a singular ceremony :
the visiter is seated in a chair, in the middle of a large room, having
a heavy silver collar put round his neck, a gilded crown on his head ;
and he is then asked whether he will choose to be baptized with wine
or with water ; if he say water, a large quantity is poured on his
head ; but if he prefer wine, which is generally the case, he is obliged
to drink a certain number of toasts out of the two silver goblets. The
newly baptized stranger then writes his name in a record-book kept
for the purpose, after which the wine is passed about freely amidst
singing and jocularity. The cellar used on this occasion, which is
called coronation, is said to have belonged to the two sons of Charle
magne, and much conviviality and cheerful enjoyment are the com
mon attendants.*

The time of the vintage in Germany is always a period of great
rejoicing, and that festival is annually celebrated with great eclat and
hilarity. On such occasions, beneath an umbrageous bower, a table
is ornamented with flowers, and a kind of throne is erected in the
centre, on which is laid the first bunch of ripe grapes in imitation of
an altar to Bacchus. After the master of the ceremony has made a
speech suitable to the occasion, the persons assembled, young and old,
dance round the altar, and regale themselves with the comforts of the
season.

Plutarch mentions a feast of this kind celebrated by the Greeks
and Romans in the time of the vintage, at which their tables were
loaded with all kinds of fruits, placed under tents made of vine-
branches and ivy, intermingled with aromatics ; and from the strong
similarity between this and the Jewish feast of the Tabernacle, des
cribed in Leviticus, chapter xxiii., Plutarch considered that people
worshippers of Bacchus.

Whether owing to climate, to custom, or to whatever cause, it has
been observed that the inhabitants of wine countries are in general

Tour in Germany.

437

more cheerful, tranquil, and regular in their dispositions, than those
who are drinkers of beer, ale, and spirits ; and those characteristics
are not less remarkable at the time of vintage than in any other season
of the year. This is exemplified by the inhabitants of the Rhinegau,
who are a strong, handsome, healthy, and cheerful class of men,
capable of bearing a great deal of labour ; and hence the inhabitants
of the south are said to be stouter than those of the north ; for the
blood of the wine-drinker is considered purer than that of the beer-
drinker ; and as life is said to be in the blood, the remark on this
assumption may be justifiable. On the contrary, it may be urged
that men who never tasted any description of fermented liquor, and
who are accustomed to the lowest diet, are found capable of under
going fatigue equal to that of any other race of people ; — a circum
stance known to every observer. It is a practice amongst the pea
sants in the north of Italy, never to go out in the morning without
eating bread and drinking some wine ; and they look remarkably stout
and healthy. Grapes are said to be particularly wholesome when
eaten with the morning dew on them ; hence they are regularly
served up at breakfast, not only as a zest but as a luxury. At Vevay,
in Switerzland, the physicians of Geneva order patients to subsist
during the vintage, altogether on grape diet, the period of which is
usually three weeks. The common daily allowance is about 71bs. of
grapes, without tasting any other sort of sustenance, not even drink
of any description. In cases of insanity, the same regimen is said to
be very efficacious in restoring the patient to a sound state of mind,*
which is a further proof of the renovating power of the grape worthy
of investigation and inquiry, and to which it might not be beneath the
faculty in this country to direct their attention.

Were the properties of the grape sufficiently known, the vine would
become an obj ect of cultivation in every part of Europe, where the
climate would permit its growth. The vine does not shew a prefer
ence for any particular soil, but a dry is much better than a moist situ
ation. Limits, however, for its cultivation seem to have been pre
scribed by nature, which no ingenuity of man can surmount. In some
of the northern provinces of France, as Brittany and Normandy, the
vine is not cultivated at present, though it was formerly reared there
to considerable extent ; it has given place to the apple and the crab,
cider being the chief beverage. The regions of culture for this plant
do not lie parallel to the equator, but in an oblique direction from
north-east to south-west, from about 35C to 52^ north latitude. In
the inland parts of France and Germany, the utmost limits of it are

* Bakcwcll's Travels in Switzerland and Auvergnc, vol. ii. p. 20.

438

about 49° or 50°, but the further north, the produce is the more infe
rior. In some-places as the Crimea and the southern parts of Russia
it does not exceed 47° or 48* of latitude. In Asia, the vine does
not flourish in a higher latitude, since none are to he found to grow
more northerly than Astracan and the foot of Mount Caucasus. In
the New World, the southern states are the most congenial to the
vine, and the northern seem unfriendly to its culture. It is true, that
the vine is found considerably to the north of this continent, but it is
stunted and impoverished in growth in proportion to its distance from
a certain latitude, generally that of 37^.

The vine appears to occupy two belts on the earth's surface, both
of which lie in the warmer regions of the temperate zones, seldom
exceeding 51° in the northern, and rarely approaching to 40° in the
southern hemisphere, and is chiefly confined to an elevation of 2,460
feet above the level of the sea. In Switzerland, this elevation is
limited to 1,760 feet ; in Hungary, to 900 feet ; on the Alps, to 2,000
feet;inTeneriffe,to 2,500; but in the Appenines and Sicily, the
extent is 3,000 feet, while it does not grow at all in the high lands
of tropical America ; yet, according to Jacquemont, in his Jour
ney in India, the vine prospers at the height of 10,000 feet above the
level of the sea,* but much of this diversity depends on ordinary cir
cumstances. It seems, however, that the produce of the vine attains
a maximum in the south of Europe and the western parts of Asia.
This, perhaps, may be owing not so much to climate as to the superior
state of cultivation bestowed upon it. The higher the latitude, the
more inclined to acidity is the grape ; hence the difference between
the Rhenish, Sicilian, and Grecian wines. The strength is also influ
enced by the proximity to the equator, for which reason Madeira
wine is stronger than that of northern latitudes.

Considering these relations to be correct, it is evident that it is not
altogether on temperature or climate but to other causes must be
attributed the success in the cultivation of the vine, as regards both
quality and quantity. If the growth of the vine depended on tempe
rature, then the vicinity of London would afford better vineyards than
that of Zurich or Geneva, and the summer heat of Moscow is higher
than that of Paris ; yet grapes in the former ripen only under glasses.
In Madeira and the Canary islands, the main temperature is not much
lower than in Algiers and Cairo ; yet the culture of the vine is very
considerable in those islands, whereas in Algiers the temperature is
already too high, and in Cairo, the vine is planted only for the sake
of its shade. To determine the primitive seat of the vine is still

* Jacqucmont's Letters from India, vol. i. p. 272.

439

more difficult than that of its artificial distribution : in the Caucasus
arid the islands of the Levant, it frequently occurs wild, and every
thing- concurs to point out these and the western portions of Asia
as its original home.*

Besides the use that is made of the grape in different countries to
promote the comfort of man, in Germany, as well as in France, the
refuse of the vintage is even converted into an excellent food for
cattle, on which they fatten with the same facility, as those animals do
which are fed on the refuse of the corn-distilleries in Great Britain.
The mass of the grapes, as it comes from the press, is broken with the
hands in order to divide the lumps, and is then thrown into casks
where it is moistened with water, and covered with earth, with mixed
straw to the depth of seven or eight inches. When the weather is
such that the cattle cannot go into the fields, about six or seven pounds
of this refuse soaked in warm water with bran, straw, turnips, pota
toes, and oak or vine leaves, preserved purposely in water, is given
to them in a tub, evening and morning. Horses and cows are said to
be fond of this food, but it is given to the latter in moderation, as it
has a tendency to make their milk turn sour ;f it is a singular coin
cidence that the mills; given by cattle fed at the corn-distilleries is of
a thinner consistence, and more liable to turn sour, than that of cows
fed on hay or pasture.

When Dr. Bright visited Pesth in 1814, the prices of wine and
spirits were as follows : —

1 eimer, (nearly equal to 10 gals. Eng.) of old Ofen

wine from 30 to 40 florins.

Ditto, last year's Ofen wine 15 to 20

Ditto, old white Ofen wine 32 to 45

Ditto, last year's old White Ofen 18 to 32

Ditto, of spirits distilled from plums 35 to 90

Ditto, from grain 52 to 55

These prices being considered dear at the time, the Doctor, in
order to afford some standard of comparison, has also stated the prices
that prevailed during the fair held at Pesth in the latter end of the
year 1813, viz:

I eimer old red Ofen wine 14 to 20 florins.

Ditto, the same year 8 to 1 2

Ditto, common wine of the country 6 to 8

Ditto, of spirits distilled from plums 25 to 30

Ditto, from grain 22 to 25

Edinburgh PhilosophicalJournal, No. xxii. October, 1824.
f Chaptal on the Cultivation of the Vine.

440

The same writer considered five-pence a high price for a bottle of
wine. In Riesbeck's time, it could be purchased at from two to four
emitters the bottle. Although the peasants in Hungary are permitted
to purchase vineyards, they are obliged to pay one-third of the pro
duce to the lord of the soil, a heavy tax when the chance of bad vin
tages, which too often happen, and the occurrence of other casualties
are considered.

The quantity of wine produced annually in Carinthia is estimated
at 100,000 eimers : the quality is not considered superior, yet it meets,
notwithstanding, with a ready sale. In this duchy, they brew two sorts
of beer ; both of which are in estimation as good and wholesome
beverages. Apples being abundant, large supplies of cider are pro
duced, equal in body and flavour to that of Normandy ; and from
which a good brandy is distilled.

Thg cultivation -ef beet-root was, at one period, a matter of some
importance to the Germans, and various manufactories were estab
lished for the purpose of extracting sugar from it as well as from
other vegetable substances. At one of these establishments called La
Source, Jacob says, that they fed fifty cows on the refuse. The milch
cows maintained on it were in good condition, and the butter they
afforded was of excellent quality.*

The Germans, in most of the wine districts of the Rhine, distil
from the skins of grapes that have been pressed, a spirit called troster,
which they mix with ground barley or rye, and ferment in the usual
way. This spirit is considered very wholesome, and forms a great
article of commerce between them and the Dutch. From Upper and
Lower Austria, immense quantities of this liquor are sent into Hol
land, where, after a second distillation, it assumes the name of gin,
and is exported to various parts of Europe. The prevailing notion
that all foreign gin is manufactured in Holland is erroneous, as Dr.
Render assures us that the greater part is manufactulbd in Germany.
The revenue it produces forms a very considerable Branch of the
Austrian finance.

At Vienna, Krems, Waidhofen, Lintz, Freystadt, Ems, Gmunden,
£c. several distilleries are employed, not only in this manufacture,
but in that of grain exclusively. A considerable portion of the pro
duce of these stills is transported to Moravia, Bohemia, Styria, Ca
rinthia, &c., some is sent into Hungary ; but the quantity is trifling, as
the people of that country distil for themselves. Almost every pea
sant there may obtain leave for that purpose on payment of two
florins, or four shillings and six-pence, to the landlord from whom he

* Jacob's Journey through Germany, p. 56.

441

rents his farm. There are several distilleries of importance at Fiume,
Ujlak, Pilis, Buda, Pesth, Rosenau, Presburg, Steeldweissenburgh,
Debritzen, &c.* in which distillation is carried on from several sorts
of grain, wine, and the refuse of the vintage, from plums, prunes,
and various other fruits, and from potatoes. The principal part of
these spirits is sold at the fairs in the country, of which there are
above 2,000 in the year. At these fairs, they are exposed in booths
or magazines in casks, to the amount of many thousand eimers. The
stills in general use are made of copper, but are not of large size :
wood is the common fuel, though in some places peat is used.

Distillation from potatoes has been long carried on in Germany,
particularly in Lithuania, Hungary, and the eastern part of Prussia,
&c. ; and the residue, after the termination of the process, proves of
the greatest benefit to cattle, particularly to cows, as it increases their
milk. The spirit is considered superior in taste to ordinary malt
spirits: some add 17J bushels of malt to 100 bushels of potatoes,
but 10 bushels have been found sufficient. This quantity of Berlin
measure yields five muids of brandy from 36 to 32 per cent, of alco
hol ; the muid contains 240 canns. Others have found that the
same quantity of alcohol is produced from 100 bushels of potatoes, as
from 24 bushels of wheat or 33 of barley.

The same sized vessels are used as those for malt spirits made in
equal proportions, and nearly the same quantity of fuel, as the potatoes
are steamed by the vapour of the water which is heated for mashing,
so that it is only in the space of J of each hour, during the process,
that any extra fuel is required.

The potatoes are steamed in a barrel strongly hooped, and placed
on a stool by the side of a still. The end which is uppermost has a
square hole, fitted with a close cover, by which the barrel is filled
with the potatoes ; a smaller opening, with a door shutting very close,
is made at the bottom of the barrel to extract the potatoes when
ready : there are two holes, one to receive the neck of the still, and
the other in the middle of the lower end of the barrel, to turn out the
condensed steam ; this latter hole has a basket over it to prevent its
being stopped up.

As soon as the potatoes are sufficiently steamed, which is known
by taking out some of them by the door in the side of the barrel, the
neck of the still is taken out of the barrel, and the potatoes are drawn
out into a hopper, from whence they pass through two wooden or stone
rollers that are placed horizontally near the door by which they are
extracted. The rollers are turned inwards by means of a handle,

* Bright'* Travels in Hungary, 4to. p. 228. 618.

442

and have below them iron scrapers to clear them. The bruised pota
toes fall into a trough, from whence they are taken and well mixed
with the mash made of ground malt.

In some instances, the yeast of beer is used as the ferment ; in
others, artificial yeast made of rye-meal, mixed at first with cold and
afterwards with boiling water, so as to form a thick consistence :
some yeast of beer is then added, and afterwards the artificial, at
different times, so as to keep up the fermentation.

As potatoes work much easier than malt, less yeast is required, and
the fermentation is very rapid ; in some instances, a thick crust is
formed.

Professor Balling, of Prague, has succeeded in making an excellent
beer from potatoes, which is strong and well flavoured : his process
has been practised with success in various places, and differs little
from that observed in preparing the wash for distillation. The Ger
mans have been very assiduous in turning this vegetable to various
useful purposes ; and amongst others, we are indebted to the inge
nuity of the Prussians for a valuable sort of cheese, which is said to
keep for many years.

Notwithstanding the extent to which wine is made, and distillation
is carried on throughout various parts of the German empire, immense
quantities of spirits are yearly imported. In 1802, there were 470
pieces, 198 casks, 1101 pipes, 16 chests, 33 hogsheads, and 14 ankers
of brandy imported into Hamburgh, besides 15 casks, four pipes, and
one chest of arrack; also 215 pipes, 72 pieces, 52 casks, and 1347
ankers of Geneva, together with 2991 casks, 39 9 hogsheads, and 2236
puncheons of rum. This vast supply always finds a ready consump
tion in the interior, whither it is carried by means of the Elbe, &c.
In the same year, wine to the value of 2,381,815 florins, were sent
from Hungary into the German States of Austria, including Galicia,
while wine, and other liquors to the amount of 29,865 eimers, valued
at 219,989 florins, were sent into Hungary. The greater proportion
of the wine and spirit trade of Germany consists in an internal com
merce, and an interchange of the produce of one province with that
of another : its external or foreign trade being principally confined to
the free towns. The table in the Addenda shews a return of the
wine sent to Great Britain from the Austrian dominions, including
Hungary and the districts of the Rhine, for the years therein specified.
Bees are so plentiful in Austria, that 1,200 tons of wax, and 19,500
tons of honey, are annually produced.

A good description of wine is produced in some parts of Bohemia.
The red wine of Melnik is considered of superior quality, and resem-

443

bles Burgundy : that of Leitmeritz is a very pleasant wine, but infe
rior to the other.*

The extent of the Bohemian vineyards, as stated by M. Blnmenthal,
is about 4,408 joch, and the produce something less than six eimers
the joeh, making 26,448 eimers for the whole : the eimcr being equal
to 15 English wine gallons, shows a produce of 60 gallons, or nearly
a hogshead to each English acre. From the cherries of this country,
which are very large and of a delicious flavour, a superior brandy is
distilled.

Although Moravia is as fertile as Bohemia, and as well cultivated,
yet the wines produced in that province are not considered of
equal quality. Among the lower order, spirituous liquors are com
monly in use. About Gratz, a species of white wine is produced
of inferior quality. In Trieste, from which there are 600,000 bottles
of Rosoglio annually exported, there is a cordial known by the name
of Zora, which is a great favourite ; and the drink called Sirmischer
Slivovitz is here to be met with, as well as at Vienna and Prague.
It is distilled from fermented plums, and is made in Sirmia, near Bel
grade, the capital of ancient Illyricum In the vicinity of Trieste,
the wine is in general disagreeable, either from imperfect fermenta
tion, and being used in too fresh a state, or from being too old and
having become acid : that of Proseco is the best in the country.

The Bohemian malt drinks have been long celebrated, particularly
those of Prague, in which city breweries are numerous, and well con
ducted. The produce of a quarter of malt, 32 bushels, is from 100
to 112 gallons. In the process of brewing, the boiling fluid, after
being conveyed to the mash-tun, is suffered to remain till at a tem
perature of from 115° to 122° when 14, two quarters of ground malt
are thrown in, after which the mashing commences, and continues for
upwards of three quarters of an hour : during this time, water, or the
remaining liquor of the former brewing is run in, so as to raise the
heat from 138Q to 147°, according to the practice and judgment of
the brewer. When the mashing is completed, and all the liquor
drawn from the copper, as much of this liquid as the copper can hold
is sent back, and brought to the boiling point, and then poured on the
quantity remaining in the kieve, when it is again mixed with what
was left in that vessel, and brought to the temperature of about 154°.
A third mashing is conducted in the same way, leaving the goods in
the tun at the temperature of 165°, and a fourth mashing leaving the
heat at 176°, terminates these operations. At this stage, the liquid is

* Bramsen's Letters, vol. i. p. 60.

444

allowed to remain in the kieve for an hour, and is then run into the
underbade, by an ingeniously contrived false bottom, perforated with
holes, from which it is conveyed into the copper, where it mixes with
that portion of the fluid which remained. When this last charge has
boiled for about 15 or 20 minutes, it is returned to the mash-tun, shewing
at the surface a heat of 183° ; about 351bs. of hops are then added
to about two-thirds of a barrel of the drainings in the underback, and
the whole is put into the copper and boiled for 45 minutes, when half of
the hops are withdrawn, and set aside for boiling with the remaining
worts in the tun. These two quantities, after an hour's boiling of each
separately, are taken to the coolers. The copper is again filled with
liquor, and when boiling, poured on the goods in the kieve without
mashing. After being drained, it is boiled along with the hops of the
two preceding worts, for an hour and half, and then cast into a
separate cooler. After being brought from 68 to 72° temperature,
the three worts are mixed with 241bs. of barm, and then barrelled.
Here the fermentation takes place, which continues for three or four
days ; and in about as long again, it is fit for storing. The floors of
the vaults which are employed for this purpose are covered with ice,
on which the barrels are placed, when received from the brewer,
when, after remaining for five or six weeks, the beer is then con
sidered fit for use. At Vienna, the malt is bruised by iron rollers,
and thrown into the mash-kieve, where it is mixed with cold water,
in the proportion of 28 barrels of water, to 14 one-third English
quarters of malt. In the mean time, a square copper is heating with
liquor, into which are put from two to three barrels of the cold worts,
from the kieve, being part of four barrels let into the under back ;
when this mixture comes near boiling, the head is skimmed, after
which it is boiled three quarters of an hour. About 18 or 20 barrels
of it are then run into the mash-tun, where the whole is completely
mashed for nearly an hour, and the heat raised to the temperature of
104°. At this period, the small quantity of cold worts which had
been left in the underback is pumped into the copper, and the wort
which is in the mash-tun is slowly conveyed into the underback,
from which it is again pumped, until the copper is full. About a barrel
is now left in the underback, while the remainder of the worts lies in
the kieve : the second mashing is conducted in a similar manner ; and
the copper, when just at the boiling point, is turned on the goods in
the mash-tun, and mashed for an hour, leaving the heat at 135°;
having settled a little, they are drained from the tun, pumped into the
copper, and boiled about 30 minutes. Being now quite clear, they are
returned into the kieve, mashed for half an hour, and left at a heat of

415

162°. On opening the cock, the first eight or ten gallons being foul,
are thrown on the goods, and the rest pumped into the copper till full ;
boiling is now kept up for half an hour, when as much is run into the
kieve, as will leave room for the quantity left in the underback ; the
copper is again suffered to boil another half hour, when the whole
contents are run on the goods : it is then charged with cold liquor till
about half full. M ashing for the last time is continued half an hour,
the heat being about 180°, and the liquor is permitted to rest for an
hour before draining. The run from the mash-tun next commences,
and the liquor in the copper being entirely run off into another
vessel, the pumping of the worts from the underback takes place :
481bs. of hops are now put into the copper, and the pumping con
tinued until it is full, the underback retaining the remainder of the
run from the kieve. The surface of the grains is skimmed, and the
liquor which had been kept apart as above-mentioned, at a heat of
133°, is thrown on them ; the whole of this mixture is allowed to re
main in the kieve till room is made for it in the copper : the worts
and hops having boiled an hour and a quarter, part of them are cast ;
but before let on the cooler, 12 gallons of cold wort reserved from
the first mash for this purpose, at a corner of the cooler, are spread
over the bottom. The worts in the kieve, as well as those in the
underback, are pumped into the copper, and boiled with the hops an
hour and half, the second worts are then cast and the brewing is
finished. Lest any saccharine matter should remain, some cold water
is mixed with the grains, run off and carried to a distillery, one of
which is connected with every brew -house : the quantity of beer pro
duced from such brewing' is 34 barrels. From the coolers the worts
are let down into a tun at a heat of from 86° to 90°, well mixed with
GOlbs. of yeast, and when fermentation appears, the whole is drawn off
into casks of 25 gallons each, and placed on stillins where it is kept
working till fit for consumption. There is no malt duty charged at
Vienna, but there is a city and country duty on beer, the former of
which is much heavier than the latter.

The brewers of Vienna keep up their establishments in respectable
style ; and among the carriages which generally throng the roads
leading to this city, are numbers of brewers' drays drawn by large
Flemish horses, with harness decorated with broad, glittering, brass
plates. These drays are invariably attended by dogs of a peculiar
breed, having enormous heads like lions ; they seem, however, to be kept
rather for show than for any protection they afford, as they are gentle
and docile. The population of Vienna in 1833, was 329,873 inhabi
tants, being about 70,000 more than Berlin. The city has 40 public,
80 coffee, and 500 smoking-houses.

L

r

The practice of smoking, which has rendered so many houses for
the enjoyment of this luxury necessary at Vienna, is so prevalent
throughout Germany, that it has become not only a national failing but
a nuisance. If it \vould add either to the dignity or comfort of man,
it would be the more excusable, but the reverse is the case, for while
it wastes property, which could be otherwise usefully employed, it
generally superinduces habits of drinking, and in no respect contri
butes to the health or character of the individual who uses it. Sir
Arthur Brooke Faulkner, in his Visit to Germany, thus writes on the
subject :* —

" The length to which the Germans push the practice of smoking,
is quite insufferable to the unpractised nose of the alien. It is true,
you may avoid the society of smokers by shutting yourself up, but
even this will not avail, unless you are hermetically sealed. There
is hardly an occupation with which one can suppose it possible to
conjoin the process, whereof the tobacco-pipe is not the accompani
ment. The coachmen drive and smoke ; the cavalry officer is seen
smoking while he rides at the head of his regiment ; the peasantry
smoke at the plough and the spade ; during the frosty weather, you
were met at every corner where there was a sheet of ice, by groups
of persons skating and smoking. I am sure it is no small deduction
from the luxury of eating and drinking, that smoking cannot be com
bined with them. Whether a German sleeps and smokes, I have not
inquired ; but if it be not physically an impossibility, I would take
an even bet that he does. Their wives might tell us."

From the attention paid to the care of bees, honey is produced in
abundance ; mead is manufactured, and is of some moment in the
trade of the country. Many of the distillers purchase the honey for
the making of rosoyllo, and use it as a sirup instead of sugar. Some
farmers are so extensive in the rearing of bees, that they have from
three to four hundred caps under management at one time ; and for
the purpose of feeding, the bees are often transported from place to
place, where buck-wheat, or lime-trees, are plentiful. On these occa
sions it rarely happens that any accident or loss is sustained, the bees
returning instinctively to their respective stocks, with a precision and
an accuracy truly marvellous.

It appears that the name of aqua vitce, and the practice of distil
ling spirit of wine, from aromatic herbs, were known in Hungary so
early as the fourteenth century, and that a queen of that country
rendered herself famous by a medicinal preparation from rosemary

Visit to Germany and the Low Countries, 2 vols. 8ro. vol. i. p. 237.

417

in which aqua vita formed a principal part. The receipt for making
it was copied from her breviary by Prevrot, who died in 1C31, and
whose book was published by his two sons at Frankfort, in 1659;
it runs thus : — " Take of aqua-vitce four times distilled, three parts,
and of the tops and flowers of rosemary two parts. Put these toge
ther in a close vessel ; let them stand in a gentle heat fifty hours, and
then distil them. Take one dram of this in the morning, once every
week, either in your food or drink, and let your face and the diseased
limb be washed with it every morning. It renovates the strength,
brightens the spirits, purifies the marrow and nerves, restores and
preserves the sight, and prolongs life." Among the Germans, the^—
manufacture soon became of such importance, that many of the nobles
kept stills for the purpose of distilling waters of all sorts, for the
benefit of their families and the poor. An instance of this may be
found in tho consort of Philip the Second, Duke of Griibenhagen,
a princess of Brunswick, who in 1560, supported a still and laboratory
of that kind, at her palace at Griibenhagen, in the circle of Lower
Saxony.* Tacitus has given an early proof of their skill in the
making of beer,j" and their celebrity in the brewing of that beverage
seems to have gathered strength by time. The quantity furnished in
the different cities and towns is immense. Some years since, there
were 110 fewer than two hundred and fifty privileged brewers in the
town of Rostock, who exported annually 800,000 barrels, under the
name of Lubeck beer, the excise raised from wThich composed the
chief revenue of the Duke of Mecklenburgh. The Mum of Brunswick
is well known, and justly appreciated for its good quality. The pro
cess observed in the manufacture has been, it is said, always kept
secret ; and to prevent discovery, the men who brewed it were hired
for life. The following receipt was procured by General Monk, at the
court of Brunswick, in the reign of one of our Charleses, and is given
in the Harleian Miscellany :J — " To make a vessel of sixty-three
gallons, the water must be first boiled to the consumption of a third
part. Let it then be brewed, according to art, with seven bushels of
wheat-malt, one bushel of oat-malt, and one bushel of ground-beans ;
and when it is tunned, let not the hogsheads be too full at first ; when
it begins to work, put to it of the inner rind of the fir three pounds,
of the tops of fir and birch, each one pound ; of carduus benedictus
dried, three handfuls ; flowers of rosa solis, two handfuls ; of Bur net,

* Beckman's Hist. Tnven. vol. iii. p. 148.
f De MoribusGermanorum, sect, xxiii.
J Harleian Miscellany, vol. i. pp. 524-5. London, 1744.'

418

Betony, Marjoram, Avens, Penny -royal, flowers of Elder, wild thyme,
of each one handful and half; seeds of cardamum bruised, three
ounces ; bay -berries bruised one ounce ; put the seeds into the vessel :
when the liquor hath wrought awhile with the herbs, and after they
are added, let the liquor work over the vessel as little as may be, fill
it up at last, and when it is stopped, put into the hogshead ten new-
laid eggs, the shells not cracked or broken ; stop all close, and drink
it at two years old ; if carried by water it is better."

" Dr. ^Egidius Hoffman added water-cresses, brook-lime, and wild
parsley, of each six handfuls, with six handfuls of horse-radish, rasped
in every hogshead ; it was observed that the horse-radish made the
Mum drink more quick than that which had none."

With regard to the origin of the term Mum, no decided opinion can
be given. It is said to come purely from the German wrord Mumme,
the name of a strong ale, which, from its intoxicating qualities, pro
duces silence, by rendering its votaries incapable of utterance. This
term answers to that applied by the Danes to a mask, because it exhi
bits the parties using it, wearing, as it were, a new face. The most
plausible derivation of the term is, that this drink was invented by
Christian Mummer, of Brunswick, and that the word Mum is merely
an abbreviation of his name.

In ancient times it appears to have been the practice to mix a great
variety of ingredients in the manufacture of almost every kind of
beverage, and the more singular the taste or flavour, the more highly
prized was the article. Of what description the Mum made as above
described was, must be left to the conjecture of the reader. The fol
lowing practice, stated to be in use a few years since, appears more in
accordance with modern improvement : — The malt was mixed with a
greater proportion of water, than was used in brewing beer or ale ;
after remaining saturated in the mash-tun for about two hours, it was
drawn off and re-boiled. This liquid was again introduced into the
kieve, on a quantity of fresh malt merely wet, and which had stood
there soaking for about an hour in water ; after this the worts were
drained off and pumped into coolers, from which they were sent to
the coppers, and boiled with a large quantity of hops for some hours-
The produce was of a rich glutinous nature, and after undergoing a
partial fermentation, it was put into casks for sale, under the title of
Mum. From the materials left in the kieve, two other brewings were
effected, the first making a strong kind of beer, and the second an
inferior sort, or table drink. None of these drinks, however highly
they may rank in Germany, are equal to the beer, ale, or porter
brewed in the British empire. In many parts of Germany, the people
brew for themselves, as is customary in Great Britain.

419

The wine of Griinberg is famed for its astringent qualities : it is
manufactured in large quantities from the grapes of the vineyards that
surround the city, and is much used to increase the strength of infe
rior wines. It is an apophthegm in Germany, when speaking of this
wine, to say, " you can mend the holes of a stocking by putting some
Grunberg wine into it !"

At Liibeck, there are numerous sugar-refineries, and considerable
quantities of sugar arc extracted from the beet-root.

In Germany, says a late writer, I have not seen three people drunk
in three months. In Bavaria, and the north, the common people
drink a good deal of beer, but it is like the fine Edinburgh table-beer
in strength and appearance. It is weak, highly fermented, and
strongly hopped, and an immensity is drunk without intoxication. In
the kingdom of Prussia, the principles of the Temperance Society
have made astonishing progress. Publications inculcating the doc
trine of abstinence from intoxicating liquors, are read at school by the
young, and thus Temperance principles form a portion of daily and
practical education.

In Switzerland, which is one of the most mountainous districts of
Europe, the cultivation of grain has been so limited, as scarcely to
admit of distillation. The surface, soil, and climate are so irregular
and diversified, that in some places, grapes do not ripen, while in many
others, even corn does not arrive at maturity — the inhabitants are
often seen reaping on one side of a mountain, and sowing on the
other. In the plantation of the vines, the hills are, in many places, cut
into terraces, from which, particularly about the lake of Geneva,
grapes and wine of a tolerable quality are obtained. The vines are
chiefly trained either against trellises or kept low, and tied to short
poles.

At what time the vine was first cultivated in Switzerland, we are not
informed, but it is very probable that it was introduced into that coun
try by the Romans, since we learn from history, that the Helvetians
paid peculiar veneration to the god of wine, and preserved his gifts
not in wine-cellars, but in casks ; and that experiments were under
taken in agriculture, so that the Falernian hills were rivalled by the
vineyards of the Rhine. In corroboration of this, Roman measures
have been found in the country ; and so late as 1807, four great
amphorae were discovered in a subterraneous apartment in the wood
of Vaux.

Some of the vineyards on the Lake of Zurich are very old, and
are said to have borne the vine for 500 years. The vines of Vevay,
owing, it is supposed, to their exposure to the sun, are accounted the

450

finest in Switzerland. The best wine comes from St. Saphorin, a
hamlet adjoining the town. In the canton of Berne, the mountains
are covered with vineyards, and those between Vevay and Lausanne
are much esteemed. Vines are planted in the valleys on the nor
thern and southern frontiers. The red and white wines of Malantz
are reckoned the best in the canton of the Orisons. In the canton of
Basle, the hills are covered with the finest vineyards, from which good
wines are produced. Near the capital, in the field of St James, is
grown that celebrated red wine called " the blood of the Swiss," from
a sanguinary conflict between 30,000 French, commanded by the
Dauphin, afterwards Louis XT., and 1,600 Swiss, in which G,000 of
the former were slain, while only 16 of the latter remained to des
cribe the valorous achievements of their brethren. From this
memorable circumstance, the following couplets, termed the Drinking
'Song of the Men of Basle, must be read with interest: —

Drink ! drink !-- — the red, red wine,

That in the goblet glows,
Is hallow'd by the blood that stain'd

The ground whereon it grows !
Drink ! drink ! — there's health and joy

In its foam to the free and brave ;
But 'twould blister up like the elf-king's cup,

The pale lip of the slave !
Drink ! drink ! — and as your hearts

Are warm'd by its ruby tide,
Swear to live as free as your fathers liv'd,

Or die as your fathers died !*

The richness of the valleys and the declivities of the mountains of
Switzerland afford abundance of fruits, in the cultivation of which
the inhabitants have been very successful. From many of these,
particularly from the Machaleb cherry, a very superior spirit called
Kirschenwasser or cherry-water, much resembling our whiskey, is ma
nufactured. This, in the opinion of Stolberg, is no way inferior either
in purity, strength, flavour, or taste, to that made from corn at Dant-
zic.f Coxe also speaks of it as a pleasant spirit, and many agree,
that it is not excelled by the Dalmatian maraschino. It is distilled
in the cantons of Zurich, S chaff hausen, Lucerne, Berne, Neufchatel,
&c. Quantities of it are exported yearly to Germany, Italy, and
France, and it ranks in quality with that exported from the depart-

Planche's Lays and Legends of the Rhine.
\ Stolberg's Travels, vol. i. p. 146.

451

merit of the Upper Rhine. Cider is also manufactured to some
extent, and is an article of great importance in their traffic with thtf
neighbouring countries.

Brandy is distilled in Switzerland from the refuse of the grapes,
after the must is pressed out, in the following manner : — Casks are
filled with the skins, which are squeezed as compactly as possible, and
are covered closely to prevent the ingress of air : fermentation gene*
rally sets in, in about three days ; and when it has subsided, which
occupies a considerable time, it is then deemed fit for the still. When
the process of distillation is about to take place, the fermented mass
is mixed with a due proportion of water, that preserves it in a proper
consistence for the action of the fire, which is moderately applied to
prevent cmpyreuma, or burnt flavour. It is calculated that a vessel
containing 32 cubic feet of this material will yield 19TV or ten .gallons
of pure brandy.

Through the Pays de Vaud and several of the cantons where the
vine is cultivated, good brandy is made, but not to such extent as to
require particular notice. When Clarke travelled through the coun
try, the best wines were sold for six-pence per quart, and the worst
for three half -pence. In 1779, there were exported 10,029 casks,
each containing 80 bottles; in 1781, 24,568 casks, and in 1782,
11,354.*

Although in Holland, as in Switzerland, the quantity of grain
reared is inadequate to the consumption of its inhabitants, yet
there are few countries better supplied with that necessary of life.
From Russia, Poland, Elbing, Koningsberg, and Flanders, are drawn
those immense resources, which not only enable the Dutch to export
grain in large quantities, but to distil it to great extent. When Dr.
Shannon visited that country in 1774, there were at Weesoppc, in
the vicinity of Rotterdam, 300 stills of from 300 to 500 gallons each ;
at Scheidam, in the following year, there wrere 120 stills, and in
1792, no less than 220. The entire stills of the province amounted to
400, and their average contents were from 250 to 400 gallons. It-
has been calculated, that the annual produce of spirits in the Dutch
distilleries, is nothing short of 14,000,000 of gallons, 4,560,000 of
which are consumed in the country. Antwerp was formerly cele
brated for its extensive trade in wine and other liquors. In 1560,
according to Guiceiardini, 40,000 tuns of Rhenish wine were brought
annually to Antwerp, from which it was exported to the various
countries trading to that city, and then sold at 36 crowns the tun. •-»,

* Coxc's Travels in Switzerland, vol. i. p. 58,

452

The best Geneva we now have, is obtained from Holland, and is
made, according to Dr. Rees, from an ordinary spirit distilled a second
time, with an addition of some juniper-berries. The original liquor,
however, is prepared in a very different manner.

It was a custom in the distilling of spirits from worts, or other fer
mented liquors, to add in the working some aromatic ingredients,
such as ginger, cortex winteranus, or grains of paradise, to take off
the bad flavour, and to give a pungent taste to the spirit. Among
other things used with that intent, some tried the juniper-berry,
(genevre, as it is called in French,) and finding that it gave not
only an agreeable flavour, but a very valuable quality to the spirit,
the distillers adopted it generally, and the liquor has since been sold
under the French name genevre, or, as it is rendered in English,
geneva. It is highly probable that this spirit, now so esteemed
throughout Europe, owes its name to the juniper wine, invented or
brought to perfection by Count De Morret, son of Henry IV. of
France, to the use of which he attributed his good health and long
life. This liquor was considered so wholesome and made with so
little expense, that it was called "the wine of the poor "

The juniper-berries employed in the distilleries, are generally
brought from Germany, Italy, or Sweden. In the latter kingdom,
they are frequently made into conserves and are eaten at breakfast.
The Swedes prepare from them a beverage which they consider use
ful as a medicine ; and in some places, particularly in Lapland, they
are roasted and substituted for coffee. The exports of juniper-
berries for the use of distillers, are about 350 barrels annually, and
the imports of Holland from Odessa alone in order to supply the
manufacturers of Geneva, are very extensive. This aromatic berry
is found in various portions of the globe : Dr. Gerard met it in abun
dance on the Himaleh mountains, at an elevation of 13,300 feet
above the level of the sea.* In Sweden, it is a practice to strew the
floors of the apartments with juniper sprigs over which sand is scat
tered, — a practice once prevelant in the presence chambers of sove
reigns. In Carniola, a kind of wine is made from juniper-berries by
steeping them in water, of which the inhabitants seem very fond ; but
in Holland their chief use is in the distillation of geneva. The berries
remain two years on the trees before they are ripe. In the mode for
merly practised, the juniper was added to the malt in the grinding ;
a proper proportion was allowed, and the whole was reduced to meal
and worked in the common way. The spirit thus obtained was

* Gerard's Letters, published in the Calcutta Transactions,

453

flavoured ab origine with the berry, and exceeded all that could be
made by any other method.

The two principal modes observed in the preparation of wash for
geneva are thus described : A quantity of rye-flour, coarsely ground,
is mixed with a third or fourth part of barley-malt, proportioned to
the size of the tub in which the vinous fermentation is to be effected.
This they mix with cold water, and then stir it with the hand to
prevent the flour from gathering into lumps, and to facilitate its disso
lution. When this point is attained, water is added of the heat of
human blood. The whole is well stirred, after which the ferment is
mixed with the wort, having been previously diluted with a little of the
liquor. The fermentation generally begins six hours afterwards ; if
it commence earlier, there is reason to apprehend that it will be too
strong, and means are employed to check it. If the fermentation be
well conducted, it generally terminates on the third day, when the
liquor becomes transparent, and assumes an acrid taste, hot and fiery
on the tongue. Having attained this point, the wash is well roused
or stirred, and the mash with all the corn is put into the still, and
then commences the first distillation, which is conducted very slowly.
This is a matter of the utmost importance, as it is considered that
when the first distillation proceeds rapidly, the essential oil goes over
with the spirit, arid mixes with it so intimately that an unpalatable
taste of the grain is imparted, which no subsequent process can neu
tralize without employing ingredients hurtful to health. This liquor
is then rectified over juniper-berries once or twice, according to the
sort of spirit which it is intended to produce. For common use, one
rectification is deemed sufficient, though it is not considered so fine
or pleasant, as that which has undergone several rectifications, and
which is called double geneva. Some distillers mix the juniper-
berries with the wort, and ferment them together ; but in that case
they only draw a spirit from it for the use of the interior, or for
exportation to England ; the juniper, however, is most commonly
used at the rectification and not before.

The second method pursued by the best distillers is as follows : —
The malt and rye are mixed with warm water in given proportions,
and thoroughly blended together, until all the farinaceous substance
is incorporated ; the liquid is then allowed to rest until the flour has
settled at the bottom. The wort is afterwards permitted to flow into
the fermenting tub, where a similar operation takes place, with
another quantity of water poured upon the same grain, and these
operations are repeated, until the wort thus drawn from it at different
times, has abstracted the whole saccharine matter in the flour. This

454.

liquid is put into tKe fermenting tun or vessel ; and when it comes to the
proper temperature, about blood heat, the ferment or yeast is added.
The fermentation is considered milder and more regular, by this
method than the other.

Another practice in making geneva is, to use in proportion as
follows : viz. — One hundred of barley-inalt, two hundred of rye-malt,
mashed with 460 gallons of water at a temperature of 162°. When
the infusion has been continued for a sufficient time, cold water is
added until the wort is brought to about 451bs. of saccharine matter
per barrel. It is then run into a back, at a temperature of 80°,
with half a gallon of yeast. Fermentation soon commences, and is
generally finished in two days, when proper attention is paid to the
temperature of the place. The wash is then put into the still, reduced
to about 151bs. of saccharine matter the barrel, together with the
grains, and undergoes three distillations — a few juniper-berries and
a small quantity of hops being introduced to communicate the flavour.
Some pour all the water which they intend to use, into the tub or
kieve at once, and put the flour gently into it, while two or more
persons are employed in stirring it well with sticks made for that pur
pose, in order to mix the flour and prevent it from gathering into
lumps : when the whole is properly reduced and mixed together, they
proceed to draw it off into a cooler, before it is put into the ferment-
Ing vessel. In all cases the gravity of the wort is low, seldom
exceeding forty degrees ; and by distilling from a mixture of wash
and grains, the produce is allowed to be much greater than that
obtained in Great Britain from wash alone.* Gin is a spirit supposed
to be produced only in its greatest purity by the Dutch, from the
uncommon care taken in its manufacture, and its perfection is greatly
attributable to the manner in which the wash is prepared, and the
extraordinary pains bestowed on the fermentation in the course of
attenuation. Certainly if care be not taken at this stage of the pro
cess, it would be difficult to produce a fine spirit free from any pecu
liar flavour, which is the great characteristic of good Holland gin, the
spirit only discovering in any mixture, merely the aroma of the juni
per. No grain is used in the Dutch distilleries but the most perfect
kind, after it lias undergone the process of malting. Wheat is con
sidered the best for producing the choicest spirit ; but barley is more
productive. Rye, however, chiefly of Russian growth, is the princi
pal article used, as it produces one -third of spirit more than wheat or

* Vide Parl. Rep. on Distillery Duties, 1799, apud Cookson's Obs ,
Dist Rep.,. No, 2. p, 20G.

455

barley. The fermentation of the wash is completed in about three
days, and in the distillation the first operation is conducted very
slowly and with great caution : in the second process, or re-distillation
the juniper-berries are introduced, which give it the peculiar flavour
by which it is distinguished. Modern ingenuity, however, has art
fully substituted oil of turpentine for the juniper, as less expensive
and answering the purpose of giving it the peculiar flavour of this
spirit. The cleanliness of the Dutch is proverbial, and this is no
where more rigidly observed than in their distilleries, which con
tributes not a little to the excellence of the spirits. Lime water is
chiefly used in cleansing the vessels, and the practice of plastering the
staves of their fermenting tuns with lime is thus obviated ; a practice
much more commendable than that in common use, and less liable to
produce acidity.

Kcempfer attributes the discovery of this spirit to Professor Sylvius
of Leyden, who died in 1672. Like brandy, it was first sold in the
apothecaries' shops ; but the distillers finding that it was drunk with
avidity by the common people, commenced the manufacture of it
themselves, and it shortly after became an article of great trade.
The Dutch, whose mode of distilling enabled them to obtain a milder
spirit than the people of other countries, succeeded better in the
manufacture, and for a series of years it seemed to have been in their
hands a complete monopoly : but as it has been imitated with success
in other parts of the world, they have now many rivals, and the
exportation of this article has been considerably diminished.

The geneva imported into Great Britain from Holland, for the
year ending 5th January, 1834, appears to have been 347,597 gallons ;*
for the year ending 5th January, 1835, 277,141 ; and the quantity that
went into consumption for the latter year, 19,648 imperial gallons.f

In 1831, the duty on distilled spirits in the Netherlands amounted
to 2,905,350 francs ; in 1832, to 4,560,238 francs ; and during 1834,
it was estimated at 5,922,744 francs. This increase was owing to the
favourable operation of a new law. Although spirituous liquors are
consumed to a considerable extent, drunkards are rarely ever seen,
except in a few instances, among the lower orders of the people. The
tobacco pipe and goblet are inseparable companions after dinner, but
the Dutchman prefers the practice of fumigating his head with smoke,
to that of steeping his senses in the oblivious waters of Bacchus.

The stills used by the Dutch are those of common construction ;
improvements, however, have been introduced, amongst which is that

* Parl. Tables, p. 19. Vide Addenda, f Ibid,

456

of M. Cellier Blumenthal, being an alteratiou of Derosne's apparatus
adapted to the distillation of the wash in continuation, and by means
of which rectification can be carried so high as to produce the
strongest alcohol.

The brewing of beer and ale was early practised in the Netherlands.
Isaac and John Hollandus, who were natives of that country and
flourished in the thirteenth century, have written with great ability
on the subject, as well as on fermentation and distillation. Delft,
among other places, became famous for its beer, and it was for many
years the great staple of that port ; what is now made there is chiefly
consumed in the neighbourhood. At Gouda and Muyden. it is made
in great perfection, and in the latter place, on account of its valuable
qualities, it is called Flemish physic, while London porter is imitated
with success. At Brussels, there are great varieties of malt drink,
and of beer not less than thirty or forty sorts : that of Louvaine, in
South Brabant, is said to be the most esteemed.

There the number of brewers are about 24, some of whom make
300 barrels of beer weekly. Mr Booth has detailed the pro-
ces of manufacturing two sorts of beer in that city, named
Pieterman and WJiitebeer — Seven quarters arid a half of barley malt,
and as much raw wheat, both finely ground and mixed together, are
put into 18 sacks ; also seven quarters of finely-ground raw wheat
are put into sixteen sacks, from which 40 barrels of strong Pieter
man, 35 of table beer, and 12 barrels of small beer are produced.
Two coppers, two mash tuns, and five coolers, are employed, but as
the method of brewing is never likely to be practised in Great Bri
tain, a particular description seems superfluous. No saccharometer
is used to direct the superintendent, the whole process depending on
his taste and experience. When the brewing is collected in the tun
and well mixed with yeast, the drink is drawn off into casks placed
on their end, and holding about a barrel and half each ; here the fer
mentation commences, and is finished in about forty-four or fifty
hours. No kiln or fuel is used to dry the malt, the air being the only
medium of effecting that purpose. On this account the grain is spread
on upper lofts ; but, from this defective system, no malt can be
made in the winter season : barley alone is employed, from which
the dust is never separated ; hence the grain, from the nature of the
drying, never attains that crispness and sweetness which are the
characteristics of good malt. The grain and hops are of a very fine
quality, and the latter forms an article of considerable commerce.
The beer is sent to Antwerp, Brussels, Liege, Tirlemont, and other
places, to the amount of 150,000 casks annually. What adds to the

457

reputation of the beer of Louvain, is the peculiar quality of the
water. The brewers of Brussels use malt and raw wheat in equal
proportions, and from four quarters of each, when finely ground, 19
barrels of strong beer are drawn. To prevent too much adhesion, a
quantity of wheaten chaff is thrown into the tun, and the whole
moistened with cold water, after which it is mashed with 18
barrels of hot liquor. This mixture is of a thick consistency, and the
heat after mashing is about 122". Having remained in this state
about an hour and a half, it is run into the underback, immediately
pumped into the copper, and is mixed with 5 Gibs, of fine hops. From
the thick nature of the worts, the run is slow, but to facilitate the pro
cess, wicker baskets are plunged into the kieve, through the interstices
of which the worts flow, and are drawn out by small bowls or ladles.

A second mash with ten barrels of liquor, is permitted to stand ail
hour. Three other mashes succeed, ending at the temperature inter
mediate between 134° and 173°. These mashings being collected
in the copper and at the boiling point, three handfuls of unslacked
lime are thrown in, and the whole is boiled for eighteen hours. The
worts being sent to the coolers, are allowed to remain there till they
become quite cold, in winter even to the freezing point, before they
are put into the fermenting tun, where they lie for two days without
any apparent change, and then run into casks to undergo fermenta
tion. This beer is kept for many years ; at the end of the first year
it is muddy, but at the end of the second it is clear, and the longer
it is kept the lighter it becomes. The beer of the winter brewing is
termed Pharo, and that of the summer, Lambie.

There are extensive breweries in Bruges, and the facilities which
the manufacturers have of obtaining grain, of which large quantities
are exported, render the trade in malt liquors extensive and beneficial*
Mrs. Trollope mentions a very grotesque group, in alto-relievo,
which she saw over the door of a brewery in that city : it represents
the process of brewing, with several figures employed in mashing,
cooling, and putting the beer into casks ; while winged seraphs are
are seen tasting it, with the blessed Virgin and her infant
son looking on.* Making sugar from beet-root was an object
of attention at the time Buonaparte had a control over Con
tinental affairs ; but the manufacturers had so much the advantage
over the farmers, that the latter thought that their land could be
turned to a more profitable purpose, and the trade consequently
declined. When the West Indian sugar stood at five shillings the
pound, the beet-root article could be purchased at less than one shilling-

* Belgium and Western Germany, vol. i. p. 28.

458

The process of making the sugar consisted in reducing the clean roots
to a pulp, by means of a cylinder perforated with holes like a grater,
and revolving in a trough. The pulp formed by this machinery was
put into bags of hair or linen cloth, and pressed much in the same
manner as that observed in making the dry barm at Paris. The
liquor was collected, boiled, and after being mixed with a proportion
of lime, the saccharine matter was precipitated; a solution of sul
phuric acid being added, and the whole being boiled a second time,
the saccharine matter became then granulated, and the sugar, when
refined, of a very good quality. This manufacture is not now of much
consequence, since the free admission of VYest India and other sugar
into that country. Distillation from the beet-root has been tried ;
but where grain is so abundant, it supersedes the necessity of extract
ing spirits from this vegetable.

In Hanover, although there are various tracts of heath and marshy
ground, the soil produces most of the grains and fruits of Europe ;
even the grape is cultivated in some places for making wine. The
beer of this country has been long celebrated for its excellence, and
upon this article and spirits, an annual revenue of upwards of sixty
thousand pounds is levied. There are few towns in the kingdom in
which distillation is not carried on, while the breweries are numerous.
The principal establishments are at Embeck, Gosslar, and Hanover :
the latter is noted for a particular kind of beer, which is held in high
estimation throughout the country. The Embeck beer was once
accounted the Burton of Germany, and vended in every part of the
Empire. In the fifteenth century it ranked so high, that a barrel was
considered of equivalent value to a hogshead of wine, and was the
favorite drink of the sovereign. One of the largest houses at Ham
burgh was built for the express purpose of selling this liquor, which
is still known by the name of the Eimbeckischen Haus. After all
the praise that has been lavished on it, the modern beer of Great
Britain is considered superior to it.

A brewer previous to his commencing work, must notice the proper
officer, stating the time when the malt is to be mashed, with the
quantity and kind of grain to be used, also the hour when the vats are
to be filled ; and the duty is imposed in proportion to the quantity of
grain, and the beer obtained. If the brewery is on a small scale, one
shilling is charged for every bushel of wheaten malt, eight-pence for
barley, and six-pence for oats : where the quantity of beer produced
is large, the duty is then charged by the gallon.

A distiller likewise must inform the Collector before he begins to
work, and have his still guaged, at the same time leaving the head

459

with that officer. The duty is charged according to the capacity of
the still ; arid on each removal of the head for work, he is obliged to
pay for the time it is kept, which cannot in any instance be for a
shorter period than twenty-four hours, but may be for as long as he
thinks proper, paying proportionally so much per day, according to
the dimensions of the still, as already stated. Any infringement of
those regulations is strictly punished according to law ; but it is plain
that these enactments are insufficient to prevent smuggling, inasmuch
as a fraudulent trader may have in some concealed place, at all times,
a second head for his still.

These regulations are nearly similar to what were observed some
years ago, in Great Britain and Ireland. The collection of the
revenue is managed by a board of eleven members, some of whom
are appointed by the crown, and some by the states. The subor
dinate officers are six superintend nts over districts, each of whom
are divided into circles, and in every circle there is a collector ; sub
ordinate to these again, are other officers, some of whom are posted
at the gates of the towns and cities, and are denominated secretaries.
The intelligent reader will readily perceive the regulations which
follow from the appointments without further detail. It may be
remarked that in Germany of late years, distilleries have increased,
while breweries have decreased in the same ratio. This change, we
are "assured, has made no alteration in the morals of the people, as
drunkenness is now less prevalent there than formerly.

The improvements in distillation have advanced considerably in the
German Empire, but not to the extent observable in France and
Great Britain. One great cause of this is attributable to Guild and
Corporation laws, which tend to retard the progress of the mechanical
arts, and to depress the exercise of the inventive powers and the
ingenuity of the artisan. There almost every species of industry is
restricted, and diiferent trades have different privileges. Some curi
ous regulations respecting them might be selected ; among others
those of brewers and distillers have not been exempted. In Lune-
burgh, particular houses only had a hereditary right to distil brandy,
and no other persons than the twelve representatives of those families
could keep a distillery.*

Wine being so common and cheap, the Germans do not encourage
distillation to the same extent as in other countries. What progress
Temperance Societies may have made remains to be ascertained, but,
if the following anecdote be authentic, it aifords a curious specimen

* Hodgskin's T/avels in tlie North of Germany, vol. ii. F. 181.

460

of the opinions entertained by some of the German divines on the
subject of intemperance. In a sermon preached by one of them, he
exclaimed that " intemperance consisted in passing those bounds
which nature had prescribed. It was intemperance for men who were
quarrelsome in their cups, ever to drink wine : to some a goblet was
refreshment, to others, two caused sickness, and such were intem
perate, when they drank more than one. Many enlivened society,
and were kind when they had drunk four bottles, and it was not right
in them to take less. Many more felt their hearts warm with grati
tude to the Deity, as the generous juice circulated in their veins,
when they had drunk eight bottles — with them intemperance began at
the ninth. These persons he pronounced to be the peculiar favou
rites of heaven, and bowing to his congregation, he acknowledged with
fervour, that he himself was one of those happily gifted mortals."

In the Prussian territories, the manufacture of ardent spirits has
never been an object of great importance, at least in a commercial
point of view, although few countries have finer grain, or are more
extolled for the excellence of their ale. It was remarked by Wolf-
stane the Dane, when he navigated the Baltic as far as the country
now called Prussia, in the eighth century, that the people there
brewed no ale, because they had plenty of honey. This abun
dance of honey was noted many centuries before by Pytheas, when
mead was the common drink of the meanest of the people, while the
rich drank mares' milk, or, perhaps, a spirituous liquor prepared from
it.* In the Polish department, strong waters are made from wheat,
rye, barley, pulse, and also from cider. These are drunk chiefly by
the common people, and often by the higher orders, who use them
after they have been rectified with anise-seed, cinnamon, or other
spices.

In the recent southerly territorial accessions of Prussia, the vine is
in cultivation ; and anise, canary, coriander, mustard, and poppy-
seeds, are grown for the use of distillers and others. In Prussia, a»
well as in many parts of Germany, a brewery, a distillery, and some
times a public-house, are the necessary appendages of every exten
sive farming establishment. Potatoes are distilled to a considerable
extent, and it is calculated that two bushels of them aiford the same
proportion of ardent spirit as one bushel of barley. Nine bushels of
potatoes are usually mixed with one of malt, to draw the wort
which, by distillation, produces a spirit, containing 80 per cent of
alcohol, and paying a very unpopular duty of six-pence per gallon,

* Macpherson's Annals, p. 263^

461

Before it is sold to the retailers, it is reduced to 50 per cent of
alcohol ; and the sum paid by them is about fourteen-peiice per
gallon. The residuum, after the spirit is extracted, is given to cattle,
and, in nutritive quality, is deemed equal to two-thirds of the value of
the potatoes before the wort was extracted.

The cultivators of grain complain greatly of the heavy duty
imposed on the distillation of corn, but without much reason, since
the tax is paid at a high degree of strength, and the spirits are sup
plied to the retailers at a very inferior strength.

During the late protracted wars, many exertions were made, as
well as experiments, by Von Thaer, to procure sugar from native
plants, of wbkh the common garden turnip was the most productive .
from this plant, from beet, and other roots, sugar has been extracted
of a colour, strength, and consistency equal to that of the sugar-cane.
Considerable quantities of goldwasser, a spirit infused with seeds
and spices, are distilled at Dantzic, and from thence sent into the inte
rior. The supplies of grain necessary for the stills kept at work in
that city and neighbourhood, are drawn from the public granaries,
which are so numerous and important, that a short description of them
may not prove uninteresting. The buildings which compose them,
says Oddy, are so extended, that they form a separate town, and
consist of ranges of from four to five stories high. They are situated
upon an island formed by the river Mottlau, which runs close by the
city on one side, and is met by another branch at a place called the
Forestadt on the other. There are three bridges on each side of the
island, at the end of streets over it, from the city to the Forestadt.
In the night, all the bridges are drawn up, excepting the two at the
end of the main street, across the centre of the island, communicating
between the old city and the Forestadt. On this island, are all the
principal ware-houses for ashes, hemp, linens, and the extensive
granaries forming seventeen streets, besides the large centre one that
extends the whole length of the island. To guard these warehouses,
from twenty to thirty ferocious dogs of a large size are kept, amongst
which are blood-hounds ; these are let loose at eleven o'clock at
night. To command and to keep the dogs within their districts, as
well as to protect the passengers from harm, there are large, high
gates at the end of each of the streets leading to the main one. No
light is allowed, nor is any person suffered to live on this island. The
dogs prowl about the whole night and cause great terror. It would
be impossible without them to keep property secure, amongst the
hordes of Poles, Jews, and others who resort to Dantzic, as no exem
plary punishment would have half the effect which the dread of

462

these dogs produces. In winter, when the water is frozen over, and
Avhen the dogs might be liable to stray, there are three keepers
placed at particular avenues with whips, to drive them within their
range. This brings to our recollection what ^Elian tells us in his
History of Animals, that a thousand large mastiffs were constantly
kept at the temple of Adranus, which stood in the city of Adranum,
now Adderno, and that they were taught to fawn upon such as
brought presents to the temple, to conduct persons home at night, and
to fall furiously upon thieves and tear them in pieces. In the Bazaar at
Moscow, the property of the shopkeepers is protected at night by dogs
chained to their doors. Under the arcade, a certain number of these
animals are fixed to a long rope, placed from one end to the other,
passing the doors of all the shops, which are locked up, and left solely
under their protection.* The arsenal of Tripoli, in Africa, is guarded
in like manner by immense dogs belonging to the Bashaw, kept for
that purpose ; but, to the disgrace of the governor, these animals are
supported by the courtesans of the town, who are obliged to
bring them food every day, at the expense of their own degradation.
Owing to the measures adopted at Dantzic, no fire or robbery was
ever known ; and the expense levied on each building for these pre
cautions is very reasonable, considering the immense property they
contain. Vessels lying along side of those warehouses are not allowed
to have a fire or light of any kind on board, nor is a sailor nor any
other person suffered even to smoke. The corn annually received
and exported from Poland, through the medium of those granaries,
is computed at 730,000 tons, or 365,000 lasts. The grain stored in
those warehouses is brought down the Vistula from the interior of
Poland, principally by Jews, and the boats which convey it are from
one to three months on the voyage. These vessels are rudely con
structed, and after the cargo is disposed of, they are sold for firewood,
or formed into huts for the owners until a market is obtained. In con
veying grain in these boats, there is no artificial covering as a pro
tection from the weather ; it is piled in the boats so as to present
sloping sides like the roof of a house, and the surface thus exposed
to the clamp, soon begins to vegetate and form a thick matted cover
ing, serving all the purposes of a tarpawling, and presenting the
appearance of a verdant mound of earth, around which flocks of birds
are seen to hover in the fearless pursuit of food. At Elbing, as well as
at Dant/ic, the warehouses are guarded during th6 night by ferocious
dogs ; and since no evil consequences ensue from this mode of pro-

* Barrow's Excursions, p. 111.

463

tecting property, it is to be wished that the Prussian practice were
extended to those portions of the civilised world, where it might be
applicable, as it would save men from the labour arid degradation of
nightly watching.

The preparation of rosolio is an important branch of distillation at
Dantzic. It is an agreeable spirit, composed of the juice of the plant
ros solis, brandy, sugar, cinnamon, cloves, nutmegs, and other ingre
dients, and is in great demand in the German states. The rosolio of
Dantzic is chiefly prepared from honey, blanched by exposure to
frost, and afterwards washed with spirits. The honey thus prepared
is hard and white as snow : the Italian rosolio is made by a nearly
similar operation, and for which there are several distilleries at Leg
horn. The people of Dantzic say, that the honey employed is pro
cured from the forests of Kowno on the river Niemen, and its pro
perties are principally attributable to the honey collected by the bees,
which feed on the blossoms of the lime-trees in those forests. In
Moldavia and the Ukraine, the Jews have a method of making honey
into a hard and white sugar, which is employed by the distillers of
Dantzic in the manufacture of liqueurs. This process consists in
exposing the honey to the frost during three weeks, sheltered from
the sun and snow, in a vase of some material, which is a bad con
ductor of caloric. The honey does not freeze, and ultimately
becomes transparent and hard as sugar. Rosolio is considered ser
viceable for paralysis and other disorders. Various seeds and aro-
matics are used by the distillers of that city, perhaps more than else
where for flavouring spirits. Kummel, their favourite flavour, is that
of the cumin, (Cuminum Cyminium) an annual indigenous plant of
Kgypt, but caraway or fennel (fceniculum) seeds, are generally mixed
with cumin, and sometimes substituted for it, in the distillation of
Kiimmelwasser. Coriander seed, as well as Calamus aromaticus, (the
acorus of botanists)* is also employed by the distillers of Dantzic, to
correct the empyreumatic odour of spirits, and give a grateful and
palatable aroma to the liquors with which they are incorporated.

Formerly a strong medicinal beer was made in Dantzic from the
berries of the sweet-brier, which was found both salutary and agreea
ble ; another description of liquor, called black beer, is made in that
city and held in considerable estimation : it is a species of spruce
beer, and is made in a manner similar to that practised in Canada.

Distilleries are numerous in Dantzic ; many work from grain,

* Tliis is an odoriferous reed brought originally from India, but now found in
the North of Europe and in North America.

464

others from molasses, and several from various saccharine materials.
The stills are, for the most part, made of wood, steam being the chief
agent ; others are worked in the usual manner. In many, the machi
nery is curious, simple, and efficient.

The exports of corn-brandy from Dantzic in 1802, amounted to
1,098 ohms ; and in 1804, to 14,312 florins and 276 ohms. The
imports of rum and French brandy in 1803, were 1,412 hogsheads ;
and in 1804, 1,383 ohms. Through the other principal ports of
Prussia in 1804, 1,224 hogsheads of brandy were received.*

The excise raised on mead, malt, beer, wine, and spirituous liquors
in the Polish part of Prussia is of some importance, but in no degree
equal to the means they might possess of extending it. In the ma
nagement of the distillery, the Prussians have not hitherto shown much
skill. Most of their concerns are poor and ill adapted to the work.
At Pillau, Elbing, Kb'ningsberg, &c., the stills wrought some years
since, were oblong squares of copper, generally about ten feet in
length, three feet in width, and three feet in depth. Wood is the
common fuel, though coal is plentiful, particularly in Silesia, and peat
may be procured in some of the states in abundance. But as a too
intimate acquaintance with the luxuries of life seldom contributes to
the felicity of the human race, it is, perhaps, fortunate for these people
that the great bulk of their agricultural produce is exported in the
raw rather than in the refined state.

In the eastern part of Prussia, as no wine is made, the common
beverage is beer or spirits from corn. The establishments for brewing
and distilling are consequently numerous, but some of them approach
in magnitude to those of England. The whole quantity of beer that
is brewed is 4,243,000 fass, or casks of 50 gallons each. The con
sumption of corn-brandy is, on an average, 8,000,000 gallons annually.

In Berlin, there is a description of malt drink called White Beer,
made from a mixture of wheat and barley malted in the ratio of five
parts, (3.83 quarters) of the former to 0.76 quarters of the latter, with
about nine barrels of liquor at the temperature of 95°. The wheaten
malt is considered requisite for the sake of the flavour and colour.
This mixture is mashed for about thirty minutes, during which five or
six barrels of liquor nearly boiling are conveyed from the copper into
the tun, after which the mashing is kept up for fifteen minutes longer ;
the heat of the mash being at 126°. In an hour after, fifteen pounds
of hops, mixed \vith two barrels of worts taken from the top of the
kieve, are boiled in the copper for a quarter of an hour, during which
four barrels more of worts are added, making in all six barrels in the

* Oddy on European Commerce, 4to. Vide Addenda.

465

copper. The whole, with the exception of a barrel left to keep the
bottom from burning, is returned to the kieve at a heat of 201°, and
after a few minutes' mashing- is allowed to stand half an hour, the
heat at this period being 153°. Six barrels more from the top of the
kieve are now put into the copper and raised to a heat of 205° ; the
contents of both copper and kieve, grains included, are then thrown
into a vessel called a tap-tun having a false bottom covered with
straw, the temperature being then 167°- Having remained undis
turbed in this vessel about fifteen minutes, the cock between the real
and false bottom is opened, but in so small a degree in order to render
the liquor the finer, that it requires seven hours to draw it off. At
this stage, six barrels of liquor are added and the whole is pumped
into the coolers, from which it is sent to the fermenting tun at a heat
of 72°, when a gallon of yeast is added and in two hours fermentation
commences. In the space of eight or ten hours it is put into casks
and delivered to the traders, with whom the fermentation is finished
generally in three days ; on the fifth it is bunged, is bottled on the
ninth, and is drinkable on the fourteenth or fifteenth day. By this
practice the manufacturer is a dependent for a supply of barm, either
on his own or the customers of other brewers.

From the proportion and quantity of grain stated, 18 -J barrels of
beer are usually obtained ; this drink seldom requires fining, is well
flavoured, and will keep for six months.

Between Dresden and Meissen, the vineyards which adorn the
banks of the Elbe are the property of the king, and the wine which
they yield is in higher estimation than any other in his dominions.
In the whole of Prussia, it is estimated that there are 36,908 acres
employed in vineyards. Hops are raised in Brandenburgh, Pome-
rania, Silesia, West Prussia, Saxony, and on the Rhine, in sufficient
quantities to supply the inhabitants within the kingdom : the average
quantity produced is annually about 550,000 bushels, which are sold
by measure. The wines are calculated to be from 390,000 to 420,000
eimers ; an eimer being fifteen gallons. In Brunswick, there are
eighty or ninety breweries of mum and beer, with about thirty-two
distilleries from corn. In Konigslutter, there are nine distilleries of
ardent spirits. In Magdeburgh and Genthin are distilleries and brew
eries. In Berlin, within the walls, are one hundred and forty-three
distilleries and forty-two breweries.

In Wurzen and Potsdam, there are considerable breweries which
engage a great number of the inhabi tants. The vineyards about Lutzen
in Saxony, although affording abundance of grapes, yield but an indiffe
rent description of wine ; and, therefore, it is more profitably applied

2 H

466

in making vinegar and brandy. At Weimar, breweries and distille
ries are chiefly employed to supply the city, though there is a great
trade in corn. In Saxe-Gotha, aniseseed and ciimminseed are raised
to considerable extent and converted into essential oil, which is in
great demand for the flavouring of spirits.

In Silesia, ale-houses are numerous, and no postillion drives a stage
without stopping to enjoy a schnap — an irresistible temptation, since
every ale-house hangs out a board with the seductive salutation,
" Willkommer mem Freund" — Welcome, my Friend !

In the neighbourhood of Hirschberg, there is a spring so impreg
nated with oxygen, that the common people crowd to it on Sundays
to intoxicate themselves cheaply.

In Germany, honey is an abundant production. The number of
bee-hives in Prussia alone, are estimated at 521,000, and the sales of
the honey bring yearly about £356,091.

It was customary among the superior class of the Tcutones, (an
ancient people of Germany) to drink mead for a period of thirty days
after marriage. From this practice is probably derived the familiar
expression, " to spend the honeymoon'' Hence mead may be classed
amongst the most ancient and favourite beverages of the Germans, as
proved by the testimony of Pytheas already noticed. Next in anti
quity is the beer described by Tacitus ; but it is highly probable that
cider may dispute the precedency, as Tatian, a writer of the second
century, makes frequent allusion to it as a common drink among the
Helvetians.

Throughout Poland, all the distilleries are farmed exclusively to
the Jews by the nobles, who receive large sums for granting this
privilege. One nobleman has been known to receive £3000 annu
ally for leave to distil on one of the largest of his estates. The liquors
manufactured by them are corn spirits usually drunk without water.
The wash, previous to the distillation, is mixed with the essential oils
of fennel and caraway seeds, to render the spirits more palatable, and
of which enormous quantities are consumed to the real injury of the
morals of the people. This led Joseph II., when he obtained posses
sion of Galitzia, to prohibit the Jews from either pruning the vines or
distilling spirits ; but these regulations were disregarded after his
death, and the Jews are now sole masters of this branch of commerce.
Every traveller in Poland must lament the drunkenness of the pea
santry, particularly as it is effected by the avarice of the nobles, since
according to the excesses of the people, the larger are the returns to
the lords of the soil.*

Neale's Travels through Germany, Poland, Moldavia, and Turkey.

467

The present Farmer- General (1837) is M. Steinzler, a banker at
Warsaw, who has purchased a lease of the liquors for twenty years,
for which he paid 7,600,000 florins, or £182,400 sterling; therefore
the same monoply is to be continued for the aggrandisement of an
individual, to the degradation of the community.

The cheap whiskey of the country is drunk by the Polish peasantry
in enormous quantities, whenever they can obtain it. " I was informed,"
says Jacob , " and had reason to credit the accounts, that when the
peasants brought to the market-towns their trifling quantities of pro
duce, a part of the money was first used to purchase salt, and the rest
spent in whiskey, in a state of intoxication that commonly endured
till the exhaustion of the purse had restored them to sobriety."*

There is no duty on the spirits sold in the country portions of
Poland ; and the supply of that commodity, in a populous neighbour
hood, affords a profit, unequal, however, to the interest of the capital
invested in the soil, the farming stock, utensils, and other requisites,
added to the expense of erecting the distillery. The spirit from corn
is sold in the country at ten-pence per gallon ; but on paying a high
duty, or being a subject of monopoly farmed by tlie government to
distillers, on the entrance of the cities and towns, it is retailed in
them from three shillings, to three shillings and six-pence per gallon.
The duty on beer is collected by the brewers to whom it is farmed
by the government.

In Lithuania, spirits are consumed to a considerable extent. Tra
vellers say, that every town on the road sells spirits, and that the lower
orders are seen to stop and take their schnaps ; even women carry a
private bottle, and when they meet, apply it to each other's mouths,
and separate after a reciprocation of kisses. When travelling on
horseback, they do not forget their favourite beverage, and observe
the same ceremonies in drinking as when on foot.

When Buonaparte had control over Poland, he encouraged the cul
ture of white beet in order to obtain sugar with a view to injure the
British trade in that article ; but the experiment was of short dura
tion, as it is not now cultivated for such a purpose.

The propagation of bees is an object of great attention with the
Poles, and their honey is classed under three heads, namely, lipiec,
leszny^stepowey prasznymird, each of which deserves particular notice.
Lipiec honey is the produce of bees that feed only on a species of
lime-tree of the genus talia, called kamiennalipsa,OY stone lime. It
is held in high estimation on account of its efficacy in the cure of
affections of the chest, particularly those connected with the lungs j it

* Report on the Trade in Corn, &c. of Northern Europe.

408

is peculiarly agreeable in flavour, white as chalk, has little wax, and
is, therefore, easier of digestion : the forests of Kowno in Lithuania,
are alone noted for this production. Such is the value set upon lipiec,
that a pound of it has been known to sell for two ducats at the very
place where it was collected. In the forests about Kowno there are
no caps, the bees living in the hollows of trees excavated by the
peasantry for that purpose. The hives are protected from the seve
rity of the winter by a coating of clay and straw : every peasant is
entitled as a right to that portion of the forest with the hives to which
he has paid attention ; and any infringement of this right, or a robbery
of the honey, is punished by the extraordinary infliction of drawing
the intestines of the culprit through the navel, and rolling them round
one of the trees which he had despoiled of its treasure. Kosciusko,
who was a Lithuanian by birth, was so partial to the mead termed
lipiec, from the honey of that name, that, during his exile in Switzer
land, he wrote to General Wawrzecki to procure him a supply from
the manufactory at Kowno.

The leszny honey is the produce of bees that feed in the pine
forests ; and the stepowey prasznymird, or the honey procured solely
from the field flowers, is considered excellent ; and that from the
Ukraine is accounted the best. The poor people there reckon more
on the produce of bees than on that of grain ; and it is not uncommon
for some of the farmers to have from four to five hundred ule, or logs
of wood in their bee enclosures, which are called parsieka, or bee
hives, in order to collect the honey. To accomplish this purpose,
these logs, which are of birch and about six feet high, are hollowed in
the middle and are about five feet in length, and one foot in width.
The aperture is covered with boards, leaving only a small opening for
the passage of the bees. An idea of the quantity of honey collected
may be conceived, when it is known that one of these large cavities
is often filled in a favourable season at the beginning of August.
From this superabundance of honey in Poland, the common drink
may readily be supposed to be mead ; and this is manufactured to the
utmost perfection. In the process, three parts of water are added to
one of honey, and to 163 gallons of this mixture about 501bs. of hops
are added. This amalgamation is termed a waar or brewing. While
the water is in a boiling state, the honey and the hops are stirred in
it, till they become milk-warm : it is then put into a cask where it
ferments for some days. The liquid is then conveyed into a cask
in which whiskey had been kept, is bunged closely, and put into a
cool cellar, and after lying three years in this state, it is considered to
have arrived at a state of excellence and continues to improve by age.

469

The common mead is manufactured in the same way, except that
a quantity of malt is added. In Hungary, ginger is used in the pro
cess ; in Poland this is not customary, though many think it would
make a better stomachic. Wisniak, Dereniak, and Maleniak are other
descriptions of mead, with the addition of wild cherries, berries of the
cornus mascula, and raspberries ; and their spirituous qualities are
such that they will keep for many years. The mead drawn from the
lipiec honey is purely that obtained from the honey itself, mixed with
a certain proportion of water and fermented in the usual way.

According to ancient Polish writers, bees were so superabundant
in their time, that they not only filled the hollows of trees, but even
the ground was covered with their cells. The Poles at one period,
brewed hydromel to such an extent, that the workmen were fre
quently drowned in the huge vats employed in the manufacture. It
was at one time a mark of Polish gallantry to take off a lady's shoe,
and pass it round the table, filled with wine or hydromel as a bumper
to her health.

A description of honey of an intoxicating nature, is collected in
some parts of Poland. This honey is gathered by the bees, from the
azalea ponticci) chiefly at Oczakow and Potesia; and is solely used
for medicinal purposes, no mead being manufactured from it, nor can
it be eaten like other honey, as it produces nausea as well as inebria
tion. Before quitting the subject of honey in this quarter, it may be
interesting to know that in the fourth and fifth centuries, it was a com
mon practice to collect bees together by hissing, or whistling, in the
same manner as was done by beating on brass ; and it is still a prac
tice in Lithuania and Russia, to lead bees to feed and gather them
home by the blowing of a whistle, a surprising phenomenon in the
history of these insects.

In a country so favoured by the beneficence of Providence, it is
lamentable that many of these gifts should be converted to purposes
disgraceful to the human character ; and if it be true, as reported by
a respectable writer, that the ministers of religion desecrate their
high office, by vending spirits to the people as a source of emolument,
what can be expected from the community when they find their
teachers thus lend themselves to pander to their vices ?

The Danes, among the other inhabitants of the North who drew from
France a vast quantity of her brandies, at present distil from corn to
a large extent. In 1800, the distillers of Copenhagen, amounting to
316, formed a corporate body; their consumption of grain in that year
was 287,824 tons, which yielded 2,347,850 gallons of spirits. At
Flensburg, two hundred stills are employed, the produce of which is

470

principally sent to Iceland and Norway. In tlie town and neighbour
hood of Husum, in the Duchy of Schleswick, the manufacture of
ardent spirits is prosecuted with much vigour. There, as well as in
other parts of the Danish territory, the feeding of cattle on the refuse
of the stills, forms a very profitable part of the trade. Denmark,
Schleswick, and Holstein produce corn in such abundance, that the
export in one year frequently amounts to £105,000.*

The average estimate of the spirits exported from Denmark,
amounts in value to about 100,000 rix-dollars, or £22,500. The
crown draws a large proportion of the national resources from the
excise on this article, and from the licenses permitting its manufac
ture and sale. The wash used in the distilleries is principally made
from malted barley and rye, but scarcely any oats are used : conside
rable quantities of the spirits are converted into cordials, and much
drunk in the taverns and retail shops, in the form of drams termed
schnaps.^

Besides the ardour with which the Danes prosecute the distillation
of spiritSjthey make very good beer and ale. Beer is of great antiquity
amongst them. The Scandinavian word braga (beer), is probably
the primitive of our terms brag and braggart, the Scandinavians
being great boasters over their cups. The Saxons and Danes were
passionately fond of beer ; and the drinking of it was considered one
of the principal enjoyments of the heroes admitted into the hall of
Odin. From the word braga may have been derived the appellation
braggot, from brag, malt, and gots, a honey-comb, a species of drink
common in Wales, made from malt, honey, and spices ; and the word
bragwort, the name of a weak kind of mead, may be referred to the
same origin.

A considerable portion of the hops employed in the Danish brew
eries, is of the growth of the islands of Funen, Falster, Bornholm, and
the peninsula of Jutland ; but the consumption is so great that they
annually import hops to the amount of 55,000 rix-dollars. As honey
forms an important article in their domestic economy, and in the com
position of their liqueurs, great attention is paid by the Danes to the
culture of bees, over which the schoolmasters of the country have a
peculiar superintendence, and mead is manufactured extensively.

At entertainments, the inhabitants do not usually indulge to excess
in drinking ; when a sufficient supply of wine or other liquors has
been served, the host rises, and thanks his guests for doing him the

For further particulars on the Trade of Denmark, see Addenda, Also
Boetticher's Statistical Tables, No. 2.
f Clarke, vol. v. p. 41.

471

honor of dining or supping with him, or politely bows to them : the
company then simultaneously rise, and bowing to the host and to each
other, either depart or retire to another apartment to drink coffee.

From the king to the peasant, there is a simplicity and homeliness
of manner amongst the Danes, which renders society agreeable.
Their kings have been noted for encouraging this cordiality of feeling.
In 1796, a colony of Dutchmen settled in the country, and the king
was so pleased with their industrious habits, and so anxious to encou
rage them, that he, with his court, visited them once a year, dressed
in the same style as the Dutch boors, and partook of a feast prepared
of the simplest dishes. There the royal visitor, after the example
of his ancestor Odin, quaffed the circling goblet of braja or beer,
and spent the evening in temperate enjoyment.

The Danes furnish the island of Iceland with beer and ardent spirits,
in exchange for dried fish and other commodities of that country.
A considerable quantity of their liquors is transported thither, to
afford the inhabitants of that chilly region the pleasures arising from
those warm and exhilarating beverages. The following return of the
imports of Iceland for one year, will serve as a specimen of the ine
briating liquors consumed by the inhabitants :- — viz. 569 barrels of
Danish and 226J barrels of French brandy, 47^ barrels of rum, 86 J
hogsheads of wine, 53 barrels of mead, and 52^ barrels of beer.

In Iceland, from the coldness of the climate, neither grain nor
fruits are cultivated, except a species of wild corn, which is dried in.
a sofn, or kiln, afterward ground by hand-mills made of lava, and the
meal made either into bread or porridge, which the peasantry account
delicious. During the usurpation of Cromwell, the Icelanders
brewed their own ale (bjor), and appear to have been very fond of
it, as the term drinking '-house -, given to the place where they con
gregated to carouse, strongly implies. The English, at that period,
exported thither large quantities of strong ale which was highly
valued, and drunk with avidity.

According to Henderson, there were numerous mineral springs in
Iceland, termed Olkelldar, or Ale-wells, from their taste and their
inebriating effects when taken fasting ; but which are now seldom
used, having fallen into disrepute. In the island of Zealand, the inns
have no sign over the door, except that of a ship, but are distinguished
only by the proprietors' names. The taverns and inns are in general'
very good, but coffee-houses, such as those to be met with in France,
England, and Germany, are nowhere to be found, the confectioners'
shops serving as substitutes. In Copenhagen, which contains a popu
lation of above 106,000 inhabitants, industry and activity prevail ;

472

but these virtues are, in some degree, counterbalanced by the propen
sity of the lower orders for spirituous liquors. The sale is extensive
not only there, but also in the neighbouring towns. Elsinore has,
on that account, been not unaptly called by sailors, " the Gin-shop" :
there all the British vessels lay in a stock of spirits, to serve them
during their absence from England.*

In Norway, nature has so stinted her gifts as to oblige its inhabi
tants to depend on others partly for the necessaries, as well as for the
luxuries of life, Norway annually imports 300,000 quarters of corn,
of which Christiana alone imports from Denmark 100,000 barrels-
In the northern districts, the grain for the most part is destroyed by
incessant rains ; and what remains is preserved in wooden sheds,
heated by means of stoves^ or dried by the winds on poles, fitted up
for that purpose.f A practice somewhat similar is observed in many
parts of Sweden, with this difference, that the shocks of corn are
spread on wooden frames raised several feet from the ground. | The
chief beverage known to the primitive inhabitants of Norway, is that
which is drawn from the birch tree. The mode of procuring the
juice is, by boring a hole in the trunk,, and then stopping it with a
cork, through which, when a quill open at both ends, is thrust, the
juice passes at the rate of a large drop every second. Amidst the
immense forests that darken the mountains of Norway, great quanti
ties may be obtained in this way. The inhabitants manufacture it as
follows : — To a given quantity of juice is added a proportion of sugar,
mostly two pounds to every gallon. These are boiled together, until
all the impurities rise to the top and are skimmed off. To the
remainder, when properly cooled, is added a little yeast, to promote
fermentation. About three or four days complete the whole of the
process. In extracting the juice, it is found to run more freely
when the tree is moderately shaken by the wind, than in still and
warm weather : the tree suffers little, if the hole be stopped with a
wooden peg. Not only from the birch tree can a liquor be drawn,
which may be converted into a good drink, but also from the willow,
the poplar, the sycamore, and the walnut, all of which, when fer
mented, yield a palatable and strong wine. Some of the better
classes in Norway, in making birch-wine, employ several ingredients,
such as lemons, sugar, and raisins. The liquor, when boiled, is set
to cool, and when brought to a proper temperature, a little yeast is

* Jones's Narrative, vol. i. p. 56.

t Coxe's Travels.

$ Accrbi's Travels, 2 vols, 4to>

473

*•

added. It is then allowed to ferment. Some immediately barrel it
and put some raisins and isinglass into the vessel, in order to clear it.
As soon as the feculence is worked off, the liquor is bunged up and
laid aside for use. In Norway, many of the houses are covered with
birch-bark, as it possesses qualities to resist rain and the inclemency
of the weather, for a number of years. From its containing a great
quantity of inflammable matter, torches are made of this bark, cut
into long narrow stripes, and twisted together. When dried, ground,
mixed with meal, and boiled, it is given to swine : in years of
scarcity, it is mixed with corn and baked and used for human food,
wrhile the twigs of the tree afford fodder for the horses. From the
berries of the sloe an agreeable sort of wine is collected.

A distillery on a small scale was established in 1793, for the manu
facture of brandy, but no account has been given of its success. Ale>
to a considerable extent, is imported, and dealt out with freedom at
weddings, christenings, and other entertainments. Ale and beer are
now made in the country, but not to such extent as to prevent impor
tation ; they are, however, of inferior quality : native hops are
employed, which Barrow says he saw growing ^luxuriantly in Nor
way. Malt drink was held in such estimation amongst the Nor
wegians, that we are told that King Abreck, of Hordoland, chose
Gierheld to be his queen, because she excelled in the art of brewing.
Very good ale is brewed in the families of gentlemen for domestic
use ; but in many districts, it has a tartness, caused by the mixture of
oats with bere. For stronger drink the Norwegians depend on the
Danes, Dutch, and French, who carry on a profitable trade with the
country. So far back as the thirteenth century, a company of mer
chants settled at Bergen, who imported various articles of commerce,
amongst which were malt, ale, wine, and spirituous liquors. At pre
sent the Dutch carry on a great trade with the Norwegians in this
way, and in return for their gin, in particular, receive large supplies
of juniper -berries. The Swedes also furnish them with corn-brandy,
but in small quantities ; what they manufacture themselves, Barrow
affirms, is purer than that of Sweden. This spirit they distil from
barley, and occasionally from rye and oats ; it is generally flavoured,
sometimes with anise-seed, and sometimes with caraway seed : others
say, this is effected by the flowers of some mountain plants or by the
juniper berry, with the addition of a little sugar. Dr. Clarke attributes
the flavour to the infusion of the haeg-berry, or bird-cherry, (prunus
padus) the juice of which is red ; the spirit, however, is clear, but if
distilled on the plant, it is thought the flavour might be retained, while
the colour would disappear. Since the introduction of the potato*

and the attention paid to its cultivation, the Norwegians distil from it
to a considerable extent. Laing, in his Journal, thus describes the
process, as carried on in a small concern which he visited at Dron-
theim : The potatoes are first steamed, and afterwards bruised
between two cylinders, the pulp is then run into vats, with a small
proportion of ground malt ; to every eight barrels of potatoes, 721bs.
of malt are used : the fermentation produced by a mixture of yeast
is generally finished in three days, after which distillation is carried on
in the usual manner. The produce varies in proportion to the quality
of the potatoes. Every farmer is entitled to distil the produce of his
own farm, but pays a trifling license if he buys the potatoes and
works as a trader. A still is commonly kept on every farm, not only
on account of the spirits, the consumption of which in every family
is very great, but for the refuse or wash for the support of the cattle.
The spirit is generally flavoured like the corn brandy with aniseseed ;
it is strong and fiery, but neither harsh nor ill tasted. There is com
monly one brewing and distillation every week, or at least every fort
night, the operations of which are conducted by the women. The
process of steaming the potatoes is effected much in the same manner
as already described when treating of Germany : they are put into a
barrel with iron hoops, having a small door in the side at its bottom,
which is bored with holes to let out the water ; the barrel is usually
placed on a stand with rollers for the purpose of conveying it from
one part of the concern to another ; the steam is conveyed into this
barrel by a pipe connected with the head of the still or boiler, and
enters the barrel near the bottom through a grating : the condensed
steam falls through the holes in the bottom. The operation of steam
ing is commonly finished in an hour and half ; and the potatoes are
considered sufficiently prepared for the purposes required, when they
are fit to be eaten. By boiling the potatoes in steam, the flavour is
said to be improved, and it prevents the spirits from partaking of the
flavour of the potato ; it is thought to be more profitable to distil
them with a mixture of ground wheat and malt, rye, or any other
kind of grain, than to distil the potatoes by themselves : the best pro
portions for this mixture are considered to be — to six heaped barrels
of potatoes, weighing 78 stones of IGlbs. each, 9j- stones of wheat or
other corn, and five of malt from bere or bigg, are to be added. If
other proportions be taken, the wort or wash is apt to become so
heavy as to be liable to burn or singe in the still, and by observing
these ratios, any quantity, great or small, may be made with certain
and good effect. The ground grain and malt are first mixed with
about 120 quarts of water, heated to 50Q of Reaumer, or 144° of

475

Fahrenheit and no higher ; the bruised potatoes are then shovelled
into the vat, after which about 450 quarts of boiling water are poured
in, and again cooled down with cold water to 20° of Reaumer or 77°
of Fahrenheit. The mixture of grain and malt is then thrown in, a
little yeast being added ; the vat is then closed up and left to ferment'
to ascertain when it is fit for the still, the rule is to divide the scum of
seeds and froth upon its surface, and if the scum does not run toge
ther of itself, nor the opening close with air-bubbles from below, the
fermentation is over. The quantity of potatoes and grain above-
mentioned has been estimated to yield from 160 to 190 quarts of
strong spirits. The distillation of spirits being unrestricted in Nor
way and practised in every farm-house, renders the price very low,
usually about 14d. per gallon. Barrow states, that although corn-
brandy is plentiful arid cheap, being only from 4d. to 6d. the quart
bottle, and that great quantities are consumed, yet drunkenness is a
vice not common among the Norwegians.* This is the more singular^
since, according to Laing, they have the wines and brandies of France
and Spain cheaper than the people of those countries, owing to the
expenses of land carriage and municipal taxes.

Although in Sweden, grain is cultivated to some extent, yet there
are but few distilleries in that kingdom. It is curious that among
these few should be ranked the palace near Abo, formerly the frequent
residence of the Swedish monarchs, and that of Calmar, in the pro
vince of Smaland, once the habitation of the celebrated Margaret.

In 1772, Gustavus III. declared his determination to make the
distillation of brandy, for the sake of its revenue, a royal monopoly.
To effect this, he prohibited private stills, previous to which every
farmer was at liberty to distil from corn, or any other substance he
pleased. This measure rendered the monarch very unpopular ; and
he was obliged to have recourse to force to suppress the insurrections
it occasioned. During three years, he persevered in this monopoly ;
but in 1775, he rescinded the prohibition, so far as to grant the privi
lege of distillation to a limited number of individuals on the payment
of a certain sum for a fixed number of years. The want of a suffi
cient number of farmers or contractors of this royal monopoly, forced
the king to abandon his plan ; and he became himself the only dis
tiller in the kingdom. A dignitary of the church remonstrated with
his Majesty on this occasion, and remarked that there were two things
with which a prudent king should not meddle, namely, religion and
brandy. With tlie concerns of the first, Gustavus had little to do ;
but the second he pursued with ardour : he even interdicted the

* Barrow's Excursions, p. 227.

476

importation of foreign brandies, and levied heavy penalties on the
slightest infringement of any of his regulations, which occasioned
numerous complaints, remonstrances, and menaces, in every part of
the kingdom ; and discontent rose so high, that even in the metropolis,
it was found necessary to station guards at the Royal Brandy Facto
ries, to prevent their destruction by an indignant populace. This
expression of public feeling led to a modification of the laws ; but
the power of the crown is still predominant.

In 1793, a large distillery was erected near Gripsholm, within about
25 miles of the capital. It was calculated to work annually about
1,200 Riga lasts of grain, or 18,000 tons. A term of twenty years
was given to the proprietors for working it, after which it was to
become a royal monopoly. In that distillery there were 96 vats of
equal size, in each of which was usually mixed four tons and a quar
ter of flour, two thousand canns of water, and ten canns of common
yeast. Each vat yielded from 80 to 84 canns, and sometimes 90
according to the grain : the mixture was stirred at intervals, until fer
mentation took place, when the vats were covered and luted down
with a composition of lime. In four days the wash was ready for the
still. The number of stills amounted to twenty-six, four of which
contained 4,000 canns, the others 2,000. The process was slow,
from six to seven hours being employed in bringing over the wash,
and a proportionate time for the spirits. One-fourth part of the
grain used was barley, and as each ton yielded twenty-two canns of
spirit, the crown exacted twelve of these, at a strength six degrees
above proof. The remaining ten fell to the proprietors, which they
sold at sixteen shillings and four runsticks pef cann, making upon
18,000 tons, 180,000 canns ; on the whole produce nearly 400,000.
There were ninety-six workmen employed, at about fourteen or six
teen plottes per month.

Grain is not the only ingredient used in the Swedish distilleries.
A large species of black ant, which affords on distillation a resin, an
oil, and an acid, is employed with rye to give flavour and potency to
the brandy. This insect is commonly found on small round hills at
the bottom of the fir tree. It is, says Consett, less a matter of surprise
that they should use these insects in their distilleries than that they
should eat them, and consider them highly palatable and pleasant.
" As I was walking," he remarks, " with a young gentleman in a
wood near Gottenburg, I observed him sit down upon one of those
living hills, which from the nature of its inhabitants, I should rather
have avoided, and begin with some degree of keenness to devour these
insects, first nipping off their heads and wings j the flavour he declared

477

was of the finest acid, rather resembling that of lemon. My young
friend entreated me much to follow his example, but I could not over
come the antipathy which I felt to such kind of food."* Chemists
have tried the distilling of ants, and have obtained an acid resembling
vinegar ; its properties and attractions are not yet distinctly deter
mined.

The propensity of the Swedes for strong drink of all kinds is well
known, and their wish to refine upon this luxury may have led them
to adopt the ant as the Dutch have the juniper. To their constant
use of spirits, Fortia attributes the thinness of the population. Several
attempts have been made to restrain them in the exercise of so fatal
an indulgence, but to no purpose.f They allege that the practice of
drinking is conducive to health, and even the most temperate adhere
to the custom of taking an allowance both morning and evening.^
At their dinner parties, which in general are given with great cere
mony, the company assemble in an adjoining room, where a sideboard
or table is spread with bread, butter, cheese, pickled salmon, and corn-
brandy. To these, says Thompson, who on one occasion met fifty
persons at a private house, the company pay a visit, and each takes a
dram by way of whet to his appetite. § Clarke, however, asserts,
that he had never seen a drunken mob in Sweden upon the Sabbath
day, nor drunkenness on any day among the peasants. If intoxication
prevail in that country, it will be found perhaps in the better classes
of society.

Where the lower orders use beer as a common drink, breweries
may be expected to abound. In 1809, there were 159 registered
establishments of that kind in the country. Some years previous to
that period, they were enabled to export 232 barrels from Stockholm,
and in 1790 they shipped off 169 barrels. When Thompson, who
lately travelled in Sweden, visited Gottenburg, a Mr. Lorent was
erecting a brewery for porter, to enable him to imitate that of London,
which he sold at the inns for two shillings and six-pence the bottle. This
brewery succeeded so well, that in 1826 its porter was of such good
quality, and came so near to that of London, that it was jocularly
said, " they got their water from the Thames." The porter of this
house is in demand throughout Sweden^and has, in a great measure,
superseded the necessity of any importation from England. The
concern is now kept under the firm of Lorent and Nooning, who, it

* Vide Consett's Remarks in a Tour through Sweden, &c.

f Portia's Travels.

J Clarke's Travels, vol. v. p. 135.

§ Thompson's Travels in Sweden, 4to, pp. 12 & 13.

478

is said, have embarked therein a capital of £50,000. Great encou
ragement is given by the Swedish government to the consumption of
p'orter in preference to that of ardent spirits, the use of which has
been attempted to be restrained by every means that could well be
devised ; even those who keep post-horses or vehicles for hire are
prohibited from selling spirits, or any matter whicli might afford an
excuse for an indulgence in the use of ardent spirits. Could the per
nicious practice of taking schnaps or drams, which is too prevalent, be
restrained, it would have a powerful effect in reforming the habits
and curbing the propensities of the lower classes from those irregula
rities into which they too frequently fall. Although the vice is gene
rally condemned, yet those who are often busy in its condemnation,
render themselves frequently reprehensible in this respect. An anec
dote proving the truth of this observation is related of a young man,
who being intoxicated, met two sober young friends that reproached
him for his intemperance ; but the moralists had a short-lived triumph,
for in the evening of the same day, when he had become sober, he
met his admonishers reeling along as drunk as Bacchus. " What !"
said he, as he stood eying them with a look of pity and contempt,
" are these the persons that reproved me this morning for an irregu
larity into which they themselves have so grossly fallen in the
evening ?"

The good old practice of domestic brewing is still followed in Swe
den, and the beer is represented as sweet and wholesome. In the
year 1797, there were fifty breweries and forty-seven vintners in
Stockholm. Regnard describes a drink which he met with in that city,
termed calchat, consisting of beer, wine, and sugar. Formerly it was
customary in Sweden to drink healths out of goblets of a size propor
tioned to the rank or respectability of the person whose health was
proposed, so that a goblet to the health of a king was as much, if not
more, than could be taken as a bumper. At entertainments in some
parts of Sweden, a beverage is used termed bishop, which consists of
a mixture of Burgundy, Claret, Sugar, Spices, and Seville Oranges.
At Stockholm, every description of luxury is to be found which is
common in Europe, and although the manufactures are insufficient
for the supply of the country, the deficiency is made up by importa
tion, a view of which may be seen in a Table of the Addenda.

As agriculture in Sweden has been carefully attended to, much of
the sterility of the soil has been overcome, and the land, in many
places, rendered tolerably productive. Oats, barley, rye, and wheat
are cultivated, but not in sufficient quantity for home consumption,
since it has been calculated that upwards of 300,000 tons of grain

479

arc yearly imported. In the north of the kingdom, there are neither
apples, pears, plums, cherries, nor any kind of fruit cultivated ; but
nature has been bountiful in bestowing on it a profusion of wild fruit;
of these there are six species of raspberry, three of currants, four of
whortle berries, and a peculiar sort of wild gooseberry.

In order to save grain, which is sometimes so scarce and dear in
that country, it was proposed in 1747, by Mr. Charles Skytes, to
distil brandy from potatoes. The experiment was tried, and it was
found that an acre of potatoes compared with an acre of barley, would
yield a spirit in the proportion of 566 to 156, even admitting the
potato to grow in the worst kind of ground, and the barley in the
best. It has been ascertained by Dr. Anderson, that 721bs. of
potatoes, when properly fermented, will produce one English gallon
of pure spirit, considerably above proof, with an additional quart
something below proof. This liquor has been found to possess quali
ties of the best description both in taste and flavour. The annual duty
on the spirits distilled in the country, has seldom exceeded £41,541.
Besides the use to which potatoes have been converted by the
Swedes in the distillation of spirits, they have extracted sugar from
them, and the apples of this vegetable, when ripe, ferment and yield
vinegar by exposure to the atmosphere.

At Upsala, there are public cellars like the tap-rooms in England,
where beer, brandy, and wine are obtained in great abundance.
The beer is made at Stockholm, the brandy is highly flavoured with
anise-seed, and when mixed with water, it appears as white as if milk
had been mingled with it. These cellars are often the arena of
revelry and drunkenness, in which, according to Clarke, the students
spend more of their time than is favourable either to the practice of
morality, or the pursuits of literature. There is such a rage for the
use of anise-seed in Sweden, that they mix it with bread and drink.
The bread, which is generally made of rye, is so full of it, that both
it and their brandy are, at first, unpalatable to strangers. The
Swedes are as partial to this plant, as the Chinese are to the use of
the illicium anisatum for seasoning dishes ; and the Japanese also
display such a love for it, that they have garlands of it in their
temples, before their idols, and on the tombs of their friends, besides
using its powdered bark, as an incense to their gods. Linnaeus him
self has left a memorial of the national partiality for this plant, by
naming it illicium, which signifies an allurement. Great quantities
of the seed are used at the brandy distilleries of Helsingberg ; and
although some dilute this liquor with water, it is the common practice
to drink it raw, not only in Sweden, but throughout Norway and
Russia.

480

All the post-houses on the mountainous passes in Sweden and Nor
way are tax free, and they have the privilege of selling corn-brandy for
the accommodation of travellers. Spruce beer is a beverage much in
use among the Swedes. It is said to have originated from the salu
tary effects produced by boiling the tops of the spruce fir, and giving
the liquid to the soldiers employed against the Russians, during
a war with that people, and at a time when the scurvy had made
great ravages. The recovery of the army was on this occasion so
miraculous, that the Swedes ever after continued to call this fir, the
scorbutic tree.

From the fruit of the rubus arcticus, a most delicious wine is pro
cured, the use of which is confined to the nobility in Sweden ; and
the Swedes make an agreeable liqueur, resembling lemonade, from
the berries of the rubus chamcemorus.

Among the Swedish imports, English porter is still an estimable
commodity, notwithstanding the prosperity of the native breweries.
The privilege of importing this liquor is confined to Gottenburg, and
the consumption of it is great, on account of the number of hands
employed in the fishery and oil trade. Brandy, however, is the
favourite beverage, and the custom of using it before breakfast and
dinner, is as much a characteristic of a Scandinavian or of a Russian,
as the ceremonious gifts of tobacco and coffee are of a Turk or of an
Arabian. Strangers in Sweden are subject to many diseases, which
never attack the natives ; and if you ask how they escape these dis
orders, they answer that they preserve their health by drinking
brandy, morning and evening. But they do not confine the drinking
of brandy to these two periods of the day, for the dram bottle is ever
at hand, even in the king's palace ; and there are fourteen different
stages in the day's dram-drinking, each having a distinct name, but it
is expected that the Crown Prince, who is favourable to Temperance
Societies, will bring about a reformation in this degrading habit.

The population of Sweden, in 1830, was 2,904,538, of whom the
half may be considered consumers of brandy. These may be divided
into three classes, according to the number of drams taken daily : —
viz.

Canns.
1 million take 5 drams daily, or 60 canns yearly, 30,000,000.

3 36 18,000,000.

2 24 12,000,000.

The cann is valued at a rix-dollar, or one English shilling, which
gives an amount of 60,000,000 rix-dollars spent on brandy.

481

The following is a return of the number of pans employed, with
the amount of canns of brandy manufactured in Sweden, during the
years specified : viz.

Pans. Canns.

1825 172,346 3,651,210

1826 172,586 3,583,253

1827 162,733 3,362,562

1828 169,744 3,483,856

1829 173,126 3,542,956

The quantities of foreign spirits imported during the following
years, were — •

Canns. Rix-dollars.

1826 80,143 value 130,901

1827 94,7.20 151,127

1828 89,038 153,901

1829 119,835 206,470

1830 141,998 236,737

1831 129,115 271,066

1832 190,570 388,716

1833 169,312 345,402

1834 151,576 301,249

For a view of the importation of wine, together writh the quantities
of malt-liquors exported, the reader is referred to the Addenda.

The cann is computed to hold 30 drams ; and 100 canns are equal
to 69^ English wine-gallons.

The number of pans has been reduced to about 150,000, which is
mainly" owing to the exertions of the Temperance Society ;
but unfortunately the imports show that the efforts of this
Society are, as yet, but limited. The brandy-pans, as they
are termed, are of various sizes : some are only large enough
to make four canns, while others can make ninety and upwards.
However writers may be divided with regard to the char
acter of the Swedes, on the whole it may be affirmed, that no person
of fine feelings and warm fancy can, without regret, quit a country
so remarkable for its picturesque scenery and the hospitality of its
inhabitants.

In Lapland, a large portion of which is subject to Sweden, scarcity
is sometimes so great that the inhabitants are compelled to feed upon
the bark of trees : yet, amidst this desolate region, a late traveller

ascribes the only evils with which the people are beset to the habitual

2 i

482

use of brandy.* Their love for this liquor is such, that they have
been known to give a crown for a glass,f and to exchange one of their
best rein-deer for six drams of the common Swedish spirit.J They
regard their passion for it as a misfortune, but when remonstrance is
made on the subject, they say that without brandy they could have
no wives. This unhappily is too true, for when a young Laplander
wishes to choose a wife, he must first furnish a friend with some
bottles of brandy, to mediate between him and her father, who is dis
posed to permit the visits of the lover only in proportion to the
brandy he brings.

This perquisite too often induces a parent to postpone the nuptials
of a daughter for two or three years. From the pleasure it gives
in this world, they consider a little of it necessary for comfort in the
next, hence they put iiito the coffin of a deceased friend a flask of
brandy with other articles, in order that he may cheer himself on his
journey. §

In a country where the winters are so rigorous and the cold so
intense, it need scarcely seem surprising, that an ignorant and savage
people should have recourse to strong liquors, to enliven the solitude
of their rocks and mountains, and to give a brisker flow to their
spirits. It is a ceremony not unworthy of relation, that when a Lap
lander has laid hold of the glass or mug, out of which he is about to
drink, he first dips his forefinger into the liquor, rubs a little of it to
his forehead, then on his bosom, and with the celerity of lightning,
empties the contents into his stomach. These innocent people think
that those precautions prevent the ardour of the spirits from injuring
either head or heart.|| Their chief supply of brandy is drawn from the
border fairs of Norway, Sweden, Muscovy, and Finland. To these
places they generally resort in caravans, or companies, travelling in
sledges drawn by the rein-deer, and their furs, baskets, cheese made of
rein-deers' milk, dried fish, toys, and the deer itself, for their favourite
liquor, and for such necessaries as they may want. Whole families
go to market in this way, and seldom return without experiencing
some of the fatal consequences of too great an indulgence in their
passion for strong liquors.

Lapland abounds with the rubus chamcemorus, or, as it is called
cloud-berry, from being found on the tops of mountains, the fruit of

' * Vide Clarke's Travels, vol. v. p. 404. \ Ehrenmalm.
% Clarke's Travels, vol. v. p. 425.
§ Ibid. vol. v. p. 404.
jj Thompson's Travels in Sweden, p .343.

483

which is about the size of a good hazel-nut ; it is of a scarlet colour
at first, but as it ripens, becomes yellow : when eaten with sugar or
cream, it is cooling and delicious, being full of saccharine matter and
strongly subject to fermentation ; it is singular that no intoxicating
beverage has been made from it, either by distillation or otherwise,
and particularly amongst a people whose propensity for strong drink
is so ungovernable. Of this fruit, great quantities are sent annually
from the gulph of Bothnia to Stockholm ; it is used in sausages and
in making vinegar, and Clarke praises its medicinal virtues in cases
of debility.* The Laplanders are so passionately attached to spiri
tuous liquors, that they will kiss the ground in obeisance to any one
from whom they hope to obtain this liquor, and exclaim, " Auna,
Anna, minule vina," give me, give me, a little wine ! " Addi mungi
vedni !" give me some brandy wine ! A few years ago, for six drams of
common Swedish brandy, a Laplander would press the acceptance of
one of his best rein-deer, and deem it an affront if this remuneration
were declined.

Linnaeus, in his tour through Lapland, states, that he taught the
natives to make a beverage from the tops of the fir, which it is likely
was the same as our spruce beer, and shewed them how to render the
sap of the birch valuable as an agreeable drink. The Laplanders use
the bark of the birch dipped in train oil as a celery.

A few of the wealthy Laplanders brew beer from grain. At mar
riages, brandy is freely circulated, and when the bridegroom demands
the rein-deer, the promised portion of his wife, if he neglect to
bring brandy with him, he is generally disappointed of the expected
dowry. It is a prevailing custom in Lapland to make love through
the medium of brandy, and a marriage is never concluded without
drinking several bottles of spirits ; the warmth of a lover's attach
ment is estimated by the quantity of spirits he distributes ; a par
ticular name is given to the spirituous liquor thus brought by the
lover to the habitation of his mistress, and that is soubbouvin, or the
lover's wine. At the funerals of the Laplanders, spirits are sprinkled
over the place of interment ; all the mourners drink of it, the rein*
deer employed in carrying the deceased to the grave are, three days
after, slaughtered to make a feast for the mourners, at which repast
the paligaviny or fortune liquor, is drunk in honor of the deceased,
whom they think is happy.f Such is the Laplanders' attachment to
brandy, that lying-in women are accustomed to drink it, seasoned

* Clarke's Travels, vol. ix. p. 371-2.
f Regnard's Journey to Lapland.

484

with pepper, partly for the sake of its intoxicating quality, by way of
narcotic, and partly to hasten and ease the pains of labour. The
mothers even pour it down the throats of infants, and at all their
christenings and funerals, intoxication prevails, the ceremonies of
rejoicing and mourning being made mere pretexts for dram-drinking.
At feasts, says Malte-Brun, they seldom depart before the whole
repast is consumed The puolem-vine, or brandy brought from
Flensburg, circulated freely, and mirth is evinced in noisy loquacity.
All the guests thunder the wild discord of their jolias, or national
songs, and the amusement is sometimes varied by cards made from
the bark of trees, and coloured with the blood of the rein-deer. The
Laplanders, when inflamed with liquor, never commit any acts of
cruelty, shewing only an elevation of spirits which prompts them to
shout, jump, and laugh, craving drams with hysteric screams, till they
drop on the ground in total disregard of all that belongs to them,
offering every thing they possess for brandy. When sober, they are
as gentle as lambs, and of the most placable disposition. Like the
gipsies, they practise several modes of divination, one is by inspecting
a cup of liquor ; and which, to ensure the greatest possible certainty,
must be a cup of brandy , which at once explains and ensures the
whole business of the prophecy, evincing that the love of strong drink,
even on such occasions, predominates over the love of money.

Notwithstanding the love which the Laplanders display for intoxi
cating liquors, and the consequent mental imbecility which the use of
these liquors produces, yet several of this nation have manifested
talents of no ordinary description. Schober and Weber give an
account of a Laplander who was gifted with uncommon memory and
facility in the acquisition of languages ; but his inordinate desire for
spirits unfortunately proved his ruin. This person was early taken
from his native land, and educated in Sweden under the auspices of
Charles XI. He was afterwards sent to Lapland to preach the
gospel to his countrymen, having previously qualified himself in theo
logy. After labouring about half a year in this pious undertaking, he
got weary of the employment, and, mounted on a rein-deer, he
entered Stockholm in the dress of a J apland peasant ; there he
remained for a short time, collected some money, which he spent in
brandy, and then repaired to Copenhagen. In that city, he repre
sented himself to be a Lapland prince, was admitted to the presence
of the king, and afforded much amusement to the courtiers by his
singular exploits in d linking. Under the same title, he visited
the principal courts of Germany, following the customary course of ine
briety. He visited France, learned the language of that country in a

485

month, and after receiving presents from Louis XIV., proceeded
through Germany and Poland, to St. Petersburgh, where he had been
only six weeks, when he was able to express himself with clearness
and fluency in the Russian language, even so as to preach before the
emperor, with whom he became so great a favourite, that he settled
on him an annuity of 250 rubles. He then repaired to Astracan, and
in a short time became master of the Tartarian language. In one of
his drunken moments, while lying in a street, he was seized by some
Calmucks, carried into the country, and presented to the Khan. His
head was shaved, his person dressed in the costume of the people,
and himself provided with two wives. In the course of a month he
could converse familiarly with the inhabitants ; but although he was
treated with the greatest kindness and familiarity, he took the earliest
opportunity of escaping to Astracan, where he studied the Persian,
the Mongul, and the modern Greek languages. But before he could
further shift the scene of his eventful life, his dissipation put a period
to his existence,.

The taste and habits of the Finns are little better than those of their
Lapland neighbours, for without tobacco, beer, and brandy they con
sider life to be joyless. Old and young possess the same propensity,
and although little acquainted with bodily debility, their excessive use
of inflammatory liquors undermines their physical vigour, and often
renders them disgusting objects of intemperance and folly.

The desire to obtain tobacco and brandy often induces the Finns
to undertake incredible journeys; both men and women would sooner
eat their provisions raw, and even starve, rather than be deprived of
those luxuries. It is related of one, that having travelled from a great
distance to Abo to purchase an iron pot, he observed some brandy
and tobacco in a shop for sale ; and such was his infatuation, that he
spent all he had in their purchase, and returned home without the
utensil for which he had undergone such fatigue.

When the people repair to the great fair at Abo, they Immediately
have recourse to their favourite liquor, and in this weakness they are
indulged by the artful traders who traffic with them. While under
the influence of intoxication, they disclose all their plans to each other;
and in these unguarded moments, the trader or his agent contrives to
hear their communications, in order to take advantage of their
simplicity.*

It is calculated that, on an average, a Finlander annually
consumes fr m 27 to 30 rix-dollars in brandy, which is equal to the

* Clarke's Travels, vol xi. pp. 334-5.

486

purchase of a cask. Neither Finn nor Norwegian drinks brandy to
keep him warm, to promote digestion, or to lighten labour, all is con
sumed before the door of the merchant with whom he trafficks, and
the infatuated being would be surprised at himself were he to return
home without becoming raving mad with brandy. Edicts have been
issued to prevent the merchants supplying them with this liquor to
excess, but to no effect. The poor creatures, when reproved for such
irregularity, exert all the little intellect and ingenuity they possess to
defend the practice. With the greatest self-complacency, they urge
as an unanswerable argument, that " brandy is as equally strong, and
as equally nourishing as bread, because like bread it is prepared from
grain, and bread being the staff of life, brandy which is prepared from
it, must be equally nourishing as it is exhilarating :" thus this unfor
tunate propensity enervates every spring of activity, every incentive
to improvement, and every moral sentiment.* By the influence of
this beverage, the imaginations are carried to the height of frenzy and
enthusiasm. In their moments of merriment, they boast of an inter
course with fairies at banquets and dances ; they talk with triumph
of the feasts which they have shared in the elfin-caverns, where
wine, brandy, and tobacco, the productions of the fairy regions, have
flowed in abundance. With these and similar notions, many of the
gloomy days of life are enlivened ; while poverty is forgotten amidst
the reveries of intemperance and folly.

When Mr. Bullock, an Englishman, visited Finland in 1822, for
the purpose of procuring a herd of rein-deer, he could effect nothing
without brandy. One of the natives, finding he could not get a glass,
told this traveller and his companion that " he wondered what sort of
people they were not to have so much as a drop of brandy." Barrow,
who lately visited Finland, confirms the observations of Mr. Bullock ;
he affirms that drunkenness is a habitual vice among the Finlanders ;
they drink votki raw, and in large quantities, so that they soon become
intoxicated.

It may be generally remarked of all these northern hordes, that the
precept of their ancient god who recommended full cups, has been
devoutly followed ; ale and mead were the favourite beverages of
Odin, but these have long given place to the more bewitching delu
sions of the alembic. To these may be added as a favourite amongst
the Finlanders, the pleasing liquor extracted from the birch-tree, a
drink, which, in some places, is manufactured much in the same man
ner as in Norway ; it loses its strength, flavour, and agreeable qualities
in about ten days, if not made with the greatest care.

Vide Von Buch's Travels through Norway and Lapland, p. 296.

Ml

Finland being thinly inhabited and badly cultivated, there are few
manufactories ; and though barley, rye, and buck-wheat, are culti
vated, yet the poorer sort of people, for want of better sustenance in
times of scarcity, dry even straw which they bruise and mix with
some meal, and make bread from this compound. At Abo, the
capital, however, may be found every species of European wines,
and that sort of claret called La-Fitte, which here, as well as in Swe
den, is denominated Long Cork, and is a great favourite with the
people. Votki is also plentiful ; in flavour it resembles whiskey, is
exceedingly fiery, but when mixed with water and sugar, is by no
means an unpleasant beverage, although by some it has been execrated
as a most unpalatable and villainous spirit.

In most of these northern regions, the rein-deer moss (lichen ran-
giferinus) is also used as fodder for cattle, and has the effect of adding
a superior richness to the milk and butter : being crisp and agreeable,
it is sometimes eaten by the inhabitants. The flowers of the heegberg
(cornus mascula) flavour their distilled spirits : the moss, besides
being a substitute for mortar, is employed in calking the interstices
between the under- walls, and in closing fissures in their humble
habitations.

In Russia, distillation is one of the most extensive and beneficial
branches of trade carried on in that empire, brandy being the idol of
the people. According to Storch, this art was first introduced into
the country in the sixteenth century, the knowledge of which was
obtained from the Crimea when that peninsula was in the possession
of the Genoese. Shortly after its introduction, spirits became the
rival of mead, the chief and original drink of the country.

The manufacture and consumption of brandy are calculated at
5,500,000 vedros.* For the production of this quantity, about
1,650,000 chetverts,f or 11,000,000 poods of corn are necessary.
The sale of it has been hitherto a monopoly of the crown, and the
right to distil it confined, with the exception of a few privileged pro
vinces, to the nobility who possess landed estates. In all those parts
of the empire where grain abounds, distillation is carried to the greatest
extent. The fertility of Little and White Russia, Livonia, Karkof,
Varonitch, Orel, Kursk, Kalouga, Tula, Iver, Nijegorod, Kazan,
Simbirsk, Penza, Tambov, Saratov, £c. affords ample means to
distillers.

The following enumeration of a few of these distilleries made some

* A vedro is a measure that contains 2T7Q- Imperial gallons,
f A chetvert is reckoned equal to. 5| Winchester bushels.

488

years since in the province of Peiraa and the adjoining districts, may
afford an idea of the magnitude of these establishments.

1st, A distillery belonging to the crown domain Doorzovye, where
150 labourers were employed to work 80 stills, in which were made
100,000 barrels or eimers of corn spirits.*

2d A distillery in Brilovskoi belonging to the imperial college of
finances, where, from 90 stills worked by 160 men, 110,000 barrels
were produced annually.

3d, A private distillery consisting of 20 stills which made 30,000
barrels.

4th, A distillery in the district of Insara belonging to a private
family, in which 24 stills, wrought by 55 men, yielded 7,000 barrels.

5th, A distillery in the district of Moksha, the property of the
Annikof family, where from 6,000 chetverts of corn and 3,000 fathoms
of wood, 15 stills, wrought by 40 men, produced 33,000 barrels.

6th, A distillery at Kutlinskaya, Sloboda, where from five stills
wrought by 30 workmen, 7,650 barrels of spirits were made from
1,700 chetverts of corn ; 1,530 fathoms of wood were consumed as
fuel.

7th, A distillery in the village of Suamenskoi, where two stills
wrought by 20 men, produced from 400 chetverts of corn, 1,600
'eimers of spirits, and burned 550 fathoms of wood.

8th and 9th, Two distilleries in the village of Nishnayashkaffta, in
the district of Gorodishtshe, the property of a nobleman, one of 12
the other of 13 stills, managed by 50 workmen ; these yield together
50,000 eimers of spirits annually.

10th and llth, Two distilleries in the village of Siramas belonging to
a noble family, in one of which were 12 stills wrought by 50 work
men, producing 11,000 barrels of corn spirits; and in the other, 5 stills
farmed out and wrought by 10 men, 4,000 eimers of spirits were
yearly made.

12th, A distillery near the village of Petrovka in which were 13
stills worked by 70 men, who in some years distilled 7,000 eimers of
brandy.

13th and 14th, Two distilleries, one in the village ef Stolipina, the
other near the village of Mamsa, they consisted of 35 stills each, and
were worked by 90 men, who distilled upwards of 90,000 eimers
annually.

15th, A distillery in the district of Kerensk, in the village of Nikol-
sky, or Kitta, containing 30 stills wrought by 72 men ; from 2,135

An eimer is equal to about 3£ English wine-gallons.

489

chetverts of eorn and 2,000 fathoms of wood, 5,000 eimers of spirits
were distilled.

16th, A distillery near the village Polivanova, the property of a
noble family, where 16 stills wrought by 45 men produced 8,150
eimers of spirits from 2,370 chetverts of corn, and a consumption of
7,000 fathoms of wood.

In the whole of Penza there were 397 stills wrought by 982 men,
in these stills 86,279 chetverts of corn, and 96,375 fathoms of wood
were consumed in the manufacture of 554,401 eimers of spirits ; the
annual produce of spirits in the district is, according to Pallas,
2,000,000 gallons.

When Captain Alexander visited the seat of war between the Turks
and Russians in 1829, grain was so abundant in those parts, that the
proprietors found the distillation of it the most profitable mode of
consumption. One distillery he knew to produce one hundred vedros
per day, each] vedro of twelve quarts being sold for two rubles or
twenty-pence British.

Rye and barley are the kinds of grain principally used in all distil
leries ; these for the most part are malted and mixed in proper propor
tions. To a vessel containing about 500 gallons of boiling water, are
put 900 pounds of ground barley malt, or rye and barley ground to
meal ; these when well mashed with rakes and thoroughly mixed toge
ther, are allowed to stand until the liquid becomes viscous and holds
in solution the saccharine matter of the grain; water is afterwards
added to bring it to the consistence at which they wish to ferment it.
When the wash is completely finished, the liquor is drawn from the
tub or kieve, and put into proper vessels, where barm or yeast mixed
with cold water is added, and the vessels being secured from the
admission of atmospheric air, the material is allowed to ferment, until
it has arrived to that stage at which it is deemed fit for the still.
Some only draw a part of the wort from the mash-kieve in the first
instance, and mix it with barm, allowing the remainder to stand
until it becomes a little tartish, before they pour what was taken out
into the kieve. The whole materials, brewing, grains, and all, are
there mixed and fermented together. This rude mode of preparing
wash has been long practised in Russia, and is considered highly inju
rious to the produce of the grain. The extract is said generally to
fall far short of what is obtained in Holland or in our own country.
While eighteen gallons of spirits were taken from a quarter of grain
in Britain, eight only were obtained in Russia, hence it is estimated
that the Russians annually lost in their distilleries not less than to the
value of £3,500,000 and an half sterling.* From a chetvert of corn,
* Parl. Rep. on Distilleries, and Evidence thereon, 1799.

490

weighing 9 poods* or 3601bs. a Mr. Vassili Nicolaveteh Subof, director
of economical affairs in the government of Pensa, extracted six eimers
and a quarter of spirits ; while others from the same quantity of grain,
could get only five eimers. This he attributes to the temperature of
the hot water used in the mash, which he regulated by means of cold
water and ice, and preventing the spirituous parts from making their
escape during the progress of fermentation. His general extract was
seven eimers and four-fifths of common proof spirits, from ten poods
or 4001bs. of grain.f At the distilleries formerly conducted at Mos
cow, were usually drawn from one chetvert of barley malt, five or five
and a half vedros of brandy. But there are few instances in which the
Russian distillers can be said to have shewn much improvement or
real practical knowledge.

Spirits are commonly distilled of such a strength, as that not less
than one-half of the fluid shall burn away, either in a silver or copper
vessel ; but of late the hydrometer has, in some places, been adopted
as a test of more accuracy.

The revenue arising from the sale of brandy is very extensive,
according to Tooke, who estimated its amount at from eight to nine
millions of rubles. Until 1752, it was farmed for £540,000 ; until
1770, for £620,000; until 1774, for £900,000 ; and until 1778, for
£1,500,000; in 1779 it was let for four years at the sum of £1,800,000,
since which time it has been gradually increasing. So far back as
1789, the licenses to inns and taverns yielded £1,708,338, and the
brandies sold in the cities of Petersburg, Moscow, and the parts adja
cent, amounted to 3,320,000 rubles per annum. This is not remark
able, when in the city of Moscow alone, there were no fewer than
4000 kabaks or shops for the retail of brandy. The crown, or rather
the chamber of revenue, farms all the kabaks, and the contractor or
merchant who supplies them with spirits is prohibited from distilling
himself, but is obliged to buy all from the functionaries of government,
who either draw the brandy from their own distilleries, or obtain it
by contract from those of the privileged provinces. When any per
son farms the kabaks, he is allowed to keep beer, mead, and wine in
addition, which, with other trifling advantages, enables him to pay the
government three rubles for every vedro of brandy, and to sell it in
those houses at the same price.

Besides the produce of the corn distilleries, the Russians make
several intoxicating beverages. Beer is brewed in Petersburg, Mos-

A pood is equal to 40lbs.Russian weight, or 36T%lbs. English,
t Pallas's Travels, vol. i.

491

cow, Nislmey Novgorod, Riga, and other places. That of Riga is of
a superior class; and the ale brewed on the Okka, in the government
of Nislmey Novgorod, is said to resemble Burton both in quality
and flavour. Some of the establishments for conducting this branch of
trade are pretty extensive. We are told of one that Mr. Herrmann
visited, which had seven long vats, each holding about 250 vedros
or 25 barrels of 40 gallons each. One and a half chetvert of rye-
malt, three of oat-malt, tliree of barley-malt, and one and a half pood of
hops were used at one brewing. From this, 130 vedros of beer were
obtained, which sold for about 20 rubles. Nine brewing establishments
at Serphuchoff, several at Oral, and in many places beer is so cheap
that it may be had for an halfpenny a bottle.* Strahlenberg says, that
they make of oatmeal, or wheat and hops, a thick white liquor called
braga, which when fresh is pleasant enough, having a tartish or vinous
flavour, remarkably heady, and is drunk only by the common people.f
The Usbecks make this liquor of rice and occasionally of millet. The
brown beer of the Calmucks, called schara, signifying red or dark
yellow, has to this a strong resemblance. In some of the southern
provinces it is made of millet softened to a pulp and mixed with
malted rye and barley, with an addition of oats. This liquor seldom
assumes a clear colour, but when sufficiently fermented it is reckoned
very intoxicating. Hops are plentiful in many parts of the empire,
and grow wild, particularly in Little Russia or the Uralian moun
tains, on the Altay, and in Taurida. Some are cultivated by the
peasantry, but the chief supply is drawn from foreign markets. Boetti-
cher calculates the annual import of this article at £21,8744

The ordinary household beverage of Russia is quass, a word signi
fying sour, one of the ancient Scythian beverages, a drink prepared,
according to Tooke, as follows : — To one chetvert about 351bs.
of barley-malt, two or three handful* of rye-malt, and the same pro
portion of unbolted rye-meal, are added, and the whole mass is thrown
into iron pans, where it is stirred with a quantity of warm or boiling
water until it resembles thin porridge. About two inches deep of
oat husks are then thrown over it, when the pans are placed in an
oven where they remain for 24 hours. Boiling water is again poured
upon it, till it is full to the brim. It is then poured into wooden
vessels, the bottoms of which are covered inside with straw, having
a plug or cock to let out the liquid. Lukewarm water is now added,
and the whole is suffered to stand for some time. When it has stood

* Cochrane's Narrative, vol. i. p. 105.

f Strahlenberg on Northern and Eastern Asia.

t Vide Playf. Trans. Bocttichcr's Tables No. 12.

492

as long as necessary, it is drawn off into casks, in each of which a
piece of coarse rye-bread is put to acidulate the quass.

The casks are placed in a cellar, and in twenty-four hours it is fit
for drinking-. From the proportions of grain mentioned, six or seven
vedros of quass are obtained. It may be made of barley-malt alone ;
but the rye-meal is absolutely necessary.

In most places, continues Tooke, they do not go circumstantially
to work. It is even customary to leave out the barley-malt, adding
much more meal than rye-malt : the proportion to half a pood of meal
being only two or three handfuls of malt. Instead of bread they put
in some yeast of the former brewing. Some add raisins, which cause
the quass to acquire a strong foam. Numbers make quass from
rye-meal only. But in all the modes of making it, cold or tepid
water is poured on the ingredients, the pans being greased and set in
hot ovens.

Another kind of quass, called kisslysclitscliy, is made with boiling
water and rye-meal alone, the mixture being violently and frequently
stirred about in hot water. Cold water is poured upon it, and the
vessel set by fermentation, after which it is bottled. This fine drink
foams vehemently, and effervesces with the solution of a gas that
sparkles like seltzer water. The kisslyschtschy has some resemblance
to the hornerbier of Vienna. In some houses they also use a small
quantity of honey or raspberries and cranberries, with other fruits, in
making quass from which it acquires an agreeable ruby colour and
becomes extremely pleasant to the taste.

The most simple mode of making quass is, as described by Mr.
Johnson, by steeping a certain quantity of bread in hot water, until it
gets into the acetous fermentation in which state it is checked and fit
for use.*

Granville describes the manufacture of quass in a different manner.
He says, that it is composed of 201bs. of rye, lOlbs. of rye-malt and
31bs. of barley-malt, the two species of malt being mixed together with
tepid water in an earthen vessel till it forms a sort of liquid paste.
It is then covered for an hour, after which some water is poured over
it, and the rye-meal is gradually added, stirring it all the time so as
to form a paste-like dough. The vessel is then covered and made
air-tight with bread-paste, when it is placed in an oven of a tempe
rature equal to that when bread may be considered half-baked, where
it remains to the following day. The oven is then heated again, and
the vessel replaced in it, and on the third day is removed, and the
paste diluted with river water, during which operation it is stirred

Journey from India to England,, 4to. p. 257.

493

continually with a large wooden spoon. The whole fluid is next put
into a barrel with a sufficient quantity of leaven, where it is stirred
well for some minutes and set aside in a place of moderate tempera
ture. As soon as froth appears on its surface, the barrel is carefully
closed and carried to an ice-house or cold cellar, and at the end of
two or three days it is fit for use* To the ingredients mentioned
above, some add half a pound of mint and two pounds of wheaten and
buck-wheat flour, which are said to improve its taste and heighten its
effervescence. In the southern parts of Russia, quass is made by
filling a large barrel with fruit, sometimes plums, apples, crabs, or, in
short, any fruit of which a sufficient quantity can be procured. The
cask is then filled with water, and the whole is allowed to ferment :
at the expiration of fifteen days it is fit to drink. When a portion
of this quass is drawn out of the vessel, water is poured in to supply
its place ; and thus a sufficiency is kept up until the time of year when
it can be again manufactured.*

In the Philosophical Transactions, there is a letter from Doctor
Gutlirie to Dr. Priestly on the antiseptic regimen of the natives of
Russia, in which is given the mode of preparing the common and
better sorts of quass used in that empire, which does not differ mate
rially from that already mentioned, but which the reader may consult
should his curiosity lead him to further enquiry .j

Barrow gives a good sketch of the arts that are practised by the
keepers of the quass, or gin shops, to obtain customers. At the out
side of the door are invariably stationed two or three young men,
eacli dressed in a pink-coloured coat, which folds over the breast,
and is tied in with a sash at the waist, with loosejblue trousers tucked
into a clumsy pair of boots. They wear their hair very long and
divided in the centre.}: When any one passes near a shop, these
decoy lads plant themselves directly in his way and commence a series
of salutations, bowing almost to the ground writh their hair hanging
dishevelled about the face, rendering their appearance ludicrous, and
in this posture they earnestly entreat his entrance, and in such a
manner that it is scarcely possible to pass without purchasing a
draught. The quass, which is carried about in glass decanters and
vended in the streets, is very different from that sold in the shops.
The latter is a most delicious beverage, especially on a sultry day in
summer, when brought up iced from the cellars. A great portion of

* Holderness's Journey to the Crimea, 8vo. pp. 21-2-3.

f Vol. 68, pp. 627-8-9.

$ Barrow's Excursions to the North of Europe, in 1833, QVO, p. 110.

494

the liquor sold under the name of quass is a weak spirit mixed with
raspberries. Mr. Barrow, as well as Dr. Lyall, asserts that the Rus
sian peasantry are rather temperate, that is, they do not indulge in
excesses of drunkenness, and that many of them could not be induced
to taste spirits.

The Russians have also a good kind of beer called pivo, which is
in common use and resembles the German beer. Among the better
classes, English porter is esteemed a luxury. Various sorts of drink
are vended by men through the streets of St. Petersburg, amongst
which is one called Sbitena or Sbetin, a favourite with the populace.
It is made of honey and hot water, and it is customary to mix pepper
with it, and to drink it hot with the addition of boiling milk. The
taste of this liquor is agreeable, but it is not intoxicating if taken
merely by itself.*

Mead, the ancient and favourite drink of all the northern nations,
is as much in request in Russia as quass. It is manufactured in great
perfection, and is usually of two kinds, white and red. To make the
first, says Tooke, two poods of white honey are mixed in five ankers
of clear river or soft water, and boiled and skimmed till nearly an anker
is boiled away. The liquor is then strained through a fine sieve or
piece of linen into a broad open vessel, and mixed with a couple of
spoonfuls of beer lees, and a pound of white bread, kalatsch. After
it has stood in the vessel, in a moderately warm place, and fermented
for thirty-six hours, it is poured through another sieve or piece of
linen into a cask, in which has been previously put a pound of small
shred isinglass for clarifying it.

For red mead, to one pood of honey they add eight vedros of water,
and reduce them by boiling to six vedros. When cold, the juice of
about half a chetvert of pressed or bruised cranberries, strained
through a sieve is mixed with it. A small portion of yeast is then
applied, and a roll of clean sand with about four ringlets of isinglass
or the albumen of eggs is thrown into the vessel to clear or fine
the liquor. Cinnamon, cloves, ginger, mace, and other spices are
infused. It is placed in a cool cellar, and, after standing there for
some weeks, it is either bottled for use or drawn from the cask direct.
When properly made and preserved, it is considered by many as
equal in strength and flavour to Tokay. Clarke met some Cossack
mead thirty years old, which tasted like Madeira.

Strawberries, raspberries, and cherries, are often used in the making
of mead, and, in most cases, the stones or seed of the latter are bruised

* Granville's St. Petersburgh, vol. ii. p. 422.

495

and put in along with the fruit ; and these, with the aromatics usually
employed, are thought to improve the flavour and quality.

The honey of which the metheglin is made in such abundance, is
of the best kind, and forms a considerable article in the trade of the
empire. The great bulk of it is drawn from the bee-hives reared in
the Oka, on the Don, in Little and White Russia, in the Polish pro
vinces, and in the western tracts of the southern Ural. Independent
of the internal consumption, the export to foreign countries is consi
derable, and amounts in value, on an average, to from 6 to 10,000
rubles in the year.

There are many tribes in Russia who scarcely follow any other
employment than that of rearing bees. Pallas and Tooke tell us,
that among the Bashkirs are individuals who possess, besides their
bee-gardens, some hundreds, nay some thousands of wild bee-hives
in the forests, and obtain annually from 40 to 100 poods of honey.
The hives are formed in the hardest and strongest trees, upwards of
five fathoms from the ground, by excavating the trunk, and closing
the aperture with a board perforated with small holes for the bees to
enter. The greatest enemies to their labours are bears, who fre
quently make terrible havoc among the hives. To defeat the pur
poses of this animal, the peasant is often obliged to have recourse to
some curious contrivances, of which the following appear the most
singular : —

Knives are placed in such parts of the tree where the bees are
situated, that the bear in climbing or coming down, may encounter
death almost at every step ; some, however, have been cunning
enough to elude this contrivance altogether, by removing the knives
with their paws. A block of wood is sometimes suspended before the
entrance to the hive, which, as often as the bear attempts to remove
it, falls back and hits him on the head,. when he becomes so enraged,
that he is frequently precipitated to the bottom, on spikes prepared
to receive him. Boards are often suspended from a neighbouring
branch, like scales, and so fastened to the tree where the animal
climbs, that when he gets upon the platform and attempts to rifle the
hive, he finds himself in a moment separated from the object of his
search, and swinging in the air, with the prospect of a descent upon
spikes below, threatening instant death. Others, again, cut the
trunks into blocks, which they hollow and close at both ends, leaving
an opening on the side for the bees : this plan is generally found to
prove more than a match for the ingenuity of the luxurious brute.
Another method of destroying this formidable enemy to honey, is, by
putting strong spirits into the honey-combs in the trees, and the bear,

496

ravenous of the honey, and unmindful of the flavour of the spirits,
takes so much that he soon becomes intoxicated, and falls an easy
prey to his destroyers.

To the industry displayed by the Russians of the southern pro
vince, in the rearing of bees and preservation of honey, much praise
is due ; and were these labours imitated by our own countrymen, the
money transmitted from Great Britain to other nations for honey,
which is said to be not less than £240,000 annually, might be saved.

The other liquors most common in Russia, besides those already
mentioned, are made from fruit of various sorts, such as apples, pears,
plums, currants, cherries, gooseberries, raspberries, bilberries, cran
berries, &c., and the juice of the birch tree. The preparation of these
varies in different places, and is generally regulated according to the
judgment or taste of the persons who conduct the process. Tooke
observes, that in making cherry-wine, about five or more vedros of
the ripe fruit are crushed in a tub, until the stones are broken ; and
that to each vedro, one and an half or two pounds of honey and a
pint of good brandy or wine are added, with a little yeast to
make it ferment. When it has properly cleared itself of the yeast,
it is poured into kegs or bottles and placed in a cool cellar.

Among the plants which grow in the deserts, near the banks of the
Volga, the dwarf almond tree (amygdalus mana) is the most plen
tiful. Its fruit is called babovnick, or Calmuck walnuts. Some
landed proprietors collect this fruit, and extract from it an oil which,
though bitter, is very agreeable in salads. Its taste somewhat resem
bles that of peach kernels, and a spirituous liquor is also distilled
from it.* These are the principal drinks made and used by the
Russians.

In some of the southern parts of the empire the vine is cultivated ;
and wine is made, but not to such extent as to supply the popular
demand. Dr. Clarke observed, that the wild vine flourished at
Woronetz, which lies in the 54th degree of North latitude ; while it
is well known that the vineyards of Europe terminate many degrees
nearer to the equator. The most important vineyards are those of
Astracan, which, at one time, were cultivated at the expense of the
crown, but are now principally in the possession of private individuals.
These vineyards are 135 in number, 21 of which still belong to the
state. Vines were first brought into that region from Persia, by an
Austrian monk, in the early part of the seventeenth century ; and
their culture having been found to succeed, the Czar Ivan Vassilie-

* Pallas's Travels.

497

vitsh, in the year 1613, caused them to be planted about the city.
Peter the Great also encouraged their cultivation ; and the grapes
became so excellent in his time, that they were exported to St.
Petersburg)* for the use of the imperial table, and for such of the
nobility as could afford to purchase them, a practice still carried on
to advantage. Great caution is observed in the carriage of those
grapes ; they are packed in red millet, in wooden cases, to prevent
bruises on the road. A pood of them costs between two and three
rubles on the spot. In the vineyards above mentioned, white and
red wines of a superior description are produced, which some compare
to the Lacryma Christi of Germany, the Vinde grave, or the Cham
pagne of Burgundy. In making wine, the grapes are put into canvas
bags, trodden with the feet in troughs, and afterwards squeezed in
wooden presses. Pallas found in the cellars of the proprietor of two
villages near Astracan, 14,000 vedros of wine, ready for sale, kept
in very large casks : some of these were near 20 years old, the pro
duce of the Hungarian grape. The wines here contain a considerable
portion of brandy, and no description is sold until it is three years
old. A good sort of wine is made from grapes without stones, called
Kyshmis. Here are annually pressed from 4 to 5,000 eimers of wine,
and the oldest casks are always filled from those succeeding in the
order of time. In some of the vineyards, the bunches of grapes are
so luxuriant, that they measure from two to three spans in length
and mills are erected for conveying water through the plantations.

In the government of Astracan, brandy of an excellent kind is
distilled in considerable quantities, with which they preserve their
wines, as well as supply the numerous kabaks and caravansaries.
At Sarepta, on the Volga, distilleries of spirits and breweries of beer
have been established by a Moravian colony, who settled there some
years ago. They brew also a description of beer from the water
melons which there abound ; it is regularly hopped like other beer :
a marmalade is prepared from this fruit, which is used as a substitute
for sirup of treacle, and it is supposed that a tolerable wine might be
made from it, were the process undertaken. The Cossacks, particu
larly those of the Don, cultivate the vine, but not in such abundance
as to permit its being distilled into brandy. The grapes are said to
be good, and were they not pulled too soon, the wine manufactured
from them would, in the opinion of Dr. Clarke, surpass all others in
the world. The Don wines consist of white and red ; and were the
French practice in making them followed, from the rich and generous
nature of the fruit, they could not fail to maintain the good opinion
given of them by the Doctor.

2 K

408

The practice of burying the vine during winter is injurious ; but this
the Cossacks are obliged to do, to save it from the severe frosts of the
country. A similar practice, as mentioned by Strabo, was observed
from the most remote antiquity, in the country near the Bosphorus.*
In 1772, the whole produce of the vineyards of the Don did not
exceed from 70 to 80 hogsheads, of 40 eimers. each ; but the increase
since that period has been considerable.! A number of German
vintners have been encouraged to settle on the banks of this river,
which has influenced others to establish breweries in the neighbouring
districts. The vineyards of Count Platoff are remarkable for their
extent and excellence, as well as for the various sorts of delicious
wines which they produce; some of them, when not adulterated, are
equal to the light French wines. These wines are in general plea
sant, and effervesce like champagne, but have more the flavour of
burgundy. It is a practice among the Russians in summer to
serve along -with their wine a plate of ice, a piece of which is put into
each glass, when the wine is about to be drunk. The best Don wine
is made near Tcherkask, and it is usually manufactured from grapes
not quite ripe, which some conjecture to be the cause of all wines
exhibiting effervescence. Klaproth mentions a kind of champagne
called Symlianskii, which is distributed over all Russia, a great
favourite, and commonly bearing the name of Donslnj vino. It is,
Jiowever, frequently injured by the intermixture of potash, which
causes it often to produce headache and disorders of the stomach.J
The wine made on the banks of the Terek, of the Volga, near Saratov,
in Ekaterinoslav, and in the Taurida, are good ; and were its sale not
injured by the importation of Greek and Moldavian wines, it might be
turned to great advantage. The Caucasian Tartars, although they
profess the Mahometan faith, drink wine publicly, which they render
very inebriating, by hanging the unripe heads of poppies in the casks
while fermentation is going on.§ The mountains inhabited by these
people are very fertile, and the vines grow so luxuriantly, and climb
to such a height about the trees, that in many places the inhabitants
find great difficulty in gathering the grapes.

The wines of the Crimea rank so highly, that they are in demand
even in the remote governments of the empire ; and at St. Peters-
burgh, they are in such repute, that there is a chartered company for
the management of the sales of these wines, supported by the emperor

* Geogv. Lib. viii.

t Pallas's Travels, 4to. vol. ii.

% Klaproth's Travels in the Caucasus and Georgia, 1807-8, p. 85.

§ Tooke.

499

and other high characters. The valleys of Soudak and Koos are
considered to yield the best. Upwards of 30,000 eimers are annually
produced, nearly one-third of which is sent to Cherson. The impe
rial vineyards at Soudak, a name which signifies the valley of grapes,
are of great extent and afford many varieties, not only of the native
vine, but of others introduced at different periods. Soudak grapes
are considered the best in the whole Taurida, particularly one sort of
an oblong shape, and of the size and firmness of a small plum, the
bunches of which are sometimes four or five pounds weight. The
wines made here are distinguished by the names of the places from
which the vines were brought, such as white wine of Corfu, red
French wine, white Hungarian wine, and red Claret.

The whole quantity of wine produced in 1821 from these vine
yards was 60,000 vedros, each equal to fifteen small-sized bottles,
which was disposed of at about from 2^ to 4 rubles the vedro, yielding
a revenue of nearly 200,000 rubles. Since the royal vineyards have
been placed under the superintendence of Baron Bode, their produce
both in fruit and wine, has greatly improved, owing entirely to his
great care and exertions.* Pallas attributed the inferiority of the
wine in his time to the over irrigation given by the Tartars to their
vineyards, which, although it increased the size of the grapes, very
much injured the flavour. During the time that Mary Holderness
resided in the Crimea, namely, from 1815 to 1820, she observed that
vineyards were once a very profitable culture, but that since the free
importation of Greek wines, the home manufacture had been seriously
injured. Improvements were then beginning to take place, and the
culture of the vine, formerly confined to the valleys, was ascending the
sides of the hills, and likely to repay the care and toils of the planter .f
The cellars at Soudak are very superior ; that of Admiral Mondizinoff,
excavated in the side of a mountain, is calculated to hold 100,000
vedros, which at 10 quarts the vedro, would be upwards of 2083
pipes, of 120 gallons each.

The Jews are great traffickers, not only in the fruit, but in the
making and vending of wines. They are the chief purchasers of the
grapes brought from the mountainous districts of the peninsula, as
well as of those from the neighbouring vineyards. In Karasubarar,
near the centre of the Crimea, they possess a number of very fine
wine cellars, but which seldom contain any but new wine, owing to
the rapidity of the sales. At this place there are upwards of two

* Travels through the Crimea in 182a, 2 vols. 8vo. vol. i. p. 281, by Captain
Alexander. Lon. 1830.

f HoHcrness's Journey, 8vo. p. 282.

500

hundred stops open for the sale of fruit alone ; and the price of a
vedro of wine, of fifteen bottles, varies from three to six rubles.
When Webster visited the peninsula in 1826, the whole annual pro
duce was reckoned to be 6,750,000 pints of wine, Paris measure,
and the grapes were in such estimation that they were sent to
Moscow and Petersburg!!, where they procured a rapid sale.

Among the Grim Tartars, it was formerly a great trade to prepare
bekmess,or marmalade, and the misseless, or sirup, from their grapes ;
but the sale of fruit and wine was found to be more profitable, and
lest any thing should be lost in this way, brandy was distilled from
the refuse of the vintage. The vats in which the fermentation was
carried on were pits made in the earth, well covered and plastered
with clay. The lees of 100 eimers of wine generally yielded four
eimers of brandy. Besides this home distillation, large importations
are made of sekis-kayavodka, or brandy prepared in the island of
Scio, from fruit and the lees of the grape. Many of the farmers
import fruit, wine-lees, and a poorer sort of wine from the Greek
islands of the Archipelago, to supply their distilleries with materials.

The Crimea was early distinguished for its fertility and commerce.
Mithridates drew annually from this country and its dependencies
twenty minse of corn, or 720,000 bushels, with 200,000 ounces of
silver : and Strabo* relates, thatLeucon II, kingof the Bosphorus, sent
from Theodosia to Athens, during a great scarcity, 100,000 medini of
corn, 330 millions of pounds, making 148,660 tons. An idea of the
state and pomp of Mithridates, and of the extent to which the luxury
of wine drinking had been carried in those days, may be formed from
the circumstance recorded by Appian, that when Pompey visited the
city of Talura in the Taurida, he found 2,000 cups of onyx set in
massive gold along with other articles of immense value ; hence the
city went by the name of Mithridates' wardrobe. Such was the im
mensity of trade in that quarter, that at the port now called Sebas-
tapal, the great mart and rendezvous of the merchants of the ancient
kingdom of Colchis, 120 interpreters were kept by the Romans, to
facilitate their commercial transactions. Yet with all this wealth,
power, and intercourse with other nations, it does not appear that
any knowledge of distillation existed in that peninsula ; nor can I
find that this art was introduced there previous to the settlement of
the Genoese in the 15th century This opinion is confirmed by
Storch, who believes the Crimeans first learnt it from the inhabitants
of Italy or Spain, and various coincidences in terms yet remain as a
further corroboration ; for instance, the Genoese term for a cask or

* Book vii. p. 448.

501

barrel is bari, and that of the Crim- Tartars baril, bringing it. very
near our English word barrel.

The arraki of the mountain Tartars, which is prepared from sloes,
dog-berries, elder-berries, wild grapes, and plums, is sold in common
with the strong beer, or busa, brewed from ground millet. HODS
are grown in the Crimea, the best are found among the German
settlers who use them in their private brewings. The ordinary drink
of the people is made by triturating and dissolving cheese in water :
from the boiled juice of apples, pears, and grapes, a nice description
of marmalade called nardenk, or nardek, is made, which is purchased
by the Tartars of the Steppes, and used by them in drinks and for
other domestic purposes. The Mahometan Oimeans use sherbet, a
mixture of coarse honey and water. Wine they do not drink with
out the consent of their priests, and that only in time of sickness,
even then it is but sparingly allowed, though it might be of essential
service ; but many of the Mahometans here drink brandy like
their brethren in other parts of the world, alleging in excuse that the
Prophet forbade nothing in the way of drink, but liquors that were
fermented. Under this flimsy pretext they drink beer, thinking it
does not come under the law, because they are ignorant of the manner
in which it is made. From Trebisond and Sinope, quantities of marma
lade and bekmess are brought, and again sent in considerable amount
to Taganrog, in the sea of Asoph, for the use of the distilleries.
When a failure occurs in the vineyards, the deficiency in the grapes
is supplied by the beckmess, from which and the marmalade a spirit
is made, held in such high repute, that it is sold in many parts of the
Russian empire as French brandy. In every town and village, a
khan, or species of inn has been established, from time immemorial,
called the odd, expressly for the reception of strangers, where they
are accommodated with a couch, fire and refreshments, free of expense.
It is generally the mollah, or priest, who takes upon himself the bene
volent office of entertaining strangers, from whom a small remunera
tion is expected, but not demanded. In the Crimea, there are no
inns, but travellers find no inconvenience in consequence, as they
are supplied with every comfort by the hospitality of the inhabitants.
Honey is an article very plentiful in the Crimea, and it affords
many delicate conserves and agreeable beverages. Bees, of course,
are much nurtured, and the Tartars are most expert in their manage
ment ; such is their discrimination, that some of them, on seeing bees
at work on the flowers in the fields, can immediately tell to what
village they belong ; even many are so clever in this respect, that
they know of what owner they are the property. Many of the hives

502

are very large ; one at Karagoss was> by way of eminence, called the
Espravnek. The largest, when full, yield from 60 to SOlbs. of honey
and wax ; middle sized ones from 30 to 601bs., and the least from 10
to SOlbs. For the most part, the bees hive in the hollowed trunks of
trees cut for the purpose, to about six inches in diameter, and many
of these trunks are carried from place to place, to suit the convenience
of feeding. They are laid horizontally, piled one upon another in
gardens, and when honey is to be extracted, the trees are detached
merely by the smoke of burning paper held at the bottom of the hive,
without the aid of sulphur, or the destruction of the insects. The
cylinders are so heavy that it requires at least two stout men to carry
one of them. So extensive are some villages in the honey trade, that
one of them has been known to possess 50 hives at a time ; and 300
hives are no uncommon stock. Large speculations are made in this
way on account of the preference given to the honey of the Crimea,
beyond that of Russia, its superiority arising from the nature of the
flowers from which it is drawn, and the care taken in having it pure.

Among the peasantry residing between Trebisond and Dunabourg,
it is a common practice to hang the hives in the woods, that the bees
may have the benefit of the first flowers of the lime trees, because
they yield the finest description of honey.'* The honey of the Crimea
is so excellent, and in such demand, that it forms a principle article
of the exports to Constantinople, where it commands a rapid sale.

From the walnut, which is cultivated to great extent in the Crimea*
a sweet clear liquor is extracted in the spring, at the time the sap is
rising in the tree. This liquor is procured by piercing the trunk, and
placing a spigot in the incision ; the fluid thus obtained soon coagu
lates into a substance used as sugar. As yet it does not appear that
this juice has been converted to any inebriating purpose ; but the
inventive faculty of man may, in time, render it subservient to the
gratification of appetite in that way. Some of those walnut trees
yield 60,000 nuts annually, valued from 80 to 100 copieks per thou
sand. The oil expressed from the nuts is a profitable article, and the
paste, after expression, serves as food for many of the poor. Cakes
made from the walnut in this manner are common for sale in the
shops of Geneva and Savoy, while the ashes of the nut serve as a sub
stitute for soap in washing. On the Dnieper and at Cherson, a good
deal of spirits is distilled, and at Odessa, a town built on the Dniester
since 1792, there are not less than six distilleries and as many
breweries. At Odessa, which is the great commercial port of the

* M. Holderness's Journey, p. 27, also Tooke's Russia, vol. iii. p. 388.

503

Crimea, spirits are so cheap as to shew their evil consequences in the
intemperance of the peasantry. Among the higher classes, however,
intoxication is rare, although wine and liqueurs are familiar, while
spirits are used as a zest for dinner. This last ceremony is con
sidered as a part of the entertainment before proceeding to the
dining room ; and it is, therefore, deemed a characteristic of polite
ness to serve the guests with a glass of aqua vitce, to increase an
appetite for the luxuries of the table.*

Georgia, a country which next claims attention, is so beautifully
diversified with hill and dale, wood and water, that some travellers
have fancied it to have been the seat of our first parents. The vine
seems to grow there in all its native luxuriance, and although wild, it
appears to revel as. if in its primitive home ; and after yielding more
wine than is necessary for the inhabitants, such is the superabundance
of the grapes, that large quantities are permitted to rot on the
branches, or to be consumed by the fowls of the air, since they can
not be converted to any useful purpose. In the provinces on the
Black Sea, the vine thrives without any cultivation, and is seen cling
ing round all the large trees, giving the country the appearance of a
vast and continued vineyard.

The Georgian wine is light, and resembles a good French Vin du
pays. It is not kept in casks but in hogs' skins, the insides of which
are first rubbed with naptha : the flavour is, in consequence, disagree
able and requires a long period to reconcile it to the palate. In some
places, the wine is kept in large jars, and in this state it is considered
excellent ; but when it is transported to other places, it is parried in
hogs' skins called boordooks.f These skins are sometimes inflated,
bound together, and employed as floats on the crossing of rivers.

At Teflis, the capital, wine is commonly kept in capacious earthen
jars, below the surface of the ground, but on bringing it thither, the
skins of buffaloes, goats, and swine, are used for that purpose. Pass
ing through the streets of that city, a stranger is struck with surprise
at seeing those stuffed skins standing on pieces of wood like living
animals, and viewing the owners drawing wine from them, as if it
were the blood of the animal. This method of supplying wine is
attended with disadvantages, as the hairy sides of the skins are first
coated with naphtha, and afterwards turned inward, which communi
cates a disagreeable taste and flavour to the liquor ; but of this the
people take no notice, as custom has rendered it familiar. Wooden
vessels are not to be had, and bottles are very rare, because the price

f Kotzebue's Narrative of a Journey into Persia, 8vo. p. 58.
* For the exports, &c. of Odessa, see Addenda.

504

of (hem would amount to six or eight times as much as the wiiie ;
nothing therefore is in use but these boordooks, or prepared skins.
Wine is so plentiful and cheap at Teflis, that it is sold from a penny
to two-pence the bottle ; beer is sold in the public market.

In this province, wine is consumed to great extent ; respectable
persons use silver ladles instead of wine-glasses, but frequently intro
duce immense horns ornamented with silver. These are emptied to
the last drop, and it is not uncommon to see them pledge each other
in repeated bumpers, in the same manner and with the same ease
that ale or porter is quaffed in this country ; yet this practice does not
seem to be carried to the excess of intoxication, which has been
attributed to those people. A late traveller states, that after an
entertainment given by one of the princes of Georgia, the guests
were conducted to an outhouse, which they were told was the wine-
cellar ; but to his astonishment there was no appearance of either
wine or drinking utensils. In a short time, however, several persons
with spades entered the apartment, and clearing away a portion of
the surface of the floor, two immense jars as large as hogsheads were
exposed, and after raising the covers the wine was handed about in
silver ladles, and even the peasants who attended as spectators were
supplied with copious libations in earthen jugs. In several districts
of Georgia, both red and white wines are made of excellent quality.
The red is said to resemble Burgundy, and the white to be like
claret, and in no respect inferior to either. The Georgians have the
reputation of drinking immoderately ; some of them are said to con
sume seven bottles in the day without being much intoxicated ; but
this is to be understood only of the affluent portion of the community.

Sherbet, which is a very common drink, is, for the most part, com
posed of water, sugar, and acid ; and when iced, is very agreeable
in warm weather, but is not comparable to European lemonade. This
liquor forms a very choice beverage at entertainments, and the host
is often complimented by his guests on the cheerfulness of his coun
tenance, and is said to look as " red as his apples, as brilliant as the
sun, as placid as the moon/' and they bid adieu with a wish that " the
roses of happiness may ever bloom in the garden of his destiny."
Kotzebue relates of the Sardar of Erivan that he eagerly drank of
liqueurs that were presented to him, and made no secret of his love
of spirituous liquors, at the same time openly declared that he could
not live without them. He observed that the Persians quaffed wine
and liqueurs in immense quantities, and lie met with several instances
of a man drinking off a bottle of rum at one draught, without the
appearance of any inconvenience from it. The Sardar's physician

505

defended the practice of drinking spirits, arid in doing so said, that
Mahomet was a fool to forbid wine, and he recommended it as a
panacea to his patients. In this opinion he resembled a brother Ma
hometan, who defended his partiality for strong drink, by saying that

the Koran affirms that the faithful shall have wine in paradise a

wine delicious to the taste, but not intoxicating, from which he inferred
that the prophet only intended that wine should not be drunk to
excess, since it is sinful to suppose that what is lawful in heaven is
unlawful on earth.

At Mozdok, near the Caucasus, and in Georgia, the people chiefly
subsist by their vineyards, and a spirit prepared from grapes, which
they not only dispose of at home, but send quantities of it into Russia.
These people make a good sort of wine from ripe mulberries, and an
acid wine drawn from peaches is in common use, while that from the
grape is considered excellent. Of the grape wines, the Modosk is
generally inferior; that called Kislar, from the vine of that name, is
the best, and is considered little inferior to Hermitage either in strength
or flavour. The brandy made at Kislar, or Kitzliar, is of superior
quality, and is a more lucrative article of commerce than wine*
Kislar brandy is in request over all Russia, and is sent to the most
distant parts of Siberia. From water-melons a good brandy has been
distilled, and to the culture of this plant much attention is paid in the
southern provinces of Russia : they flourish in many places in great
luxuriance, and some of them have been known to weigh 301bs.

On the Terek, a beer termed Terskaia braga is brewed from millet
by soaking it in water, then bruising it, and after that boiling it, in
which stage a quantity of ground malted rye and barley is poured
upon it to reduce it to thetdesired temperature ; oats are then added,
and the whole is left to ferment. When this process is completed,
the liquor is freed from the husks of the grain, and at this stage it is
fit for use. Klaproth met with bouza in Georgia made from peas
which is the common basis of it in that country. In some of the
mountain passes of the Caucasus, the late Emperor Alexander per
mitted some families to cultivate small pieces of ground free, having
at those places a depot of flour, brandy, &c. always ready for chari
table purposes. In Mingrelia, as well as Georgia, is to be found that
description of honey called stone honey, which is dissolved in water
and used for a common beverage. At Imerethi, or Imiretta, adjoining
Georgia, the k'wa-tapli, or stone-honey, is found quite solid, brittle, and
not viscous. It has a pleasant spicy flavour, and is discovered in the
cliffs of the rocks, the honey and wax forming one mass as hard as
sugar-candy. These lumps or cakes are generally white at first, but

506

through time become yellow, and the people~carry it in their pockets
to assist in refreshment. The vine grows to such perfection^that the
trunks of the trees are frequently above fifteen inches in diameter.
The finest fruit grows without cultivation, and there is an abundance
of almonds, quinces, pears, arid plums. From the great quantity and
superior quality of the fruit of this country, it has been compared to
an extensive orchard. The wine of Imiretta is reckoned superior to
that of Tenis, the Don, and the Crimea ; it is sent in skins to the
neighbouring countries, while a considerable portion of the revenue
paid to the Mephe, or prince of the country, is collected from this
article.

Ssar, a kind of beer resembling English porter, is made by the
Karatschio, and it is considered the best in the Caucasus. Brandy
is distilled by those people from barley and wheat ; they have
scarcely any other beverage except this and bouza ; and, although
Mahometans, they partake of both without any scruple of conscience,
and at funerals and marriages indulge in it to excess.

The Circassians manufacture from millet a beverage called hautkups,
which is also named yantzokbl by the Cossacks of the Terek. The
tribes near the Ckeiban, especially the Ubuch tribe, cultivate the
vine, and make a considerable portion of very good wine. The Souate
wine is of excellent flavour, resembles Champagne, and if well made,
would, according to Spencer, rank among the best wines in the
world.* But the usual drinks of the Circassians are skhou, a species
of sour milk and a spirit, which, like other Tartar nations, they distil
from mare's milk. They have also a liquor distilled from corn of a
tolerably good quality, the art of making which is said to have been
communicated to them by the Cossacks ; but it is more probable that
they acquired it from the Persians, or some of the neighbouring
nations. From whence skhou, or as it is termed by the Turks
yaourte, had its origin is a matter of doubt : some allege that the
Almighty himself revealed the knowledge of its use to Abraham ;
others say that it was presented by an angel to Hagar in the wilder
ness when driven from the house of her master and fainting with heat
and thirst. Be this as it may, all preparations of milk are held sacrecl
among the Tartars.

The following engraving exhibits the still used by some of the
tribes of the Caucasus. It consists of an earthen jar, or pot, sometimes
made of copper, covered with a lid, having a neck entering into the

Travels in Circassia, Krim Tartary, &c. in 183*6, 2 vols. 8vo.

507

head, which is enclosed in a tub supplied by a small water-pipe to
effect condensation.

In addition to their ardent spirits, some of the tribes make a sort
of drink termed JBak-sima, which very much resembles the bouza of
the Turks.

In Circassia, no public inns are to be found, they being considered
unnecessary from the great hospitality of the people, who contend
with each other for the entertainment of any stranger that happens-
to come among them. His appearance is a sufficient passport, and
his wants have an indisputable claim on their generosity and feeling.
Considerable attention is bestowed on the cultivation of bees for the
purpose of making mead, of which they are particularly fond. The
bees are kept in hives, placed on stocks, and carried along with the
people as they remove from place to place with their flocks and
herds. A good description of honey is likewise obtained from the
mountain bees ; it is commonly preserved in goat-skin bags, having
the hairy side outwards, and is, in this manner, carried for sale to the
public markets. From the Caucasus is obtained that celebrated
inebriating, or, as it is usually termed maddening honey,* which the
bees collect from the blossoms of the rhododendron and azalea pontica.
This extraordinary production never fails to affect the mind with

* Klaproth's Travels in the Caucasus and Georgia, 4to. p. 405.

508

strange reveries, and frequently causes such whimsical conduct as to
give the individual who has partaken of it the appearance of insanity,
with all the wildness of intoxication. We learn from Aristotle, that
the honey gathered in the plains around Trebisond had the same
maddening quality, and he attributes this effect to the bees collecting
it from the flowers of the box-trees ; that it had also a purgative
quality, and was almost an infallible remedy against epilepsy. He adds
that it deprives those who eat it of their senses, and in this manner it
operated on the army of Xenophon, when on his retreat through Asia
Minor. The superstition of the country attributes to Merissa, or
Mereime (Mary) the mother of God, the protection of bees, and the
people say, that the thunder in its wrath would have exterminated
them all, but that this holy woman concealed one of them in her sleeve,
by which means the species was preserved. In commemoration of
this event, a festival is held in September, on which occasion the
Circassians regale themselves with viands and beverages prepared
with honey.

The honey of this country is indebted, for its very superior quality
and flavour, to the wild thyme and other aromatic flowers of the
mountains upon which the bees feed, and it forms a most important
article in the husbandry and domestic economy of a Circassian.
Clarified honey, bleached in the sun till it is quite white, is a common
substitute for sugar, while the honey of the comb is not only a constant
article at table, but is used in almost every sort of cookery. From
the walnut-tree a good description of sugar is obtained, which is
considered a valuable remedy for diseases of the lungs and general
debility. The mode of procuring it in the Caucasus is the same as
that practised in the Crimea.

The Circassians make a kind of half-fermented liquor denominated
fada or fada-chusch, that is ivhitefada, but in Tartar, braga. Brandy
they call arka or fada jitza, signifying black fada. Mead they term
fada flescli or red, fada : braga is very common and brandy little in
consumption. Another drink called tuschag-tgo, made of water in
which grape-juice boiled and concocted, is in use among the
Circassians, but is more common with the Persians as a renovator,
or cooling sherbet. Here the respectable people have bowls of silver
or gold weighing from 300 to 500 ducats, out of which they drink on
all occasions of ceremony in the name of God, of the saints, or of
their deceased relatives and friends, relating the most remarkable
occurrences of their lives with their heads uncovered, evincing all
possible veneration and respect.

Though the Circassians are rather an abstemious people, yet they

509

sometimes fall into excesses in drinking, especially at their religious
ceremonies, one of the principal of which consists in sacrificing a he-
goat on the death of a friend. Having killed the animal, the skin
with the head and bones is placed on a cross at the top of a long pole
erected perpendicularly, in view of the relatives and friends of the
deceased. The flesh of the goat is then boiled, roasted and eaten,
after which the men pay certain marks of adoration before the skin,
when the women withdraw, and the men regale themselves amply
with aqua vitce or such other intoxicating beverage as is most easily
procured. Unhappily, these religious funeral-rites seldom terminate
without desperate and fatal consequences. This ceremony of the
Circassians is not unlike the circumpotatio, or funeral feast of anti
quity, so frequent among the ancient Greeks and Romans, which in
like manner was productive of disastrous effects : hence Solon at
Athens and the Decemviri at Rome endeavoured to prevent the practice
altogether, thinking it improper that mirth and drunkenness should
accompany the grief and distress occasioned by the demise of friends.

In that part of Tartary near the source of the Kuma and Pod-
kumka, has lately been discovered a mineral spring of an acid taste,
strongly intoxicating and losing little of its inebriating qualities by
removal to any distance : of this water, the Circassians occasionally avail
themselves ;* and which is said to resemble the Ballston waters
of North America.

Siberia, which includes all the northern parts of Asiatic Russia, is
so thinly inhabited and has so little intercourse with the civilized
world, little respecting it is known either as regards its manufacture
or agricultural produce. In many parts of this extensive region,
spirits are extracted from such fruits and grain as the country affords,
but the principal supply is drawn from Russia. At a distillery on
the river Uk, wrought some years since, there were 106 coppers, 28
coolers, and 6 stills. To every cooler was reckoned 10 chetverts of
rye-malt, with a fifth or seventh part of oats or barley. The coppers
were so proportioned, that they were commonly filled out of one cooler
and held 42 vedros. The worts were usually drawn from the mash-
tun, and the fermentation was completed in four days. From 30 to
40,000 chetverts of corn were the annual consumption ; and from
each chetvert three or four vedros of common brandy were obtained.
In another establishment, about sixty versts north of the city of
Irkulsk, the annual quantity of brandy made amounted to 60,000
ankers.f But a few districts of this immense territory, three-fourths

* Klaproth's Travels, p. 277.

f Billing's Account N. Parts of Russia, 4to.

510

of which lie in the same latitude as Norway and Lapland, yield grain
sufficient for the ordinary consumption of the population, the beve
rages are mostly drawn from the different species of vaccinium or
berries that abound ; of these, the cranberry, bilberry, raspberry,
strawberry, gooseberry, &c. are the principal ; from the prunus fru-
ticosa, which grows plentifully, an agreeable wine is made. From the
Her 'acleum panacea and the HeracleumSibericum, a saccharine matter
5s obtained, which being subjected to distillation, affords a strong liquor,
and though not very palatable, is in request in Kamtschatka. The
birch yields a sap that is converted by some of the mountain tribes
into an intoxicating liquor by fermentation, after the manner of the
Norwegians. The trade with Siberia being a monopoly of Russian
merchants, the brandy, wine, and other liquors transported thither,
form a profitable part of their traffic.

As several of the chief towns are made depots for the articles
necessary to supply the country, and the mode of their conveyance
from place to place being curious, a description of it cannot fail to be
interesting. In transporting goods from the magazines of Yakut to
Ochotskjfroin twenty to thirty thousand horses are annually employed,
and instead of using wagons or carts, the packages are generally
thrown across the backs of the animals. In the article of rye-flour, a
single horse will carry six poods, which are packed in leathern bags
called sumas; one of these is suspended on each side: in this manner
they are very convenient for carriage and bid defiance to every sort of
weather. The sumas are made of green ox-hides stripped of the hair
into which the flour is forced when they are damp, and the surface
when dry is as hard as stone. The flour then, for about half an inch
thick, becomes deeply incrusted on the skin, and in this way the con
tents are preserved in the most perfect state through the whole winter
and will remain so for almost any length of time. The horses engaged
in this labour are managed by the Yakuts, who have an extraordinary
influence over them, one man superintending from twenty to thirty
with the utmost ease and indifference. When on the journey, should
the driver stop at any time, such is the docility of those horses, that
they will not proceed without him, and although permitted to feed
indiscriminately in pastures during the night, they are collected in
the morning by the halloos of their keepers ; should any of them be
at so great a distance as not to hear him, mounted on one of them, he
is soon carried within the hearing of another, which, immediately on
hearing his voice, begins to nejgh. This serves as a signal to all the
rest, after which they are immediately seen galloping towards him as
if sensible of approaching a friend.

511

In the province of Yakontsk, koumiss is in much repute and of
good quality ; the process is similar to that observed in Tartary.
The people are very expert in the management of their milk and
butter, which are carried in bags called simmire, and made of horse-
hides. Their butter is chiefly made while travelling, the new milk
or cream being mixed with a little sour ; the agitation during a jour
ney of a few hours produces butter and butter-milk. The natives of
Yakoutsk lead a pastoral life in a country abounding with fine mea
dows which are well stocked with horses and horned cattle. Their
best koumiss is prepared from mares' milk, and is made in large tubs
of birch-bark where the mother on which the fermentation is produced,
is contained, and, being always esteemed in proportion to its age, it is
preserved with the greatest care, and is bequeathed as a legacy from
father to son.*

Of Siberia, it may be generally remarked, that agriculture, from the
misgovernment of its rulers, is retarded by the encouragement given
to the hunting of foxes and sables, both for the sake of the personal
comfort of their countrymen whose garments they line, as well as for
their own private emoluments. The blessings of civilisation might,
with a little attention, be productive of the happiest effects, and eradi
cate, in a great measure, that unfortunate passion for ardent spirits,
which seems to be the ruling propensity of the inhabitants of this
portion of the Russian empire. Many, however, are found to be
sober and industrious, and were their minds cultivated in proportion
to the range of their intellect, they might become an enlightened
community. If the habits which agriculture necessarily begets were
more generally extended, their introduction would be attended by
the most beneficial results. It is satisfactory to find that within these
few years back, wheat, rye, barley, and all sorts of vegetables, are
becoming plentiful ; and in many parts of this extensive country
yield more than a sufficient supply for the inhabitants. Civilisation
is on the advance, and even in the interior of Siberia, towns con
structed according to the conceits of modern architecture, are now
found, anticipating, as it were, the progress of commerce and the
effects of nature. The wines and other luxuries of Europe are car
ried thither and sold at a very moderate price, and society in those
places is sometimes found of a polite and agreeable nature.

In Kamtschatka, the most eastern district of the Russian empire,
a spirit resembling brandy is distilled from a sweet grass, called by
the natives slatkaia trava; by others, sloha trava; in botany, spondi-

* Dobell's Travels, vol. i. p. 343.

512

llumfoliole pinnatifide. When this plant lias attained its full growth,
it is about six feet high, and is covered with a white down, not unlike
hoar frost. It is, in taste, as sweet as sugar, but is extremely fiery,
ardent, and pungent. The stock is hollow, and consists of three or
four joints with large leaves issuing from each. When the principal
stem, which is tuberous, runs to seed; it is very tender and palatable
when stripped of the rind, and denominated pootchkee. The stalks of
the leaves are also hollow, but the juice is so inflammatory that great
care is taken in eating them that they shall not toucli the lips, for if
they should, an immediate blister would be the consequence. Before
the country was subjected to the Russians, this grass was employed
as a principal ingredient in the cookery of the Kamtschatdales, but
has since been chiefly appropriated to the making of brandy. When
prepared and dried, it is purchased by the government at the rate of
from three to four rubles the pood. It is gathered and made ready
for the distilleries in the following manner : — " The stalks being cut,
and the downy substance scraped from the surface, they are placed in
small heaps till they begin to heat and smell. When dry, they are
put into sacks of matting, where they remain for a few days, and
become gradually covered with a saccharine powder, which exudes
from the hollow of the stalk. Only one quarter of a pound of the
powder is obtained from thirty- six pounds of the plant in this state.
The women, wrho conduct the business, find it necessary to defend
their hands with gloves, while they are scraping the stalks, the rinds
being of a quality so acrid as to lacerate any part it might touch.
The spirit is drawn from the plant in this state by the following pro
cess : — Bundles of it are steeped in hot water, and the fermentation
is promoted in a small vessel with berries of the gimolost ; or of the
golubitsa; care being taken to close the mouth of the vessel, and to
keep it in a warm place whilst the fermentation continues, which is
often so violent as to agitate the vessel which contains the fluid, and
occasions a considerable noise. When the first liquor is drawn off,
more hot water is poured on, and a second fermentation ensues in the
same manner. Both liquors and herbs are then put into a copper
still, and the spirit is drawn off in the usual way. The liquor thus
prepared, is called by the natives raka. According to Steller, the
spirit distilled from this plant, when unscraped, is very pernicious to
health, and produces sudden nervous disorders.*

Lesseps says, that those who drink of it are sure to be extremely
agitated during the night, and to experience on the next day melan-

Cookc, vol. iv ; and Lesseps1 Travels, 2 vols. 8vo.

513

choly and disturbed sensations. But, notwithstanding- those disad
vantages, it is drunk by the inhabitants with extraordinary avidity.
Those who do not practise the distillation of it, procure it from Rus
sia ; and the Cossack traders, who are well aware of their attachment
to its delusive qualities, sometimes take advantage of this frailty, as

the following anecdote related by Lesseps will fully illustrate : A

Kamtschatdale had given a sable for a glass of brandy : inflamed with
the desire of drinking another, he invited the seller into his house.
The merchant thanked him, but said he was in a hurry. The Kamts
chatdale renewed his solicitations, and proposed a second bargain ; he
prevailed — " Come ! another glass for this sable ; it is a finer one
than the first ! No ! I must keep the rest of my brandy. I have
promised to sell it at a certain place, and I must begone ! Stay a
moment ! here are two sables ! 'Tis all in vain ! Well, come I will
add another ! Agreed ! drink !" Meanwhile the three sables were
seized and the hypocrite made a fresh pretence to get away ; his host
redoubled his importunities to retain him, and demanded a third glass.
Further refusals were given, and further offers were made. The
higher the chapman raised his price, the more the Kamtschatdale was
prodigal of his furs. Who would have supposed that it should have
ended in the sacrifice of seven most beautiful sables for the last
glass ! They were all he had,

It is known that a Kamtschatdale will sell his last sable for a glass
of brandy, and^such is the desire for it, that it is computed that 16,000
bottles have been consumed in the period of three or four months by
6 or 700 people. It is calculated that the money expended on spirits
by one family in two or three months would be sufficient for their
support for the whole year, while after these extravagancies they are
reduced to the greatest want and misery. The vending of spirits in
this country was in the hands of the government, but latterly the
monopoly is given up ; yet without advantage to the people, as an
extra quantity of spirits of an inferior quality is sold throughout
the country by itinerant merchants resembling our pedlers, who fre
quent those regions for the sake of the furs. When a Russian mer
chant enters the hut of a Kamtschatdale, he takes as much liberty as
if the house were his own, occupying the best apartment without
ceremony, and ordering dinner or supper in the same way, as
well as food for his dogs. In the mean time he is over-reaching the
poor host in the purchase of his furs — in many instances only giving
a glass of spirits and a leaf of tobacco, for what, if fairly sold, would
produce something considerable to the unsuspicious and deluded

Kamtschatdale.

2 i,

514

The fondness of these people forvatk?/,OY whiskey, impels them to
great exertions in hunting sables and foxes, that by means of their
skins they may procure a supply of their favourite beverage for the
winter, together with tea and tobacco, regardless of every other
luxury.

Besides brandy, the Kamtschatdales make use of a beverage equally
potent, extracted from a red mushroom known among the Russians as
a strong poison, and which is considered to be the same as the amanita
muscaria of France and Britain. This they ferment in a vessel with
fruits, arid scarcely give it time to clarify ere they invite their friends
to partake of it. A noble emulation inspires the guests to disburden
the master of the house of this nectar, and the company seldom sepa
rate until the whole is exhausted. For the use and invention of this
liquor they are indebted to their conquerors ; mushrooms in Russia
being exceedingly abundant, the quality is well known.

Coxe tells us, that he seldom entered a cottage without seeing great
quantities ; and in the market-places, where they were exposed for
sale, the varieties were as remarkable as the number, being white,
black, brown, yellow, green, and pink.* The annual sale of these at
Moscow amounted to upwards of one thousand waggons.

The species of mushroom carried to Kamtschatka is named muchu-
mor, and, when boiled, communicates a strong intoxicating quality to
the water. It would appear from Strahlenberg, that the rich, in some
places, lay up great stores of mushrooms ; and the poor who cannot
buy, watch, with wooden bowls, their bacchanalian emissions, in order
to procure the liquor after a secondary process. But there is strong
reason to believe that this is a misrepresentation, as Strahlenberg, the
only person that mentions this circumstance, was never in that country,
and the testimony of subsequent writers is against him.

The Shamans, conjurers, or priests among the Kamtschatdales,
never attempt to perform their incantations, or to exert their abilities
in deception, until they have first eaten of mushroom, (moohkamore,
mouchomore, or agraricus muscarius) which immediately throws them
into a kind of madness, foaming all the time at the mouth while
uttering their cabalistic words and expressions, which are carefully
explained by the magician after the frenzy and delirium occasioned
by the dose have ceased to operate.f This mushroom, according to
Kotzebue, when taken in small quantities, is said to excite an agree
able hilarity of spirits ; but if immoderately used, will produce insanity
for several days. The Kamtschatdales, animated by this vegetable,

* Coxe's Travels, vol. vii. p. 394. f Dobell, vol. i. p. 158.

515

production, entertain their guests and amuse themselves by exercising
their peculiar talents in imitating men and animals.* After the same
manner, the priests among the American Indians, when consulted,
inhaled the fumes of tobacco to such a degree, that it threw them into
a stupor or frenzy? during which their credulous votaries believed they
were conversing with the gods, and on their recovery they delivered
the answers to the questions propounded, which they artfully pretended
were received in their communication with the invisible world.

From the kipri plant, (epilobium) is brewed a common beverage
rather agreeable ; a mixture of this vegetable with the sweet herb
slokatrava,) boiled and fermented, produces a good vinegar. The birch
tree yields by tapping a great abundance of juice which the natives
drink without any preparation ; it is pleasant and refreshing, but
purgative when unfermented. From the bark, while young, an agree
able, wholesome food is procured by cutting it into long stripes, drying
it, and afterwards stewing it with their caviar or preserved fish. Wild
berries of various kinds are numerous, of a large size, and fine quality ;
the principal are red currants, raspberries, whortleberries, cranberries,
blackberries, heathberries, wild cherries, and strawberries of a strong
aromatic flavour. These are preserved as jams or jellies, but with
out sugar, and form during the winter not only a considerable portion
of their provision, but a fine sauce for their fish ; tliey also serve for
puddings and make a decoction for their ordinary beverages. Koumiss
is not unknown to them, and their butter and milk are preserved in
birch-bark vessels called by the natives Toots, by the Russians Bourak.
These vessels are often ornamented with flowers and figures stamped
and inlaid with talc, which adds considerably to their appearance.
They have a lid made so tight that they may be carried safely by
the handle, which runs across and serves as a keeper. Besides these
vessels, drinking-cups are made from the bark, and very ingeniously
fashioned.

The Kamtschatdales are not wanting in intellect, although to a
stranger they at first appear stupid ; they are a people more than
dull, and are best known after having drunk a glass of watki, — a fail
ing which not only increases their poverty but renders them devoid
of principle. To their fondness for th'is liquor has been attributed
much of the misery and the scanty population of that portion of Asia,
and not to the climate or barrenness of soil. If we believe Dobell,
they are a thirsty race, and as fond of the pleasures of the tea-pot as

* Kotzebue's New Voyage Round the World, in 1823-4-5-G, 8vo. London. 1830,
2 vols. vol. i. p. 16.

516

of the bottle. The first thing, says that traveller, that you must do
when' you arrive at one of their houses, is to treat the family with tea,
and he adds, that he once saw a Kamtschatdale drink eleven half-pint
bowls of it at a sitting, and afterwards declare he could have com
pleted the dozen had there been water enough in the kettle. This
excessive love for tea is surpassed only by the Yakuts, who drink an
incredible quantity of melted butter, some of whom have been known
to consume at a wedding from twenty to thirty pounds a man, con
tending with each other for pre-eminence in the consumption of tliis
luxury ; and what is still more singular ,'the master of a family consi
dered himself honoured and was delighted to see half a dozen of these
great butter drinkers come to his feast.*

Of watky or whiskey made from rye, great quantities are drunk
by the Kamtschatdales. Individuals have been known to swallow
from six to eight glasses of watky without having any perceptible
effect, and for this enjoyment, as already observed, they would barter
anything they possess. Sometimes they are driven to great irregu
larities, while under the influence of intoxication, and their timid dis
position alone protects them from the natural consequences. Dobell
records a remarkable instance of this nature in one of his own men,
who, having got drunk, became so furious that he rushed from his pre
sence writh a large knife in his hand, seeking the superior of his tribe,
prince Zachar, crying out that he wTas an unjust man, and that he
would stab him. In vain did his companions endeavour to restrain
him ; he continued to rave in this manner until he got near to the
prince's dwelling, when he bellowed out with all his force, " come
out, Zachar, if you dare. I am prepared to kill you !" The prince
hearing this, immediately sallied forth, and with bosom bare, desiring
the crowd to stand aside. He advanced boldly up to the Karaikee,
and with an undaunted countenance and thundering voice, said, "here
is the breast of your prince ! strike if you dare !" The Karaikee
seemed petrified ; he raised his hand, but, afraid to strike, the knife
dropped from his powerless arm to the ground. " Coward," ex
claimed Zachar, " you have saved your life, for if you had aimed a
blow at me I would have hurled you to the earth, and your own
knife should have let out your heart's blood." The prince then
ordered the Karaikee to be confined until he became sober. The
following anecdote is further illustrative of the dangerous effects,
caused by the excessive use of watky, and shewTs the uncommon
attachment that this people have for strong liquors : — One of them

Dobell's Travels in Siberia, vol. 1.

517

being offered some valuable trinkets, needles, &c., for some rein-deer
he smiled and said, " these are pretty things, but I am an old man,
and dislike such baubles : my delight is to smoke, and now and then
when I can buy liquor, to get heartily drunk ; therefore you shall
have this rein-deer for watky and tobacco ; I want nothing else."
The bargain was concluded, the old man soon became drunk, but the
effects not continuing so long as could have been wished, he, with two
of his companions, entered the tent of the purchaser, with their knives
drawn in a threatening manner, upbraiding him with having given
bad liquor, and threatening to kill him for the imposition. The nar
rator had fortunately at the moment his loaded pistols in his hand,
and presenting them at the party said, in a commanding tone, " the
first man that advances one step further, I shall shoot him instantly."
They paused, trembled, and, dropping on their knees, asked pardon
for their misdemeanor. They were then disarmed, and a present was
made to them of another jug of liquor.*

The great fondness of those rude and simple people for spirits of
all kinds, causes them often to pay at the rate of a ruble per glass for
a very spurious species of brandy ; yet, with all their love for it, they
seldom have recourse to undue means of obtaining it. Sauer relates
a pleasing instance of this honest feeling in a Kamtschatdale, who
usually accompanied him on his aquatic excursions, and expended
every farthing of his money on spirits : — " I one day," says he, " saw
him coming to my habitation, and to tempt him, I hid myself in an
adjoining roam, leaving a glass of brandy upon the table, andabottle,
half-full, close to it, with some sea-biscuit. He came in, saw nobody,
and called me, but obtained no answer. Upon which he advanced to
the table, and smelt the glass ; " It is brandy," said he, " but I will not
drink, and the bottle half -full ! Well, I won't taste you ; but I'll go
seek master, and scold him for leaving you in this manner. I'll just
smell again and go." I stepped out of the window into the garden
and went to meet him ; when he accosted me in the following
manner: — "I have been into your room, and saw a glass full of
brandy; perhaps you won't believe me, but indeed I did not taste it."

" I dare say you did." " No, by I did not, I knew you would

not believe me ; but a Kamtschatdale will never take anything with
out permission." " Well, I must believe you ; will you come and drink
it ?" " Yes, that I will, but I wanted to scold you for leaving it so.''
A stronger instance than this of forbearance could scarcely be pro
duced from among a people vastly superior in civilisation. The

*Dobell, Yol. i. p. 165.

518

sale of spirits and the whole of the distillery business are as already-
observed, a monopoly of the crown, and farmed to the highest con
tractor, not only in the remote regions of Kamtschatka and Siberia, but
throughout the whole Russian territory. In some provinces, these
contracts are made for a term of three years only : the contractors
have a comptoer in each town for the sale of the brandy, and the
retailer must have his license and his brandy from the person thus
appointed. The contractors are termed Farmers- General, and are
under the control of the vice-governors of provinces. The system
is considered a bad one, as it is the means of enriching individuals at
the expense of the bulk of the people, and giving them a spurious for
a genuine commodity.

This monopoly renders the situation of a vice-governor very lucra
tive, and in some instances yields him annually half a million of
rubles, or upwards of £20,000. The money is obtained by a per
centage on every vedro or anker of spirits sold in the province, and a
certain sum paid by the retailers for licenses. In return for this, all
the trouble he has is to visit the different distilleries and Kabaks, to
ascertain if the spiiits be adulterated, but having already received his
bribe from the farmer-general, his inspection may naturally be con
sidered in proportion to the extent of the fee. Next comes the
farmer-general to make his inspection, then his secretary or chief
agent, each receiving an emolument, and the retailer reducing the
article to meet these expenses, gives ultimately to the purchaser
drink of a very bad description. Milton has noticed a similar system
used in his day, taverns called cuirsemay^ were farmed out by the
emperor, or bestowed on some duke or gentleman, as a reward for
his services.

The serfs consume most of their earnings in these Kabaks, or dram
shops, which are conducted by license under certain regulations, and
in many parts the keepers of those houses are Jews,who know well
IIOAY to manage their unfortunate customers, and often boast of the
great quantity consumed weekly by these misguided creatures.

As the emoluments increase in proportion to the consumption of
spirits, it manifestly becomes the interest of the governor of a pro
vince to promote that consumption, for while it increases the revenue
and adds to his interest with the government, it also enriches his
own coffers, hence the quantity, and not the quality, produced at the
public distilleries is chiefly studied. A proof of this is what is related
of General Kaptzevitch, governor of Tomsk in Siberia, who ordered
the officers that had charge of distilleries, to receive a certain number
of stripes, if the quantity of spirits extracted from the grain was not

519

more than double what had been produced under the preceding
governor.*

The love for spirituous liquors is prevalent in Russia ; but it is
generally remarked that quarrels through intoxication are less fre
quent in that country than in many others, the people always pre
serving good humour in their jolly moments. The Russian plebeian
does not sit down to enjoy his friend and his glass as is common in
Great Britain and Ireland, but enters the Kabak, lays down his
money, drinks off two or three glasses of vatki or agua ardiente, and
retires, regardless of the quarrels or the follies of his neighbours; or,
if inclined to sit over his glass, the passing events or occurrences of
the day have no effect on him, as he seems the mere creature of
enjoyment. The attachment to drinking has been long a charac
teristic of the people.

Barbaro, a Venetian ambassador, who visited Russia in the middle
of the 15th century, particularly notices the drunkenness of the Rus
sians, and relates that the Grand Duke, in order to check this vice*
had directed that no more beer should be brewed, nor mead manufac
tured, nor hops used ; but all was to no effect, as the passions of the
people could not be restrained by any enactments of the monarch.

At the entertainments of the respectable classes in Russia, sweet
vodtki is drunk, as well as wine of various descriptions. Taking a
glass before dinner is a common practice, on which occasions, accord
ing to Dr. Clarke, slices of raw turnips are handed on salvers along
with the brandy. Count Platoff, whose military exploits are so well
known, gained the affections of the Cossack soldiery by his suavity of
manners, and attention to their comforts. He knew it was the failing
of his countrymen to be fond of a glass, and in private conversation
with any of them, in which he made himself familiar, he would con
clude with asking, "dost thou drink vodtki?" If he received a nega
tive, he would say it was well, — yet a little was necessary to pro
tect against fatigue and bad weather ; adding, that a small glass of
something warm, and especially spirits with mustard, was the best
medicine. Such is the weakness of the peasantry, that in their most
serious acts, they mingle the levities of drinking. It is related of
one, that during his devotions in the evening, he would occasionally
suspend his orisons to take a draught of quass, and in the middle of
the night he would leave his bed to repeat his libation. Even among
the army, spirits are distributed on anniversaries, festivals, and times

* Cochrane's Narrative, vol. i. p. 119, 189.

520

of public rejoicing. It was a practice of the late Emperor Alexander,
to give a ruble and a glass of brandy to every private soldier. One
of the young princes, who was in the habit of officiating on one of those
occasions, mistook the nature of the order, and directed, five times
in succession, that the glass should be repeated and another ruble
given. Such was the delicate feelings of respect that the father had
for the word of his son, that he permitted the men to receive it, but
privately reprimanded him for his indiscretion by stripping him for
a time of liis military trappings and honors.

Although the manufacture of spirits throughout the wrhole of the
Russian empire is prodigious, immense quantities are yearly imported.
In 1768, the whole amount of the imports of the vine came to
697,000 rubles, and the exports from the several parts of Russia,
exclusive of those in the Caspian, in 1793, were 3971 oxh, 9 ankers
of corn brandy and other spirits, valued in rubles at 66,218.

In 1794, the entries at the port of Petersburgh were for wine, to
the value of 734,000 rubles, and for brandy 7,000 rubles.

In 1796, the imports at the same port were —

Of ale and porter, 7033 casks, amounting in rubles to 469,217

Brandy, arrack, rum, and shrub, 112 hhds. 32,605

Liquors, 21 hhds. 7,902

Wines of all kinds,19,427 hhds...., 1,568,367

The imports in 1797, were —

Of beer and porter, 4,500 casks, valued at rubles 327,350

Arrack, rum, and brandy, 3544 ankers 90,237

Strong liquors, 3180 bottles 8,680

Wines of all kinds in hogsheads, 11,294, 985,411

In 1802, the ralue of the imports were 96,056 rubles.

In 1803, there were 6507 ankers of arrack, brandy, and rum,
imported into Petersburgh. These imports have greatly increased
since the establishment of peace among the several powers of Europe,
notwithstanding the high duties imposed by the tarifs of the court,
which tend to discourage an intercourse with foreign nations in the
purchase of articles that may be produced at home, even in an inferior
degree. Man, it is well known, is, in all regions, partial to that
which best pleases his palate, and hence in those parts of the empire
where the brandies and wines of France, the gin of Holland, or the
rum of the West Indies, have made their way, a preference is given ;
since they are accounted vastly superior to any beverage manufac
tured within the boundaries of the Russian territories.

521

The imports of liquors into Peter sburgh, in the course of four suc
cessive years, were :—

1 1832.

1833.

1834

1835

55

859
7,289
583
4,840
376,587
13,911
4,124
1,365
53,155

14
931
6,627
753

2,400
423,927
9,159
6,058
1,051
86,282

36
696
7144
667
5760
393441
6559
4215
1100
119609

28
248
3723
873
4747
329051
10472
4379
867
156934

Wiiip fli a TVID iP'nf1 bottles

Do. Portuguese & Spanish,pipes

Do. All kinds, bottles

The imports of wine into the principal ports of Russia, during the
following years, were : —

I 1829

1830

1831

1834

1835

Wine in hogsheads, 1 28,729

49,132

114788
365019

510499
87,165
371627

51,711
149413
503191

Do. in bottles i 99,581

118406
472365
52,094

Do. Champagne in bottles ...J 337489
Do. with Liqueurs in casks..'

Besides the above, the produce of the vintage in seven governments
of this Empire, amounted in 1834, to 27,824 hogsheads of wine which
are consumed within the Empire.

The prices, when Tooke compiled his work, stood as follows :•—

A hogshead of beer, when purchased from a Russian brewer, costs
8 rubles ; from an English brewer, 20 rubles ; brandy was 65 rubles
the anker ; port wine from 350 to 250 rubles the pipe ; French, from
250 to 150 rubles the hogshead ; Madeira, 300 rubles the hogshead ;
champagne, per case of fifty bottles, 200 rubles j Rhine wrine from
one ruble, fifty kopeeks, to three rubles, fifty kopeeks per bottle ;
Hungary wine from two rubles, fifty kopeeks, to six rubles the bottle.

Wine, spirits, and other kinds of drink, are offered for sale in great
abundance at the public fairs throughout the different parts of the
empire, and London porter is to be had in almost every village ; thus
is a facility given to the general use of these beverages. An idea of
the extent to which this species of trade is conducted, may be formed
from knowing that at a fair in Nizni Novgorod, there were for sale
of wine and brandy alone, a quantity worth 6,580,000 rubles, while
in the wooden bazaars exclusively, were sold to the amount of
4,380,000 rubles, a ruble being ten-pence of our money. The
revenue on spirits at Kazan is said to amount to 4,000,000 rubles ,

522

the consumption of which in that city, on a feast day, is estimated at
5,000 rubles, and on ordinary days at ahout 1,500 rubles.* In Mos
cow, there are about 500 inns and taverns, 200 restaurateurs, 150
kabaks or gin shops, 80 beer houses, and 180 wine vaults.

In Petersburg!!, at the corner of every street is an open kabak for
the sale of spirituous liquors, not unlike the old gin shops of London.
The better classes consume prodigious quantities of champagne, as
well as other descriptions of wines. At dinners of respectability, rich
fish soups are introduced, composed of champagne and other expen
sive wines, some of which have been known to cost 3,000 rubles?
which at lOd. per ruble amounts to £120. No water is used in these
expensive soups, and the effect on the company is frequently apparent.
Both at Petersburg!! and Moscow, the nobility and gentry entertain
in a very sumptuous manner, and their services of plate on such occa
sions are costly and superb. Chancellor tells us that when he visited
this empire, even so far back as the sixteenth century, the Duke of
Moscovy had two cups of gold set with pearls and precious stones on a
table in the middle of the dining chamber, out of which he usually
drank. These cups were placed in the centre of a large table around
which was a great variety of other gold cups for the nobles ; among
these stood four crudurces, or pots of gold and silver for holding the
drink, and each fully a yard and half in height. At one entertainment
given by the Duke, there were 200 persons all served with drink in
golden goblets, and so numerous were the vessels of gold, that there
was not room on the tables to contain them.f Though the Russians
still entertain expensively, the respectable portion of the community
are temperate, which forms one of the best and most striking features
of their character. The young nobles and officers of the army are
particularly fond of French wines, of which Champagne is the
greatest favourite. It may be generally observed that the people of
this empire are like their fellow men in other countries, prone alike
to various vices and possessing many virtues.

In the British Empire, the distillation of spirits has been long an
object of attention, both to the government and the people ; but the
period at which this important branch of trade originated in these
kingdoms seems now not certainly known. It is indeed probable,
that before the introduction of agriculture, mead or honey diluted
with water, was the only strong liquor known to the inhabitants of

* Cochrane's Narrative, vol. i. p. 107.

t Chancellor's Voyage to the Northern Parts of Russia. Pinkerton's Voyages
vol. i.

523

the British Isles. This was considered a favourite beverage among
the Britons long after they had become familiar with other liquors ;
since the maker of mead ranked in the courts as the eleventh in
dignity among the princes of Wales, and took precedence of the physi
cian ; nor could a cask of it be manufactured without acquainting the
king or violating the law. According to Macpherson, cider, ex
tracted from wild apples, was early known to the British in common
with other northern nations, and when the Romans invaded England,
such was the acquaintance of its inhabitants with intoxicating
liquors, that intemperance and inebriety were ranked among the
national vices. Eumenes, in his panegyric upon Constantius,
remarks that in the year 296, Britain produced such abundance of
corn, that it was sufficient to supply not only bread, but also a drink
which was comparable to wine.* This, no doubt, was ale, the Saxon
eale, the common drink of the Celtse, which was known long before
the Romans had extended their conquests to these islands. The
manufacture had become of such uncommon importance in the year
694, that Ine, king of the West Saxons, directed that every pos
sessor of a farm of ten hides of land, or, as much as required ten
ploughs, should, among other articles, pay him twelve ambers of
Welsh ale, each containing above seven gallons of English wine
measure.

It is generally admitted, that the vine was first planted in Britain
by the Romans, and that its cultivation became considerably extended
after its introduction, but the climate not being so congenial to this
plant as that of warmer countries, from which wine was so easily
obtained, it never attracted that attention which, under other circum
stances, might have rendered it an article of importance in the country.
It wasplanted, it may be said, more as an exotic for curiosity, and the
luxury of its fruit, rather than for making from it drink either for
domestic or commercial purposes. Hence we learn that wine was
manufactured by the monks from the grapes reared in gardens
attached to the monasteries, evidently shewing that it was by a garden
cultivation, rather than by a vineyard or field plantation, that this
exotic was nurtured ; besides, from what has been already stated, it
is evident, that England is without the limits of those degrees of
latitude which are congenial to the growth of this fruit ; and in
Camden's opinion, it was reared more for ornament than use, and if
cultivated by the monks at all for the purpose of making wine, it was
because they were familiar with its treatment, many of them having

* Macpherson' s Annals.

524

come from the countries where it was a common article of culture :
and they could, therefore, the more readily meet the uncongeniality of
the soil and climate by their skill and attention.

It would appear that the use of wine was formerly prohibited in
those religious establishments, as we find that in the year 738, wine
was permitted to the monks of England, by a decree of Bishop
Ardan, founder of the monastery of Lindesfern in Northumberland.*

The Isle of Ely is said, from the abundance of its vintage, to have
been denominated the isle of vines ; and the bishop of which, shortly
after the conquest, commonly exacted three or four tuns of wine as
the tithe of the vineyard, while a certain quantity was reserved in his
leases for rent. But even in that island, which was the most favoured
place of its culture, the growth was neither permanent nor valuable ;
for it appears that in seasons the produce was mere verjuice, shewing
clearly that no human skill nor exertions could make the vine flourish
in a country to which it was an alien *

At Roganeia, in the hundred of Rochford, a vineyard is said to
have consisted of six arpents, and to have yielded, on an average, 20
modii of wine ; while we are told that Gloucester excelled all other
parts of England, in the abundance and pleasant taste of its grapes,
and that the wine was of a superior description, little inferior to the
wines of France. Windsor Park was noted for its grapes, part of
the produce the king kept to himself, a part was sold for his profit,
and the tithe on the whole formed a part of the living of the Abbot
of Waltham, parson both of old and new Windsor. Notwithstanding
these historic records, it may be asked, if the growth of the vine was
natural or flourishing in England, why discontinue it, or send such
sums of money to foreign countries for an article, which might be so
cheaply procured at home ? The answer is obvious. England is not
the country for its cultivation either with respect to soil or climate,
and we find that even in the times in which the vine is said to have
flourished most, foreign wines were imported very largely, a proof
that the home produce was very scanty, and that to prosecute the
cultivation of the vine, was neither successful nor profitable. Misled
by the specious reports of William of Malmsbury, Bede, Stowe, and
others, many in England attempted to cultivate the vine, but with
out any advantageous effect ; and we find in the present day that it
thrives best when treated as an exotic in our gardens and green
houses : England being a country so far north and so exposed to
cold and the moisture of the great Western Ocean, that it could not

* Ilollinshed's Chron. vol. i. p. 281. Speed's Chron. fol. sec. viii. p. 252.

525

he expected to be favourable to its culture. This is fully corrobora
ted by the endeavours made some years since to establish vineyards
in the Isle of Wight, but those efforts completely failed in conse
quence of the causes just mentioned.

There are, however, instances in England of the vine growing to
great perfection, such as that planted in 1758 at St. Valentine in
Essex, which has extended to more than 200 feet ; and it was known
in one year to yield 2,000 bunches of ripe grapes. The vine at
Hampton palace, planted in 1769, has a stem 13 inches in circum
ference, with branches 14 feet long. It has produced in one year
upwards of 2,000 bunches of grapes, the average weight of each
bunch being a pound.*

The Romans who remained so long masters of England, and to
whom wine was so familiar, must have made their British vassals
acquainted with this grateful liquor ; and the Saxon invaders, their
immediate successors, do not appear to have diminished the prevail
ing taste for this luxury. Hence we find that a feast given by Hen-
gist, about the year 450 to Vortigern, the British king, after the com
pletion of Hide castle, that Rowena, the beautiful daughter of the
Saxon chief, is represented with a golden goblet filled with wine,
drinking to the health of the monarch ; and this is regarded as the
first instance on record of drinking healths in Britain. When the
practice of drinking healths first commenced, cannot be determined,
but the earliest Persian records afford many instances of it. In that
country it was fashionable to drink the health of the reigning
monarch in bumpers of Zabul wine, and afterwards to kiss the
ground in token of respect and submission. Among the Jews, drinking
healths implied either a blessing or a curse, according as good or evil
was desired for the individual toasted. In the time of Homer, the
practice of pledging in drinking was customary ; and from the
Greeks, the Romans borrowed that ceremony. At the feasts and
social meetings of both the Greeks and Romans,it was a common prac
tice to toast the healths of their respective friends, in as many cyathi
or goblets as there were letters in the name of the individual men
tioned — thus six cups were usually drunk during the reign of Augus
tus Caesar, answering to the number of letters in his name, by the
way of paying him divine honors. At these feasts, it was also fre
quent to drink to the honour of the gods and goddesses, and it has

* On the coast of Barbary, vines have been found with stems of 8 or 9 feet in
girth ; and in Italy, vines have continued productive for 300 years. Pliny men
tions one of continued bearing for 600 years.

526

been reported that six hundred glasses have been quaffed on one of
these occasions by a single individual. The glasses, however, could
not have been more capacious than thimbles, while the time for con
sumption must have been very lengthened. Roman antiquarians
state, that a person was appointed at every public feast or entertain
ment, to regulate the toasts and the quantity of the liquor to be
drunk. This person was chosen by a throw of dice, and denominated
Arbiter Bibendi, decider of drinking ; and after first pouring out a
libation to the gods, the guests saluted each other with the words
bene mihi, my own health; or bene vobis, your health, or some such
similar convivial sentiment.

Among these assemblies, each guest was obliged to keep the round
or leave the company ; hence the proverb " drink and begone."

To this Horace refers, but gives more license : —

Thus every guest may drink and fill
As much or little as he will ;
Exempted from the Bedlam rules
Of roaring prodigals and fools.
Whether in merry mood, or whim,
He fills his goblet to the brim ;
Or better pleased, to let it pass
Is cheerful with a moderate glass.*

From the Olympic songs of Pindar, we learn that an opulent
father used to pledge, in the midst of his relations and friends, the
youth on whom he had fixed for his son-in- law, as a public announce
ment of his sanction.")"

From all this it is reasonable to think, that the practice of drinking
healths was first introduced into England by the Romans, and not
by the Saxons, who were more a savage than a polished people, little
accustomed to the luxuries or refinements of civilized nations. Some
suppose that the drinking of healths in Britain was of Scandinavian
origin, and draw the conclusion from the writings of Snorro
Sturluson, who, when speaking of the practices at the feasts of their
gods, and even after the introduction of Christianity, says it was
customary to drink the health of Christ, St. Michael, and other saints,
in the place of Odin, Niord, and Frey, the early objects of their
national idolatry 4 This practice of the Scandinavians may be easily
traced to the Greeks, by whom three cups were always taken at their
meals ; the first dedicated to Mercury, the second to the Graces, and

Horat. Sat. Lib. ii. s. vi. v. 67.
f Find. Olymp. 7.
% Henderson's Iceland, vol. ii. p. 67«

527

the third to Jupiter. Besides these, they drank healths to all their
tutelary deities ; to Mercury, the god of sleep, on going to bed,
in order to have pleasant dreams ; to Jupiter, as their great preser
ver ; and to the other gods in their respective superintendencies.
The Greek Scholiasts affirm, that in taking a cup or glass, it was
customary to name a friend, and having drunk his health, to pour
a portion of the liquor on the ground, repeating his name a second
time in token of high regard. Apuleius tells ns that drink was taken
not only in remembrance of the dead, but more particularly in honor
of fellow-soldiers, whose memories were toasted out of golden cups in
honor of their valorous actions — hence perhaps the origin of the
modern custom of drinking in solemn silence to the memory of an
exalted or venerable character. A drink called wassail, a word com
pounded of wacs, wishing, and hael, health, implying the wish of good
health, seems to convey an idea of the origin of this practice, which
was once very common in England. At Christmas, it was customary
for young persons to go about with a large bowl of liquor, drinking
healths. This beverage was a preparation of ale, made by the admix
ture of spices, apples, sugar, and other ingredients, and denominated
wassail, while those who served it were called wassailers, which at
length became the common appellation for topers and drunkards.
Thus Shakspeare—

' ' The king doth wake to-night, and takes his rouse,
Keeps wassail, and the swagg'ring upspring reels."

Baily says, this drink was customary among the monks of St.
Albans, and usually placed before the abbots, to drink the health of
their fraternity.

It appears from the most authentic accounts of the earliest settle
ment of the Saxons in Britain, that wine was familiar among them,
yet it was not used with profusion. A great bowl of wine from
which the obbce, or big-bellied jugs of the monks, were filled twice a
day, for their dinner and supper, was all that Ethelwold allowed to
the entire inmates of his monastery ; and at festivals, a sextarium of
mead was the quantity distributed among six of the brethren at
dinner, and among twelve at supper. On certain occasions, such as
one of the great high feasts of the year, a measure of wine was
allowed. The favourite drinks of these people were ale and mead ;
and in the well-known dialogues preserved in the Cotton library in the
British Museum, and quoted by Turner, in his history of the Anglo-
Saxons, where a youth is questioned as to what he drank, he replied,
" ale if I have it, or water if I have it not. I am not so rich that I
can buy me wine, and wine is not the drink of children but of the

528

elders and the wise." Of ale, indeed, there were at that time throe
sorts, hut these were merely modifications of the same beverage.
Pigment, morat, and cider were in use. The first of these liquors was
sweet and odoriferous, being made of honey, wine, and spices of
various kinds ; while the second was made of honey diluted with the
juice of mulberries ; and the third was prepared from such fruits as
the country afforded. It was customary, however, to use pure wine
without any mixture of spices, but to serve the spices on a plate by
themselves, which were taken after the wine as a stomachic.* The
pigment, or pimint, as it was called, was rather a medicinal prepa
ration of the wine, made and sold by the apothecaries who were styled
pigmentariij from which it took its name. During these times, it
would appear to have been a custom among the Saxons that when
dinner was over, and the dishes removed, they continued drinking till the
evening.f Wine was used, and the stronger it was, the more it Avas
desired. In old times, the best was called Thcologicum^ because it
was obtained from the clergy and religious men, to whose houses
many of the laity would often send for bottles, being sure that they
should not be served with the worst sort, as the vintners would have
thought that their souls would go to the devil if they served the
clergy with any but the best.

At entertainments among the Britons, the gentry sat in the centre
of the hall around a table, behind whom the attendants, or guards,
formed another circle. When dinner was over, the principal person
called for a cup of ale and pledged the guest on his right ; the same
cup filled to the brim was drunk by each person in succession, the
attendants at the same time regaling themselves behind. Women
were admitted and highly honoured on those occasions ; but they
always retired before intemperance commenced. In the reign of
Edgar, drinking was so prevalent, and carried to such excess, that a
law was enacted that no man should drink beyond certain wicks or
marks made in the pots and sometimes pins for the purpose of limit
ing the potation :f hence the phrase, that when an individual had
become jolly, he was said to be in a merry pin, having the limits
assigned to temperance; and we are told that a whole company drank
out of a single vessel handed from one to another, such being the
practice of those times.§ Pledging each other in drinking was another

* Mill's Hist, of Chivalry, vol. i. p. 169, note.

t Turner's Hist. Ang. Saxons, vol. ii. chap. iv. p. 51, &c.

$ Basil Rennet's Hist. England, vol. iv. p. 91.

§ William of Malmsbury, B. ii. p. 31.

529

custom and is said to have had its origin from the death of Edward the
Martyr, who was murdered by the treachery of his step-mother, El-
frida. The meaning of a pledge was a security for the safety of the
individual drinking, who all the time was exposed to the attack of an
enemy, his arm being raised to his head, his face partly covered, and
his body unprotected. When, therefore, a person was about to drink,
he addressed the guest next him to know if he would pledge him, and
being answered in the affirmative, the sword or dagger of his compa
nion was raised to protect him while drinking.* So debased was the
conduct of the Danes in England during the reign of Edgar, and so
addicted to inebriety were they, that their bad example induced that
monarch, by the advice of Dunstan, Bishop of Canterbury, to put
down all the alehouses, excepting one in every village or small town.

The Norman conquest greatly contributed to the progress of civi
lisation and refinement, by the introduction of all the improvements
and discoveries known among the French, Italians, Greeks, and
Saracens : hence the Normans, on their invasion of England, called
the inhabitants barbarians, and so great was their superiority in civili
sation, that William of Malmsbury tells us that one of the great
distinctions between the Britons and Normans was, that the latter
built magnificent and stately castles, whereas the former consumed
immense fortunes in riot and hospitality while residing in mean dwel
lings. Much refinement and knowledge were also introduced into
England by the means of the crusades ; and it has even been stated,
with every probability of truth, that the art of distillation was made
known in England so early as the time of Henry the Second. During
the reign of Henry the Third, in 1256, the manufacture of ale had
become of such consequence, that the price of it was fixed in propor
tion to that of corn or wine, and a brewer might sell two gallons
of it for a penny in cities, and three or four for the same price in the
country.f

In 1302, barley-malt rated at 3s. 4d. per quarter, and from the
cheapness of wheat, the brewers malted that grain also. The beer
made from barley was 3d. or 4d. a gallon, while that from wheat was
but IJd., wheat being then only about 2s. the quarter-f This caused
a proclamation prohibiting tlie malting of wheat, lest it should prevent
the encouragement of its growth for bread, and give the advantage to
corn and other inferior grain. The Chronicles of Rymer shew that
in 1504, ale sold for about 3d. and beer for 2s. 4d. a gallon. The

* Strutt's Manners and Customs of the Ancient Britons, vol. i. p. 49.

f Hume, vol. ii. p. 333.

$ Vide Fleetwood's Chronicon Preciosum, p. 75.

2 M

530

method of making this liquor, as practised by the ancient Britons and
other Celtic nations, is thus described by Isidorus and Orosius : " The
grain was steeped in water and made to germinate, by which its spirits
were excited and set at liberty, it was then dried and ground, after which
it was infused in a certain quantity of water, and being fermented, it
became a pleasant, warming, strengthening, and intoxicating beverage."
The reader will perceive that this is the same drink described by
Pliny, and mentioned in the early part of this work, as common to the
several nations in the West of Europe. The grain usually employed
in its manufacture was barley, but wheat, oats, and millet were some
times used.* In Arnold's Chronicle, published in 1521, maybe seen
a receipt for making beer, which is nearly as follows : — " Ten quar
ters of malt, 2 of wheat, 2 of oats, with lllbs. of hops, for making 11
barrels of single beer." The ancient Welsh and Scots had two kinds
of it, called common and spiced ale, and the value of each was thus
determined by law : — " If a farmer hath no mead, he shall pay two
casks of spiced ale, or four casks of common ale for one cask of mead."
By this statute, a cask of spiced ale, nine palms in height and eighteen
in diameter, was valued at £7. 10s. of our present coin; and a cask
of common ale of equal dimensions at about £3. 13s. of the same
currency. At this period, common ale was an article of such luxury
among the Welsh, that it could only be procured by the great and
opulent. Previous to the introduction of Christianity, this liquor was
in such repute, that the Saxons and Danes believed that " to drink
large and frequent draughts of it was one of the greatest pleasures
enjoyed by the heroes admitted into the hall of Odin.""j* Meetings
were formerly held in England for the express purpose of drinking
ale, denominated Scot-ales. One of these called give-ale, seems to
have been a remnant of Anglo-Saxon superstition. These drinking
bouts were sometimes held in public-houses and sometimes in the
church or church-yard. The expense of a Scot-ale was defrayed by
joint contribution ; and when held in taverns, the clergy were not
allowed to be present. There were occasionally common drinkings
termed leet-ale, clerk-ale, church-ale, and bride-ale, the last of which
still prevails in Scotland under the name of penny bride-ale, a prac
tice intended to assist those who are unable to defray the expense of
a wedding- dinner.J In some parts of Germany, similar superstitious
customs long prevailed. On making an additional window to a new

* Henry's History of England, vol. ii. pp 361-2-3-4.

•f Mallet's Northern Antiq. chap. iv. Antiquarian Repertory.

% Supplemental vol. Encyc, Britannica.

531

building-, or altering an old one, was the Fensterbier (window-beer),
a festivity of drinking and dancing. At the dinner after the cere
mony of baptism, the mother was presented by the male sponsor with
a glass of wine and a piece of money, to relieve her from the beer-
soup, the sole aliment which she was permitted to taste during her
confinement. At the churching of women, was also a boozing-match
termed Karkbier (church-beer), and weddings had their concomitant
indulgences, though not designated by any particular name. Funeral
solemnities were attended with the Grabbier (sepulchral-beer), malt
potations appearing to have formed an essential part of all ceremonial
observances.* At the feasts and entertainments given in England in
those times, the consumption of ale and wine was very considerable.
Three hundred tuns of ale and one hundred tuns of wine were con
sumed at the installation of George Neville, Archbishop of York, in
the year 1466. Much of the wine on those occasions was warmed
and mixed with spiceries, and used at breakfast, as well as at other
meals. Great families took four meals a day, breakfast at seven,
dinner at ten, supper at four, and livery, a meal now unknown,
between eight and nine in the evening. They sat at dinner from ten
in the morning till one in the afternoon, by which indulgence three of
the best hours of the day were wantonly consumed. The side-boards
were always well supplied with beer, ale, and wines, which were
served in pewter and wooden cups. A quart of beer and a quart of
wine for two individuals were the allowance at the morning repast ;
and at the liveries, or evening collations, a gallon of beer and a quart
of wine. The custom among shop-keepers, mechanics, and labourers,
was to breakfast at eight, dine at nine, and sup at six.

In the time of Elizabeth, ale was so common in England, that it
was used at breakfast in conjunction with animal food with the same
familiarity that tea is now used with bread and butter. Houses for
the sale of this beverage were first licensed in England in the time
of Edward the Sixth, by an act of the 5th and 6th of that monarch.
In 1603, by a statute of James the First, the power of licensing inns
and alehouses was granted by letters patent to certain individuals, in
which it was enacted, that no victualler could sell less than one full
quart of the best ale for one penny, and two quarts of the smaller sort
for the same. In 1643, in the reijn of Charles the First, a tax was
laid for the ensuing year on beer and ale, calling it by a new name
Excise, a word, some say, borrowed from the Belgic acciisse, which
signifies tribute.

* Letters from Mecklenburg and Holstein, by George Dowries, Svo

532

As great abuses were at first committed under the mode by which
this branch of revenue was collected, it was soon after placed on the
same footing with that of the other branches of excise.* This duty,
however, was not very productive, as appears from an abstract of the
money raised in England for a period of nineteen years, viz. from
November the 3d, 1640, to November the 5th, 1659, during which
the whole amount of wine-licenses is rated at £312,200. In 1663,
the amount was £20,000 ; in 1688, £lO,OOO.f About this period,
the ale and beer brewed in England came, on an average of some
years to 4,950,413 barrels of strong, and 2,254,006 barrels of small
beer annually. In the year 1691, the quantity brewed by the common
brewers in the city of London and its suburbs, amounted to 1,222,764
barrels of strong beer and ale, and 865,831 barrels of small beer.

The duty upon these articles being doubled in that year, it set
a number of private brewers to work, which so affected the licensed
brewers, that in the year 1695, the annual quantity of strong beer
and ale was reduced to 909.299 barrels, and the small beer to 813,824
barrels. In 1724, the quantity of strong beer brewed in London and
the neighbourhood was 1,172,494 barrels, and of small beer 789,495
barrels, while in the whole kingdom the strong beer was computed at
4,075,871, and the small beer at 2,465,695 barrels.^ For further
satisfaction the reader may consult the Tables in the Addenda in
which he will find an account of the beer and ale brewed in England,
for certain periods from the year that the excise on that article was
put under the management of Commissioners in the time of James
II., and embracing portions of the reign of William III, Anne, George
I., II., III., IV., and William IV. In 1822, there were in London
98 brewers and 37 licensed victuallers, who brewed 2,000,932 barrels,
of which 1,673,603 were strong, and 327,329 table beer.§ In the
rest of England were 1488 brewers and 20,575 licensed victuallers,
who brewed 5,547,875 barrels, of which 4,345,015 were strong, and
1.202,860 table beer. From the 5th January, 1829, to 5th January,
1830, there were brewed in the London district 1,521,064 barrels of
strong, and 261,824 of table beer ; while in the country there were
made 4,483,724 barrels of strong, and 1,1 18,643 of table beer.|| The
number of brewers in London in 1836, were 106 common brewers,

* Sinclair's Hist, Revenue, p. 208. f Ibid. pp. 261, 268.

J Maitland's History of London.

§ Parliamentary Paper, No. 571, £ess. 1823.

J| Parl. Paper, No. 191, 25th March, 1823.

533

and 25 victuallers, with 130 persons licensed for general sale ; who
brewed all they sold. In London and throughout England, the
consumption of malt was : —

YEARS. BUSHELS. BUSHELS.

1832, London 4,462,915 England 25,884,159

1833, 4,777,134 26,796,973

1834, 5,392,244 28,944,723

1835, 5,404,682 29,897,333

1836, 5,907,951 30,921,797*

In the whole of England, for the year 1836, there Arere 2,099
licensed brewers. The victuallers were 54,551, besides 36,536 victual
lers licensed to sell on the premises, with 4,118 victuallers licensed
not to sell on the premises.

The use of malt liquor, some are of opinion, was not introduced into
England before the time of Henry VII. in whose reign the breweries,
or beer-houses, as they were then termed, were twice put down by
the legal authorities, either for selling without license or for making
the liquor too weak. By an act of Henry VIII. in 1532, only two
descriptions of beer, strong and double, were permitted to be manu
factured, the strong fixed at 6s. 8d. and the double at 3s. 4d. the
barrel. The public demand increasing yearly, induced the brewers to
advance their prices contrary to the statute, so that in 1591, the
government ordered that the brewers should sell at the prices fixed
by law. The Brewery Company which was incorporated in the time
of Henry VI. 1438, remonstrated on the hardship of being obliged to
dispose of an article at a rate far below its value, every material
employed having considerably increased in price from the time of
passing the statute. Notwithstanding the enactment, the consump
tion continued to increase, and during the time of Elizabeth, the export
of beer had become a valuable branch of commerce. The Queen
herself, in her right of purveyance^ a prerogative then inherent in the
crown, caused considerable quantities of beer so obtained to be sold
on the continent for her own emolument.

The sovereigns of England had the prerogative of purchasing
necessaries for the support of the royal family at an appraised
value, even without the consent of the proprietor. This inquisitorial
privilege was known by the names of purveyance and pre-emption ;
but it became at length so disagreeable to the people, that the right
was abolished and the Excise was established in its stead by the Long

* Vide Parliamentary Paper, 1837.

534

Parliament in 1643, and afterwards made hereditary to the crown.*
This import is supposed to have been originally planned by a Mr. Pirn,
and was at first laid on spirits only. The customs were also an
ancient prerogative of royalty, and at first consisted of small sums
paid for the accommodation of warehouses, weights, and measures, with
some small duties levied as fines and tribute for the liberty of traffick
ing. Besides these means of subsistence for the regal household, in
some of the early reigns, deficiencies were frequently supplied by
tyrannical exactions, and by a voluntary contribution entitled a
benevolence. Edward I., when about to engage in a war with France,
had recourse to the latter expedient, and summoned the wealthiest
persons in his dominions that he might obtain sufficient assistance.
The money raised in this way was sometimes very considerable, for,
being given spontaneously, it was often munificent. Interesting inci
dents are related respecting such donations. Among these, it is
stated, that the monarch just mentioned, applied personally to a rich
widow, who, though advanced in years, was so charmed by his agree
able manners and handsome person, that she answered his request
saying, "By my troth, for thy lovely countenance thou shalt have
£20 !" — With which the king was so much pleased, that he gave the
old lady a kiss, and she was so delighted with this mark of royal
condescension that she added £20 more to the benefaction. Though
Benevolences were annulled by Richard III. yet Henry VII. endea
voured to raise money by that impost.

The duty first imposed on beer in 1660, by the 12th Charles II.,
and granted to him for life, was two-shillings and six-pence per barrel
for strong, and six-pence for table-beer, at the same time that a duty
was laid on wine as well as on wine licenses : this revenue wTas farmed
till 1684, when it was placed under Commissioners. For some years
previous to that time, it was managed by George Daikwood and
partners. In 1688, the excise on this article, clear of all deductions,
amounted to £666,383.f By the 5th of William and Mary, in 1694,
the duties were raised to four-shillings and nine-pence on strong, and
one-shilling and three-pence on table beer ; but the products were
not so great, and they afterwards continued to fluctuate according to
the change of the duties. The increase of population and the habits
of the people have now rendered the consumption of this beverage
prodigious, and notwithstanding that the duty was 10s. on every barrel
exceeding 16s. and 2s. on every barrel of 16s. or under, the net

Sinclair's History of the Public Revenue of the British Empire, p. 34.
f History of the Revenue, p. 281.

535

amount of revenue for the year 1821 came to £2,549,620 18s. 9-£d,*
and the average annual produce for the eight succeeding years was
£3,259,439.

In 1504, ale was sold in England at 3d. per gallon, and it was about
twenty years after, that hops were introduced, which event is thus
noticed by one of our writers : —

"Hops, reformation, bays, and beer,
Game into England all in one year."

Another version of this distich is, —

" Hops and turkeys, carp and beer,
Came into England all in a year."

Which latter is considered the more correct. As the first version in
which allusion is made to the Reformation, would fix the introduction,
of hops to Henry the Eighth's time, this error seems palpable, the use
of this plant in brewing being well known long before, although it
appears to have been unknown to the ancients as a preservative of
beer, nor have we any account of their having employed any other
substance as a substitute.

Hops were used by the brewers in the Netherlands early in the
fourteenth century ; and the use of them in malt liquor was brought
into England from Artois. Some say, though perhaps incorrectly,
that tlu's circumstance first gave that drink the name of beer, to dis
tinguish it from the softer and more ancient malt liquor called ale.
Yet it is certain that beer, as a beverage from malt, was known and
used under that name long before ; for, previous to the Norman con
quest, brewing was a business of some consequence in London. The
word ale is derived from the Saxon eale, and beer, according to some
philosophers, is from the Welsh bir ; but its natural origin appears to
be from here, the Celtic term for barley, the grain from which it was
first produced. The planting of hops was prohibited in the reign of
Henry VI., and brewers were forbidden to use them in ale by an
edict of Henry VIII. In the 5th year of Edward Vl.f privileges
were granted to hop-grounds, and lands were set apart for their
cultivation, so that their praises were celebrated by a poet in the
following couplets : —

" The hop for his profit I thus do exalt,
It strengtheneth drink and it flavoureth malt ;
And being well brewed, long kept it will last,
And drawing abide, if you draw not too fast."J

* Parl. Paper. f ^ & G Edw- 6> c- 5-

Tusser's 530 Points of Good Husbandry, 1557.

536

In the reig'n of James I.,* hops were cultivated to some extent in
England, but not in such quantity as to supply the demand, since, in
1608, a statute was passed against the importation of bad hops. The
great supply, however, was drawn from abroad until 1690, when, to
increase the home plantations, a duty of 20s. per cent, over and above
all other charges, was put upon what was imported ; and in 1710, the
duty of one penny per pound was imposed upon all hops reared in
England, and three-pence on foreign hops.f Having been so circum
stantial in the history of hops, it may be naturally enquired of what
service they are in brewing, and what was substituted for them pre
vious to their introduction. The answer requires little research.
Experience has proved the salutary effects of bitters on our digestive
organs ; and hence the use of hops in malt liquors, as they seem to
diminish their noxious effects, prevents them from becoming sour,
invigorates the stomach, and promotes digestion. Valuable as they
are in malt liquors has been found, yet, like the introduction of any
novelty, they were opposed, and in particular by the citizens of London,
In a petition to parliament as a nuisance, in common with Newcastle
coal. The one as spoiling the taste of the drink and endangering the
health of the people, the other as offending by its disagreeable smell
and injurious effects.f Previous to the use of hops, ground-ivy, called
alehoof or tunhoof, (glechoma hederacea) was generally employed for
preserving beer. The ale, says Parkinson, in his Theatrum Botani-
cum, published in 1640, which our forefathers were accustomed to
drink, was a thicker drink than beer, but left off since hops were
added, as they altered the quality and made it more healthful in pre
serving the body from the repletion of gross humours which the ale
engendered. The hop, (humulus lupulus,) as an ingredient in our
malt liquors, is found to possess in itself, elements of activity which
other materials that have been employed in its stead, do not possess,
combining the properties of astringency, bitterness, and aroma. Be
sides narcotic and diuretic principles, it imparts to the beverage a
tonic quality and an agreeable flavour, modifying the bitterness with
a warm and stimulant property. The application of this vegetable is
to remove from the beer the active principle of its fermentation, for
which purpose a certain quantity of hops is boiled with the wort,
before it is set to ferment, and no other material has yet been found
capable of supplying its place, as its essential oil conveys a pleasing

* Hume, vol. vii. p. 242.

f Anne, c. 1 2.

t Blithe's English Improver Improved, 3rd Ed. 1653.

537

flavour, and prevents the fluid from running into the acetous or putrid
fermentation. The brewers about Paris are said to use buxinia, (an
extract from boxwood,) as a substitute for hops, and which is said to
possess a powerful, bitter, and sudorific principle. Quassia and other
bitter materials that have been tried to supply the place of hops, are
both hot and unpleasant, and as they contain no saccharine matter to
produce spirit through the vinous fermentation, they add nothing to
the real strength or richness of the liquor ; besides, they are wholly
destitute of the aromatic flavour which the hops impart, and incapable
of communicating that fine, full, and bitter quality, so much prized by
the lovers of beer, ale, and porter. Quassia, a tree of Guiana, and
so called in honour of a drunken doctor, a negro named Quassia, who
discovered the virtue of the wood in curing malignant fevers, is a bad
substitute for hops ; for though sufficiently bitter, it wants astringency,
and other properties, particularly those which are sufficient to precipi
tate the vegetable mucilage or gluten. Gentian is little better, though
it has been used in this way from a remote period. This plant is
said to have received its name from Gentius, King of Illyria, who
first discovered its medicinal qualities 167 years before the Christian
era. Common mugwort (artemisia vulgaris) and water trefoil (meny-
antkes trifoliata,) have also been tried and found equally deficient in
the hop principle.

Wormwood, before the hop acquired so much estimation, was
employed as a preservative for ale and beer ; many preferred the
flavour it imparted to that given by the hop. The French distil it,
and manufacture it into a liqueur that is greatly admired,* but its
value as a bitter in malt drink can never supersede the virtue of the
hop. Horehound has also been made use of as a succedaneum when
hops were dear. Besides the articles already mentioned, there are
many plants, which yielding bitter astringent juices, are, or might be,
substituted for hops. In Sweden, Norway, and the Highlands of
Scotland, heath (erica,) and common broom were used in some places,
and are still occasionally employed for a similar purpose. In certain
parts of France and Germany, nothing but broom-tops is resorted to ;
and in Guernsey, the teucrium scordonia serves perfectly well to
answer the intention. English hops are accounted preferable to
those of the Continent, as they possess more gallic acid and
tanning Kent, which has been denominated the hop-garden of

* The Japanese, according to Thunberg, (vol. iii. p. 71) use the leaves of worm
wood for tinder. They are so prepared as to form a material of a brownish
colour, which is easily ignited.

f Paris's Pharmacologia, vol. i p. 311.

538

England, is considered to yield the best. Among- these is a peculiar
species much esteemed by porter-brewers, and is the produce of the
Humulus Germanicus, a plant well known in other parts of Europe.
As a substitute for hops, a bitter wood was, at onej time, imported
from Jamaica, particularly when there was a scarcity, which was sold
so high as £80 the ton ; but being vastly inferior to hops, the govern
ment put such a duty on it, that it operated as a prohibition. Though
some brewers use birch-bark, and others that of the common oak,
(Quercus Gallus) yet it is not for the preservation of the drink, but
because these materials, containing much tannin and other astringent
matter, imbue the liquor with a rough, bitter flavour essential to its
composition. It is to be regretted that either from want of knowing
how to obtain the right flavour from malt and hops, or from avarice and
to vend a spurious for a genuine article, many brewers, regardless of
the laws, use deleterious ingredients, either for the sake of colour,
taste, or strength, or to economize malt and hops. Spanish liquorice
properly employed, gives colour, flavour, and richness. Cocculus
Indicus, or what is called the black extract made from the berries,
which gives a fictitious strength highly pernicious, causes head-ache,
and other dangerous affections. Nux-vomica. a species of poison, and
the berry of a tree indigenous to Ceylon and the Coromandel coast, is
also used. Dr. Fleming says, that the Hindoos of Upper India are
in the habit of adding it in the process of the distillation of arrack ; and
Roxburg, in his Botany, says that it is added in order to render the
spirit more intoxicating. The fruit from which the seeds or real
Nux-vomica of the shops is obtained, is about the size of a large
apple, having a round, smooth, hard, shell of a rich orange colour.
When ripe it contains a soft jelly-like pulp, containing the seeds from
two to five in number, which are flat, nearly round, an inch broad,
and about one-eighth of an inch in thickness. The pulp is considered
perfectly harmless, as it is eaten eagerly by many sorts of birds, and
the root is used for the cure of native intermittent fevers, and the
bite of venomous snakes : such is the drug which is too often incau
tiously used by some of our brewers ! Capsicum., a very hot pepper,
although employed to give warmth and briskness to the liquor, is not
deleterious, but, on the contrary, wholesome, and a safe corrective of
flatulency. Salt of steel, and sulphate of iron (copperas,) are impro
perly substituted for this ingredient, and have the eifect of giving a
fine head and colour to porter. Grains of paradise, as well as capsi
cum, either in their natural state, or in the form of a concentrated
tincture, are used for imparting pungency to beer. Ginger-root,
coriander-seed, and orange-peel^ are employed as flavouring sub-

539

stances ; alum, and sometimes oil of vitriol, are resorted to for the
purpose of giving it the relish of age.

Hops yield a crop of great uncertainty, and are attended with much
risk to the contractor, for which reason although this plant appears to
give encouragement to agriculturists, from the fact of 45,662^* acres
of land being devoted to its growth in England, yielding at an average,
20,000, OOOlbs. annually, yet there might be policy in giving np the duty
on it altogether, as this measure might induce brewers to employ
nothing else in the manufacture of their beer, which they have often
been compelled to do from the high impost, at least that has been
urged as a reason for doing so. The duty on hops, previous to the
year 1801, was only a penny per pound, or 9s. 4d. the cwt., but since
that date it has been two-pence a pound, or 18s. Sd. the cwt. The
gross of this article for 1821 was £241,303. 4s. 2\d. and the net
amount £221,372. 17s. \\\d.\ In 1831, there were 43,500 acres of
hops under cultivation, and the average of the duty for that and
the preceding year was £280,182. In 1835, the duty averaged
£409,055 18s 2d.

The trade in malt liquor in England employs an immense capital,
since, besides what is consumed in the country, large shipments are
annually exported. In a Table in the Addenda, in which the exports
to India and China are stated, will be found an account of the quan
tities of this commodity sent to those countries. The following is
the aggregate of the exports of strong beer to different parts of the
world for ten years, viz. : — .

YEARS. BARRELS. TEARS. TUINTS.

Imperial measure.

1826 53,013 1831 8,884

1827 42,602 1832 11,330

1828 59,471 1833 11,629

1829 71,842 1834 10,405

1830 , 74,902 1835 12,880

The brewing of porter, a drink which chiefly differs from ale and
beer by being made with higher dried malt, commenced some time
about the year 1722. It was then the common practice in taverns to
call for a pot of half-and-half, meaning half ale and half two-penny,
sometimes an equal portion of ale, beer and two-penny was demanded
called three threads. To avoid all this trouble of drawing these
liquors from their respective casks, a person of the name of Harwood

* Parl. Paper, 1822, No. 232.
f Finance Accounts, 1822, p. 48,

540

formed the plan of brewing a drink that would answer every purpose,
and partake of the same flavour united. He effected his object, call
ing the beverage entire, or entire butt, because it was taken from one
butt or vessel ; and from being purchased by porters and such like
persons, it was ever afterwards distinguished by the name of porter.

In the manufacture of this liquor, the English have not been excelled
by any other nation, although it is imitated in most of the countries
of Europe. Popular opinion will have it that the water of the Thames
is superior to any other for the making of porter, but Mr. Richardson
alleges that this is a mistaken idea arising from vulgar prejudice, since
it is indisputable that other water makes malt-drink equally good,
and some of the principal brewers find the New River water as ser
viceable. The specific gravity of the former is 1000. 3, and its spissi-
tude 1000.182, while the specific gravity of the latter is 1000.8, and
its spissitude 1000.344.*

It is said that the annual quantity of porter brewed in London
exceeds 1.316,345 barrels of 36 gallons each ; and that the consump
tion of porter and ale in that metropolis amounts to 2,000,000 of
barrels and upwards. This vast supply is chiefly drawn from the
breweries within the city, which, in respect to size, style of building,
and ingenuity of operations, are not surpassed, nor indeed equalled by
any other establishments of the kind in the world. Some idea of
their magnitude may be formed from the brewery of Messrs. Bar
clay, Perkins, and Co., once the property of Mr. Thrale, the friend
of Dr. Johnson. This concern occupies a space of about ten acres
in area, and the buildings which contain the vats are of extraordinary
dimensions. There are upwards of 100 of these vessels on the pre
mises, the average content of each being 4,000 barrels, and the fer
menting tuns are also so capacious as to contain 1,400 barrels severally.
There are, moreover, three copper boilers holding respectively 150
barrels. The machinery of the establishment is worked by two steam-
engines, one of which is twenty-two horse power, and the produce of
the liquor is from 3 to nearly 400,000 barrels ; while the malt con
sumed in a year exceeds 100,000 quarters, and the hops upwards of
3,000 bags. It gives employment to at least 200 persons on the
premises and in various other ways to almost twenty times that
number, while 160 horses belonging to the proprietors are constantly
engaged in conveying materials to and from the brewery* As a
matter of novelty, five and t\venty gentlemen dined in one of the
coppers, and when they had retired, fifty of the workmen went into

* Vide Treatise on Brewing.

541

it and regaled themselves at the same table. His Majesty George
III. partook of an entertainment in a similar manner, given in one of
the tuns in Whitehead's establishment, which was conducted on a
magnificent scale suited to the dignity of the Royal visitant. This
need not appear incredible, since the vats in these concerns are of most
enormous size. One for holding porter in Meux's brewery is; 65J
feet in diameter, and 25^ feet in altitude, containing 20,000 barrels,
giving a surface of 3,370 square feet, equal to a room of 58J in each
of its lineal dimensions, and competent to accommodate nearly 100
persons at dinner. In 1814, one of the large vats in this establishment
burst, from which the porter rushed with such impetuosity, that the
adjoining streets resembled rivers, and the surrounding houses were
so filled with the liquor that eight persons were drowned amidst the
multitude who were making their escape from its ravages. Domestic
brewing is carried on throughout the country in various degrees of
extension ; the farmers brew for their own use even to half a bushel
of malt. The manner in which this home manufacture is conducted
will be best comprehended by the following detail of the process :
The apparatus generally consists of a rum puncheon cut into two
unequal portions, forming vessels of different capacities ; the smaller
serves as an underback, and the larger for a mash-keive and ferment
ing tun. Two or three tubs, about the size of mashing-tubs, are
employed as coolers or as receivers of the worts from the keive. The
boiler is usually either a large pot or copper cauldron. The keive is
set in a block or stool in such a position that the run from it must fall
into the underback from the spigot, and when a perforated piece of tin or
copper cannot be had to cover the hole through which the worts run,
a bunch of birch-twigs like a besom, is placed over it to prevent the
grain from being carried off with the liquor. During this preparation for
the brewery, the water for washing is kept boiling in the copper from
which it is poured into the keive in sufficient quantity to answer for
the first running. The necessary heat of this water is ascertained by
suffering the steam to subside, so that a person looking into the keive
can see his image reflected from the surface. If mashing is commenced
at a greater heat, experience has shown that it would become thick
like pudding and not run off. When the water in the keive has come
to the temperature just stated, the malt, consisting of about three-
fourths or seven-eighths of the whole quantity, is gently poured in, being
first well bruised between cylinders, the person in attendance taking
care to mix or stir it briskly while throwing it in, so as to prevent it
getting into lumps. Too much caution in this respect cannot be
observed, as much of the extract depends on the proper mixing of the

54<2

grain with the water. When thus mixed the residue of dry malt is
lightly scattered over the top or surface of the keive, and then the
whole is covered with sacks or a lid to preserve the heat, ?ind the
better to saturate the malt. In this state it is allowed to stand for
three hours, at the end of which the spigot is drawn partly out in
order to obtain a portion of the liquor to know if it be sufficiently
fine ; if not, further time is given, and it is successively tried until it
is found to be quite clear, when it is run into the underback. At this
stage, the hops, consisting of about l^lbs. are laid loose either in the
vessel or in a bag, while the water in the meantime is preparing for
a second mash. The heat of this water ought to be of a higher degree
of temperature than that used in the first mashing, the spigot being
secured at the bottom of the keive, the water is admitted when another
mixing takes place. The keive is again covered and allowed to
stand about two hours: during this operation, the produce of the first
brewing is kept boiling in the copper, to which it was immediately
conveyed, along with its proportion of the hops, after the commence
ment of the second mashing. In order to ascertain when the worts
are sufficiently boiled, a small quantity is taken out, and if flakes are
seen to be suddenly precipitated to the bottom, the process is con
sidered completed ; but an error can scarcely take place by its boil
ing too much, for, if not well boiled, the liquor will never appear fine
in the glass. The worts of the second mashing being collected, are
boiled in the same manner, bnt for a shorter time, as there is less glu
tinous matter to separate. After the first worts are boiled, they are
strained through a sieve, &c. When cooled to a blood-heat, a small
quantity is put into the fermenting tun with the addition of some
barm. As soon as fermentation commences, the worts are kept adding
in small quantities, until all is poured into the tun. Care is necessary
to preserve the fermentation in a proper state, for if too cold, it would
cease altogether, and if too hot, the drink would be flat and without
briskness, but if properly managed, it would preserve a fine body and
show a sparkling in the glass : about sixteen hours accomplish all
the purposes of fermentation in the tun, when the barm at the top is
skimmed off and the liquor drawn into a barrel previously well cleansed
and dried. The barrel should be filled to within an inch of the bung
to give room for further working, and it should be filled so close to
the bung-hole, that all impurities should get leave to escape through
it. A small quantity ought to be kept out to fill up the vacancy in
the cask occasioned by the working. When the fermentation has
subsided, the bung should be merely laid on the bung-hole, afterwards
the cask slightly bunged, lest it should burst, and when the fermenta-

543

tion has completely ceased, it is closely bunged and fit for drinking1.
The produce of the second mashing is treated in the same way as the
first, but the drink is considerably inferior ; if a third mashing take
place, some add a couple of pounds of either raw sugar or molasses,
which produce a tolerably good small beer. Allowing a bushel and
a half of malt to cost 9s. 4d. and the hops employed 1*. 6d., the amount
of such brewing would be worth 10s. lOc?., and taking the produce at
10 gallons of strong, and 14 gallons of inferior beer, the average price
for each gallon would only be about b^d. per gallon for a good and
wholesome beverage, and much superior to what is to be had in the
common taverns at 3d. per quart. Another mode of brewing on a
small scale for domestic purposes has been thus described: — A porter
barrel set on end, having the upper head removed, perforated with
gimlet holes, and placed on brackets within about three inches of the
real bottom. Between these two bottoms a cock should be placed to
drain off the liquor. Another barrel will answer the purpose of an
underback to receive the worts as they run off. A tin boiler with a
cock at the bottom, covered inside with a grating to prevent the hops
from running out, will serve the purpose of heating the liquor for the
mash, as well as for boiling the hops. Fifteen gallons of boiling, and
five of cold water, are to be thrown into the mash-tun, to which two
bushels and a half of ground malt are to be added. During these
operations, a person is constantly stirring the malt and water, and
should continue to do so for half an hour. All this time it would be
well to keep the barrel covered with some folds of linen to prevent
the escape of heat. In the course of an hour, the cock may be opened
by degrees, the liquor will then run clearly, and when all has been,
run off, 20 gallons of water almost boiling, is to be poured over the
residuum and allowed to percolate, so as to wash down the worts
remaining. The total amount of worts obtained may be reckoned at
23 gallons. The wort is then to be boiled for about twenty minutes,
with S^lbs. best hops, then drained off, cooled to about blood-heat, or
98° of temperature, when after the infusion of a quart of good yeast,
the fermentation commences, and is encouraged till its completion.
When the fermentation shows a tendency to go down, the liquor is
racked off into a cask closely bunged, and in about a month it is fit
for drinking.

In Staffordshire, Shropshire, and Warwickshire, as well as in the
midland counties, it is a common practice for women to brew, and
many of them follow it as a means of livelihood, going from house to
house, as the wants or the calls of the farmers, or victuallers, require.
This has been the practice for centuries: — hence the term " ale-wives"

544

as recorded in several of the old statutes. Those who are in the
practice of constant brewing, whether for the supply of their own tap
rooms or for those of their neighbours, have commodious apparatus
for the purpose, with a thermometer and other scientific instruments ;
and brewing in England may be said to have arrived at a degree of
perfection unknown in other countries.

The ingredients for making a good strong keeping ale, should be
in the following proportions — 40 bushels of best pale malt to 501bs.
of hops. For the first mash 10 barrels of water at 172° may be let
on, and raked for half an hour, water at 180° may then be poured in,
so as to pass through the malt and to wash away all the worts previ
ously soaked in the mash. These liquors, when boiled down with
the hops, fermented and finished, ought to produce 8 barrels of ale
at lOOlbs. gravity on Dicas's Saccharometer, although what remains
is inferior to what has been previously obtained. The same malt and
hops will, however, serve for making table-beer. AVith this view, a
second mashing may be made with water at the temperature of 185°,
and even a third mashing, at a temperature of 190^, the quantities
being such, that after boiling on the same hops, fermenting, and
finishing, there will be 12 barrels of beer, at 301bs. gravity.

A good description of ale may be procured from 40 bushels
of prime pale malt and 301bs. of good hops. The temperature at
mashing may be as already stated, and it may be calculated to produce
both ale and beer. In this case 12 barrels of ale at 701bs gravity, and
10 barrels of beer at 301bs. will be produced. If the object is merely
to obtain ale at 701bs. of gravity, the quantity produceable will be 14
barrels. If table-beer of a good quality, without any ale is required,
the quantity of materials to produce 30 barrels of finished beer would
be 40 bushels of malt, 251bs. of good hops, as much water as will
produce 35 barrels of hopped wort ; and this will finish about 30
barrels of beer. In calculating the quantity of water necessary to
produce a given quantity of a first mash, it will be of use to know
that an imperial bushel of ground malt absorbs and retains about 6*
imperial gallons of wort.

Burton ale is in high estimation for both strength and quality. It
is made from the palest malt and best hops, having a gravity so high
as from 36 to 401bs. a barrel. If the malt be not very good, only one
mash can be made for this liqour ; but if it be of prime quality, two
mashes may be made, not losing sight of the great specific gravity
which ought to be produced. The heat of the liquor should be 185°
or 190°, adding 5° for the second mashing. If only one brewing is
to be made, the wort may be boiled an hour and a quarter ; if two,

545

the worts should be boiled three quarters of an hour for the first, and
an hour or an hour and a quarter for the second ; keeping constantly
in mind that long boiling is injurious to the colour, a property of no
small recommendation to the value of the ale. The quantity of hops
must be Jibs, to the bushel of malt varied by circumstances, but the
more hops that are used the higher will be the colour of the ale.
During the process of fermentation the heat should be about 75°, and
as the first temperature would therefore be 55 °> at an average the
quantity of yeast, both on account of the circumstances and the great
weight of the wort, should not be less than Jib. to the barrel. The
excellence of Burton ale arises not only from the use of the best malt
and hops, but from the peculiar quality of the water, which is impreg
nated with saline particles from the rocks of gypsum, over which it
flows.

The revenue arising from the breweries of England, as already-
noticed, was of great importance to the state, not only from the duty
imposed on beer, but from that raised on malt, of which such immense
quantities are annually consumed by the brewers. In the year ended
5th January, 1828, the number of bushels of malt charged with duty
was 25,096,337 ; in 1829, there were 30,517.819; and in 1830,
there were 23,428,074.* The duty of 2s. 7d, a bushel on this article
for the three years in question, amounted to £10,209,621. 7s. 6d*
averaging £3,403,207. 2s. 6d. annually. If to this be added the duty
on beer for one year, (taking the average of the same three years)
being £3,087,716. Os» Id., the yearly aggregate of both will be
£6,490,928. 2s. 7d., a prodigious revenue levied on one article of
agricultural luxury*

In England, the malt charged with duty after the abolition of
the beer duty, was, in —

YEARS. BUSHELS. BUSHELS. £.

1831, from barley 32,963,470 bigg 38,630,157 duty 4,257,781

1832, do. 31,669,769 do. 40,492,339 do. 4,090,678

1833, do. 33,789,009 do. 42,735,480 do. 4,364,413

1834, do. 34,449,646 do. 4,449,745

1835, do. 36,078,855 do. 4,660,185

Much has been written against the malt duty, as pressing on thd
agricultural interests of the country, and that a high impost on it may
have this tendency, there is reason to believe, but, that a moderate
duty would prove injurious, is questionable* It is argued that the
present charge on malt is too high, and that a much greater quantity
would be consumed, and the public benefited either directly or indi-

* ParL Paper, No. 183, 21st June, 1830.

2 tf

546

rectly by a reduction. The demand would increase the price of
barley, the malster make greater exertions, more hands would be
employed, and the price of labour advanced in proportion.

It has been calculated that in the 37 years ended in 1828, the
malt tax brought £135,700,000 into the treasury. Before the late
beer duty was repealed, the malt consumed in England and Wales
was ^ by public, and | by private brewers. As a principle main
tained throughout this treatise, that high duties are not only injuri
ous to the interests of the manufacture on which they are imposed,
but also to the revenue, is well exemplified in the case of the duty
under consideration, since it appears that in 1787 the quantity of
malt made was 3,400,000 quarters ; and in 1828 the quantity manu-
actured was 3,100,000, notwithstanding an increase of 6,800,000
in the population during this interval of 40 years.

The regulations under which the present malt duty is levied,
although giving considerable privileges to the malster, are still suffi
ciently vexatious, and often place character and property at the mercy
of designing individuals. A low duty would lessen not only temp
tation to evade the law, but induce the trader to act with fairness
and put him less in the power of persons connected with his con
cerns — the results to the revenue would, it is confidently maintained,
be proportionably advantageous.

By an act passed in the reign of his late Majesty, the duty on
beer and ale was repealed, * under the impression of affording to the
people a cheap, good, and wholesome beverage, and relieving them
from a tax which operated against their industry. Of the policy of
this measure much has been argued by its advocates and opponents ;
some contending that while it aiforded satisfaction and saving to the
consumers, it would increase the use of the beverage, and conse
quently augment the revenue by a greater consumption of malt. On
the other hand, it has been urged that an experiment of this nature
would tend to deteriorate the article by placing its manufacture in
the hands of men, who would take advantage of the public, in the
absence of the regulations under which it was governed, which required
beer to be made from malt and hops alone, by substituting raw grain
in lieu of malt. Both arguments are deserving of serious attention,
but perhaps sufficient data have not yet been obtained since the pass
ing of the late bill to enable a just estimate to be formed of either
its salutary or injurious consequences. The reader may form a judg
ment of this, by a comparison of the quantity of malt charged before
and since- the abolition of the beer duty, as previously given.

* Will. iv. c. 51.

547

To add to the comforts of the poor and working classes of society")
is an object worthy of legislative interposition, but whether permit
ting the unrestrained sale and use of beer and ale will tend to effect
that object without the risk of demoralisation, is a point yet to be
determined by experience. From the parliamentary returns of
1831, it appears that 5379 beer-houses were opened under the new
act in England and Wales, while the number of licensed public-houses
was 45,624. The beer-houses in Wales alone were 1773, equal to
nearly half the number opened in England, being 3606, from which
it is evident that the increase of the establishments for the sale of
beer had multiplied extensively by the removal of the former restric
tions, and consequently affording greater opportunities for drinking
and irregularity. As to the financial consideration of the question
and the benefit which the abolition of the beer duty has conferred
on the public, it might be contended that if the revenue is not
likely to be decreased by the measure, in consequence of the in
creased consumption of malt, where is the substantial advantage
afforded to the public when the burden is removed from one article
and placed on another, which eventually goes by an indirect way
to affect the consumer ? It is well known that a considerable
quantity of grain consumed in the breweries of Great Britain, is
drawn from foreign countries; hence it follows, that an increase
of the consumption of malt is an increase of the demand for foreign,
produce, to the injury of the home agriculture. But admitting
that the grain manufactured is of domestic growth, is not the
abrogation of the duty on beer a kind of bounty for its con
sumption, to the injury of the great bulk of the people ? for, however
favourable the law, as it stands, may appear to be, as regards the
consumers of malt drink, yet any thing that will enhance the price of
agricultural produce must militate against the industry and earnings
of the gross of the population. Besides, it is a melancholy reflection,
that a temptation and a facility to become dissipated should be put
in the way of the public ; nor can it be denied, that the beer bill must
greatly contribute to this evil consequence, however plausible the
reasoning may be in favour of the moderation of the people.

Man is unfortunately too prone to yield to the dictates of appetite
in preference to those of reason ; hence the irregularities of which we
have too often to complain even amongst the wiser and better educated
portions of society. " When a nation," says Playfair, " becomes the f
slave of its revenue, and sacrifices every thing to that object, abuses
that favour revenue are difficult to reform ;" but salutary restrictions
on the use of intoxicating beverages can never, with justice, be com-

548

plained of as an oppresssion, on which account no well-wisher to his
species or his country should be desirous to see an unlimited indul
gence in whatever would tend to encourage vice, or render man either
contemptible or odious.

When the duty on beer existed in Ireland, it was considered as
affecting the comforts of the people, and as a sort of oppression on the
nation, as well as giving encouragement to the consumption of ardent
spirits. With a view of remedying this evil, the duty was repealed
altogether ; but experience has shewn that none of the anticipated
consequences followed, nor was the revenue on malt thereby increased,
as had been expected. Whether the same results may be the con
sequences of the present measure, time alone can determine.

The revenue raised on this article was of the utmost importance in
England, and the regulations under which that revenue was collected,
while they gave protection to the fair trader, served equally to ensure
to the public a genuine article. As matters now stand, nothing but
the competition of trade can protect the public from the avaricious
malpractices of cunning and nefarious manufacturers ; and since we
find that from January 1827, to February 1831, there were in
England and Wales 303 informations, many of them for a second
offence, against persons for adulterations in beer, of which number
only 13 were acquitted ; * what may not be expected when the trade
is without any legal restrictions ?

In Great Britain, the partiality for malt drink has been more exten
sive than in Ireland ; and, therefore, the people would hail any mea
sure as a boon that would permit them a freer enjoyment of long
established practices. In Ireland, a taste for ardent spirits has been
always a national characteristic, but this is more attributable to the
inattention of the legislature than to any peculiarity of the natives
either in taste or constitution. The English have been restricted
almost to aprohibition in the use of every other beverage except that of
beer and ale, but that their taste might not be equally inclined with
that of their Irish brethren to a more potent liquor, is mainly to be
traced to the vigilance of legislative interference, since we find that
the inhabitants of both countries are alike disposed when they have
equal access to the same gratification.

That the duty upon beer affected the industrious part of the com
munity alone, is an idle assumption, for we find that the weight of any
tax generally falls upon the idle consumer, who seldom thinks of
making compound interest on the money he might employ if no such
tax existed ; for if it did not exist, the money would probably be

* Parl. paper, No. 136 ^ 10th Feb. 1831.

549

wasted in the purchase of a more expensive gratification. What possi
ble evil could have existed by the continuance of the beer tax, I
have yet to learn ? Would less beer or ale be consumed, fewer of the
fields be cultivated, or the population of the country be diminished ?
Every person is able to answer these questions ; in short, the aboli
tion of the duty has been more to still the popular clamour, frequently
the result of inconsideration, than from any conviction of its utility
either to the state or to the community. The brewing of beer was
as unrestricted before the repeal of the late laws, as it is at present,
and the only difference it makes as regards the trade, is, that the
visits of the Excise officer are not so obtrusive as formerly on the
deleterious manufacturer, and the terrors of his appearance and his
power to inflict penalties for misdemeanor, no longer haunt the
imagination, nor conjure up fear to the guilty heart. Every person,
before the annulling of the act, had liberty to brew beer and ale,
either for domestic use, or for sale, and those who made it for their
own private purpose, had nothing to do with the officers, or excise
regulations, so that the liberty of the subject is nothing bettered by
the late enactments.

Though beer is chiefly made from barley, yet it has been produced
from other materials than grain. The fold beet, (mangold wurzel)
sometimes called the root of scarcity, on account of its esculent
qualities, has been successfully employed in this way. From this vege
table, ale is made of different strengths and qualities. A good drink
is obtained from ten pounds of the root to a gallon of water ; but
fifteen pounds to the gallon make a better beverage.

The best mangold wurzel ale is procured from a portion of two-
thirds of the root, to one third of malt. The method observed in the
process is to cleanse the roots well, scrape off the rind, slice them, and
boil them down to a pulpy consistence. From this, the liquor is
squeezed out till not a particle remains. This juice is then boiled
with hops in the ratio of six ounces of "the latter to nine gallons of
the former ; yeast is then added in the usual way, and the liquor is
speedily fermented. Mangold wurzel is also used in distillation, and
an act has been passed legalizing its manufacture into spirits ;* the
red species is the most common, but the pale yellow sort is pre
ferred by the distiller and sugar-boiler : though possessing the vinous
principle in a considerable degree, yet it is scarcely half so productive
in that respect as the potato. Mangold Wurzel requires little care
in its cultivation, and from its value to farmers, is daily getting into
estimation ; it grows some times to a great size ; a single root has

* 4 William IV. cap. 74.

550

been known to weigh 321bs., measure 30 inches in circumference,
and, including the top, to be 4 feet in height.

Spruce Seer) which is a common drink in Great Britain and
Ireland, is either white or brown, according as sugar or molasses is
employed in the making. In Norway, Sweden, Denmark,, and
America, where pines abound, this liquor is made from a decoction
of the leaves, rind, and branches ; but with us it is an essence or fluid
extract procured by boiling the shoots, tops, bark, and cones of the
Scotch fir (pinus sylvestris) which are used in the process. A solution
of any of the natural or prepared sweets, with a due proportion of
spruce, makes spruce beer, spruce ale, or even spruce wine.

Molasses is commonly adopted ; sugar is preferable, and honey is
excellent. Various recipes have been given for the manufacture of
this beverage. The following may be taken as a pretty correct
standard : — To 8 gallons of boiling water, tempered by 8 gallons of
cold water, add 161bs. of treacle for brown, or 161bs. of lump sugar
for white spruce, with 6 table-spoons full of essence ; mix them well
together, and ferment them with half-a-pint of barm for two days ;
and then bottle for use. A weak extract of malt makes a good spruce
beer, when well regulated in the process. The virtues of this liquor
are, perhaps, not so well known as they should be; it may therefore be
proper to observe, that all preparations from spruce are warm, stimu
lating, and anti-scorbutic, sweeteners and purifiers of the blood,
cleansers and healers of internal ulcerations, and, like other bitters,
strengthened of the vessels, dissolvents of mucus, and expellants of
calcareous concretions : hence, in long voyages, essence of spruce is
now deemed indispensable. When this article was first used in mak
ing a beverage, is not well known ;* from the mildness of its effects, it
has attracted less of that notice which intoxicating liquors usually
command : while, however, its medicinal qualities are of benefit to man,
it has not by its consequences, depreciated his character, or lowered
him in his moral dignity.

The manufacture of cider in England is of some importance, and
its qualities have been long celebrated. As a summer drink, it is in
great demand, being less subtle and impetuous than wine, possessing
so agreeable an acidity, and so capable of allaying thirst, that it is
accounted superior to some of the ales ; besides, it does not cause
flatulence, and serves as an agreeable, gentle aperient, very salutary
in warm seasons. By distillation it produces a good spirit, but is
seldom converted to that purpose, in consequence of its acidity ren
dering the liquor rather disagreeable ; but this is greatly remedied by

* Vide page 480.

551

rectification. In Normandy, a great deal of cider is distilled, some of
which is sent to tliis country under the name of arrack, or some other
foreign spirit, according to the way it has been flavoured. The inven
tion of this liquor is attributed to the Normans. As however the
term cider was applicable to all kinds of strong liquors except wine,
it is reasonable to think, that its invention was long known to the most
ancient nations, since the apple is spoken of in several parts of holy
writ, and the liquor produced from it is celebrated by the Greek and
Roman writers. Cider is alluded to by Tertullian and St. Augustine,
from which some have supposed that it was of African origin, and
brought from that continent by the Carthaginians into Europe. Its in
troduction into England is thought to have been about the time of the
conquest, though in contradiction to this, it is asserted that apples were
plentiful in Britain centuries before that era ; and Whittaker says the
use of this beverage was introduced by the Romans.* Like many
other inventions, the exact period of its origin cannot be determined
in this, or any other country. No nation has so highly appreciated
the value of cider as the English ; and Phillips has immortalized its
virtues in a classical poem in imitation of Virgil's Georgics, which
Johnson says, " need not shun the presence of the original."

In cider, the aqueous, oily, and vinous principles are so admirably
blended, and the wholeis so imbued with the grateful flavour of the
rind, the aroma of the pulp, and the bitter of the seeds, that, when,
matured by time, the liquor becomes both delicious and wholesome.
The lovers of cider say that those who drink it are more healthy and
strong, and have better complexions than persons addicted to ale or
wine ; and according to Lord Bacon and Dr. Baynard, it promotes
longevity. In the estimation of Sir George Baker, it possesses such
medicinal qualities that drinking it in large quantities has been known
to cure several persons of dropsy.f

In the process of making good cider, the apples should be assorted
according to their kinds, and the degrees of ripeness, and left for
some time in heaps. They should afterwards be bruised in a mill or
trough, and allowed to remain in open vessels a day or two, and then
pressed between hair-cloths, the liquor running into a vat or large
cask, and suffered to stand there until fermented, when it should be
drawn off and placed in other vessels till it becomes fine and clear ;
and lastly, racked off and kept in casks, or bottled for use. A por
tion of brandy, with a little flour of sulphur infused, renders the
liquor purer and less liable to grow hard and sour.

* Hist. Manchester, vol. i. p. 321-2.

t Medical Transactions of the College of Physicians, 1772.

552

Modern cider-makers conceive that while fermentation is going
forward, the introduction of a moderate proportion of sugar would
greatly tend to the improvement of the liquor on the principle that
the French recommend amelioration of their harsher wines by a similar
mixture during fermentation. This, it is thought, while it strengthens
the body of the drink, imparts to it a peculiarly rich quality.

A similar practice is common in Burgundy, and in the process of
making wine it is singular that a preference is given to sugar extracted
from potatoes, not only on account of its cheapness but of its more
readily amalgamating with the fluid than either the sugar of the cane
or of the beet-root. The wines of Burgundy are never brandied,
except those made up for the English market, the sugar supplying
the place of any addition of spirits. Were sugar extracted in large
quantities from potatoes in the cider districts of England, an improve
ment might be made in this drink at a trifling expense.

A very strong liquor may be obtained from cider, by allowing it
to freeze, and then drawing off* that portion of the fluid which remains
unfrozen in consequence of retaining its heat. A most wholesome
liquor called Pomona wine, is prepared, by adding 1 gallon of brandy
to 6 of new cider after being racked oft", which, when eight or twelve
months old, is a good substitute for wine, and preferable to many of
the wines sold by retailers.

Perry, a beverage prepared from pears, in the same manner as cider
from apples, is considered to be, when well made, not inferior to some
wines, and has been often passed for champagne on account of its close
resemblance in taste and sparkling. It is, therefore, frequently used
by retailers in the adulteration of that wine. At the period of fixing
the duty on ale and beer, cider and perry were also subjected to a
taxation of Is. 3d. per barrel ; but the law being now repealed, it
may be sufficient to state, that the revenue on cider and perry was
never considerable ; the last three years before the repeal of the act,
which took place in 1830, the amount of revenue was, in 1828,
£37,380 on 3,161,971 gallons ; in 1829, £25,015 on 2,677,195 gal
lons ; and in 1830, £49,044 on 4,129,453 gallons.

The principal cider and perry districts of England are in Hereford,
Gloucester, Devonr and Worcestershire. The apples that are fa
vourites of the table, are seldom fit for cider-brewing ; those of a
red and yellow colour are most esteemed. The harsher sort of pears
produce the best perry ; the redder and more tawney they are, the
more they are preferred ; and crab-apples mixed with them are said
to improve the quality of the liquor One great advantage attending
the culture of pear-trees is, that they will thrive on land where apple-

553

trees would perish, and that they grow so large that a single tree has
been known to afford from one to four hogsheads of perry. An
extrordinary tree in Herefordshire has more than once produced
fifteen hogsheads in a year. This tree covers nearly half an acre of
land, and like the Banian of the East, its extended branches becoming
heavy, bent their extremities to the ground, took root, and produced
other branches, each forming, as it were, a distinct tree. For further
information respecting the mode of manufacturing those liquors, the
reader is referred to works written expressly on the subject.*

As to wine, it was always held in such high estimation, that the
importations were carried on extensively. In 1272, Edward I.
imposed a duty of two shillings on every tun of wine imported into
England in lieu of the old impost called prisagef — an ancient branch
of the royal prerogative. This tax afterwards obtained the name of
butlerage, because it was paid to the king's butler ; this duty charge
was abolished in 1311. When the first duty was levied on wines, the
importations were principally French and Rhenish ; the Spanish,
Portuguese, and Italian wines being then little known. About the
year 1300, the merchants of Gascony were settled in London in
great numbers; and in 1317 an order was issued, "that merchants
who are not of the freedom of the city are forbidden to retail wines
or other wares within its precincts or suburbs." Home-made wines
were also in repute in those times, since we find that in the reign of
Henry III., a gentleman held his manor of Norfolk on condition of
supplying the king, annually, at his Exchequer, with two vessels termed
mites of wine made of pearmains ; and in the subsequent reign of
Edward I., pearmain cider was also called wine, which, perhaps, might
account for the mention of vineyards in old times in Kent, Sussex, and
other parts of England, to prove the existence as well as the extent
of which has caused much trouble and controversy. If an argument
were wanted to show even the inutility of vineyards in Britain, the
cheapness of foreign wine at the time the vine is said to have been
cultivated in England, is conclusive, since, according to Stowe, in 1342,
the price of Gascon wines in London was only 4d., and that of
Rhenish 6d. per gallon; and in 1389, foreign wine was but 20s. per
tun for the best sort, and 13s. 4d. for the second, making it about

* Knight's Treatise on the Apple and Pear ; Crocker's Tract on the Art of
making and managing Cider; Marshall's Rural Economy of Gloucestershire;
Shannon on Brewing ; also the writings of Nicol, Abercrombie, Neill, Forsythe,
Vancouver, &c.

t Sinclair's Hist. Revenue, p. 40 and 94.

554

three half-pence per dozen, certainly much cheaper than it could
possibly be made in England. At those periods, the English were
much addicted to habits of inebriety and spent a great portion of their
incomes in riotous feasts, where eating and drinking were carried to
excess] without elegance or reputation. According to Holliushed,
the strongest wines were in the greatest request, while claret and
other light wines were scarcely thought of. Giraldus Cam-
brensis describes the tables of the monks as loaded with the
most costly and delicate dainties, as well as an excessive abundance
of different sorts of wines, such as claret, mulberry wine, mead,
and various sorts of strong liquors, so that no room was found
for ale. This writer relates that the monks of St. S within, at
Winchester, fell prostrate before Henry II., and with tears in their
eyes, complained of their bishop having withdrawn three dishes from
the usual supply of their tables. When the monarch found that they
had still ten left, he told them he was himself contented with three,
and that he would curse the bishop, if he did not restrict them to
that number. The laity also indulged in the luxuries of the table.
John of Salisbury says, that they drank wine out of gilded horns,
strewed their houses with flowers, and sung songs when they became
inebriated.

In 1354, there were 1829 tuns of wine imported into England, and
wine was so abundant, that in 1392, when Richard II. after a long
absence, was received in London by the citizens, with great demon
strations of joy, the very conduits in the streets, through which the
cavalcade passed, were allowed to run with every variety of this
beverage.* To this extravagance there are few parallels, except that
of Potemkin, when he gave a magnificent feast to the empress
Catherine, at his palace in the Taurida, when the conservatory fountains
were filled with champagne and claret, and served to the company by
means of silver pumps applied to those reservoirs ; at this time white
wine was sold at 6d. and red at 4d. per gallon.f Chaucer the poet,
in the reign of Edward III., was the first who received a potation of
wine daily from the king's butler, and Richard II., in 1398, granted
him a tun of wine yearly during his life, with a pension of £20, both
of which grants were confirmed by Henry IV. In the reign of this
monarch, among the articles which furnished the breakfast table of
the nobility, were, for a gentleman and his lady in lent, a quart of
beer and a quart of wine ; and a gallon of beer and a quart of wine

* Maitland's London. f Stovre.

555

at their liveries, a kind of repast taken in their bed-rooms immediately
before going to rest. At this time, wine was usually drunk warm
and mixed with spices, but whether to promote health or to gratify
the palate is now unknown. Under Edward VI. wine rated at from
4d. to 15d. a gallon, and it was a singular enactment, that none but
such as could spend 100 marks yearly rent, or was worth 1000 marks,
or the son of a duke, earl, viscount, or baron, could keep any vessel
of Gascony, Guienne, or Rochelle wine for his family's use exceeding
10 gallons, under forfeiture of £10. None could be retailed without
a license, and only two taverns could be kept for retailing, in any
city or town, except in London ; which was permitted to have 40 —
York, 8, &c. &c., and none of these could retail wines " to be spent
or drunk within their respective houses." In the time of Henry VIII.
wine was used at breakfast in common with beer, and we are told
that a quart of each was the usual quantity served to two persons.
At an entertainment given to Queen Elizabeth, at Kenil worth Castle,
by the Earl of Leicester, it is said that an immense quantity of wine
was consumed, besides 365 hogsheads of beer. In her reign the
English were extravagant in the use of wines ; Harrison enumerates
fifty-six sorts of French, and thirty-six of Spanish, Italian, Greek,
and Canary wines, so that 30,000 tuns were annually imported. To
these were added, hippocras, worm-wood wine, stale ale, strong beer,
clarey, or claret, and bracket. The beer of the gentry was commonly
a year or two old, and was denominated March beer, from the month
in which it was brewed. About this time, drinking-glasses were
introduced from Venice, and, from their novelty, were more prized
than silver cups, or those made from horn, however highly orna
mented.

Up to the period of the Revolution, the principal supply was brought
from France, at which time, according to the report of the commis
sioners of trade and plantations, not less than 20,000 tuns were the
imports for one year. The duties on these wines, in 1713, were as
high as £24 per tun. From 1770 to 1782, they were from £60 to £96.
On other wines the duties were upwards of from £30 to £45 per
tun. During the four last years of this period, the average quantity
imported appears to have been 14,094 tuns, while the re-exportation
was 2,006, leaving a balance of 12,000 tuns for the consumption of
the country. The quantity of every description of wine imported
into England for a series of five years from 1823 to 1827, both
inclusive, was 26,539,916 imperial gallons, and the export for the
same period 4,997.410,leaving 2 l,542,506,averaging 6,308,501 gallons
for the annual consumption of a population of 13,894,572.

556

The quantity of wine imported and exported from 1834 and 1835;
with the rate and net revenue thereon is as follows : —

IMPORTED.

EXPORTED.

Rate of
Duty.

NET KI
1834

VENUE.

1834

1835

1834

1835

1835

Cape wine,

484,298

587,748

5,668

3,184

2s.9d.

72,048

71,935

French,

363,376

370,446

128,506

113,236

5s.6d,

71,031

74,080

Portuguese,

4,213,427

4,269,890

296, 53«

475,084

1

Madeira,
Spanish,

372,698
3,446,563

204,825
2,732,028

173,910

688,024

179,735
692,730

C 5s.6d.

1,562,341

1,545,493

Other sorts,

885,754

874,614

346,575

409,612

J

The high price on foreign wine induced many to manufacture an
article from gooseberries, currants, and other fruits, as substitutes ;
but it is to be presumed that the reduction of the duties by a recent
act,* will have the effect of rendering it unnecessary to have recourse
to the home produce to the same extent as formerly.

The fruit from which the home-wines are chiefly made, is the
gooseberry, currants, raspberry, strawberry, cherry, plum, &c. In
former times, wines were made from mulberries, blackberries, quinces,
peaches, apricots, and even from the sap of the birch, beech, sycamore,
and some other trees. Of all the domestic wines, the gooseberry
and currant are the most common, owing to the abundance of those
fruits ; the gooseberry has a fine body and pleasing acidity ; the
currant a rich aroma, and mellow softness. The manufacture of these
wines, if it may be so called, is too familiar to require description or
specific directions. The following method, however, of making
superior currant wine, as recommended in a French publication, may
not be unacceptable : —

For currant wine — Eight pounds of honey are to be dissolved in
15 gallons of boiling water, to which, when clarified, must be added
the juice of 81bs. of red or white currants. The whole is then
fermented for 24 hours, and for every two gallons of water, must be
added two pounds of sugar. This preparation is afterwards clarified
with the whites of eggs and cream of tartar.

For gooseberry wine — The fruit should be gathered when dry and
about half ripe, and then pounded in a mortar. The juice, when
properly strained through a canvas bag, is mixed with sugar, in the
proportion of 31bs. to every 2 gallons of juice. It is then left in a
quiet state for 15 days, at the expiration of which it is carefully poured
off, and left to ferment for three months, when the quantity is under
15 gallons, and for five months when double that quantity. It is then
bottled and soon fit for drinking.f

1 and 2 Will. IV. c. 30.

f Bibli. Physico. Econom,

557

Some make a very excellent description of wine from a mixture of
gooseberries and currants, the gooseberries being most predominant.

The mixture is bruised and fermented in the usual way ; but this,
as well as every other description of home-wine, is much improved
both in flavour and body by the addition of a due proportion of pure
spirits ; — indeed without this ingredient, all domestic wines are prone
to run into the acetous fermentation.

Plums make a very fine sort of wine, and with a mixture of other
fruit and ingredients, produce the best substitute for port that has yet
been invented. Sloes are said to be superior to plums for wine-
making, and like them afford an excellent tart in confectionary.
From effler-berries is easily manufactured a pleasing sort of wine,
which, when warmed, is much esteemed, and forms a comfortable and
grateful beverage to the English farmer when he returns from the
toils of the day. From the red-berries of the mountain-ash or service
tree (pyrus aucuparia,) an agreeable wine is made, from which has
been distilled a good species of brandy.

Birch wine is still made in some parts of England ; at Overton
Hall it is manufactured in the following manner, differing little from
the process already described, as practised in Norway : in March, the
trunks of the trees are bored to the depth of an inch and a half nearly,
and about three-quarters of an inch in diameter, at the distance of a
foot from the ground. Directly below the orifice, a metal tube is
fixed into the bark through which the juice flows into a receiver
placed underneath. When the weather is warm, the water thickens
and closes the perforation, so that in a few days there is no exudation;
but if the weather be cold or windy, there will be a constant discharge
for a month. Some trees will produce 24 gallons in a day ; others
but a trifling quantity. This birch liquid brings 6d. a gallon, when,
sold for the purpose of making a light or small wine. If not imme
diately disposed of after being taken from the tree, it will not keep
sweet more than a day ; it is heated nearly to boiling in order to pre
serve it, and then left to cool.

When a sufficient quantity is then collected, to every gallon of
juice, 21bs. of sugar and ^lb. of raisins are added. This mixture is
boiled for an hour, skimmed, and left to cool to such a temperature,
that when yeast is added, fermentation commences. In this state it
is left to work for ninety-six hours, after which it is casked, when
51bs. of raisins and loz. of isinglass are added for every 20 gallons.
The bungs are left open, and in less than a month it is cleansed of the
feculence, the casks are then closed up for about three months, and in
a few weeks, after bottling the liquor, it is fit for use, but like most
other wines it improves greatly with age.

558

From many of our vegetables, good wines may be obtained. The
parsnip in particular, yields an excellent description, and is said to
approach nearest other imitations. The making of it is not expensive,
and it only requires age to render it a wholesome and valuable
beverage.

From potatoes which have undergone, if it may be so termed, a
species of malting by exposure to frost, wine of a tolerable quality
has been obtained. The frosted potatoes are bruised and put into a
press : for every bushel of these, 10 gallons of boiled water is pre
pared. Into this water are put Jib. of hops and Jib. of white ginger,
which after having been again boiled for thirty minutes, is poured on the
mashed potatoes in a vessel adapted to the purpose. Here it is suffered to
remain three days, when barm is added, and after the fermentation
has subsided, the liquor is carefully drawn off into casks, when Jib.
of common sugar is again put to every gallon of the contents. In this
state it is kept for three or four months, before it is considered fit for
drinking.

From these home-made wines, brandies of a nice flavour and qua
lity have been distilled, some of them superior to the common brandies
of France, and to which none of the English compounds bear any
comparison. From turnips, it is said, the London imitators of foreign
wines make an article which passes with the public as genuine.

In the shops is frequently sold a home-made wine under the name
of port, which is manufactured from raisins with a mixture of sugar
colouring, aud flavouring ingredients so well managed, that good
judges are sometimes deceived : red and white wines are thus made
at the option of the manufacturer. In a similar way, have imitations
of wine been made from sugar, honey, molasses, &c. &c. ; all of these
have been classed by the revenue under the denomination of sweets.

Imitations of almost every description of foreign wine have been
attempted, and with such success as to frequently meet with a ready
sale ; but as all imitations fall short of the original, and as it is not
within the range of this treatise to give instructions for the manufac
ture of mock articles, the reader is referred for further information to
Dr. Shannon's elaborate Treatise on Brewing. It has been asserted,
and with justice, that great deception has been practised in the wine
trade by the venders of wine in general, and if we believe Dr. Clarke,
a great portion of the champagne used in this country is made from
green gooseberries and sugar, being an imitation of the common
champagne of France, which is made with green grapes and sugar.
The home-made wines, or sweets, have been subject to an excise
duty, which for the year 1833. amounted to £2,763 7*. on 10,534

559

gallons ; and for 1834, to £2,866 9s. on 114,658 gallons : this duty,
however, has been abolished.

The duties and drawbacks on all descriptions of foreign wines rate
as follows — Cape wines are chargeable with 2s. 9d. a gallon on impor
tation, and in exportation a drawback is allowed to the same amount.
On every other description of wines a duty of 5s. 6d. must be paid
on importation, and a like sum is given as a drawback on exportation.
This equalization of the duties on wines, while it has simplified their
collection, has added much to the encouragement of their consumption,
and must eventually tend to the increase of the revenue, besides leav
ing this valuable luxury more easily attainable. It is an extraordinary
fact, that the names given to wine in every country bear a strong
resemblance to each other, as if Providence had intended it as the
general exhilarating beverage of mankind ; all seem to be derived from
the original Hebrew word T", from the verb ine to press, according
to Parkhurst, or the Chaldaic iaino, which is in Greek oivo ?, Latin vinum ;
Spanish and Italian, vino ; French, vin ; Celtic or Welsh, gwin ;
Cimbric, uin ; Gothic, wein ; old German, uuin ; Danish, vien ; Dutch,
wiin ; Irish, Jion ; and in English, wine.

With respect to distillation, the spirit of inquiry which had influ
enced all Europe in the vain search after the philosopher's stone, was
in England productive of some good effects, as the discoveries of
Friar Bacon, who lived in the thirteenth century, fully prove. He
it was who laid the foundation of chemical science in these countries,
but with all his knowledge, he was himself a believer in a universal
elixir, and proposed it to Pope Clement X. as a matter worthy of his
highest consideration. The Pontiff thought otherwise, and for this
and his other discoveries, he was supposed to have some dealings with
the devil ; on which account he was excommunicated, and as a further
punishment, subjected to ten years' imprisonment — so much for the
superstition of the times. Bacon was deeply conversant in the Gre
cian and Arabian learning, and being familiar with many Oriental and
other languages, he made himself acquainted with the writings of
the most eminent alchymists and philosophers, from whose discoveries
he was enabled to make still farther advances in chemical analysis.
He is said to have known the nature of phosphorus, the composition
and power of gunpowder, and his elixir vita must have been the
result of experiments in distillation. To this profound philosopher,
as well as to the efforts of Albertus Magnus, Arnoldus de Villa Nova,
Raymond Lully, and others, we are indebted for an early and prac
tical knowledge of the chemical labours of the Arabians, whose inde
fatigable researches first laid open to European investigation the

560

sources from which aqua vitce, or the great elixir of life, might be
drawn. But that the Arabians were not the inventors of distillation,
I have endeavoured to show, in other parts of this treatise, from prin
ciples based on the progress of civilisation, the introduction of luxury,
and the general history of mankind. In England, for a long period,
the manufacture of aqua vita was slow, and like the progress of the
alembic in other parts of the world, was sold in the shops of the apo
thecaries as a medicine. We find from a catalogue of the mercantile
productions of every state in Europe, appended to a poem by Haluyt,
entitled " The Progress of English Policy," that in 1430 the Genoese
traders brought into this country, rack or arrack, shewing that they
were in the habit of making it and dealing in it, like any other article
of traffic or commercial speculation.

France, for a series of years, was the great still-house of Europe,
as her wines afforded a constant supply for the distillation of brandy ;
but as the knowledge of agriculture advanced, and grain became
plentiful, the demand for that spirit diminished, and the home manu
facture at length attained to such importance, that it was taxed with
a duty of two-pence per gallon in the reign of Charles the Second.
At first it was thought expedient to lay the duty on spirits of the
first extraction, or, as they were termed, low wines, and the earliest
returns of the English distillery on record are made up in that way.

The produce of all the stills in England in 1694, amounted to
1,885,752 gallons of low* wines, or 754,300 gallons of spirits, and in
1743 it had increased to 12,498,800 gallons of low-wines, or
4,999,520 gallons of spirits. The duties, in 1751, were raised to
four-pence on the gallon of loiv^wines, and to one shilling on the
gallon of spirits. The manufacture decreased in consequence, and
the produce was only 11,200,000 gallons of low wines in that year.
The duties were also raised in 1760, and then amounted to 9d» on
the gallon of low wines, and to 2s. 3d. on the gallon of spirits, equal to
36TVd. on the gallon of pot-ale, or wash. These high and increasing
duties tended to decrease the operation of the stills ; for we find that
in 1783, the whole amount of spirits charged with duty in England,
was only 1,364,801 gallons. In 1785, the contents of the stills which
were worked from the raw material, amounted to 223,877 gallons,
exclusive of those of the rectifiers, amounting to 159,852 gallons. The
revenue then arising from the gross distilleries was £324,895. 9s. Id.
In 1802, it was estimated at £500,000 and on the 5th January, 1812,
it amounted to £o05,015.

The following exhibits the quantity of spirits charged with duty in
England, with the amount thereof, for five succeeding years :—

561

YEARS. GALLONS. £. g. <J

1831, 7,434.047 2,787,767 1*26

1832, 7,259,287 2,722,232 12 6

1833, . 7,717,303 2,893,988 126

1834, 7,644,301 2,866,612 17 6

1835, 7,315,053 2,743,144 17 6

The imports of foreign spirits from an early period were very
considerable ; and in the time of Elizabeth they were of such impor
tance, that they ranked among the commodities bestowed by the
crown on individuals who had distinguished themselves either in civil
or military employments. In the subsequent reigns, till the time of
Charles the Second, they were subjected to various changes and
regulations, a detail of which could afford but little interest to the
general reader. It is enough to show that the imports of colonial and
foreign spirits, on which consumption duties were paid, amounted to
in

YEARS. IMP. PHOOP GAL. TEARS. IMP. PROOF GAL-

1820, 7,526,696

1821 7,261,531

1822, 7,849,520

1823 7,157,334

1824, 8,068,427

1825, 7,013,338

1826, 12,887,487

1827, 11,072,935

1828, 12,172,768

1829, 12,217,276

1830, 12,509,502

1834, 12,152,052

1832, J2,224,116

1833, 12,403,165

Of foreign and colonial spirits were imported and exported in

IMPORTED. EXPORTED. YEAR. IMPORTED. EXPORTED.

1834, Rum .... 5,158,489 . . 1,642,282

Brandy. . . 3,170,297 . . 912,335

. Geneva, . . 347,597 . . 261,571

Other sorts. 46,432 . . 43,160

1835 . . 5,540,170 . . 1,678,374

2,105,755 . . 1,117,253

< . 277,141 . . 280,768

. . 57,651 . . 25,779

In these years the duty on rum was 9s. per gallon, and on the other
liquors £l.2s. 6d. In 1834, the quantity retained for home consump
tion was 3,345,177 gallons of rum, and 1,420, 172 gallons of the other
sorts producing a net revenue of £3,100,669 ; and 1835, the gallons
of rum for home consumption were 3,416,966, of other sorts 1,348,740
yielding a revenue of £3,047,359.

It may be seen that, notwithstanding the high duties on all foreign
spirits,large importations of them have been made into England, which
when added to the home-made spirits, show that the people, although
attached to porter, beer, and ale, consume no small portion of ardent
liquors. Were it not at variance with the domestic arrangements
and policy of the kingdom, the use of rum should be more encouraged,
being an article preferable to any imitations, how well-soever manu
factured.

2 o

562

It has therefore been contended, that to lower the duty so as to
allow rum to compete with the home manufacture, would be for the
advantage of the public, as a great deal of the spirits distilled in
England is made from foreign grain ; such a regulation would tend
to the encouragement of colonial produce, and assist the home agri
culturist by preventing an influx of corn from other countries. Sugar
has become an indispensable article of life, is reared at great expense
and trouble, and the planter has materials left which can only be
turned to account by distillation. To encourage the consumption of
rum, therefore, is the interest of the government, not only as regards
our colonies abroad, but as it would exclude the introduction of
foreign gin and brandy, as well as the grain from which many of our
compounds are manufactured. Whether it might be a wise specula
tion to admit the free use of molasses in our distilleries, as has been
suggested, is a point that involves a variety of considerations ; but, on
the whole, it may be observed, that rum can only be manufactured to
perfection in the plantations where the materials from which it is
made, are produced : and here it may be asked, what spirit can be
considered superior to pure old genuine West India rum ? The fur
ther circulation of this spirit, by an equitable duty, could scarcely fail
of checking the baneful practice of smuggling — a practice carried on
to an extent equally injurious to the revenue and. public morals. The
enormous expense attending the support of an establishment for the
suppression of this evil, perhaps, more than counterbalances the good
resulting from it : the dangers consequent on the execution of this
duty, and the rencounters between the smugglers and the protecting
officers, afford numerous anecdotes characteristic of the ingenuity and
ability of the parties employed. I recollect an incident related of an officer
engaged in this service, which shows what a brave and determined
man can accomplish on a trying occasion. While a party of smugglers
were regaling themselves in a tavern on the eastern coast of England,
and recounting their several exploits and contrivance in defeating the
revenue officers, one of them boasted that he had never met a person
able to take from him a single tub of gin, rum, or brandy. What,
said one of the company, have you never met with Mr. Bateman ?
If you had, you would find that the very devil himself could not
escape him." " I wish," said the other, " I had a trial of his skill, I
should teach him to be cautious in attempting to put a hand on my
property." At this juncture, Mr. Bateman entered the tavern, when
the other exclaimed—" there he is," and calling him by his name,
repeated what had just passed. " Well," said the excise-man, " I
am not anxious to pick a quarrel with any body, but if any occur-

563

rence should bring your friend and'me to issue in future, I would only
ask for fair-play." It was jocularly agreed that if such an incident
should ever happen that the parties would recollect what had taken
place. Some time after, this officer met the vauntcr carrying a tub
of smuggled geneva, and recognising him, instantly exclaimed, " what,
my friend, have we at length met ? I must see what it is you are now
carrying." " No," answered the other roughly, not recollecting the
person by whom he was accosted, " no man shall examine what I
carry." " Well then," rejoined the officer, " let the better man have
it ; and, as once agreed, all I ask is fair play." The cask was laid
down, and to it they went, both having excellent cudgels. The fight
was for a long time well contested ; but the officer at length proved
the better man, and suffered the smuggler to escape only with his life,
on the condition of carrying the tub of geneva to the very tavern,
where he had boasted so much of his prowess.

Another anecdote is told of this person, that, on one occasion,
assisted by a brother officer, he succeeded to seize on the coast of
Kent, 300 tubs of geneva, and to make prisoners of 17 men — a matter
so extraordinary, that he was suspected of being in collusion with the
smugglers. On this supposition, he was brought before the com
missioners for examination, but he proved that he had acted as became
a man of spirit, honour, and integrity.

Having given a brief view of the nature and extent of the spirit,
wine, and beer trade in England, it only remains to make a few
remarks on the present mode of distillation in that part of the empire.

By the enactment of 1825,* no person can obtain a license for con
ducting a distillery, unless he occupies a tenement of the value of
£20 a-year, pays parish rates, and resides within a quarter of a mile
of a market town containing 500 inhabited houses. Before obtain
ing a license, the amount of which is £10, he must lodge \vith the col
lector, or other officer of excise, an entry or registry of his premises,
the several apartments and utensils, specifying the contents of the
vessels and the purposes for which they are intended ; and every
such roiom and utensil must be properly labelled with its appropriate
name and object. With the registry must be delivered a drawing,
or description of the construction, use, and course of every fixed
pipe in the distillery, as well as of all casks and communications,
therewith connected. Pipes for the conveyance of worts or wash
must be painted red, those for low wines or feints, blue ; those for
spirits, white ; for water, black. No still can be licensed of a less

* 6 Geo. iv. cap. 80. Part of this act, as far as regards rectifiers, dealers, and
retailers of spirits, is extended to Ireland by 9 Geo. IV. cap. 45.

564

content than 400 gallons ; nor can the distiller make spirits, at the
same time, from different materials, such as grain, sugar, and potatoes,
nor he cannot cease distilling from one material and commence with
another, until he shall have completed a month's work of the one
article and have given six days' notice before commencing a change ;
nor can any distiller brew or make worts, or wash, during the dis
tilling period, so that both operations cannot be carried on at the
same time. Besides, the produce of each day's brewing must be
separate, and the officer must be served with a notice in writing for
every such brewing. The distiller is obliged to give notice, six days
previous to the commencement of his work, of the gravity at which
he intends to make his worts or wash, which cannot be less than 50,
nor more than 90 degrees ; and a like notice, if he wishes to make
any alteration. The worts of every day's brewing must be collected
in a fermenting back within the space of 8 hours after the running
commences from the coolers, and then a notice must be immediately
served on the officer specifying the back with the gravity and quan
tity of the worts collected ; no yeast nor barm can be added until after
the officer shall have taken an account of the gravity and quantity of
wort in such back, which must be within two hours from the delivery
of the notice to the officer. Should the gravity, or quantity, after such
account has been taken, exceed that previously ascertained by 5
per cent, the distiller is subject to £200 penalty, and the whole to be
charged as a new back or brewing ; nor can distillation begin until a de
claration has been made, that all worts or wash in the distillery is collect
ed into the fermentingbacks,and eight hours' notice must be given before
the contents of any back are removed to the charger or vessel from
which the still is supplied. Until one back is completely distilled into
low-wines, another cannot be removed, and a notice must be given, in
order that the strength of the low-wines may be ascertained before
they can be removed from the receiver to the charger, while the
low-wines, spirits, and feints, produced from each back, must be kept
separate until an account is taken of their strength and quantity by
the officer. In a distillery, there are three modes of charging the
duty either on the wash, low-wines, or spirits, whichever is the
highest ; and the manner of doing it is as follows : — On worts or
wash, the strength is made out at one gallon of proof spirits, for every
five degrees of gravity attenuated in every five gallons of wash. The
low-wines are estimated according to the strength brought to proof
making an allowance of 2 per cent, in favour of the distiller ; and the
spirits which are produced from the low-wines of each back, are
calculated at proof, the feints remaining, being deducted. If any

565

spirits should be found beyond the proportions just stated from
any given quantity of wash, it is called an " undue excess" and charged
with duty accordingly. These charges of duty are made out at the
end of each period ; besides which, there is an annual charge or compare
made of the quantity of spirits that ought to have been produced,
with the actual quantity charged ; and should a deficiency appear,
the trader is subject to pay the duty on the difference. This com
pare must be returned by the officer within one month after the
expiration of the year's license, and the trader is obliged to pay the
amount within ten days after.

In the process of the work, the charges are made from the highest
guage without any allowance for waste or dregs in the worts ; and
the distiller is required, at the end of every distilling period, to make
a return of the quantity of wash distilled, and the spirits produced,
and no spirits can be removed from any distillery in a less quantity
than 80 gallons, at a strength of 25 or 11 per cent, above, or 10
below hydrometer proof.

Distillers in England can warehouse their spirits for exportation
only, or for removal to Scotlandjor Ireland, without payment of ex
cise duty, at a strength of either 25 or 11 per cent, over hydrometer
proof. All spirits manufactured in the United Kingdom by simple
distillation are, by the Act, denominated ip\&\i\ British spirits ; but all
spirits produced by rectification, and having any flavour communi
cated thereto, and all liquor which shall be mingled or mixed with
any such spirits, is deemed a compound called British brandy; and
all other spirits re-distilled or mixed with juniper-berries, caraway-
seed, anise-seed, or any other seeds used in the compounding of
spirits, shall be deemed and called British compounds : lastly, all
spirits of the strength of 43 per cent, and upwards over proof by
Sikes' hydrometer, are called spirits of wine, or alcohol.

The mere working of the still in England is a simple mechanical
process, to perform which, the distiller is not restricted to time. The
concerns are in general so large that the stills are in proportion ; some
of them containing from 10 to 20,000 gallons and upwards ; hence
an entire back is conveyed at once into one of these stills, and the
charge of the low-wines' still is the produce of the wash from the
wash-still. At the period when the fermentation has ceased in the
fermenting back, and the wash becomes fine and of a vinous flavour,
it is conveyed into the wash-still and made into the low wines. These
are afterwards put into the low-wine still and made into spirits
and feints.

The particular skill requisite in conducting a distillery to ad van-

56G

tage relates to the brewing and fermentingv in order to obtain the
entire saccharine matter of the grain, or rather the material from
which the spirit is to be extracted, — a sort of knowledge which has
absolutely become a science in the hands of those who possess it.
As all the apparatus connected with a distillery are kept under lock
and key, the moment a distiller is about to commence the operations
of making spirits, the Officer of Excise attends with a bunch of
keys to open the following locks : viz., the lock on the cock in the
back, then that leading into the charger, and as soon as it is full, the
cock between it and the back, is again secured, when a guag^ of the
wash is taken ; after which the discharging-pipe is unlocked to permit
the run into the still. After this, the furnace door and discharge-pipes
of the still are unlocked, and the distiller is permitted to proceed with
his work until the distillation is completed. When the wash-still
is charged, which is generally with something less than three-fourths
of its contents, the locks are again replaced and sealed up, and the
officer takes stock the second time to ascertain the decrease of wash
and the state of the other locks, which are commonly found to
correspond : the decrease or quantity stands as a charge against the
distiller.

During the working of the still, one or two officers visit the con
cern, and inspect the process ; and when the still is completely off,
they either re-charge under a previous notice, as before stated, or if
no such notice is served, they lock up the furnace door. The same
locking and unlocking take place in the case of the low wines' still.
The produce of this still, known by the name of spirits and feints,
run into separate vessels properly secured, and when the distillation
of the low-wines' still is completed, the officer takes an account of
the quantity and strength of the spirits and feints in the same way
as with the low-wines, reducing them by calculation into proof spirits ;
after which the liquor is added to the stock of the house, and the feints
left to be re-distilled with the residue of the succeeding back. At
the conclusion of each distilling period, the officer makes a return to
the collector of the quantity so distilled, the duty on which must be
paid unless the spirits be warehoused.

Previous to the enactment, of which an epitome has just been given,
distillation was confined to a few capitalists ; but, with a view of en
couraging a fair competition in the trade, and inducing the people to
take the spirits directly from the distillers, the act was passed which is
now in operation. Formerly, English spirits, although they were
made from the finest materials, could not, from the grossness and
rkhness of the wash, be rendered palatable or saleable without under-

567

going- rectification to remove their coarseness and harshness. Accord
ingly, a number of the traders, denominated rectifiers, were called
into action between the distillers and consumers. These rectifiers
re-distilled the spirits with the addition of certain drugs and flavour
ing materials, such as juniper-berries, spirits of turpentine, &c., by
which they made a'sprt of compound called British gin ; or else with
spirits of nitre, prunes, &c>, manufactured an imitation of brandy and
other foreign liquors.

All spirits, whether made in England, Scotland, or Ireland, were
obliged to pass through the medium of these traders, who were, by
a mistaken enactment, made the arbiters of public taste. To the
liberal views of the Earl of Ripon, while Chancellor of the Exche
quer, must be attributed the correction of the abuse and the destruction,
of the monopoly. He saw that were the distiller enabled to make a
good, pure spirit, not only would there be a direct supply to the
consumer, but the liquor would be unquestionably more palatable and
wholesome in its natural state, than when compounded and impreg
nated with such materials as have been described. The only apparent
defect in this law is the duty not having been sufficiently lowered to
enable the distiller to give the people spirits, on such terms as would
allow them to drink punch like the Scotch and Irish. From this the
most beneficial effects would ensue, the trade would become prospe
rous, and an augmented consumption increase the revenue ; geneva
and brandy would decrease in proportion- — smuggling be checked —
foreigners no longer enrich themselves at our expense — and an impe
tus be given to our agriculture. For the four years ended January,
1825, when the duty was 1-1*. &%d. per gallon, the annual average
consumption in England was 4,143,606 imperial proof gallons, and
for the four years ended January, 1830, the duty then being but 7s.
the consumption was 7,384,804 gallons, showing a vast increase in
consequence of the favourable changes in the law and the lowering of,
the duty.*

Owing to the alterations which this law made in the spirit trade,
it was amongst other things enacted, that no person could carry on
the business of a rectifier, or compounder of spirits, with a still less
than 120 gallons content. A house employed for this purpose cannot
be within a quarter of a mile of a distillery ; nor can any distiller nor
rectifier carry on the business of a brewer, maker of sweets, vinegar,
cider, or perry, or be a refiner of sugar on the same premises ; while
over the gate or entrance of every such establishment, the name of

* Purl. Papers, No. 469, 27th May, 1830.

568

the proprietor with the words, " Rectifier or Compounder," must be
painted in large characters. Rectifiers and compounders are obliged
to charge the still with a quantity of liquor in the proportion of not
less than seven parts in ten of the whole quantity the still is capable
of holding, the head included ; and every such still must remain so
charged until the rectifier or compounder shall draw off the spirits :
the whole quantity is to be worked off within sixteen hours from the
time of the officers taking the account of it. As soon as the work has
ceased, the head, if not permanently soldered to the body, must be
taken off and secured until the work recommences under the super
intendence of the officer. All spirits received into the stock of a
rectifier or compounder, must remain in bulk until an account of the
strength and quantity be taken by the officer and calculated in proof
gallons. Rectifiers may send out compounded spirits at any strength
not exceeding 17 per cent, under proof, and in any quantity not less
than two gallons. Any private person having more than eighty gal
lons is accounted a dealer, and subject to all the pains and penalties of
an unlicensed trader.

While treating of the beverages of England, those of Jersey,
Guernsey, Alderney, and Sark, should not be overlooked, though not
celebrated for any peculiar species of liquor, if we except the great
quantities and excellent qualities of the Jersey cider. Orchards are
attached to almost every farm in the island, which are very produc
tive and well-cultivated* Cider is a principal article of export, and
so extensive, that the doors of the farm-houses are generally made
very wide, and are arched over for the facility of moving the cider-
casks. Parsnips are a cheap article of agriculture ; they form the
principal portion of the food of both man and beast, and are much
used in fattening geese, hogs, and horned cattle. Distillation in those
islands is sometimes carried on to such extent as to afford a consider
able quantity for exportation. In 1829, there were sent into Eng
land 29,503, and in 1830, 31,774 proof gallons of spirits, the joint
produce of Guernsey and Jersey.* From the former, in 1833, there
were exported 116,832 gallons of cider, and 19,568 gallons of potato
spirits ; of both of which there is a very considerable consumption on
the island. The latter island is so productive of cider, that in 1831,
there were exported to England 50,000 hogsheads; and it is thought
the home consumption, with what was sent to Newfoundland and
other foreign parts, amounted to as much. When the extent of this
island, which is but twelve miles in length and six in breadth, is con-

* Parl. Paper, No. 531, lOtb June, 1830.

569

sidered and the wonderful quantity of this liquor which it affords, it
is not surprising that it has been denominated a sea of cider.

The Aborigines of Scotland, having been principally shepherds
ignorant of the arts, their drink must have been as simple as their
labours, and as limited as their knowledge ; but as luxury increased,
and the toils of agriculture became irksome, it is natural to conclude
that their inventions in fermented liquors would proportioriably
advance, and that they would seek to dissipate their care and elevate
their spirits by some sort of beverage. This solace they are said to
have found in an intoxicating drink, called by their poets, " the joy of
the shell."*

Thus Ossian — " Now on the side of Morna, the heroes gathered to
the feast. A thousand aged oaks are turning to the wind, and the
souls of the warriors brighten with joy."

In the Western Islands, many of the customs of the ancient Caledo
nians and Britons are still preserved, and, amongst others, the old manner
of drinking. In former times, large companies assembled, composed
principally of the chief respectable men of the islands. This assemblage
was called a sheate, streak, or round, from the company always sitting in a
circle. The cup-bearer handed about the liquor in full goblets or shells,
which the guests continued to drink until not a drop remained. This
lasted for a day at least, and sometimes for two days, and in this
practice our round of glasses is supposed to have originated. During
the revel, two men stood at the banquetting door with a barrow, and
when any one became incapable, he was carried to his bed, and they
returned to dispose of the others in the same way. Sir Walter Scott,
in a note to " The Lord of the Isles," states, that this custom was still
in existence, and relates an anecdote of a gentleman of temperate
habits, who, forming one of a company of this description, although
permitted to remain neutral, was obliged to submit to the ceremony.
Martin, in his History of the Western Isles, says it was deemed a
breach of hospitality among persons of distinction to broach a cask of
aqua vitce, and not see it finished at the time. If any of the party
retired for a few minutes, he was obliged, on his return, before he sat
down, to make an apology in rhyme for his absence, which if unable
to perform he was compelled to discharge such a share of the reckon
ing as the company thought proper to impose. This custom, which
is yet prevalent, is termed Beanchiy JBard, signifying the Poet's con
gratulation.

The ancient inhabitants made a liquor by bleeding the birch trees,

* Ossian, vol. ii. p. 9, and Transactions of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.

570

which were common in the country. They also fermented a beverage
with honey, bees being very plentiful in the woods, and mead, a drink
of the same description, is still used in the western parts of the king
dom. In process of time, when grain became abundant, they brewed
an ale which was called loin, a word signifying provisions ; this is
probably the malt drink which Buchanan calls vinum ex frugibus
corruptis. Some say they made a drink from the juniper, and others
that they made one from heath. But at this remote period, it would
be both idle and unprofitable to endeavour to determine a matter so
unimportant, and concerning which, there are, I believe, no records.
Yet, it is reasonable to presume, that the Scotch were not less expert
than their neighbours in the preparation of all those liquors, that were
common to other nations in the same circumstances. I shall not
attempt to trace the progress of their inventions in this respect, but
descend to modern times, in which we have certain data and unques
tionable information^

In 1272, a duty by gauge was placed upon wine ; but it was not
until 1482, that we find the manufacture of beer or ale in Scotland
noticed by the government, although it abounded in that country long
before.* At the union, a duty was introduced similar in point of
regulation to that imposed in England, on two-penny ale, which was
the principal malt drink in use at the time ; it was rated at 2*. l^d.
per barrel. Several alterations followed, but in proportion to the,
advance of the duty, the work of the brewery decreased.

In 1760, the excise stood at 3s. 4^d. per barrel.

The state of the beer trade in Scotland will appear from the sub
joined number of barrels brewed in four successive years, viz : —

STRONG. SMALI>.

!827 ............ 122,158 ......... 271,335

1830 ............ 111,071 ......... 229,384

From this it is evident, that the beer trade in Scotland for these
periods was rather on the decline, a proof that when the tax on any
article is too high, the people will be disposed to seek some other
substitute. The late abolition of the duties may have some effect in
restoring this trade, but it is difficult to bring back the taste of a
nation when once diverted from any peculiar habit of indulgence.

The gross amount of the revenue raised on beer in Scotland in
1821, came to £84,847. 6s. lO^d. and the net sum to £71,324. Os. 2Jd.|
In 1827, the amount of duty was £74,015 6s. Od., and in 1828, it
* Acts. Jac. 3. c. 89. f Finance Account, 1822, p. 41.

571

came to £76,385. Is. Ojd.* The quantity of malt made in 1821
amounted to 1,299,497 bushels, and in 1822 to 1,347,431 bushels.f
The gross amount of revenue in 1821, came to £231,605, 9s. 3d. ;
net £231,480. 10s. 10d.; and in 1822, to £183,071. 6s. 7d., net
£157,258. 19s. Id, The quantity of malt used in the breweries for
1827 was 77,873 quarters, and for 1828 was 83,080 quarters. The
total revenue derived from malt in 1827 was £340,077. 14s. 3d., net
£124,864 2s. Id., with a drawback of £214,876 12s. lOd. ; and in
1828, the gross amount £484,193 14s. Od., net £185,856. 17s. 10d.,
with a drawback of £298,224. 12s. 2d., these drawbacks were on
account of malt used in distillation.

In 1830, the gross revenue on malt was £514,392 12s, Sd., the
net £179,153. 6s, Od., leaving a drawback on the gross quantity of
£334,438. 17s. Od.{ The following is the quantity of malt made in
Scotland, and the amount of duty for the years specified : —

YEARS. BUSHELS. AMOUNT OF DUTY.

From Barley, 1831 3,321,702 £429,053 3s. 6d.

Bigg, do 865,249 86,524 18s. Od.

Barley,1832 2,971,297 383,792 10s. 5d.

Bigg, do 743,033 74,303 6s. Od.

Barley,1833 3,433,862 443,540 10s. 2d.

Bigg, do 868,171 86,817 2s. Od.

Barley, 1834 3,580,758 462,514 11s. 6d.

Bigg, do 910,534 91,053 8s. Od.

Barley, 1835 3,604,816 465,622 Is. 4d.

Bigg, do 854,737 85,473 14s. Od.

The regulations, under which the beer trade in Scotland and Eng
land is conducted, since the passing of the late Act, are the same.§
Every brewer is obliged to pay license in proportion to the quantity
of malt used in each year, terminating 10th October, with a draw
back of 5s. on every barrel exported to foreign countries, which
drawback is obtained by the brewer swearing that the quantity of
malt employed in making the beer, was in the proportion of two
bushels imperial measure for every barrel of thirty-six gallons.
Every brewer must make entry with the excise officer of his pre
mises, rooms, and utensils for brewing and storing the beer and malt;
nor is he to have raw or unmalted grain in his concerns under a
severe penalty — a restriction designed to prevent illicit or improper
practices. By the Parliamentary returns of 1830, there were in
Scotland 168 licensed brewers, 26 retail brewers, 17,713 victuallers,

* Parl. Paper, No. 30, 18th Feb. 1829. f Parl. Paper, No. 512, 2d July 1823.
Parl. Paper, 16th August, 1831. § William IV. c. 51.

572

and 268 victuallers who brewed their own beer; while in 1836, there
were 242 licensed brewers, with 17,062 victuallers, and the malt
consumed in the breweries of Edinburgh and throughout Scotland was,
for five years ending 5th January, 1837, as follows : —

YEABS. BUSHELS. BUSHELS,

1832, Edinburgh, 432,507 Scotland, 990,056

1833, 477,388 1,085,867

1834, 477,485 1,139,601

1835, 474,310 1,138,180

1836, 591,945 1,281,102

The Scotch were familiar with all the wines used in Britain at an
early period of their history ; but have generally evinced a greater
partiality for ardent spirits. On an average of the imports and
exports of wine ended 1827, there were 436,055 imperial gallons
imported, and 62,124 exported, leaving for the consumption of a
population of 2,365,807 only 373,931 gallons, being to each indivi
dual something better than a pint and one-fifth annually. Home
made wine is a manufacture not carried on to any great extent, nor
is it an art of great antiquity in Scotland. The home-made wine for
fifteen years ended 1820, was but 806 barrels,[22 gallons, the duty on
which amounted to only £1,905. 8s. 5d. ; and for fouryears ended 1834,
the number was 23,090 gallons, yielding £577 5s. Od. when the duty
entirely ceased.

Previous to the equalisation of the duties, the consumption and
export of wine were rather on the decline, chiefly owing to the excess
of the imposts and the port charges, which placed almost every des
cription of wine beyond the reach of the middling and inferior classes.
Since the late regulations, the trade has increased ; but the improved
quality and the low price paid for the spirits have materially tended
to divert the public taste from the use of wine, beyond what is suffi
cient to supply the tables of the opulent, or to gratify the palate of
the luxurious.

On reviewing the Scotch system of distillation prior to the present
laws, the difference is found to be considerable. At the Union, in
1707, the duty on spirits was much the same as that levied in Eng
land. The whole quantity made in the year 1708, (the earliest date
of any regular account for Scotland,) was 50,844 gallons. The manu
facture rapidly increased until the year 1756, at which period the
distilleries yielded 433,811 gallons of spirits ; an additional duty was
then imposed, and the quantity decreased accordingly^ About twenty
years after (1776,) commenced the export to England, which again
increased the manufacture.

The mode of collecting the duty in Scotland, till the end of the

573

year 1784, was by an actual account and survey of the quantity of
tcash, low wines, and spirits, made by the distiller. From the 1st
November, 1 784, the whole duty was rated on the wash thus : — for
every 100 gallons, the distiller was allowed a credit for 20 gallons in
his spirit stock one to ten degrees over hydrometer proof. The same
regulation was established at that time in England ; but in Scotland
it only continued for about two years, and in 1786 gave way to the
licensing system. By this plan, the distillers in the Lowlands were
charged at the rate of £l. 10s. Od. per annum for every gallon con
tained in each still ; and in the Highlands only £l. ; the still in the
latter place was limited to a certain size, and the spirits to be made
were not to exceed a defined quality, while a line of demarcation was
drawn for the sale of their respective spirits. At the same time, it
was thought that a still could not be worked more than from four to
seven times in the week. It was discovered, however, that the dis
tiller could work with greater despatch and make a larger quantity
of spirits than was previously supposed. Upwards of 300,000 gallons
were stated as the amount smuggled into England in 1787, over and
above all that had been brought to charge.

The duty on the contents of the still was raised in 1787 to £3 ;
while, at the same time, such stills as were entered for the English
market were exempt from this duty, and the spirits charged at the
rate of 2s. 6 d. a gallon on their importation into England.

Improvements continued to be made in the method of distilling
rapidly, in consequence of which the duty on the capacity of the still
was augmented, successively, from £3 to £9, £18, £54, £108, and
lastly to £162. Such was the increase of rapidity in work, that in
1799, a still of forty-three gallons could be wrought off in two mi
nutes and three-quarters, or nearly twenty-two times in an hour.*
This despatch was principally effected by altering the still from its
original, deep, and contracted form, to a shallow and broad construc
tion, by which a larger surface of the liquid was exposed to the action
of the fire. To so great a height was this improvement carried, that a
still of forty gallons, of which the head formed ten, lias been known
to be four feet broad, and only three or four inches in altitude at the
sides."\

In 1802, an Act was passed, imposing, in addition to the existing
license of £162, an obligation of 2,025 of spirits per gallon of still-
room, at the rate of nine-pence per gallon, and enacting that the wash
brewed, should produce, at least, 1 1 per cent. This law placed the

* Vide Dr. Jeffrey's Report.

f For a view of an improved still of this kind, see the Philosophical Magazine,
vol. xi.

474

Scotch distillery on a very respectable footing, and the trade con
tinued so regulated until 1814, the only alteration in the interim
being an increase of duty on account of the wash, and an increase of
the per-centage to 16 J gallons of spirits for every 100 gallons of
wash, but in that year the whole scene changed ; the English system
was put into force by one sweeping act of Parliament, and the old
Scotch plan was laid aside. Rapid work, small stills, and large chim-
nies, gave place to lob, large stills, chains, and locks. Numerous
alterations in the internal economy of distilleries followed, and much
money was thrown away by the alterations consequent on the change
of system. The persons engaged in the Scotch trade, not being
then an united body, tamely submitted to the measure, some from
curiosity, and some from a notion that opposition would be useless,
while others, being rich, were indifferent. On the part of the govern
ment the attempt was made with the best intentions ; that of promoting
one uniform system, but in making the change, the different materials,
or, in other words, the difference between the Scotch and English
barley and malt, was quite forgotten. The English barley and malt
might yield a produce of 19 per cent, when the Scotch could not.
Another important matter overlooked, was the want of rectifiers in
Scotland, to reduce the spirits made under the Act to a marketable
standard. While 1 1 per cent, was the medium of calculation, under
a former law, for the making of wash or potale, excellent spirits were
made, sold, and consumed : spirits from potale, producing 1 6 J per
cent, were barely tolerated ; but the spirit made from wash, producing
19 per cent., was scarcely drinkable, being so harsh and ardent as to
be unfit for punch and quite unsaleable. The consequence was ruin
to many respectable distillers, as well as great injury to the revenue
by the production and smuggling of Highland whiskey — a liquor,
which, from its mildness and good flavour, was more consonant to the
tastes and habits of the Scotch people. In the following year, great
amendments were made, the old Scotch plan was revived, grafted on
a continuation of the English system. Tin's, however, was found not
to answer, as the trade gradually declined every year, until 1817, when
it appeared by the returns of the sales of legal spirits, that another
and more effectual change was necessary. The trade had, in a great
measure, got into the hands of smugglers, and thus reduced to an
illicit traffic, flourished in different parts of the country beyond all
conception. In this state of things, all systems, English as well as
Scotch, or mixtures of either, ceased at once, all monthly or yearly
obligations were dispensed with; 10 and 12 per cent, according to the
gravity of the worts, were substituted for 19 per cent ; and what is

575

now termed the Scotch system, or rather a new system, took place.
The law which introduced this alteration, brought with it a lowering
of the duty, and served to correct many of those abuses which pre
vailed to an alarming degree. This law was so framed, that the
manufacturer could be accommodated to the gravity of the wash, from
which he wished to distil and pay duty in proportion to the saccha
rine matter obtained from the grain, thus : —

From ("Sllbs. gravity 15 gallons spirits"! were required

100 gals. 75 do 14 do. of a strength

wash ^70 do 13 do. j> equal to 7 per

of [ 65 do 12 do. cent over hy-

1.60 do 11 do. J drometer proof.*

But the act has since undergone modifications, and as its operations
have extended to Ireland, a full explanation of the whole will be found
under that head.

The method of distilling in Scotland is much the same as that
practised in England ; and the process observed in the preparation of
the wort or wash is nearly the same.

The spirits manufactured from grain in Scotland are made either
from malted barley or bere and bigg, which are both grain of the
same nature, but inferior in quality to barley ; or from a mixture of
such malt, with barley or bere, raw or unmalted. Wheat is sometimes
used, but its high price in general limits its distillation.

The malt, or mixture of malt and raw grain, when ground, is
mashed in a quantity of hot water, either by machinery, or by work
men, with rakes provided for the purpose. When the fluid becomes
fully impregnated with the saccharine, or farinaceous and fermentable
part of the grain, it is drawn off into an underback or receiving-vessel,
adjoining the keive, and in that state it is termed worts. From the
underback it is pumped into coolers, and allowed to cool down to a
certain degree of heat, and is then run into tuns, or backs, where, with
the addition of yeast or barm, it ferments, and when attenuated, is
called wash. From this wash, imperfect spirits, or low icines, are
distilled ; and when they have undergone a second distillation, they
are sold in Scotland for consumption ; but in England they are not
commonly used for drinking in that state, but pass from the distiller
to the rectifier, who, by further distillation, prepares them for the con
sumer in the form of compounds. Dr. Thomson, Professor of
Chemistry in the University of Glascow, is of opinion, " that the vast
quantity of porter-yeast used by the Scotch distillers, and often in a
state almost approaching to putrefaction, cannot but have an injurious

* 58 Geo. III. c. 50, 1 Geo. IV. c. 74, and 3 Geo. IV. c. 52.

576

effect upon the flavour of their spirits, and has undoubtedly contri
buted to the reputation of Highland over Lowland whiskey. The
Highland distillers, especially the smugglers, have not the means of
procuring yeast from London. Of course, their wash is less perfectly
fermented, but the flavour given to the Lowland whiskey by the yeast
may be distinctly perceived ; and, on that account," says the Dr. " we
are disposed to suspect that the flavour of the spirits always suffers
in proportion as the fermentation is brought nearer a state of perfec
tion."*

The character of the Scotch whiskey ranks high, and it continues
to compete with any other spirits made in the United Kingdom. For
this, it is, no doubt, indebted to the care and attention bestowed on its
manufacture, as well as to the selection of the materials. The large
quantities of malt that have been consumed in the Scotch distilleries,
help to raise its reputation, although imputations were cast upon the
manufacturers, insinuating that all spirits said to be produced by them
from malt were made in the ordinary way, by a mixture of malt and
raw grain- But without entering minutely into this matter, it is
certain, that the traffic in spirits has considerably increased to the
great advantage of the Scotch distiller. Making spirits purely from
malt was long considered a desideratum, and for this purpose the legis
lature granted an allowance or drawback of Is. 2d. for every gallon
of proof spirits made wholly from malt, with the view of increasing
legal distillation in the Highlands and throughout Scotland generally.
The taste of the people was habituated to this description of spirits,
and the supply of this article was commonly obtained from illicit
distillers, to counteract which and to bring a palatable spirit into the
market were the great object of the enactment. The premium of
Is. 2d. was confined to the spirits consumed in Scotland, for in case
of export to England, the whole duty was paid without the allowance
of any drawback. The consequence was that illicit distillation greatly
decreased, as is evident, when it is known that in 1821, the year pre
ceding the grant of the drawback, there were in Scotland only 106
legal distillers, but in 1828, they amounted to 273. It may be here
remarked, that as there were no markets for the grain raised in the
Highlands, recourse was had to illicit distillation ; but, since the
encouragement given by the recent laws, a ready consumption is
afforded for the superabundant produce of grain, and the land-owners
now find it their interest to co-operate with the government in the
suppression of illicit traffic and the encouragement of a fair trade. On

* Supplement vol. to Encyc. Brit. art. Distil,

577

the whole it appears that the envied advantages which the Scotch
manufacturers have over the other distillers of Great Britain, arise from
several local and other circumstances, among which may he reckoned
the abundance and cheapness of barley, the lowness of fuel, and the
permission of bonding spirits free of duty. Whether, however, the
Scotch possess any advantage over the English distiller upon any
other grounds than that 'of the lowness of the duty, may be questioned.
To render the present distillery laws unobjectionable in every part
of the empire, and to remove that envy and jealousy which must
always exist, so long as there are imposts in one portion of the country
that are not applicable to another, it might be prudent to equalise the
duties everywhere, putting all the distilleries in the United Kingdom
on the same footing. The late act has approximated towards this
object, and it seems a measure better calculated than any other to put
down illicit practices and to silence all complaints and remonstrances.
Neither would lowering the duty in England have a tendency to
produce any immorality on the part of the people more than in Scot
land, where no extraordinary evil consequences have arisen from the
unrestricted use of spirituous liquors. It is a fallacious assumption,
that because the quantity of spirits made under a low duty is greater
than under a high duty, that the consumption of the spirits is increased
accordingly ; for, as there is little temptation to smuggle, a preference
is given to the legal article, and hence the apparent increase of con
sumption where there is none in reality. Indeed it might be a ques
tion in political economy and moral philosophy, whether, if there were
no duty whatever on spirits, but a corresponding impost on some other
article, it might not be equally serviceable to the revenue of the
country, and the correct habits of the people.

In distillation, the same precautions are not requisite on the part of
the legislature to secure us as good an article as is required in the
manufacture of ale or beer, in which there are so many opportunities
for adulteration. In spirits, it is otherwise, since it is well known
that the unrestricted produce of the unlicensed stills has given a
beverage more esteemed than that sanctioned by the law, although
supported by premiums and other influential inducements. As a duty
on spirits has become necessary both in a financial and moral point of
view, its equalisation is calculated to obviate all objections on the part
of the manufacturer, to stimulate all to honorable competition, and
finally prove successful in opposition to foreign and home smuggling,
which have so long proved destructive of the happiness and good order
of a large portion of the community.

Some of the distilleries in Scotland are upon a very extensive scale

2 p

578

while others again, particularly in the Highlands, are of a very small
magnitude, the whole being often comprised in the compass of one
apartment, the content of the whole still being, in many cases, little
more than 40 gallons, while the large concerns in the Lowlands range
so high as from 2000 to 10,000 gallons and upwards. In some con
cerns there are several stills of great dimensions for the manufacture of
wash and low-wines, for the making of which the regulations are much
the same as those in England, the distiller having it at discretion to
work either quickly or slowly.

The produce of these distilleries, with the disposal thereof, stands
as follows : —

^EXPORTED TO

Years. Galls, made. England. Ireland.

Year f!828, 9,105,275 2,438,706 679,021 "|

ended J 1829, 10,117,027 3,232,513 986,368 I Imperial

Jan. 5 J 1830, 9,649,070 3,008,686 811,243 [Measure

(.1832, 4,861,478 2,363,768 487,178 J

The quantity which paid duty for home consumption for the same
years was, in >

YEARS. IMP. GALL. AMOUNT OF t>TJTY.

(1828, 4,752,199 £673,228 3s. lOd.

\ 1829, 5,716,180 809,792 3s. 4d.

(1830, 5,777,280 818,448 0 0

The spirits charged with duty in Scotland, were, in

1831,-.., 5,700,689 .£ 950,114 16s. 8d.

1832, 4,861,478 810,246 6s. 8d.

1833...... 5,988,556 998,092 13s. 4d.

1834, 6,045,043..... 1,007,507 3s. 4d.

1835, 6,013,932 1,002,322 Os. Od.

By 6th George IV. chapter 58, a duty of 2s. lOd. per gallon was
imposed on all spirits distilled in Scotland or Ireland; and by 1st
William IV. chapter 49, an addition of sixpence per gallon on all
spirits made in the empire; but by the 4th and 5th William IV.
chapter 75, from the first September 1834, all spirits made in Ireland
were reduced to 2s. 4d. per gallon ; but no alteration was made in
Scotland or England.

The home-made spirits and beer exported from Scotland to foreign
countries were — in

1830, Spirits, 12,807 gallons Beer, 2617 barrels.

1831, do. 10,955 do do. 2935 do.

1832, do. 13,371 do do. 2337 do.

1833, do. 19,531 do do. 2854 do.

1834, do. 25,141 do do. 2889 do.

579

Before distillation had arrived to any degree of perfection, the imports
of foreign spirits were, considering the circumstances of the country,
in a proportion perhaps greater than those of the sister kingdom,
although the commerce of the latter began to establish itself long
before. The great supply, prior to the introduction of rum, was drawn
from France and Holland ; but without entering into detail, it may
suffice to shew that the actual quantity of rum, brandy, geneva, and
other foreign liquors that paid duty, with the amount, was for —

TEARS. GALL. RUM. GALL. BRANDY, &C. £. S. D.

1828, 185,214 42,756 126,952 7 5

1829, 188,189 45,749 130,872 4 11

1830, 152,461 43,228 112,853 15 9*

By the foregoing returns, the yearly average of spirits which paid
duty for home consumption is 5,415,186 of rum, and other foreign
liquors 219,165, in all 5,634,351 imperial gallons, which, for a popula
tion of 2,365,807, gives little more than 2 gallons 3J pints to each
individual annually — a consumption sufficiently moderate to entitle
the Scotch to the character of a temperate people.

Throughout the Highlands, and the various islands connected with
Scotland, the benefits of the new distillery laws have been sensibly
felt by the suppression of smuggling, and by giving an article to the
people equally agreeable as that which was formerly clandestinely
obtained.

Distillation is now legally conducted there to such extent, that the
Highlands send spirits to different parts of the Lowlands and else
where ; and this intercourse is considerably facilitated by the several
new roads lately constructed under the auspices of the government.
It is pleasing to observe that this freedom of communication has given
an impetus to industry, and called into useful activity the exertions
and energies of the people, to surmount the difficulties thrown by
nature in their way, and even to render trackless heaths and rugged
rocks fertile. This northern portion of Scotland has Jong been emi
nently distinguished for its hospitality, so much so, that it is said the
doors of the houses are left open at all hours as a general permission
for strangers to enter and partake of the kindness of the inmates with
out ever asking their names, on which occasion whiskey forms no
small portion of their entertainment : — even on leaving a house in
which a person has been hospitably entertained, it is a common prac
tice for the host to accompany his guest to the door, first drink a glass
of spirits himself, and afterwards to present another to his retiring

* Parl. Pap. No. 211— 26th March, 1830.

580

friend. This ceremony, denominated door-drink (deoch-a-doras), is
similar to the parting cup amongst the natives of Switzerland, and
precisely that used at present in Ireland under the same appellation.
A like practice is prevalent in the Hebrides, where the baneful custom
of taking spirits in the morning is generally observed. As soon, says
Dr. Johnson, as a man appears in the morning, he swallows his glass
of whiskey, and no man is found so abstemious as to refuse this
morning dram which they call a skalk; but, notwithstanding this habit, .
he did not consider them a drunken race.* Ossian celebrates the
hospitality of the Highlanders in the following beautiful strain: — " The
towns of Cathmor rose on the banks of Atha ; seven paths led to his
hall ; seven chiefs stood on those paths and called the stranger to the
feast. But Cathmor dwelt in the wood to avoid the voice of praise.f
Cathmor was the chief of Clutha. The feeble dwelt in his hall. The
gates of Cathmor were never closed ; his feast was always spread.
The sons of the stranger came and blessed the generous chief of
Clutha. Bards raised the song and touched the harp ; joy brightened
on the face of the mournful."f

At funerals, considerable quantities of spirits are consumed, and
after the ceremony of interment is over, the friends of the deceased
are invited to a plentiful repast, where whiskey is put about very
lavishly, and the evening of the day of sorrow closes as a festival of
revelry bordering sometimes on intoxication.

It is to be regretted, that notwithstanding the encouragement which
the present statute affords, smuggling still prevails to some extent in
the Highlands, and also in the islands, both affording places of con
cealment for that purpose in a pre-eminent degree, as they abound
with deep ravines, isolated glens, rocks, and solitary valleys.

An adventure of a singular nature befel a gentleman who lately
visited the Hebrides. While making some geological researches, he
was induced to descend a precipice to examine the nature of the strata
of a rock, and entering a cave that attracted his attention, he was
astonished to hear the noise of persons, as if revelling at a banquet.
Being fearful of danger he was about to retire, when he was accosted
by a person inside and requested to advance. Considering compliance
the best policy, and his curiosity being a good deal excited, he followed
the individual into the cavern, and was no little astonished to find
himself introduced to a number of persons seated on benches round a

* Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland.
Temora. Calthon and Colmar.

581

table, regaling themselves with as much apparent satisfaction as if in a
palace. On looking round, he perceived a number of casks of spirits
ranged as if in a cellar, with old swords and other weapons of defence,
plainly indicating that he had fallen in with a party of smugglers.
Apprehensive that he was an officer of the revenue, he was eyed with
great distrust, and questioned most particularly as to his pursuits ; but
finding that his profession was of a different nature, they told him
candidly what they were, treated him with much kindness, arid, after
enjoining secrecy, suffered him to depart, but not without partaking of
a hearty glass, and a share of all the luxuries of their solitary grotto.
According to Pennant, the people of the Hebrides extract an acid
for punch from the berries of the mountain ash, and also distil from
them an agreeable spirit.

If we admit with Boethius that there formerly existed in Cantyre
an alembical liquor called usquebaugh drawn from thyme, mint, anise,
and other fragrant herbs, it may be inferred that the knowledge of its
manufacture was obtained from Ireland, where that liquor was so
superior and prevalent. In Dr. Johnson's time, whiskey was very
plentiful in the Hebrides ; several stills were then in the island of
Cal, and more spirits were made than the inhabitants could consume.
Martin, in his description of the Western Islands, says that in some
places they preserve their ale in large earthen vessels, and think they
are better for that purpose than wood. When the ale becomes flat,
they render it brisker by the immersion of a hot stone or a toasted
barley cake ; some use a hot malt-cake for the same purpose. The
natives preserve their yeast by an oaken withe, which they twist and
put into it, and for future use keep it in barley straw. This withe,
which is from four to six inches about, is boiled in wort, well dried,
and being steeped again in wort, causes it to ferment and produces
yeast. The rod is cut before the middle of May, and being preserved
and used in the manner stated, serves for a length of time — one of
these fermenting withes has been known to answer the purpose for
upwards of twenty years. In the island of Lewis, which affords here,
oats, and rye, usquebaugh is distilled ; this usquebaugh, when three
times distilled, was called trestarig ; and, when four times distilled,
nsquebaugh-baul^iiiore than two spoonsfull of which were sufficient to
endanger life.

In Harris, the natives in brewing beer, use the seeds of a white wild
carrot as a substitute for hops, and say it answers the end sufficiently
well, besides giving the drink a good relish.*

* Martin's Western Isles, p. 192.

582

Every family of distinction in those islands had a cup-bearer, who
always filled and carried the cup round the company, taking the first
draught himself. This office was hereditary, and a town with land
was the reward of the service. There was another office held in the
Highlands at a symposium, or drinking- bout, by a person called a
henchman, whose business was to attend his master, stand behind
his chair or at his haunch, hence the appellation. The duty of this
person was to act as secretary, and to be ready on all occasions to
venture his life in defence of his chieftain. In the isle of Skie, the
root of Carmel or Knaphard (Argatilis Sylvaticus) was used to pre
vent drunkenness, and for its aromatic flavour preferred to spice in
the distillation of aqua vitae.

In St. Kilda, the juice of nettle-roots, mixed with barley-meal
dough, was used for yeast in the brewing of ale, which produced all
the desired effects. Though these islanders indulge in the use of
intoxicating liquors, yet they are in general a temperate people, and
live to a great age. Martin records the instance of a man named
Tairville, who arrived at the age of 180, and who never drank any
malt liquor, distilled waters, nor even wine.

In Kirkwall, the capital of the Orkneys, there were two licensed
distilleries, and one in Stromness, with a few small breweries, but
they did not afford a sufficient supply of drink for the inhabitants.
These islands exhibit many vestiges of the inroads of the Scandina
vians, of the worship of Odin, with several pagan tombs, monuments,
or temples for sacrifices. In the graves have been found various
relics of antiquity, implements of war, urns of pottery containing
human bones, glass beads, and cups of the same material, capable of
holding half a pint, shewing that the inhabitants were familiar writh
the drinks of their ancient northern neighbours.

In the Shetland islands, the brewing of ale was once quite familiar,
but, owing to the duty on malt and the poverty of the inhabitants, it
has nearly fallen into disuse. Formerly, it is said, they possessed the.
art of distilling a spirit from heather, a secret which has perished along
with the other institutions of the Picts. It is certain, however, that
not more than a century ago, they used heather in brewing, as hops
are used at present, but further than this, nothing certain is known.*

Some of the lairds and respectable land proprietors still make ale
for domestic use, and which is accounted a pleasant, wholesome beve
rage. The drink most in use is bland, a preparation from the serum
of buttermilk, which is found in almost every house.

* Edmondston'* View of tire Zetland Islands, vol. ii. p. 50.

58S

Bland, which is of Scandinavian origin, is made by pouring boiling
water into new-churned buttermilk, when the curds sink to the bottom,
and the liquid, after standing a little time, undergoes a slight fermen
tation: in a few months it becomes as clear as water, possessing a very
agreeable portion of acidity. The Icelanders use a similar beverage
under the same denomination. The Shetlanders are remarkable for
hospitality, and a stranger finds no difficulty in procuring accommoda
tion at a moderate charge, where inns are not convenient. The law
enacted in the reign of James the I. did not extend to the Shetland
islands, otherwise the individual might be without lodgings, since that
act prohibited persons putting up at any places but inns, or, as they
were termed, hostelries. The resident gentlemen have not only
comfortable dwellings, but plenty of the necessaries and most of the
luxuries of life. In ancient times, wine was so abundant, that at
marriages it was customary to wash the feet of the bridegroom in a
tub of wine. The Shetland and Orkney islands are supplied with
spirits and other liquors, partly from their own distillation and partly
from Holland, England, Scotland, and even, during the fishery season,
from the northern parts of Ireland.

In Ireland, where distillation is carried on to greater extent than in
any other portion, of the world of equal magnitude, and where it
forms a branch of such great commercial importance and enterprise,,
the speculative mind is naturally led to enquire into the causes which
have produced sueh wonderful efforts in this branch of trade. Afr \
what time, therefore, this art was introduced into Ireland is a subject
equally interesting to the artisan and the philosopher. The better to
come to a correct conclusion on the point, it will be necessary to take
a view of the state and progress of the arts and of agriculture in this,
country from a remote period. Ireland, it is admitted, was the seat
of learning and the sciences, when all the other parts of Europe were
involved in darkness. From the early settlement of eastern emigrants
and the frequent intercourse with foreign nations, it might be thought
that the knowledge of distillation, if such an art were then known,
must have been coeval with the first settlers.

Vallancey asserts on good authority, that the Bramiris, or as some
will have it, the Druids, came into Ireland along with the Scythians,
and, according to Gebelin, brought with them numerous improvements
in philosophy and the arts.

On comparing the customs of the Phffinicians and Irish, a great
similarity appears. Both worshipped Bel, or the sun, the moon, and
stars, and many of the practices of that intelligent commercial people
were prevalent in Ireland, because a constant intercourse was kept up

584

between our ancestors and that nation. Vallancey shews that every
thing we owe to the Milesians had an Oriental origin, and Sir William
Jones is of opinion that the Goths and Hindoos had originally the
the same language, gave the same appellations to the stars and planets,
and had the same religious rites and opinions, as also that the Greeks
took their pagan deities, with the fables and the whole machinery
of their mythology, directly or indirectly, from India, where all are
still found in the Sanscrit books and Indian temples. Ccesar tells us
that the Druids were great astronomers, and it is curious that the
Irish word for a year, literally signifies the circle of Bel, or the sun.
The ancient customs of the country proclaim, in a great number of
other instances, their Eastern descent. The practice of employing
mourners to lament the loss and sing the praises of the deceased, is
manifestly derived from the Jews, as well as that of drinking at wakes,
which, it is to be lamented, has been too often abused. This excess
was carried to such a height by the Israelites, that the Sanhedrim
made a decree that ten cups only should be drunk on such occasions.*
Homer's account of the dirges sung by the women at the funeral of
Hector, proves the antiquity of the cry or dirge, as used by the ancient
and modern Irish. In Russia, a similar practice prevails, when mead
is carried to the grave to be drunk as a parting offering to the
deceased.

Pearce, during his residence in Abyssinia, observed that a cry similar
to that in use in Ireland, was common amongst the Abyssinian s at
their funerals, particularly at the burial of persons of distinction.
There are numbers of men and women in that country, who gain a
living by making rhymes and attending at cries ; and if they are
superior poets, they receive high wages in corn, cattle, and cloth.
He was acquainted with a very handsome middle-aged woman, Avho,
though she had a large estate to live on, had studied poetry from her
infancy, and attended gratuitously at all cries, in order to distinguish
herself. The same description of women are employed to conduct
the cry, even at the present day in Ireland ; and many of them are
very happy in their recitations on those occasions. To such effusions
the celebrated Curran attributed his early predilection for poetry and
oratory.

Christianity, which carries with it civilisation in all its bearings,
was first introduced into this island from Asia, and not directly from
Rome, all concurring to prove the extent of our intercourse and com-

* Vide Mathew ix. 23., also 2 Chron. KXV. 25.

585

munications with other nations. If the Phoenicians, Egyptians, or
any of the Asiatics, were, at an early period, acquainted with distil
lation, it is likely that they would have introduced it into Ireland,
where they came in great numbers to traffic and to settle. These
colonists would also diffuse a spirit of commercial enterprise through
the country, which would render its harbours better known than those
of the adjacent isles.

Accordingly, we learn from Tacitus, that " the ports and landing-
places of Hibernia were better known than those of Britain, through
the intercourse of merchants ;"* and it appears that in the time of
Ptolemy the town of Wexford was familiar to that geographer .f The
Leabhar Lecan, or Liber Lucarius, distinctly mentions, that, at a very
early period, the Irish had made great progress in the arts, in the dyeing
of purple, blue, and green, and in the separation and refining of gold.f
On the river Liffey in particular, A.M. 28 15, in the reign of Tighern-
mas, there was a great smelting house where orban and orbuid, white
and yellow gold were refined ; and a famous artist called Juachadan
or Uachadan of Cualane, in the county of Wicklow, brought the
manufacture of cups and goblets from this metal to great perfection.

That the art of making glass was early known in Ireland, is certain
from the specimens of that and crystal found in the cairns raised in
honour of the dead ; and this is further confirmed by what has been
dug up from the ruins of old buildings, particularly from those of
Down, which were rudely painted and scarcely transparent, as if done
in the infancy of the invention. We are informed that St. Patrick
shewed to Ailbeus, one of his disciples, an altar of beautiful workman
ship having a glass chalice at each of its four corners.

The familiarity of any art often prevents an account of it, and hence
the paucity of information, which some of the most enlightened writers
have in their records, respecting inventions and other matters, a know
ledge of the origin of which would be, at the present day, of the
highest interest.

If we are to credit our early annalists, magnifying glasses and the
use of the telescope were known to the Irish Druids ; and that even the
polarity of the loadstone was not to them a secret ; nor the effects of
gunpowder among the arcana of philosophy and the other phenomena
of physical science. Hence it is inferred, that the shaking of the
Druidical grove near Marseilles, as described by Lucan, and the strange

* Vita Agricobe, c. 24. f O'Halloran's Ireland, vol. ii. pp. 246, 434.

J For the materials used in the art of dyeing, among the ancient Irish, see
Walker's Historical Essay on the dress of the ancient Irish, p. 261. 2d Ed. 8 TO.

586

sounds echoing from it, with the flickering blaze issuing therefrom,
arose from a preparation of materials similar to gunpowder.

The skill of the Irish in other respects is confirmed by the variety,
richness, and splendour of the various articles discovered from time
to time in different parts of the kingdom, such as swords, with gold
handles, shields of pure silver, helmets and corslets cased with gold,
horse-trappings, and even bridle-bits of the same precious metal.
The crowns of the ancient monarchs were of pure gold. O'Halloran
mentions two he had seen, neither of which had the cross on it,
which renders it probable that they were made before the introduc
tion of Christianity.* One of these crowns, Walker, in his Irish
Bards, says, was dug up in 1692 in the county of Tipperary, and which
is thought to be still preserved in France.f

Our annals relate that at a very early period of the world, A. M»
3355, at Arigiod-Ross, on the banks of the Suir, there was a mint for
the coinage of money, where, even before that time, shields and targets
of pure silver were fabricated, and a mint was erected at Clanmac-
nois for the coinage of silver. So rich was the country in the precious
metals, and affording so many opportunities to exercise the ingenuity
of the artisan, that the tax on Leinster paid annually to the monarch,
for a series of 400 years, was in part 6000 ounces of pure silver,
3000 copper cauldrons, 3000 mantles richly embroidered ; while Cor-
mac Cas, in A. D. 222, was enabled to bestow 300 ounces of silver
in a day as rewards to the bards and literati. Music and poetry
were particularly cherished, and had arrived to a degree of perfection
unequalled in other countries. To this some of the earliest writers
bear testimony : Cambrensis says, " that of all the nations within our
knowledge, the Irish is beyond comparison the chief in musical compo
sitions ;" and Geminiani, the celebrated Italian Composer, who was
struck with the harmony of our airs, declared that " he found none of
so original a turn on this side of the Alps." Handel himself confessed
he would rather have been the author of Aileen Aroou than of all thes
music he had ever composed.

Neither were the Irish less attentive to commerce than to the
encouragement of the arts, for in the reign of Ollamh-Fodhla,
A.M. 3082, amongst other wise regulations of that monarch, were
enacted laws for the extension of trade and the improvement of manu
factures ; and to prevent imposition or breaches of these regulations,
sixty persons conversant in those affairs were usually despatched into
the different great cities and manufacturing towns to discover abuses,
and prevent persons not properly qualified to carry on trade on
manufactures to the injury of the country. As a proof of the very
* Hist. vol. ii. p. 92. f Hist, of the Irish Bards, vol. ii. 32.

587

early intercourse we had with other nations, and with the Cartha
ginians in particular, it is affirmed, that the victory obtained at
Cannae is much to be attributed to the valour of Irishmen, since the
swords found on the field of battle as well as the shields dug up
there, were the same as those used by the ancient Irish ; and when the
Carthaginian and Irish swords were examined by the assay-master
of the mint, he pronounced that they were cast in the same mould.* It
was even asserted by early writers, and credited by Usher, that Connal
Cearnach, master of the Ulster Knights, was actually at Jerusalem at
the time of the crucifixion of our Saviour, and that he related the
whole story to Cormac, king of Ulster, on his return to Ireland.

From all these circumstances, it is quite evident, that whatever
may have been the extent of the knowledge of the arts at those early
times, the Irish were familiar with it, whether serviceable or orna
mental ; and that the use of liquors must have been well known
among a people so conversant with the manners and habits of other
nations. This opinion is further corroborated by the accounts we
have of an order of people during the time of the Druids, called
beatachs, brughnibhs, or keepers of open houses, established for the
express purpose of hospitality. No man could presume to assume
the title of Beatach, who had not seven town-lands comprising seven
ploughed lands, he was also to have seven ploughs going, and
to be master of seven herds of cattle, each herd containing one
hundred and twenty cows ; his house was to be accessible by
four different roads, and a hog, a beef, and a mutton, were always
to be ready for the entertainment of the traveller, and of such houses
not less than eighteen hundred belonged to the two Munsters. The
keepers of these open house* were distinguished by a garment of four
colours, which was a high mark of respect, when it is known that they
ranked next to the nobility, who wero privileged to wear only five
colours. This laudable spirit of hospitality derived from our Scythian
ancestors, is, to this day, kept up amongst the various hordes of
Asiatics, who are confessedly descended from the same stock. Burck-
hardt speaks of these houses of hospitality in Syria, and says, that
taverns are open in each district for the accommodation of travellers,
at the public expense, in which all sojourners are maintained as long
as they choose, provided they do not unnecessarily prolong their
stay. Hence few of the natives, when travelling, think of putting
money into their pockets, because they are sure of being everywhere
well received, and of living as comfortably, and perhaps better than

* O'Halloran, vol. ii. Prel. Disc. p. 54.

588

in their own houses.* A similar practice is observed throughout
various parts of the Turkish empire, where houses, termed Khans,
are erected for the reception of travellers, which are so endowed
that every night the guests are entertained free with a comfortable
supper, be their number more or less, according to the capacity of
the building.f The Choultries in India, which are similar to the
Beatachs in Ireland, are attended by an inferior Brahmin who resides
convenient ; and he not only furnishes refreshments, but congi, or rice-
water, to assuage the thirst of the traveller. In the same manner we
are informed, that, in ancient times, noblemen in England were
accustomed to keep open houses, where all their vassals and all
strangers had full liberty to enter and eat as much as they pleased ;
from this custom, the title of Lord is derived, which signifies a
dispenser of bread.

The Gauls were also remarkable for hospitality, and it is related
of Luernius, the king of the Auvernions, that he made an enclosure
of twelve furlongs square, in which he regaled all visiters, during
several days, with every species of exquisite meat and liquors ; and
that Ariamnes caused lodges to be erected on the high roads,
capable of accommodating four hundred persons, which number he
entertained for a whole year. Strangers were not permitted to pass
without partaking of refreshments ; and, if time would not permit
them, to eat, they were compelled to drink.

The caravansaries in the East, or, as they are termed in Persia,
houses of hospitality, are, according to O'Connor, in his Chronicles of
Eri, the car-rah-man-saras, " the seats of the stations for food, J" or
the Beatachs once so numerous in Ireland, for the purpose of receiv
ing the distressed, and sheltering the nightly wanderer, to ad
minister to his comforts and protect him from injury. The Beatachs
were also bound to inquire from their guests at their departure,
what they stood in need of, and in what they could be served. The
name of the guest, to what family he belonged, or his place of des
tination, were not to be asked, the whole displaying a magnanimity,
a hospitality, and a spirit of humanity, not surpassed in any other
country.

The hospitality for which Ireland is so proverbial, has, in some
degree, been observed among the more northern nations, as we find
in the Havamaal, or sublime discourse of Odin : " Be humane and
gentle," says that venerable code, " to those you meet travelling OB

Travels in Syria and the Holy Land, p. 295, 35 lr
f Sir Paul Rycaut's Ottoman Empire, p. 167.
% Chronicles of Eri, vol. i. p. 151.

589

the mountains or on the sea; and to the guest who enters your dwel
ling with frozen knees, give the warmth of your fire : he who hath
travelled over the mountains hath need of food and well-dried
garments."*

Many extraordinary instances of Irish hospitality, both in ancient
and modern times, might be related as illustrative of the preceding
historical facts. One in particular of Mr. Mathews, recorded by
Sheridan, in his Life of Swift, is well worthy of recital. This gentle
man resided at Thomastown in the county of Tipperary, and possessed
an estate of ,£8,000 a-year. At this place he built a spacious man
sion, open at all times for the reception of respectable visitants, and
surrounded by a demesne of 1,500 acres, laid out in the most tasteful
and improved manner. The house contained forty commodious
apartments for guests, with accommodations for servants, and each
apartment was furnished with every convenience, even to the most
minute article. When a guest arrived, Mr. Mathews shewed him
his apartment, saying, " this is your castle, here you are to command
as absolutely as in your own house ; you may breakfast, dine, and
sup here, whenever you please, and invite such of the guests to accom
pany you as may be most agreeable to you." He then shewed him
the common parlour, " where," he said, " a daily ordinary was kept,
at which he might dine when it was more agreeable to him to mix in
society, but, from this moment, you are never to know me as master
of the house, and only to consider me as one of the guests."

During meals, Mr. Mathews took his seat, without any regard to
difference of rank or quality. There was alarge room fitted up exactly
like a coffee-house, where a bar-maid and waiters attended to furnish
refreshments at all times of the day. Here such as chose, breakfasted
at their own hours. It was furnished with chess-boards, backgammon-
tables, newspapers, pamphlets, &c. in all the forms of a city coffee
house.

A detached room was fitted up as a tavern, into which such of the
guests as chose, might retire after dinner and regale themselves with
an extra-glass, though there was a moderate supply of wine always
at the table in the ordinary. A waiter with a blue apron attended,
and helped every person to whatever description of liquor he liked, in
the same manner as is practised in public houses, and as if each of the
guests were to pay a share of the reckoning.

Here, too, the midnight orgies of Bacchus were often celebrated,
with the same noisy mirth as is customary in his city temples, without

* Mallet's Northern Antiquities, vol. ii. p. 144.

590

in the least disturbing the repose of the more sober part of the family.
Games of all sorts were allowed, but under such restrictions as to
prevent gambling, and so as to answer their true end, that of amuse
ment without injury to the purses of the players. There were two
billiard-tables and a large bowling-green ; ample provision was made
for all such as delighted in country sports ; fishing-tackle of all sorts,
a variety of guns with proper ammunition, a pack of buck-hounds,
another of fox-hounds, and another of harriers, with twenty choice
hunters in the stables for those who were not properly mounted for
the chace. So well was every matter arranged, such checks were
kept upon the domestics who were of tried integrity, the articles of
life so cheap, and the demesne alone furnishing every article save
that of wine, liquors, and groceries, that the host's fortune was fully
adequate to support this generous and hospitable establishment. No
confusion nor disorder ever arose from the multiplicity of visiters, as
all was conducted with the same ease and regularity as in a private
family. It was an established rule that all might depart when they
thought proper, without any ceremony of leave-taking, and the ser
vants were enjoined not to receive any perquisite, as it was considered
the highest insult if any offer of that kind were made.

Attracted by the wonderful accounts related of Mr. Mathews, the
celebrated Dean Swift resolved to visit him, and to be convinced that
the report was neither romantic nor exaggerated. When Mr. Mathews
learned that the Dean was on his journey, he immediately despatched
a coach and six which met him with a store of the choicest viands,
wines, and other liquors, at the end of the first day's journey. On
coming within sight of the house, the Dean, astonished at its magni
ficence, exclaimed, " what, in the name of God, can be the use of such
a vast building ?" " Why, Mr. Dean," replied Dr. Sheridan, who was
his companion on this occasion, " there are no less than forty apart
ments for guests in that house, and all of them probably occupied at
this time, except what are reserved for us." " Then," said the Dean
mournfully, " I have lost a fortnight of my life," the time which he
had promised to spend at Thomastown, adding suddenly, " but there
is no remedy, I must submit !"

Mr. Mathews received him at the door with uncommon marks of
respect ; and then conducting him to his apartment, after some com
pliments, made his usual speech, acquainting him with the customs of
the house, and retired, leaving him in possession of his castle. Soon
after the cook appeared with his bill of fare, to receive his directions
about supper, and the butler, at the same time, with a list of wines
and other liquors. " And is all this really so," said Swift, " and may

591

I command here as in my own house ?" The gentleman before men
tioned assured him that he might, and that nothing could be more agree
able to the owner of that mansion, than that all under his roof should
live conformably to their own inclinations, without the least restraint.

" Well, then," said Swift, " I invite you and Dr. Sheridan to be
my guests while I stay, for I think I shall hardly be tempted to mix
with the mob below." Three days were passed in riding through the
demesne without ever seeing Mr. Mathews or any of his guests. On
the fourth, Swift entered the room where the company were assembled
before dinner, and addressed Mr. Mathews in one of the finest
speeches he ever made, expatiating on all the beauties of his improve
ments with the skill of an artist, and the taste of a connoisseur ; and
concluded by saying, " now, ladies and gentlemen, I am come to live
among you, and it shall be no fault of mine if we do not pass our time
agreeably." So much was he fascinated with the place, and finding
himself so happy, that instead of the fortnight which he had originally
intended, he passed four months there, to his own satisfaction and to
that of all who visited the place during that time.

Of the varieties of drink made use of in ancient times, there is no
distinct detail. All writers affirm that Ireland abounded in milk and
honey ; but that a drink was made resembling the Tartarian koumiss,
as conjectured by Ledwich, is improbable. By the chronicles of Eri
it appears, that the early inhabitants lived chiefly on milk, and were
the same as the galactophagi, or milk-eaters, mentioned by Homer ;
the corresponding compound word in the language of Eri, is
geal-lacdfoghaC) a liver on unskimmed milk, or with more propriety
curd-eater^ which, without much stretch of fancy, might lead us to
conjecture that cheese must have been in early use in this country.
The food of the ancient Irish was, according to Strabo, milk, butter,
and herbs ; hence he called them herb-eaters.*

That mead, or honey- wine, called in Irish miodh, meadh, and
milfion (in Icelandic, miced, in Saxon, medo, medu, in German,
mede, meth, in Dutch, meethe, in Welsh, meddeglyn, mctheglyn,)
must have been plentiful in Ireland, is an incontestable fact, since it
was the common drink of the people in the days of Druidism, and
mead is mentioned with praise in the life of Berach, who flourished in
the seventh century, as noticed in the annals of Ulster.f For these
reasons, the Brehon laws wisely provided for the propagation and
preservation of bees, since they were deemed among the most valu
able part of the property of the early Irish. " Whover plunders or

* Strabo, Geog. B. iv. f Harris's "Ware, p. 183.

592

steals bees out of a garden or fort," says the Brehon code, "is subject
to a like penalty as if he steals them out of a habitation, for these are
deemed of equal penalty by law."

Bees in an enclosure or fort, and in a garden, are of the same
account (as to property, penalty, &c.) as the wealth or substance of an
habitation.* Camden tells us that, from the earliest period, bees were
not only in hives, but in trunks of trees, and in the holes of the earth,
hence there was such a profusion of honey, that it became an article
of exportation.

The most ancient songs and poetry, which the country affords, are
replete with praises of mead ; and in a poem by Alfred, king of the
Northumbrian Saxons, A.D. 685, he notices honey and the drinks
used at the banquets,

Pliny and Virgil praise the liquors made by the mixture of honey,
raspberries, and white currants ; hence it is evident, that mead and
metheglin were favourite beverages in that age. Mead was at that
time prepared in the following manner : — A quantity of honey, col
lected fresh from the combs, was blended with water till it came
to a proper consistency. It was then boiled for better than an hour,
suffered to cool, and left to ferment in a close vessel.

Modern times introduced the addition of spices of various descrip
tions, according to the taste or fancy of the manufacturer. A small
quantity of barm was added to promote fermentation and increase the
levity of the fluid.

Barm wras a Celtic discovery arising from the knowledge of brew
ing. It was found that the froth or spume of their curmi, (de
nominated burm by the ancient Welsh) mixed with flour and water,
in the composition of bread, rendered it lighter and pleasanter than
leaven, eggs, milk, honey, or the lees of wine, as used by other
nations ; hence the application of its use in the fermentation and
clarification of vinous liquors.

The modern mode of making mead is as follows : — To a hogshead
of water add eight gallons of honey ; blend them well together, and
boil them an hour in a copper ; skim the mixture and draw it off into
a receiver, and leave it till it becomes lukewarm ; then cask it with
some yeast, and when fermentation is completed, bung the casks
closely. In the process, some introduce whites of eggs, mace,
ginger, cloves, cinnamon, rosemary, lavender, sweet-brier, lemon-
peel, orange-peel, with other spices and aromatics, to heighten the

Walker's Historical Essay, 2nd. Ed. p. 164. Anthologia Hibernica, vol. ii.
p. 132. note.

503

flavour and render it more palatable, and make it a useful stomachic.
At the present day, great quantities of mead are manufactured in
various parts of Ireland, particularly in the counties of Cork,
Limerick, Waterford, and Tipperary ; and cider of a superior
quality is equally" abundant in those counties, and sold at a very
reasonable rate. The introduction of cider into Ireland was in the
reign of Elizabeth ; and it was first made at Affane, in the county
of Waterford,* a drink which Phillips, in his admirable poem on this
liquor, says,

" far surmounts

Gallic or Latin grapes."

A wooden flaggon, called a meathcr or mether, implying acid-
drink, is still to be found in this country, and is considered a relic of
high antiquity and veneration. It is formed out of a solid piece of
wood having four sides, with two handles opposite to each other, so
that it may be raised to the lips with greater ease. Tradition vene
rates the very name of mether as a drinking utensil, since it makes us
familiar with the associations of our early ancestors. Although the
mether was used in former times as a drinking vessel, yet it is
thought that the cornet, or horn, was more ancient. This was at first
merely the horn of a cow or bullock ; but in process of time, it was
made of brass. The crooked cornet of Pliny, and our corna are,
perhaps, one and the same instrument.

Among the drinking vessels used by the ancient Irish, was the
Concha Marina or blaosg, corresponding to the Buccina or shell of
the Murex, used by the Romans. Formerly, both in Ireland and
Scotland, drink was served at feasts in this utensil ; hence the
expressions " feast of shells," and " hall of shells," may be accounted
for as occurring in Irish and Erse poetry.

The corna, in its natural form was polished, and ornamented accord
ing to the fancy of the times. The same description of drinking-horns
was common in England and Denmark. In the latter country, they
usually drank out of nothing but the horns of an ox ; and, in the museum
at Copenhagen, there are preserved two of those horns made of gold,
found among others of alike kind at different times in Jutland. These
horns are ornamented with hieroglyphics ; one of them represents a hu
man figure with a dog's head, a device common in Egypt, it is supposed to
represent Anubis or Hermes of Hades. From this it may be conjectured
that these horns are of Celtic origin, and all derived from the same stock,

* Walker's H iit. Essay" on Gardening, 8vo. p 166. Anthologica Hibernica,

vol. i.'p. 194.

2 Q

594

that of the Titan Celts, who inhabited the coasts of the Mediterranean,
nnd existed in Greece, in Gaul, and in the Atlantic Isles, before any
of the Gothic and Grecian colonies had made their way into Europe.
These instruments were used not only at the convivial board, but
were the usual vehicles for carrying a supply of drink as well in the
field of battle as in that of the chase. To this practice Chaucer
alludes in the following distich :

" Janus sits by the fire with double berde
" And drinketh of his bugle- horn the wine."

To these horns were neatly appended, stoppers or lids, to secure
the liquor. Grose records, that in the will of Prince ^Ethelstan,
he is found bequeathing his drinking-horn, along with his military
accoutrements ; and Pennant describes one of these ox-horn cups
which he saw at Dunvegan Castle in Scotland,* as tipped with silver,
of a spiral form, and used at festivals, when each guest was obliged
to drink off its contents at one draught.

The northern nations held this species of drinking-vessel in high
esteem, and employed the capacious horn of the great Aurochs for
that purpose. Those cups graced the halls of kings ; and out of them
the ancient heroes quenched their thirst. Even in Ireland, at the
present day, horns are used by the gentry in some places for the
purpose of distributing ale or beer among the domestics, labourers,
or attendants ; and hence the expression of a horn of ale, beer, or
whiskey, is familiar to almost every Irish ear. Horns, therefore,
being the early drinking vessels of the descendants of both Greeks
and Goths, account for representing Bacchus with bulls' horns ;
and why he has sometimes been called Taurus.

From the practice of drinking out of horns, filled to overflowing,
may have originated the cornu-copice, or horn of plenty, so familiar in
heathen mythology, and from which was supposed to issue a super
abundance of all the riches of art and nature. These drinking-
horns, being the first in use, have, no doubt, been continued in con
sequence of their antiquity. The scriptures mention them in diffe
rent places.f

Horns were fixed on the ancient altars not only for use, but for
ornament ; the sacred oil of the tabernacle was kept in a horn ; the
sacrifices were frequently bound to the altar by cords from them ;
and some altars were constructed entirely of these materials, so that
they were held as sacred from the most remote times.J Galen re-
Pennant's Tour in Scotland, Voyage to the Hebrides, vol. ii. p. 194.
f 1st Samuel xvi. Isai. xxxii. 24. J Exodus ii. 27.

595

reports, tli at at Rome, oil, wine, honey, and vinegar, were measured
in horn vessels ; Horace speaks of them as being common utensils ;
Pliny describes the use of horn-drinking cups as familiar to all the
nations of the north ; Caesar mentions that in the Herciuian forest,
large cups made of the horns of the Urus were in general use.

Xenophon gays the same of many of the nations of Europe and
Asia; and the ancient poets, JEschylus, Sophocles, and Pindar,
always represent their heroes drinking out of horns ; and, in some
parts of Africa, these are the only vessels used for keeping liquor.
Travellers, in ancient times, always carried a horn for the purpose
of taking up water from a spring to quench their thirst. Such a horn
had Samuel when commanded to fill it with oil and proceed to Beth
lehem to consecrate a king over Israel.

The drinking-vessels of the Greeks, Britons, and the Celtic
nations, were of various sizes and materials. The ancient Britons had
cups of silver, wood, and earth, with horns of oxen and other animals.
In the Itinerary of Archbishop Baldwin, through Wales in 1158,
mention is made of Hirlas, or the drinking horn of Owen, who was
Prince of South Wales in 978. It is described as a vessel of curious
workmanship, " with an enriched lid of gold," and was the subject
of a poem composed by one of the Cambrian Bards, translated by Sir
Richard Colt Hoare, from the original of Giraldus Cambrensis. The
horn of Ulphus, preserved in the Cathedral of York, which is made
of ivory, 27 inches in height, and 5 inches in breadth at the top, has
a chain fastened to it by which it may be hung up ; and was pre
sented to that church by a northern prince about the beginning of the
eleventh century. In the museum of the College of Dublin, is a
similar ivory horn of sixteen sides, about 16 inches high, gilt, and
mounted with brass. Round the mouth-piece is this inscription in
Gothic characters — " Tiguranius, (or Tighernan,) O'Lavan made
me for the love of God." This horn, which was certainly made for
a drinking- cup, has been called the charter-horn; but, for what
reason cannot be determined, unless from the practice which is said
to have been observed in the conveyance of estates or other property
by the donor giving a drinking-horn, or cup, in ratification of the
charter. The conformity between the ancient horns of the north and
those of the east, shews them to have had one common origin
and object.

The Caledonians generally employed shells, which are still in use
among the Highlanders, and from the horn of the Urus drinking-cups
were made and ornamented with silver. Neale, in his Travels, saw,
at Para, the horn of a rhinoceros admirably sculptured in low relief,
and which- was said to have been found among the sands of Egypt.

596

Its form was scaphoid, resembling that of the double-headed paterae,
in use among the ancients for pouring libations on the altars of the
gods, some of which, of pure gold, have been dug up lately in the bogs
of Ireland.

The intemperate Thracians were accustomed to empty them in their
drinking matches at a single draught, a practice which the Highland
chieftains of the present day still observe. It was probably owing
to such an exploit, that Alexander the Great met with his sudden
death, as he was in the very act of employing a drinking-horn called
the cup of Hercules, when he fell down and expired. The horns of
the rhinoceros were particularly selected by the ancients for their
paterae, from an opinion that they possessed an occult, magical
quality, so that no poisonous liquid could be poured into them with
out being shewn by a cold dew exuding through the pores and
appearing on the surface. It was this superstitious notion that
induced Mithridates never to drink from any other vessel than
the horn of a rhinoceros, as he was in constant dread of being poisoned.
The Chinese of the present day use large cups of this description on par
ticular occasions of ceremony, and at the close of their entertainments.
Porcelain cups, it is thought, were first introduced at Rome by Pompey,
when he returned from the shores of the Caspian sea, and such wras at
that time their value that one which held three sextari, sold for twenty
talents (£3860), and Nero gave three hundred talents (£57,900) for a
single vessel.

Augustus, upon the conquest of Egypt, selected out of all the
spoils of Alexandria, a single murrhine cup for his own use. This
murrhine is believed to have been porcelain, and it is said that Cleo
patra drank her narcotic wine out of china; and such was the fancy
for those costly cups, that Nero, according to Pliny, paid 6000
sestertia, (nearly £50,000) for two glass cups with handles.*

Antiquarians are divided respecting the substance called murrhine,
and whether cups made of it were ever introduced into Ireland, or
any of the British Isles, is uncertain ; but they were held in high
estimation by the ancients. Dr. Hagar asserts, that they were formed
of a Chinese stone called yu, diversified in colour, and bearing a
polish like agate. This yu, which is a kind of pebble, is distinguished
by the names of the water-yu, and the land, or earth-yu, one being
found in rivers, and the other in mountains.

That the Romans might have procured these from the East is
highly probable, since we are assured that three centuries before the

Pliney, B.xxxvi. 26 vide Dr. Vincent's Appendix to the Periplus of NearclHis,
p. 44.

597

Christian era, the cups used at the tables of the Chinese princes were of
gold, silver, and yu stone, and in the times of Augustus and Nero, a
yu-cup was a most acceptable offering to a Chinese sovereign.

In a passage of Martial, allusion is made to the Romans using
murrhine-goblets in drinking warm Vine, which Dr. Hagar quotes as
an additional proof that these vessels were procured from China,
since in that empire all liquors are drunk warm. The extravagant
price for yu need not be wondered at, being so very rare ; and even
at the present day, yu stone is considered by the Chinese more
valuable than gold, since nine or ten years are incessantly employed
in the manufacture of a single piece.*

Those stones are from two to twelve inches in diameter ; some as
white as snow ; some of the most beautiful emerald green ; others
yellow, vermilion, and jet black. The rarest and most esteemed
varieties of this stone are the white speckled with red ; and the green
veined with gold. Many of the wealthy Romans used drinking-
vessels, the inside of which were cut and polished, forming mirrors ;
so that the person drinking might see his own image multiplied.
A goblet of this description was, among other valuable gifts, pre
sented by Valerian to the Emperor Probus.

Vallancey states, that, by the ancient Brehon laws, a tax or tribute
to the chief was placed on each load of cromer indi, or cocoa-nuts,
the shells of which were used as drinking-cups by the Irish, which
is a corroboration of the early intercourse of this people with the
Eastern nations. About the beginning of the 17th century, the
French introduced cups made of ice for the double purpose of drinking
and keeping the wine cool.

The Pretender, during his wanderings amongst the fastnesses of
Scotland, was in the habit of drinking out of a cup, with a glass
bottom, through which he could observe and guard against the
motions of an enemy. Such cups were common in the feudal times.

A curious antique cup, holding about a quart, was presented with
rose-water to the Queen after dinner, at the civic entertainment given
to her on the 9th November, 1837. This cup belonged to James I.,
and bore the following quaint inscription on the frieze, or fillet that
surrounded the upper part :

" To faithful soules,

Christ giveth drink right goode."

The salver, on which it was served, had once graced the board
of George L, whose arms were engraved thereon.

Amongst the cups used in ancient times, there were none more

* Hagar on the Numismatical Hist, of the Chinese, vide Valpy'g Classical Jour.

598

extraordinary than those made of human sculls ; some using those of
their |enemies ; others, those of their friends. Herodotus informs
us, that they were shaped into cups by cutting them off below the eye
brows, sometimes neatly varnished, and the Scythians, if poor, covered
them with leather, but if rich, in addition to that, they deco
rated them with gold. Rubruquis says, that the Thibetians made
handsome drinking-cups of the sculls of their parents, that they might
the better recollect them in the times of their festivity. It is told
of the Persian monarch Shah- Abas the Great, that having slain an
tlsbeck prince, he made a drinking-cup of his scull set in gold, which
was used on solemn occasions by his successors. An Usbeck ambas
sador, being at the court of Ispahan, was presented by the emperor
with this cup full of wine, and was asked if he knew of what it was
composed. Being told that it was the head of his king, the ambas
sador discreetly remarked : — " My king was happy in dying by the
hand of so great a monarch ; but to me he appears much more glorious
at present, since I see his memory preserved by so mighty a king as
your majesty I" It is related of Ghenghis Khan, that he was in the
habit of using a silver-enchased scull, as a drinking- cup not only in
ordinary but on festive occasions.

Alboin, king of Lombardy, converted the scull of his father-in-law
Gunimond, whom he had slain in battle, into a drinking-cup, and
presented it filled with wine to his wife Rosamond, as a trophy of his
victory. We are informed that Gerald Fitzgerald, Earl of Kildaie,
drank out of a scull as a vessel at that time in common use-. About
thirty years since, Mr. McCarthy, a gentleman of the county of Cork,
who, in the language of the Beauford Manuscript, was " Titular king
of Munster," being the descendant of M'Carthy More, prince of that
province, had in his possession a cup said to be made from the scull
of an ancestor of Brian Boiromhe, whom the McCarthys had slain in
battle. It was highly polished and had a lid of silver. It was said to
be the custom of the Irish to retain such cups, arid pledge their friends
from these favourite vessels ; many of which have been found buried
in bogs, and several of them are still in the possession of old families.

It is, however, strongly maintained, that the practice of drinking
out of human sculls was not an usage common in Ireland. Vallancey
quotes a French writer to show that the ancient Gauls made drinking-
cups of their enemies slain in battle, and asks — " Do not such authors
know, that their ancestors imported this barbarous custom from the
East ?" The polished Arabians and Persians, he adds, did the same.
Their poems, which we admire so much for their soft imagery, were
delivered at their evening conversations, when the goblet scull of their

599

enemy, filled with delicious wine, was passing- in its festive round,
while the minstrel sung as follows : —

" Boy, bring the wine, for the season of roses is come — like nightingales, let us
sink at once into nests of roses ; in the recess of the garden, quaff off the goblet of
wine. * * *

The pleasantest beverage is the blood of our enemies.

The most salutary shade is that of spears.

The sword and the dagger are fragrant flowers.

Our drink is the blood of our enemies ;

And our cups are their sculls."

Vallancey,in his specimen of an Irish Dictionary, observes, that the
term bollog, signifies a large shell of the murex species, a drinking-
cup of horn, and also a scull from its hemispherical or round figure :
hence he infers, that the supposition of the ancient Irish drinking out
of the sculls of their enemies was ridiculous. The term scull, it is
affirmed, was usually given by the Goths to their drinking-vessels,
and Dr. Jamieson has ingeniously argued, that the same appellation
was given to drinking-cups in England and Scotland at a very
remote period ; so the idea of drinking out of these sculls in these
countries, does not imply barbarism, but a general practice under that
term. Notwithstanding the plausibility of these arguments, it is more
than probable, that the ancient Irish indulged in libations out of the
sculls of their enemies, since so many specimens of these drinking
vessels have been found to exist in the country.

The large scull which was converted into a drinking-cup by Lord
Byron, as well as the appropriate verses of his Lordship and Mr.
Thos. Moore on the occasion, maybe in the recollection of the reader.

The following is a representation of the cups common in Ireland,
at an early period.

600

That the vine ever flourished in Ireland as a plant of general
culture, is questionable ; yet it is asserted by Ledwich and others,
that the vineyards were once common in the country ; and an old
canon, to the following effect, is cited in proof of the assertion : —
" If fowl destroy a crop, a vineyard, or garden, enclosed with a hedge
of five feet high, the owner shall make a recompense ;" from which
it has been inferred, that the culture of the grape was once practised
here on no ordinary scale. The venerable Bede, who flourished about
the end of the seventh century, says, that " Ireland is pleasantly situ
ated, that it abounds with honey, and is not destitute of vines,"* but
this should not lead us to conclude that Ireland was a wine country.
Certainly we have in the national records compound terms for every
thing relative to the grape, such asjion-amhuin, a vineyard, jion-dios,
a wine-press,yz0/z-c/iaor, a grape, Jinavain^ a vineyard, &c. Besides,
Colonel Vallancey speaks of an Irish almanack of the fourteenth
century, in his possession, in which mention is made of the time of
gathering the grapes, and drinking must or new wine. In the annals
under A.M. 3050, Fiachda II. was surnamed Fionsgothach, (the
flower-king) from Jion, wine, and sgoth, a flower, wine made from
flowers being then much in use ; but from what description is unknown.
All these matters do not warrant the assumption or belief that the
vine ever formed an article of general cultivation in this country.
Its plantation could only have been at best an object of partial atten
tion, either in gardens or grounds attached to abbeys and monasteries,
and even these were confined to the south of the kingdom. From
what has been already advanced respecting the vine in other countries,
it must be evident that Ireland could not be a land for its propagation
encircled, as it is, by an immense ocean, subject to great moisture,
and beyond the range of that zone, to which the growth of this fruit
is naturally restricted.

Wine, however, was early in use in Ireland, as it is mentioned in
the earliest annals and poems. Adamnan notices it, (B. 2. c. i.) while
the annals of Tigernach, A.D. 534, record the circumstance of an Irish
monarch being drowned in this liquor after the manner of Prince
George, Duke of Clarence, brother to Edward IV. who chose to be
drowned in a butt of Malmsey.

It is remarkable, that in a country where the arts were manifestly
carried to such perfection, that the study of alchymy, (so enthusiasti
cally pursued by the rest of mankind in other parts of the world,) does
not appear to have formed a branch of speculative knowledge in

Bede, Eccles. Hist. B. i. c. 1.

601

Ireland ; but, although our annals arc silent on this subject, it does
not follow but such a study may have been pursued ; and that it was,
seems highly probable, since it is certain that the study of medicine
was not neglected by our ancestoi s ; for we are informed, that in the
reign of Cormac Cas, there was a famous medical college in Munster,
and a poem is still extant in celebration of the great abilities of
Finighin, a chief professor. On the other hand, were it certain that
the Irish did not pursue a search so vain and futile as that of the
philosopher's stone, it would argue in favour of the solidity of their
judgment, and, from what does appear, that their attention was
directed to considerations of a higher nature — those of regulating and
preserving the purity of their history, laws, and usages.

When Partholanus, a Grecian colonist, came to Ireland, (A. M
1798,) it is said, that he brought with him ploughmen and brewers.
If such be the fact, the knowledge of malting among the Irish must
have been coeval with the first settlers.

That agriculture was, at an early age, carried to considerable extent
in Ireland, we have every reason to believe. O'Halloran and
O'Connor assert, that the first employment of the Milesian colony,
after their arrival from Spain, consisted in clearing a portion of the
country of the woods and forests, with which it was covered ; and
that history records, with particular respect, those monarchs who gave
the greatest encouragement to the cultivation of the soil. Though
there is an omission in the fragments of those times, the hand of
industry has supplied us with sufficient evidence to prove, that this
country was more populous than at present, since streets and other
remains of towns were sometime since visible on the tops of moun
tains ; and the marks of the plough with ridges, are still to be found
at great elevations, having under a bog of five or six feet in depth, a
soil fit for all the purposes of vegetation ; and hence the island was
preferred by foreigners to Great Britain, on account of its fecundity.
This is not to be wondered at, when it is certain, from tradition and
living testimony, that bogs have been known to grow, to move, and to
settle on tracts of land formerly well cultivated ; and it is a singular
circumstance, that three distinct growths of trees have been imbedded
in three distinct strata of bog. Harris and others state, that in 1601,
when Tyrone and O'Donnell marched to the relief of Kinsale through
Connaught, a considerable portion of ploughed land over which they
then passed with their army, is now a bog ; and that the mansion-
house of a nobleman is to be. seen in the midst of it. The popula
tion of the country could not be inconsiderable, since in Munster alone,
during the reign of Brian Boiromhe, 30,000 fighting men could be

602

brought into the field, composed of 25,000 infantry and 5,000 cavalry ;
with a fleet of 300 sail fully manned, of which it is said Callachan, one
of the Munster princes, furnished 120 ships. For the subsistence of
so great a population, the cultivation of grain must have been consi
derable — the irrigation of land was then practised — and wheat, or
cruitneach, as it is termed in Irish, was abundant ; which grain, some
say, was introduced by the Cruithnii, a race of Scandinavian Picts.
But it is more probable, that it was introduced many centuries before
through an intercourse with foreign nations ; and that barley was also
cultivated and ale brewed from it previous to our first acquaintance
with the Danes in the nineth century, is indisputable. Orna, accord
ing to Vallancey, is the Irish term for barley, and Strahlenberg says,
that Arba Buda is the Calmuck term for wheat, corresponding nearly
with the Irish epithet Arbha Budh, signifying yellow grain. From
these circumstances, it is manifest that ale or beer from grain
was early brewed in this island, and the silence of Bede and Cam-
brensis on the subject is no proof to the contrary, though Ledwich
inconsiderately admits that it is.* We learn from the writings of
Cormac M'Cullenan, Archbishop of Cashel and king of Munster, who
flourished in the ninth century, that the making of malt and brewing
of ale were then familiar in this country.

Cuirm was a common term applied to beer and ale ; and brocat or
sainlinri) (in Welsh bracat\ was a name for a drink brewed from
malt, brae or breach signifying malt ; hence the word meant a good
or agreeable ale from malt. Cuirm, in its general acceptation, implied
festive drinking, with hospitable welcome and cordiality ; and it yet
justifies the common saying — " I will hold no cuirm with an evil com
panion or a dangerous neighbour !"

In the fifteenth chapter of Jonas's life of St. Columbanus, (who
wrote between 589 and 640) there is the following curious passage
illustrative of this subject : — " When the hour of refreshment
approached, the minister endeavoured to serve about the ale (cerevi-
siam) which is bruised from the juice of wheat and barley, and which,
above all the nations of the earth, except the Scordiscoa and Dardans
who inhabit the borders of the ocean, those of Gaul, Britain, Ireland,
and Germany, and others who are not unlike them in manners, use ;
he carried to the cellar a vessel which they called a typrus, and placed
it before the vessel in which the ale was deposited, when having
touched the spigot, he suffered it to run into the typrus"^

Grain, in those days, was separated from the husk, not by threshing,

* Antiquities, 2nd Ed. 4to. p. 371. f Messingham, Flor. p. 226.

603

but by burning, 'till the ear was fully disengaged from the straw and
chaff. This was, generally, the work of the women.

The same method was practised in the Highlands of Scotland, and
a similar mode of separation was observed by Mr. Turner, when he
passed through Bootan to Thibet.*

Parched corn still forms a portion of the food of the Arabs resident
in Palestine, while our Milesian ancestors were so expert in the pre
paration of grain in this way, that they could produce bread in the
course of one hour after reaping.

The introduction of water-mills, to render grain more subservient
to domestic purposes, took place about the year 500, and is attributed
to the monks of that period — a proof that agriculture was then more
extensive than some prejudicial writers are willing to acknowledge :
for although querns continued to be used for many ages afterwards,
that is no evidence that grain was not abundant.

Tigernach mentions two warriors who were killed in a mill in
Leinster in 1651 ; and Cormac's Glossary derives the wordmuiland
(a mill), from mol, a shaft, and ond, a stone, the principal parts
of the machinery. Even in modern times others deduce the term
mill from mol, to grind, and lind, a pond, because driven by water.
There is little doubt that w^ater-mills were older than Christianity in
Ireland, a country in which grain was cultivated 1500 years previous
to that era. Many of the townlands, at the present day, retain the
name of Mullein, compounded or associated with the names of the
owners, shewing the places or sites of mills.

Querns may be considered as one of the earliest inventions for
grinding grain, and are supposed to be the same kind of machine as
that referred to in different books of the Old Testament,! and still
used in the East and among the Sclavonic tribes of Europe. This
was, and is, the work of the women, especially of the female slaves.
In the course of time, shafts wrere fitted to them, so that cattle might
supply the place of manual labour.

Water-mills for the grinding of grain are said to have been the
invention of Mithridates, and were first erected in Rome on the Tiber,
in the time of Augustus, and the event is celebrated by Antipater in
a Greek epigram, so that their introduction into this country was not
remote from their invention, and not until they were considered
effective by the improvements they had undergone. It was a consi-

* Turner's Embassy 4to. p. 185.

f Exodus xi. 5. Numbers xi. 8. Judges, ix. 53. Matthew, xxiv. 41. Quern,
A»glo- Saxon civeoni and czi-yrn, signifies a mill.

604

time after the invention of water-mills, that wind-mills were
introduced. Dr. Clarke observed, that in Cyprus, the mode of grind
ing- grain was the same as that anciently practised in Scotland,
Lapland, Ireland, and all parts of Palestine, as well as throughout
the Levant, which was uniformly by querns or hand-mills. This mode
of grinding grain was commonly managed by women. The process,
as observed by him at Nazareth, was thus effected : — Two women
seated opposite each other held between them two round flat stones ;
in the centre of the upper one was a cavity for pouring in the corn, and
by the side of this an upright wooden handle for the purpose of moving
the stone. One of the women with her right hand pushed this handle
to the female opposite, who again sent it to her companion, and thus
a rotatory and rapid motion was given to the upper stone, the left hand
being constantly employed pouring in a fresh supply of grain, while
the flour and bran fell from the sides of the machine ; thus illustrating
the observations of our Saviour, alluding to this custom in his predic
tion concerning the destruction of Jerusalem : —

" Two women shall be grinding at the mill, the one shall be taken
and the other left."* The same practice seems to have been commoa
in the days of Homer, as appears from the following quotation : —

A woman, next a labourer at the mill

Hard by, where all the palace mills were wrought,

Gave him the omen of propitious sounds.

Twelve maidens, day by day, toil at the mills,

Meal grinding some, or barley, some of wheat,

Marrow of man.

Full fifty female menials serv'd the king

In household offices ; the rapid mills

These burning, pulverize the mellow'd grain.f

The description given by Dr. Johnson of the handmills that he saw
used in the Hebrides, being similar to those already noticed, and to the
querns formerly used in Ireland, is worthy of recital.J

These mills consisted of two stones about a foot and a half in
diameter, the lower a little convex to which the concavity of the upper
was fitted ; in the middle of the upper stone was a round ball, and on
one side a long handle j the grinder shed the corn gradually into the
hole with one hand and worked the handle round with the other ; the
corn slid down the convexity of the lower stone, and by the motion of
the upper it was ground in its passage.

* Matthew, XXIV. 41. f Cowper's Odyssey, Lib. 20-105, and Lib. 7-10.
J Journey to the Western Islands

605

Where expedition was necessary, two women were commonly
employed in the operation, and it is an extraordinary coincidence, that
this mode of grinding grain in Ireland and Scotland should exactly
correspond with the method used in Asia from the most remote period,
a striking and unquestionahle proof that our arts had their origin in
the East ; and it is, therefore, not singular that our antiquaries should
have traced our ancestry to that quarter.

Even in Chili, amongst the Indians, maize is ground by a species
of quern formed of two stones, one moveable within the other which
is hollow. This is worked by a woman, who, with her right hand,
keeps the stone in motion, while, with her left, she supplies the grain
as the flour falls into a receptacle for the purpose.

About the time of the introduction of water-mills, ale was in com
mon use and home-made ; but the wine in general requisition was
imported from Poictou in France, and of which Cambrensis speaks as
having met with in great plenty.

Carnden relates, that the ancient and peculiar drink of the Irish, as
well as of the Britons, was ale. This is confirmed by Dioscorides, who
flourished under Nero. That writer, speaking of the Britons and Irish,
whom he called Heberi, says, that they used a liquor called curmi,
made from barley,* a name, according to Pliny, given to the same
description of drink in common use amongst the Egyptians and other
nations, as noticed in a former part of this publication. Camden
must, therefore, be in error when he remarks, that curmi is corruptly
written for the old British word cwrw or kiurw, which, he says, signi
fies al'j a name taken from those Banes who called it oela, not as
Resilius derives it from Alica.

It is the same liquor which Julian the Apostate, who died in 363,
in one of his epigrams, denominated Trvgoyjjvjj *#* B^O/MOV a B^d^ov,
curmi made of wheat and oats, not the liquor of Bacchus, or in other
words, the offspring of corn, a liquor like wine without wine. This
drink, the same perhaps as the lean or leuan of the Scotch, famous in
the rhymes of the bards, although considered wholesome, is ridiculed
by H. d'Abrinces, a Norman, poet to Henry III., in the following
couplets : —

Sure 'tis some monster of the Stygian pool,
They here call ale, the draughts how thick and foul
First taken down are passed so wond'rous thin,
Plenty of dregs must needs remain within.

* Lib. XI. c. 110.

606

But the learned Frenchman, Adrian Turnebus, in his treatise on wine,
doubts not but those who drink this liquor, if they avoid excess, will
be longer lived than those who drink wine ; whence, continues
Camden, it happens that many of our ale-drinkers live to the age of
one hundred years.* But the name of the liquor is not of such impor
tance as that of substantiating the fact, that ale or beer was known in
Ireland from the most remote antiquity. According to Ware, the
Irish had no peculiar name to distinguish this drink, except the word
leaun, which signifies liquor in general, and which was understood to
apply equally to ale or beer. Whether the ingredients were infused
into beer, in ancient times, to give it an antiseptic quality, writers have
not been sufficiently explicit ; but the practice of infusing bitter herbs
into vinous, as well as other sorts of drink, is, we have seen, very
ancient.

The poculum absinthiatum was, in early ages, accounted a whole
some beverage, and worm-wood was supposed to be an antidote for
disorders occasioned by inebriety ; while some French chemists affirm
that beer made with worm-wood intoxicates more quickly, and that
it greatly assists the digestive organs.

The modern Swiss still solaces himself, amidst the Alpine snows,
with a spirit distilled from gentian, the bitterness of which, though
repugnant to others, is relished by him as a most delightful luxury.
The nepenthe of Helen, with which she solaced her guests, was one
of those mixtures that the Egyptians were in the habit of infusing
with their beer ; and the practice of brewing heath, which was anciently
carried on in Ireland, could not have been any thing else than boiling
with malt a quantity of that plant, for the purpose of giving it an
antiseptic and better quality.

In some of the Western Islands, heath, as already observed, formed
a principal constituent of the beer of the inhabitants ; but the accurate
knowledge of its use perished with the extirpation of the Picts.
Wormius speaks of the drinking of heather-beer, as one of the
pleasures, which the souls of departed heroes enjoyed in the society
of the gods. The Danes, when in possession of this country, are said
to have brewed boir, or beer, from heath ; but it is certain that this
shrub would yield a very unpalatable drink without the addition of
some saccharine matter. As a proof of this, a gentleman in the county
of Donegal, tried, some years since, to manufacture beer from heather,
but was unsuccessful; hence it may be presumed, that the term
heather-beer means nothing more than the name, the flower and tops

* Camden's Brit. vol. ii, p. 303.

607

of the heath being used as a substitute for hops ; since it is well known,
that previous to the introduction of the latter plant, broom, worm
wood, and other bitter herbs, have been so employed.

AVhen heather-beer, therefore, is spoken of, it should be understood
as implying the art of making beer, in the same way as we associate
the idea of that drink when speaking of hops ; but what kind of grain
was employed, together with heath, is, now, merely a matter of con
jecture. It is, however, more than probable, that buck-wheat (poly-
gonum fagopyrum), was the chief ingredient, since it is a hardy
grain, and most commonly found growing amongst heather ; and from
which peculiarity, the Germans termed it heide-korn from heide (heath)
and horn, Anglice corn. From the early acquaintance of the Danes with
the properties of this corn, there is every reason to believe that it was
it they employed in the manufacture of their beer — a use to which it
is still applied in Denmark, where it is extensively cultivated. Banister,
in his Synopsis of Husbandry, says, that this grain has a singularly in
toxicating quality, and that he observed swine, which had eaten of it,
so inebriated, that they could scarcely move. Of its virtues much has
been previously stated, both as regards its value as an article of food,
subsistence for bees, and a commodity useful in the distillery.

An English gentleman, in a late interesting paper on the proper
ties of heath, says, that when it is two or three years old, if cut down
by a scythe, and dried as much as possible in the shade, it will pro
duce, when infused in a vat or mash-tub, with boiling water mixed
with grain, a very considerable quantity of strong and small beer, as
well as spirits by distillation.

The tradition, which gives to the Danes the credit of extracting a
liquor from heath, also reports that the practice of making it was lost
with their expulsion. After being effectually defeated at Clontarf,
and obliged to fly to their native country, the only remaining survivers
were a father and his two sons, whose lives were promised them as a
reward for the secret of making this beer. The father, knowing the
attachment that youth have to life, and dreading that if his children
survived him, they would discover the secret, which he had resolved
should die with him, proposed that if his sons were slain, he, himself,
would divulge the secret, alleging that if he did so while they were
living, they would destroy him. In accordance with this suggestion,
the young men were put to death, at which the father rejoiced, know
ing that the secret was then with himself, and, with heroic bravery,
exclaimed, " now my purpose is accomplished ; — youth cannot be
practised on for the love of life, to tell a secret, which pain shall not

608

extort from me ; — let me share the same fate with my sons — I am
prepared— I fear not the worst you can inflict — I am ready to die !"
The father shared the fate of his sons, according to his desire, and
thus, it is said, the knowledge of the art died with him.

A few years since, in sinking for a water-course in a townland of
the county of Limerick, a mill, with the machinery, and a portion of
brewing utensils, were said to have been discovered, together with
some cakes of bread and heather, concealed in the position in which
they were left by the Danes. — It was also stated, that a book, or ma
nuscript, containing the receipt for the making of heather -beer, had
been found at the same time ; but that it was clandestinely taken
away. If this statement be correct, it is a corroboration of what is
here advanced, that the Danes employed other ingredients than heath
in the manufacture of their beer, and it would seem that they used
bread instead of grain, like the Egyptians and Abyssinians of the
present day in the composition of Bouza.

In our own days, by an infusion of worm-wood in hot ale, a drink
called purl is used, by bacchanalians, as a morning draught, after a
night's debauch, both in England and Ireland, wormwood being
accounted a corrector of inebriety. The ancients mention a wine
made from it as a wholesome and agreeable drink. According to
some, it was an infusion of the leaves of the plant in a quantity of
wine ; but others say it was produced directly from the plant by
fermentation. The practice, in former times, of fermenting worts by
means of yeast or barm for the purpose of making beer, is allowed to
have been introduced into Ireland by the Celts, and the yeast was
preserved by means of a furze or whin-bush, (gorze, ulex europeus,}
kept in the chimney from brewing to brewing. This, when dipped
in the wort, like rennet in making cheese, caused the liquor to ferment.
We are told that during the intercourse between the Irish and the
people of Chester, in 1156, ale was mentioned as an article of
export into that city, from which it is evident that brewing was fami
liar in the country at that period. In 1184, the rapacious Philip of
Worcester, then governor of Ireland, in one of his excursions, meanly
wrested from the clergy of Armagh, a cauldron of copper used for
brewing, which was sent to Down, but afterwards restored to its
proper owners.

The ancient Irish, at their ordinary entertainments, were served by
waiters with drink in cups of wood, horn, brass, or gold, according to
the4 rank or consequence of the party. They usually sat in a circle on
rushes or beds of grass, instead of benches or couches. Three-legged
wooden tables were placed before them after the manner of the ancient

609

Gauls ; and were covered with victuals, such as bread baked on grid
irons, or under ashes, milk in a variety of forms, flesh and fish boiled
and fried. In the Clironicles of Eri, we find that when the assembly of
the Olam met, mention is made of their going forth to the high cham
ber, and of the boards being spread, and of the horns going round to
excess, while, at the same time, the words of wisdom and of age were
thus expressed : — " Beware of strong drink, my son, it lifteth high,
yea, very high ; it abaseth low, yea, very low, the spirit of man ; it
is the fall of reason, the poison of man's life." When festivities were
held at night, the place of assembly was illuminated by tapers of
immense size as thick as a man's waist, from which issued a brilliant
flame, that rendered every object visible at an incredible distance.
It was by one of these lights, that O'Donnell was led to the tent of
his enemy, Shane O'Neil, the invader of Tyrconnell, in 1557, on which
occasion the latter narrowly escaped destruction. These torches
were composed of the pith of rushes twisted together, having a small
fibre of the skin or bark left on each to prevent cohesion, and were then
well saturated with grease or oil prepared for the purpose. Rush
lights of a similar nature, though on a smaller scale, are yet common
among the peasantry, in lighting up their cabins, when from poverty
or other causes, candles cannot be procured. At many of those
repasts, moderation, then as in modern times, often lost its due res
traint, for, notwithstanding the admonitions of the wise and expe
rienced, " popular resentments were excited, as liquor inflamed the
passions, and contests rarely ended without bloodshed on the spot."*
Such occurrences are not to be accounted extraordinary in a country
where faction and ambition too often disturbed the peace of society,
and proved the bane of liberty and the prosperity of the nation.
At an entertainment given at Tara, about the year 222, when Cormac
and Feargus, kings of Ulster, were contending for the monarchy, it
was contrived by the artful Feargus, in order to render his adver
sary's pretensions to the throne unavailing, to have the hair and beard
of Cormac set on fire, when he had become heated over his cups ; it
being an inviolable law that no person could sit on the throne, who
had any defect either of body or mind. And we find that it was
owing to an indulgence in the use of drink, at one of those festivals,
that the Danish chieftain, Turgesius, in 852, fell a victim to the just
vengeance of Malachy, king of Meath, whose daughter he wished to
violate and obtain for a concubine.

Among the reciprocity of presents mutually interchanged between

* O Connor's Dissertations, p. 110.

610

the chiefs and monarchs, gold and silver drinking-cups formed no
inconsiderable portion. An idea of the extent to which this was
carried, maybe formed from the fact, that, on one occasion, six of the
Munster princes were presented, amongst other gifts, with seven cups
each, two with eight, and the four others with ten cups of gold, being,
no doubt, in proportion to their rank, to the splendour of their tables,
and the quantity of drink consumed at their palaces. Such was the
abundance of drinking-cups, as well the value set upon them, that we
find Cathair Mor bequeathing fifty drinking-cups with broad hoops,
and fifty brown marble vases, as a legacy to Fiacha Baiceda ; and we
have instances on record of the Boige, (a small vessel weighing five
ounces of gold, which was used for drinking Sainlinn, or ale) having
been transmitted from father to son as an heir-loom. At Tara, the
great seat of the monarchy, we read of one hundred and fifty cups of
massive gold being the common supply to keep up the splendour of
the regal table ; and it appears to have been the general practice
among the Irish kings to use large cups at their repasts and entertain
ments. We are told, that Tireldach the monarch, received with other
articles as ransom from O'Brien, king of North Munster, (in 1152) a
very large cup, called by way of pre-eminence, the cup of Brieii
Boru.*

It was customary in those times, for the nobility and chieftains to
have their Bacghal, Bachlamal, or cup-bearer, whose office was to hold
the cup or Bachla at meals and feasts.f The office of cup-bearer
(in Irish, deochbheire) is so ancient, that it is difficult to ascertain the
period of its origin. So remote as the time of Pharaoh, it was a
station of consequence at court, inasmuch as it brought the individual
in contact with the monarch, and was therefore a place of great trust.
Our translators of the Bible have rendered the Hebrew word
for cup-bearer, butler^ which is a corruption of the old English word
boteler, implying a person having the charge of bottling liquors.
Among the Persians and Arabians, the cup-bearer was termed saky,
and he had peculiar privileges. With the Parthians, according to
Athenseus, men used to serve with swords by their sides ; and in the
same manner among the princes of Germany. Ambrose, deHelia et

* O'Halloran, vol. i. p. 209. f Camden's Brit p. 143, Ed. 1695.

J In Hebrew, the cup-bearer was termed TTptyft (Mtuhke), from npU7, to give
drink to; in Greek, 'o<vo^co$, from 'o<vo?, wine, and #£&>, to pour; in Latin,
pocillator, from poeulum, a cup, and pincerna, from Tnvsiv, to drinfi, and xigvoiv,
to mix. The chief cup-bearer was called ^^o<vo'^;«o?, in Hebrew *]127, Shar.
See Genesis, ch. xl.

611

Jejun. (c. 13) describes their Babylonian belts and girdles, covered
with gold buttons, their gold collars, gold scabbards, and shining
hair. Under the Roman emperors, their clothes were of cloth of gold,
as .appears from a passage in ^Elius Lampridius. Homer and Xeno*-
phon speak of cup-bearers as important personages, who were com
mon in the palaces of all the Oriental monarchs : even the prophet
Nehemiah, in some measure, boasts of being cup-bearer to Artaxerxes,
king of Persia, this being the most respectable and confidential situ--
ation in the whole court.* The importance attached by the ancients
to the office of cup-bearer is familiar to every classical reader. The
Athenians had their butlers, who inspected the wine and supplied the
guests with licpior ; and at entertainments, the heralds performed the
office of cup-bearers. Thus in the Odyssey (L. i. v. 142.) we read,

" The heralds and the busy menials there

Minister'd to them ; these their mantling cups

With water slaked." —

Euripides, when a boy, gave wine to the dancers round the altar
of Apollo, as appears from the testimony of Theophrastus and Hie*
ronymus Rhodius. Statues were erected in Alexandria to the cup
bearer of Ptolemy Philadelphus, clad in a tunic and holding a cup.

Mercury, the herald of the gods, is introduced by Alcseus and
Sappho, filling the goblets at the celestial banquets. Among the
Greeks it was customary for handsome young men to fill the cups ;
and Hebe, the goddess of youth, and daughter of Juno, served nectar
to the gods, while Ganymede, the most beautiful of mortals, was
translated to heaven to serve at the table of Jupiter. In sacred
feasts among both Greeks and Romans, only freemen were allowed to
minister, and wore loose dresses, the better to show their freedom ;
but for private persons the noblest captives were selected. Thus
Horace, (B. i. Ode 29.)

" What royal boy, with perfumed haif,

Shall leave his palace halls, thy cup to bear ?"

The Greeks and Romans gave immense prices for the handsomest
youths that could be procured, to fill the office of cup-bearer, and pre
sent the full goblets of wine, which were commonly of splendid work
manship, and decorated with garlands. Thus Homer, (Iliad, B. i.)

" The youth with wine, the copious goblets crowned,
And pleas'd, dispense the flowing cups around."

Juvenal speaks of the flower of Asia costing more than the move*
* Nehem. i. 1.; ii. 1.

612

ables of the Roman kings ; and Pliny, (B. 7. c. 12) says, that a
dealer named Toranius sold two beautiful boys to Mark Antony, for
200,000 sesterces. Boys, who had reached the years of puberty,
served at the tables of the ancient Britons.

Quintus Curtius informs us, that the concubines of the Indian kings
served the wine at the banquets, and carried the sovereign to bed
when he had drunk to excess. Females were, on some occasions,
employed as cup-bearers by the Greeks, and we read of Hecamede
preparing a mixed drink, and of the female attendants of Circe per
forming the same duty. Even the native American chiefs had their
cup-bearers to attend at festivals and on solemn occasions. In the
ages of chivalry, knights-errant had their cup -bearers, who were gene
rally their squires, and were as proud, dignified, and chivalrous as their
masters. In every civilised country, a cup-bearer was equally known
and respected. In Ireland, a cup-bearer was, from the earliest times,
an indispensable and honorary attendant at the court of every monarch
and at every public festivity Cormac, king of Ireland, speaking of
a banquet, says, " The prince should light his lamps, welcome his
guests with clapping of hands, and procure comfortable seats ; the
cup-bearers should be respectable and active in the distribution of meat
and drink ; there should be a moderation of music, short stories, a wel
coming countenance,jfaz'/fefor the learned, withpleasant conversations*"
In serving the wines, it was customary for the cup-bearer to taste
them, for the purpose of shewing that they contained nothing poison
ous. This custom of tasting wines in the courts of monarchs, or at
banquets and public entertainments, is said to have originated with the
Persians, as we learn from Xenophon. Amongst the Romans, this
custom is thought to have been introduced by Augustus Tiberius, who
employed a wine-taster, and succeeding emperors, as well as other
eminent persons, followed the example. The tasting of wines, it is
evident, had its origin in suspicion arising from the fear of every man
in power, who, though he may have justly punished the guilty and
rewarded the meritorious, yet ran the risk of drinking the poisonous
bowl or meeting the assassin's dagger. The office of wine-taster, lately
abolished in this country, must have originated from this custom. At the
feasts of the ancient Irish, large vases or coolers stood at hand, filled with
various liquors ready for distribution by the cup-bearers. These vessels
were of different materials, some of brass, others of mixed metals, and
most of them very expensive and highly ornamented, equalled, perhaps,
in modern times only by the silver wine-cooler of George I V«, which
weighed eight thousand ounces, contained thirty-eight gallons, and
was capable of holding six men. Next in magnitude and splendour

013

may be mentioned the beautiful fountain and cistern exhibited by the
Marquis of Exeter, at Burghley, near Stamford, on the visit of the
Duchess of Kent and her present Majesty, when Princess Victoria,
in September, 1835, and which weighed three thousand, five hundred
ounces of silver.

The splendour of an Irish court, in ancient times, will be best
understood by the description of the hall of Tara, which, in the reign
of Cormac, was 900 feet square, and the diameter of the surrounding
rath was 7 dice or casts of a dart ; it contained 150 apartments, 150
dormitories for guards, with 60 men in each ; the height was 27
cubits ; there were 150 common drinking-horns, 12 doors, and 1000
guests daily, besides princes, orators, and men of science, engravers
of gold and "silver, carvers, modellers, and nobles. There were 27
kitchens and nine water-cisterns for washing the hands and feet of the
visitants. The banqueting hall consisted of 12 stalls or divisions in
each wing, 16 attendants on each side, and two to each table : — 100
guests in all.*

On the first day of November, three days before the feast of Sam-
hui?i, or the moon, in this splendid court sat the monarch with his
face to the west, elevated on a throne, in the centre of the hall. On
his right was the king of Ulster, not so much elevated. On his left
the king of Minister ; behind him was the king of Connaught, and
before him was the king of Leinster. The nobility, bards, and others
had their stations allotted to them according to their rank. At these
assemblies, the records of the kingdom were examined, in order to
preserve the annals from mistakes or doubtful matters : hence the
ofigin of our Irish Psalters.

We find, that wines were plentiful in Ireland, at an early period,
and our annals state, that Brian Boiromhe exacted a tribute from the
Danes of Limerick, about the year 970, of 365 tuns of wine, besides
the same quantity from the ports of Dublin, Wexford, and Drogheda :
among the items of this tribute we find 268 tuns of Spanish wine,
shewing the extent of the commerce of Ireland, at that period, even
in articles of luxury. A large portion of this wine was consumed at
Cean-Corraah, near Killaloe, the residence of the monarch. There
one hundred servants were every day at dinner and supper. From
the kitchens, there were two long corridors parallel to each other
leading to the banqueting hall, along which the servants were stationed,
passing from hand to hand the various services of meats, fruits, wines,

* From an old Irish fragment, found in Trinity College, Dublin, as given by
Vallancey.

G14

£c. Across the Shannon ran a bridge of wood communicating with
the royal wine-cellars, which, to this day, bear the name of Cloch-na-
Fhionne, the wine-store, or building. At this palace, the immortal
Brian entertained the princes and nobles of the kingdom with an
urbanity and a splendour not surpassed in modern times.* The
annual consumption was estimated at 2670 beeves, 1370 hogs, 365 pipes
of red, and 150 hogsheads of other wines. The monarchs, during
the residence of the Danes, were paid certain subsidies from those
traders in money, wines, and merchandise, on the first days of May
and November, and hence the larger sea-ports, in particular, were
bound to pay tribute in proportion to the extent of their commerce
arid the privileges they enjoyed. This tribute, at one time, consisted
in 6,240 bullocks, 6000 cows, 4000 sheep, 5000 hogs, 5140 cloaks
of purple, green, and scarlet, besides 420 tons of iron.

From all that has been said, and the free intercourse that subsisted
so long between the Irish nation and the continent of Europe, it
would be wonderful that any of those arts, which tend either to increase
our knowledge, or add to the comforts of life, should have escaped
observation or remained uncultivated. It would, therefore, be ano
malous among such a people, were some of the more simple arts
unknown to them ; so far from that, we find that they were scarcely
ignorant of any of those inventions or discoveries, which regarded
national interests or domestic comforts. Learning, it is generally
admitted, shone brilliantly here when most of the other portions of
Europe were immersed in ignorance. Such was the proficiency of the
nation in literature, that the Anglo-Saxons and Scots acquired from this
country the elements of their learning or philosophy. Bede records
that schools were open to foreigners, where they were supplied
gratuitously with meat, drink, clothes, lodging, and even books.
Surely, then, where there was such an extension of knowledge, the
mechanical arts could not have been overlooked nor neglected. The
remnants of magnificent churches, monasteries, and princely castles,
over which the hand of time has spread the foliage of the ivy ; the
lofty round-towers, that seem to bid defiance to the ravages of time ;
the sculpture by which many of those buildings are ornamented; and
the splendid, antique, and costly works of art found in the bowels of
the earth, are indubitable monuments of a polished, industrious, and
superior people*

In the luxuries of domestic life, the Irish also excelled, for, as we
bave seen, their feasts were luxurious, their clothing superb, their

* O'Halloran., vol. iii= p. 331?.

615

drinks excellent, and so varied, that no other nation, in this respect,
possessed greater enjoyments. When, however, aqua, vitce was first
introduced or manufactured in Ireland, is not accurately determined.

Spirituous liquors have been noticed in some of our earliest songs ~\
and writings ; and the English, shortly after the invasion, in the time
of Henry II., found the people indulging in potations of this liquor:
History informs us, that the knowledge of aqua vita was first known
in Europe in the reign of that monarch ; but it is more than probable
that it was known in Ireland before the English were acquainted with
it. The strong affinity between the Irish language and the primitive
languages of Asia, as stated by Vallancey and other etymologists,
and the intercourse the Irish had with that quarter of the world, lead
to the supposition that the art of distillation was introduced directly
from India ; but it is more likely that it was received from Spain or
Italy, where it was early known under the epithet of acqua vite or
acqua di vite (water of the vine), the grape being the material from
which a spirit was originally extracted in those countries. The.
monasteries being the repositories of science and the original dispen
saries of medicine, it is a natural surmise that the term acqua vite
was there corrupted into the Latin and universal appellation aqua
vitce (water of life), from its salutary and beneficial effects as a medi
cine; and from the Latin tongue being the general conveyancer of sci
entific discovery, as well as of familiar correspondence, the term aqua
vitce may have crept into common use to signify an indefinite distilled
spirit, in contradistinction to acqua vite, the mere extract of the
grape. The dissolution of the monasteries gave the secret of this
invention to the public, and the elixir of the alembic soon attained the
summit of popular regard.

Campion relates, that when the new settlers were attacked by any
of the diseases common to the country, they used aqua vitce or usque
baugh, the ordinary drink of the inhabitants, as the best restorative
of health, and chief preventive of contagion. Speaking of a famine
which happened in 1316, he says it was caused by the soldiers eating
flesh and drinking aqua vitce in Lent. It would seem that aqua vitce
was employed in Ireland, at one time, as opium has been amongst the
Turks, to inspire heroism ; and this is exemplified in the case of a
knight, named Savage, That lived in 1350, who, previously to entering
the field of battle, ordered to each soldier a mighty draught of aqua
vitce. We learn from Ware and Ledwich, that the aqua vitce, or
usquebaugh of the Irish, was of a less inflammatory nature than that
made in England, because the latter is supposed to be of more recent
invention. Its virtues, and the directions for making it, both simple

616

and compound, are recorded in the Red Book of Ossory,a work com
piled about 500 years since, and which, likewise, contains a
receipt for making1 another liquor termed nectar, composed of a
mixture of honey and wine, having ginger, pepper, and cinnamon,
other ingredients incorporated. This mixture was called piment,
from its pungency and spicy nature, and, on account of its delicious
quality, it was much celebrated by the early French poets, who con
sidered the perfuming of wine with foreign aromatics, then so dear
and difficult of procuring, as the very acme of taste and ingenuity.
In Ireland, it was an early practice to imitate foreign liqueurs, which,
from the praise of the poets alluded to, must have even excelled those
of Italy and France. Aqua vitce was first used in the country as a
medicine, considered as a panacea for all disorders, and the physicians
recommended it to patients indiscriminately for preserving health,
dissipating humours, strengthening the heart, curing colic, dropssy,
palsy, quartan fever, stone, and even prolonging existence itself beyond
the common limits. Hence it was eagerly sought for, and the taste, thus
formed, has been transmitted from generation to generation, with an
attachment which time seems rather to strengthen than to diminish.

The Latin epithet, aqua vita, the Irish term, usquebaugh, and
the modern word, whiskey, are, in point of fact, synonymous. Aqua
vitce signifying the water of life, and usquebaugh, which should be
written Iskebaghah or Isquebeoh, the former implying water of life,
and the latter living water. As Isque, or Iske, means water, it must
appear evident that the Avord whiskey is only a slight alteration in
the pronunciation of this Irish term. Both O'Brien and Vallancey
admit that ai, ay, or ey, are old terms for water, and Isque, or Iske,
implying water, the compound word literally means water of waters.
The word whiskey, therefore, is of very comprehensive import, and
fully expressive of this sense-subduing beverage. Buil-ceann was
also another appellation by which spirits were distinguished, bull signi
fying madness, and ceann the head ; terms fully explanatory of its
infuriating effects and the temporary derangement which it occasions.
Fear-buille is the Irish expression for a madman. Antiquarians
inform us, that buil-ceann was made from a species of black oats,
which, if not malted, must have indeed produced spirits of a very
inflammatory and fiery description, particularly when newly manufac
tured ; and from its powerful effects it procured the name of strong
waters, afterwards abbreviated into X waters, the letter X being anci
ently used as the symbol of purity or perfection.

Vallancey states, that from time immemorial this letter was con
sidered a sacred character among the Egyptians, Chaldeans; Thibe-

6J7

V

tians,and Indians ; and was respected as a high indication of divine
excellence. The Egyptians, however, did not exactly represent it- by
the figure of an X, but as a direct and an inverted X thus J[ : this
sacred symbol is frequently to be found on the columns of the colossal
temples of that celebrated and wonderful nation. On the great
temples of the Dalai-Lama at Puta-La, or the Holy Hill, as well as at
Teshoo-Lomboo, are numerous characters of this kind, all bearing
reference to the lofty attributes of the divinity of the Tliibetians.
From the sacred application of this character it has descended to
common purposes, yet still bearing affinity to its literal meaning, as
in the instance of X waters, &c.

It is curious to observe, that this ancient symbol so common in
Oriental climes, is frequently to be found in Ireland on the pillar-stones
or Phalli of our pagan ancestors. The less learned antiquary con
siders those characters which are marked cross-like, to be Christian
insignia or pagan monuments; but the researching philosopher will
only estimate them in the proper sense as a part of Oriental heathen
ism. That the letter X was most commonly written so as to repre
sent a cross, long before the era of Christianity, seems remarkably
strange, when we are brought by consequences to the full conviction that
the Cross of Christ was the true symbol of perfection, of which all pre
vious characters of the kind may be considered as merely typical.

On the statue of Osiris at Rome was engraved the figure of a cross ;
and in the Temple of Serapis at Alexandria were found on the demoli
tion of that edifice, by the order of Theodosius, crosses cut in stone ;
these, in the interpretation of the wise men of Egypt, signified vitam
venturam ; which discovery is reported to have occasioned the con
version to Christianity of some of the Gentiles.* The application of
the letter X to whiskey, ale, or beer, was, and continues to be, a dis
tinguishing mark of its strength and purity; and lest the single
character might not be sufficient to indicate the strength of
some of our malt liquors, it has been doubled, as in the instance
of double X porter, now so strongly recommended by the faculty,
for its refreshing and strengthening qualities. To usquebaugh the
letter X has never been applied, because this appellation was ex
tended to aqua vitce in its compound state after the admixture of
raisins, fennel-seed, and other ingredients, to mitigate its heat, render
it more pleasant, less inflammatory, and more refreshing.

The origin of the term aqua vitce, as applied to exhilarating liquors,
it is not easy to determine, unless by an admission of the reasoning

* Socr, Hist. Eccles. lib. 5. cap. 17. Sozomon. Hist. Ecclcs. lib. 7. cap. 15.

618

already advanced. Water, in the opinion of the ancient philosophers,
constituted the basis of all matter ; and Moses having written that
the " spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters," it was inferred
that a living or prolific principle was thereby communicated ; hence
the early Persians considered water the source of all bodies,
(aqua omnia), and the Koran states, that " God made every living
thing of water." May not, therefore, the appellation of aqua vitce, or
water of life, have been derived from this prevalent opinion, since it
was reckoned to possess so many renovating and revivifying virtues.
The distillation of this liquor was partially carried on through the
kingdom, and this from malt alone. No restriction appears to have
been put either upon its manufacture or use, until the time of Henry
VIII. when it was decreed, " that there be but one maker of aqua
vitce in every borough-town upon pain of 6s 8d. ;" then a heavy
penalty, when money was so scarce and property so low in value.
At that time the Irish were great proficients in compounding liquors ;
but their usquebaugh was their famous drink, and in great demand.
Whatever might have been its original materials or composition, its
qualities were estimated in proportion to the spices and other aroniatics
used to heighten its qualities, as commonly practised at that perioiL
We also find that no ale should be sold above 2d. per gallon upon
pain of 8d. toties quoties ; and that no wheaten malt should go to any
Irishman's country upon pain of forfeiture of the same in value. This
last restriction arose, no doubt, from an anxiety to limit the use of
wheat in the manufacture of ale and ardent spirits, it being an article
properly confined to the making of bread ; and hence there was ne
prohibition against sending bread, ale, or aqua vitce, beyond the pale.
So early as the reign of Edward I, in 1300, the Irish exported to
Scotland, wheat, oats, malt, and ale, for the purpose of enabling the
monarch to carry on his warlike operations in that kingdom. At the
same period, the mayor and community of Drogheda made him a
present of 80 tuns of wine, and chartered a vessel belonging to their
own port, by which it was conveyed to him at Kirkcudbright.
These historical facts prove that malt was plentiful in Ireland ; and
although it is only from occasional incidents that brewing and distil
lation can be traced to their origin, or to their introduction into this
country, yet sufiicient facts have been adduced to prove that both
were common at a remote period, and perhaps anterior to a connexion
with Great Britain. Dr. Ledwich has stated, contrary to the standing
authentic records of the nation, that distillation from malt commenced
in 1590 ; but it no where appears that the Irish then distilled from
any description of grain but what had been malted, as the practice

of employing raw grain in distillation is of much later date. Why
this antiquarian has fixed on 1590 as the era of distillation in Ireland
is somewhat strange, since we find by an act of parliament passed at
Drogheda in 1556, that distillation had become so extensive as to
cause to be enacted a law against distilling aqua vitce, " a drink," to
use the language of [the enactment, " nothing profitable to be daily
drunken and used, now universally made throughout this realm,
especially in the borders of the Irishry, whereby much corn, grain, and
other things are consumed, £c."* This law prohibited the making of
aqua vitce without a license from the Lord Deputy under the Great
Seal, on pain of imprisonment, and a fine of £4. But peers, gentle
men of £10 per annum in lands for life, or inheritance, and freemen
of towns corporate, had liberty to make aqua vitce.

Notwithstanding the frequent use of spirits at that period, our
wealthy and luxurious countrymen indulged in the use of rich and
costly wines. Hollinshed, in his Chronicles, says, that the great
Shane O'Neil, who proved so violent an opponent to Elizabeth,
usually kept in his cellar at Dundrum, 200 tuns of wine, of which, as
well as usquebaugh, he drank copiously, and sometimes to such
excess, that his attendants were often obliged to bury him in the earth,
chin -deep, until the heating effects of the intoxication had abated.f

The fatal effects of attachment to whiskey are well illustrated in
the fate of the castle of Maynooth, which, in the early part of Eliza
beth's reign, fell into the hands of the Lord Deputy Skeffington,
through the treachery of the governor, Christopher Parese, who kept
the garrison so intoxicated, that they were unable to make any resist
ance. Its ruins, which stand in front of the college in that place,
yet proclaim its former strength and magnificence. The spoils
obtained, while they enriched the conqueror, proved disastrous not
only to the betrayer, who lost his head for his perfidy, but also
to the noble family by whom he was entrusted.

With respect to the nature or peculiarity of the spirits used
in those times, it is now not easy to determine ; but usquebaugh
seems to have been a general name for all compounded spirits, and
plain whiskey as we have it at present, was not the common beverage,
it being customary to infuse the liquor with some savoury, or tasty
ingredients. In the making of usquebaugh, saffron formed not, as
is said by some, a basis, but a chief ingredient in its composition.
In modern times, the application of this term conveys the idea of a
cordial, or liqueur, and as such, the drink is now manufactured. It

* Rol. Parl. 3 & 4. Philip 8c Mary, c. 7. Vcsey's stat. vol. i. p. 251.
f Hollinshed, vol. vi. p. 331.

620

must, therefore, appear evident, whether usquebaugh be applied to the
ancient or modern spirits, that its value, flavour, and goodness
depended on the judgment of the maker, and the prevailing pre
judices of the day — hence the materials employed, varied according
to the caprice of individuals and the fluctuation of public opinion.
Various receipts, therefore, have been given for its composition, among
which the following is considered one of the best : — " To make 10
gallons of this cordial, 2oz. of cloves, nutmegs, and cinnamon, must
be taken, with 4oz. of anise, caraway, and coriander-seed, divided
into equal portions ; also half-a-pound of sliced licorice root. The
seeds and spices being first bruised and mixed with the licorice, are
put into a still with 1 1 gallons of proof spirits and 2 gallons of water ;
and as soon as the spirits is found to come over, a small bag contain
ing about 2oz. of saffron, is fastened to the end of the worm, so that
the run of the liquor must pass through and carry with it the tincture
and essence of the saffron." During the operation, it is usual to press
the saffron-bag in order to convey all the essence of this ingredient
into the fluid, and when the process is finished, the liquor is sweet
ened with the best lump sugar.

The French and others, in addition to the articles already enume
rated, use essential oil of citron, bergamot, oranges, and lemons, with
angelica-seed, vanilla, mace, cubebs, raisins, and dates; but no
limitation can be given for making an article designed to gratify
every palate.

The predominant and early use of saffron in the manufacture of
usquebaugh among the Irish, arose from the extensive application
and well-known virtues of that plant, in several, useful, domestic
purposes. In dyeing yellow, saffron (crocus sativus,) was the chief
ingredient, as it gave that admired tinge to the flowing shirts and
garments, worn by our early ancestors. Its exhilarating, heating,
and aromatic qualities were also so familiar that it was employed as a
part of the Irish Materia Medica, being found a great stimulant and reno
vator. On this account it has been called cor hominis, the heart of man ;
and from enlivening the spirits, it gave rise to the saying, when
speaking of a person in a cheerful state of mind, dormivit in sacco
croci, he hath slept in a sack of saffron. The English, according to Lord
Bacon, were rendered sprightly by a liberal use of saffron in sweet
meats and broths ; and Boerhave calls it a true and genuine rouser
of the animal spirits.

Its use in colouring the ancient Irish apparel, was grounded on
the opinion and prejudice, that it tended to strengthen the body and
limbs — virtues which no other colouring substance was thought to

621

impart ; and here it may be noticed, that the loose and flowing robes
of the Irish bespeak an Oriental origin and imitation. The Irish
were not the only people that employed saffron on particular occa
sions in preference to other substances equally valuable. The Poles
and Spaniards use it in their sauces and richest delicacies, while its
application to the colouring of butter, cheese, creams, and conserves, is
too familiar to require further notice.

The mixing of saffron and aromatic spices with spirits is also of
Oriental origin, it being the practice of almost every nation to put
ingredients into their liquors to gratify the taste by rendering them more
palatable. Thus, in modern times, it is the prevailing practice to
render spirits more agreeable by diluting them with water, adding
lemon and other ingredients to neutralize the pungency or ardour of
the spirit, as exemplified in our common drink termed punch.

The beverage called punch, so popular in this country, and
throughout the whole of the British empire, is a compound drink,
which is generally believed to have originated in the East, and is said
to have been first made by the English at Nemle, near Goa. The
Persian punj, or the Sanscrit pancha, signifying^*?, is most probably
the source of its derivation ; since it denotes the number of ingre
dients of which it is composed.

The palc-puntz of Surat, as well as the boule-ponge met writh by
Bennin in 1644, (see page 156 of this work,) are merely terms for
the liquor known to us as punch. The former consisted of arrack,
rose-water, juice of citrons, spices, and sugar.

Freyer, in his travels, says, that the word punch is purely Indian,
and is understood to mean the mixture of five ingredients as a drink.
Struys and Mandelslo, both old wrriters, support the same opinion,
and clearly show the liquor to be Oriental. How well the making
of punch is understood by our countrymen requires no comment!

The following account of a jovial bowl of this beverage may
be amusing: — In the year 1694, a bowl of punch was made at the
house of the Right Hon. Edward Russell, Commander-in-chief in the
Mediterranean. It was made in a fountain in the centre of a garden
surrounded by four walks, each of which wras covered over-head
with orange and lemon trees, and having a table the whole length of
it, spread with a cold collation, confectionary, &c. The following
ingredients were mixed in tlie fountain, viz., four hogsheads of
brandy, eight hogsheads of water, 25,000 lemons, 20 gallons of lime-
juice, 1,300 weight of fine, white Lisbon sugar, five pounds of
grated nutmegs, 300 toasted biscuits, and a pipe of dry Malaga.
A large canopy was raised over the fountain to keep off the rain,

62S

and a boy belonging to the fleet, towed round the circle, and filled
the cups to the company, of which it was computed more than 6,000
men partook.

The partiality of some individuals for this beverage is well illus
trated by the following anecdote, which the Author had from an
authentic source : — A gentleman in the south of Ireland, who was
fond of fox-hunting and other field-sports, seldom sat down to
dinner without a few friends, who were equally social. After
returning on one occasion, accompanied by his fellow-sportsmen, and
partaking of a good dinner, he and his guests applied themselves to the
enjoyment of the bottle. After drinking to a reasonable hour, one of
them conceiving he had taken his quantum, and having to attend a
fair on the following day, retired to his home. But what was his
surprise when he called at his friend's house, on his way at six
o'clock in the morning, to find the servant coming to the door with a
kettle of water. Suspecting its purpose, he exclaimed, " Ah! John, is

your master still at the punch ? Yes ! by H ," replied the other,

" this is the twelfth kettle, since you left him last night !"

The subjoined lines, translated from the German of Schiller, are
taken from the Dublin University Magazine for January, 1835, as
conveying some good moral reflections on this subject :~~

Four be the elements : Pour the still water-
Here we assemble 'em Unwarning by sound,

Each of man's world Eternity's Ocean

Or existence an emblem. Is dark'ning around !

Press from the lemon Mingle the spirit,

The slow-flowing juices — The life of the bowl —

Bitter is Life Man is cold mortar,

In its lessons and uses ! Unwarmed by a soul.

Bruise the fair sugar lumps — • Drink of the stream

Nature intended Ere its potency goes —

Her sweet and severe No bath is refreshing

To be every where blended. Except while it gl owg.

Malt-drink in Ireland, as has been already stated, was of early
origin, but its general use was inconsiderable till after the English
invasion. A duty of 5s. 3|d. ty barrel was imposed on it in 1787,
when its consumption became of some magnitude. While it was in
operation, this duty varied in proportion to the exigencies of the state
and the views of the ministry ; but the government, from a wish to
encourage the use of malt liquors, and the advancement of agriculture,
thought it expedient to repeal the duty altogether ; at the same time
[ the duty was raised on malt from 9Jd. to Is. 3d. the bushel, and
afterwards gradually increased to 4s. 5d., and was again lowered to

623

2s. 7d., the present standard duty. It appears from the Parliamen
tary returns, that since 1796, the year in which the Irish beer-duty
was rescinded, there has been on the whole, a falling off in the con
sumption of malt, notwithstanding- the immense increase in the popu
lation, clearly shewing that the abolition of the beer-duty did not
answer the intention, and proving that the Irish people preferred J
spirits.

To what this taste may be attributed might be worthy of inquiry ;
for it must be admitted, that an Irishman has nothing inherent in his
composition to render him more devoted to ardent spirits than the
native of any other country. The most plausible reason for this pre
dilection seems to be, that the malt-drink made in Ireland was never
of strength, flavour, nor purity, equal to that manufactured in England :
hence to the warm and exhilarating spirit a preference was given,
rather than to the thin, cold, and unpalatable beer or ale to be met in
the shops and taverns of the kingdom. In England, the greatest care
was observed by the brewers ; in Ireland the trade was in the hands
of persons, the majority of whom were men of no capital, subject to
no check nor regulation, and studying every thing but the interest of
the public, while malt and hops formed but a small portion of the
drink imposed on the community. On the other hand, it may be
argued that the high duty on these articles induced the brewer to
limit their use as much as possible, and to this the inattention of the
legislature, in no small degree, contributed. Had the duty on malt
been lowered, and a lighter duty been laid on beer with a higher ,_-
impost on whiskey, it might have had the effect of making Ireland
more an ale and beer than a whiskey country, and have prevented
many of those misfortunes that have arisen from the unrestrained and
prevalent use of ardent spirits, to the disgrace of the national character.
It can scarcely be questioned, that were the trade conducted under
the control of wholesome laws and the regulations of government, it
could not fail to have a salutary effect by producing a pleasant,
wholesome beverage, encouraging the fair trader, and punishing the
deleterious manufacturer. The quality of the Irish malt-drink has,
of late, through the conduct of some spirited individuals, been greatly
improved, and is getting into greater repute not only at home but in
the sister kingdoms, and even in foreign countries. The quantity of
malt used in the breweries in the year ending the 5th July, 1827,
was 1,391,456 ; and in the year ending 5th July, 1828, 1,415,832

* Parliamentary Paper, No. 30. Sept. 1828.

624

bushels, yielding for the one, at the rate of two bushels of malt for
every barrel brewed, 695,728, and for the other 707,916 barrels of
the different sorts of malt liquor.* rl he following- is the number of
bushels used by the licensed brewers for the years specified : —

YEARS. BUSHELS. BUSHELS.

1832, Dublin 491,227 Ireland 1,543,265

1833, do 539,226 do 1,683,285

1834, do 790,713 do. 2,055,326

1835, do 577,021 do 1,829,589

1836, do 617,035 do 2,032,856

The malt drink exported was, for the year ending 5th January,

1826, 9,855-]

1827, 10,800

i«9ft n Ofii I

18J8> 11,261 f

1829, 14,499

1830, 15,207 J

Of these, there were sent to England 11,101, and to Scotland
220 barrels, while in 1829 there were sent to the former 11,754, and
to the latter 118 barrels.f The imports of beer during those two
years were 747 barrels from England, and 875 from Scotland. In
1832, there were in Ireland 216 breweries, and in 1837, there were
247 breweries, in which the malt consumed in that year, was 2,034,557
bushels.

To establish a brewery in Ireland on a moderate scale would
require no great capital. For a concern calculated to turn out 30
barrels per week, two coppers only would be requisite, one to boil
fifteen and another to boil six barrels. A mash-keive to answer those
coppers should be about 78 inches in diameter and 40 in altitude.
The under-back need not be of great capacity, one of five barrels'
content would be sufficient, as the liquor is immediately pumped from
it to the coppers. The cooler, usually made of inch and quarter
plank, should be such as not to admit the worts to be, at any time,
more than 2^ inches in depth, the more shallow the better, but much
must depend on the size of the cooler and the magnitude of the apart
ment where it is erected. Two fermenting tuns, of from 15 to 61
barrels' content each, would be adequate for such an establishment ;
they are usually made from American pine. The cost of these
articles may be estimated at —

* Parl. Pap. No. 190, March, 1830.
t Par!. Pap. No. 190, March 1830.

625

£ s. d.

2 Coppers, 60 0 0

1 Mash-keive, or tun 8 00

1 Underback, 200

1 Cooler, 12 0 0

2 Fermenting tuns, 12 0 0

A Wort and water pump,..,...., ^ 500

A Handmill for bruising or grinding malt 10 0 0

40 Barrels, at 11s. ^ barrel, , 22 0 0

70 Half do. at 8s. do .28 00

70 Quarter barrels, at 5s 17 10 0

1 Large Dray, 700

1 Small Dray, 3 10 0

Casks, stillings, troughs, instruments, &c 40 0 0

Total, £267 0 0

To work a concern of this kind, it would require two men and a
boy constantly, with a cooper occasionally to prepare the casks, the
expense of which may be reckoned at £40 annually. From these
data may be easily calculated, what capital might be necessary for a
concern on a larger scale, and which would be proportionably cheaper.
The common process of brewing is to bruise or grind the malt ; the
bruising by cylinders is preferred. The grain is then put into the
mash-keive which is supplied with water at a heat of 160°, where it
is well raked to saturate it with the water, and is allowed to remain
for three hours, during which it is covered with a lid, to prevent it
absorbing so much of the oxygen of the atmosphere as would render
it liable to become sour, to get too cold and not take out the extract.
The liquor is now drawn off, when another mashing at a temperature
of 180° takes place in the usual manner, and is allowed to stand
covered for one hour. A third or final mashing at boiling heat and
then standing for one hour, covered as before, completes the operation.
If, by any accident, the keive should be set, as it1 is termed, or not run
off, as sometimes happens, boiling water is then introduced and
remashed,in order that the extract or fluid may flow the more readily.
The produce of the mashing is called worts, and is successively con
veyed to the cpppers, in which, for about three hours, it is boiled
with a proportion of 2Jft)S. of hops for every barrel intended to be
made. This liquor is sent to the coolers, where it is allowed to reach
the temperature of 63° or 64Q before it is conveyed into the ferment-
ing-tun, where from 40° to 43° gravity by Dicas's Saccharometer is
considered a sufficient strength to yield beer at 20s. ^ barrel. Half
a gallon of good, thick barm is considered necessary to ferment each
barrel of malt brewed or mashed. If the malt be good, it should

2 s

626

produce 2 J barrels of 32 gallons English, or from 40 to 41 gallons
Irish. If ale be brewed at 40s. the barrel, worts of from 70 to 751bs.
' gravity will be sufficient, and each barrel of malt employed in this
way, will, after taking off the ale at the gravity above specified, give
one barrel of table beer, the worts of which require four hours' boiling
on the same hops. The heat in the fermenting-tun should never be
allowed to rise more than from four to five degrees, to regulate which,
the thermometer is commonly suspended in the vessel. In summer,
the heat of the worts put into the tun should be the lowest possible ;
but in no season should they be allowed to remain more than twelve
hours in the cooler. Worts running into the tun generally cool at
two degrees, and an allowance should be made on that account ; but it
is better to have them rather cool than warm, as a few gallons can be
easily heated to bring them up to the necessary temperature. After
being fermented in the tuns, the time for removal into the casks is
indicated by the froth in the tun becoming rather settled ; but it is
never allowed to fall or get down, as it was termed in the old dis
tilling laws. Every three hours, for the first twenty-four, while
the beer is working in the casks, it ought to be filled up by its
own discharge collected from the troughs, on which the casks
are placed. After the first twenty-four hours it is filled occasionally,
in the same manner, every five or six hours ; and so on in proportion
as the working ceases : in three days it is commonly fit for use.
Brown patent malt should be employed to give the liquor colour, if
designed for publicans ; but if for private use, pale drink is preferred.
For fining the liquor, isinglass dissolved in sour beer and strained, is
the material generally used, a pint of which is sufficient for a barrel :
more than what would clear, would injure it, as it thins it and gives
it a tendency to become acid.

When sending out beer and porter from the public breweries, it is
a common practice to put in two gallons of unfermented worts into
each barrel which causes a sort of fermentation, tlirowing up a head
at the bung and making the liquor appear strong and fresh.

In extensive breweries, the malt is commonly ground by rollers,
of which there are more or less employed, according to the extent of
the concern, but the mode of brewing is the same. To regulate the
heat in the keive, some brewers use what they term a dash-box, which
is a species of cylinder placed in such a position as to have discharge
pipes running into it from the different coppers, with fixed thermo
meters to ascertain the heat of the liquor, while a tube with a cock
conveying cold water, is attached, in order to enable the brewer to
convey the liquor into the keive at whatever temperature he may

627

desire, 'fins obviates the old method of taking the heats in the
coppers, and saves much time and trouble. The mashing of the grain
is usually performed by machinery as in distilleries, manual labour
being dispensed with. When the mashing is completed, in order to
prevent the escape of heat, the tun is covered by a fixed suspended
lid, around the circumference of which there hangs about two feet of
canvass, which, when the raking is finished, is drawn round the
circuit of the keive, thereby forming a complete covering : in
some large breweries no covering is used. In this stage the
liquor is permitted to remain, till the solid parts settle, when the liquor
is drawn off into the underback. Three mashings are commonly made
to extract the whole of the saccharine matter, the produce of which
is sent to the copper, where it is boiled with the hops in the propor
tion of one pound and an half to a bushel of malt, and when boiled for
some time, it is discharged into the jack or hop-back. This vessel
has a double bottom, the upper one of which serves as a strainer, being
made of iron perforated with holes, through which the liquor exudes,
leaving the residuum.

This residuum of the hops is conveyed back to the copper and
boiled with the second or third worts, while the liquor thus drained
is sent to the cooler. In this stage of the process, the worts remain
thinly spread over a large surface for cooling, and sometimes fans,
worked by machinery, are placed on the coolers to accelerate this
object ; but where expedition in cooling is required, a refrigerator is
generally employed. That of Mr. Avyard is commonly used, which
consists of a number of thin metal tubes, arranged in a horizontal
position in a cistern, into which there is a constant run of cold
water, made to flow over the tubes in order to cool the fluid
running through them. Various contrivances for the same purpose
have been made, such as metallic plates, so placed in a cylindrical
vessel, as to form conduits for the warm worts to flow through one
set of plates, while through another set, in a contrary direction, a cor
responding quantity of water runs, absorbing the caloric from the
worts, and reducing them with great rapidity to the desired tempe
rature. The average temperature at which the worts are set is about
60°, when they are sent into the squares or gyle-tuns, and yeast is
added. As soon as the fermentation begins to subside, the liquor is
conveyed into fixed fermenting vessels, usually small casks, where
the liquor cleanses itself by working off the yeast, carrying with it a
quantity of the fluid which falls into troughs prepared for the purpose.
The beer thus carried over, is replaced by a quantity taken from a
small reservoir adjoining, and the liquor is maintained at the same

628

level in all the fermenting vessels by means of a regulating cock.
When the fermentation has ceased, the liquor is sent into large vats,
or barreled and sent into market.

In the brewing of porter, the first mash should be heated in the
copper to 150°, in the proportion of two barrels to each quarter of
malt, which ought to be a mixture of best pale and brown malt,
and should be kept mashing for about three-quarters of an hour,
while the liquor should remain on the goods for an hour. The tap of
the mash-tun is then opened to let off the liquor as quickly as possible,
and the tap should be left open till the next liquor is brought into the
tun that the goods may drain. In the mean time, the second liquor has
been heating, and may, in from two to three hours, have acquired the
heat of 160° ; the quantity being one barrel to a quarter of malt. Mash
this, for half or three quarters of an hour ; let it stand for one hour,
and then let it be run off in the course of half an hour more. At
about five and one-half hours from the beginning, the third mash should
be made at 180°, the quantity being one barrel to the quarter ; mash
this for half an hour, let it stand an hour and tap as before.

A fourth liquor is seldom mashed, but if it be, it may be cold or
blood warm, as it is of no use but to make the sour -beer for finings ;
and it is of little consequence how it is done. Some brewers use it for
the first liquor of the next brewing ; but this, perhaps, is not a good
plan, as it may taint the whole brewing.

These worts are to be boiled with from twelve to fourteen pounds of
hops to the quarter of malt, if the liquor is intended for keeping eight
or twelve months; but, in the ordinary run of porter not intended for
keeping, five pounds may be sufficient. The first worts should be
boiled one hour, the second two, and the third four hours.

The worts are now to be cooled down as expeditiously as the wea
ther will permit, to about 60°, if the medium heat of the atmosphere
be about 60°. If it be more or less, allowance must be made. All the
three worts are to be brought together into the gyle-tun, and about
five pints of yeast to the quarter of malt put in, and due time allowed
for fermentation and cleansing. The criterion for cleansing is the
attenuation, and one great point in porter making is, that of separat-
i rig the barm completely from the liquor. The proportion of colouring
is arbitrary, as it greatly depends on the colour of the malt. For
merly it was the practice to employ Socotorine aloes, in the proportion
of half an ounce to a barrel, in the second worts ; and to give a reten
tive head, as much salt of steel as would lie on a half-crown piece was
added with the finings to a barrel. Quassia, in the proportion of a
pound to about twenty barrels, was used as a substitute for the aloes,

629

and copperas for the salt of steel, but these ingredients being noxious
and unwholesome, have been discontinued.

As the colour of porter is chiefly to be attributed to the quantity of
brown or roasted malt used, care is taken to infuse such a quantity of
that material as will produce the degree of colour required, and fining
is effected by isinglass dissolved in stale beer, till it becomes of a
glutinous consistence, a pint of which is the usual allowance for a
barrel, but sometimes more is necessary.

A good colouring article is procured by moistening a quantity of
brown sugar with water, spreading it in a frying-pan to about an inch
deep, placed on a fire, and stirred until it is ignited ; when it is burned
sufficiently, the flame is extinguished, and water is added to the resi
duum till it has the consistency of molasses, and it is then mixed with
the worts in the copper in such quantity as the depth of colour requires.
In Ireland, the brewing trade, though not so extensive as in Eng
land, is, notwithstanding, conducted on a respectable scale. In Cork,
Ban don, Limerick, Fermoy,Waterford, Clogheen, Clonmel, Kilkenny,
and Carlow, are the principal establishments of the south. That of
Beamish and Crawford, situated in the South Main-street, Cork, is
the most considerable ; it is elegantly fitted up, having appropriate
machinery, with vessels on an extensive scale, and is capable of
brewing upwards of 150,000 barrels of porter annually. The con
cerns of Messrs. Lane and Co., W. Cashman and Sons, W. Condon
and Co., in that city, are respectably conducted, and the liquor pro
duced is of superior quality. In the north, there are many highly res
pectable breweries, viz. Drogheda, Castlebellingham, Dundalk, Newry,
Armagh, Monaghan, Dungannon, Donoughmore, Lurgan, Belfast,
and Derry, where malt drink is manufactured to great perfection.
The ales of Drogheda, Castlebellingham, Lurgan and Belfast, have
obtained a high character, while the porter and ales of Dublin are
accounted equal to any brewed in the empire : the extensive exporta
tion of these articles is a proof of this assertion, for, until within these
few years, there was not any export of porter to England, the British
manufacturers supplying that commodity ; and such was the force of
prejudice, that nothing but an English beverage could satisfy an Irish
palate. The house of Messrs. Arthur Guinness, Sons, & Co., was the
first to open the trade of exportation, and they have been success
fully followed by several other respectable houses in Dublin. The
premises of this most enterprising firm are situated at James's Gate,
in the west of the city. The range of buildings covers nearly four
acres ; the arrangement and machinery are upon the most complete
and efficient plan, and every department is so systematic and well-

630

managed, that the work proceeds with the utmost precision and regu
larity ; no confusion, bustle, nor disorder ensues; the grain is taken up,
and weighed in its passage to the lofts, hy ingenious mechanical con
trivances. There are three mash-tuns capable of mashing 600 barrels
at a brewing, with three coppers containing 2,040 barrels. The
mashing is performed by rakes worked by steam-engines, of which
there are two of fifteen horse-power that work all the machinery on
the premises.

Under the bottom of the mash-keives there is a screw fixed in a
trough, so contrived as to draw off all the grains into an adjoining
yard, where they are disposed of to the public. The labour of one
man is sufficient for a keive, through a hole between the real and
artificial bottom of which he is employed to discharge the grains, to
be carried off by the screw. This aperture is secured and rendered
water-tight by means of a cover fastened down to prevent the egress
of the liquid. There are three immense fermenting tuns, and forty-
four vats calculated to hold from 350 to nearly 3,000 barrels;
three of which contain the latter quantity.

In one apartment are an immense number of fixed casks in which
the liquor undergoes the process of cleansing, and in another a number
of cylindrical vessels, termed rounds ; there are 100 of these, holding
six barrels each, so arranged in rows as to admit between them large
and deep troughs to hold the discharge of the barm, as it works off
from each vessel.

The number of persons employed is very great, among which are
no less than eighty coopers. The concern is lighted with gas, and to
secure it from fire, there are pipes so contrived that any quantity of
water can be instantaneously conveyed to every part of the premises ;
these pipes are supplied from a cistern holding 1,100 barrels, and so
elevated as to command the entire establishment. The quantity of
porter capable of being sent out annually, is, at an average, upwards
of 100,000 barrels, that of the other brewers of the city is equally
respectable in proportion to the magnitude of their concerns. The
reputation of the Dublin double X porter being so high, the demand
for it in England is almost incredible ; and it is said to be improved
by the voyage, the motion of which is thought to operate upon it,
in the same manner, as Madeira-wine is acted on by the agitation of
the ship. The export houses are Messrs. Arthur Guinness, Sons, and
Co., Manders and Powell, Watkins, D'Arcy and Co., O'Connell and
Co., L. Finn, Messrs. Sweetman, and the Messrs. Conlan, &c. &c.
Besides the places already mentioned, there are several breweries in
Ireland which manufacture excellent malt-drink j of these, the esta-

631

blishment of Mr. Cassidy at Monasterevan, and that of Darley & Co.
at Stillorgan, are eminent, while the neat concern worked by Mi"
Colgan at Kilcock, endeavours to rival more extensive houses in the
quality of its liquors.

The practice of domestic brewing- is not carried on to any extent in
Ireland, the making of malt-drink being almost exclusively confined
to the public establishments. The art of extracting a good ale, or beer,
from malt is very simple, and it is surprising this has been so long
overlooked when the means are sufficiently ample for the purpose.
Many have neglected it on account of their ignorance of the process,
others from a fear of the revenue laws, and some from not having
proper apparatus, and the public drink being so easily procured. From
a careful perusal, however, of what has been just written as well
as the account given of domestic brewing in England, it will be seen
that it might be to the advantage of the landlords and farmers
to brew for themselves. This practice could not fail at all times to
produce a pleasing, wholesome beverage, alike acceptable to the poor
and to the rich.

To persons desirous of more minute and extensive knowledge on
this subject, the following works may be consulted to advantage, viz :
Shannon's Treatise on Practical Brewing, Richardson's Philosophical
Principles of the Science of Brewing, Combrune's Theory and Prac
tice of Brewing, Baverstock on Brewing, the Art of Brewing in the
Library of Useful Knowledge, and the several articles on the subject
in the different Encyclopaedias, &c.

From the first period of the introduction of aqua vitce, the distilla
tion of ardent spirits, with the exceptions noticed, remained uncon- |
troled by duty till the Restoration, at which time it had acquired
sufficient magnitude to be deemed a productive article of revenue.
On the 25th December, 1661, a duty of four-pence was established
on every gallon of aqua vitce distilled in the kingdom.

This duty was collected by means of a system of survey calculated
to ascertain the quantities of wash, low-wines, and spirits produced
in a given period, and as the distiller was not obliged to shew any
stated quantity of work in the month, (that being the period for mak
ing up the accounts,) the increase or decrease depended, in a great
measure, on the vigilance and integrity of the officer, whose business .
it was to attend the distillery.

Shortly after the accession of George III. a specific quantum of
work in the way of charges or doublings was laid on the stills of this
kingdom, which, in 1779, the time at which the principal change took
place,* numbered 1,1 52, producing a revenue of £63,818. In 1782,

* 19 Gco. 3,

632

on a five hundred gallon still there were four doublings, and the fol
lowing year eight., the duty being fourteen -pence per gallon ; while
in 1792, there were sixteen charges on two hundred gallon stills, the
general size wrought at that time. The charges gradually increased
until 1806, when the trade assumed a degree of importance that it
had not previously possessed, being then principally confined to a few
individuals of weighty capital.*

At this* period, the government refused to license stills under five
hundred gallons, and, in the same year, all the laws relating to the
distillery trade in the kingdom were compressed into one act,f in
which every thing relating to the business was fully defined. Among
other matters, it was found to be necessary to fix the dimensions of
stills, to p!ace the process on an equitable footing, as it was obvious
that if these dimensions were not determined, the distillers could
produce a much greater quantity than the law required, by making
the bottoms of their stills as large as possible, so as to have the advan
tage of exposing more surface to the heat of the furnace.

It was ordained, that the diameter of every still, taken in the
middle part, most remote from the bottom, should be to the altitude
of each still, taken in a perpendicular line from the centre of the
diameter to the bottom, in the proportion of not more than three
to one — i. e., for every inch of altitude, the diameter should not
exceed three inches, and so on in proportion.

This law ceased to operate on the 10th of October, 1823. It was
soon discovered that the ingenuity of the Irish distillers, like that of
their Scotch neighbours, when the license system prevailed, far out-
stript the enactments of the legislature in the extent of work. In 1807,
it was considered prudent to license stills of two hundred gallons and
upwards ; the work was then considerably increased on all stills from
200 to 1250 gallons' capacity, but no addition was made at that time
to the work of larger stills. In 1815, there were 5,675 per cent,
added, on an average to the proportions of work previously required ;
and, in the same year, an act was passed allowing stills of from forty-
four to one hundred gallons to be licensed. Considerable advan
tages were granted to these, in expectation that they might tend to
the suppression of illicit distillation, it being intended that they
should be confined to those districts of country in which that baneful
practice prevailed.

The charges on those small stills were far short of the proportion
allotted to the larger ones, A still of one hundred gallons' contents

* Vide Addenda for the number of stills and their contents for some years prior
to 1806, with a scale of work required by stills in that year,
t 46 Ceo, 3. c. 88.

633

was also obliged to perform ninety charges monthly. Under this
regulation also, it was soon discovered that the distillers turned the
advantages thus granted them to their own private emoluments,
instead of preparing whiskey similar to the illicit spirit commonly
called Innishowen, * or Potheen, which was the intention and expec
tation of government. In consequence of this, their work was
increased in 1817, to two hundred doublings monthly; notwithstand
ing this great addition, the proprietors of large distilleries were
jealous of the superior advantages which they imputed to the smaller
stills. In 1816, twenty per cent, was again added to the work of stills
exceeding one hundred gallons, and in 1817, ten per cent. more.

To gratify the curious, there is given in a table of the Addenda, a
correct list of all the stills that were at work in Ireland in the month
of February 1818, with the quantity of spirits produced by them
weekly, in proportion to their doublings or charges : — also the aver
age consumption of grain and coals in each, specifying such as were
obliged, from their local situation, to use turf. On comparing that
table with the scale of work for 1806, as exhibited in the table of the
Addenda, the increase appears prodigious, and indeed almost incredible
It is a striking instance of the results produced by the ingenuity and acti
vity of man when powerfully excited ; for it is a well-known fact, that
when work in distilleries was not half so great as it then was, much
more difficulty was experienced in its performance. Such was the
skill acquired by practice, that four doublings could be worked off in
less than an hour, which at one time was the lengthened labour of
twenty-eight days.

To the Scotch distillers who had established themselves in the
country, and whose experience enabled them to introduce improve
ments, previously unknown, this increase, in a great measure, may be
attributed. But great as the quantity unquestionably was, the market
was clandestinely supplied with a very considerable surplus, which
by some has been stated as a fifth, but by others, to approach nearly
to a half of the whole consumption.

At various times, plans have been suggested for the improvement
of distilleries. Among the many, one of a curious nature was
proposed by Mr. Birch, of Roscrea, calculated to obviate the difficulty
of procuring fuel in the interior of the country. That gentleman
shewed that it was practicable to work a still by the application of
steam much more advantageously than by the use of either turf or

* Innishowen is a barony in the county of Donegal, pre-eminent for illicit dis
tillation, and the superior quality of its spirits, and Potheen was a name given to
this drink on account of its being distilled in a small pot.

634

coals ; and that it would, besides, produce a greater quantity of spirits
in a given time, than could be done by any other known process.

What gave rise to this method, was the great scarcity of fuel
experienced at the Roscrea distillery, occasioned by the badness and
want of turf in wet seasons. In the year 1818, the Board of Excise
was solicited for permission to work by steam ; and, notwithstanding
the determined opposition of the distillers in Dublin, the plan was
put into execution under the superintendence of an able pro
fessor of chemistry assisted by several practical revenue officers. In
carrying on the experiment, the liquor in the still was boiled by the
force of steam, raised in a boiler prepared for that purpose, and con
veyed by a pipe which communicated with the exterior of the still
only, filling up with steam the spaces or interstices in the body of the
still, and also the space between the still itself and its case, which case
was made of wood, and every part of it exposed to view.

Previous to this trial, which was conducted at Roscrea, there were
independently of the steam-engine, four furnaces ; one for the still,
and one for each copper, which contained 212 superficial feet; but by
the proposed plan of working these furnaces, they were reduced to
two, containing only sixty-four superficial feet subject to fire influ
ence. It, moreover, appeared that steam, not exceeding 225° of tem
perature, was able to produce the highest charge of the excise laws
with a saving of upwards of four -fifths of the fuel, and the same of
all other attendant expenses. According to a calculation made at the
time, the expense of working a two hundred gallons' still with coal,
amounted to £4390, of which £540 only afforded employment to the
people, whereas, when worked with turf, employment would be
given to the amount of £8,316. 13s. 4d. ; all circulating at home to
the best advantage.

The great saving of fuel effected by the steam system, might
appear consistent with the important consideration of employment to
the poor ; but, although a still worked by steam would not consume
more than one-fifth of the quantity of turf or coal, that would be
required by the common mode, yet it was argued, that for the same
reason it would be the means of erecting in the interior ten distil-
eries for one, and thereby diffusing the business more generally
and with greater effect.

This ingenious method of distilling was ultimately rejected by the
Board of Excise, on the principle that it was considered to afford
facilities to smuggling under the existing regulations ; but, since
the act of the 4 Geo. I V. chap. 94, has relieved the distiller from the
production of a limited quantity in a given time, this steam method

635

is worthy of a serious consideration, and, perhaps, further experience
would render its adoption of considerable benefit in the remote parts
of the country, where native fuel is scarce, and foreign cannot be pro
cured but at an enormous expense.

As bearing on the subject, it may prove satisfactory to practical as
well as speculative distillers, to bring under their consideration an
enumeration and a description of some of the principal inventions of
modern times in the art of distillation, which have had for their object
a saving of fuel, time, and labour, and an improvement in the article
manufactured. In endeavouring to effect these purposes, the French
have been peculiarly industrious ; and to their ingenuity this country
is indebted for many valuable suggestions.

Amongst the first attempts to effect continuous distillation, was
that of M. Jean Jeaques St. Marc, who was a veterinary surgeon
attached to Buonaparte's personal staff. After the battle of Waterloo, '
he became a distiller in France ; from whence he removed to England
about the year 1823. There he induced some enterprising capitalists
to embark with him in the speculation of making brandy from potatoes ;
and a distillery for that purpose, upon an extensive scale, was erected
near London, together with a rectifying establishment ; both of
which, after working three years, were broken up, and disposed of
at a loss of between forty and fifty thousand pounds.

During this period, St. Marc availed himself of the operations in
these works to improve the still he had been working, the principle
of which, being that of continuous distillation, he brought from France ;
in this he was assisted by M. Peire Alegre, a chemist of considerable
celebrity. Having completed the machinery, he, in 1827, obtained for
the invention, a patent for the United Kingdom, and immediately after
disposed of it to some gentlemen in London, and returned to his
native country.

The adaptation of this apparatus to distillation in England then
devolved on Mr. Joseph Budworth Sharp, under whose judicious
arrangement and directions, some of the most extensive establish
ments in London, Bristol, Liverpool, and other parts of England,
have been worked with great success. One of these stills at the
rectifying concern of Messrs. J. and W. Nicholson at Clerkenwell,
at one operation, produced the enormous quantity of one thousand
gallons of gin in one hour, the cleansing and flavouring processes pro
ceeding at the same time. This apparatus was introduced into the
West Indies, and several of the colonies, with, it is said, considerable
advantage, inasmuch as it produced spirits of great strength, with a
saving of fuel, puncheons, freight, and shipping-charges, in the expor
tation of rum.

637

The foregoing engraving and following description of the appa
ratus, will be found to differ somewhat from those of the paten
tees, as well as from those in the London Encyclopaedia ; both of
these having been published, previously to the system being reduced
to practice upon an extended scale of operation.

It will be seen by the plate, with a delineation of which I
have been favoured by Mr. John Rees, a proprietor, that this appara
tus consists of seven coppers placed one above another, numbered in
the section, fig. I. — 1 to 7. Eight were originally intended, but
seven have been found sufficient ; six to contain wash, and the
upper one, water. These coppers, or compartments, are attached by
flanges and bolts, and communicate with each other by the double
tubes, A, through which the vapour ascends ; and by the pipes B, by
means of which the wash descends, from one copper to another,
in succession, from the uppermost but one, N 6, into which it is
introduced by a pipe and cock C, from the wash-charger D ; the
intermediate charger, described by the patentees, as surrounding the
upper compartment, having been dispensed with. The lowest, or
first copper does not differ from an ordinary still of similar dimensions.
The second and third, each contain four of the double tubes, A, and
two of the pipes, B. The fourth, fifth, and sixth coppers, have also
the last-mentioned pipes, and one double tube A, in each, placed
under a semispherical vessel, or dome E, constructed upon,
and tightly flanged and bolted to the bottom of the several coppers
just mentioned. The vapour, after undergoing the process in the
several domes, which will, hereafter, be described, passes into six
spiral tubes or vertical worms F, immersed in the water of the upper
compartment, and attached to the top of the dome in No. 6. One
only of these worms is shown in the section, and two of the
attaching pipes. The upper end of the vertical worms communicates
with the chamber G, which is surmounted by a small dome and pan,
the latter containing water ; after undergoing the final control of
which, the vapour passes off by the line over H, to the common
worm for condensation.

The water is introduced into the upper compartment by the pipe
and cocks, I, from the sky cooler, and the waste water, which is
generally used to scald the backs, is conveyed away by the pipe K,
with a cock to empty the compartment entirely, wThen required. There
is also a cock, L, by which water can be conveyed from this into all
the other compartments, each of them being furnished with a cock,
M, communicating with that next below it, for the purpose of

638

bringing down the wash at the close of a back ; and also with a man
hole N, to admit a person to cleanse the several compartments. The
small inverted double tubes O, are for the conveyance of the con
densed portion of the vapour from the bottom of the several domes,
into the third compartment, for re-distillation. And the pipes P,
are to carry off the small portion of vapour generated by the wash
round the domes. This is conveyed into a coil of worms inclining
towards bent pipe P, to which it is attached, passing through the
water of the upper compartment, and communicating with the second
coil of the ordinary worm.

The lower compartment has only the usual discharge-cock Q, the
second not having been found requisite. Thus one compartment,
and several articles have been dispensed with ; all tending to simplify
the operation. But the rouser or chains, which M. St. Marc alleges
were unnecessary, have been found indispensable to prevent burning ;
as have also valves in the three lower compartments, to provide
against the remotest chance of collapsion. These compartments have
glass gauges to them, to ascertain, at all times, the level of wash
they contain. The foregoing being a description of the apparatus, it
only remains to add a short detail of its operation. The first three
coppers (of which the second and third only are intersected by the
double pipes,) distil almost at the same time ; the lowest being that
submitted to the action of the fire, operates on the others by the
discharge of its vapour, which ascending, by means of the pipes, passes
into the wash, and is there condensed, infusing its caloric to that liquid,
which is thereby quickly brought into a boiling state. The over power
from the wash in the second section or compartment, passes into the
third copper with similar effect.

The new vapour, necessarily stronger than the first, ascends into
the fourth section, where it is received under a semispherical dome,
which prevents it from communicating directly with the cold wash
contained in that copper. In this place the most watery portion of
the vapour is condensed, and it gives up its caloric, which contributes
to heat the wash that surrounds the dome. The most volatile or
spirituous part, which passes into the dome of the fifth section, experi
ences the same effect on coming in contact with a cold body.

The same operation takes place from one dome to another up to the
last. As the vapour, which rises, is exposed to a cold temperature,
it is condensed, yielding its caloric ; and it is after a succession of
condensation that the spirit becomes divested of all weak and watery
particles, which, thus liquified, return from one dome to another,

639

being partially re-distilled in their progress, according to their degree
of gravity, until the least spirituous reaches the third copper, there to
undergo a new distillation.

To explain why the watery vapour is forced to return to the third
copper, and is there found totally separated from the alcohol, it is
sufficient to state, that water does not boil under a heat of 212° of
Fahrenheit, while alcohol boils at a heat of 173°. When, therefore, the
watery and alcoholic vapours rise and are successively received in one
or more atmospheres of from 17 4Q to 190°, or 200°, the watery
vapour becomes separated from the alcoholic and is condensed, and
the latter only passes out and is received at the desired strength,
care being taken to regulate the temperature of the water contained
in the uppermost copper, which is traversed by the strongest and
most alcoholic vapour, before it passes into the worm.

From the foregoing particulars, it is evident that a large portion of
the spirit is distilled by vapour, or steam, and is, consequently, more
pure than that obtained by the ordinary apparatus. If, therefore, as
is generally supposed, that all bad flavour arises from long and violent
exposure of the wash to the action of the fire, this process is calcu
lated to obviate entirely that injurious effect, and to obtain a spirit
wholly divested of any empyreumatic or disagreeable taste. One dis
tillation only is effected by the fire ; this is immediately succeeded by
two vapour or steam distillations, and subsequently by four purifying
consecutive processes, which divest the spirit of all impurities, and it
comes over, at one operation, of the strength of 35 or 40 per cent,
over proof by Sykes's hydrometer.

A still of seven compartments, such as described, will produce
spirits no stronger than 35 or 40 per cent, above proof; but by increas
ing the number of coppers or sections, there might be obtained, by a
single operation, the highest pure alcohol of the chemists.

To ascertain the precise time for charging after the exhaustion of
the wash in the lower copper, it is only necessary to open what is
called the proof-cock placed in its side ; and if the vapour issuing from
it, will ignite on the application of a candle, it is evident a fresh charge
is wanting* The discharge of the spent wash from the lowest vessel,
the supply from the next copper to replace it, and the opening of the
cock in the pipe, communicating between the charger and the top of
the still to admit more wash, are all the work of about a minute,
during which distillation never ceases.

The advantages of this apparatus are numerous, but may be briefly
stated to consist in the saving of about two-thirds of the fuel usually

640

consumed ; an increased produce, by economising what is lost by eva
poration in the three operations, with their pumpings, &e. on the
ordinary system — a considerable saving of labour, there being but one
furnace, and one tail-pipe instead of three, or sometimes four. To
which may be added the advantage of dispensing with low-wines and
feints' receivers and chargers, together with their connexions and
pumps, and the power required to put the latter in operation.

A safe of a superior nature has been constructed by Mr. Sharpe,
one of the patentees ; it is attached to the end of the worm, and holds
a large glass cylinder in which a thermometer is suspended ; at each
side of this cylinder are two smaller ones in which are placed hydro
meters, one for ascertaining the strength of the liquor when above,
and the other when below proof. The safe is so ingeniously contrived
as to enable the distiller to see the strength and colour of the spirits,
and also to take a sample, which, however, is registered against him
upon a dial, and no spirit can be surreptitiously obtained, while it
serves to prevent fraud both on the proprietor and the revenue.

The cost of one of these stills with all its appendages, when com
pletely ready for work, on the largest scale, is not less than from
,£1,600 to £1,700, but from the number of years that it will stand
distillation, it may be accounted cheaper than any of those belonging
to the old system, the bottom being the only part liable to injury ;
but that is easily supplied, and with expense comparatively trifling.
An objection has been urged against this still, that it deprives the
spirit of the essential oil, which imparts that flavour so familiar to,
and popular amongst Irishmen.

The apparatus invented by M. M. Adam and Duportal for produc
ing alcohol at a single process is generally known, and those who
are acquainted with Wolfe's Apparatus so common in chemical labo
ratories, will understand clearly the principles on which this ingenious
machinery is constructed, and the full effect of its operations.

The still of Professor Solimani which has undergone improvements
by Curadau is based on the principles of the still of Adam and Dupor
tal. It consists of a boiler and three refrigeratories, and spirits of any
strength can be obtained by means of it ; but it is better adapted for
the distillation of wine than of wash. A drawing and description of
this still may be found in the Register of Arts and Journal of Patent
Inventions.

Mr. Winter, a distiller in France, constructed an apparatus on
the principle, that the mixed vapours of water and spirits are not
condensable at the same degree of temperature, water requiring a

641

heat above 212° to be kept in a state of vapour, while spirits of
intense strength will evaporate at a heat very little above the common
atmospheric temperature. This apparatus is applicable to stills of
every description, and enables the distiller to extract the whole of the
spirits in the wash, at a single operation. Its great excellence con
sists in condensing the aqueous portion of the mixed vapour from the
still before psissing into the worm. To effect this purpose, the vapours
from the still are first made to enter into a peculiar kind of receiver
surrounded by a water-bath, the temperature of which is uniformly
preserved at 170°, or thereabouts, according to the strength of the
spirit required. In this receiver the aqueous particles, or those that
require a heat of more than 170° to be kept in a state of vapour, are
condensed, while the spirituous vapours from their superior levity
pass into the second receiver. This second receiver is also of a
peculiar construction, and being kept at a lower temperature than the
first (at 140° or less), the whole of the weaker vapour, or that which
is condensable at from 140° to 170° of temperature, is therein reduced
into a liquid state, while the strong, spirituous vapour ascending alone,
through certain very narrow spaces, contained between concentric
cylinders, into the upper part of the apparatus, is there collected into
a third receiver prior to passing into the worm. The worm is
surrounded as usual with cold-water, whose powerful refrigerating
effect upon the strong, spirituous vapour with wliich it is charged,
causes it to pass rapidly into the fluid state.

With this apparatus, it is thought, the distiller would have no
occasion to send his spirits to the rectifier, an attention to the tempe
rature of the two baths being all that is required for rectification in
the most perfect manner. As a confirmation of the value of the
apparatus it is stated, that feints 80 per cent under proof, produced, at
one operation, spirits 55 per cent over proof.

The late ingenious Mr. Watt, having ascertained that liquids boiled
in vacua at a much lower temperature than when under the pressure
of the atmosphere, applied the discovery to distillation. The saving
of fuel by distilling in vacua would be immense, since it is well known
that the heat of the hand in an exhausted receiver is sufficient to
make water boil. All liquids boil in a vacuum at about 145° lower
than in the open air, under a pressure of thirty inches of mercury ;
water, therefore, would boil in a vacuum of 67°. After him Mr.
Tritton contrived an apparatus for this purpose, wliich from its simpli
city, is deserving of attention. The vessels are arranged in the
manner of Wolfe's apparatus, as represented in the subjoined
drawing, and of such strength as to bear, when empty, the external

T 2

642

atmospheric pressure. The vacuum is produced and maintained by
air-pumps, or by the admission of steam to expel the air, and after
wards condensing the steam into water.

M

A is the body of the still, B is a water bath into which it is
immersed, which prevents the liquor fiom burning or acquiring an
empyi eumatic flavour : C is the head or capital, and D its neck curving
downwards and entering the condensing vessel, E F is a refrigera
tory or close vessel containing cold water for converting the spirituous
vapours, which, having been raised in the still, are contained in the vessel
E. Attached to the bottom of this vessel, is a pipe for conveying the
liquid and the uncondensed vapour into a vessel G, which being
surrounded with cold water contained in the vessel H, acts also as a
refrigeratory and reduces the whole of the remaining vapour into a
liquid state. I is an air pump for effecting a vacuum in the vessels A,
E, G ; K is a stop-cock for preventing any communication between
the vessels E and G, when the contents of G are drawn off by the
cock M, by which means a vacuum is preserved during that operation
in the vessel E and the still. I is an air cock for admitting air into
the vessel G to allow the contents to run out at M: N is a discharge
cock, to the still A. Without a vacuum being produced the matter
in the still can never be heated beyond 212", that being the greatest
heat thiit the surrounding water is capable of receiving or transmitting.

As this apparatus affords a convenient and easy mode of removing
the pressure of the atmosphere by the air-pump, the distillation is
effected at the low temperature of 132°, and the regular application
of so low a degree of heat cannot fail to produce a spirit of the clearest
and strongest quality. On this principle of boiling in vacuo several
machines have been contrived for obtaining vegetable extracts for

C43

medicinal purposes, and it appears that they have been attended with
great practical advantages. The management, it would seem, depends
upon the fact, that vegetable bodies, when heated at lower tempera
tures than the boiling point of water, suffer less change in their essen
tial properties than when exposed to greater heat. Dr. Arnott
observes, that the essential oils of lavender, peppermint, &c. never
had the natural flavour and virtues of the plants until within the last
few years, since this plan was adopted.* Why should not, therefore, the
produce of the vinous fermentation distilled in this way, retain more
of its valuable properties than when submitted to higher temperatures
under atmospheric influences.

Sir Anthony Perrler, of Cork, invented a mode of distilling by which
the liquor is allowed to flow gradually in a thin stratum through a
number of circular channels over a heated surface, wliile drag chains
hanging in loops in those channels are made to revolve by the opera
tion of a wheel and pinion. These agitate the liquor and prevent any
settlement, or burning, at the bottom of the vessel. This method is
not now practised, and although evincing considerable judgment and
ability in the inventor, has not been productive of any eventual
service worthy of further notice.

Mr. Grimble, a London distiller, obtained a patent for a still, the
peculiarity of which consists in a kind of refrigeratory composed of a
great number of small copper tubes placed vertically over the head
of the body in the boiler. Through, these, the vapours must pass in
their way to the condensing worm, while, by the air circulating freely
amongst them, the heat of the ascending vapour is sufficiently
abstracted to cause the aqueous portion to condense and fall back into
the still, so that nothing but strong spirits passes into the worm.
This contrivance has the reputation of being very successful in its
operations.

Mr. Evans has contrived a still of a novel character, and for
which he has procured a patent. It consists of a copper cylinder,
which is made to revolve vertically over the furnace by turning on a
horizontal axis. A strong fire is applied to it, and the gross matter
in the still is prevented from burning by the constant rotatory motion
of the wash. The vapour, as it is generated, passes through the hollow
axis of the still into a large worm, which also revolves horizontally
upon hollow axes, through one of which the vapour enters ; the

* Elements of Physics, voli. pp. 386-7.

To effect a vacuum, Dr. Arnott has contrived a simple method, which, if the
reader wishes to know, he will find in the volume and pages here quoted.

G44

chamber which contains this revolving worm, is kept at a temperature
suited to condense the aqueous vapour and to allow the spirituous to
pass on through the other hollow axis to a refrigeratory of the ordi
nary kind. The large worm, as it revolves, conducts the water
obtained by the condensation of the aqueous vapour back into the
still, something after the manner of the water-screw of Archimedes.

The manner of charging the still, as well as the other arrangements
connected with this plan, reflect great credit upon the inventor. From
a consideration that alcohol is not altogether the result of the vinous
fermentation but the product of a subsequent elementary change, that
a greater quantity of spirit might be obtained by subjecting the
fermented liquor under distillation to a high instead of a low tempe
rature, and to effect this object without carbonizing the substances
submitted to the action of the fire, the rotatory still and worm were
contrived by Mr. Evans.*

The patent distilling apparatus of Mr. Williams is distinguished
by an enlarged capacity of the still-head for the separation of the
aqueous vapour by condensation, previous to its passing into the refri
geratory, as also in a peculiar arrangement of vertical tubes, and a
flattened worm in octangular coils. To these is affixed an additional
apparatus, containing a refrigerating saline mixture for the more effec
tual cooling of the spirit. This contrivance is well adapted for warm
climates, and for overcoming obstacles created by the high tempera
ture of the atmosphere. An ingenious distilling apparatus was con
trived by Mr. Hebert, (editor of the Register of Arts and Journal of
Patent Inventions,) by which the wash or wine is made to spread, in
an extremely thin and expansive sheet, over a large hollow cone of
copper and descending by its own gravity to the bottom. Within
this cone is the fire or water bath which causes a rapid evaporization
passing between the surface of the still and an external casing also of
a conical figure ; thence passing along the neck; it enters a convoluted
tube in a wash reservoir. The wash in this vessel being of a lower
temperature, causes a portion of the vapour to condense and fall into
a recipient beneath, in which also the uncondensed part is received
previous to passing into a refrigeratory. From this it .ascends through
numerous small metallic tubes surrounded with cold water, and by this
means is instantly condensed. The vapour in passing through the
convoluted tube, imparts a great portion of its caloric to the wash that
surrounds it, and the wash in consequence comes upon the still hot,
requiring but a slight accession of heat to force it off in vapour.

J Vide the Register of Arts and Journal of Patent Inventions, vol. iv. p. 151.

615

This vapour, likewise, giv*es back the caloric it received, so that the
quantity of fuel required to work this apparatus is exceedingly small.
The work is so uniform, that there is no necessity of stopping the
process to discharge and recharge ; and the work continues uninter
ruptedly so long as there is a constant supply of wash.

The plan of Mr. James Frazer, of Hounsditch, London, for which
a patent was obtained in 1826, differs from others in several particu
lars. The wash-still, instead of being exposed to the fire, is immersed
in boiling water, the vapour from which enters the low-wines' still,
where it is condensed. The wine that abstracts the heat from the
wash becomes itself vapourized and is conducted into a refrigeratory.
The first and second distillations are, in this manner, conducted
together by a continuous process.

Mr. Shannon, author of the Treatise on Brewing and other works,
invented a still of a cylindrical form with double ends, by which he
thought the heat and flame should be so diffused around, that the
whole mass of liquid would receive almost an equal portion of the fire,
and which, in his estimation, would be much more safe from accidents
than the common still. This still was made to admit another at the
top sufficiently large for a spirit still to rectify the spirit drawn from
the wash in the under-still, so that it could be adapted to either a
gross or rectifying manufactory. It was intended to possess the
advantages and effect the work of two stills at the same time, the
raw spirit running from the lowest still or cylinder while the rectifi
cation of the spirit or the compounding of it into brandy or gin, was
going on in the upper-still with the same fuel and attendance ; and this
appears to be the first attempt at continuous distillation in Great Britain.
Adapted to this invention is a refrigerator consisting of a number of
oblong squares, arranged in a zig-zag manner, and continues in a des
cending chain like the common worm, and may be compared to a
very large worm flattened to two or three inches in width. To pre
serve the vapour within the folds of this machine from coming in con
tact with the atmosphere, Mr. Shannon contrived a condensing valve,
to prevent the waste of the ethereal and more volatile parts of the
vapour from being carried off by the elastic air generated, or extri
cated in the process.

The object of Mr. Shannon was principally to prevent the
trouble, delay, and expense of applying a much greater heat than is
necessary to raise the vapour out of the still in the old system, and
then compress it again to descend through a column of air within,

616

heavier than itself, and overcome the counter -pressure of the
atmosphere without, which protracts the process of distilling',
overheats the wash, elevates the grosser particles, and impairs the
quality of the spirits of the first character, in a degree that has seldom
been remedied by any succeeding process of cleansing, flavouring, or
rectifying.

Mr. W. Gutteridge, of 30, Budge-row, London, has invented a
still of a very peculiar nature, which he denominates the Torricellian
Still, after Torricelli, the Italian Philosopher. It is a self-supplying
apparatus, the advantages of which are stated by him to be numerous
and unprecedented, and founded on the theory of atmospheric pres
sure. The arrangement of the operations are : —

1st, Raising cold water by means of a syphon from any level below
the surface of the ground, on which the distillery is erected.

2nd, Conveying any quantity of warm water into the head of tlie
still from the top of the tank, after condensing the alcoholic vapour in
the final condenser, and so diffusing it on its entering, as to increase
its temperature to 176° before coming into contact with the vapour
conductor. By this contrivance, one syphon is made to raise cold
water to the tank, and hot water to the still-head at the same time.

3rd, The vapour conductor in the still is made to condense
a maximum of aqueous vapour with a minimum of water, thereby
obtaining a strong and pure spirit in the shortest time possible.

4th, The power of ascertaining when the feints are rising on the
body without interrupting the delivery of the superior spirit, and
preventing them from passing through the still-head and final con
denser, by which means neither this condenser nor the pure spirit can
ever be contaminated with the feints ; also in determining during
the coming of the spirit from the head when the whole of the spirit is
separated from the charge in the body.

5th, Retaining in that part of the still-head, called the recipient, the
feints obtained from each charge, their re-distillation and rectification
iu each succeeding charge during a period of any duration, by which
means no feints will appear except from the last charge.

6th, Keeping wash, or the material to be distilled, from the fire,
and distilling wholly by steam at the atmospheric pressure, if judged
expedient.

7th, The final condensers acting more effectually than the
common worms.

8th, The reduction of the height of this apparatus compared with
other stills, places it under the hand of the distiller for more accu
rate and ready examination.

647

For further particulars respecting Mr. Gutteridge's still, the reader
is referred to his own explanatory book, with the various engravings
therein illustrative of the subject.

A still for continued distillation was, some time since, erected in
Ireland by Mr. William Morrissy, for which he took out a patent.
It was considered that he had taken this idea from one which he
had seen either in Spain or Portugal. But the apparatus was found
not to answer the distillation of corn-wash, that being a material too
heavy for its operation, and the machinery did not succeed accord
ing to expectation. It was used, with success, in the distillery of Mr.
Martin, at Sligo, for the distillation of low-wines, being found to
answer the purpose, as it produced spirits of excellent quality.

This still consists of a boiler with a man -hole and a proper dis
charge-cock, and a glass-tube to regulate the material in the still.
An upright cylinder having a vast number of plates is constructed so
as to allow the vapour and liquid to pass alternately. This cylinder
is surrounded by a dome terminating in a curved arm, which leads
into an intermediate charger, in which are a set of plates calculated
for condensing the vapour ; these pipes are surrounded by the wash,
or low- wines contained in the intermediate charger. At the bottom
of these pipes is a small tube connected with each, so as to allow the
condensed vapour to pass into the still at the pleasure of the distiller.
Above the dome of the cylinder, is a charger connected with
the intermediate one for a supply of the material to be distilled ;
and from the intermediate charger, the vapour, passing through a
condenser, descends through a pipe into the worm in the tub,
where it is finally condensed. There are two charging-pipes, one
acting immediately at the top of the cylinder, the other at
some distance lower ; the lower one is so arranged by a
regulator on the cock as to enable the distiller to ascertain exactly
the number of gallons that pass to the cylinder in any specified
time, while the upper one, by a similar regulator, enables the
distiller to obtain, at pleasure, spirits of any strength from proof to
alcohol in one operation from the weakest material. A tolerably
correct notion of this still may be formed from an inspection of that
of Derosne, which it resembles in appearance. One of Mor-
rissy's stills was worked for some time near Cashel, but failed, as
was supposed, in consequence of the imperfect manner in which the
pipes and joints were constructed by the copper-smith. One very
unpleasant occurrence respecting this still was, that when a strong
fire was applied to it, there was such a frightful noise, as to cause a

648

stranger to run away through fear of an explosion. This might have
been obviated by opening the small cock, which led from the first
section into the still, and by lessening the intensity of the heat.

Mr. Joseph Shee, of Cork, obtained a patent for a still, or rather
a continuation of four stills, having four chargers and four worms in
one tub, and four receivers ; the various vessels forming its com
ponent parts with their uses are of the same kind as those for the
common still. While the first still is at work with, say, 900 gallons of
wash, the first charger is re-charged with an equal quantity ; the
vapour generated in the first still rises in the head and passes
through the close pipes from still to still until it returns to the first
charger, through which it passes into the first worm, where it is con
densed, and runs into a receiver, from whence it is pumped up into
a second charger ; so that when the distillation of the 900 gallons in
the first still is completed, the low-wines produced from it, about
350 gallons, are pumped into the second charger, and run into the
second still, from whence the vapour is made to pass directly into its
own or second worm, and from thence conveyed into the second
receiver, and the operation is continued from still to still until the
entire process is completed. The whole operation in the stills may
be thus briefly stated : —

The first still under which only fire is applied, (the others being

heated from it are, properly speaking, steam-stills,) being charged

with 900 gallons of wash, the first charger is re-filled with 900 more.

In No. 1 still, 900 gallons are distilling, and will produce 350

gallons of low- wines.

In No. 2 still, 350 gallons of low-wines are distilling, and will
produce 140 gallons of feints.

In No. 3 still, 140 gallons of feints are distilling, and will produce
100 gallons of strong feints.

In No. 4 still, 100 gallons of feints are distilling, and will produce
80 gallons of strong spirits.

Hence, as Mr. Shee observes, it is evident that a single fire under
the first still operates at once upon five chargers with only the same
expenditure of fuel, time, and labour, that, in the ordinary mode, is
required for a single charger.

For further particulars respecting this ingenious contrivance, the
reader is referred to Mr. Slice's own description of the machinery
and its advantages, as possessing a large share of merit and high
interest.

A still of an ingenious nature was constructed by Mr. Thomas
Haig, of Leith, in 1829. It consisted of the body of the ordinary

619

still, with a very high head and swan-like neck, continued by a
pipe through which the steam traversed a chamber containing 300
upright tubes, each 1^ inches in diameter. Through these, the steam
ascended (after undergoing a partial condensation,) into another
upright pipe, having a semicircular top bending downwards into a
horizontal pipe, through which the vapour again ascended into
another chamber containing 1500 upright tubes, each -J inch in
diameter, through which the steam evolved, and finally passed into
the worm and the last stage of refrigeration. From the two cham
bers were tubes, which conveyed back to the still such portions of
the liquor as would not ascend. The spirits produced by this mode
of distillation were of excellent quality, and the feints were much
purer, having less of the essential oil in them than those produced in
the ordinary way. What has been the final success of this invention
I have not been informed.

The patent apparatus of Mr. Stein is deserving of notice as effect
ing distillation by means of four elliptical stills, the object being to
economise in the expense of fuel, rather than to obtain spirits of any
required strength at one operation. " The heat absorbed in the con
version of a given weight of water into steam, exceeds greatly that
which is required to raise its temperature to the boiling point , one
pound of water converted into steam raising 61bs. of water to the
point of ebullition. The heat thus evolved varies in different liquids,
and is in all considerable ; and as distillation is ordinarily conducted,
this heat is not merely lost, but occasions a considerable additional
expense, from the great quantity of water required to reduce the
vapour to the liquid state." To obviate these two sources of loss,
Mr. Stein contrived his apparatus so that one portion of liquid formed
into vapour shall be reduced to the liquid form by another portion of
the liquid which is evaporated by the heat given out in the conden
sation. But to convert a fluid into steam, not only a certain quantity
of heat is required, but the heat must be of a certain intensity ; thus
although a pound of steam at 212° would raise 61bs. of water to the
boiling point, it would convert no portion of it into steam, as the
moment the water had acquired the heat of the steam it would receive
no further portion of heat from it ; but if the steam is formed under
a pressure exceeding that of the atmosphere, its heat as indicated by
the thermometer is increased, and it will consequently continue to
impart heat to a liquid which has attained the boiling point under a
less press urejhan the steam employed to heat it. Upon the com
bination of these two principles, Mr. Stein's apparatus has been con-

650

structed." For further particulars his own description may be
consulted.

Mr. ^Eneas CofFey, of Dublin, invented a still, for which, in
1832, he obtained a patent. The principle on which his apparatus has
been constructed, is, on the points of temperature at which water and
alcohol boil, 212° for the former, and 173^ for the latter; mixtures
of these boil at intermediate heats in proportion to their quantities.
When the steam of water is made to pass through a liquid composed
of water and alcohol, it will be condensed until it has raised the mix
ture to its own boiling point, after which the alcohol evaporates by
the further application of steam. When a mixture of steam and
alcoholic vapour is made to pass through a liquid composed of water
and alcohol, similar effects are produced, for after the mixture has
arrived at its boiling point, the vapour passing through loses some of
its watery parts, and an equivalent quantity of alcohol is volatilized ;
and the mixed vapour, after pasing through the liquid, carries off a
larger portion of alcohol than it brought with it. When a mixture
of steam and alcoholic vapour passes into a condenser, or worm, the
vapour first condensed will contain more than a mean proportion of
steam or watery vapour ; and, if the size of the condenser, or worm,
be not sufficient, or the temperature of the bath in which it is im
mersed be too high to condense all the vapour, that portion of
it which escapes uncondensed will contain more alcohol than the
portion condensed.

Keeping these observations in view, it will be easy to understand
the nature and advantages of Mr. Coffey's apparatus.

The body of the apparatus consists of an oblong vessel, BB', and
and two columns erected thereon, C, D, E, F, and G, H, I, K.

The first of these columns is called the analyzer ', the second the
rectifier.

The whole is made of wood, lined with copper, and the wood being
five or six inches thick, little or no heat is lost by radiation.

The oblong vessel has a copper plate or diaphragm, c d, across the
middle of it, which divides it into two chambers, B B'. This diaphragm
is perforated by a great number of small holes, for the passage of
the vapour upwards during the process, and it is also furnished with
several valves which open upwards as shewn at ey e, e, e, whenever
the vapour is in such quantity as not to find a free passage through
the perforations.

652

A pipe V, V, descends from this diaphragm nearly to the bottom
of the lower chamber B, into a pan forming a steam trap, and there
is a valve on the top of this pipe which can be opened or shut at
pleasure, by means of a rod t, passing through a stuffing box on the
top of the vessel. Glass tubes at x, x9 shew at all times the level of
the liquor in the chambers BB\

The column C, D, E, F, which is called the analyzer, consists
of twelve chambers, f f f f f-> formed by the interposition of
eleven copper diaphragms gh gh, &c., similar to the large dia
phragm c, d, that is to say, these eleven diaphragms are per
forated with very numerous holes, and furnished with valves opening
upwards. To each of them is also attached a dropping pipe, p p p,
&c., by which the liquor is allowed to flow from plate to plate ; the
upper end of each of those pipes projects an inch or two above the
plate in which it is inserted, so as to retain at all times, during the
distillation, a stratum of wash of that depth on each diaphragm ; the
lower end of each pipe dips a little way into a shallow pan lying on
the diaphragm underneath, forming thus a steam trap by which the
escape of vapour through the pipe is prevented. The pipes are
inserted at alternate ends of the diaphragm as shewn in the figure.

The column G, H, I, K, is divided, in a similar manner to that
just described, into chambers by interposed copper plates or dia
phragms. There are 15 chambers in this column, the lowermost ten
k k k &c., constitute the rectifier, and its diaphragms are perforated
and furnished with valves and dropping pipes, precisely similar to
those of the analyzer.

The uppermost five of these frames formed ihejimsked spirit con
denser, and are separated from the other ten by a copper sheet, or
diaphragm, without small perforations, but having a large opening at
W for the passage of the spirituous vapour, and a dropping pipe at
S. There is a neck about the opening W, rising an inch or so above
the surface of the diaphragm, which prevents the return of any finished
spirit by that opening.

Under the dropping pipe S, is a pan much deeper than those of
the other dropping pipes, and from this pan a branch pipe y passes
out of the apparatus, and carries the condensed, but still very hot
spirits, to a worm, or other refrigerator, wherein they are cooled.

The chambers kf k' kf kf of this finished spirit condenser, are formed
of plain unperforated diaphragms of copper, with alternate openings
at the ends, large enough both for the passage of the vapour upwards,
and of the condensed spirit downwards ; the use of these diaphragms
being merely to cause the vapour to pass along the pipes m m in a zig

653

zag direction, and to be thus more perfectly exposed to their con
densing surface.

In every chamber, both of the finished spirit condenser and of the
rectifier, there is a set of zig-zag pipes, placed as shewn in the plan,
figure 2, each set of these pipes is connected with the others by the
bends 1 1 1 1, and they thus form one continued pipe m m, leading
from the wash pump Q to the bottom of the rectifier, whence it finally
passes out at N, and rising up, enters the top chamber of the analyzer
where it discharges itself at nf.

M is the wash charger, L a smaller wash vessel connected with it
and with the wash pump, this vessel is called the wash reservoir, and
is not, strictly speaking, a necessary part of the apparatus ; its use is
to retain a sufficient reserve of wash, to prevent the apparatus being
idle during the delay, which the Excise regulations render unavoid
able, between the emptying of the wash charger, and the refilling it
from a new back.

The pump Q is worked continuously during the distillation, so as
to supply the apparatus with a regular stream of wash. It is so con
structed, as to be capable of furnishing somewhat more than is neces
sary, and there is a pipe n with a cock on it, by which part of what
is pumped up may be allowed to run back, and the supply sent into
the apparatus regulated.

A is a steam boiler having nothing peculiar in its construction, the
steam from it is conveyed into the bottom of the spent wash receiver
by the pipe b, which, after entering the receiver, branches into a
number of smaller pipes perforated with holes, by which the steam
is dispersed through every part of the wash in which they are immersed.
These perforated pipes are not shewn in the drawing.

Mode of action — When commencing an operation, the wash-pump
is first set in motion to charge all the zig-zag pipes m m m, until the
the wash passes over into the analyzers at n'. The pump is then stopped,
and the steam let into the bottom of the apparatus by the pipe b b.
The steam passes up through the chambers B B', and by the pipe z
into the analyzers, from whence it descends through i i to the bottom
of the rectifier at N. It then rises through the chambers k k, enve
loping the zig-zag pipes, and rapidly heating the wash contained in
them.

When the attendant perceives, by feeling the bends / / /, that the
wash has been heated in several layers of these pipes, perhaps eight
or ten layers, (but the number is not of much moment,) he again sets
the pump to work, and the wash now boiling1 hot, or nearly so, (and

654

always in rapid motion) flows from'the pipe m at w', and passes down
from chamber to chamber through the dropping- pipes, in the direction
shewn by the arrows in a few of the upper chambers. It may be
here observed, that no portion of the wash passes through the small
holes perforated in the diaphragms which separate the chambers.
These holes are regulated both in number and size, so as to be not,
more than sufficient to afford passage to the vapour upwards under
some pressure. The holes, therefore, afford no outlet for the liquor,
which can only find its way down in the ziz-zag course indicated by
the arrows. It is, therefore, obvious, that the wash as it passes down
is spread into strata, as many times as there are diaphragms, and is
thus exposed to the most searching action of the steam constantly
blowing up through it. As it descends from chamber to chamber,
its alcohol is abstracted by the steam passing through it, agreeably to
the 3d and 4th preliminary principles we have laid down, and by the
time the wash has reached the large chamber B, it is in the ordinary
course of the operation, completely deprived of its alcohol.

The wash, as it descends from the analyzer, accumulates in the
upper large chamber B', until that chamber becomes nearly filled,
which, when the attendant perceives to be the case, by the inspection
of the glass tube, he opens the valve of the pipe V, and discharges the
contents of B, into B ; then shutting the valve, the wash from the
analyzer again accumulates in B', and, when it is a second time nearly
full, the contents of the lower chamber B are discharged from the
apparatus altogether, through the cock N, and the charge in B' let
down into B, by opening the valve as before, and thus the process
goes on so long as there is any wash to supply the pump. When all
the wash is gone, a quantity of water is let into the reservoir L, and
pumped through the pipes m m, to finish the process and obtain the
last portions of alcohol. This winding up of the operation by sending
water through the pipes, takes place on the distillation of every back
of wash, in consequence of an Excise regulation, which requires the
distiller to keep the produce of each back separate from that of any
other. Were it not for this regulation the distillation would go on
uninterruptedly, so long as there was any wash in stock; the addition
of water for winding up would be necessary but once during the dis
tilling period, and the manufacturer would save much time and fuel
at present wasted by these interruptions.

It has been already said, that in the ordinary course of the opera
tion, the wash is stripped of all its alcohol by the time it has reached
the bottom of the analyzer, but, as a precautionary measure, the cham
bers B' B have been superadded, in each of which the spent wash is

655

exposed for about half an hour to the action of the steam blowing
through it.

There is a small apparatus (not shewn in the engraving) by which
a portion of the steam in the chamber B' is condensed, cooled, and
made to flow constantly through a sample jar, in which is an hydro
meter, or, what is better, two glass bubbles, one of the specific gravity
1000, the other 998. The attendant knows all is right when these
bubbles, or even the lightest of them, floats in the sample. And thus,
the chamber B may be emptied without any risk of loss.

The course of the wash being understood, that of the steam will
require very little description.

The steam, as it rises, is first blown through the charges of spent
wash in the chambers B7 B, thence it passes up through the layers of
wash on the eleven diaphragms of the analyzer. In its passage it
abstracts from these layers of wash their alcohol, depositing in its
place an equivalent quantity of water. After traversing the whole
of the analyzer, the vapour, now containing much alcohol, passes by
the pipe i ?', into the bottom of the rectifier, and, as it ascends, it enve
lopes the pipes m m, heating the wash, and, at the same time, parting
with its more watery portion, which is condensed, and falls, in a boiling
state, on the several diaphragms of the rectifier. By the time the vapour
reaches the passage W, in the bottom of the finished spirit-condenser,
it is nearly pure alcohol, and, as it is condensed by the wash in the
pipes, and falls on the diaphragm, it is conveyed away by the pipe y to
a refrigerator. At the top of the spirit condenser is a large pipe, R,
which serves as a vent for the incondensable gas which is disengaged
in the process, and this pipe also communicates with the refrigerator,
so that, should vapour at any time be sufficient to pass out of the
apparatus, no loss is sustained beyond the waste of fuel caused by
condensing that vapour by the water of the refrigerator instead of the
waste of the condenser.

The liquor condensed on the several diaphragms of the rectifier,
after being blown through by the vapour passing up from plate to
plate, descends to the bottom in the same manne'r as the wash de
scends from chamber to chamber in the analyzer; but this condensed
liquor still contains a portion of alcohol, and it is conveyed by the
pipe S to the pump Q, by which it is pumped up with the wash to be
again distilled.

A thermometer at mr shews the attendant the temperature of the
wash as it issues from the pipe m m, into the analyzer, which is the
only guide he requires for managing the operation ; for, when the
temperature is what it should be, nothing can go wrong in the work.

656

Whenever the thermometer indicates too high a temperature, more
wash should be let into the apparatus, said, vice versa ; the quantity
being regulated by the cock on the pipe n. It would seem, how
ever, that very little nicety is requisite on this point. The attendant
finds by experience that the fluctuation of a few degrees above or
below the proper heat is of little consequence ; and, we observed,
that he very seldom found it necessary to alter the supply of wash.

The water for supplying the boiler passes through a long coil of
pipe immersed in the boiling, hot, spent wash, by which means it is
raised to a high temperature before it reaches the boiler. It will be
seen that the vapour passing through this apparatus is all condensed
by the wash, not water; and, therefore, no heat is wasted, as in the
common process. The consequence of this is, that about three-fourths
of the fuel used with the common stills is saved, a matter of very
important consideration, in a national point of view.

According to the common process, it requires 121bs. of coals to dis
til a gallon of proof spirits,* of which, as we have said, 9lbs. are saved
by the new system ; and, assuming the whole quantity of spirits
distilled in the empire to be 36,000,000 gallons, which (colonies in
cluded) we believe is not over the mark, the saving of fuel arising
from the new methods of distilling, which, no doubt, will be soon
universally adopted, will amount to 140,000 tons of coal per animm.f

The apparatus of Mr. Coffey, erected at Inverkeithing, in Scot
land, distils 2,000 gallons of wash per hour, and that at Bonnington,
near Leith, upwards of 3000 gallons per hour. The still erected for
Messrs. Thomas and George Smith, at White-chapel, has been now
upwards of a year at work, making, I understand, 60,000 gallons
of proof spirits in the period of five days, or obout 12,000 gallons
daily ; and from the purity of the spirits, and the immense saving of
fuel, labour, &c., is giving the highest satisfaction.

The Messrs. Currie at Bromley, are working on the same extensive
scale ; but they are using two of Mr. Coffey's stills. The one which
he has lately erected for Sir Felix Booth, Bart., at Brentford, bids
fair to rival all the others. There are no brewing coppers in this
distillery, that process being entirely carried on with a peculiar appa
ratus, which Mr. Coffey has constructed for Sir. F. Booth for that
purpose ; and, instead of the numerous and wasteful fires necessary

When the coals are of the best quality, the furnaces scientifically constructed,
and when strong wash is vised, a gallon of spirits can be distilled with much less
than 12 Ibs. of coals ; but we have good reason to believe the average consumption
is riot less than that.

f The author is indebted to Thomson's Records of General Science for the
foregoing description of this apparatus.

657

in the common distilleries, the whole of the process of brewing and
distilling in this very extensive work is performed by the economical
fires of two steam-engine boilers.

The still worked by Mr. Busby, in Dublin, is a beautiful specimen
of this apparatus, and is giving great satisfaction by the production
of a very superior spirit.

The Stills generally in use in Ireland, under the present law, are
of the common kind, consisting of a very large dome-shaped copper,
similar to the coppers used in breweries, with a worm and worm-
tub of great magnitude. The Stills, however, are so familiar that
a more minute description would be unnecessary.

To enable the reader to form a correct idea of the figure of the
Still formerly in use, a representation is subjoined, with a delineation
of a person working the machinery, and another standing by the head
to prevent its getting foul.

While exertions were making to lessen the labour and bring
to perfection the process of distillation, plans were, at the same
time, devised to secure the revenue on the quantity of spirits
actually produced. One of the first attempts to effect this object,
was made at Carrickfergus, in 1821, by Captain Thomas Pottinger,
by means of machinery placed in enclosed vessels. The prin
ciples on which his experiments were conducted had a two-fold object*
First, to keep the produce out of the reach of the distiller during
the process ; and, at the same time, allow him to ascertain the
strength, heat, and colour of the spirits while running. Secondly,

2 u

658

to secure the casks so as to prevent any defalcation in the contents,
or diminution of the charge. To secure these objects, a glass jar
was stationed at the end of the worm, in which was placed an
hydrometer, and to the outside was affixed a scale to indicate the
strength, the heat being at the same time determined by an adjoining
thermometer. To prevent all access to the fluid, or run from the
worm, a glass cylinder was placed overhead, which, it was impossible
to remove, without breaking. To effect the second object, the
different receivers were covered by iron plates, bolted and screwed
within. Each was furnished with a ball-cock to prevent its being
filled above a certain height, in which was placed a very large copper
ball attached to a pump to regulate the strength of the liquor at the
time of pumping. These balls were in reality hydrometers, which,
when the liquor became stronger than the usual standard, sank to
the bottom, and, by that means, opened an air-valve which commu
nicated with the pump, and prevented it from working. To these
contrivances, a machine was super-added within the spirit receiver,
by which the spirits were measured, as they came from the worm,
and the quantity registered by an index. The whole was so secured
as to be inaccessible to the distiller, or the visiting officers.

At the suggestion of Mr. Coffey, (inventor of the still,) who was
appointed by the Commissioners to superintend Captain Pottinger's
operations, fresh experiments were made, with a new and improved
apparatus, on a still containing 500 gallons. The improvements of
Mr. Coffey were, that no wash could be put into the still without
being measured and recorded. For this purpose, a close vessel was
employed, denominated " the wash measuring gauger," having two
stop-cocks, or rather a double-cock, so constructed that the act of
opening the one for filling the charger, shut the other for employing
it; while, at the same time, the distiller was enabled to fill his
charger and convey the contents into the still. This double cock
was enclosed in an iron box containing a few wheels, by the revolu
tion of which, the quantity of wash put into the still was marked on
an index visible through small glass apertures. In this measuring
charger, an overfall pipe was fixed to shew when it was full, which
contained a valve to prevent any liquid being forced up through it.
A similar charger was constructed for conveying the low-wines into
the still, on the breast of which was a close copper case, in which all
the communicating pipes terminated. This case contained a valve
opening and shutting at pleasure. The discharge-cock was so con
structed as to let every thing pass freely out, but nothing into the
still. The air, or safety-valve, was fixed on the lying" arm, in such a

659

way that no fluid could be conveyed through it into the still. All
the receivers were close vessels communicating with the still by means
of a force-pump through the measuring charger already described.
In the same manner the spirits' receiver was connected with a vessel
termed " the spirits' measurer," through which all spirits were filled
and emptied by means of a double-cock, similar to that attached to
the wash charger, and by this means the number of gallons taken out
of the receiver was accurately recorded. In the spirit measurer was
placed a small, close vessel of thin copper, so connected with the
filling and emptying-cocks, that at each time of drawing off, about
one-eightieth of a gallon was retained. From this sample vessel, as it
may be termed, a pipe, terminated by a cock, proceeded through the
bottom of the measurer into a metal box secured by a lock. This
contrivance enabled the officers at any stated period, to ascertain the
average strength at which the distiller had drawn off his spirits, and
to make a surcharge, if such were deemed necessary.

Experiments were lately made at the Excise Distillery, St.
Catherine's Dock, London, by Captain Rudkin, to try a safe and
meter at the worm- end, in order to do away with the usual survey on
the process, and that of the subordinate officers altogether. These
proving unsuccessful, he obtained money from the Chancellor of the
Exchequer, through Dr. Birkbeck, for further experiments ; and the
Hope Brewery, a small concern in Brown-street, Spitalfields, was
fitted up with a still of 600 gallons for the purpose, and a safe and
meter of another description were attached to it. A measurer hold
ing about 20 gallons was fixed in a safe three feet in height by two
feet in breadth ; the strength of the run from the still was determined
by a hydrostatic balance which acted in conjunction with the mea
surer. It was worked for four or five periods, and made 800 gallons
of spirits; but the result not having yet been made public, no con
clusion can be drawn respecting the use or value of the machinery.
No apparatus, however, can determine with any degree of accuracy,
what the mental powers and vigilance of men are enabled to ascer
tain by the present system of survey, the utility of which has been
fully confirmed by the test of time and the ordeal of public opinion.

The process of distillation is generally conducted in the following
manner : —

The keive or vessel in which the grain is mashed, is thoroughly
cleansed by washing and liming, while the underback is prepared in
the same way. Lime, when moderately used, has been found by
experience to be the best sweetener. The lime is allowed to remain

660

on the vessels in a wet state, for about two hours before the scalding
water is poured in, and afterwards suffered to stand until it is of that
heat that a man can go in and wash out the vessels. This process
must be done so as to leave no remains of any acid matters whatever,
as the least portion thereof would prove highly injurious ; and here
it may be generally observed, that, without a constant attention to
cleanliness, nothing can be effected in any stage of the work. Some
distillers with every twenty pounds of lime, mix five pounds of pot
ash, and keep it in a stirring state until an effervescence takes place.
This solution is made thin like wash, and applied round the whole
vessel, after which it is washed off in the same order in which it was
put on. The scalding of the vessels is more particularly to be attended
to in April, May, June, and July ; but when a sufficient quantity of
good water cannot be readily procured, the solution of lime and potash
is indispensable. Some use soda with the lime in place of potash, say
in a proportion of two ounces of soda to every four pounds of lime ;
but on account of the superior strength of the potash, it is preferred.
The malt, barley, and oats, or whatever sort of grain the distiller
means to use, is ground to a proper consistence and placed in bags
near the keive, where it is kept until a sufficiency of water is let into
the keive from the coppers, and then the bags are emptied in gradu
ally. The quantity of the grain depends on what kind is to be used;
if a mixture be employed, it must be in the proportion of one-seventh
of malt to equal parts of oats and barley ; this being the general
ratio in a distillery working from what is called raw or mixed grain;
some consider one-fifth malt, two-fifths here or barley, and two-fifths
of oats or wheat, as the best proportion ; others one-seventh malt, one-
fifth oats, one-half wheat, and the remainder bere or barley. Wheat
is considered a dangerous material to use in a large proportion, in
consequence of the adhesive quality of the wort. Although these are
the general proportions of grain used, yet the distiller is commonly
guided by the state of the markets. In all cases the quantity of liquor
employed for the first or break-up mash for each barrel of twelve
stones of ground grain, varies from forty to fifty-four Irish gallons at
the discretion of the distiller : twenty gallons is the quantity generally
used in the second mashing, and fifty in the third. It may sometimes
happen that he is deficient in some of the particular kinds of grain,
in which case he must supply the difference with whatever sort he
has most of on hands, All the grain is not put in at the same time,
the malt being commonly put in first, the oats next, and the bere, or
barley, last. While the grain is being removed into the keive, the

661

mixing either by machinery or hand rakes is going on. The tempe
rature of the water is generally from about 144° to 146°, or from
140° to 150°, where water is only employed, which is the case at
commencing each period ; but the next day when the small worts are
used, the heats are from 146° to 148° and 150 ' at finishing. These
heats are regulated by the judgment and experience of the distiller,
who manages them according to the description of grain which he
uses, and the state in which it may be in, whether new from the mill
or a long time ground. In the latter case, and should the grain be only
a week or ten days ground, the heats already specified would be suf
ficient ; but if just come from the mill, the heat will of course be
lowered a degree or two, say to 140°. Some distillers pay little
attention to the state of the grain, and they do not alter the range of
the temperatures, but this matter is deserving of due regard, as it
must have its influence on the liquor in -the keive. The machinery,
or rakes continue plying until all the grain is thoroughly mixed, when
the remainder of the liquor intended for the mash is let in from the
copper, by some in two parts, and by others in three, at a tempera
ture of from 198° to 212°, so as to raise the keive from 148° as the
case may be, to 152° at finishing. Every brewing consists of three
mashings, one for strong worts, another for weaker ; the last is sent
to the coppers as small worts to assist in the next brewing. But the
number may be said not to be completed until all the extract is taken
from the keive, which may extend to a fourth mashing.

As to the quantity of worts drawn off the keive, the whole of the
first and second mashing is let into the underback. Caution is to be
observed in draining the keive so as to let as little of the gross muci
lage in with the worts as possible. The liquor of each of the twa
mashings is successively pumped into the coolers, if the keive is not
large enough to contain the whole worts intended for the back, where
it is allowed to remain until it is at a heat of from 66° to 70° or 74°.
It is then permitted to run into the back where barm is applied.
The gravity at which the worts are intended to be collected or set,
is regulated either in the run from the keive, on the coolers, in a wort
receiver, or in the back itself, but commonly in either of the two latter
vessels. The proportion of yeast is from one to two gallons per
cent., this, however, like other matters, must a good deal depend on
the quality of the article, as well as on the experience and judgment
of the distiller. If working at 50° of gravity, from fifteen to twenty
gallons of barm are usually given to one thousand gallons of worts.
Where much barm is used, the liquor may be run into the back at a

662

lower heat, and when little is added the heat is required to be higher ;
but this depends much on the season of the year : caution, however,
should he used in applying the quantity of barm, as too much would
injure the flavour of the spirit.

The fermentation commences generally in the course of three or
four hours, and if the working appears dull, slow, or stubborn, more
barm is introduced ; bub is sometimes added with the barm, and
sometimes not, until the worts have been undergoing fermentation for
twenty-four hours. Bub is made from ground barley and strong
worts, and sometimes from strong small worts from the coolers, pro
perly blended and boiled with some hops, in the proportion of one
pound to a barrel of worts. The meal of peas, beans, and oats is fre
quently used in making this article, owing to their fermentive proper
ties. This mixture is let off into a cooler where it remains till it
arrives at a temperature of 74Q, after which it is allowed to ferment
by the addition of some barm in a tun from which it is removed, when
in a high state of fermentation, into a back as already stated. If a
quantity of bub is not thus used, a greater portion of barm must be
applied ; the quantity of bub depends on the extent of the worts set,
and is added so as to enable the distiller to take advantage of the 5
per cent, increase allowed by law. The finer the grain is ground, the
better for getting the whole of the extract ; but the finer, the greater
should be the precaution observed in working, because it might set as
distillers say, or become so thick that the saccharine matter would be
blocked up by an extra heat : hence distillers always take care to
manage the warmth of the liquor so as to prevent accidents of this
nature, by not allowing the heat to run too high, or too low. The
temperature of the water for mashing malt only, is from 150Q at
commencing, to 165° or 170° at finishing ; the heat of the first mash
being 150°, and gradually raised in the course of the mashing by the
addition of more liquor from the coppers until the process is concluded-
Malt bears a higher heat than either raw or mixed grain. For beer
or ale brewers use higher heats on account of the malt they use being
more highly kiln-dried and prepared for the purpose; for distillation it
is not necessary to have malt so highly dried. For pale beer, brewers
use nearly the same description of malt as distillers. A back may be
considered as fit to go to the still when it is fully attenuated or will
ferment no more ; at this stage it possesses a vinous taste, and if pro
perly fermented, shows no gravity, and is then called wash, it being
during the process of fermentation indiscriminately called worts and
iv ash.

6G3

Distillers and brewers, though familiar with the change which worts
undergo in the process of fermentation, are still ignorant of the various
anomalies which occur in the process. It is well known that although
two backs have been charged with an equal quantity of worts from
the same mashing of the same heat, supplied with equal portions of
the same barm and treated in the same manner, yet when the fermen
tation ceased, one was found to be attenuated to the consistency of
water, while the other shewed a gravity of two degrees. This could
not be owing to the preparation or previous disposition of the ferment
ed liquor, nor could it be attributed to the yeast. Could it then arise
from the admission or exclusion of the external air, heat, or cold, or
to any other accidental circumstance ? Some might say it was to the
want of due proportions of oxygen, hydrogen, and carbonic gas, others
to a different cause ; but the results have proved that the true reason
cannot be satisfactorily given. Backs have been known to go on
rapidly in fermentation till near the conclusion, when on a sudden
they fell off and left a considerable quantity unattenuated — a conse
quence which the most experienced could not explain. It has been
asserted on respectable authority and confirmed by experience, that
light has considerable effect on fermentation, since of two backs, one
exposed to the light and the other excluded from it, the former was
uniformly found more productive than the latter ; to such apparently
trifling incidents are many of those irregularities that daily occur to
be attributed.

To render fermentation perfect and advantageous, is a very difficult
undertaking which requires great experience and close attention, and
on the success of this process in conjunction with the skill observed
in mashing, the value, flavour, and produce of the spirits depend.
Worts of a high gravity are more difficult to ferment than worts of
a less density, and there are degrees of inspissation which prevent a
tendency to fermentation, besides a fervid heat is the bane of all vinous
fermentation, whereas a tepid one, or imperceptible warmth, is its great
promoter. A good deal also depends on the state of the weather ;
hence the distillers begin to work about the end of October, and leave
off in May, the colder months being found most congenial to brewing
and fermentation.

No fermentation will take place at the freezing point, nor at the
temperature of 90°, so that at the intermediate degrees according to
quantity, gravity, and other circumstances, are the worts to be sent
to the tuns— 70° is the highest rage of heat, though much higher has
been used in cold situations. Large masses of worts are found, when

664

fermented together, more productive than small portions, and not so
liable to be affected by change of weather ; neither is the same por
tion of spirits to be always got from the same materials. Raw corn
worts are more likely to run into the acetous fermentation than malt
worts, and the liquor made from them is more susceptible of receiv
ing a communication of flavour in rectification than that made wholly
from malt.

Here it may be satisfactory to define the nature and properties of
fermentation, so far as regards brewing and distillation.

Chemists divide fermentation into four different heads, the saccha
rine, the vinous, the acetous, and the putrefactive. Starch is the
only substance liable to the saccharine fermentation ; for, when it is
kept moist for some time, it generates about half its weight of sugar.
The vinous fermentation requires sugar, water, and yeast, under a
certain temperature.

The real theory of the process is accounted for by the known fact,
that the sugar which disappears is almost equal to the united weights
of the alcohol and carbonic acid generated. The saccharine juices
of fruits do not require the addition of yeast, since they contain,
within themselves, some principles like it, that cause the fermentive
process : — thus the juice of the grape, the apple, &c., ferments
spontaneously, but not without the free admission of atmospheric
air.

When grains, (as oats, malt, here, &c.,) are intended to be con
verted into fermented liquors, it is necessary to have a portion of
them malted in order the more readily to cause the farinaceous parts
to be converted into the saccharine substance.

It was formerly thought essential to subject the entire quantity
intended to be brewed to this process ; but experience has proved that
a mixture of raw with malted grain will answer that purpose, and
convert the whole mass into a saccharine fluid. The farinaceous part
of grain merely mixed with water, passes into a state of acidity, but
when combined with a portion of saccharine matter, it undergoes the
vinous fermentation. Care must be taken that the quantity of water
be not too great, as in that case the acetous fermentation would
take place, and if too little water be employed, the process will be
dull and doubtful. In the vinous stage, the heat is moderate,
seldom exceeding that of the human body ; in the acetous it is much
higher, and in the putrefactive it is still greater— even so high that
putrefying substances heaped together have been sometimes known
to kindle into flame.

665

All vegetable substances which undergo spontaneous fermentation,
are more liable to become acetous, than those fermented by yeast.
This may be accounted for by the consideration of the mucilaginous
and extractive matter not being properly blended by the active prin
ciple of barm — hence, were it practicable, fermenting without the
aid of this important and essential material, would be attended not
only with great risk but with certain loss.

On a trial instituted by the Crown against a distiller for adding
yeast to worts before being collected in the fermenting wash-back, by
which he was subject to a penalty of £200, it was endeavoured to be
proved, that in samples which had been taken by two inspecting officers,
and which when distilled, produced spirits, yeast had not been em
ployed, and that the result was the effect of spontaneous fermentation,
though the samples so taken showed from the commencement, a pro
gress of attenuation from 50° to 4° in a period of three days.
Evidence on the part of the distiller alleged, that spontaneous fer
mentation commences in from three to five days ; one of the wit
nesses, a practical distiller, stated, that he set two gallons of worts at
a gravity of from 46° to 47°, and a temperature of from 70° to 74°,
and that they came down in about four days to 5° which was the
lowest of two or three experiments of this nature, the average being
from 6° to 8°. Another witness tried how fermentation would act
on two gallons of pure malt wort, without barm, bub, or any fer
mentable matter, and he found the operation to commence in about
twenty-four hours after, and to continue attenuating for 10 or 12
days, producing a good spirit. He afterwards tried four gallons of
worts from mixed grain at a gravity of 78° 5, at a temperature of 79°,
and procured about half-a-pint of spirits, but the process of attenu-
nation stopped at 141bs. — Had this quantity been regularly fermented
and distilled, it is considered that it should have yielded about two
quarts of spirits, evidently shewing the defective nature of spon
taneous fermentation. Another experiment was tried on two gallons
of worts made from a mixture of barley, malt, oatmeal, and wheat,
and set at a gravity of 51° and 70° temperature ; these were above
five days attenuating, stopped at a gravity of 8°. 5, and yielded about
a naggin of spirits, besides a considerable portion of feints.

In opposition to these testimonies, it was urged on the part of the
Crown, by the evidence of two Chemists and a Revenue Inspecting
Officer, in support of the correctness of the samples, that no spirits
whatever could be produced from worts by spontaneous fermentation,
as without barm, or the addition of some other fermentive matter,

666

worts would run into the acetous fermentation, and instead of alcohol
produce acetic acid. One of the most intelligent of those Chemists,
stated, that after seventy-four experiments, he found that in no
instance, worts without the addition of fermentive matter, have un
dergone the vinous fermentation, and that worts that have been sub
mitted to spontaneous fermentation, produced nothing but vinegar,
as without the addition of some fermentative material, such as yeast, no
spirits could be obtained. This is confirmed by the experiments of
Fourcroy and Vanquelin. Some experimentalists have asserted, that
fermentation may take place without barm in worts impregnated with
fixed air ; and that the operation is quicker or slower in proportion
to the quantity of air which the worts have imbibed — perhaps this is
caused by the fluid containing an extraordinary quantity of fixed air,
which, by some disposition of the air itself to assume its elastic
state, may produce the fermentive process. The briskness, pungency,
and pleasing acidulous taste of all fermented liquors, depend on the
quantity of fixed air which they contain. Should they become flat
or vapid, they may be brought to their original vigour by a restoration
of the lost serial acid, which may be effected by various practical ope
rations, as shewn by the experiments of Dr. Henry, an eminent
Chemist, of Manchester ; but this has never been resorted to by
either distillers or brewers. It is absurd to speak of fermenting in
large concerns without barm, because time cannot be spared, and even
were it practicable, the waste of property would be incalculable.
Experience has proved that fixed air is one of the great principles
of fermentation, it has, therefore, become the practice to ferment
in close, instead of open, vessels, in order to prevent the waste of the
alcoholic material, with the escape of the fixed air, or carbonic acid
gas, by which it is impregnated. It is thought that by putting the
yeast first into the tun and pouring the worts upon it, a better mix
ture of the ingredients and a speedier and superior fermentation will
be the consequence, which may be readily accomplished where there
is a wort receiver: the same mass should be allowed to ferment
without any subsequent addition, for new and old worts never amal
gamate to be sufficiently productive, though a contrary practice has
been sometimes followed.

The law has determined that no fermentive matter shall be added
to worts until two hours after being set, or until the officer has ascer
tained the gravity, so that though fermentive matter be added at a
very high temperature, even that of 160°, nothing is effected, as no
fermentation can take place until the temperature be reduced to at

667

least 90°, when the process becomes rapid and violent, arid the
introduction of barm would be immediately discovered. In such
cases, the attenuation would not be so low as if the ferment had been
added when the liquor was at a proper heat, say from 60° to 80° :
neither would the produce be so ample, while the distiller would
inevitably be subjected to a heavy penalty ; so that the law as it now
stands, cannot be defeated by any trick or subterfuge of this nature.
Spontaneous fermentation is so slow, uncertain, and inefficient that
it cannot be resorted to for any useful purpose, whether for the pro
tection of the fraudulent trader, or to defeat the intentions of the
legislature.

Some are of opinion, that the power of the leaven, whether in
herent, or added, is not altered but merely suspended, when the tem
perature is too high, and that in a few days it will resume its
original vigour ; but an experienced gentleman assures me that the
effects of the barm are destroyed. Whether fermentation be ex
cited at a high or a low degree of heat, leaven is absolutely necessary
to extricate the alcohol from the substances with which it is
combined.

A French Itinerant, a few years since, succeeded in obtaining money
by teaching to ferment without yeast, and one of his pupils, an Irish
distiller, became a professor of the same art, by which he was a con
siderable gainer. Yet this gentleman, in the course of his practice,
was heard to exclaim on account of the bad working of his concern.-—
" What am I to do for good barm ? without it this establishment must
be ultimately ruined !" — a proof that the pretensions of any person to
distil without yeast are vain and futile.

It was usual to mix with the wash when going into the still, a quan
tity of soap in proportion to the magnitude of the charge, at the rate
of one pound to 800 gallons ; the mode of preparing the soap was to
mix it in a bucket, with a quantity of wash or warm water, that it
might be reduced to a liquid state. Soap was employed from being
found by experience to be the best corrector of the too rapid work
ing of the material in the still, and operating as a preventive to any
waste in getting the extract, and also to keep the liquor from rising
into the condenser along with the steam : under the present act it is
discontinued.

The first run from the still is called low wines or singlings, and is
usually allowed to flow until about 70°, under proof: it is sometimes
taken off lower or higher according to the utensils or working of the
house 5 this first running is termed the strong low-wines. What runs

668

after is preserved in a separate vessel and called weak low wines.
These are redistilled, the strong low wines first and the weak after
wards. From both is obtained a quantity of strong spirits, and the
residue is termed feints, being the weak liquid after the spirits are
extracted. These feints are redistilled with the low wines of the next
back.

Spirits are made at different strengths ; some distillers strike them
off so low as 3° or 4° over proof, but the general practice is to strike
them off at a strength of from 12 to 18° over proof; much, however,
depends on the work and views of the distiller. It is customary to
calculate that from a given quantity of grain a certain quantity of
spirits can be drawn, the present practice enables distillers to get from
7 *Q to 8-rVo- imperial gallons of proof spirits from every barrel
mashed ; and even sometimes nine gallons, much depending on the
quality of the grain.

Distillers tabulate their coppers and keives, by which means they
are enabled to determine what quantity of liquor at a given tempera
ture is necessary in mashing a certain quantity of grain according to
the gravity of the worts required. For example, suppose it is in-,
tended to set 7,000 gallons at 5144 at the first mash, 4,000 gallons
may be drawn off at 60° : now by multiplying 4,000 by 60 the pro
duct is 24,000. Again, by obtaining from a second mash 3,000 gal
lons at 40°, that in the same manner of calculation will afford 120,000,
which added to the 24,000 makes 360,000; this divided by 7,000 (the
entire number of gallons designed to be set,) gives a gravity of

Some distillers draw all the worts from the keive at the first mash
ing, particularly where the vessels, viz., the mash-tun, under-back,
and coolers, are sufficiently capacious. Where this is not the case,
the calculations are made in the foregoing manner. If, however, the
small worts in the copper shew a gravity of any consideration, due
allowance must be made in the quantity of grain to be mashed.
Suppose it to be at a gravity of 13° on an average, it is easy to cal
culate what quantity of grain is to be added to draw off worts of the
desired gravity.

If the worts should exceed this gravity, less grain is required to
bring the worts to the standard ; and if under, more grain must be
employed for that purpose.

To illustrate this subject, let it be a question to know what quan
tity of grain would produce 4,400 gallons of worts, at 51° of gravity,

669

allowing 1,500 gallons of small Avorts to remain of the previous brew
ing. The calculation will stand thus : —

44001 f

1500 / The average quantity of liquid used for the first j 48 gals, per

j mashing, as stated on page 660, is barrel.

5900 J I

For the second mashing 20 do.

third do. 50 do.

118 gallons
Then 5,900 divided by 118 quotes 50, the number of barrels required.

Suppose that on the last day of the distiller's brewing period, he
has worts in three coppers ; viz.

No. 1 200 bar at 22°

2 200 13°

' 3 200 4°

and he wishes to use all these worts, but no water in addition ; and
he knows by experience that his malt and raw corn will yield 116°
of gravity per barrel of 12 stone, or 1681bs. ; it is required to deter
mine how many barrels of malt and corn are necessary to ensure a
wort of 43° gravity. The operation is
200X22 = 4400

200X13 = 2600
200x 4 = 800

600 7800=13'

As 116°: Ibar. :: 7800 :

600

shewing that 67 T7^ barrels of malt and corn arc sufficient to yield 13°
the average composition of the three coppers.

Now since the required gravity is 43°
The average gravity, 13°

The difference or complement is 30°

Then, As 13 : 67^ : : 30 : 155TVT> the number of barrels required
at 30° gravity ; hence arises the following general rule for all calcula
tions of this nature : —

RULE.

Find the mean gravity and the adequate number of barrels of malt
and corn required at the desired gravity, as in the preceding direc
tions : then say, — As the mean gravity : is to the number of barrels
of malt and corn thus found : : so is the complement or difference of
gravities to the number of barrels of malt and corn required ; or

670

thus, — Divide the product of the complement of the gravities and
number of barrels by the mean gravity, and the result is the barrels
of malt required.

To know what malt and corn would be requisite to produce a wort
of 50°, allowing 46 barrels at 13° to be on hands at commencing, and
the grain, on an average, to possess 120° of extract per barrel of 12
stones. The calculation is as follows : —

46 barrels at 13° produces 46x13=598° extract, and 50 — 13=37 ;
then 46x37 = 1702, which divided by 120° quotes 14^ barrels or 2
stones nearly, the quantity necessary to be brewed to produce the
complement required.

To brew and ferment at one operation has lately been attempted,
by which it is thought the quantity of the spirit is augmented while
the quality is improved. The process is by mixing lOOOlbs. of malt
finely ground, with 300tbs. of wheatenmeal ; then gradually adding
200 gallons of water, stirring it well all the time till completely mixed,
and afterwards adding 500 gallons of boiling water, mixing the whole
quantity thoroughly. It is then suffered to stand for two hours and
again mixed, and when cold about 12 or 13 pounds of solid yeast are
added, and the whole allowed to ferment in a warm place in a vessel
loosely covered. This experiment may, in course of time, lead to
beneficial results, but the certainty of success is not founded on suffi
cient grounds to ensure a recommendation of its adoption.

Many distillers use super-carbonate of soda, and others alkalis, for
the purpose of facilitating fermentation and correcting acidity ; but
these should not be resorted to without great caution, as they cause
too violent a working of the back, loss in produce, and impart an
injurious flavour. Some add sulphuric acid to the wash, in order to
prevent an oil from the grain coming over with alcohol, which, if not
effected, the taste and flavour of the spirits is apt to be injured.

To make pure spirit, all required is, a good wholesome grain,
caution in brewing, a regular fermentation, and attention to the dis
tillation. It is manifestly the interest of every distiller to purchase
the best description of grain, whether malted or unmalted ; a clear,
full, hard, and well preserved grain, free from must or smell of any
kind, is the best. All the raw grain used in distilleries is kiln-dried
before it is sent to the mill, in which process great care should be
observed, so that it is not too dry or too crisp, it being sufficient to
dry it to that consistence termed mill-free, that is, when it is thought
to break freely in grinding.

At the close of any period, a distiller may satisfy himself as to the
correctness of the work by dividing the number of gallons obtained,

671

by the number of barrels of grain consumed, and should this not
shew from 7° to 8° of imperial proof, there must, from the pre
vious principles, appear to be an error somewhere, either in conduct
ing the process, or from a defect in the materials.

Formerly it was the practice, in order to make spirits shew a
fictitious strength, to add a mixture of vitriol and oil to make it
stand what is termed one to tivo, but by this auxiliary, the flavour
was injured ; besides, it was common to superadd almond oil and
burned sugar to give it the appearance of age : but these subterfuges
are now rarely resorted to, nothing being employed to render the
spirit more palatable than its own intrinsic excellence.

The spirit distilled from pure malt is considered superior to that
made from a mixture of malt and raw grain. To assign a reason for
this would require an analysis and detail of the process of malting ;
but it may be sufficient to observe, that the eifects of the malting
process are similar to that which the grain undergoes in the course of
vegetation when sown in the earth. To illustrate this, it is necessary
to state, that by the heat and moisture of the ground, the cotyledons
of the seed are changed into sugar and mucilage before germination
is completed. Malting is only the artificial method of effecting a
similar operation, taking care to check the growth of the grain by
kiln-drying, that advantage may be taken of all the sugar that it is
capable of evolving. Barley contains starch and sugar ; and a con
siderable portion of the former is converted into the latter by the
malting, so that the quantity of saccharine matter is increased in
proportion. Illicit distillers, as if aware of the value of this change,
almost always use malted grain. From a want of scientific know
ledge and proper utensils, they conduct their business in a different
manner from that pursued by licensed traders. In preparing the
malt, the sacks of barley are generally steeped in bog-holes or other
places, where it remains forty-eight hours, or until completely satu
rated with the water. They are then drawn out, and drained for
ten or twelve hours, where it lies till it begins to chip or germinate,
and is turned occasionally, until all appear alike germinated. It is after
wards spread on the floor by degrees till such time as the buds shew
three points, and kept at a regular heat till the bud or germ has
grown half down the grain, at which period of time each of the
particles may be nearly seen through, or become transparent. At
this stage it is spread thicker on the floor, and brought to a heat
easily perceptible to the hand ; then thrown into a round heap and
suffered to remain in that state for twenty-four hours, or longer; and

672

this is termed the rot or withering heap. It is then carried to the
kiln and dried by turf — the kiln-head on which it is dried is covered
with rotten straw, over which, if convenient, is placed hair-cloth or
matting. The period of drying- a kiln-head or crop, as it termed, is
commonly for twenty -four hours, when directed by a person of experi
ence. While on the kiln, it is carefully turned by the hand so as
to expose every particle to a like degree of heat, and to prepare it for
grinding. This process consists merely in bruising or breaking the
grain, but not reducing it to flour. When thus prepared, it is taken
to the still-house, which is generally a hovel or excavation near a run
ning stream, or where there is a full supply of water. The quantity
of malt to be brewed is commonly from sixteen to seventeen stones.
After being bruised or mashed in the usual way, it is covered in the
keive, with a lid or sacks, and allowed to stand for three or four
hours. The worts are then drawn off and cooled to a temperature
regulated by the finger, no instrument being used for that purpose ;
and commonly to the same degree as that which is observed in
regular distilleries. The worts are then put into a pipe or puncheon,
with about a gallon of barm. The worts soon begin to ferment,
generally an hour or two after the barm is added ; they are allowed
to stand in a state of fermentation for twenty-four hours, and then
prepared. These two brewings, after undergoing the fermenting
process for about eighteen hours, are considered fit for the still, and
in the ordinary course of working, a brewing is made each morning.
The quantity of pure spirits drawn from these two brewings, usually
consists of 223 gallons of from one to two, or from two to jive ; or,
in other words, the spirit is of that strength that it will bear one
gallon to about two of spirits, or two gallons of water to jive of
spirits to bring it to proof. The usual strength at which illicit spirits
are made, is from four to six over proof on Sykes's hydrometer ; but
sometimes it is made at 8 per cent, over proof ; and, in many cases, it
has been sold at a strength of 30 over proof.

Illicit stills are generally made of tin or copper ; sometimes of a tin
body and copper bottom ; often a large, black, metal pot is used. The
worm is either made of copper or tin, according to the caprice of the
smuggler. These stills range from 40 to 74 gallons' content, one being
made to serve the double purpose of a still and copper. The fuel
employed in the working of the stills has no effect on the flavour of the
whiskey, whether it be of turf, woodj .or coal.

In making the malt, and in the mode of distilling, the flavour is
altogether formed ; no machinery is employed in the still to keep the
liquid from burning ; and hence the empyreumatic taste and smell are

673

communicated to the liquor, and also to the backing, as it is called,
of oatmeal and hot water.

In distilling the wash, the strong low- wines are separated from the
weak, the latter being thrown back into the still with the succeeding
charge of wash ; a similar practice is observed in making spirits, the
feints being put into the still with the next charge of low-wines.
Thus the spirits are preserved pure and clear, nothing whatever being
used in the distillation but a small quantity of soap thrown into the
still with the pot-ale to neutralise, or keep down the barm, (as they
term it,) which would, otherwise, cause the run of the low-wines to
become coloured like the wash, or to get foul. It is a mistaken
notion to suppose that soap is used only by the great distillers, since it
is considered an indispensable article by every person who understands
the mode of working a still on the old system.

The manufacture of these illicit stills has been long a favourite
beverage in Ireland, being from malt without adulteration, and pos- |
sessing a flavour which habit has rendered most agreeable. This,
combined with the high duties on legally-distilled spirits, and the
want of a ready market for the disposal of the grain of remote and
mountainous districts, induced the people to embark in this illicit
traffic to an extent, which was not only injurious to the agriculture
and revenue of the country, but to the morals and peaceful habits of
the community. To such an extent was it carried, that in 1806, out
of 11,400,030 gallons, (the computed consumption of spirits in Ireland
in that year,) 3,800,000 gallons were allowed to be the produce of
illicit manufacturers; and in 1811, 1812, and 1813, there were no
less than 19,067 illicit distilleries destroyed by the revenue and
military.

To put down this illicit trade, various enactments were passed by
the legislature, among which that of fining the townlands on which
any portion of a still, wash, low wines, or other materials for distilla
tion were found, was not the least oppressive. The annual average
of fines levied for seven years under the act for the suppression of
this evil, amounted to £50,989 for all Ireland, while in one county
alone the sum laid for 1806, was £2,620 ; in 1807, £2,750 ; and in
1814, £18,125. How could it be expected to be otherwise, when it
was proved before the parliamentary commissioners, that many men
were found to declare that they had never done a day's work in their
lives but at illicit distillation, and that they knew nothing else by which

they could gain subsistence.

2 x

674

Many interesting and curious facts might be related of the extra
ordinary contrivances of the people to evade the law and prevent
detection, such as the artful construction of distilleries on the boun
daries of townlands, in the caverns of mountains, on islands in lakes,
on boats in rivers ; of carrying away and secreting revenue officers
for weeks together to prevent their giving testimony, the romantic
manner of their treatment while in confinement, and the various
other schemes and devices to defeat the intentions of the govern-
; ment.

Among these may be mentioned the instance of a person who had
constructed a distillery so artfully, that it eluded the vigilance of the
most expert officers of excise, though known to have long existed in
the neighbourhood. A determined gentleman of this department
resolved to find it out at all hazards, and, on one moonlight night
unaccompanied by any person, he followed a horse led by a peasant,
having a sack across the back of the animal, which, he suspected
contained materials for this mysterious manufactory. When the
horse had arrived at a certain place, the sack was removed
from his back, and suddenly disappeared. The officer made his
observations, returned to his residence, and having procured mili
tary assistance, repaired to the place where the horse had been
unloaded. All was silent, the moon shone bright, the ground was
unmarked by any peculiar appearance, and he was almost inclined,
(as well as those who accompanied him) to think that he laboured
under a delusion. Perceiving, however, some brambles loosely scat
tered about the place, he proceeded to examine more minutely, and
on their removal, discovered some loose sods, under which was found
a trap door leading to a small cavern, at the bottom of which was a
complete distillery at full work, supplied by a subterraneous stream,
and the smoke conveyed from it through the windings of a tube that
was made to communicate with the funnel of the chimney of the
distiller's dwelling-house, situated at a considerable distance.

Another distillery has been known to be worked on the site, and
in conjunction with a lime-kiln, which, from the kiln being continu
ally in operation, kept the other for years without detection. So
cunningly were some of those still-houses situated, and so artfully
constructed, that the smoke proceeding from them was made to issue
as if from burning heath, or sods of peat, ignited for manure. Their
position was, for the most part, either on a commanding eminence, in
the centre of a bog, or in a well-secured fastness ; but always calcu
lated to prevent the identity of townland or proprietorship, while the

(575

portability and easy removal of the apparatus rendered the discovery
and seizure of those stills difficult and hazardous. On the approach
of a stranger, an alarm was given either by deputing a messenger or
sounding a horn, while the machinery was removed, and the potale
always destroyed or conveyed into receptacles under ground prepared
for such exigencies. Thus the still-hunter was often disappointed of
his expected prize, the poor distiller put to the loss of many a brewing,
and the excise officer rendered the object of the hatred and vindictive
feeling of the unreflecting peasantry.

The subjoined engraving represents a distillery of this description
at full work, with a party of police approaching to seize it, while two
peasants may be seen on the rocks, sounding their horns to alarm tie
smugglers

The fines on towiilan.-ls having been abolished, it was found

sary to adopt some other measure to put down illicit distillation

recourse was, therefore, had to a Revenue Police, the Excise officers
having too much other business to attend to, and the difficulty and
expense of procuring regular military assistance being almost insur
mountable. Accordingly, a Revenue Police was established in 1822,
and was gradually augmented in proportion to the exigency of the
service. In 1826, this force amounted to thirty-two parties; in

676

January, 1833, to fifty-seven parties, and in the present year to
seventy parties — amounting, including officers and men, to upwards
of 1200 persons. They were distributed through those parts of the
country in which illicit distillation most prevailed, and though their
exertions have been very great, yet they have but partially sup
pressed the evil.

Their services will be best appreciated by an enumeration of the
detections made by them in four successive years : —

Stills. Malt Bush. Distilleries. Worts Galls. Spirits seized.

1830... 804 25136 1788 122263 624

1831... 723 24901 1479 106908 353

1832... 974 47688 2299 203472 1150

1833. ..1539 71782 3300 320813 6944

Since the re-organization of the Revenue Police under the super
intendence of Colonel Brereton,and the judicious alterations made by
him, this force has become more effective, and will, no doubt, prove
of great benefit to the Revenue.

Experience has proved that illicit distillation has always decreased
in proportion to the lowness of the duty, so that it was almost anni
hilated by the reduction which took place in 1823, by causing a sub
stitution nearly universal of the legal for the illegal article. Differ
ence of opinion, however, exists respecting the extent to which a
reduction of duty should be made ; perhaps the best means to prevent
the evil under consideration, would be to reduce the duty in propor
tion to the average price of grain in the provinces, so that the temp
tation to manufacture spirits from it, would be less than the grain
itself would bring in the market. Such a measure could scarcely fail
of having, at least, a powerful influence, if not of effecting a total
suppression of the illegal practice, while it would give the preponde-

L ranee in favour of the legal manufacturer.
Of the many plans which have been laid to obstruct the revenue
officers in the discharge of their duty, the following is not the least
deserving of notice : — On the approach of the Assizes in 1803, when
many were about to be prosecuted for illicitly distilling, an officer,
stationed at Dunfanaghy, in the County of Donegal, who was to sup
port the informations, was suddenly seized, blind-folded, and carried
uway by a body of men in disguise, and brought to the island of
Arran on the western coast. From thence he was conveyed to the
islands of Goal, Innismay, &c. where he was closely confined, often
threatened with the loss of life, and was even obliged, by way of

677

humiliation for his active services, to assist in the working of an illicit
still ; while, like another Tantalus, the cup of pleasure was held to his
parched lips, without the liberty of gratifying his thirsty desires. At
the end of thirteen days, when the necessity for his confinement had
ceased, he was again blindfolded, taken from the island, and sent a
considerable distance into the interior of the country, where the mask
was removed from his face, and he was allowed in the solitude of
night, to make his way to his disconsolate family, who, all the time,
had looked upon his restoration as hopeless. Another officer, on a
similar occasion, was hurried from his bed, without any covering
except his shirt and trousers, put into a sack, thrown across the back
of a horse, and, in this manner, was conducted to the margin of a lake,
where, in his own hearing, a consultation was held whether he should
be drowned by tieing a stone to the sack and committing it to the
deep, or that he should be put to a more lingering and torturing*
death. In this awful state of suspense he was removed to a moun
tainous part of the country, where he was subjected to every kind of
insult and privation, continually menaced with death in every shape
of barbarity, led out at night as if about to be executed, and again
conducted to his solitary habitation, anticipating a renewal of further
cruelties. In this state he was retained for a considerable time, till
the Judge who presided at the Assizes, during the trial of some per
sons for illicitly distilling, suspecting the parties as being accessary to
this outrage, told them, that if the officer who had been taken away,
were not immediately liberated, he would pass such a sentence on them
as would for ever put it out of their power to commit such another
offence, and gave them but twenty-four hours for his restoration.
This had the desired effect : the unfortunate man was again put into
a sack and restored to his family in the same manner as that in which
he had been carried away.

To the vigorous measures of government, aided by the gentry of ^ %
the country, but more to the lowering of the duty and the encourage- \
ment given to small stills, the present decrease of illicit distillation
may be mainly attributed ; and though it still exists, its prevalence is
but comparatively partial.

The legal distilling establishments of the country are, for the most
part, conducted on an extensive scale, the stills ranging from 500 to ,
20,000 gallons' contents. In Cork, the establishments of Wyse,
Callaghan, Morrogh, Lyons, O'Keeffe, Shee, and Daly, are of immense
magnitude, while the concern of Murphy, as well as that of Hackett
at Middleton, are little inferior. The distillery of Clonmel contains

3 mash-tuns containing 52,000 gallons, and capable of using 400
barrels of grain in a day. It has 5 coolers containing 25,000 gallons,
with 12 wash-backs holding 167,000 gallons ; one wash-charger of
14,700 gallons ; 2 low wines' and feints' chargers 6,000 gallons ; 2
low-wines' stills 13,000 gallons, and one wash-still of 20,400 gallons.

The quantity of wash fermented and consumed in a period of 12
days, varies from 158 to 160,000 gallons, producing about 19,000
gallons of proof spirits. The charge for the year ended 5th January
1838, was 384,000 gallons. This concern works about nine months
in the year, and gives daily employment to about one hundred and
fifty persons.

Brown's establishment in Limerick has two stills for wash, coii-
containing 28,000 gallons, and two for low-wines, containing 12,000
gallons. There are eleven wash-backs, each averaging 30,000 gal
lons, one wash-charger, 36,600 ; two low- wines' receivers, 4,500 ; two
feints' receivers, 4,500 ; two low-wines and feints' chargers, 25,000 ;
one under-back, 11,000; one bub-tun, 15,000; one spirit receiver,
3,500 ; five spirits' store-casks, each 20,000 ; one metal cooler, in
three parts, 100,000 ; arid one worts' receiver containing 40,320 gal
lons. In a bonded warehouse on the premises, there are generally
sorted from 500 to 800 puncheons of spirits. There are also two malt-
houses, which work six months in the year, each of which wets 530
bushels of barley twice in the week. The machinery is worked by
two steam-engines, one of which is of 40 horse power. Besides
3000 tons of coal annually consumed, there are upwards of 20,000
boxes of turf brought down the Shannon from a bog about seven
miles distant ; in the cutting, drying, and making up of this turf, five
hundred persons are constantly employed. The site of the distillery
occupies about three acres, and the machinery and utensils are
estimated to have cost upwards of £200,000. A medical gentle
man has a salary for attendance on the labourers, to whom half wages
are given in case of their being rendered incapable of work, either
from age or accident.

The distillery of Mr. James Jameson, Marrowbone-lane, Dublin,
has four stills ; two for wash, containing 27,675 gallons ; two for
low-wines, 13,807; two metal mash-tuns, 67,776; six coppers,
83,935 ; two under-backs, 9,423 ; seven coolers, 88,260 gallons ;
besides cooling-pipes of great extent. There is a wash-charger hold
ing 26,422, and an intermediate one containing 17,831 gallons ; there
are ten fermenting wash-backs capable of holding 382,098 gallons.
One of these alone holds 51,798; and three others upwards of

679

46,500 gallons each. The two low- wines' receivers contain 15,395
gallons ; two low-wines' chargers, 20,705 ; two feints' receivers, 8936 ;
one spirit receiver, 5729 ; and three spirits' store-casks containing
22,902 gallons. In a period of four days, (the time occupied in dis
tilling,) 35,000 gallons of spirits are manufactured, and two hundred
and forty tons of coals are consumed in thirteen days, the usual
time occupied in brewing and distilling. This establishment works
about eighteen periods in the year, so that 630,000 gallons of spirits
are produced and 4320 tons of coals are consumed. The machinery
is worked by two steam-engines, one of twenty-six, and the other of
fourteen horse power. There are warehouses on the premises for
bonding spirits, capable of containing 1600 puncheons, and the con
cerns occupy a space of nearly five acres in extent.

In one of the large concerns worked in the city of Dublin, the
capacity of the stills worked, are two for the distillation of \vash,
17,456 gallons, two for that of low- wines, 9,022 gallons each; be
sides these, there are four coppers for brewing, containing 59,832
gallons, with two mash-tuns, holding 9,118 bushels of grain. In
these are usually mashed 3000 bushels at one brewing ; the under-
back contains 8,321 gallons, and there are four coolers that hold at one
inch in depth, 5,893 gallons. The tun for making bub, contains 2,790
gallons, and there are thirteen backs capable of receiving 432,414 gal
lons of wash at a time. The jack-back contains 2,065 gallons, the wash
charger, 26,938 ; the two low-wines' receivers, 14,887 ; the spirit
receiver 4,695, two feints' receivers, 9,431 ; two low-wines and feints'
chargers 18,695 ; three store-casks for spirits 11,902 gallons. In one
brewing period 15,290 bushels of malted and unmalted corn are
mashed, producing 262,747 gallons of wash at 60° of gravity, which
is completed in six working days ; and in six succeeding days, the
entire is distilled, producing, at an average attenuation, 31,150 gals,
of proof spirits, the duty on which, at 2*. 4d. per gallon, amounts to
£3,634 3s. 4d. The coal consumed for the twelve days occupied
in brewing and distilling is 200 tons, and there are 30 men constantly
employed in the concern. The barm alone for one period, stands the
proprietor £360, while the produce of the grains and hog-wash brings
in return £400. In one year this establishment completed eighteen
distilling periods, turning out 60,730 gallons of proof spirits, and
yielding a revenue of £65,415. Taking this as a fair standard, on
which to found a calculation of what may be the expense attending
the manufacture of spirits in Ireland, it does not appear to exceed
2s. 6d. for every gallon distilled.

r

680

Bushels.

Allowing 4 for malt 2184 at 6s. 3d per bush. £682 10s. Od.

4 for barley 6553 at 3 4J 1105 16 4£

4- for oats 6553 at 2 74 860 1 7*

The average cost for grain would be ... 2648 8 0

200 tons of coals at 12s. per ton. ... 120 0 0

Carriage, at 2s. per do. ... 20 0 0

Barm. 360 0 0

Total cost of materials ... ... 3148 8 0

Deduct for hog-wash and grains ... ... 400 0 0

Net cost for materials. ... ... 2748 8 0

Add duty, at 2s. 4d. per proof gal. ... ... 3634 3 4

Stands distiller for materials and duty. ... 6382 114

Rating sales, at 5s. 7d. per gallon 25 per

cent. O.P. the whole 24,920 galls, at

that strength, or 31,150 at proof,

would bring ... ... 6956 16 8

Balance to meet expenses, &c. ... .. 574 5 4

On this principle it is easy to calculate what the price of whiskey
should be, to make the trade of a distiller an object worthy of
speculation.

Few countries afford better means or facilities for conducting this
business than Ireland, grain being plentiful, fuel cheap, water in
abundance, workmen numerous, and eager for employment, with a
ready market always to be had for the disposal of the commodity.
In estimating the qualities of grain for distilleries, much depends on
the soil, climate, and season ; hence calculations founded on any
given data, without considerations of this kind, might lead to errone
ous results, the relative proportions of mucilage, sugar, gluten, and
nutritive, or soluble matter, varying in different countries. The
grain of the south of Europe excels that of the north, owing to the
different influence of heat, dryness, and moisture. It must, there
fore, be valuable to the distiller, brewer, or experimentalist, to be
presented with the following tabular view of the chemical analysis
of the principal articles from which spirits, or other liquors, are, or
may be, extracted, as given by Sir Humphrey Davy and other
I eminent philosophers.

681

Names of Articles.

In parts
of
Meal.

Soluble or
nutritive
matter.

Mucilage
or
Starch.

Saccha
rine
matter
or sugar

Gluten
or
Albu
men.

Matter in
soluble in
evapora
tion.

Barley, bere or bigg

1000
100
100
100
100
1000

100

100
1000

920

80

85

570
89
71
574
65
148
136
73
98
136
99
from 260
to 200
42
64
39
32
39
23
39

790
82
75
59

84
61

77

70
426
67
39
501
36
14
13
41
3
13
9
200
to 155
7
9
31
29
30
18
28

70
2

22

121
119
24
95
119
90
20
to 15
34
51
3
1
4
1
2

60

6

5

19

24
103
22
32
35
29
13
4
8

4

40
to 30
1
2
2
3
3

3

3
5

2
4
6

Millet

Oats, or corn

Rice

Rye ..

Wheat sown in )
Autumn J

Do. in Spring
Beans (common) ...
Beans (kidney)

Peas, (drV) .

Tares

Beet (Red)

Beet (White)
Cabbasre* . .

...

Carrot

Mangold wurzel ...

...

Potato

Turnip (common)
Turnip (Swedish)
Clover (Red)

...

Clover (White) ...

...

Saintfoin

The basis of all spirits and vinous fermentation is sugar, and no
intoxicating beverage can be obtained from any substance, which does
not contain a portion of this material ; nor is there any substance,
which contains it, that is not productive of the alcoholic principle to a
greater or less degree, either in proportion to the saccharine quantity,
or to its combination with other matter. Chemists are divided as to

* Cabbages were in common use among the ancients, and Cato wrote volumes
descriptive of their nature and value. The Indians had such veneration for cab<.
bages that they swore by them, and were, in that respect, as superstitious as the
Egyptians, who paid divine honors to leeks and onions for the great benefit, which
they conceived, they derived from them.

682

the constituent parts of sugar; all, however, agree that it is composed
of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen, but no experiments have yet deter
mined the exact proportion of each ; and a recent analysis has proved
that the difference between the composition of starch and that of sugar
is trifling, and that the former principle is easily converted into the
latter by natural, as well as artificial operations, and that this occurs
as Avell in the germination of seeds as in the process of malting: ^ence
it is evident why those fruits, roots, and seeds, or grain, which contain
the largest proportion of starch, yield the greatest quantities of alcohol
or spirits. The quantity of saccharine matter contained in any grain,
or edible plant, will be found by making a tincture of the vegetable
to be assayed in rectified spirits of wine, which, when saturated by
heat, will deposit the sugar by standing in a cool place.

The following table exhibits the quantity of alcohol, (sp. gr. .825 at
60° Fahrenheit) in several kinds of wines and other liquors, as ascer
tained by the experiments of Mr. Brande.

Per cent, per measure. Per cent, per measure.

Port, average of six kinds.... 23.48 Hock 8.88

Do. highest, 25.83 Palm wine, 4.70

Do. lowest, 21.40 Vinde Grave, 12.80

Sherry, average of four kinds 1 7.92 Frontignac, 1 2.79

Do. highest, 19.83 CotiRoti 12.32

Do. lowest, 13.25 Rousillon, 17.26

Claret, average of two kinds 14.42 Cape Madeira, 18.11

Calcavella, 18.10 Cape Muschat,.... 18.25

Lisbon 1 8.94 Constantia, 1 9..75

Malaga, 17.26 Tent, 13.30

Bucellas, 18.49

Red Madeira 18.40

Malmsey Madeira 1 6.40

Marsala 25.87

Shiraz, 15.52

Syracuse, 15.28

Nice,
Tokay,

,14.63

9.88

Do 17.26 Raisin Wine, 25.77

Madeira, highest, 24.42|Grape Wine, 18.11

Do. lowest, 19.34JCurrant Wine, 20.55

Red Champagne, 11. 30, Gooseberry Wine...... 11.84

White do 12.80 Elder Wine. Cider & Perry, 9.87

Burgundy, 11.55 Stout, 6.80

Do 11.95 Ale, 8.88

White Hermitage, 17.43 Brandy, 53.39

Red do 12.32 Rum 53.68

Hock 14.37[Hollands, 51.60

From the preceding table, it appears that port, madeira, marsala,
raisin, and currant wines, contain the greatest bulk of alcohol, so that

a person after taking a bottle of any of those, will have swallowed
nearly an half pint of alcohol, or almost a pint of pure brandy, with
out experiencing1 those intoxicating effects, which either alcohol, or
brandy, would produce separately. In wine, the alcohol is so blended
with other matter as to prevent it acting with such vigour on the
stomach, until its influence is changed by the powers of digestion,
and, by this combination, its activity on the system is completely
modified.

To what intoxication may be attributed, whether to the alcohol,
or pure spirits, incorporating with the blood, or to the sympathy of
communication between the 'stomach and the head, has not yet been
clearly ascertained. But if conjecture be admitted, the most plausible
hypothesis seems to be, that the heat of the stomach acting on the volatile
principle of the fluid, causes it to ascend to the brain, and to affect
it through the medium of the nerves. A case is recounted of a person
brought dead into Westminster Hospital, after having drunk a quart
of gin for a wager, within the lateral ventricles of whose brain a
quantity of clear fluid was found, strongly impregnated with gin.*
In support of a contrary hypothesis, it is urged from the experiments
of Majendie, that the blood of a dog, which had been made to
swallow some diluted alcohol, exhaled a strong odour of the spirit ;
but by what means it makes its way to the seat of reason may still
remain one of those secrets, into which the eye of the philosopher can
never penetrate

Observation and experiment have recently proved, that persons
accustomed to the drinking of ardent spirits are subject to spon
taneous combustion — a proof that the blood must be strongly impreg
nated with the alcoholic principle. A case of this kind was lately
described in the New York Courier, in the instance of an old man,
who had drunk a large quantity of rum. Having been bled, and a
lighted taper applied to the blood, it burned blue, and continued to
blaze freely for thirty seconds : every toper, therefore, should be
cautious of coming in contact with any ignited material, since he is
as liable to blow up as a cask of French brandy.

The growing magnitude of distillation in Ireland led, as before /
remarked, to the passing of numberless acts of parliament for its
regulation. Still, however, the ingenuity of the distillers baffled the
provisions of any enactment, by which the trade was governed, and

* Pharmacologia of Dr. Paris, vol. i. p. 142.

684

they succeeded to smuggle to an enormous extent. Besides this evil,
private distillation had so forced itself on the notice of government,
from its demoralizing tendency, that it was found necessary to direct
an inquiry into the laws which controled the operations of the distil
lers of the United Kingdom. During the course of that inquiry, a vast
mass of information was collected, and the respective merits of the
various systems then in use were compared and determined, so far as
regarded the practibility of extending one uniform plan of work to the
whole empire. After a close examination, it was considered that the
principle of the law then existing in Scotland, (a law originally sug
gested by the distillers themselves) which was that of charging the
duty according to the gravity of the worts, or wash, with the use of
the saccharometer for that purpose, was the best calculated for obtain
ing the object in view. The value of this instrument, as applied to
distilling purposes, was for a long time known to the trade, and had
in 1799, attracted the attention of the Scotch officers of the revenue ;
but its application as a test, or criterion ibr ascertaining the gravity
of worts was not introduced till 1816, when the law in Scotland was
modified to embrace all the checks of the English system, with the
other improvements consequent on the use of the saccharometer.

The extension of the Scotch system to Ireland, afforded the oppor
tunity of revising the act, under which it was conducted ; and instead
of distillers being restricted from making worts lower than 60°, (which
was the case in Scotland,) it was thought expedient to remove every
obstacle of this description, and permit them to distil worts at any
gravity from 30° to 80°, to be ascertained by such a saccharometer
as the Lords of the Treasury might order.

While on this subject it may be proper to remark that the saccha
rometer, (from <ret%et%, sugar, and /MT%OV, a measure) is a simple machine
invented in 1784 by Mr. Richardson, a brewer at Hull.

It is usually composed of brass, and is nothing more or less than as
its name imports — a measure' of sweetness, or saccharine matter.
The form of that now used in the Excise department, and known by
the name of Bate's saccharometer, (from Wm. Brettell Bate, the in
ventor, ordered by the Treasury in 1823, to be used instead of Allan's
under the act of the 4th Geo.4, ch. 94.) is about 1\ inches long, consisting
of an elliptical ball, or float, with a flat graduated stem of 4^ inches
in length, having a small loop at the bottom. The divisions on the
scale are numbered downwards from 1° to 30°, and it is supplied with
five weights fitted to the loop, and marked 970, 1000, 1030, 1060,

685

and 1090 : the first weight being for attenuation below water, the
1000 at water, and the others above water. The instrument is accom
panied with a book of tables to assist in the calculation of the gravities,
and to which the reader is referred for further illustration. It was
constructed to ascertain the sweetness of worts, or to compare their
weight with that of equal quantities of the water employed. In fact,
it may be said to be a hydrometer calculated to shew the specific gra
vity of wash instead of spirits. For, as spirituous liquors are strong
in proportion to their levity, or weak in proportion to their gravity,
and as the hydrometer will sink deeper in strong than in weak spirits,
so the saccharometer will sink deeper in weak than in strong worts.

Respecting the history of this instrument, which has become the
standard for the collection of the revenue, and the regulator of the
work of brewers and distillers, it is a curious fact that Mr. Richard
son, previous to its invention, had realized a considerable independence
but that after the application of the saccharometer, his manufacture
was less esteemed, and he lost that custom and celebrity by which he
had previously acquired so much : such too frequently has been the
fate of those by whom society has been most benefited !

Traders have been in the habit of using the saccharometer invented
by Mr. Dicas, of Liverpool ; it is calculated to shew the gravity or
saccharine matter in an English ale-barrel of 36 gallons, equal to 44
gallons' wine-measure. When a wort, therefore, is stated upon it to
be of 60nbs., or 60° gravity, the meaning is, that 36 gallons of such
liquid weighs its weight of water and 60ft>s. more, so that among dis
tillers and brewers by degrees of gravity is meant the excess of the
weight of worts above that of an equal bulk of water in 1000 parts of
the latter : hence the heavier the malt infusion, or worts, as it is
termed, the greater the value, since it holds in solution a greater
quantity of saccharine matter. All liquids, as well as most other
bodies, expand by heat and contract by cold, consequently worts, or
wash, are effected, less or more, by the temperature. Experiments
have shewn that a cubic foot of rain-water at a heat of 60°, weighs
1000 ounces avoirdupois, but when raised to the temperature of 100°
It increases its volume to T^T of its bulk. Water, therefore, has been
called 1000, and it is indifferently expressed 1000, or decimally 1.000
and is used as the standard of all substances, whether solid or fluid.
Hence in tables of specific gravities, the figures express how many
times 1000 ounces of the different substances a cubic foot contains.

The following is the specific gravity of most of the various liquids
and other articles mentioned in this work : —

686

Acetic Acid, 1.007 Steam, 690

Alcohol or ^commercial 837 Oxygen,.,.., 1.044

Spirits of Wine, J highly rect. 829 Sugar, white, 1.606

Atmospheric or common air 1.000 Vapour of Alcohol, 2.100

Azote or Nitrogen gas, 969 Vinegar distilled, 1.010

Beer, pale, » 1.023 Water, rain 1.000

brown, 1.034 distilled, 1.000

Carbonic Acid Gas, 1.520 sea, 1.026

Cider, 1..018 Wine, Burgundy, 992

Honey, 1.450| Bourdeaux, 994

Hydrogen Gas, 074 Champagne, white,.... 998

Milk of Cows, 1.032 Canary, 1.033

Mare's, L034 Constance, 1.082

Ass's, 1.035; Madeira, 1.038

Ewe's 1.040. Malaga, 1.022

Goat's 1.034 Port, 997

Opium, 1.3361 Tokay, 1.054

As there are 1728 cubic inches in a cubic foot, and 277,274 in an

1728
imperial gallon, ^7 ^-—6.2325, the gallons in a cubic foot.

The specific gravity of any fluid may be found by weighing a cer
tain quantity (a quart for instance) and mulf iplying the weight by the
number of quarts in 6.2325 gallons. It is customary, however, for
the sake of convenience and accuracy, to use a small phial with a
narrow neck, and when completely filled with the fluid to weigh it in
a scale that will turn with the tenth or less of a grain. Suppose then
the weight to be 1490.2 grains ; and as 6,2325 weigh 1000 ounces,
say — 6.2325gal. : lOOOoz. : Igal. : 160.44oz.=77011grs. the weight of

a gallon, and =9712.6grs. the weight of a pint: consequently

8

9712 6

— _J — =6,5176, by which the weight of any fluid being multiplcd,

the product will be the weight of an imperial pint of that fluid, this
being again multiplied by 49.86, the number of pints in 6,2325 gal
lons, the product is the specific gravity.

To save such calculations and the trouble attending them, instru
ments have been invented upon the principle that bodies immersed in
a fluid meet with a resistance proportioned to the specific gravity of
such fluid : hence their use and importance in determining the strength
of spirituous liquors.

To ascertain correctly the specific gravity of worts, the use of a
thermometer is indispensable, in order to determine what is to be
added to or taken from the ge'neral standard of 60°, at which point
tables of specific gravities are usually calculated.

To determine the quantity of spirit to be drawn from wort or \vash>

687

it was presumed to be in all cases directly according to its attenua
tion. The work of the Scotch distillers proved that worts of 5ft>s.
gravity should produce one gallon of proof spirits, or in other words
for every 5° of gravity attenuated in every 100 gallons of worts, there
ought to be one gallon of proof spirits, to which one-fifth might be
added for a maximum. Suppose, then, 10,020 gallons of worts are
set at a gravity of 60°, and that it is required to know what quantity
of proof spirits should be expected from them, on the presumption
that this is a correct theory. Allowing the whole to be attenuated,
so as to show either nothing by the instrument, or a gravity of 31bs
or degrees, the calculation will be : —

When attenuated to water : —

60° gravity at commencement
0° attenuated.

60^

57°

10020.0
60

5) 6012.000

Proof gallons
Add|

1202.4
240.48

When 3° is the gravity : —

60° gravity at commencement
3° attenuated.

Spirits
Addf

10020.0
57^

5) 5711.400

1142.28
228.456

Maximum 1442.88 Maximum 1370.736

Thus having the gravity of any wort correctly ascertained at the
outset, it is easy to estimate the quantity of proof spirits, which ought
to be extracted, giving credit in all cases for any unattenuated matter,
it being presumed that no spirit can be drawn from any unfermented
liquid. The reason why the degrees of attenuation are placed as
decimals in the examples given above, is to prevent the trouble of
dividing by 100 the number of gallons allowed in the whole quantity
for every five degrees of attenuation. The real operation is simply
that of a question in the Rule of Three, the statements of which are,

As 100 : 60° : : 10020 : 6012 and
As 100: 57°:: 10020: 5711.4

which severally divided by 5 gives the respective quantities of spirits.
On the foregoing theoretical and practical deductions was founded
the Act of 4 Geo. IV. c.94, for the regulation of the Scotch and Irish
distilleries. This law, which received the royal assent on the 18th
July, 1823, permits stills of a capacity so low as 40 gallons to be
licensed, without any restriction as to a higher content ; but for minute
particulars the act itself must be consulted. Here it may be sufficient

688

to state, that there are three modes of charging the duty, either on
the wash, the low-wines, or the spirits, whichever of them happens to
be highest. The brewing and distilling must be conducted in alter
nate periods ; during the process of brewing there can be no distilla
tion, and during distilling there can be no brewing. Six days' notice
must be given before commencing or re-commencing brewing, and
a notice of the gravity under which the trader intends to work ; and
which may be from 30° to 80°. This gravity cannot be changed
until the expiration of a month. If the worts of a brewing are col
lected in a receiver, a declaration of the quantity and gravity must be
delivered to the officer, who is obliged to take an account of them in
one hour after ; but if collected in the fermenting-back, (the running
of the wort into which must be finished in six hours) the gravity must
be taken within two hours. No fermentable matter can be added before
this gravity is taken. Should the gravity or quantity exceed the decla
ration by 5 ^ cent, a penalty of £200 is incurred. When the increase
exceeds 5 ^ cent, the wort is deemed new and the distiller is charge
able with the duty accordingly. The duty on the wash is a percen
tage of one gallon for every 5 degrees attenuated ; on the low-
wines, by a comparison of their strength with that of proof spirits
after making an allowance of 5 ^ cent, on the whole ; on the spirits
by the produce of low-wines and feints calculated as proof spirits.

Exclusive of the regular daily charges of any of the three modes
just mentioned, whichever may be the highest, and which are charged
at the expiration of every distilling period a yearly account is to be
made up of all the wash distilled during the term of the license, at
the respective monthly gravity or gravities declared by the distiller,
reduced to proof spirits. And if that calculated quantity of spirits
shall be more than what the distiller has already been charged with,
he must then pay the duty on the difference, which amounts, in fact,
to this, that although he gets credit for bad fermentation in the
charge from each back, yet it is the declared gravity which is even
tually charged and paid for. The ordinary charge against the distiller
must be made within six days after every distilling period, and the
deficiency charge at the expiration of the license, on the 10th of
October, must be returned within one month after.

The officer is enjoined to keep a regular debtor and creditor
account of the stock of spirits, and should any excess be found it is
forfeited to the crown, together with the sum of ten shillings for
every gallon of such excess — if there be a deficiency, there is a for
feiture of ten shillings on every gallon so deficient, provided such
decrease shall not exceed three per cent. ; nor is this forfeiture to be

(>S9

exacted, if the trader prove the deficiency not to have been occasioned
by fraud, either practised or intended.

The liberty of warehousing spirits without payment of duty, which
the act permits, is a great indulgence and accommodation, as it gives
the trader the use of the money till a market offers, or till it suits his
own convenience. At storing, the strength must be either 11 or 25
per cent, over proof, and the casks cannot be of less content than 100
gallons each ; but by Sec. 10 of the 6th and 7th Wm. IV. c. 72., a
distiller is now permitted to store casks so low as 20 gallons. A
rent is required at the rate of one penny per week for every 40
gallons when placed in warehouses belonging- to the crown ;
but, by a subsequent regulation, traders have the privilege of re
lieving themselves from this rent by storing the spirits on their
own premises, under the look and key of the revenue. It has been
suggested that it would be advantageous to the revenue, were all the
spirits manufactured throughout the empire, stored in the warehouses
of the crown and delivered from thence for either home or foreign
consumption. By this means, no spirits could leave the distillery
without the knowledge of the officer, unless by incurring a palpable
risk, which, it is presumed, no respectable trader would attempt.

Spirits may be sent from Ireland to England, on payment of the
difference of duties, which is 5s. 2d. per gallon ; the duty in Ireland
being 2s. 4d., and in England 7$. 6d. With regard to Scotland, the
duty there is 3s. 4d., which nearly amounts to an interdiction of inter
course between Ireland and that country. In England, distillation may
be said to be a monopoly, since it is still confined to a few capitalists,
while in Scotland and Ireland it is open to every speculatist. The
mode of charging the duty is, however, much the same in all parts
of the empire, being regulated by the saccharometer and hydrometer,
under the survey of officers. The former instrument having been
already described, it only remains to give an account of the latter.

The hydrometer, as its name imports, (from lv^a^ water, and
/MT£ov, a measure) is a test of the density, or gravity of water.
This instrument is constructed on the principle that all bodies weigh
in proportion to the quantity of gravitating matters they contain, and
is merely a ready substitute for the hydrostatic balance, to which it is
preferred, on account of the ease and expedition with which it can be
used ; for this reason it has been adopted by government to ascertain-
the strength of spirituous liquors. To illustrate the general prin
ciple, let water be the standard of comparison, a cubic inch of which,
at 60° of Fahrenheit, weighs 1000 ounce* ; and since, as has been

2 Y

690

already stated, all bodies weigh in proportion to their particles of
gravitating materials, and that gold is more minute, simple, and
cohesive than any ether body, if it be adulterated with any other
metal, its specific gravity, or comparative weight, must be less in pro
portion to the quantity of alloy with which it may be amalgamated.
The weight, therefore, of gold is a sure criterion of its quality, and
by experience the purity, orimpurity of substances, whether solid or
fluid, may be obtained. Besides, when it is said that the specific
gravity of proof spirits is 923, the meaning is, that a cubic foot of
the liquor will weigh exactly 923 ounces ; and if the specific gravity
of alcohol be reckoned as 825, it implies that a cubic foot of alcohol
will weigh 825 ounces, avoirdupois. The relation which all other
spirits has to this standard, or proof, is expressed by saying that they
are so much above, or under proof ; so when it is said, that a spirit is
25 per cent, above proof, it implies that 100 gallons of it will admit
of 25 gallons to reduce it to the strength of proof; and if it be 25
per cent, under proof, it is considered to contain 25 gallons of water
more than is contained in 100 gallons of proof spirits : in other words,
proof spirits are a mixture of an equal quantity of water and alcohol.
Hence a table might be easily formed to shew what quantity of water,
or spirits, should be added to any given portion of spirits to render it
true proof. From this explanation, it will be seen that the calculations
made from any instrument are simple and easy of comprehension ;
but, for the practical application, recourse must be had to the instruc
tions accompanying the instrument, and explanatory of the tables
and sliding-rule constructed for computing the strength of spirits at
different temperatures.

The following general rule may be adopted for calculating the
strength of spirits, whether above or below proof, viz. : — To reduce
the strength to hydrometer proof, divide the quantity by its degrees
of strength, whether over or under hydrometer proof. When over
proof, add the quotient to the quantity ; if under proof, subtract it
therefrom, which gives the quantity at hydrometer proof.

A simple method of ascertaining the specific gravity , and conse
quent commercial value of JEther, Spirits, Sulphuric, and other
acids, &c., was recommended for twenty-five years by Sir James
Murray, M. D. of Dublin, part of whose plan has been since adopted
by Mr. Gilpin. I subjoin a representation of it which was given
to me by Sir James, in 1823, when my former work was in
the press.

e>9i

Fig. 1

The adoption of this principle would be important to country
purchasers, who are often imposed upon when forcing and deleterious
ingredients are mixed in spirits, to make them produce a head, or
appear strong. An economical hydrometer can thus be furnished,
which, avoiding thermometric calculations, may be understood, and
used by any person.

By this plan, the spirit to be examined is brought to the one con
stant and uniform temperature for experiment ; this is easily effected
by placing a bottle of the liquor, during a few minutes, in a basin of
tepid water. To those who are not supplied with a thermometer, a
simple one can be supplied by an artist at a trifling expense, having
a single mark engraved on it, say at 65°, to which every sample of
spirit can be readily brought, and examined in a room of nearly the
same temperature.

Sir James Murray has observed that where the balance is accurate
and the stem, or tube, of the flask is small, a difference of a half, or
even a quarter of a degree, will be apparent on the scale engraved on
its neck. Half a pint, or a pint, has been the usual quantity tried.
The vessel is a light, thin flask, attached to the end of a beam by a
small ring of brass, fixed round the part of the stem at P, and
engraved proof,

A is the flask, or regulator, having the degrees of the scale cut on
its neck. B denotes the weight attached to the opposite end of the
beam, and filed, or ground down, until it exactly counterpoises the
flask containing real proof marked P.

692

Now, it is plain, that if the sample for trial be stronger than real
proof, by which the instrument was first adjusted, it will consequently
be lighter, and in order to counterpoise the weig'ht B, more of the
liquor must be added until the scale is balanced. The height at
which the liquor stands in the stem is then to be noted, and every
line, or mark, tells the number of degrees, above proof, that the spirit
amounts to.

If, however, the sample be weaker than true proof, in that case
less bulk will make the same weight, and every degree under the
proof-mark, P, shews the result as so many degrees under proof . By
these means, therefore, the different liquors are tested by a single
weight, and the inconvenience and trouble of using a variety are
rendered unnecessary.

Sir James Murray also recommended another method on the same
principle which is very simple, (Fig. 2.)

Fig. 2. Fig. 3.

An accurate lever, or steel-yard, is furnished with a solid glass
weight, B, at one end, say 20 or 30 ounces' weight ; this is filed, or
ground away until it counterpoises a flask A, of true proof spirit at

65°, accurately and completely filled up to a ground stopper this

flask is suspended by a wire, ring, or hook, in a notch cut in the
beam at C, which is there marked proof.

Now, it is plain, that if the same flask be filled with weaker spirits at
65°, it will weigh more, and it must then be moved forward by the
ring, or wire, on the arm of the steel-yard, or lever, until it is poised;
and the number at which this occurs denotes the degrees of strength,
lelow-proof. But if the sample be stronger than true proof, then
the same vessel will not hold a similar weight, and the ring and flask
must be drawn nearer to the extremity of the lever ; and the line
where it balances, indicates the degree, above proof, without the slight
est trouble or inconvenience.

This, therefore, is very superior to the thousand grain bottle,
because no weights, nor further calculations, are requisite. Theoperose
small deductions or additions of Dicas and others are avoided, so that a
common porter can, in a moment, use the proposed instrument.

693

Sir James Murray luis found that proper giass rods terminating in
solid glass balls for weights, are the most suitable beams, or levers.
When well poised on glass balls or pivots, they are neat and accu
rate, and are not liable to vary, like metallic substances, from damp,
friction, or oxydation.

The thermometer, (Fig. 3.) having only a single line, or degree,
(65) is cheap, simple, and effectual.

Of hydrometers there are various sorts made of different materials,
but Dr. Blagden is of opinion that those made of glass are the most
accurate. Glass hydrometers are so subject to accidents, that metal
ones have been preferred. Sykes's instrument is the one in general
use, and was adopted by the act of 56 Geo. III. chap. 140, and subse
quently confirmed by the 58th Geo. III. chap. 28. This hydrom
eter consists of a hollow ball one inch and an half in diameter, having
a flat stem 3. 4 inches long, divided on both sides into ten equal parts,
and each division is subdivided into five equal parts. At the other
end is a small conical stem 1. 13 inches in length, having a pear-
shaped bulb at its extremity. The whole instrument, which is made
of brass, is 6. 7 inches long, and is accompanied with nine circular
weights, numbered 10, 20, 30, 40. 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, and an ad
ditional one of a solid rectangular form, with a notch in each to fit
them to the stem. The square weight is made for the summit, and
the others for the conical part at the under portion of the ball. By
the separate application of these weights in succession, the range of
strength between pure water and alcohol is determined. Each weight
is equivalent to ten principal divisions. The weight numbered 60
indicates proof at the "temperature of 51° of Fahrenheit; and by
the addition of the square on the top, it sinks it to the same point in
distilled water of the same temperature. This square weight being
just one-twelfth part of the entire weight of the whole hydrometer,
together with its bottom weight, marked 60, causes the scale to shew
the difference between water and proof spirit, which, the act of par
liament states, must weigh ~\ of an equal bulk of distilled water.
Before the invention of this instrument, much fraud was practised 011
the public, as there was no accurate method of enabling purchasers of
spirits to detect the deceptions of unfair dealers.

The following anecdote, being in point, is worthy of preservation :

A shopkeeper at Canton, sold to the purser of a ship, a quantity
of distilled spirits according to a sample shewn ; but, not standing in
awe of conscience, he, afterwards, in the privacy of his store-house,
added a certain quantity of water to each cask. The spirit having
been delivered on board, and tried by the hydrometer, was discovered

694

to be wanting in strength. When the vender was charged with the
intended fraud, he, at first, denied it, for he knew of no human
means which could have effected the discovery; but, on the exact
quantity of spirits, which had been missed, being specified, a super
stitious dread seized him, and having confessed his roguery, he made
amends. On the instrument of his detection being afterwards shewn
to him, he offered any price for what he foresaw might be turned to
great account in his trade.

Having described the hydrometer, it remains only to remark that
in order to ascertain exactly, the quantity of pure alcohol in any por
tion of the mixture of that material, M. Gay Lussac has constructed
an alcohometer. The scale is divided into 100 degrees; each of
these degrees indicates the proportion of pure alcohol contained in
100 parts of mixture. Thus, for instance, when the instrument indi
cates 25°, it signifies that 100 parts of the liquor submitted to proof,
contain 25 of pure alchohol, and 75 of water — pure alcohol indicates
100. Pure alcohol cannot be frozen though rectified spirits may, by
the rapid evaporation of sulphurous acid. According to Saussure,
alcohol consists of —

Carbon ... 52.17

Oxygen ... 34. 79

Hydrogen ... 13.04
being, as already observed, the constituent principles of sugar.

Although the standard specific gravity of alcohol is rated at .825,
yet experimentalists have obtained it so low as .791, and at the
intermediate degrees of .817, .809, .804, .799, .797, and .796. Alco
hol is colourless, has a fragrant odour, and a highly pungent taste ;
it is very inflammable, burning with a blue flame without smoke:
during its combustion, water and carbonic acid are formed, the
quantity of the water exceeding that of the alcohol consumed. It
combines with water in every ratio, and their union is accomplished
with a considerable evolution of heat, and the bulk of the liquor is
less than that of the two before their admixture. The highest rectifi
cation of this spirit is called absolute alcohol, from its being con
sidered absolutely free from water ; it is so very volatile that even at
the density of 820, it will boil at the temperature of 176° Fahren
heit, the barometrical pressure being 30 inches. It produces con
siderable cold during its evaporation; in it many of the vegetable
principles and essential oils are soluble; it is the only solvent of the
vegetable alkali, and is of the utmost utility in the Materia Medica.
Among the various matters from which alcohol can be extracted,

potatoes* have been brought through chemical analysis to yield con
siderable quantities. — In conducting the process for that purpose^
both in France and Great Britain, the first object is to obtain the
greatest quantity of starch the potato is capable of affording. This
is effected by bruising the potatoes to "a pulp, then separating the
starch from the dregs by means of a hair-sieve, and submitting the
result to the usual process of fermentation. The preparation of
starch obtained from good potatoes by French experimentalists, has
been upwards of 14 cwt. of wet starch from 49 cwt. of potatoes;
but the common result is from 18 to 20 per cent, of dry, or from 27
to 30 of wet starch. For a charge of 242 gallons imperial measure,
from 176 to 187 Ibs. of wet starch, or two-thirds of the same amount
dry, are taken, thrown into a vat, and mixed with 44 gallons, or
nearly half the weight of water. The mixture is then carefully
stirred with rakes lest the starch should settle at the bottom ; and in
this state, from 110 to 132 gallons of boiling water are gradually
added. The whole soon becomes thick, and is converted into a paste,
or jelly. At first, it has a milky appearance, and shortly after
becomes transparent, at which period it is in a proper state for un
dergoing the saccharine change. From 44 to 551bs. of malt, the finer
grained the better, previously softened by steeping in water are then
added; ten minutes after which the material is immediately liquified,
and in this state it is suffered to remain for three or four hours, dur
ing which it acquires a sensibly saccharine taste* To prepare it for
fermentation, it requires a further mixture of water to make it up to
about 242 gallons. To put this quantity into fermentation, nearly
two quarts of good barm are considered sufficient.

Another mode of obtaining spirits from potatoes is : — Strew or
spread over the bottom of a keive on which are thrown the bruised
potatoes, say 8831bs. as they come from the grating machine, where
they remain from a quarter to about half an hour to drain. Two
workmen then commence stirring them with rakes in from 88 to 110
gallons of boiling water. The mixture soon assumes a jelly-like
appearance ; 551bs. of finely-ground malt judiciously soaked are then
added, and after being well agitated it is left at rest for three or four
hours. All the liquor which filters through the bottom during the
time, is drawn off by a cock and conducted to the fermenting tun.
The mass is allowed to remain for a quarter of an hour longer, and

* This valuable root is supposed to have been introduced into Europe from
Virginia (North America), but it is said to have been known, at a very early period,
in Tucuman,a province of Paraguay, where potatoes arc termed camotes^ and com-^
monly grow to the size of seven pounds and upwards.

690

the liquor is drawn off as before. A second quantity of water is then
added, amounting to about 44 gallons, the whole is stirred, left to
drain, and the liquid thus obtained,is also sent to the fermenting tun.
This treatment cools the liquid considerably, but to cool and exhaust
the pulp of all the fermentable matter, which it may still contain, from
44 to 66 gallons of cold water are thrown over it, which on draining
through is received into the fermenting vat with the liquid extracts. By
this time the pulp on the false bottom is nearly exhausted, but retains
almost three-fourths of a liquid charged with fermentable matter,
which may be used to feed cattle, or may undergo another draining.
In the routine of these operations the fermentable liquid is gradually
cooled, till, at the end of the process, it acquires a temperature very
suitable to the commencement of fermentation with a specific gravity
of 1.035.

To convert the starch of potatoes into a sirup, or saccharine con
sistence, is the first consideration in preparing it for distillation.
Kirchoff, a Russian chemist, discovered, in 1811, that sulphuric acid
best effected this important purpose, by diffusing a certain quantity of
the starch through water rendered pungent by a suitable proportion
of the acid. The mixture is then boiled for 36 hours, stirring it
carefully during the first hour, to prevent its settling at the bottom.
At the expiration of that time, it becomes almost entirely fluid, and
only requires stirring at intervals ; accordingly, as the water evapo
rates, it ought to be replaced. When the liquid is sufficiently boiled,
pulverized chalk is added to saturate the sulphuric acid ; after cooling
and settling, it possesses a sweet agreeable taste : being clarified and
having evaporated to the consistence of sirup, it acquires an intense
saccharine flavour and yields, on cooling, crystals of sugar. In this
process, Kirchoff employed common starch, and after his experiments
became public, many chemists were engaged in varying and improv
ing the discovery. Lampadius substituted the starch of potatoes
for that of wheat, and altered the process of Kirchoff in other respects,
for, instead of a vessel of metal, he used one of wood heated by steam
from an adjoining boiler, and conveyed through pipes descending
perpendicularly to the mixture at the bottom. Sir George Tuthill
put into an earthen vessel a pound and a half of potato starch, a
quarter of an ounce of sulphuric acid, and six pints of distilled water
at a boiling heat. These he kept stirring for thirty-eight hours,
adding a supply of fresh water to keep the mixture in a degree of
uniform fluidity. At the expiration of twenty-four hours, it became
sweet, and increased in saccharine quality during the remainder of
the process. When it had boiled for thirty-four hours an ounce of finely

697

pulverized charcoal was infused, and, in two hours more, some fresh
lime was thrown in to saturate the acid, and the boiling was continued
for half an hour longer. The liquor was then strained through calico,
and the residuum, consisting of charcoal and sulphate of lime, after
repeated washings by warm water, was dried, and weighed seven-
eighths of an ounce. The clear fluid having settled to the consistence
of sirup, was, in eight days, converted into a crystalline substance
like common brown sugar, with a mixture of treacle. This saccha
rine matter weighed one pound and a quarter, and its qualities were
considered as intermediate between those of cane and sirup. Profes
sor De la Rive of Geneva, and M. Theodore De Saussure, by a further
investigation of these results, found that during this process no gas is
evolved, that the conversion proceeds equally well in close vessels,
and that no portion of the sulphuric acid is decomposed. Whence it
is fair to conclude, that the conversion of starch into sugar is nothing
more than its combination with water in its solid state, or rather with
its elements. M. Braconnot has recently extended still further our
views concerning the artificial production of sugar and gum. He
found that well-dried elm -dust, shreds of linen, &c. when treated with
sulphuric acid (sp. gr. 1.827) and afterwards diluted with water, and
the acid saturated with lime, yielded, by evaporation, a glutinous
matter, which was convertible into a crystallized sugar, by further
boiling with diluted sulphuric acid at 30° or 40°. Nothing can more
satisfactorily illustrate the facility with which one proximate principle
is convertible into another ; and strange as the statement may appear
to persons not familiar with chemical speculations, it is nevertheless
indisputably true that a pound weight of rags can be easily converted
into a pound weight of sugar,* and be distilled into spirits.

Such was the origin of the art which has been so successfully
applied to France in the manufacture of spirits from potatoes ; and it
has rendered the saccharizing of starch by sulphuric acid, a simple and
practicable branch of manufacture.

M. Zeize has stated, that a small quantity of chloride of calcium
(oxymuriate of lime) moistened with water, added to the wash made
from potatoes or grain, (the liquid being allowed to subside before it
is distilled) makes the spirit produced more like brandy. It is freed,
he says, from the peculiar taste of all corn-spirits, and is considered
as good as the brandy made from wine. The chloride must be of the
best quality, and to determine the quantity necessary to be used, a

* Paris'.s Elements of Medical Chemistry, p. 195.

698

little of the wash should be first tried with it as a test of the pro
portion requisite.

M. Dubrunfaut, a French chemist, in his Art of Distillation, (pub
lished at Paris in 1824,) has given the results of various experiments
made by him in the saccharizing1 and distilling of potato starch. From
4 gallons, 3J pints, to 5J gallons imperial measure of spirits at 19°
(935 sp, gr.) was the ordinary quantity obtained from llOlbs. of starch
saccharized by sulphuric acid ; but it is thought that this could be
considerably increased by various means, particularly by diluting and
cooling the worts rapidly, as delay in this stage of the process tends
to diminish the alcoholic principle.

When 22 libs, of starch are submitted to the action of sulphuric
acid, 13T^ gallons of spirits of 935 degrees specific gravity are obtained.
But since it is known that starch acted on by sulphuric acid, produces
an equal weight of sugar, and that sugar in fermentation gives nearly
half its weight of carbonic acid-gas, and the other half of pure
alcohol, it is evident that this quantity is far off the actual quantity
that ought to be produced ; and after all the ingenuity of the chemist,
what has been accomplished only proves that there is yet much to be
done to perfect the process of transforming starch into alcohol.

In Sweden, an improvement in the distillation of brandy from
potatoes has been lately introduced by M. Siemen of Pyrmont, who
was invited to Stockholm by the government at the instance of M.
Berzelius. The Danish monarch also induced him to visit Copenha
gen, to communicate his plan of operations to Professor Oersted, who
gave it his unqualified approbation.

The potatoes are heated by steam at high pressure above the tem
perature of 212°, and reduced to a fine pulp by the rotatory motion
of an iron cross in the same vessel in which they are steamed. The
pulp is then diluted with hot water and a little caustic potash. One
pound of potash is sufficient for three or four tons of potatoes. The
effect of high steam heat is to render the pulp extremely miscible
with the alkaline water, so that every thing', except the skins, readily
passes through a sieve. This fine pulp is speedily cooled, and it is then
fit to be fermented in the ordinary mode. A great quantity of yeast
is also produced during fermentation, which serves either for future
operations, or for bakers' use. M. Siemen states the product of spirit
by his process to be more than one-third greater than is obtained by
the common method, which amounts to 13 quarts from a ton of pota
toes. In the experiments made, under the personal inspection of
Professor Oersted, at Copenhagen, from 16^ to 17 quarts of spirits at

699

50° of Tralles' alcohometer, were obtained from a ton of potatoes,
making a fair allowance for that portion of the product due to the
malt used in the maceration. This spirit is stated to have a good
flavour, though the produce is inferior to that obtained by the French
chemists. In an article in De Thaer's Annals of Agriculture, M'
Miiller asserts that an apparatus on Siemen's principle, costing from 200
to 250 Prussian dollars, is capable of producing 50 per cent, more of
of spirit from potatoes than the apparatus generally used in Germany,
calculating from the price and produce of potatoes and rye in 1820.
M. Miiller declares that 100 tons of the former converted into spirits
would produce a profit of from 500 to 600 rix-dollars, while the same
space of ground that produced them, if sown with rye, would not
give more than from ten to twelve rix-dollars.

About the year 1832, a gentleman visited the distillery of Messrs.
Calder, at Eyemouth, in Berwickshire, and found that they had
worked for some short time from potatoes. He considered the
spirits, (which had the flavour of Hollands,) to be pure and good, and
although it was affirmed that no grain or malt had been used, he
strongly suspected the contrary. The fermentation was described
as beautiful, the head rising seven or eight feet like clouds of cotton ;
and when beaten down to the surface of the worts, it rose again in the
same majestic manner. The gravity worked at was 40° and the
attenuation was good. The potatoes were ground in a mill, like a com
mon pepper-mill in shape, but made of sheet-iron perforated like a
grater. The pulp, thus produced, was mashed in the keive or
mash-tun, with water of a high degree of temperature, say boiling,
from which the worts ran off pure and freely. A spurge, or small
worts of about 20° gravity, was obliged to be used, otherwise the
worts at the noticed gravity of 40° could not be got off : the pro
duce was good as there was no deficiency. The spirits were sent to
the London market, and so long as they were called "grain .spirits"
in the permits, they were highly prized ; but when this error was
corrected, and they were denominated spirits " distilled from pota
toes" the price fell and they were not so much sought after. About
the same time, Mr. Jamieson, of Fairfield, near Enniscorthy, com
menced distilling from potatoes. They were sliced, dried on a corn-
kiln, ground to flour, mixed in certain proportions with corn, and
mashed in the ordinary manner. But the manufacture was aban
doned in consequence of the opposition of the peasantry, through fear
of a scarcity and dearth in the article. From some late experiments
of M. Dubrunfaut, he proposed to brew from the starch of potatoes
an excellent beverage resembling French beer, the starch being ma-

700

eerated and fermented with hops. By fermenting the saccharized
starch with honey instead of hops, a palatable liquor was made,
having all the qualities of Louvaine beer. Potato starch being free
from any peculiar taste, seems capable of receiving flavour in fer
mentation from any substance that gives repute to our beer, or home
made wines. Dr. Hare, having observed a strong analogy between
the saccharine matter of the sweet potato and molasses, or the sac-
charum of malt, boiled a wort made from the potatoes, of 1060°
specific gravity, with a proportionate quantity of hops for the space
of two hours. It was then cooled to about 56°, and yeast added.
As far as could be judged, the phenomena of the fermentation and
the liquor produced, were precisely the same as if malt had been
used. The wort was kept in a warm place until the temperature was
85° Fahrenheit ; and the fall of the head showed the attenuation to
be sufficient. Yeast subsequently rose, which was removed by
skimming. A further quantity of yeast was precipitated by refrigera
tion, from which the liquor being decanted, became tolerably fine for
new beer, and resembled, in flavour, ale made from malt. It has been
computed, that five bushels of potatoes would produce as much wort
as three bushels of malt, while the residue, as food for cattle, would
be worth half as much as the potatoes employed.

In the opinion of some, (particularly those who have not em
ployed sulphuric acid in the saccharizing of starch,) the best time
to use potatoes in distillation is in spring, when they begin to vege
tate. The growth of the buds must be checked as in the process of
malting ; and this is easily done by spreading them on a floor, and
by subsequent turning, so as to deprive them of as much of their
aqueous matter as possible. When reduced to a pulpy consistence,
diluted with boiling water, and drawn off and cooled to a proper
temperature, the liquid is then fermented in the same manner as
grain worts ; and such has been the treatment observed by many,
who have tried the distillation of potatoes in this country. Sprouted
potatoes produce as perfect farina in July as in December, and equal
in quantity to what they would have yielded earlier in the season,
being, according to Sir John Sinclair, about 141bs. per cwt.

In Prussia, it is very common to cultivate potatoes for the manu
facture of starch and treacle. The treacle is found to be very pro
fitable, and though not possessing so much consistence as that
imported from the West Indies, yet it is not inferior in sweetness,
and can be sold to the consumers at a more reasonable rate.

In the Journal of Arts, it is stated that potato apples yield, by
proper treatment, as much alchohol as an equal quantity of grapes

701

when bruised and fermented with one eighteenth or one-twentieth
part of their weight of yeast.*

From these details on the application of potatoes in the manufac
ture of spirits, persons may be induced to try experiments that
might ultimately prove advantageous, If they proceed by the reduc
tion of the farina to a pulpy substance, the operation is simply by
boiling; if by the reduction to starch, it may be mechanically
effected, at little expense and labour, either by pounding, or grating,
and elutriation with cold water. To saccharize the starch, from one
to two parts of sulphuric acid, are considered sufficient for every
hundred parts of starch, when the heat applied is above 212° ; a
period of two or three hours is thought sufficient to produce crystallized
sugar : the heat in this process is best communicated in a wooden
vessel by means of steam.

Besides the spirit which can be extracted from potatoes, beet-root,
or mangel-wurzel, has latterly become an article of attention for the
same object ; but whether its extensive cultivation for this purpose
might be advantageous, sufficient experiments have not been tried
in this country, to enable a correct judgment to be formed. The Act
of the 2d and 3d Wm. IV. chap. 74, and not the 4th Wm. IV.,
as quoted in the note page 549, (which received the royal assent
on the 1st August, 1832,) specially provides for the distillation from
this article, without any admixture of malt, or other grain ; but
there is a manifest anomaly in confining the distillation to the mere
extract of the root, to the exclusion of other ingredients, which
might be beneficial in the process.

In France, the distillation of this article has been followed with
considerable success, by several experienced chemists, and the pro
duce is good ; but it is from the molasses, after the extraction of the
sugar, that the spirit is drawn, f

The beet-root is first well cleansed and rasped into a pulpy
state, the sugar is extracted, and the residue, or molasses, is fer
mented in the usual way, but it has been found serviceable to add a
mixture of ground malt, which gives force and strength to the fer
mentation, rendering it more complete, and producing a spirit of
greater body and more palatable flavour. With a cylindrical screw,
or hydraulic press, from 70 to 80 per cent, of juice has been pro
cured ; and this liquid, wrhen yeast is applied under a proper tem
perature, soon begins to ferment, and rapidly undergoes the necessary

* Journal of Arts for 1819, Art. 18.

f Margraff, the Prussian chemist, first procured sugar from the white beet in
1747.

702

attenuation for the still. Sulphuric acid, it is stated, has, in some
instances, been added with effect to the solution of treacle and
water in the fermenting-hack ; but this is highly questionable, and is
in opposition to the principles of vinous fermentation.

A distillery was lately fitted up at Battersea for the distillation
of beet-root. The wooden still employed was from 6 to 700 gallons'
content, and was worked by steam pipes passing through the wash.
The process observed there was simple, the roots were sliced, and the
juice was squeezed out by a hydraulic press. The fermentation
proved uncertain, owing, no doubt, to the want of malt ; some of the
backs not commencing to work for many days, and stopping when
half attenuated ; others commencing early and fermenting better ;
but none of them attenuating below 5°. The spirit was coarse and
impure, and the produce did not exceed two-thirds of the noticed
gravity.

To speculate, therefore, on the distillation of beet-root as a profita
ble branch of manufacture, would prove, it is to be feared, (as the law
now stands) a hazardous enterprise ; and the more so as the Act of
the 1st Victoria, chap. 57, has imposed a duty on the sugar extracted
from that vegetable.

Mr. Hercules Bradshaw, an enterprising gentleman of Hills-
borough, in the county of Down, who cultivated the beet-root to a
very considerable extent, established a manufactory for extracting
sugar from it. Samples of good sugar were produced, and the
manufacture of the article was so promising as to induce many of
the farmers in the vicinity to speculate largely in the cultivation of
the root, the more particularly from having a ready market con
venient. It is probable (had not the law interfered,) that Mr. Brad
shaw would have succeeded to the full extent of his expectations, as
the result of his experiments was highly satisfactory.

Within these few years, it was found, that in making bread in
which barm was employed, a portion of alchohol was generated, by
means of what has been termed the panary fermentation. To collect
this spirit which was lost in the oven, Mr. R. Hicks, of London, was
amongst the foremost in contriving an oven and apparatus for pre
serving the alchohol thus evolved. The oven, for which he obtained
a patent in 1830, is made of metal, having a floor of bricks in the
bottom, with doors to shut perfectly air tight ; whilst a pipe is
attached to the top of the oven, through which the vapour ascends,
and is condensed below in a common worm. By this mode, it was
stated, that from every 4lbs. of bread, from half an ounce to an ounce

703

of proof spirits was obtained, and that the bread was considered
greatly superior to that made in the common manner. The Lords of
the Treasury, considering this invention of much importance to the
revenue, authorized, by a warrant dated 16th May, 1831, the Com
missioners of Excise to permit the use of this apparatus, under
such regulations as might be thought necessary for the secu
rity of the revenue. Accordingly, it has been directed, that "on
application being made for such permission, the party be required
to make entry and take out license as a distiller, and maker of low-
wines and spirits ; and to enter into bond with a sufficient surety or
sureties, in £500 for the due performance of the conditions, on which
the apparatus is to be used."

Mr. Smith, of the Thames Bank Distillery, to effect the same
object, used for an oven, a circular vessel of cast iron, about 8 feet
in diameter, by 18 inches in height, having its bottom covered with
tiles to prevent the bread from being scorched by the iron : the
heat was communicated by means of fire on a revolving furnace
placed beneath. In the top of the oven was a circular opening about
18 inches in diameter, with a head and worm attached in the manner
of the common still. When the oven was heated to the proper tem
perature, the bread was put in and the door securely closed. The
vapour from the bread ascended into the worm, where it was con
densed, and passed into a small receiver in the form of low wines.
Its strength was about 87.5 per cent under proof, or equal to 12^-
per cent proof spirits, and which, of course, required re-distillation by
means of a still to render it marketable.

This oven baked 60 quartern loaves at a time, producing j of an
ounce of proof spirits for each loaf, or 45 ounces for the whole batch,
being nearly the third of a gallon, and it was expected that from each
loaf, an ounce might be obtained. Several ovens on similar princi
ples have been tried, but without that success which would warrant
their continuation for any useful or profitable purpose.

The process of rectifying spirits is a matter worthy of attention,
as it is one of the chief means of correcting the taste and flavour of
spirituous liquors : it would require, however, to do justice to the
subject, a disquisition of some length to detail the various methods
resorted to, for the accomplishment of this object. While rectifica
tion serves to concentrate alchohol, and deprive it of the essential oils
and acids, by which raw or plain spirits are distinguished, it prepares
them for the acquisition of any flavour, which the rectifier may be
desirous of producing.

701.

This branch of trade is, by a late law, greatly simplified. Before a
rectifier can obtain a license which costs ten pounds, he must make an
entry of his premises and utensils. He must have a still contain
ing 120 gallons imperial measure in the body, independent of the
head, but is at liberty to have as many larger or smaller as he
pleases. The officer keeps an account of all the raw or plain spirits
received by permit, and twelve hours before the commencement of
work, a notice is served on him, when he attends and unlocks the
furnace door, which had been previously secured to prevent operations.
The still being charged with •£ of its contents, (which is ascer
tained by dip), the aperture through which this is effected, is
secured by a lock, while during the course of the work, the officer
makes two visits, one to inspect the progress and the other to show
the still off, when the furnace door is again locked, if the trader
should cease to work, or the still is recharged if the work is to continue.
A general stock of the concern is taken every 42 days at least, or
oftener if the officer considers it expedient, on which an occasional
check is kept by the Supervisor; but if a decrease be found in a greater
proportion than five gallons to every hundred, a penalty is incurred.
In Ireland, the business of a rectifier is confined to the manu
facture of spirits of wine, cordials, and liqueurs, with imitations
of brandy, rum, and geneva, and forms but a small branch of trade ;
while in England, all raw spirits are modified and sent into consump
tion through the means of the rectifiers, in the form, or under the
name of British compounds.

In 1835, there were in England 108 rectifiers ; in Scotland, 11 ;
and in Ireland, 20. The chief grievance which the persons in this
trade have to complain of (particularly in Scotland and Ireland) is the
prohibition against the exportation of their manufacture. By the act
of the 6th and 7th Wm. I V. c. 72, countervailing duties were imposed
on certain compounds, tinctures, and medicated spirits on their remo
val from Ireland to England, or Scotland, or from Scotland to Eng
land, but as the articles enumerated in the schedule, form but a
limited portion of the manufacture of the trade, the rectifiers are, in
no respect, benefited by its provisions. And hence the business of
rectification must continue to present few inducements to persons of
capital and enterprise to embark in it, until a change in the law will
offer a reciprocity of intercourse and advantage.

The lowness of price obtained for the plainer article, prevents,
for the most part, any efforts to improve the description of liquors
coming through the hands of these traders, as well as the exertions

705

of scientific men, if better encouragement were given, to introduce
improvements into the present system of work. If the cultivation of
native fruits and the making of wine therefrom were more particu
larly attended to, an excellent brandy (subject to a moderate duty),
might be produced to the exclusion of the foreign commodity, a great
portion of which is made from grain and cider. The consumption of
sugar in the making of these wines, would, there is little doubt, coun
terbalance the loss of duty on the foreign brandy.

Having given an ample detail of the various intoxicating beve
rages, and other exhilarating substances used in the different countries
of the world, and having presented a full explanation of the most
improved practice of brewing and distillation, I shall take leave of
the subject by making a few observations on the effect, which the
inordinate use of spirits may be supposed to produce on the population
of the empire, illustrated by details of its influence on man from the
earliest records of history.

Whether, as previously alluded to, drunkenness had any effect in
contributing to the destruction of mankind by the deluge, it would be
impossible to determine ; but we have seen that Noah proved him
self to have been no stranger to its evil consequences. The vice of
Lot and his daughters is a melancholy instance of its baneful influ
ence. To irregularity occasioned by intoxication, many important
events, revolutions, and occurrences are to be attributed. Babylon
fell through its delusive effects, for while revelry, banqueting, and
inordinate excesses were going on> the enemy were enabled to take
advantage of the indiscretions of the hour, and to destroy the boast
and glory of a mighty and powerful empire. Alexander, who sighed
because he had not another world to conquer, fell a victim to the
direful potency of wine ; maddened by its influence, Persepolis was
destroyed through the instigation of Thais, and Alexander himself
prematurely sunk under the pressure of an inordinate debauch. His
mighty empire crumbled into atoms, leaving its vestiges as the frag
ments of a stupendous edifice erected by the power of a gigantic mind,
and destroyed by the same influence, through the wantonness of u
drunken frolic. The Romans, it is well known, after a siege of three
years, could not reduce the city of Syracuse, owing chiefly to the
talents of Archimedes, till the celebration of a feast of Bacchus had
rendered the inhabitants so incapable of exertion, that Marcellus, the
Roman general, taking advantage of the irregularity, entered the city
in triumph, and made captives of a people, whom he could not have
subdued had they not yielded to the temptations of excessive drinking.

2 z

706

Lycurgus, king of Thrace, finding his subjects addicted to this vice,
proscribed the cultivation of the vine, and established agriculture in
its stead.

Its influence over the Persians and other Orientalists, as well as
amongst the rude and barbarous African tribes, it would be tedious to
recapitulate ; ample testimony has been given of its pernicious con
sequences on the aborigines of the American continent, while its
frightful demoralizing power has been lamentably exemplified through
out the vast expanse of the Polynesian and Australasian islands.

To recount the numerous fatal instances occasioned by drunken
ness which history exhibits, would not only exceed the limits of this
work, but afford ample materials for a volume.

Throughout Europe, a taste for intoxicating beverages prevails less
or more in different regions. In the wine countries, although this dis
position may be carried to great length, yet the effects are less visible
than in those parts where ardent spirits is the predominant liquor.
This is easily accounted for, when it is known that the alcoholic
or intoxicating principle is in wine combined with other ingredients
which diminish its influence on the human frame ; but in spirits it is
collected and uncombined with other materials by which its activity
on the system is the more powerful and enervating. Irishmen have
the reputation of being more generally prone to the use of spirituous
liquors than their neighbours, and the national character has been
tarnished in consequence. So far back as the time of Henry VIII.,
we find that the legislature warmly exerted itself in the suppression
of this vice, while an Irish parliament under Elizabeth was equally
intent on checking its destructive ascendancy. But it does not appear
that any encouragement was given to the substitution of ale for
spirits ; hence the inclination of the population was never diverted
from the native beverage, but allowed to take root and spread with
the increase of every succeeding generation. The force of habit
is powerful, and daily experience shews what it is capable of effecting,
even in the use of tobacco — a weed which imparts less vigour to the
body or pleasure to the mind, than the talismanic enchantment derived
from the elixir of the bottle.

To the peculiar circumstances of the country, involved as it has
been, from an early period, in foreign and domestic broils, combined
with the want of education and of regular employment, a love of com
pany, the hospitable and social habits of the people, together with a
number of festive and holy-days, (all so many scenes of revelry and
intemperance), may be attributed the influence and hold which the

707

use of intoxicating liquors has obtained over the lower orders of the
Irish.

In France, Spain, and Italy, where wine and brandy are in the
greatest abundance, and within the reach of the lowest class of the
people, drunkenness is not so prevalent, and forms but a small portion
of the errors of the day. From this it might be inferred that there
are fewer excitements to excess in drinking, when the article can be
purchased at a moderate rate, than when it is made a source of temp
tation by a heavy duty, and rendered a luxury by the difficulty of its
attainment. The evil effects of illicit distillation corroborate this
assumption, as contraband trade with a consequent disregard for the
laws, has been always the result of laying an impost on any article
beyond the ability of the consumer to purchase. " Surely (says Play-
fair) it would be well to take some mode to prevent the facility with
which people get intoxicated, and the temptation that exists to do so.
The great number of public-houses and the way in which they give
credit, are undoubtedly, in part, causes of this evil. It would be easy
to lessen the number without hurting liberty, and it would be no injus
tice if publicans were prevented from legal recovery for beer or spirits
consumed in their houses on credit. There could be no hardship in
this, and it might tend to produce a great reformation in the manners
of the lower orders."* The facilities for obtaining beer and spirits
in the empire may be seen by an inspection of the enumeration of the
licensed houses for the retail of those articles, according to the
returns of 1837 :— -

England, 45,394

Scotland,.. 17,026

Ireland, 33,729

Besides these, there are numerous spirit-grocers, who sell so low
as a glass not to be consumed on the premises, as well as innume
rable shebeen and private houses in every quarter of the country,
vending, for the most part, a spurious and adulterated article.f

The consumption of spirits of all sorts on which the duty was paid
for 1836, amounted in the three kingdoms to 31,402,417 gallons.

To counteract the evil consequences of drinking to excess, Tempe
rance Societies have been formed in several parts of Great Britain,
(the first established in Ireland being in 1829,) which are now in active
operation, disseminating their principles among all classes of the

* Decline and Fall of Nations, 4to. p. 226.

f See the last Table of the Addenda for the consumption of spirits for a series
of years.

708

community. In speaking of these societies, it may not be irrelevant
to remark, that while they are calculated to do much good, a want
of union amongst the members must prove injurious to the great object
that all should have in view.

Some carry their notions of abstinence to great length, even denying
the use of every thing that has undergone the fermenting process,
(not reflecting that the juice of the grape contains, in its simple state,
all the elements of alcohol ;) while others are not so fastidious, and
allow the moderate use of wine and malt liquors. Without, however,
attempting to draw a line of demarcation between them, it is to be
feared, no matter how influential example may be, that unless some
reward, token of approbation, or substitute be given, the nominal
term of Temperance, or the mere pledge of any individual, will have
little effect in producing any substantial reform amongst the lower
classes. It has, therefore, been considered, that were those who have
given testimony of their reformation, assisted in their respective avo
cations or pursuits of life, by the patronage of the superior classes of
society, or by the distribution of honorary distinctions, or pecuniary
rewards, it would induce numbers to abandon their irregular habits,
enrol themselves as Temperance members, and would finally lead to the
comfort and happiness of thousands of families. In England, it is said
that there are above 300,000 Temperance advocates, and an equal
number in Ireland and Scotland — a gratifying statement to the friends
of religion and tranquillity. And it is to be hoped that this virtuous
example will be successfully followed throughout the British empire,
and in every nation where man is debased by the brutality of drunk
enness. The Spartans used to shew to young persons their serfs or
Helots in a state of intoxication, in order to make them detest the
crime of inebriety, and were a similar mode of exemplary exposure
practised in every part of the world, it might have its influence in
rendering the vice more odious and contemptible.

Even the poor Indians hold intoxication in abhorrence, accounting
it a species of madness; and the word, which in their language signifies
a drunkard, is also the term for a maniac. To what shameful extrava
gance the love of strong liquors led the Athenians in their bacchanalian
festivals, is well known to every classical reader. So much were the
Romans disgusted with the obscenity of these orgies, that they sup
pressed them by a decree of the Senate. But, although their prudence
led them to reprobate those scandalous acts of wantonness and folly,
many of their governors ran into riotous excesses at the public expense,
and without regard to the laws of decency or decorum. An extra-

709

vagant instance of this description is exemplified in the intoxicated
frenzy of Nero, whose banqueting hall (styled Domus Aurea), exhibited
every mark of voluptuousness and debauchery. This building was
so constructed, that the ceiling, partitions, and other compartments
had a rotatory motion, similar to that of the celestial bodies, shewing
the different seasons of the year, and letting fall on the heads of the
bacchanalian votaries, at each revolution, showers of essences, flowers,
and perfumes, to delight the senses; while the most costly wines were
dealt about with an unsparing profusion, to infatuate the mind and
excite the passions. The conduct of Nero was not more remarkable
for its extravagance and folly than that of Aurelius Antoninus, (sur-
named Heliogabalus,) who, after plunging into the vortex of every
dissipation, so far degraded himself as to invite the lowest and most
abandoned of his subjects to his banquets; while the infatuated
propensities of Caligula led him to feed his horse with gilt barley, and
cause the animal to drink wine with him out of a golden cup.

The vice of drunkenness has tended to degrade man more than any
of the other weaknesses, to which human nature is prone. It is well
remarked in the Guardian, when personifying the follies of life, " that
drunkenness was the only vice that did not change the face of its pos
sessor into that of another creature ; but this is to be taken far from a
privilege, for these two reasons : because it sufficiently deforms them of
itself, and because none of the lower rank of beings is guilty of so
foolish an intemperance."* "A drunken man," says Addison, "is a
greater monster than any that is to be found among all the creatures
that God has made, as indeed there is no character which appears
more despicable in the eyes of all reasonable persons. Bonosus, one
of our own countrymen, who was addicted to this vice, having set up
for a share in the Roman empire, and being defeated in a great battle,
hanged himself. When he was seen by the army in this melancholy
situation, notwithstanding he had behaved himself very bravely, the
common jest was, that the thing they saw hanging upon the tree
before them was not a man but a bottle."f The Scythians abhorred
the Bacchanalian feasts of the Greeks, because they thought it was
unreasonable to suppose that a God should drive men into all the
violent transports of madness which drinking produces. The Lace
daemonians had no notion of drinking for pleasure, and they not only
accounted drunkenness infamous, but severely punished those who
were detected in such criminality. On returning from their public

* Guardian, No. 66. f Spectator, No. 569.

710

meals, no persons were allowed torches or lights, because it was ex
pected that men who were perfectly sober should be able to find their
way in the dark. A law was enacted by Pittacus, king of Lesbos,
that "he who committed a crime when drunk, should receive a double
punishment" — one for the crime itself, and the other for the inebriety
which prompted him to commit it.

Paley observes, that " the guilt of any action in a drunken man
bears the same proportion to the guilt of the like action in a sober
man, that the probability of its being the consequence of drunkenness
bears to absolute certainty." The British laws consider drunkenness
an aggravation, not an excuse for criminal behaviour, and have pro
vided, that he, who is guilty of any crime through his own voluntary
drunkenness, shall be punished for it as if he had been sober. The
offence is punishable either in the ecclesiastical courts, or by a justice
of the peace according to the statute. It is even a sufficient cause
to remove a magistrate himself from office.

By the laws still in force,* if any person shall be convicted of
drunkenness before a magistrate, he must forfeit five shillings for the
first offence, or sit six hours in the stocks; and for the second offence,
he must enter into a bond with two sureties in £10 each, to be of
good behaviour, or be committed : our late enactment is but a modifi
cation of those.

In the time of the Commonwealth, the magistrates of Newcastle-on-
Tyne punished drunkards by making them carry a tub, which they
called the drunkard's cloak. A hole was made in the bottom, (which
was turned upwards), to admit the head of the delinquent to pass
through, and two smaller ones were perforated in the sides for the
hands. This he was obliged to carry in the open streets, so long as
the magistrates chose, exposed to the contempt and ridicule of the
people.

The sacred writers observe, that " Wine is a mocker, strong drink
is raging; and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.f " Be not
among wine-bibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh — for the drunk
ard and the glutton shall come to poverty.J Who hath woe ? Who hath
sorrow ? Who hath contentions ? Who hath babbling ? Who hath wounds
without cause? Who hath redness of eyes ?" "They that tarry
long at the wine ; they that go to seek mixed wine. Look not thou
upon wine, when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup ; when
itmoveth itself aright — at the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth

* Jac. I. c. 5—21. Ja«. I. 47. f Pror. xx. 1. J Ibid, xxiii. 20, 21.

711

like an adder."* " Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning-,
that they may follow strong drink, that continue until night, till wine
inflame them ! And the harp and the viol, the tabret and pipe, and
wine, are in their feasts : but they regard not the work of the Lord,
neither consider the operation of his hands. Woe unto them
that are mighty to drink wine, and' men of strength to mingle
strong drink."")"

These quotations so strongly express the evil consequences of
drunkenness, that commentary on them is almost unnecessary ; yet,
it may be stated : —

1st, That this frailty is an enemy to the common concerns of life,
as well as to those of futurity, since it expels from men's minds all
reverence to God, and respect for man, and excites to the gratifica
tion of every base and inordinate inclination.

2d, That while it produces but a momentary pleasure, it engenders
a lasting regret, so that it has been justly said of it, that it
works like so much poison, and is difficult to cure as the biting
of a serpent.

The pernicious effects of drunkenness are thus beautifully expressed
by Prior : —

Unhappy man, whom sorrow thus and rage
To different ills alternately engage ;
Who drinks, alas! but to forget, nor sees
That melancholy sloth, severe disease,
Memory confused, an interrupted thought,
Death's harbingers, lie latent in the draught ;
And in the flowers, that wreathe a sparkling bowl,
Fell adders his^ and poisonous serpents roll.

The destructive influence of intoxication is too familiar to require
much further illustration j extravagance, anger, and lasciviousness
follow in its train ; the duties of life are neglected by the derange
ment of the faculties and the consequent incapacity and stupefaction
which it occasions ; while the expense it incurs, robs society of its
legitimate support, and the unhappiness it produces, tends to shorten
life, and embitter the last moments of existence.

The waste of property which a habit of continual drinking pro
duces, will appear monstrous, when it is certain that many men
consume at least a bottle of wine daily; and, taking that at an
average of 2s. 6d. the bottle, this, would, in twenty years, amount
to £912. 10s. — a sum 'which, if properly applied, would be the means

* Prov. xxiii. 29. 30, 31. 32. f Isaiah v, 11. 12. 22.

712

of meliorating the condition of many a helpless widow and orphan. If,
amongst the lower orders, spirits and ale be taken into consideration
as the common beverages ; and allowing to each individual a consump
tion of three pence a-day, this would come to £4. 11s. 3d. annually,
or ,£91. 5s. in twenty years. This though comparatively small,
and far under the actual outlay, is so enormous that when applied to
the aggregate population of Great Britain and Ireland, (upwards of
twenty-four millions,) estimating at fifteen millions of drinkers, the
whole would shew a sum of £68,437,500 annually, or £1,368,750,000
in twenty years.

That the excessive use of inebriating liquors is productive of
incalculable evil to the community at large, is a truth, which not
even the drunkard himself, in his sober moments, would be disposed
to deny. Were we to examine the prisons, bridewells, houses of
correction, penitentiaries, lunatic asylums, and other places of incar
ceration, we should find a vast number of the inmates of those abodes
of human degradation to have been the victims of vice and folly,
through the inordinate use of intoxicating liquors ; while the numerous
paupers that unhappily throng every city, town, and village, may owe
their misery, in a great measure, to the same desolating cause. But
while the abuse of ardent spirits and intoxicating beverages of all
kinds is to be lamented, yet it is urged by some, that a moderate and
salutary use of them is not to be condemned, as they have been found
beneficial on various occasions, have added to the comforts of life, and
heightened the enjoyments of society when kept within the bounds of
reason and propriety. And they further allege, that the invention of
spirituous liquors is no more to be attributed to an evil propensity in
man, than any other invention or discovery, which has been productive
of the best consequences : the evil, they assert, lies in the excess of
the application— the good in the restriction. So that if man debases
himself by an immoderate use of any of the bounties of nature, that
is no condemnation of their value and importance. It is an aphorism in
China, that " the drunkard's fault is not the wine's, but his own."
True ! for had he abstained from the wine, the fault would not have
occurred.

It was customary among the ancient Egyptians, in order to prevent
excesses at festivals, or other entertainments, to bring into company
the figure of a corpse, to remind the guests of mortality, and the
slender thread on which life existed, as well as the necessity for
temperance and moderation in their enjoyments.

Montesquieu is of opinion, that drunkenness predominates through
out the world in proportion to the coldness of the climate or the

713

distance from the equator towards the pole, and that tfie law of
Mahomet was one of climate suited to that of Arabia, as the law
mentioned by Plato, Aristotle, and Eusebius, (which forbade the
Carthaginians to drink wine,) was a law of a similar description.

Ample testimony of the melancholy effects of drunkenness may be
found on reference to the minutes of evidence taken before the Com
mittee of the House of Commons, which was appointed in June, 1834,
to inquire into the extent, causes, and consequences of intemperance
among the labouring classes of the United Kingdom. Before this
Committee were laid scenes of the most appalling nature, arising from
the habitual and excessive use of ardent spirits, and it appeared that
most, if not all, of the desperate atrocities which had been committed
were chiefly owing to its influence. It is worthy of remark, that
during the Irish rebellion in 1798, there was one-fourth of a
greater proportion of spirits used than in either of the two preceding
or succeeding years. It has been estimated that in England, four-
fifths of all the crimes in the country have been committed under the
excitement of inebriating liquors. During the year 1832, there were
taken into custody by the London police, 32,636 persons for drunken
ness alone, not including any of the numerous cases in which assaults,
or more serious offences, had been committed under the influence of
drink. This statement relates merely to the suburbs of London,
without any of the numerous cases that occurred in the city itself.
It is, moreover, alleged, that more than one-half of the insanity
amongst the population is occasioned by inebriety — of 405 patients
admitted into a lunatic asylum, at Liverpool, 257 were known to
have lost their reason by this vice.

From the preceding facts and observations, it must be obvious that
the assumption, which has been urged by some, of a high duty on
spirits leading to excess in its indulgence, is contrary to experience
and actual practice. Yet it cannot be affirmed, that to the operation
of a low duty, the great bulk of the irregularities which take
place, is to be attributed. It is not in the management of distillery-
laws, or their adaptation to the suppression of smuggling, either in
public or private distilleries, that we are to look for the causes, which
have produced in Ireland those acts of wickedness and bloodshedj
that have so much disgraced the character of a country yielding to
no other in fertility of soil, in beauty of scenery, or in the valour
and ingenuity of its inhabitants. By a more general diffusion of
knowledge, the inculcation of sound religious principles, and a com
plete participation in all those privileges, which the union with Great

714

Britain must ultimately produce, aided by the meliorating hand of
time, and an impartial administration of the laws, the character of
the Irish may be rescued from the imputations, which, in some instances,
have been wantonly, and, in others, but too justly cast upon it.

The establishment of manufactories — the encouragement of indus
try — the opening of markets in remote districts — the draining of
bogs — the cultivation of waste lands — the formation of canals con
necting our great lakes and navigable rivers — and the construction of
railroads, effecting a more ready communication with the populous
cities, towns, and villages, together with a judicious and well-managed
poor-law, would tend much to the improvement of the people ; and
by thus giving them employment, serve to eradicate many of those
causes of discontent, which have too long proved destructive to the
happiness and prosperity of the empire — Besides the advantages
which these various sources of improvement would introduce, they
would be the means of elevating the mind, and raising man to a more
dignified station in the scale of his being. He would look around
him with more complacency and satisfaction on his fellow-mortals,
who, with himself, would be in the enjoyment of those comforts,
which habits of industry, united to religious practices, necessarily
produce.

ADDENDA.

ADDENDA.

A Tabular View of the Opium Trade of Great Britain, including1
that of our India Settlements, with China : — [see page 136.]

Great Britain.

Exported

Years.

Retained

Revenue

from India

Imported.

Exported.

for con

at 9s. per

to China.

sumption.

lb.

Ibs.

Ibs.

Ibs.

£

Chests.

1823

38,375

11,016

20,985

9,509

5,172

1824

87,142

40,309

22,752

10,199

8,080

1825

123,084

64,466

20,582

9,329

8,055

1826 | 79,829

49,776

28,329

11,348

10,743

1827

113,140

87,333

17,322

7,894

8,865

1828

84,186

95,739

20,680

6,483

11,111

1829

48,634

41,919

23,970

4,522

11,409

1830

209,076

170,080

22,608

4,528

15,643

1831

9,967

25,045

25,937

5,187

20,108

1832

68,378

19,562

30,258

6,052

15,823

1833

106,846

53,001

35,407

7,088

21,279

1834

48,216

31,604

28,467

5,700

20,213

1835

85,481

74,126

31,181

6,249

21,350

Table of the quantities of Arrack exported from Ceylon, as noticed
in page 182 : —

Years.

To Great Britain. To British Colonies.

To foreign States! Value.

1833
1834

Gallons.
7,593
6,156

Leaguers.
3,250
2,022

Gallons.
98

£ s.
12,425 9
7,737 16

The duty on Batavia arrack, in 1826, was 4s. 6d. ; in 1827, 7s. 6d. ;
1828-9, the same; 1830,5s.; 1831,4s. 6d.; 1832,4s. 6d.; 1833,4s. 3d.
The duty charged, in 1834, on the importation of this commodity into
Great Britain from the East Indies, was 15s. per gallon, and 9s. from
the Colonies ; and on other foreign arrack, £l. 2s. 6d.

717

Exports from the Mauritius, vide page 190 : — •

Years.

Colonial Rum. Brandy & Geneva

Colonial cordials.

Arrack

Wine.

1833
1834

Gallons.
55,569
24,625

Gallons.
5,964
9,827

Gallons.
331
746

Galls.
43,874
7,770

Galls.
6,107
12,675

Table of the Exports from Great Britain to the East Indies and
China, alluded to in pages 163 and 231 : —

Years.

ALE & BEEH.
Tuns.

RUM.

Proof gallons.

BRANDY.

Proof gallons.

GENEVA.

Proof gallons.

WrNEs.
Gallons.

1829

4,202

11,431

141,714

21,711

354,424

1830

3,424

8,931

74,994

15,040

235,905

1831

3,097

14,886

92,614

19,428

198,942

1832

4,709

33,444

146,258

27,657

331,713

1833

4,046

12,460

112,826

30,001

326,190

1834

3,044

3,919

234,478

35,459

314,393

1835

3,619

5,046

239,364

34,967

300,618

An Account of the Wine imported into Great Britain from the
Cape of Good Hope, referred to in page 274 : —

YEARS.

1821
1822
1823
1824
1825
1826
1827
1828
1829
1830
1831
1832
1833
1834
1835

IMPERIAL, GALLONS,
532,614

565,490
843,172
591,078
746,925
356,070
742,811
758,538
966,367
544,335
427,823
278,057
454,202
483,996
587,748

Exports from the United Kingdom to the Cape :-

1827.

1828.

1829.

1830.

1831.

1832.

1833.

1834. i

Beer & Ale in tuns.

138

99

48

68

62

112

174

90 !

Wine in gallons. .

8,933

26,993

23,843 13,131

6,190

7,952

9,089

17,458j

Spirits do

39,949

119499

46,073

62,739

36,112

35,307

52,392

82,583:

718

Rum exported from the West Indies, (in proof gallons,) as alluded
to in page 286 : —

1829.

1830.

1833.

1834.

116,794

155,514

72,680

112,594

Barbadoes
Bahamas . ...»

1,554
4

2,357

5,329
4000

24,532
1 797

201,362

234,618

137,750

160,078

2,987

55,420

17 239

Demerara
Dominica

1,693,004
31,853
394,289

1,859,710
36,321
298,933

1,716,525
44,097
603,544

1,915,240
46,090
715,713

3,532,823

3,213,503

3,463,997

3,583,861

Montserrat, ...

39,815
45,971

49,075
51,243

52,910
35,410

54,125
52,633

St. Christopher
St. Lucia
St. Vincent ...

176,807
38,113
275,373
370,733

219,706
12,817
173,262
428,810

78,394
13,505
269,072
299,758

125,420
6,357

278,785
314,205

Tortola

206

25,660

22,193

Trinidad .

16,058

12,941

11.710

8.567

A table of Distilleries and Breweries in the United States, as
mentioned at page 325 : —

States.

Number
of stills.

Galls, ot Spirits
Tom Grain,Fruit,
Molasses, &c.

Brew
eries.

Quantity of Beer, &c.

60

3,012,510
20,560
173,285
1,193,398
1,828,339
1,374,404
1,102,272
6,552,284
27,600
860,742
2,367,589
1,000,000
22,073
2,220,775
801,245
1,886,691
436,853
545,212

10,200
20,400

42

48
2

7

13
1

24,400 barrels
135,950 gallons

75 barls. of currant
.. [wine

2,170 galls, beer
71,275 gls.perday
476 barrels
9,330 do.
4,251 do.

96 'do.

1,878 'do.
1,500 do. cider

New Hampshire

New- York

591
560

Connecticut

New Jersey

Pennsylvania

3,594
51
400

Delaware

Maryland

Virginia

Ohio

343

28
2,000

Indiana

Kentucky

Tenessee

North Carolina

...

Georgia

126
6

Mississippi Territory
Illinois Territory
Michigan Territory . .

719

Exports of wine from the Canaries to Great Britain, as alluded to
in page 358 : —

YEARS. IMPERIAL GALLONS.

1820

1821
1822
1823
1824
1825
1826
1827

269,970
225,015
204,123
169,312
247,494
254,278
273,558
417,703

YEARS. IMPERIAL GALLONS.

1828 ... 107,919

1829 ... 80,808

1830 ... 83,822

1831 ... 105,875

1832 ... 97,269

1833 ... 233,730

1834 ... 214,861

1835 ... 211,707

The imports of Wine from Madeira into Great Britain, as menti
oned in page 361 : —

YEARS. IMPERIAL GALLONS,

1820
1821
1822
1823
1824
1825
1826
1827

554,011
513,328
443,008
463,548
495,194
543,133
577,378
308,546

YEARS. IMPERIAL GALLONS.

1828
1829
1830
1831
1832
1833
1834
1835

452,509
320,580
304,726
356,514

288,783
301,057
372,698
204,825

The exports of Wine and Brandy from Spain into Great Britain,
as alluded to in page 368 : —

YEARS.

WINE.

Imp. gallons.

YEARS.

WINE.

Imperial gallons.

BRANDY.

Imperial gallons.

1820

979,128

1828

3,188,357

4,582

1821

1,001,883

1829

2,841,031

1

1822

1,278,506

1830

2,505,438

32,179

1823

1,618,632

1831

2,605,328

69,319

1824

2,083,206

1832

2,446,050

4,389

1825

2,754,873

1833

3,368,530

178,067

1826

2,364,573

1834

3,446,563

61,640

1827

2,433,141

1835

2,732,028

15,880

The duty on wine is 5s. 6d., and on brandy, £l. 2s. 6d. per Imperial
proof gallon.

720

Exports of Wine from Portugal to Great Britain, as alluded to in
page 380 :—-

EARS.

IMPERIAL GALLONS. YEARS.

IMPERIAL GALLONS.

1820

... 2,457,410 1828

... 3,985,146

1821

... 2,752,392

1829

2,398,803

1822

3,283,907 1830

2,603,113

1823

2,991,350

1831

2,763,211

1824

2,625,249

1832

2,116,245

1825

4,952,126

1833

2,226,733

1826

... 3,114,050

1834

3,941,402

1827

3,311,135

1835

4,269,890

Exports of Wine from France into Great Britain, as referred to
in page 403 : —

YEARS.

WINE.

Imperial gallons.

YEARS.

WINE.

Imperial gallons.

1820

239,566

1828

550,949

1821

240,146

1829

498,320

1822

269,353

1830

352,136

1823

329,509

1831

351,102

1824

276,105

1832

311,448

1825

1,083,538

1833

275,366

1826

489,657

1834

363,376

1827

384,208

1835

370,446

View of the produce of Wines in the Ionian Islands, and the
extent of the trade carried on with the United Kingdom in Inebriat
ing Liquors : — ( Vide page 408.)

Islands.

Produce of
wine in
barrels.

r'rice
per
3arrel

Trade with the Islands collectively.

Years

Imported.

Beer

&Ale.

Exported.

Wine.

Spirits.

Wine.

Spirits.

Corfu

88,964
45,730
63,730
62,292
9,045
36,200
861

s. d.]
8 4

12 6
10 0
5 0 •
8 2
8 4
13 0_

1828
1829
1830
1831
1832
1833
1834

1,294
1,577

2,464
224
604
1,898
1,262

19,790
6,563
18,461
16,084
17,430
16,728
15,233

Tuns.
66

36
81
62
17
40

41

'.

galls.

671
124
1444
898
382
747
920

galls.

18
6

996

Cephalonia ..
Zante

Santa Maura
Ithaca

Paxo

721

The imports and exports of Turkey, the Morea, and the Greek
islands, as mentioned in page 423 : —

Years.

Wine exported
from Turkey.

Spirits imported
into Turkey.

Wine imported
into Turkey.

Beer and

Ale.

gallons.

gallons.

gallons.

Tuns.

1827

292

12,802

2,801

22

1828

528

3,948

2,114

23

1829

1,180

19,857

1,904

52

1830

1,492

10,656

3,070

81

1831

666

14,671

1,648

34

1832

566

54,390

4,602

20

1833

794

11,968

7,656

47

1834

5,754

101,068

2,524

39

The Austrian, Hungarian, Rhenish, and other liquors imported
into Great Britain, as referred to in page 442 : —

Years.

IMPERIAL GALLONS.

Years.

IMPEBIAL GALLONS.

Wine.

Brandy Geneva.

Wine.

Brandy.

Geneva.

1820

32,881

.. .

. . .

1828

92,325

294

35,971

1821

27,828

...

...

1829

85,858

56

27,024

1822

29,200

...

...

1830

70,660

239

12,201

1823

26,332

. . .

...

1831

71,352

209

2,509

1824

27,666

...

...

1832

60,568

4

28,070

1825

146,346

...

...

1833

54,361

1,175

93,537

1826

86,023

...

...

1834

58,376

2,735

61,193

1827

80,734

544

16,798

1835

52,075

40

37,269

Geneva imported from Holland into Great Britain, as alluded to in
page 455 : —

Years.

Proof gallons.

i Years.

Proof gallons.

1827
1828
1829
1830
1831

281,900
335,424

142,988
204,787
210,038

! 1832
! 1833
1834
1835
1836

228,219
311,452
228,386
217,115
220,317

The juniper-berry, which forms a constituent part in the manufac
ture of gin, has been found growing wild in the Western portion of
Ireland, and were its culture properly attended to, it might be fur
nished in such quantities as to obviate the necessity of foreign supplies.

3 A

Imports and Exports of Liquors in the undermentioned ports of
Prussia, as referred to in page 464 : —

Imports, in Centners of 113 Jibs. each.

Exports.

Brandy.

Wine spirits

Spruce
Beer.

Years

Brandy
Rum and
Arrack.

Wine.

Malt
Liquors.

Beer.

Centners.

Ei-

mers.

Kegs.

Dantzic
Do.
Konigsberg,
Do.
Stetten

1834
1835
1834
1835
1834
1835

5,008
4,142
1,811
859
11,010
11,057

11,126
22,401
54
11,725
85,200
99,276

3,135
2,335
3,623
2,716
13,543
11,057

...

...

...

2616
2205

16,170
30,871

2400
1830

1S3642
18679

360
216

...

...

Do.

Trade in Spirits, Wines, &c. between Great Britain and Denmark,
as mentioned in note page 470 : —

[mports from Denmark,

Exports to Denmark.

in gallons.

Years

Rum.l Brandy.

Geneva.

Wines.

Rum.

Brandy.

Greneva

Wines.

Beer & Ale
in tuns.

1827

3

93

94

85,006

41,655

3188

119

5,302

18

1828

...

2

...

14,202

38,959

2875

...

5,801 1 17

1829

...

...

2054

23

12,282

4927

6

6,102 14

1830

...

...

1

...

19,342

2520

99

3,825 ! 14

1831

...

...

...

110

25,2 1 7

2443

CO

5,313 1 8

1832

6

10

35

64,422

1G71

62

5,141

29

1833

...

100

897

156

20,915

1194

...

6,912

7

1834

, 8 8

345

18,203 1290 ... 23,971

7

Trade in Spirits and Wines between Great Britain and Sweden,
as mentioned in page 481 : —

Years

Import
Rum.

5 from Sweden, in galls.

Exports to Sweden, in galls.

Brandy.

Geneva

Wines.

Rum.

Brandy.

Geneva. Wines.

1827

...

...

.

49

16,222

391

...

5967

1828

...

...

...

...

10,331

20

...

5210

1829

...

...

...

3

15,998

532

...

2822

1830

...

...

...

...

12,341

448

...

1004

1831

..

...

...

. . .

7,895

410

9

5872

1832

...

...

...

3,291

14,342

336

100

3390

1833

63

21

2

285

7,640

1138

21

6806

1834

109

35

...

6

14,421

387

231

4022

723

Tables of the Ale and Beer brewed in England for certain periods,
as referred to in page 532 : — .

Year.

James II.

Year.

William III.

Strong Beer.

Small Beer.

Strong Beer.

Small Beer.

1684

Barrels.
4,384,093

Barrels.
1,933,924

1689

Barrels.
5,134,309

Barrels.
2,707,726

1685

4,654,564

2,102,021

1690

4,690,711

2,645,656

1686

4,780,097

2,255,062

1691

4,669,544

2,374,731

1687

5,044,311

2,435,169

1692

3,796,805

2,378,642

1688

4,989,000

2,54-3,856

1693

3,529,498

2,385,996

Year.

Anne.

Year.

George I.

Strong Beer.

Small Beer.

Strong Beer.

Small Beer.

1708

Barrels.

3,756,920

Barrels.
2,295,008

1721

Barrels.

3,935,717

Barrels.
2,315,737

1709

3,540,031

2,215,883

1722

3,982,066

2,320,118

1710

3,391,799

2,113,862

1723

4,049,091

2,389,248

1711

3,336,286

2,106,970

1724

4,075,871

2,465,695

1712

3,306,696

2,049,313

1725

3,997,249

2,327,351

Year.

George II.

Year.

George III. and IV.

Strong Beer.

Small Beer.

Strong Beer.

Small Beer.

1746

Barrels.
3,592,800

Barrels.
2,161,600

1818

Barrels.
5,572,505

Barrels.
1,504,165

1747

3,774,400

2,136,200

1819

5,895,705

1,568,797

1748

3,885,800

2,204,200

1820

5,650,850

1,523,825

1749

3,913,100

2,132,700

1821

5,811,455

1,530,027

1750

3,851,800

2,178,000

1822

6,018,618

1,530,189

724

George IV. and William IV.

Year.

Strong Beer.

Small Beer.

Year.

Strong Beer.

Small Beer.

1823
1824

Barrels.
6,512,645

6,774,938

Barrels.
1,716,395

1,799,664

1827

1828

Barrels.
6,507,929

6,677,933

Barrels.
1,791,364

1,840,489

1825

7,142,046

1,877,094

1829

6,060,247

1,665,351

1826

6,812,131

1,882,695

1830

3,645,594

1,286,107

The number of stills and their contents, with their scale of work,
as mentioned in page 632 : —

Dublin.

Cork.

Rest of Ireland.

No. Contents.

No.

Contents.

No.

Contents.

[1798 44 1 39,523

12

13,892 154

64,562

1799 37 34,372

12

13,892 127

52,690

1800 32 j 29,154

11

12,998 122

47,602

18011 32 i 29,136

7

7,046

85

32,553

Years <

18021 31 | 33,911

7

7,971

66

33,720

1803 '32 : 29,797

7

7,971

81

42,141

1804 28 i 24,446

10

11,334

77

45,050

1805 26 22,323

10

11,378

54

31,605

.1806! 15 11,871

7

6,981

29

18,046

Size of Still.

Charges required.
Monthly.

Spirits required
Weekly.

Gallons.

Gallons.

500

74

3,237

750

74

4,856

1,000

72

6,300

1,250

66

7,218

1,500

64

8,400

1,750

62

9,493

725

A table of the stills that were at work in Ireland, in the month of
February, 1818, as alluded to at page 633 : —

d

o

W3

T3

•5 ^

|

0

|s

Names.

Residence.

EJ

CO

03

-8

If

3 0

i*

'o

a*

OJ ^

« "3

M

A

"C

be o

Hj

I

&

Ji

Gals.

Gals.

Tons

Jameson and Dewar

Dublin

1510

135

17,836

300

John Jameson

1256

143

15,715

280

Robert Haig

... ...

1250

143

15,640

280

James Jameson

,

1002

154

13,501

260

Nicholas Roe

... ...

751

172

11,300

240

John Power

i

751

172

11,300

240

John Morrogh

Cork

1021

154

13,756

260

William Wyse ...

501

189

8,285

220

Samuel Perrott

500

189

8,268

220

P.W. Callaghan ...

500

189

8,268

220

John Brown

Limerick

501

189

8,285

220

Ditto

...

501

189

8,285

220

George Connell

...

206

272

4,902

150

James Shaw

Belfast

503

189

8,306

220

Robert Thomson ...

Newry

509

189

8,417

220

Malcolm Brown ...

Dundalk

500

189

8,268

220

Andrew Stein

Clonmell

500

189

8,268

220

John Birch

Roscrea

306

1741

4,666

Turf

John Cassidy

Monasterevan

200

1941

3,400

Do.

James Mullaniif ...

Longford

100

200'

,750

80

Ilolton & O'Beirne

Athlone

101

2171

,919

Turf

Robert Hackett ...

Birr

101

2171

,919

Do.

John Robinson

... ...

101

2171

,919

Do.

Robert Codd

Drogheda

101

304

,682

100

John Thomson

Carrickfergus

99

200

,732

80

John Fulls

Dungannon ...

98

200

,715

80

Michael Regan

Galway

98

200

,715

80

Alexander Stewart

Londonderry

94

200

,645

80

D. and A. M'Intyre

Killether

77

200

1,347

60

Patrick Brennan ...

Kilkenny

100

•200

1,750

80

Bartholomew Finn

Galway

53

200

927

40

William Gathers ...

Newtonlimavady

49200

857

40

William Leatham...

Buncrana

49200

857

40

Total gallons of spirits made weekly )
with the coals used...

209411

4750

726

The extent of the trade in spirits, wine, and malt liquors in Ire
land, as noticed in page 707 : —

FIRST PART.

SPIRIT

s.

WINE.

ALI

: AND BI

ER.

Distilled.

Imported.

Imported.

Brewed.

Imported.

Exported.

1719

Gallons.

Gallons.

Gallons.

Barrels.

Barrels.

Barrels.

173,564

323,124

1,111,726

601,457

299

6,408

20

136,075

327,082

1,386,293

574,687

292

6,164

21

131,299

292,125

940,147

546,256

393

6,093

22

125,280

388,007

1,143,752

535,756

244

6,328

23

133,773

379,601

1,007,632

545,586

273

5,878

24

132,642

415,062

1,227,315

568,768

246

5,636

25

134,080

327,194

1,172,678

564,234

163

,791

26

169,211

346,360

1,313,319

540,628

266

,427

27

218,936

411,622

1,425,352

548,862

355

,080

28

155,233

4 4,222

1,260,297

514,845

424

,144

29

129,309

409,544

1,521,085

455,761

470

4,646

30

134,738

538,316

1,246,238

455,102

1,059

,384

31

174,791

336,922

957,420

500,707

1,362

6,048

32

184,028

221,682

1,294,459

532,960

983

5,883

33

225,871

375,227

1,145,653

516,438

770

5,331

34

268,349

396,474

1,134,979

522,877

455

5,100

35

209,045

383,301

1,170,845

463,829

705

6,258

36

195,738

627,690

1,255,227

441,132

1,157

5,365

37

228,807

605,723

911,40)

451.185

1,349

3,707

38

216,785

404,092

1,324,869

488,421

1,057

3,870

39

211,038

531,878

1,122,796

496,401

1,159

3,612

40

239,811

472,758

1,154,807

478,869

1,989

2,392

41

248,276

382,841

1,167,907

455,844

5,278

3,253

42

272,238

662,741

759,398

456,602

9,464

5,618

43

354,166

566,131

1,087,656

542,840

1,323

2,578

44

402,272

385,650

754,655

601,246

1,937

3,572

45

452,315

290,288

1,046,235

561,546

3,899

3,958

46

334,415

411,362

596,688

503,294

4,914

3,758

47

402,075

489,388

506,762

48^,259

14,552

4,490

48

531,443

333,919

1,328,932

550,898

8,255

4,686

49

565,383

538,097

1,016,599

583,155

11,895

3,866

50

598,546

820,843

2,030,690

605,465

12,655

6,217

51

598,179

967,655

1,396,196

601,649

14,018

4,737

52

596,090

786,639

1,126,823

625,399

21,274

6,461

53

623,334

1,165,085

1,029,672

592,348

20,477

5,573

54

561,230

1,473,380

2,014,509

587,322

20,054

4,663

55

498,304

919,133

1,779,639

556>581

16,840

4,431

56

479,861

1,239,997

1,183,003

539,346

13,572

4,312

67

404,460

746,517

746,009

489,825

10,949

3,566

58

399,793

842,515

691,477

449,738

15,228

4,125

59

107,543

1,285,665

1,368,118

501,002

16,557

3,882

60

225,217

742,623

1,713,556

545,558

13,500

4,899

61

432,130

956,101

905,971

588,217

18,837

4,923

62

692,875

1,390,632

1,522,137

618,399

18,008

4,908

63

668,487

1,273,674

1,338,797

618,208

22,099

4,259

64

661,215

1,742,309

1,313^450

622,658

28,935

5,031

65

715,475

2,141,415

1,777,086

578,068

27,788

4,926

66

649,396

2,216,709

1,678,064

568,834

32,441

5,353

67

354,964

2,577,057

1,566,101

565,332

29,488

4.139

68

657,637

2,744,289

1,592,634

522,344

40,542

4,231

69

831,114

2,789,361

1,583,421

529,499

45,452

3,596

70

801,174

2,396,396

1,519,707

501,562

38,440

3,995

71

734,253

2,675,131

1,392,672

439,863

44,105

3,216

727

SECOND TART.

SPIRITS. | WINE. | ALE AND BEER.

Years

Distilled.

Imported.

Exported

Imported.

Exported.

Brewed. Imported.

Ex.

Kirted

Irish.

Fori-i n.

Gallons.

Gallons.

Gallons.

Gallons.

Gallons.

Gallons.

Barrels. Barrels.

Barls

1772

758,788

2,566,835

-

131,769

1,308,972

1 2,600

433,160 47,736

2,491

73

959,881

2,213,394

63

40,788

1,555,291

9,576

447,330 58,675

2,944

74

1,026,124

2,072,527

- -

22,741

1,571,802

1 1 ,592

461,03s1 51,995

2,307

75

980,40 [

1,799,123

267

18,066

1,287,903

10,584

465,207 53,906

l,97<>

76

,160,341

2,445,204

- -

20,308

1,279,330

9,072

458,460 66,954

1,990

77

,115,352

2,297,704

- -

73,077

1,293,127

8,820

472,840 71,797

1,343

78

,127,112

1,605,375

- -

10,053

1,088,546

6,804

478,902] 70,369

1,261

79

\)94,026

1,451,994

10

19,009

707,490

3,276 437,812i 48,274

99b

80

,229,416

1,069,535

- -

1,577

1,017,654

4,788 429,200

40,459

412

81

,787,298

594,748

3,966

25,898

1,269,082

10,837

485,826

54,365

719

82

2,076,855

776,477

1,45B

886

992,702

7,308

503,492

63,495

l,00(j

83

,771,513

864,787

1,185

76,993

931,593

13,608

452,098

54,456

1,253

84

,436,502

1,763,600

230

14,761

1,07 9,40 -;

13,356

388,027

£ 4,2 51

2,084

85

,450,415

1,450,677

_ _

15,763

1,151,270

14,868

361,903

48,381

2,054

86

1,849,449

1,501,451

70

29,040

836,806

12,600

383,400

55,282

1,727

87

1,960,418

1,292,385

579

44,835

986,656

27,259

395,087

68,492

2,285

88

2,229,663

1,387,585

68

21,350

1,564,803

8r316

412,137

74,725

1,298

89

2,801,429

1,459,236

152

8,541

1,306,707

11,592

389,318

91,009

1,122

90

2,926,795

1,472,822

408

5,345

1,436,030

16,884

434,397

109,049

1,372

91

3 508,244

1,208,195

_ _

9,242

1,553,272

25,532

467,430

101,655

1 ,452

923'520,082

836,482

299

47,948

1,574,893

55,692

531,648

125,058

1.677

93

3,436,440

708,560

429

34,579

1,468,449

44,352 590,307

125,057

49;

94

3,936,355

451,316

135

4,081

1,132,642

25,704

535,359

76,255

809

95

4,262,036

610,809

1,011

8,997

1,492,525

32,760

521,822

72,393

1,076

96

3,704,681

317,941

1,216

6,655

3,209,041

33,920

528,686

58,738

2,611

97

3,867,174

143,080

58,615

15,204

1,308,875

33,920 ! 567,284

67,188

797

98

4,783,954

84,* 81

2,866

10,053

363,052

21,672 600,038

50,914

1,149

99

4,253,187

136,085

4,055

7,614

1,802,619

41,076

545,806

25,178

1,631

1800

3,621,498

393,783

3,152

13,994

2,788,699

57,456

449,790

19,709

444

1

1,565,380

1,319,717 2,270

691

1,210,349

67,032

398,746

17,972

36.°,

2

5,237,195

1,951,931 227,519

242,478

1,493,205

125,643

402,942

10,495

2,108

3

4,807,143 1,257,135 1,130,019 259,724

2,441,932

65,772

561,438

9,884

5,782

4

4,713,736 454,219 930,800 80,963

1,860,257

53,676

695,100

3,209

6,775

5

4,612,335 319,3571,196,569 117,988

1,994,846

40,572

770,68S

3,143

9,707

6

4,648,772 210,0341,044,548 32,703

1,226,732

104,580

760,371

2,160

5,797

7

5,641,060 352,078 531,648 61,583

1,289,162

154,476

750,307

2,449

4 510

8

2,006,837 467,057 648,706 24,872

2,424,065

79,632

751,146

2,188

4,630

9

233,7501,052,968 512,098 70,996

1,753,078

160,272

960,300

1,708

5,713

10

6,412,625 1,758,321 76,990 20&,665

1,670,818

174,384

V,

1,101

4,098

11

7,088,566 746,017 136,355512,653

1,372,341

274,428

3«d

1,378

5,393

12

1,462,948 532,344 793,140 148,184

542,101

169,S48

1 1

528

8.727

134,667,5591,057,390 411,843 166,533

1,471,428

224, .-,32

9, %

338

6,266

145,666,825 664,990 144,351 545,212

1,198,764

331,884

O —

3 >,

215

6,814

154,615,405 405,187 942,038 213,953

891,828

410,760

o -2

173

8,022

164,821,358 285,708 580,559 175,824

1,050,840

149,436

05 1

220

8,55fi

173,100,386 71,527

196,268 67,083

639,620

194,040

3 §•

163

5,480

184,473,016 163,811

48,260 95,329

491,652

216,468

I-H 0>

194

1,153

19.3,968,269 45,477

43,833 20,792

779,688

272,160

s« **

162

679

204,636,192 108,439

236,713 59,764

843,696

80,136

t^-.'o

317

4,128

214,230,377 67,213

516,885! 34,485

858,728

111,888

J3 ^

23513,185

224,318,012 69,751

415,912; 43,111

696,270

68,544

21*

- -

5,483

234,135,045 45,884

656,9791 14,152

690,228

57,456

I §

~™ —

6,09(

728

Trade of Ireland in Wine and Spirits for the following years,
partly in continuation of the foregoing table : —

"V

Spirits in gallons.

Gallons of wine

i ears*

retained for

Distilled.

Exported.

Paid duty on Fo
reign & Colonial.

consumption.

1824

2,844,677

899

29,010

567,573

1825

6,360,411

11,421

25,260

955,278

1826

8,833,863

15,788

43,457

687,263

1827

9,046,959

56,801

10,805

692,140

1828

7,283,317

8,637

14,678

789,832

1829

9,725,259

6,718

37,210

850,680

1830

9,208,538

12,651

32,419

757,674

1831

8,694,742

15,146

34,487

757.381

1832

8,731,101

28,396

31,636

766,339

1833

9,172,725

28,695

28,417

795,250

1834

9,459,160

...

27,150

...

1835

9,307,448

...

...

• • .

1836

11,076,272

...

...

...

1837

11,809,603

...

...

...

Quantities of all sorts of Wine, as well as of Foreign and Colonial
Spirits consumed in the United Kingdom, with the amount of revenue
thereon : — [vide page 707.]

Years.

Wine in Impe
rial gallons.

Amount of
duty.

Spirits in Im
perial gallons.

Amount of
duty.

£

£

1820

4,586,485

1,989,817

3,446,460

2,776,750

1821

4,686,885

2,006,498

3,337,715

2,732,323

1822

4,606,999

1,982,882

3,347,343

2,767,538

1823

4,845,060

2,088,232

3,540,338

2,941,767

1824

5,030,091

2,153,112

3,869,317

3,096,838

1825

-8,009,542

934,665

3,505,273

2,874,042

1826

6,058,443

,424,326

5,855,090

3,551,548

1827

6,826,361

,600,587

4,661,762

2,935,662

1828

7,162,376

,700,051

4,658,332

2,942,912

1829

6,217,652

,473,546

4,722,991

2,946,939

1830

6,434,445

,524,168

-4,975,728

3,078,017

1831

6,212,264

,535,484

4,892,795

3,054,448

1832

5,600,291

,715,812

5,171,144

3,427,783

1833

6,207,770

,633,830

4,879,967

3,130,657

1834

6,480,544

,705,520

4,765,349

3,100,669

1835

6,420,342

,691,508

4,765,706

3,047,359

729

A view of the Trade of Groat
of the American continent : —

Britain with several of the States

Years.

Gallons of all sorts Imported.

Galls, of all sorts Exported.

Spirits.

Wine.

Beer, &c.

Tuns.

Spirits.

Wine.

UNITED STATES.

1827

108,119

31,418

449

1,181

602

1828

79,344

90,342

379

1,018

3,779

1829

50,262

71,149

335

7

4,649

1830

53,913

67,014

307

9,443

2,325

1831

126,299

83,235

311

172

6,629

1832

73,205

91,147

398

2

1,236

1833

77,670

184,035

514

3,557

1,133

1834

105,902

133,534

464

1,871

7,772

MEXICO.

1827

5,705

9,217

14

...

...

1828

8,673

9,289

13

*', 3

49

1829

...

...

14

...

...

1830

1,008

23,751

21

3

32

1831

772

2,180

21

...

461

1832

1,712

5,721

8

, , .

53

1833

4,085

2,473

26

13

61

1834

303

2,443

11

...

12

COLUMBIA.

1827

1,000

1,566

21

2

2

1828

4,743

1,784

23

...

6,219

1829

5,794

588

7

...

118

1830

1,680

190

6

29

...

1831

1,119

450

15

...

...

1832

4,895

2,050

15

...

...

1833

1,439

772

4

1

' 159

1834

985

3,345

22

...

55

BRAZIL.

1827

12,533

114,008

381

24

11,106

1828

17,980

135,685

436

3

4,515

1829

13,717

59,948

397

1,085

1,817

1830

9,470

13,062

560

17

1,462

1831

7,145

10,299

315

5

2,915

1832

14,741

27,358

257

6

1,398

1833

10,238

25,633

467

3

1,421

1834

13,662

19,744

606

3

895

EIO DE LA PLATA.

1827

2,900

19,298

21

...

...

1828

5,600

17,584

64

, , .

...

1829

5,602

14,481

76

...

102

1830

16,749

7,193

112

...

214

1831

905

1,960

54

2

1,013

1832

1,644

8,464

78

12

22

1833

5,753

7,836

103

...

...

1834

20,687

18,906

74

150

599

[Continued in next page.

730

Years

Spirits.

Wine.

Beer, &c.
Tuns.

Spirits.

Wine.

CHILI.

1827

5,335

5,356

11

215

3

1828

15,483

9,613

24

...

20

1829

6,125

4,189

12

...

141

1830

5,959

2,905

7

6

1,479

1831

6,413

5,597

8

5

22

1832

6,363

10,952

7

...

...

1833

6,058

13,047

14

...

114

1834

27,865

13,435

23

6

30

PERU.

1827

11,265

6,483

6

...

...

1823

11,477

9,900

19

...

23

1829

4,662

1,818

6

...

50

1830

11,179

7,112

5

...

11

1831

6,163

5,487

8

...

3

1832

6,453

4,339

14

2

1

1833

5,921

10,823

20

...

23

1834

16,222

10,007

14

3 I 3

Tables showing the rates of duties on spirits, as imposed by acts of Parliament in different
years, with the quantity on which dutyVas paid, together with the number of licensed
distillers working during those years.

England.

{Scotland.

Ireland.

Paid duty for con

«?

1

1

Low

High

U5

c

sumption.

•

.S

Duty per

9

lands.

lands.

o

Per

ft

•J3

gallon.

1

Is

gal.

England.

Scotland.

Ireland.

5

3

Out}' per gal. of still cont.

Q

s. d.

£ s. d.

£ s. d.

s. d.

£

£

£

1791

•

3 4f

_

3 12 0

1 4 0

2301 1|

4,072,735

'

3,416,766

17.94

.

3 10f

_

10 16 0^

16 0

1051 —

4,594,793

4,153,785

1795

.

4 4i

_

—

—

1991 5|

4,711,640

3,6 1 2,083

1797

.

4 101

_

64 16 4

300

210 —

2,808,948

__

4,694 254

1798

.

_

—

7 16 Ol

1761 11

3,630,872

.

4,173.439

1799
1800

5~41

87
55

per gal. spts.

—

165 2 41
124 —

4,114,936
4,335,550

1,670,3883,553,594
775,7501 275,013

1802
1803

_

8 OJ-

84
88

3 101

3~41

120
115

2 101
3 61

3,464,380
5,353,309

1,158,5584,715,098
2,022,409 4,343,095

1804

19

—

66

5 9f

5 01

90

4 1

3,678,679

1,889,7573,543,599

1807

16

—

76

5 8|

4 111

45

—

4,741,939

2,653,478 5,597,2 .4

1810

](:

—

36

—

—

27

2 61

4,787,555

1,748,140'4,630,675

1811

17

10 22

62

8 01

6 71

32

4,776,330

1,581,524

6,378,479

1812

1€

— ,

36

—

35

* ii

3,622,970

1,318,115

4,009,301

1813

If

—

24

—

—

32

5 71

4,292,477

1,234,291 1,809,849

1815

—

37

9 41

9 41

34|6 11

5,468,987

1,591,148

4,323,844

1816

te

—

36

—

3615 71

4,745,484

918,859

3,557,200

1817

is

—

107

6 2

6 2

36 —

4,133,063

1,906,950

3,58o,932

1819

lv

11 81

147

—

—

38! —

4,146,505

2,125,150

3,676,516

1823

1C

—

111

2 4f

2 42

362 4|

3,803,812

2,303,286

3,590,376

1826

W

7 0

263

2 10

2 10

83

2 10

7,407,204

3,988,788

6,837,408

1830

i:

7 6

249

3 4

3 4

82

3 4

7,732,101

6,007,631

9,004,539

1831

t;

—

240

—

—

85

—

7,434,047

5,700,389

8,710,672

1832

is

—

233

—

—

90

—

7,281,900

5,405,439

8,657,756

1833^2

—

243

—

—

90

—

7,717,303

5,988,556

8,168,596

1834

II

—

_

—

—

_

2 4

7,644,301

6,045.043

9,708,416

1835

12

—

-

—

—

_

—

7,315,053

6,013,932

11381223

(1836

1:'

—

—

-

—

7,558;889

6,025,844' 11 800000

731

In reference to the Act of the 3d and4th Philip and Mary, passed at
Drogheda in 1556, and quoted in page 610, it appears from the 5th
Jac. I. that this act was inefficient for the purpose, and that a grant
was made on the 23d March, 1607, to Walter Taillor of Dungurey,
county Galway, empowering him to recommend persons to the Lord
Deputy to be licensed for the distillation of aqua-vita, within the
province of Connaught, and none were to be licensed bnt through
his certificate. After a month's notice of this grant to Taillor, if any
should be found distilling without his nomination, their property
became forfeited to him for his sole use and benefit. Besides, he had
liberty for seven years to distil in any place, town, or village in the
province, and to make, or cause to be made aqua-vita?, usquebaugh,
and aqua compositors he might think fit, and to sell the same in any
part of Ireland, he might choose, paying the crown rent of £40. Irish,
per annum.

A similar grant for seven years, was made to Sir Thomas Philips,
Knt. for the county of Colrane, (now Colerain) otherwise called
O'Cahane's country, or within the territory or country called the
Rowte, county Antrim ; rent, 13s. 4d. Irish,

Another license was, on the 23d March, 1608, granted to George
Sexton, gent, for seven years, for the province of Leinster ; rent, 5s.
Irish.

A similar license was granted, on the 10th January, 1608, for seven
years, to Charles Waterhouse, gent, for the whole province of Mun-
ster ; rent, 6s. 8d. Irish.

In virtue of these grants, innumerable licenses were issued to divers
persons to make and sell aqua-vita?, &c. throughout Ireland, until
the 18th of May, 1620, when that privilege was withdrawn, incon
sequence of complaints of the indulgence being confined to a few
individuals. A grant was made, on the 22d March, 1609, for the
support of the Right Hon. Lady Arabella Seymour, (then Stewart,)
for the term of 21 years, empowering Sir George St. Poll andllenrie
Yelverton, Esq. to nominate and appoint at their pleasure such per
sons as they might think nt to keep a tavern in any part of Ireland ;
and to buy and sell in gross or by retail, by the gallon, or by a greater
or lesser measure, good and wholesome wines ; and to make and sell,
in gross by retail, aqua-vita? and usquebaugh.

A grant in reversion, after the expiration of the above, was given
for 32 years at 100 marks' rent to James, Viscount Doncaster ; and
licenses were continued to be granted for the keeping taverns, making
and selling aqua-vitce and usquebaugh until the 17th August, 1529.

732

Cromwell, for the better ordering of licenses to be granted in Ireland, for the
sale of wine, and the making and retail of aqua vita, appointed Thomas Longe,
Esq. and Dr. Joseph Waterhouse, Commissioners, to treat, contract, and compound,
in his name and on his behalf, with any person or persons whatever, being natural
born subjects or denizens, for and concerning the licensing or the keeping of any
tavern or taverns, and for selling, uttering, and retailing wines, as well as the making,
selling, and retailing aqua vitce — fee £100 per annum to each.

Besides these regulations, in 16 12 a duty was imposed on all wines imported into
Ireland at the following rates, viz. : — on every tun of Spanish, Levant, or Canary,
imported by natural-born subjects of Ireland or England, 40s. Irish, and by stran
gers, £2. 13s. 4d. ; upon all French, £l. 6s. 8d., and by strangers, 40s. (10th.
Jac. I.)

From the foregoing extracts, with which I was favoured by a gentleman inti
mately conversant with the records of the country, the intelligent reader will observe
the great contrast between the present and former systems of licensing distillers,
and others connected with the wine and spirit trades — illustrating, in this respect,
an obscure portion of Irish history.

In the notice of brewing porter, page 628, the heat at which the liquor is sent to
the tun is there stated to be 60°. Other brewers send it to the tuns at from
60° to 64° of temperature, according to the strength, or specific gravity of the
liquor ; but a good deal depends on the heat of the weather and the situation of the
utensils.

In the first mashing, the heat of the water poured on good dry malt, should be
165°, and the proportion of water run in from the copper, should be to the quarter
of malt, 3j barrels. The mashing, or raking of the grain should continue for about
half an hour. In the second mash, the heat of the liquor or water should be 175°,
and the proportion let in from the coppers, should be from 1^ to 1| barrels of water
to each quarter of malt, and the raking in this mash should continue from twenty
minutes to half an hour, and be let stand, for three quarters of an hour before
drawn off the keive. After the first and second mashings are over, in order to take
out any saccharine matter that may remain, brewers are in the habit of running
water into the kieve at a heat from 180° to 1 84°, which is technically called a dash ;
and this dashing is continued till the specific gravity shews one degree or nothing
on Richardson's saccharometer. The hops to be used are in the proportion of 2£
Ibs. to the hhd. or 1 |lbs to the barrel for plain porter, and for double X, 5lbs. to
the barrel or 7f Ibs to the hhd. Country porter requires 24lbs. of saccharine
matter, and 4|lbs. of hops to the hhd. or 3lbs. to the barrel. The liquor is sent
to the fermenting tuns at a heat of 61° for double X, and at 65° for plain porter,
to bring it on the more quickly.

In the brewing of ale, the heat of the first mash is from 160° to 165,° ajad after
this, all the liquor run into the keive is accounted a dash. The worts of the first
and second mashings are boiled together, and the proportion of hops is 5lbs. to the
barrel of malt. From these two mashings, the quantity of liquor sent from the
kieve to the coppers to be be boiled, is reckoned at 3^ barrels to the quarter of
malt; and it is cooled down and sent to the fermenting-tuns at a heat of 61 °. No
brown malt is used in the making of ale, as this liquor is generally estimated by its
paleness.

INDEX.

Page
Abas- Mirza, anecdote of . t . . f • 87

- - Shah, drinking-cup of . . . '. 598

Abdelrrhman, Sultan, his prohibition of intoxicating liquors ; 66

Abulfeda, his notice of Mahomet . .'.' • « 35

Abyssinians, beverages of the, 58 — distillation practised by, 60 — hospitality of,

61 — drinking- vessels of, 59 and 63 — cup-bearers of, 60, 63 — entertainments

of, 62
Achmet Cachef, anecdote of ..... 40

Addenda . " ..^ . ; . '",. ' . 716

Adel, beverages of . . . . Ji ' ." 268

Afghanistan, liquors used in, 167 — grapes of, ibid

Africa, liquors of, . *."* . . 268,269,270

Agave, liquor from, 296 — mode of cultivating, . . • 298

Agras, a Spanish drink . . "' . '" * . 370

Agua-ardiente, . "V , ^ '. ' ' . V ^ ' .' 303,307

Aipy, what made from . . '' 'V*'' • • 315

Air en, a term for Koumiss, ... 140

Albania, ...... 421

Alboin, drinking-cup of, ..... 591

Alchyraist, anecdote of an . . • !iTi! ' ; . 50

Alchymy, early notice of, 23 — derivation of, 31 — antiquity of in China, 209
Alcohol, origin and explanation of, . . . . 31,362

Alcohometer, description and use of, 'f^' " "';''' *• r.K; 'i'-^'."':- 693

Aldemey, distillation in • -f . . . 568

Ale, early name of, 10 — antiquity of in Asia, 137 — manufacture of, in Great

Britain, 544 — Burton, ibid — duty first imposed on in Scotland, 570 — ancient

name of in Ireland, 603.
Ale-wives, why so called .... -. . .» 543

Alembic, derivation of that term ». »r »- .* ,:,.«. 31

Alexandrian library, destruction of, . • 23

Algiers, liquors used in, . . . . . .». 81

Ali Bey, treasurer of, . . *t«c :: » ' •. • 40

All Effendi, anecdote of, . . ..•';_• * > 40

Al-Mamon, remarkable observation of, .• ^ * : ».. 32

Almohdi, anecdote of -• * ' vj • ••$... • * . 36

Al-Mokanna, remarkable suicide of .» -f * . .., . * 24

Almond trees, liquors from .. , ,• .• ,• 499

Anecdotes of smuggling . . . .-- . 562-3, 674, 676, &c.

731

Page
Angola, wines of . . . . . . 69

Anis, a kind of arrack . .... 198

Anise-seed, use of in Morocco, 79 — in Sweden, 479

Annabon, liquors of, . . . . . . 71

A manita muscaria, inebriating effects of the . . . 122,514

America, opinions respecting the primitive population of, 321 to 325 — early notice

of distillation in, ibid — brandies of, 328 — cider of, 329 — sugar and rum of,

332, 334 — vines of, 333 — honey of, ibid — Temperance Societies in, 339 —

Indians of, 349

Amphora1, found in Pompeii, - .... 14

Aqua-vittz, 191 ; derivation of, 615

Arabia, liquors of . . . . J; . . 48

Arabians, remarks on their reputed knowledge of the Arts and Sciences, 29
Araffer, a liquor, ...... 187

Arbutus unedo, spirit from the . . 410

Arjan, a Calmuck and Kirghis drink, . . . . 146

Arrachaca ....... 311

Arracan, liquors of . . . . . . 179

Arrack, etymology of 140 — manufacture of, 160, 161, 162, &c Pariah, 1 64 — con
sumption and manufacture of in Siam, 176, 178 — -in Ceylon, 183, 185,
187 — in Java, 194 — Batavia, 193 — in Cochin- China, 205 — in China 232 — in
Corea, 237, &c.

Artichokes (Jerusalem), distillation from . . . 398

Ashantee, instance of an extraordinary drinker in, 76 — drinking-vessels used in

ibid — customs observed in, ibid

Assam, brandy of, . . , . . . 179

Astracan, brandy of, . . . . . . 479

Attenuation, ....... 663, &c.

Auguur Asji,a kind of grape ; 85

Aureng-Zebe, anecdote of, ..... 96

Ava, drink from . . : . . . 198,250,255

Awamuri, a liquor of the Japanese Islands . . . 247

B

Baamboo, a liquor of Sierra Leone, > 74

Bacanassi, a liquor of the Sunda islands, .... 1 98

Baksima, a drink ...... 507

Baksoum, a beer of Tartary . . . . 149

Balearic islands, wine and brandy of the . '••'',• . 376

Ball, a mead of Tartary . . . 145

Ballo, a kind of beer, . . . • * . 65, 82

Ballston Waters, exhilarating qualities of, ... 336

Bananas, distillation from . . . ~ .«.-«* . 307

Banquets, at Benin, 71 — superb one of Tamerlane, 149 — among the Lusitanians,

382 — that of Prince Potemkin, 554 — magnificent one of the Duke of Moscovy,

522 — practice observed at those of the Greeks and Romans, 525 — among the

Britons, 528 — of the ancient Irish, 608 — curious custom observed at those of

*he ancient Egyptians, 712

735

Page

Banqueting-hall of the king of Loango, 70 — of the Irish monarchs at Tara, 613

of Brian Boriomhe, ibid — that of Nero, 709

Boabab-tree, description and uses of, ; . . . 74

Barbary, drinks of .' '. . . . . 81

Barm, origin of the use of, 592 — mode of preparing dry barm in France, 393

Bassa latifolia, spirit from the flowers of . . ' . 163

Batata root, liquor from .... ' •'•',' ••? 315

Batavia, liquors of . ..... 195

Bathing in punch, 316 — in milk, . 145

P.satachs, keepers of houses of entertainment . . . 587

Beer, the early drink of the Egyptians, 7 — its invention to whom attributed, 9 —
early names of 10, 535 — speculation concerning in Turkey 43 — manufacture
of in Tripoli, 80 — in New South Wales, 261 — at the Cape of Good Hope,278 —
from rice at Sofala, 269 — in France, 391 — antiquity of in Asia, 137 — in Peru
304 — its use among the aborigines of Florida, 321 — in Spain, 375 — from
potatoes, 442 — manufacture of in Bohemia, 443 — in Austria, 444 — in Germany,
447 — in Holland and throughout the Netherlands, 456 — in Hanover, 458 —
in Dantzic, 463 — in Prussia 464, 465 — in Poland, 467 — early attachment of
the people of Norway to, 473 — in Sweden, 477, 478 — in Lapland, 483 — in
Denmark, 470 — formerly brewed in Iceland, 471 — in Russia, 490 — spruce,
348, 550 — policy of rescinding the duty on questioned, 546 — made from
Mangel-wurzel, 549 — manufactured in the Caucasus, 506 — from water-melons,
497 — made from heather, 606.

Bees, mode of rearing in Africa, 63 — in Bootan, 173 — in Cyprus, 413 — in Greece,
422 — in Germany, 446 — fed on flesh in Bokhara, 169 — in Poland, 467 — in
Russia, 495 — in the Crimea, 501 — in Circassia, 507 — in America, 335~in
Ireland, 591.

Beet-root, distillation from in France, 399, 701 — ale made from, 549.
Benin, wines of, 71 — customs observed in, ... 72

Berlin, beer of . . . . . . . 464

Betel, its importance in the East, .... 204

Birman empire, liquors of 174 — entertainments and cup-bearers in, 175 — cups

used in, ibid

Birch tree, liquor from . . . " ... 472,557,469,510

Bohemia, malt-drinks and brandy of, . . . 443

Borneo, drinks of, . . . . . • 195

Bootan, liquors of, 173 — horns used by travellers in, ibid

Bokhara, melons and liquors of, 168 — meals of the monarch in, ibid — food for bees

in, 1^9
Bour, a beverage used in Nubia, ..... 57

Boule-ponge, a liquor of India, . ... . 156

Bourbon, liquors of, . . . ." . « . 189

Bouza, . . . . ••.;•'• . . 50, &c. &c.

Braga, the Fada of the Circassians, « . « . 608, 505

Bramins, anecdotes of one, 161 ; abstinence of from wine, 162
Brandy, material from which made in Morocco, 78 — prevents the elephantiasis 79 —
made from honey, 82 — in Persia, 85, 94 — Kislar, 505 — in Bucharia, 148 —

736

Page
in India, 165 — imports and exports of, 176 — at the Cape, 273 — Pulque, 268

in Peru, 305 — in Chili, 307 — in Paraguay, 312 — in the United States, 328 —
in Madeira, 360 — in Spain, 354, 365 — in France, 398, 400 — .in Hungary,
446 — in Switzerland, 451 — in Hanover, 448 — in Dantzic, 463 — in Poland,
466 — in Denmark, 469 — in Norway, 474 — in Sweden, 474 — in Russia, 489 —
in Kamtschatka, 511.
Brew, derivation of the word .... 363

Brewery, expense of establishing one in Ireland, 625; discovery of an ancient one

for the brewing of heather-beer, 608
Brom, a drink of Java, ...... 1 94

Brum, a drink of Sumatra, . . • « ;. ;..,.. 192

Bual, a wine of Madeira, . . . „ 359

Buenos Ayres, . . . . •• 4 311

Bucharia, wine and brandy of, . . . . 148

Bull, a drink of New Holland, ..... 264

Bursa, a drink of the Kiwenses, ..... 150

Burton ale, . . • • • ;. • 544

Busa, a drink ofFezzan, . . 67

Brian Boriomhe, large wine-store of . . , , 614

C

Cabul, liquors of, 167

Cacongo, liquors of, .71

Caffraria, beverages of, .... 270

California, liquors of, ...... 355

Callu, a term for palm- wine, . , 1 54

Cambodia, beverages of, . . . . . . 179

Canada, 341 — spruce-beer, 348— distillation from potatoes in, Hid

Canary isles, wine of . . . . . 357

Candia, liquors of, .... : 410

Cape of Good Hope, remarks on the settlement at, 270 — exports of, 273, 717
Caroline islands, beverages of, . . ." ' . : . 249

Carthaginians, their early connection with Ireland, 587
Caucasus, maddening honey of . . . . . 507

Celebes, beverages of the . . . . . 1 98

Cephalonia, wines of . . . . . 409

Ceylon, liquors used in, 180 — distillation in, 183 — extraordinary mode of drinking

in, 181 — marriage feasts of, 187 — exports of, 716

Chalibonian wine, . . . • . 5

Chemistry, early knowledge of, 20 — origin of the term, 21
Chili, liquors of, 307 — drinking vessels used in, 309
Chica, 292 — mode of making in Peru, 293

China, remarks on, 208 — early notice of distillation in, 211 — early commerce of,
212 — taste for literature in, 213 — cultivation of the vine in, 218 — rice- wines
and brandies of, 217, 218 — entertainments and invitations in 219, 220, 221 —
manufacture of beer in, 221 — population of, 224 — drinking-cups used in, 227 —
anecdote of a host in, ibid — distillation in, 228-9 — lamb-wine of, 230 — manu
facture of sugar in, 231

737

Cider, derivation of, 7 — made in Barbary, 78 — in the United States, 329 — iu
Peru, 393 — in Canada, 345 — in Great Britain, 550 — in Ireland, 593 dis
tillation of in Normandy, 398 — wine from, 552
Circassia, liquors of . . : . . . . 506

Cochin- China, liquors of ..... 205

Coca, used by the Peruvians for opium . . ; i . » 123

Coco de mer, cups formed of . . . . . 191

Congo, palm-wine of, 68 — cup-bearers in, ibid — wine-taster of the king of, 69
Constantia wine, ...... 270

Corea, beverages of . . . . t 237

Corinth, — and derivation of currants . . . , 410

Crete, or Candia, wines of . . . ; , 410

Crimea, beverages used in ..... 500

Criminals, strong drink given to before execution . . 5

Cup-bearers, ancient names of, 610 — antiquity of, ibid — their costume, 611 — their

importance and privileges in Oriental courts, ibid — among the Greeks and

Romans, &c. ibid — the ancient Britons, 6 1 2 — female employed by the Indian

kings, &c. ibid — at the Irish court, ibid — of the American Chiefs, ibid — in

Congo, 68 — in Loango, 70 — In Japan, 239 — in Abyssinia, 60, 63 — inDahomy,

64 — in Ashantee, 76 — the Friendly Islands, 251 — in China, 227 — among the

Burmese, 175 — the Lusitanians, 382 — in the Western Islands, 569, 582

Cups for drinking used among various nations, 55,147, 149, &c. &c. interesting

account of, 593

D
Dahomy, beverages of, 64 — drinking-cups used in, ibid — stratagem of a monarch

of, 65

Dantzic, beverages of, 463 — grain stores at and mode of guarding, 462
Darfur, liquors of ....... 66

Date tree, description of, 51, 52 — wine made from in Nubia, 55 — revenue and

trade in, 55, 81
Denmark, beverages of . . . . . 469

Distillation, origin of, 21, 22, 23 — from dates in Egypt, 51 — in Nubia, 55 — in
India, 158 — in Sumatra, 192— in China, 211 — in Japan, 243 — in Persia,
85,95 — at the Cape, 273 — in Mexico, 298 — in Peru, 303 — in Chili, 307 —
in Paraguay, 312 — in the United States, 328 — in Canada, 343 — in Madeira,
360 — in Spain, 364 — in Portugal, 380 — in France, 398 — in Hungary, 446 —
in Switzerland, 451 — in Hanover, 458 — in Dantzic, 463 — in Poland, 466 —
in Denmark, 469 — in Norway, 474 — in Sweden, 475 — in Russia, 489 — in
Astracan, 497 — in the Crimea, 500 — in Siberia, 500 — in Kamtschatka, 511 —
in England, 559 — in Scotland, 572 — in Guernsey and Jersey, &c. 568 — in
Ireland, 631 — illicit distillation, 671

Drinking, anecdotes of . . * . . 12, 13, 36, 37, 38, 39, &c.

Drinking-glasses, from whence first procured ' . 555

Drunkenness thought to be one of the chief causes of the deluge, 4 — remarks on, 705
Druzes, liquors and customs of ... 47

E

Egypt, account of the drinks used in. . » » . 51

3 B

738

Page
Egyptians, wine of > *>-•'" . ,—$•.•-••. » . . 5

Eldon, wine of . • r;?* ' &

Elba, wines of . o ., . . . * «" 408

Elephants fed on sugar . ... 157

Embeth, a wine of Cacongo ..... 71

England, on the cultivation of the vine in, 523 — antiquity and extent of its manu
facture and. trade in malt-liquors, 529 to 545 — immense establishments for
brewing, 540 — great importance of the duty on malt, 545 — policy of repealing
the beer-duty considered, ibid — manufacture of cider, 550 — perry, 552 —
home-made .wines, 556 — imports and exports of wine, ibid and Addenda — dis
tillation, 550 — imports and exports of spirits, 561 — rectifiers, 565, 704 — for
the number of distillers see Addenda, 730.

Erivan, attachment of the people of to punch ... 90

Europe, introduction of distillation into . . "* 361,615

Excise, origin of the term ..... 531

F

Fada, a Circassian beverage . . . . 508

Fermentation, 662 — remarks on spontaneous, 665

Fezzan, beverages of ....;. 67

Finland, propensity of its inhabitants for strong liquors ... 485

Feasts of the dead . '. \ . . 78,241,269,350

Floridas, beverages of, 320 — feasts and manners of the aborigines of, 321
Formosa, drinks of ...... 325

France, 380-— remarks on the introduction of the vine into, ibid — distillation of
brandy in, 392 — of the Jerusalem artichoke and potatoes, 398 — from beet-root,
399, 7 01 —manufacture of liqueurs in, 400 — remarks on the wine-trade, 402
Frankfort, sale of Renish wine at .... 433

Friendly Islands, beverages of, 250 — cup-bearers of, 251

G

Gauls, liquors and feasts of the . ,t ^v_., . . ... 380

Gaza, wine of . , -,.,..- » . .'. 5

Gear, an ale of Ragada in Africa , . . - . 66

Geber, writings of . . . ... 25

Geneva, manufacture of . . . . . ., .% " 452 to 455

Gentian, use of, 537 — notice of distillation from, 606

Georgia, liquors of j,. . s •'»..• -. . ; 503

Georgian Islands, distillation in . . . j 256

Germany, vintage and wines of, 436 to 440 — distillation from potatoes in, 441

Gold Coast, liquors of the , *•.».•••*•• 72

Goldwasser, a liquor of Prussia ."* ' '. . •',._ 261

Grapa, a drink of the Negroes . , "^ „."«. -, 315

Grapes, varieties of in Persia, 91 — how preserved, 93

Greece, liquors of . . . . „' ,, . 408 to 422

Guallo, a liquor of Congo . . ' . ""....' . 68

Guarapo, a Peruvian drink . -. . 302

Guinea, partiality of the natives for strong liquors '. ' ;-' - 72

730

H

Hainan, notice of that island ..... 234, 235

Ha-mi, interesting account of , * • . * 233

Hanover, beverages of, 458 — distillation in, 469

Hautkups, a beverage of the Circassians i . . 506

Health-drinking, origin of . . » . . 525

Heath, use of, 537 — distillation from, 582 — 607

Heather-leer, manufacture of, 606 — anecdote respecting, 607 — discovery of a

brewery for, 608

Hemlock peculiar application of . . ..V' . . 12,127

Hippocrates, his recommendation of wine ... 95

Honey in Syria, 48 — in Egypt, 54 — in Nubia, 57 — distilled into brandy, 82 —

intoxicating kind of, 469, 507 — notices respecting in New South Wales,.

258— in Caffraria, 280 — Honey-bird or indicator, 280 — in the United States,

335 — in Canada, 348 — Cyprus, 413 — Greece,422 — Germany, 446 — Austria,

442 — Prussia, 460 — Dantzic, 463 — Poland, 467, 468 — Russia, 495, 496 —

the Crimea, 501 — Georgia,505 — in Circassia, 507 — in Ireland, 591.

Honey-moon, derivation of the term .... 466

Hops in the United States, 335 — history of and introduction into England, 535 —

substitutes for, 536 — soporific qualities of, 128 — its tops esteemed a delicacy,

129

Hemp -plant, inebriating qualities of . . . .117,118,121

Hungary, wines of, 424 — brandy, 429 — early notice of aqua-vitae in, 446
Horns used for drinking, and great size of . . ' ..' 59, 504

Hydromel, 69 — manufacture of in Abyssinia, 60, 61 — in Poland, 469
Hydrometers, description and use of, 689, 690, 693 — anecdote respecting, ibid

I

Iceland, beverages of, and remarks on . . -'.. « 471

India, early notice of fermented liquors in, 151 — ancient cups used in, 156 —

cultivation of the sugar-cane, 157 — distillation, 158-9 — arrack, imports and

exports of, 162-3 — use of spirituous liquors in, 170

Inebriating drinks, what led to their discovery, 2 — account of in the Padma Puran,

a sacred book of India, 151

Intoxication, to what attributed ..... 683

Ionian Islands, wines of, 408, 720 — imports and exports, ibid

Ireland, 583 — progress of the arts in, 585 — hospitality of its inhabitants, 588 — early

beverages of, 591 — drinking-vessels used in, 593, 597, 598,599 — early notice

of wine, 600 — early knowledge of malting, 601 — introduction of water-

mills into, 603 — manufacture of heather-beer, 606 — entertainments and

cup-bearers in 610, 613 — aqua-vita early manufactured in, 615 — distillation

known in at a remote period, ibid, 6 1 6, 6 1 7 — principal brewing establishments

of, 629, 630— extensive distilleries in, 668-9, see Addenda, 725, 726, 730—

concluding remarks on, Z05

Isle of France, liquors of the . . *•;•.,...<•• »* 190

Italy, wines of . . '. , " '. "" 404

740

Page
Ithaca, wines of ..... 410

J

Japan, beverages of, 238 — cup-bearers in, 239 — antiquity of brewing in, ibid —
drinking- vessels of, 240, 243 — curious notice of stills and brewing utensils,
244 — distillation in, 243 — remedy for drunkenness in, 248 — remarkable and
pathetic anecdote of two natives of, 241 — singular effects of the todonoevo in,
248

Jassy, wines of .' . . * . 424

Jatropha-manihot, spirits from .... -^f . %9Q

Java, distillation in, 193 — drinking-cups of, . • -, • v •• 196

Jerusalem artichokes, distillation from . . i. » 398

Jersey, liquors of ) . . . . . 568

Jesso, island of . . . . . .' -' *\l 244

Jora, malt of the Peruvians .... • "U •» 304

Jin-jin-di. an African drink ..... 77

Juniper-berries, uses of in Lapland, Sweden, and Holland . 452

K

Kava, a beverage peculiar to many islands in the Pacific and mode of preparing,

250 — wonderful effects of, 252.
Kamtschatka, 51 1 — spirits made from grass in, 512 — anecdotes of the inhabitants

of, 513, 514, 516, 517.
Kea-sum, ancient name for brandy . . . . . 362

Kebul, spirit from ..... 169

Kirschwasser, or cherry-water, a brandy of Switzerland . 450

Koramas, mead of the ...... 280

Kislar, brandy distilled from water-melons at, 505 — wine from mulberries, ibid —
from peaches, ...... ibid

Koumiss, a beverage of the Tartars, 136 — from mares' milk, 137 — mode of pre
paring, 138 — made from the milk of cows, sheep, and camels, 140, 167 — distil
lation of, 140, ,: . . ."•'.. . 142
Kriska, a liquor of the Gold Coast *. •* ~; .' 73
Kiimmelwasser, a beverage . . . . "'' . 463

Kutuki, anecdote of . . 139

Ladrone Islands, beverages of . . . . 248

Laghibi, a liquor of Tripoli . . . . . 80

Lalo, a preparation of the Boabab , . . ' ."• ' ^ 74

Lamb-wine . . . . . . ."">'. 159,226

Lapland, beverages of, 481 — anecdote of a native . !l ;•{'' 484

Lebanon, wine of . . . ." .• ' -;t'V«'' 5

Lemnos, wine of ; .." ,: , - . '.«.: 416

Lemon tree, liquor from the . . " . . v 230

Lipari Islands, wines of the . . ' 'Jfa . -„ 408

Liqueurs, origin and invention of . . i v 400

Liquor of immortality in China and Japan, 210, 243 — in the Floridas, 320

Loo- Choo Islands, beverages of the . . ,. » -: 246

741

Page
Loango, cup-bearers in, 70 — customs observed in drinking in, ibid

Lotus plant, account of 8 — wine from, . . T "+• . 80

Lotophagi, why so called i . . . . 8, 80

Louvaine, beer of - » » »&% '*• . . . 456

Lugibi, a liquor of Fezzan • . . . . . 67

Luneburgh, regulations respecting distillation in . . 459

M

Maby, a drink of the West Indies, ; . . 290

Macassar, beverages of . . . . 199

Madagascar, curious notions of the natives respecting the rivers of Paradise, 3 —

beverages of 187 — cups of, 189.
Madeira, wines of ...... 358

Mahayah, a spirit from figs, . . . . . • 78

Mahometans, prohibition of wine amongst, 33 — anecdotes respecting, 35, 36, 37»

90 — mode of evading the prohibition by the Moors, . 78

Mahwah tree, beverages from ..... 153, 173

Maize, spirit from, 292 — sugar from, 300 — beer from, . 304

Malt early known to the Peruvians, 304 — in Ireland, . 671

Mandebocre, a liquor of Paraguay . . . . 311

Mangel-wurzel, ale from, 549 — distillation from, 701, . 399

Manilla, beverages of . . . . . 200

Mariana Islands, liquors of . . . . . 248

Maraschino, a liquor of Dalmatia .... 423

Masakhaw, a beverage of Formosa .... 236

Masato, an American drink ..... 305

Mathews, Mr., anecdote of . . . . . 589

Mauritius, beverages of . . . . . . . 1 90

Maximin, his great powers in drinking .... 13

Mead of the Tartars, 146 — of the Germans, 446 — of the Russians, 494 — in
Circassia, 508 — India, 165— Poland, 467— Spain, 375— Moldavia, 424—
Germany, 446 — Prussia, 460 — Dantzic, 463 — in the Crimea, 502 — deriva
tion of the term, 591 — antiquity of in Ireland, . ibid
Meather, or Mether, antiquity and use of . . . 593
Mediterranean Isles, beverages of . . . • \ • 408
Melons, beverages from ; . . . . 160, 168

Mexical, a spirit from the agave ..... 294

Mexico, liquors used in, 298 — punishment for drunkenness in 299.

Mezcal, spirit from the . » . . . » r V . 355

Milaffo, a wine of Congo ..... 67

Milk of Mares distilled by the Tartars, 140 — preparation of in Iceland, ibid — used
for a bath, 145 — procured from vegetables, ibid — that of sheep distilled by the
Calmucks, 146 — specific gravity of that of different animals, 686.
Minorca, wines of . . . . » 376

Mindanao, abundance of honey in . V .. * ^02

Mitylene, wines of . . . . . . 417

Moluccas, beverages of the ... 1 99

Morocco, inebriating liquors in l*T . 87

742

Page

Moorafacoo, a drink used in the Loo-Choo Islands . 247

Mother wort, beverage from ... » 242

Mum, 447 — origin of the term, 448 — receipt for making, ibid

Mushroom, (Amanita Muscaria) beverage from . . . 514

Must, at what heat fermentable « 2

N

Naples, wines of .... 404

Naxos, or Naxia, marble cups of, 416 — distillation from lemons in, ibid.
Negroes, beverages of in Africa ..... 63

Ncpaul, beverages of, 165 — human sculls used as drinking-vessels in, ibid.
Nepenthe of Homer, what . . .;*;.. . .* 6,606,97

Netherlands, brewing in . . . . . . 456

New Holland, distillation in . . . 258

New South Wales, remarks on, 259 — distillation in, 260 — beer of, 261 — intem
perance in, 262 — anecdote of an Irishman in, ibidt cultivation of the vine in
266.
Nicobar Islands, beverages of the .... 1 80

Norway, distillation from potatoes in .... 474

Nubeez, a Persian liquor ..... 01

Nubia, liquors of *. . ,. 55

O

Oases, notice of the . . . . * 52

Observations on the effects of drinking in India . . 169

Ombelbel, a name given to Bouza : 56

Opinions of Davy and Paris respecting the origin of Genii, Gouls, &c. among the

Arabians, 5O.

Opium, derivation of the word, 97 — manufacture of in Asia, ibid — in Persia, ibid —
in India, 98 — revenue arising from, 100 — price of in India, 101 — smoked
extensively by the Mandarins, ibid — its effects, 102 — its use denounced by a
Mussulman preacher, 104 — sale and use of in Siam, 106 — in Borneo and
Sumatra, 106, 107 — among the Celebes, ibid — its effects on the Javanese, 108
— used by the Rajpoots, Gracias, &c. 110, 111 — its effects on animals, 1 16,
117 — used by the Indian jockeys, 117 — by Chinese thieves, 125 — specimen of
a Chinese proclamation against, 134 — substitutes for, J 17, 125 — export of, 716.
Opium-eaters, anecdotes of, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 132, 134, 135,

136 — quantities used by, 132.

Oporto, wines of . . . . • \ : 378

Otaheite, liquors used in . . c . ' . . 252

Otee, an African ale . . . - . . ; . 66

Ouycou, a beer of the West Indies .' ""-\? ' * ';* * '•"' . '-' ; 289

P

Palestine, vineyards of . . . . * ,* ' fl 4

Pali, an African wine . . . *... ,.rvj, , -• 71

Palm-wine, mode of obtaining at Sierra Leone, 73 — used as a bribe in courtships,

78— as offerings to the dead, ibid — in India, 154 — supposed to be the "strong

drink" of the Scriptures, 7— in Peru, 304.

743

Page
Palmyra, origin of the name -'•'••'. -»t;ts.-, <• 'V - :xi-; " V 7

Paraguay, beverages of, 311 — distillation of brandy in, 312.

Patagonia, liquors of . . . f V ''•'*• • 318

Peaches, brandy from, 243, 255 — distillation from, -.'^i: -^« 328

Perfumes in wine ••'"'• • • ' * • • :° /"'r;.'*f-J -'••- fc'-'-: 5

Perry, manufacture of -V . *- y>-- • ' c •«- ; •"' f*J' 552

Persians, drinks of, 82 — anecdotes of, . : - :*rr"' "'••'?-•'" 87,88

Persimon apple, brandy from ..... 328

Peru, liquors of, 293 — antiquity of malting in, . « 304

Phaur, a beer from rice . . . «'" ' 165

Pigment, or Piment . . , '"»'' * f'V 528

Pitto, a drink of Dahomy . '« ;r . "*'•**' 64

Pitcairn Islands, beverages of . . - . • - '-- * '. 254

Piworree, a liquor of Barbadoes ..... 289

Plums, wine from ...... 557

Poland, beverages of ... . • ••»•:•'> '•"**;" 446

Pomegranates, wine from, 92 — cider from, . . 208

Pledging in drinking, origin of . *}••>*:.' •/'!•»*•£ • -.* 528 616

Pompeii, remains of taverns in . . . . . 405

Poppy, its intoxicating effects ..... 96

Porter, derivation of the term, 539 — importance of the trade in England, 540 — in

Ireland, 626,731.

Prussia, mead of, 451 — distillation from potatoes in, • r.*: « • ibid

Portugal, wines and brandies of . . '•' *\ : .- •' ;i< 376 to 383

Potatoes, Abyssinian beverage from 63 — wine and spirit from in Canada, 348 — from
the berries of in France, 399 — brandy from in Hungary, 429 — distillation of
in Germany — beer from, 442, 699 — distillation of in Prussia, 460 — in Nor
way, 474 — manufacture of spirits from, 695, 696, 697, 698, 690, 700.
Pottinger, Captain, Lis plan for collecting the duty on spirits . 657

Punch, the derivation of, 621 — anecdote of a drinker of . . 622

Punjabee chiefs, their mode of feeding horses I : * : 157

Q

Quass, a Russian beverage l» . , « * . ,. 491,492

Quassia, use of » . . . , ,. * , . . .» - 537

Querns, notice of . . . . .' * •/ 603

Quiloa, human sculls formerly used as drinking-cups in . »" 270

Quinces, wine from '. . *. . . "»«s. 218

R

Rabbins, opinions of respecting the vine . . . 3

Rectifiers, regulations respecting in England, 567 — in Ireland, 703 — number of in

Great Britain, and Ireland, 704 — suggestions for the improvement of their

trade, ibid, • . . , • . ' . . > 705

Rhazes, his introduction of chemical preparations into medicine . 24

Rhine, wines of the -V , . "'.'• ''.u ." ' 430

Rododendron crysanlhum, its inebriating effects V"~ • 129

Rice, wine from . 211, 217, 22G

744

Page
Rose-water, early made by the Persians, 91 — quotation from a Saadi respecting, 93.

Rosolio, 41 — made at Dantzic, 463.

Rubus arcticus, wine from . . . . • - 480

Rubus Chamcemorus, liqueur from •.,•> . . : ibid

Rudkin, his plan for the collection of the duty on spirits -. . 658

Rum, distillation of in the Carnatic, 158 — made in China, 218 — derivation of the
term, 282 — its manufacture in the West Indies, 283 — in Brazil, 314 — in the
United States, 331, 334— trade of in England, . . 561

Russia, 487 — revenue derived from brandy in, 490 — extensive breweries, 491 —
mead manufactured to great extent, 494 — importance of honey for home-con
sumption, and as an article of commerce, 495 — mode of rearing bees, ibid —
cultivation of the vine, 496 — imports and exports, 520, 521 — distillation a
monopoly of the crown, . . . . . 518

S

Saccharometer, invention and use of . . . 684

Sack, derivation of the term ..... 357

Sacki, a Japanese beer, 238 — derivation of the term, ibid.

Saffron, early use of in Ireland ..... 620

Sagwire, a species of palm- wine . . . . 195

Sal-Indicum, first name for sugar in Europe . . . 366

Sam-tchoo, a Chinese liquor . . . . . 217

Sandwich Islands, liquors of . . . . 254

Sangaree, a drink of the West Indies .... 288

Saracens, opinions concerning their inventions and discoveries controverted, 21,

163, 361.

Sardinia, wines of ...... 406

Satschio, a Japanese brandy ..... 240

Savages of America, their feast of the dead, 350 — anecdotes of their chiefs, 351

Sbitena, or Sbetin, a Russian drink, . . . 494
Scotland, primitive beverages of, 569 — brewing in, 570 — distillation, 572.
Sculls, used as drinking. cups, 165, 270 — curious anecdotes respecting, 598.

Seneca, his complaint of women using wine to excess . 12

Shetland Islands, distillation from heather formerly practised in . 592
Shiraz, wine of, 84 — derivation of, ibid.

Siam, liquors of » . . . . . 1«,~; 176

Siberia, liquors used in . . . . . . 509

Sicily, wines of . . . . . 407

Sierra-Leone, drinks used there, 73 — introduction of the vine, 74.

Skins of beasts used for holding wine, 18, 19 — among the Tartars, 139 — in Pom
peii, 140 — in Madeira, 603 — in Georgia, 502 — among the Pampas, 311 —

Soliman I., his exertions to prevent drunkenness . • . 39

Sora, a beer of Peru ...... 306

Spain, early notice of distillation in, 362 — custom of a Celtic king of, 362 — early
cultivation of the vine in, ibid — brandies of, 363 — wines, 367 — granaries, 374
— breweries, 375 — cider, ibid — mead of, ibid.
Specific gravity, 686, 69? — anecdote respecting, 693.

743

Page
Spirits, a preservative against the plague, 39 — spontaneous combustion occasioned

by, 683.
Spontaneous fermentation, remarks on . . . »;; i ,» i 665

Springs, intoxicating . . . .• . 466, 509

Spruce-beer, origin of in Sweden, 489 — use of in Great Britain, . 550

Still, supposed to be alluded to in St. Matthew, 10 — introduction of into Europe,
361 — Calmuck, 142 — Mysore, 159 — native Indian, 160 — used in Thibet and
Bootan, 172 — in Ceylon, 186 — China, 228 — the Georgian Islands, 2 56 — Peru,
306 — Canada, 342 — Spain, 365 — Desrone's, 393 — St. Marc's, 635 — Solimani's
640— Winter's, ibid — Sir Anthony Perrier's, 643 — Grimble's, ibid — Evan's, ibid
—Williams's, 644_Shannon's, 645— Gutteridge's, 646— Morrisy's,' 647
— Shee's, 648 — Stein's, 649 — that of Mr. Cofley, 650, 651, &c. — the one
formerly in use in Ireland, 657.

Sugar, cultivation of in Upper Egypt, 54 — known early in India, 152 — derivation
of the word, ibid — elephants and horses fed on in India, 157 — substitute for
in Bokhara, 168 — manufacture of in Siam, 177 — in Java, 195 — in Manilla,
202— in China, 230 — in the Marquesas, 254 — in New South Wales, 265 — in
the West Indies, 218, 287- -in Peru, 299— from maize, 310— in Brazil, 314
— from the maple, 329, 330, 331 — in Spain, 366 — from the walnut-tree, 502
— from rags, 697 — from beet-root, or mangel-wurzel, 702.

Sweden, use of the ant in distilleries of, 476 — distillation from potatoes in, 479 —
Switzerland, wine of, 449 — distillation of brandy in . ,.. f. 451

St. Helena, early distillation from potatoes in, . . 281

Sumatra, beverages of . . . • ,'•'•".. • 190

Surinam, liquors manufactured in . ' . . .. 319

T

Taffia, a name for rum . . . . . » ' 'v '. ^ • ,- ' 285

Taffilet, wine and beer of ." --." * r» « ,tyr<?. * atrt 80

Talipot-tree, description of /. jiio i v : «»... 200

Talwagen, a liquor of Ceylon, , ;rt •«.; ,. .1 ,. ., . 183

Taroot, vineyards of . - . . l.:'!» ». • 49

Tartars, distillation early known to, 142 — cup-bearers of, 143 — their mead, 146 —
luxury of their princes, ibid — their cups and drinking-vessels sard to counte
ract poison, 147 — genius for poetry, ibid — their wine from lamb's-flesh, 150 —
their large bags, 139.

Tamerlane, banquet of, . . ., v , •:., 149

Teutones, customs of ... . . " », " 466

Tee-root, a liquor distilled from .... 254

Temperance Societies, origin of in the United States, 338 — in Van Diemen's

Land and New South Wales, 266 — in Prussia, 449 — in Sweden, 480-1 —

Great Britain and Ireland, 707.

Temperance, opinions of a Hanoverian Preacher respecting, 460 — law respecting

in China, 226 — enforced by Alomprah, 175 — in the Society Islands, 257 —

remarks on, ./ii» ti^m, .«> * ,.-•• 705

Teracina, a Tartar drink from rice ti^fj . . - 146

Theka, a Peruvian liquor . ' . . • •• '* .- ' 302

Theophrastus, practice of drunkards in his day . . 12

3 c

744

Thibet, liquors vised in, 171 — distillation in, . . . 172

Toak, a Madagascar drink ..... 187

Toddy, mode of procuring . . . . « 155

Tokay wine, . . . . . . .-'- 428

Tonquin, beverages of, 205 — sociality in, 207 — cups used in, ibid — cider of, 208.

Torgilla, or Tergilla, challenge of in drinking ... j 3

Torquatus, his extraordinary powers of drinking . 13

Toupare, a Madagascar drink . . . .--.'- 188

Tripoli, beverages of • . * •» « . . . 80
Tuns, enormous one at Heidelberg, 428 — at Koningstein, ibid — at Halberstadt,

428 — at Tubingen, ibid.

Turkestan, beverages of, 150 — melons of, ... ibid

Turks, mode of living and hospitality of ... 38

U
United States, distillation in, 325 — cider of, 329 — sugar, ibid, 330, 331, 332 — vine

of, ibid — rum of, 334 — malt liquors, 335 — honey, ibid — Temperance Societies

in, 338.

Usquebagh, 615, 616 — receipt for making, . . . 620

Usuph, a drink of Morocco ..... 78

V

Van Diemen's Land . . . * . . . 167

Vanhorn, his excess in drinking .... 13

Vegetables, various from which spirits may be produced . 681

Vienna, malt-drinks of, 444 — brewers of, ... 445

Vaults for wine, enormous ..... 435

Vellipatty, a beverage of Ceylon . . . . 138

Vines, when first cultivated by the Romans, 11 — of Persia, 85 — of India, 156 — of

Madagascar, 188 — of New South Wales, 265— of the Cape, 270— of New

Spain, 299 — of Chili, 307 — of the United States, 333— of Spain, 367 —

climates suitable for, 437 — cultivation of in Portugal, 376 — formerly in England,

524 — in Ireland, 600

Vineyards, tax on in Persia, 63 — in Portugal, 373 — in France, 384 — in the Crimea,

499

Vintage in Germany, 427 — great sports at, . . 436

Vintro de Batatas, a kind of beer ... 315

Vodtki, Russian brandy ... • 519

W

Walnut-tree, sugar obtained from . . 502

Water-melons, brandy from . . . 505

Watky, the Kamtschatdale name for whiskey . 516

West Indies, distillation of rum in, 283 — exports of, 285 — hospitality in, 287

Western Islands, curious customs observed at ancient entertainments in, 569 —

dignity and emolument attached to the office of cup-bearer, 582

Whidah, beer of, 72 — skill of the woman in brewing in, ibid

Whiskey, derivation of the word • '•"•'. • * 616

745

Wine, supposed to be known before the flood, 2, 3 — Women forbidden to drink,
12 — Men forbidden the use of till a certain age, 12 — Excess of women in,
ibid — Origin of the term, 559 — Pucine, virtues of, and where produced, 13 —
Coecuban, ibid — Setine, ibid — Falernian, 14 — Other wines used by the
Greeks and Romans, 15 to 19 — Shiraz, 84 — Kislar, 505 — New South Wales,
265 — Constantia, 270 — of Chili, 307 — the Dnited States, 333 — Canada, 348
— Georgia, 503 — Spain, 367 — Portugal, 376 — France, 383 — Mediterranean,
408 — Ionian Isles, ibid — Corinth, 410 — Hungary, 425 — From pomegranates,
92 — Vaults for, 435 — Home-made, 556 — Proportion of alcohol in different
sorts, 682

Wine-taster, his duties in Congo, 69 — said to have originated with the Persians,
612 — the office lately abolished in Ireland, ibid.

X

X waters, explanation of and antiquity of its symbolical application 616

Xenophon, his account of drink in Armenia ... 9

Xeres, wines of . . . . . . . 369

Y

Yankee, a term for New England rum . .. . . 336

Yeast . ....... 319

Yowrt, a Turkish drink . . . . . : 245

Y-wer-a, a liquor of the Sandwich Islands i . • 255

Z

Zabul, wine of Persia ...... 525

Zante, wines of . . .... . 409

Zealand ....... 471

Zeher-e-koosh, delightful poison .... 87

Zoolas, beer of the ...... 268

Zora, a German liquor ...... 443

Zosimus, notice of ... 21
Zythum, . . . . . . . 9, 10, 44, 362

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