There are no roads in Cyprus in the mountainous wine-producing
districts, therefore all agricultural products must be conveyed upon the
backs of mules up and down the steepest and most dangerous rocky tracks,
apparently more fitted for goats than other animals. A mule will travel
in this rough country with a load of 250 lbs. This serious difficulty of
transport will account for the rude and ancient method of conveying wine
in goat-skins. "No man will put new wine into old bottles," referred to
this system of employing skins instead of casks, or other receptacles
that could be cleaned and rendered tasteless. The goat-skin would
quickly rot, unless it was prepared by a species of tar; thus not only
is the naturally unpleasant flavour of the skin imparted to the wine,
but the mixture of tar renders it completely abominable to any palate
that has not been educated to receive it. Let any person conceive the
result of pouring ten or twelve gallons of Chateau Lafitte into an old
and dirty goat-skin thoroughly impregnated with tar, and carrying this
burden upon one side of a mule, balanced by a similar skin on the other
side filled with the choicest Johannisberger. This load, worth at least
70 or 80 pounds at starting, would travel for two days exposed to a
broiling sun, and would lie for several days before it would be turned
into the vat of the merchant at Limasol.
Pages:
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349