There are a
few horses and asses, but no mules. Even in the city of Bordeaux we see
scarcely any beasts of draught but oxen. When we cross the Garonne
at Langon, we find the plains entirely of sand and gravel, and they
continue so to Bordeaux. Where they are capable of any thing, they
are in vines, which are in rows, four, five, or six feet apart, and
sometimes more. Near Langon is Sauterne, where the best white wines of
Bordeaux are made. The waste lands are in fern, furze, shrubbery,
and dwarf trees. The farmers live on their farms. At Agen, Castres,
Bordeaux, strawberries and pease are now brought to table; so that the
country on the canal of Languedoc seems to have later seasons than
that east and west of it. What can be the cause? To the eastward, the
protection of the Cevennes makes the warm season advance sooner. Does
the neighborhood of the Mediterranean co-operate? And does that of the
ocean mollify and advance the season to the westward? There are ortolans
at Agen, but none at Bordeaux. The buildings on the canal and the
Garonne are mostly of brick, the size of the bricks the same with that
of the ancient Roman brick, as seen in the remains of their buildings in
this country.
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