rrent in the portion of a circle, of which the rope is
the radius. To support the rope in its whole length, there are two
intermediate canoes, about fifty yards apart, in the heads of which are
short masts. To the top of these the rope is lashed, the canoes being
free otherwise to concur with the general vibration in their smaller
arcs of circles. The Po is there about fifty yards wide, and about one
hundred in the neighborhood of Turin.

April 17, 18. _Turin_. The first nightingale I have heard this year is
to-day (18th). There is a red wine of Nebiule made in this neighborhood,
which is very singular. It is about as sweet as the silky Madeira, as
astringent on the palate as Bordeaux, and as brisk as Champagne. It is a
pleasing wine. At Moncaglieri, about six miles from Turin, on the right
side of the Po, begins a ridge of mountains, which, following the Po
by Turin, after some distance, spreads wide, and forms the duchy of
Montferrat. The soil is mostly red, and in vines, affording a wine
called Montferrat, which is thick and strong.

April 19. _Settimo. Chivasso. Ciliano. S. Germano. Vercelli_. The
country continues plain and rich, the soil black. The culture, corn,
pasture, maize, vines, mulberries, walnuts, some willow, and poplar.
The maize bears a very small proportion to the small grain. The earth is
formed into ridges from three to four feet wide, and the maize sowed in
the broad-cast, on the higher parts of the ridge, so as to cover a third
or half of the whole surface. It is sowed late in May. This country
is plentifully and beautifully watered at present. Much of it is by
torrents, which are dry in summer. These torrents make a great deal
of waste ground, covering it with sand and stones. These wastes are
sometimes planted in trees, sometimes quite unemployed. They make hedges
of willows, by setting the plants from one to three feet apart. When
they are grown to the height of eight or ten feet, they bend them down,
and interlace them one with another. I do not see any of these, however,
which are become old. Probably, therefore, they soon die. The women here
smite on the anvil, and work with the maul and spade. The people of this
country are ill dressed in comparison with those of France, and there
are more spots of uncultivated ground. The plough here is made with a
single handle, which is a beam twelve feet long, six inches in diameter
below, and tapered to about two inches at the upper end. They use goads