t is called, occupied,
at that time, not less than sixty acres of ground, which meant more than
treble that area as far as storage was concerned; for there was not only
the cellarage, but the buildings above ground, rising, in many
instances, to three and four stories. The entrepot consisted, and
consists still, I believe, of three distinct parts: one for wines;
another for what the French call "alcohols," and we "spirits;" a third,
much smaller, for potable, or, rather, edible oils. The latter wing
contains the cellarage of the general administration of the hospitals.
The spirit-cellars were absolutely empty at the time of my visit; their
contents had been removed to a bomb and shell proof cellarage hard by.

Though I had come to see, I felt very little wiser after leaving the
cellars than before; for, truth to tell, I was absolutely bewildered. I
had no more idea of the quantity of wine stored there than a child. My
guide laughed.

"We'll soon make the matter clear to you," he said, shaking hands with a
gentleman who turned out to be one of the principal employes. "This
gentleman will tell you almost to a hectolitre the quantity of ordinary
wine in store. You know pretty well the number of inhabitants of the
capital, and though it has considerably increased during the last few
days, and is not unlikely to decrease during the siege, if siege there
be, the influx does not amount to a hundred thousand. Now, monsieur,
will you tell this gentleman what you have in stock?"

"We have got at the present moment 1,600,000 hectolitres of ordinary
wine in our cellars. Ten days ago we had nearly one hundred thousand
more, but the wine-shops and others have laid in large provisions since
then. The more expensive wines I need not mention, because the quantity
is very considerably less, and, moreover, they are not likely to be
wanted; though, if they were wanted, they would keep us going for many,
many weeks. At a rough guess, the number of 'souls' within the
fortifications is about 1,700,000, with the recent increase 1,800,000;
consequently, with what the 'liquoristes' have recently bought, one
hundred litres for every man, woman, and child. I do not reckon the
contents of private cellars, nor those of the wine-merchants, apart from
their recent purchases. Nor is ordinary wine much dearer than it was in
years of great plenty; it is, in fact, less by twenty-five francs or
thirty francs than in the middle of the fifties. I am compar