A Voyage Round the World, Volume I - Including Travels in Africa, Asia, Australasia, America, etc., etc., from 1827 to 1832 by James Holman
page 41 of 402 (10%)
page 41 of 402 (10%)
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wines exported from the Canaries is produced. The Teneriffe wines are
of the same description and varieties as the wines of Madeira, namely, Tinto, Verdelho, Gual, Listan, Malvasia,[5] &c., but they are not equal in quality to the fine wines of the south side, yet superior to the wines of the north side, of that island. They are distinguished by what may be called the generic denominations of dry and sweet. The dry is well known by the name of Vidonia, and the sweet as Malvasia. The first quality of the former can only be obtained from the most respectable merchants, it being a very common process to convert it, by admixtures, into a counterfeit of Madeira, or sherry, and occasionally to drug it with port. The strongest quality of the celebrated wine called sack,[6] is made in Teneriffe, Grand Canary, and Palma. Carbonate of soda is obtained from the _sal sola soda_, extensively cultivated at Lanccrota and Forteventura. It is gathered in September, dried, and then charred or fused into a ringing, hard, cellular mass, of a greyish blue colour. A small quantity is made also at Grand Canary. The barilla of the Canary Islands has been sold in England so high as 80l. a ton, and as low as 6l.; at the present time, (December, 1833) it is worth 9l. 10s. a ton. The depreciation is caused chiefly by kelp, and other substitutes found in the British alkali, a French chemical discovery, manufactured from sea salt, from which, the other ingredients are detached, by combination with sulphur, and acids subjected to heat. The imports of barilla from the Canary Islands to this country are about 3,500 tons a-year. The United States of America, and of late years, Brazil, also, take off a few cargoes of this article. Lancerota produces, annually, about 300 tons of barilla; Forte ventura about 1500 tons. Rock moss (Parmelia perlata) is worth about 70l. a ton, and is one of |
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