The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1890-12-02
THE CASTLE OF cHILLoN.

If YOU 20 on another mile along the pref
~ white winding road that follows the
curves of the lake you come to Chillon,
that picturesque, gloomy old castle which
was, YOU know, built ever so many years
ago. 1t rises clean out of the lake, and the
water surrounds it on ali sides. The lake
looks wonderfully deep and blue under the
walls of the Old castle-in fact, II is ever SO
deep. II | were TO tell the exact truth my
friends might not believe me. ! wish they
could stand with me just on this side OF the
venerable pile. see the snow mountains
rising quite close behind at the end Of the
lake, and then look right down in the lake
and see the gray, ivy-grown walls reflected
in the tranquil waters.
You reach the castle itself by crossing
drawbridge, and passing under the arched
entrance-gate. engraved on which are the
arms of the Canton de Naud. Coming fIom
a land whose history does not 20 80 very
many ages back YOU may feel somewhat
astOnished, as / did, on hearing that In $50
Chillon was already used as prison, ana
mas been used ever since. You then come
to an interior courtyard which gives
egress TO the upper chambers, those o.
residence and reception. They, like the
dungeons, are lighted by Sits in the wall.
OF course, the prison part is far the most
interesting. Right under the water, sepa-
rated from it by the solid stone walls seye-
raj feet thick. are the cells. These cells are
embelished by all the possible instruments
Of torture, with which the jolly warders
were wont TO amuse their charges. AdJOin-
Ing is a yaulted room, whose ceiling Is sup
ported by great, massive stone pillars.
There was chained Monsieur Boniyard,
whom the famous Byron calls "The
Prisoner Of ChillOn" in his i'm
mortal ole. Byron probably forgot
al the time that there had been several
other prisoners there. On the stone pillars
| saw several names carved that had seen
before. Those Of Victor Hugo, Byron, Eu-
gene sue and G. Sand were among the mum
Der. | remembered the little saying about
fools names, etc, ." but since there were
greater fools already there thought would
make the collection complete. | scratched
mine good deal better than most Of the
others, too.
THE VENDANGEs.
Well. Mr.. Editor one of the most remark
able things have seen here yet is what
they call the "Nendangcs." that is, the
grape-picking vine. The hills by the lake
are covered with vineyards, and each vine.
yard walled in. which precaution one can
understand. The vines are awfully ugly.
They are about three feet high. and grow
round sticks planted straight in
the ground. Except for about three
months before the grapes are ripe
you can only see the sticks. and
wonder where the deuce the grape vines
have gone TO, like the light, when you blow
the candle out. The yinages begin on a
certain day fixed by the Government and
last about five days. But the two days be-
tore the general yintages are reserved for the
lf.f t. Nnst.l chi
at least who possess any yineya ards
Of their own. SO here, as usual,
the widows come out neck and crop ahead
of all the Others as their wine is first on the
market. II hardly seems fair 10 me. What
TO YOU think OF IL Especially, when az
this year there had been glorious weather
for three weeks, the widows had got their
crop nicely in, so had ne children, and
just the day when the other married men
aud women and all the others were about
10 begin, the rain suddenly began 10 fall in
torrents, causing great loss. They mot the
widOws) were simply furious, and had no
sense Of humOr left at all, for when |
stopped one Of them and told him it seemed
10 me ne was putting just "little" too
much water in his wine, he snarled and
nearly swore In French. IL isn't half 80
picturesque as It's cracked up 10 be, either. |
There are no more gay costumes and dances. !
SOberly dressed peasants pick the grapes, |
and put them in long funnel-shaped wooden |
" hotties" they carry on their backs. In /
these they pound them with a kind OF /
wooden mortar till they are black in the /
face. They put the compound into great
casks on wheels. and the whole pulpy, |
sticky, sickly mass is taken down 10 town |
and made into wine. The wine they make
here is pretty sour, but the new wine is as
sweet as the Swiss honey. The Swiss honey, |
you know, is made out OF glycerine and pear
bright.
guess this viii be almost too much for |