Brito, however, expressly says of Flanders, that
it is a place where,
"Raris sylva locis facit umbram, vinea nusquam:
Indigenis potus Thetidi miscetur avena,
Ut vice sit vini multo confecta labore."
And the same author likewise tells us, that the Normans of his time were
cider-drinkers--
"... _Siceraeque_ potatrix
Algia tumentis ...
Non tot in autumni rubet Algia tempore _pomis_
Unde liquare solet _siceram_ sibi _Neustria_ gratam."
Huet is of opinion, that the use of cider was first introduced into
Neustria by the Normans, who had learned it of the Biscayans, as these
latter had done from the inhabitants of the northern coast of Africa.
We did not find the Norman cider at all palatable: it is extremely sour,
hard, and austere. The inhabitants, however, say that this is not its
natural character, but is attributable to the late unfavorable seasons,
which have prevented the fruit from ripening properly.--The apple-tree
and pear-tree in Normandy, far from being ugly, and distorted, and
stunted in their growth, as is commonly seen in England, are trees of
great beauty, and of extreme luxuriance, both in foliage and
ramification. The _Coccus_, too, which has caused so much destruction
among our orchards at home, is fortunately still unknown here.
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