Depaz Distillery and Plantation Museum As part of the excellent, extensive museum on the Depaz grounds, they have a running paddle wheel. We learned that when the paddle wheel was first introduced in Martinique in the l7th century it was used to drive the cane mills, however, later it was replaced by a steam engine which is still used today. This impressive steam engine is the machine around which the Depaz distillery revolves but which in times gone by was used to supply water to the fountains at the Chateau de Versailles. At the Depaz distillery sugar cane is grown and crushed to produce their rum. The cane fields surround the distillery for miles around. 250 hectares of cane are harvested over a 5 month period of time (February to June) 250 tons are crushed each day and 25,000 litres of rum are produced each day (yes, 25,000 litres each day!)