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diff --git a/old/43609.txt b/old/43609.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 919c79a..0000000 --- a/old/43609.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,11256 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Castles and Chateaux of Old Navarre and the -Basque Provinces, by Francis Miltoun - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: Castles and Chateaux of Old Navarre and the Basque Provinces - -Author: Francis Miltoun - -Illustrator: Blanche McManus - -Release Date: August 31, 2013 [EBook #43609] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CASTLES AND CHATEAUX *** - - - - -Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - [Every attempt has been made to replicate the original as printed. - No attempt has been made to correct or normalize the - spelling of non-English words. - Some typographical errors have been corrected; - a list follows the text. Some illustrations - have been moved from mid-paragraph for ease of reading. - (etext transcriber's note)] - - - - - Castles and Chateaux of Old Navarre and the Basque Provinces - - - - - _WORKS OF_ - - _FRANCIS MILTOUN_ - -[Illustration: text decoration] - - -_Rambles on the Riviera_ $2.50 - -_Rambles in Normandy_ 2.50 - -_Rambles in Brittany_ 2.50 - -_The Cathedrals and Churches of the Rhine_ 2.50 - -_The Cathedrals of Northern France_ 2.50 - -_The Cathedrals of Southern France_ 2.50 - -_Castles and Chateaux of Old Touraine and the Loire Country_ 3.00 - -_Castles and Chateaux of Old Navarre and the Basque Provinces_ 3.00 - -_The Automobilist Abroad_ _net_ 3.00 - - _Postage Extra_ - - [Illustration: text decoration] - - _L. C. PAGE & COMPANY_ - - _New England Building, Boston, Mass._ - - [Illustration: A PEASANT GIRL OF THE ARIEGE] - - - - - Castles and Chateaux - OF - OLD NAVARRE - AND THE BASQUE PROVINCES - - INCLUDING ALSO FOIX, ROUSSILLON AND BEARN - - BY FRANCIS MILTOUN - - Author of "Castles and Chateaux of Old Touraine," "Rambles - in Normandy," "Rambles in Brittany," "Rambles - on the Riviera," etc. - - _With Many Illustrations_ - - _Reproduced from paintings made on the spot_ - - BY BLANCHE MCMANUS - - [Illustration] - - BOSTON - L. C. PAGE & COMPANY - 1907 - - - _Copyright, 1907_ - - BY L. C. PAGE & COMPANY - (INCORPORATED) - - _All rights reserved_ - - First Impression, October, 1907 - - _COLONIAL PRESS - Electrotyped and Printed by C. H. Simonds & Co. - Boston, U. S. A._ - - - - -By Way of Introduction - - "Cecy est un livre de bonne foy." - _Montaigne._ - - -No account of the life and historical monuments of any section of the -old French provinces can be made to confine its scope within -geographical or topographical limits. The most that can be accomplished -is to centre the interest around some imaginary hub from which radiate -leading lines of historic and romantic interest. - -Henri de Navarre is the chief romantic and historical figure of all that -part of France bounded on the south by the Pyrenean frontier of Spain. -He was but a Prince of Bearn when his mother, Jeanne d'Albret, became -the sovereign of French Navarre and of Bearn, but the romantic life -which had centred around the ancestral chateau at Pau was such that the -young prince went up to Paris with a training in chivalry and a love of -pomp and splendour which was second only to that of Francois I. The -little kingdom of Navarre, the principality of Bearn, and the dukedoms -and countships which surround them, from the Mediterranean on the east -to the Gulf of Gascony on the west, are so intimately connected with the -gallant doings of men and women of those old days that the region known -as the Pyrenean provinces of the later monarchy of France stands in a -class by itself with regard to the romance and chivalry of feudal days. - -The dukes, counts and seigneurs of Languedoc and Gascony have been names -to conjure with for the novelists of the Dumas school; and, too, the -manners and customs of the earlier troubadours and crusaders formed a -motive for still another coterie of fictionists of the romantic school. -In the Comte de Foix one finds a link which binds the noblesse of the -south with that of the north. It is the story of Francoise de Foix, who -became the Marquise de Chateaubriant, the wife of Jean de Laval, that -Breton Bluebeard whose atrocities were almost as great as those of his -brother of the fairy tale. And the ties are numerous which have joined -the chatelains of these feudal chateaux and courts of the Midi with -those of the Domain of France. - -These petty countships, dukedoms and kingdoms of the Pyrenees were -absorbed into France in 1789, and to-day their nomenclature has -disappeared from the geographies; but the habitant of the Basses -Pyrenees, the Pyrenees Orientales, and the Hautes Pyrenees keeps the -historical distinctions of the past as clearly defined in his own mind -as if he were living in feudal times. The Bearnais refers contemptuously -to the men of Roussillon as Catalans, and to the Basques as a wild, -weird kind of a being, neither French nor Spanish. - -The geographical limits covered by the actual journeyings outlined in -the following pages skirt the French slopes of the Pyrenees from the -Atlantic Gulf of Gascony to the Mediterranean Gulf of Lyons, and so on -to the mouths of the Rhone, where they join another series of recorded -rambles, conceived and already evolved into a book by the same author -and artist.[1] The whole itinerary has been carefully thought out and -minutely covered in many journeyings by road and rail, crossing and -recrossing from east to west and from west to east that delectable land -commonly known to the Parisian Frenchman as the Midi. - -[1] "Castles and Chateaux of Old Touraine and the Loire Country." - -The contrasts with which one meets in going between the extreme -boundaries of east and west are very great, both with respect to men and -to manners; the Nicois is no brother of the Basque, though they both be -swarthy and speak a _patois_, even to-day as unlike modern French as is -the speech of the Breton or the Flamand. The Catalan of Roussillon is -quite unlike the Languedocian of the Camargue plain, and the peasant of -the Aude or the Ariege bears little or no resemblance in speech or -manners to the Bearnais. - -There is a subtle charm and appeal in the magnificent feudal chateaux -and fortified bourgs of this region which is quite different from the -warmer emotions awakened by the great Renaissance masterpieces of -Touraine and the Loire country. Each is irresistible. Whether one -contemplates the imposing chateau at Pau, or the more delicately -conceived Chenonceaux; the old walled Cite of Carcassonne, or the walls -and ramparts of Clisson or of Angers; the Roman arena at Nimes, or the -Roman Arc de Triomphe at Saintes, there is equal charm and contrast. - -To the greater appreciation, then, of the people of Southern France, and -of the gallant types of the Pyrenean provinces in particular, the -following pages have been written and illustrated. - - F. M. - -PERPIGNAN, _August_, 1907. - - - - -[Illustration: CONTENTS] - - -CHAPTER PAGE - - BY WAY OF INTRODUCTION v - - I. A GENERAL SURVEY 1 - - II. FEUDAL FRANCE--ITS PEOPLE AND ITS - CHATEAUX 18 - - III. THE PYRENEES--THEIR GEOGRAPHY AND - TOPOGRAPHY 46 - - IV. THE PYRENEES--THEIR HISTORY AND PEOPLE 73 - - V. ROUSSILLON AND THE CATALANS 95 - - VI. FROM PERPIGNAN TO THE SPANISH FRONTIER 110 - - VII. THE CANIGOU AND ANDORRA 130 - - VIII. THE HIGH VALLEY OF THE AUDE 152 - - IX. THE WALLS OF CARCASSONNE 161 - - X. THE COUNTS OF FOIX 175 - - XI. FOIX AND ITS CHATEAU 185 - - XII. THE VALLEY OF THE ARIEGE 197 - - XIII. ST. LIZIER AND THE COUSERANS 211 - - XIV. THE PAYS DE COMMINGES 222 - - XV. BEARN AND THE BEARNAIS 230 - - XVI. OF THE HISTORY AND TOPOGRAPHY OF BEARN 244 - - XVII. PAU AND ITS CHATEAU 258 - - XVIII. LESCAR, THE SEPULCHRE OF THE BEARNAIS 278 - - XIX. THE GAVE D'OSSAU 287 - - XX. TARBES, BIGORRE AND LUCHON 297 - - XXI. BY THE BLUE GAVE DE PAU 307 - - XXII. OLORON AND THE VAL D'ASPE 324 - - XXIII. ORTHEZ AND THE GAVE D'OLORON 335 - - XXIV. THE BIRTH OF FRENCH NAVARRE 354 - - XXV. THE BASQUES 372 - - XXVI. SAINT-JEAN-PIED-DE-PORT AND THE COL - DE RONCEVAUX 393 - - XXVII. THE VALLEY OF THE NIVE 405 - -XXVIII. BAYONNE: ITS PORT AND ITS WALLS 413 - - XXIX. BIARRITZ AND SAINT-JEAN-DE-LUZ 422 - - XXX. THE BIDASSOA AND THE FRONTIER 436 - - INDEX 449 - - - - -[Illustration: LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS] - - - PAGE - -A PEASANT GIRL OF THE ARIEGE _Frontispiece_ - -THE PYRENEAN PROVINCES MAP _facing_ 1 - -WATCH-TOWER IN THE VAL D'ANDORRE _facing_ 24 - -FEUDAL FLAGS AND BANNERS 32 - -THE PEAKS OF THE PYRENEES (Map) 49 - -BRECHE DE ROLAND _facing_ 50 - -THE COL DE PERTHUS (Map) 57 - -THE FIVE PROPOSED RAILWAYS (Map) 68 - -STATIONS THERMALES (Map) 69 - -THE BASQUES OF THE MOUNTAINS _facing_ 74 - -IN A PYRENEAN HERMITAGE _facing_ 78 - -A MOUNTAINEER OF THE PYRENEES _facing_ 84 - -GITANOS FROM SPAIN 91 - -ROUSSILLON (Map) 95 - -CATALANS OF ROUSSILLON _facing_ 98 - -THE WOMEN OF ROUSSILLON _facing_ 100 - -ARMS OF PERPIGNAN 110 - -PORTE NOTRE DAME AND THE CASTILLET, PERPIGNAN _facing_ 112 - -CHATEAU ROUSSILLON _facing_ 118 - -COLLIOURE _facing_ 124 - -CHATEAU D'ULTRERA _facing_ 126 - -THE PILGRIMAGE TO ST. MARTIN _facing_ 132 - -VILLEFRANCHE _facing_ 142 - -ARMS OF ANDORRA 147 - -CHATEAU DE PUYLAURENS _facing_ 154 - -AXAT _facing_ 158 - -PLAN OF CARCASSONNE (Diagram) 164 - -THE WALLS OF CARCASSONNE _facing_ 166 - -GROUND PLAN OF THE CHATEAU DE FOIX (Diagram) 190 - -CHATEAU DE FOIX _facing_ 190 - -KEY OF THE VAULTING, CHATEAU DE FOIX, SHOWING - THE ARMS OF THE COMTES DE FOIX 191 - -TARASCON-SUR-ARIEGE _facing_ 202 - -CHATEAU DE LOURDAT _facing_ 210 - -ST. LIZIER _facing_ 216 - -TRAINED BEARS OF THE VALLEE D'USTOU _facing_ 218 - -ST. BERTRAND DE COMMINGES _facing_ 224 - -PAU AND THE SURROUNDING COUNTRY (Map) 258 - -ARMS OF THE CITY OF PAU 259 - -CHATEAU DE PAU _facing_ 268 - -ESPADRILLE-MAKERS _facing_ 288 - -A SHEPHERD OF BIGORRE _facing_ 302 - -CHATEAU DE COARRAZE _facing_ 308 - -CHATEAU DE LOURDES _facing_ 314 - -CAUTERETS _facing_ 318 - -THE PONT D'ORTHEZ _facing_ 338 - -THE WALLS OF NAVARREUX _facing_ 346 - -BEARN AND NAVARRE (Map) 354 - -KINGS OF BASSE-NAVARRE AND KINGS OF FRANCE - AND NAVARRE (Diagram) 360 - -THE ARMS OF NAVARRE 362 - -ARMS OF HENRI IV OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE _facing_ 368 - -THE BASQUE COUNTRY (Map) 372 - -THE GAME OF _PELOTA_ _facing_ 378 - -"LE CHEVALET" _facing_ 390 - -THE QUAINT STREETS OF SAINT-JEAN-PIED-DE-PORT _facing_ 394 - -ARMS OF BAYONNE 413 - -A GATEWAY OF BAYONNE _facing_ 414 - -BIARRITZ AND THE SURROUNDING COUNTRY (Map) 422 - -BIARRITZ _facing_ 424 - -ST.-JEAN-DE-LUZ _facing_ 430 - -ILE DE FAISANS (Map) 437 - -THE FRONTIER AT HENDAYE (Map) 441 - -MAISON PIERRE LOTI, HENDAYE _facing_ 442 - -IN OLD FEUNTARRABIA _facing_ 446 - -[Illustration: The PYRENEAN PROVINCES] - - - - -Castles and Chateaux -of Old Navarre -and the Basque Provinces - - - - -CHAPTER I - -A GENERAL SURVEY - - -This book is no record of exploitation or discovery; it is simply a -review of many things seen and heard anent that marvellous and -comparatively little known region vaguely described as "the Pyrenees," -of which the old French provinces (and before them the independent -kingdoms, countships and dukedoms) of Bearn, Navarre, Foix and -Roussillon are the chief and most familiar. - -The region has been known as a touring ground for long years, and -mountain climbers who have tired of the monotony of the Alps have found -much here to quicken their jaded appetites. Besides this, there is a -wealth of historic fact and a quaintness of men and manners throughout -all this wonderful country of infinite variety, which has been little -worked, as yet, by any but the guide-book makers, who deal with only the -dryest of details and with little approach to completeness. - -The monuments of the region, the historic and ecclesiastical shrines, -are numerous enough to warrant a very extended review, but they have -only been hinted at once and again by travellers who have usually made -the round of the resorts like Biarritz, Pau, Luchon and Lourdes their -chief reason for coming here at all. - -Delightful as are these places, and a half a dozen others whose names -are less familiar, the little known townlets with their historic -sites--such as Mazeres, with its Chateau de Henri Quatre, Navarreux, -Mauleon, Morlaas, Nay, and Bruges (peopled originally by -_Flamands_)--make up an itinerary quite as important as one composed of -the names of places writ large in the guide-books and in black type on -the railway-maps. - -The region of the Pyrenees is most accessible, granted it is off the -regular beaten travel track. The tide of Mediterranean travel is -breaking hard upon its shores to-day; but few who are washed ashore by -it go inland from Barcelona and Perpignan, and so on to the old-time -little kingdoms of the Pyrenees. Fewer still among those who go to -southern France, via Marseilles, ever think of turning westward instead -of eastward--the attraction of Monte Carlo and its satellite resorts is -too great. The same is true of those about to "do" the Spanish tour, -which usually means Holy Week at Seville, a day in the Prado and another -at the Alhambra and Grenada, Toledo of course, and back again north to -Paris, or to take ship at Gibraltar. En route they may have stopped at -Biarritz, in France, or San Sebastian, in Spain, because it is the vogue -just at present, but that is all. - -It was thus that we had known "the Pyrenees." We knew Pau and its -ancestral chateau of Henri Quatre; had had a look at Biarritz; had been -to Lourdes, Luchon and Tarbes and even to Cauterets and Bigorre, and to -Foix, Carcassonne and Toulouse, but those were reminiscences of days of -railway travel. Since that time the automobile has come to make travel -in out-of-the-way places easy, and instead of having to bargain for a -sorry hack to take us through the Gorges de Pierre Lys, or from -Perpignan to Prats-de-Mollo we found an even greater pleasure in finding -our own way and setting our own pace. - -This is the way to best know a country not one's own, and whether we -were contemplating the spot where Charlemagne and his followers met -defeat at the hands of the Mountaineers, or stood where the Romans -erected their great _trophee_, high above Bellegarde, we were sure that -we were always on the trail we would follow, and were not being driven -hither and thither by a _cocher_ who classed all strangers as "mere -tourists," and pointed out a cavern with gigantic stalagmites or a -profile rock as being the "chief sights" of his neighbourhood, when near -by may have been a famous battle-ground or the chateau where was born -the gallant Gaston Phoebus. Really, tourists, using the word in its -over-worked sense, are themselves responsible for much that is banal in -the way of sights; they won't follow out their own predilections, but -walk blindly in the trail of others whose tastes may not be their own. - -Travel by road, by diligence or omnibus, is more frequent all through -the French departments bordering on the Pyrenees than in any other part -of France, save perhaps in Dauphine and Savoie, and the linking up of -various loose ends of railway by such a means is one of the delights of -travel in these parts--if you don't happen to have an automobile handy. - -Beyond a mere appreciation of mediaeval architectural delights of -_chateaux_, _manoirs_, and _gentilhommieres_ of the region, this book -includes some comments on the manner of living in those far-away times -when chivalry flourished on this classically romantic ground. It treats, -too, somewhat of men and manners of to-day, for here in this southwest -corner of France much of modern life is but a reminiscence of that which -has gone before. - -Many of the great spas of to-day, such as the Bagneres de Bigorre, -Salies de Bearn, Cauterets, Eaux-Bonnes, or Amelie les Bains, have a -historic past, as well as a present vogue. They were known in some cases -to the Romans, and were often frequented by the royalties of the -fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and therein is another link which -binds the present with the past. - -One feature of the region resulting from the alliance of the life of the -princes, counts and seigneurs of the romantic past, with that of the -monks and prelates of those times is the religious architecture. - -Since the overlord or seigneur of a small district was often an amply -endowed archbishop or bishop, or the lands round about belonged by -ancient right to some community of monkish brethren, it is but natural -that mention of some of their more notable works and institutions should -have found a place herein. Where such inclusion is made, it is always -with the consideration of the part played in the stirring affairs of -mediaeval times by some fat monk or courtly prelate, who was, if not a -compeer, at least a companion of the lay lords and seigneurs. - -Not all the fascinating figures of history have been princes and counts; -sometimes they were cardinal-archbishops, and when they were wealthy and -powerful seigneurs as well they became at once principal characters on -the stage. Often they have been as romantic and chivalrous (and as -intriguing and as greedy) as the most dashing hero who ever wore cloak -and doublet. - -Still another species of historical characters and monuments is found -plentifully besprinkled through the pages of the chronicles of the -Pyrenean kingdoms and provinces, and that is the class which includes -warriors and their fortresses. - -A castle may well be legitimately considered as a fortress, and a -chateau as a country house; the two are quite distinct one from the -other, though often their functions have been combined. - -Throughout the Pyrenees are many little walled towns, fortifications, -watch-towers and what not, architecturally as splendid, and as great, as -the most glorious domestic establishment of Renaissance days. The _cite_ -of Carcassonne, more especially, is one of these. Carcassonne's chateau -is as naught considered without the ramparts of the mediaeval _cite_, but -together, what a splendid historical souvenir they form! The most -splendid, indeed, that still exists in Europe, or perhaps that ever did -exist. - -Prats-de-Mollo and its walls, its tower, and the defending Fort -Bellegarde; Saint Bertrand de Comminges and its walls; or even the -quaintly picturesque defences of Vauban at Bayonne, where one enters the -city to-day through various gateway breaches in the walls, are all as -reminiscent of the vivid life of the history-making past, as is Henri -Quatre's tortoise-shell cradle at Pau, or Gaston de Foix' ancestral -chateau at Mazeres. - -Mostly it is the old order of things with which one comes into contact -here, but the blend of the new and old is sometimes astonishing. Luchon -and Pau and Tarbes and Lourdes, and many other places for that matter, -have over-progressed. This has been remarked before now; the writer is -not alone in his opinion. - -The equal of the charm of the Pyrenean country, its historic sites, its -quaint peoples, and its scenic splendours does not exist in all France. -It is a blend of French and Spanish manners and blood, lending a -colour-scheme to life that is most enjoyable to the seeker after new -delights. - -Before the Revolution, France was divided into fifty-two provinces, made -up wholly from the petty states of feudal times. Of the southern -provinces, seven in all, this book deals in part with Gascogne (capital -Auch), the Comte de Foix (capital Foix), Roussillon (capital Perpignan), -Haute-Languedoc (capital Toulouse), and Bas-Languedoc (capital -Montpellier). Of the southwest provinces, a part of Guyenne (capital -Bordeaux) is included, also Navarre (capital Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port) -and Bearn (capital Pau). - -Besides these general divisions, there were many minor _petits pays_ -compressed within the greater, such as Armagnac, Comminges, the -Condanois, the Pays-Entre-Deux-Mers, the Landes, etc. These, too, -naturally come within the scope of this book. - -Finally, in the new order of things, the ancient provinces lost their -nomenclature after the Revolution, and the Departement of the Landes -(and three others) was carved out of Guyenne; the Departement of the -Basses-Pyrenees absorbed Navarre, Bearn and the Basque provinces; -Bigorre became the Hautes-Pyrenees; Foix became Ariege; Roussillon -became the Pyrenees-Orientales, and Haute-Languedoc and Bas-Languedoc -gave Herault, Gard, Haute-Garonne and the Aude. For the most part all -come within the scope of these pages, and together these modern -departements form an unbreakable historical and topographical frontier -link from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean. - -This bird's-eye view of the Pyrenean provinces, then, is a sort of -picturesque, informal report of things seen and facts garnered through -more or less familiarity with the region, its history, its institutions -and its people. Chateaux and other historical monuments, agriculture and -landscape, market-places and peasant life, all find a place here, -inasmuch as all relate to one another, and all blend into that very -nearly perfect whole which makes France so delightful to the traveller. - -Everywhere in this delightful region, whether on the mountain side or in -the plains, the very atmosphere is charged with an extreme of life and -colour, and both the physiognomy of landscape and the physiognomy of -humanity is unfailing in its appeal to one's interest. - -Here there are no guide-book phrases in the speech of the people, no -struggling lines of "conducted" tourists with a polyglot conductor, and -no futile labelling of doubtful historic monuments; there are enough of -undoubted authenticity without this. - -Thoroughly tired and wearied of the progress and super-civilization of -the cities and towns of the well-worn roads, it becomes a real pleasure -to seek out the by-paths of the old French provinces, and their historic -and romantic associations, in their very crudities and fragments every -whit as interesting as the better known stamping-grounds of the -conventional tourist. - -The folk of the Pyrenees, in their faces and figures, in their speech -and customs, are as varied as their histories. They are a bright, gay, -careless folk, with ever a care and a kind word for the stranger, -whether they are Catalan, Basque or Bearnais. - -Since the economic aspects of a country have somewhat to do with its -history it is important to recognize that throughout the Pyrenees the -grazing and wine-growing industries predominate among agricultural -pursuits. - -There is a very considerable raising of sheep and of horses and mules, -and somewhat of beef, and there is some growing of grain, but in the -main--outside of the sheep-grazing of the higher valleys--it is the -wine-growing industry that gives the distinctive note of activity and -prosperity to the lower slopes and plains. - -For the above mentioned reason it is perhaps well to recount here just -what the wine industry and the wine-drinking of France amounts to. - -One may have a preference for Burgundy or Bordeaux, Champagne or Saumur, -or even plain, plebeian beer, but it is a pity that the great mass of -wine-drinkers, outside of Continental Europe, do not make their -distinctions with more knowledge of wines when they say this or that is -the _best_ one, instead of making their estimate by the prices on the -wine-card. Anglo-Saxons (English and Americans) are for the most part -not connoisseurs in wine, because they don't know the fundamental facts -about wine-growing. - -For red wines the Bordeaux--less full-bodied and heavy--are very near -rivals of the best Burgundies, and have more bouquet and more flavour. -The Medocs are the best among Bordeaux wines. Chateau-Lafitte and -Chateau-Latour are very rare in commerce and very high in price when -found. They come from the commune of Pauillac. Chateau Margaux, St. -Estephe and St. Julien follow in the order named and are the leaders -among the red wines of Bordeaux--when you get the real thing, which you -don't at bargain store prices. - -The white wines of Bordeaux, the Graves, come from a rocky soil; the -Sauternes, with the vintage of Chateau d'Yquem, lead the list, with -Barsac, Entre-Deux-Mers and St. Emilion following. There are innumerable -second-class Bordeaux wines, but they need not be enumerated, for if -one wants a name merely there are plenty of wine merchants who will sell -him any of the foregoing beautifully bottled and labelled as the "real -thing." - -Down towards the Pyrenees the wines change notably in colour, price and -quality, and they are good wines too. Those of Bergerac and Quercy are -rich, red wines sold mostly in the markets of Cahors; and the wines of -Toulouse, grown on the sunny hill-slopes between Toulouse and the -frontier, are thick, alcoholic wines frequently blended with real -Bordeaux--to give body, not flavour. - -The wines of Armagnac are mostly turned into _eau de vie_, and just as -good _eau de vie_ as that of Cognac, though without its flavour, and -without its advertising, which is the chief reason why the two or three -principal brands of cognac are called for at the wine-dealers. - -At Chalosse, in the Landes, between Bayonne and Bordeaux, are also grown -wines made mostly into _eau de vie_. - -Bearn produces a light coloured wine, a specialty of the country, and an -acquired taste like olives and Gorgonzola cheese. From Bearn, also, -comes the famous _cru de Jurancon_, celebrated since the days of Henri -Quatre, a simple, full-bodied, delicious-tasting, red wine. - -Thirteen departements of modern France comprise largely the wine-growing -region of the basin of the Garonne, included in the territory covered by -this book. This region gives a wine crop of thirteen and a half millions -of hectolitres a year. In thirty years the production has augmented by -sixty per cent., and still dealers very often sell a fabricated -imitation of the genuine thing. Wine drinking is increasing as well as -alcoholism, regardless of what the doctors try to prove. - -The wines of the Midi of France in general are famous, and have been for -generations, to _bons vivants_. The soil, the climate and pretty much -everything else is favourable to the vine, from the Spanish frontier in -the Pyrenees to that of Italy in the Alpes-Maritimes. The wines of the -Midi are of three sorts, each quite distinct from the others; the -ordinary table wines, the cordials, and the wines for distilling, or for -blending. Within the topographical confines of this book one -distinguishes all three of these groups, those of Roussillon, those of -Languedoc, and those of Armagnac. - -The rocky soil of Roussillon, alone, for example (neighbouring -Collioure, Banyuls and Rivesaltes), gives each of the three, and the -heavy wines of the same region, for blending (most frequently with -Bordeaux), are greatly in demand among expert wine-factors all over -France. In the Departement de l'Aude, the wines of Lezignan and Ginestas -are attached to this last group. The traffic in these wines is -concentrated at Carcassonne and Narbonne. At Limoux there is a specialty -known as Blanquette de Limoux--a wine greatly esteemed, and almost as -good an imitation of champagne as is that of Saumur. - -In Languedoc, in the Departement of Herault, and Gard, twelve millions -of hectolitres are produced yearly of a heavy-bodied red wine, also -largely used for fortifying other wines and used, naturally, in the -neighbourhood, pure or mixed with water. This thinning out with water is -almost necessary; the drinker who formerly got outside of three bottles -of port before crawling under the table, would go to pieces long before -he had consumed the same quantity of local wine unmixed with water at a -Montpellier or Beziers table d'hote. - -At Cette, at Frontignan, and at Lunel are fabricated many "foreign" -wines, including the Malagas, the Maderes and the Xeres of commerce. -Above all the _Muscat de Frontignan_ is revered among its competitors, -and it's not a "foreign" wine either, but the juice of dried grapes or -raisins,--grape juice if you like,--a sweet, mild dessert wine, very, -very popular with the ladies. - -There is a considerable crop of table raisins in the Midi, particularly -at Montauban and in maritime Provence which, if not rivalling those of -Malaga in looks, have certainly a more delicate flavour. - -Along with the wines of the Midi may well be coupled the olives. For oil -those of the Bouches-du-Rhone are the best. They bring the highest -prices in the foreign market, but along the easterly slopes of the -Pyrenees, in Roussillon, in the Aude, and in Herault and Gard they run a -close second. The olives of France are not the fat, plump, "queen" -olives, sold usually in little glass jars, but a much smaller, greener, -less meaty variety, but richer in oil and nutriment. - -The olive trees grow in long ranks and files, amid the vines or even -cereals, very much trimmed (in goblet shape, so that the ripening sun -may reach the inner branches) and are of small size. Their pale green, -shimmering foliage holds the year round, but demands a warm sunny -climate. The olive trees of the Midi of France--as far west as the -Comte de Foix in the Pyrenees, and as far north as Montelimar on the -Rhone--are quite the most frequently noted characteristic of the -landscape. The olive will not grow, however, above an altitude of four -hundred metres. - -The foregoing pages outline in brief the chief characteristics of the -present day aspect of the old Pyrenean French provinces of which Bearn -and Basse-Navarre, with the Comte de Foix were the heart and soul. - -The topographical aspect of the Pyrenees, their history, and as full a -description of their inhabitants as need be given will be found in a -section dedicated thereto. - -For the rest, the romantic stories of kings and counts, and of lords and -ladies, and their feudal fortresses and Renaissance chateaux, with a -mention of such structures of interest as naturally come within nearby -vision will be found duly recorded further on. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -FEUDAL FRANCE--ITS PEOPLE AND ITS CHATEAUX - - -It was not the Revolution alone that brought about a division of landed -property in France. The Crusades, particularly that of Saint Bernard, -accomplished the same thing, though perhaps to a lesser extent. The -seigneurs were impoverished already by excesses of all kinds, and they -sold parts of their lands to any who would buy, and on almost any terms. -Sometimes it was to a neighbouring, less powerful, seigneur; sometimes -to a rich bourgeois--literally a town-dweller, not simply one vulgarly -rich--or even to an ecclesiastic; and sometimes to that vague entity -known as "_le peuple_." The peasant proprietor was a factor in land -control before the Revolution; the mere recollection of the fact that -Louis-le-Hutin enfranchised the serfs demonstrates this. - -The serfdom of the middle ages, in some respects, did not differ from -ancient slavery, and in the most stringent of feudal times there were -numerous serfs, servants and labourers attached to the seigneur's -service. These he sold, gave away, exchanged, or bequeathed, and in -these sales, children were often separated from their parents. The -principal cause of enfranchisement was the necessity for help which -sprang from the increase in the value of land. A sort of chivalric -swindle under the name of "the right of taking" was carried on among the -lords, who endeavoured to get men away from one another and thus flight -became the great resort of the dissatisfied peasant. - -In order to get those belonging to others, and to keep his own, the -proprietor, when enfranchising the serfs, benevolently gave them land. -Thus grew up the peasant landowner, the seigneur keeping only more or -less limited rights, but those onerous enough when he chose to put on -the screw. - -In this way much of the land belonging to the nobles and clergy became -the patrimony of the plebeians, and remained so, for they were at first -forbidden to sell their lands to noblemen or clergy. Then came other -kinds of intermediary leases, something between the distribution of the -land under the feudal system and its temporary occupancy of to-day -through the payment of rent. Such were the "domains" in Brittany, Anjou -and elsewhere, held under the emphyteusis (long lease), which was really -the right of sale, where the land, let out for an indefinite time and at -a fixed rent, could be taken back by the landlord only on certain -expensive terms. This was practically the death knell of feudal land -tenure. Afterward came leases of fifty years, for life, or for "three -lifetimes," by which time the rights of the original noble owners had -practically expired. - -Finally, all landowners found these systems disadvantageous. The -landlord's share in the product of the soil (as a form of rent) -continually increased, while the condition of the farmer grew worse and -worse. - -Since the Revolution, the modern method of cultivation of land on a -large scale constitutes an advance over anything previously conceived, -just as the distribution of the land under the feudal regime constituted -an advance over the system in vogue in earlier times. - -Times have changed in France since the days when the education of the -masses was unthought of. Then the cure or a monkish brother would get a -few children together at indeterminate periods and teach them the -catechism, a paternoster or a credo, and that was about all. Writing, -arithmetic--much less the teaching of grammar--were deemed entirely -unnecessary to the growing youth. Then (and the writer has seen the same -thing during his last dozen years of French travel) it was a common -sight to see the sign "Ecrivain Publique" hanging over, or beside, many -a doorway in a large town. - -The Renaissance overflow from Italy left a great impress on the art and -literature of France, and all its bright array of independent -principalities. The troubadours and minstrels of still earlier days had -given way to the efforts and industry of royalty itself. Francois -Premier, and, for aught we know, all his followers, penned verses, -painted pictures, and patronized authors and artists, until the very -soil itself breathed an art atmosphere. - -Marguerite de Valois (1492-1549), the sister of Francois Premier, was -called the tenth muse even before she became Queen of Navarre, and when -she produced her Boccoccio-like stories, afterwards known as the -"Heptameron of the Queen of Navarre," enthusiasm for letters among the -noblesse knew no bounds. - -The spirit of romance which went out from the soft southland was tinged -with a certain license and liberty which was wanting in the "Romaunt of -the Rose" of Guillaume de Lorris, and like works, but it served to -strike a passionate fire in the hearts of men which at least was bred of -a noble sentiment. - -What the Renaissance actually did for a French national architecture is -a matter of doubt. But for its coming, France might have achieved a -national scheme of building as an outgrowth of the Greek, Roman, and -Saracen structures which had already been planted between the Alps and -the Pyrenees. The Gothic architecture of France comes nearer to being a -national achievement than any other, but its application in its first -form to a great extent was to ecclesiastical building. In domestic and -civil architecture, and in walls and ramparts, there exists very good -Gothic indeed in France, but of a heavier, less flowery style than that -of its highest development in churchly edifices. - -The Romanesque, and even the pointed-arch architecture (which, be it -remembered, need not necessarily be Gothic) of southern and mid-France, -with the Moorish and Saracenic interpolations found in the Pyrenees, was -the typical civic, military and domestic manner of building before the -era of the imitation of the debased Lombardic which came in the days of -Charles VIII and Francois Premier. This variety spread swiftly all over -France--and down the Rhine, and into England for that matter--and -crowded out the sloping roof, the dainty colonnette and ribbed vaulting -in favour of a heavier, but still ornate, barrel-vaulted and pillared, -low-set edifice with most of the faults of the earlier Romanesque, and -none of its excellences. - -The parts that architects and architecture played in the development of -France were tremendous. Voltaire first promulgated this view, and his -aphorisms are many; "My fancy is to be an architect." "Mansard was one -of the greatest architects known to France." "Architects were the ruin -of Louis XIV." "The Cathedral builders were sublime barbarians." -Montesquieu was more sentimental when he said: "Love is an architect who -builds palaces on ruins if he pleases." - -The greatest architectural expression of a people has ever been in its -Christian monuments, but references to the cathedrals, churches and -chapels of the Pyrenean states have for the most part been regretfully -omitted from these pages, giving place to fortresses, chateaux, great -bridges, towers, donjons, and such public monuments as have a special -purport in keeping with the preconceived limits of a volume which deals -largely with the romance of feudal times. - -Generally speaking, the architectural monuments of these parts are -little known by the mass of travellers, except perhaps Henri Quatre's -ancestral chateau at Pau, the famous walls of Carcassonne, and perhaps -Bayonne's bridges or the Eglise St. Saturnin and the bizarre cathedral -of St. Etienne at Toulouse. All of these are excellent of their kind; -indeed perhaps they are superlative in their class; but when one -mentions Perpignan's Castillet, the Chateau de Puylaurens, the arcaded -Gothic houses of Agde, Beziers' fortress-cathedral, the fortress-church -of St. Bertrand de Comminges or a score of other tributary monumental -relics, something hitherto unthought of is generally disclosed. - -Almost the whole range of architectural display is seen here between the -Mediterranean and the Gulf of Gascony, and any rambling itinerary laid -out between the two seas will discover as many structural and decorative -novelties as will be found in any similar length of roadway in France. - -[Illustration: _Watch-tower in the Val d'Andorre_] - -Leaving the purely ecclesiastical edifices--cathedrals and great -churches--out of the question, the entire Midi of France, and the French -slopes and valleys of the Pyrenees in particular, abounds in -architectural curiosities which are marvels to the student and lover of -art. - -There are _chateaux_, _chastels_ and _chastillons_, one differing from -another by subtle distinctions which only the expert can note. Then -there are such feudal accessories as watch-towers, donjons and -_clochers_, and great fortifying walls and gates and barbicans, and even -entire fortified towns like Carcassonne and La Bastide. Surely the -feudality, or rather its relics, cannot be better studied than -here,--"where the people held the longest aloof from the Crown." - -The watch-towers which flank many of the valleys of the Pyrenees are a -great curiosity and quandary to archaeologists and historians. Formerly -they flashed the news of wars or invasions from one outpost to another, -much as does wireless telegraphy of to-day. Of these watch-towers, or -_tours telegraphiques_, as the modern French historians call them, that -of Castel-Biel, near Luchon, is the most famous. It rises on the peak of -a tiny mountain in the valley of the Pique and is a square structure of -perhaps a dozen or fifteen feet on each side. Sixteen feet or so from -the ground, on the northwest facade, is an opening leading to the first -floor. This tower is typical of its class, and is the most accessible to -the hurried traveller. - -The feudal history of France is most interesting to recall in this late -day when every man is for himself. Not all was oppression by any means, -and the peasant landowner--as distinct from the _vilain_ and _serf_--was -a real person, and not a supposition, even before the Revolution; though -Thomas Carlyle on his furzy Scotch moor didn't know it. - -Feudal France consisted of seventy thousand fiefs or rere-fiefs, of -which three thousand gave their names to their seigneurs. All seigneurs -who possessed three _chatellenies_ and a walled hamlet (_ville close_) -had the right of administering justice without reference to a higher -court. There were something more than seven thousand of these _villes -closes_, within which, or on the lands belonging to the seigneurs -thereof, were one million eight hundred and seventy-two thousand -monuments,--churches, monasteries, abbeys, chateaux, castles, and royal -or episcopal palaces. It was thus that religious, civic and military -architecture grew side by side and, when new styles and modifications -came in, certain interpolations were forthwith incorporated in the more -ancient fabrics, giving that melange of picturesque walls and roofs -which makes France the best of all lands in which to study the -architecture of mediaevalism. Among these mediaeval relics were -interspersed others more ancient,--Roman and Greek basilicas, temples, -baths, arenas, amphitheatres and aqueducts in great profusion, whose -remains to-day are considerably more than mere fragments. - -The hereditary aristocracy of France, the rulers and the noblesse of the -smaller kingdoms, dukedoms and countships, were great builders, as -befitted their state, and, being mostly great travellers and persons of -wealth, they really surrounded themselves with many exotic forms of -luxury which a more isolated or exclusive race would never have -acquired. There is no possible doubt whatever but that it is the very -mixture of styles and types that make the architecture of France so -profoundly interesting even though one decries the fact that it is not -_national_. - -One well recognized fact concerning France can hardly fail to be -reiterated by any who write of the manners and customs and the arts of -mediaeval times, and that is that the figures of population of those days -bear quite similar resemblances to those of to-day. Historians of a -hundred years back, even, estimated the total population of France in -the fifteenth century as being very nearly the same as at the -Revolution,--perhaps thirty millions. To-day eight or perhaps ten -millions more may be counted, but the increase is invariably in the -great cities, Paris, Lyons, Marseilles, Bordeaux, Rouen, etc. Oloron and -Orthez in Bearn, Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port in Navarre, or Agde or Elne in -Roussillon, remain at the same figure at which they have stood for -centuries, unless, as is more often the case, they have actually fallen -off in numbers. And still France is abnormally prosperous, collectively -and individually, so far as old-world nations go. - -Originally the nobility in France was of four degrees: the _noblesse_ of -the blood royal, the _haute-noblesse_, the _noblesse ordinaire_ and the -_noblesse_ who were made noble by patent of the ruling prince. All of -these distinctions were hereditary, save, in some instances, the -_noblesse ordinaire_. - -In the height of feudal glory there were accredited over four thousand -families belonging to the _ancienne noblesse_, and ninety thousand -_familles nobles_ (descendant branches of the above houses) who could -furnish a hundred thousand knightly combatants for any "little war" that -might be promulgated. - -Sometimes the family name was noble and could be handed down, and -sometimes not. Sometimes, too, inheritance was through the mother, not -the father; this was known as the _noblesse du ventre_. A foreign noble -naturalized in France remained noble, and retained his highest title of -right. - -The French nobles most often took their titles from their fiefs, and -these, with the exception of baronies and _marquisats_, were usually of -Roman origin. The chief titles below the _noblesse du sang royal_ were -_ducs_, _barons_, _marquis_, _comtes_, _vicomtes_, _vidames_, and -_chevaliers_ and each had their special armorial distinctions, some -exceedingly simple, and some so elaborate with quarterings and -blazonings as to be indefinable by any but a heraldic expert. - -The coats of arms of feudal France, or _armoiries_, as the French call -them (a much better form of expression by the way), are a most -interesting subject of study. Some of these _armoiries_ are really -beautiful, some quaint and some enigmatic, as for instance those of the -King of Navarre. - -The Revolutionary Assembly abolished such things in France, but Napoleon -restored them all again, and created a new noblesse as well: - - "Aussitot maint esprit fecond en reveries, - Inventa le blason avec les armoiries." - -sang the poet Boileau. - -Primarily _armoiries_ were royal bequests, but in these days a -pork-packer, an iron-founder or a cheese-maker concocts a trade-mark on -heraldic lines and the thing has fallen flat. Fancy a pig sitting on a -barrel top and flanked by two ears of corn, or a pyramid of cheeses -overtopped by the motto "A full stomach maketh good health." Why it's -almost as ridiculous as a crossed pick-axe, a shovel and a crow-bar -would be for a navvy on a railway line! In the old days it was not often -thus, though a similar ridiculous thing, which no one seemed to take the -trouble to suppress, was found in the "_Armoiries des gueux_." One of -these showed two twists of tobacco _en croix_, with the following motto: -"_Dieu vous benisse_!" - -At the head of the list of French _armoiries_ were those of _domain_ or -_souverainete_. - -Then followed several other distinct classes. "_Armoiries de -Pretention_," where the patronal rights over a city or a province were -given the holders, even though the province was under the chief -domination of a more powerful noble. - -"_Armoiries de Concession_," given for services by a sovereign -prince--such as the _armoiries_ belonging to Jeanne d'Arc. - -"_Armoiries de Patronage_," in reality quarterings added to an -_armoirie_ already existing. These were frequently additions to the -blazonings of families or cities. Paris took on the arms of the King of -France, the insistent Louis, by this right. - -"_Armoiries de Dignite_," showing the distinction or dignities with -which a person was endowed, and which were added to existing family -arms. - -"_Armoiries de Famille_," as their name indicates, distinguishing one -noble family from another. This class was further divided into three -others, "_Substituees_," "_Succession_," or "_Alliance_," terms which -explain themselves. - -"_Armoiries de Communaute_," distinctions given to noble chapters of -military bodies, corporations, societies and the like. - -Finally there was a class which belonged to warriors alone. - -At all times illustrious soldiers adopted a _devise_, or symbol, which -they caused to be painted on their shields. These were only considered -as _armoiries_ when they were inherited by one who had followed in the -footsteps of his ancestors. This usage dates from the end of the ninth -century, and it is from this period that _armoiries_, properly called, -came into being. - -[Illustration: Feudal Flags and Banners] - -The banners of the feudal sovereigns were, many of them, very splendid -affairs, often bearing all their arms and quarterings. They were borne -wherever their owners went,--in war, to the capital, and at their -country houses. At all ceremonious functions the banners were ever near -the persons of their sovereigns as a sign of suzerainty. The owner of a -banner would often have it cut out of metal and placed on the gables of -his house as a weather-vane, a custom which, in its adapted form, has -endured through the ages to this day. In tournaments, the nobles had -their banners attached to their lances, and made therewith always the -sign of the cross before commencing their passes. Also their banners or -_banderoles_ were hung from the trumpets of the heralds of their house. - -Another variety of feudal standard, differing from either the _banniere_ -or the _pennon_, was the _gonfanon_. This was borne only by -_bacheliers_, vassals of an overlord. - - "_N'i a riche hom ni baron_ - _Qui n'ait les lui son gonfanon._" - -The feudal banner, the house flag of the feudal seigneurs, and borne by -them in battle, was less splendid than the _banniere royale_, which was -hung from a window balcony to mark a kingly lodging-place. It was in -fact only a small square of stuff hanging from a transversal baton. This -distinguished, in France, a certain grade of knights known as -_chevaliers-bannerets_. These chevaliers had the privilege of exercising -certain rights that other knights did not possess. - -To be created _chevalier-banneret_ one had to be twenty-one years of -age. If a chevalier was already a _bachelier_, a grade inferior to that -of a _banneret_, to become a full blown _chevalier_ he had only to cut -the points from his standard--a _pennon_--when it and he became a -_banneret_; that is to say, he had the right to carry a banner, or to -possess a _fief de banniere_. - -There were three classes of fiefs in feudal France. First; the _fief de -banniere_, which could furnish twenty-five combatants under a banner or -flag of their own. Second; the _fief de haubert_, which could furnish a -well-mounted horseman fully armed, accompanied by two or three _varlets_ -or _valets_. Third; the _fief de simple ecuyer_, whose sole offering was -a single vassal, lightly armed. - -There was, too, a class of nobles without estates. They were known as -seigneurs of a _fief en l'air_, or a _fief volant_, much like many -courtesy titles so freely handed around to-day in some monarchies. - -A vassal was a dweller in a fief under the control of the seigneur. The -word comes from the ancient Frankish _gessell_. - -The chevaliers, not the highest of noble ranks, but a fine title of -distinction nevertheless, bore one of four prefixes, _don_, _sire_, -_messire_, or _monseigneur_. They could eat at the same table with the -monarch, and they alone had the right to bear a banner-lance in warfare, -or wear a double coat of mail. - -In 1481, Louis XI began to abolish the bow and the lance in France, in -so far as they applied to effective warfare. The first fire-arms had -already appeared a century before, and though the _coulevrines_ and -_canons a main_ were hardly efficient weapons, when compared with those -of to-day, they were far more effective than the bow and arrow at a -distance, or the javelin, the pike and the lance near at hand. Then -developed the _arquebuse_, literally a hand-cannon, clumsy and none too -sure of aim, but a fearful death-dealer if it happened to hit. - -The feudal lords, the seigneurs and other nobles, had the right of -levying taxes upon their followers. These taxes, or _impots_, took -varying forms; such as the obligation to grind their corn at the mills -of the seigneur, paying a heavy proportion of the product therefor; to -press their grapes at his wine-press, and bake their bread in his ovens. -At Montauban, in the Garonne, one of these old seigneurial flour mills -may still be seen. The seigneurs were not ostensibly "in trade," but -their control of the little affairs of the butcher, the baker, and the -candlestick-maker virtually made them so. - -More definite taxes--demanded in cash when the peasants could pay, -otherwise in kind--were the seigneurial taxes on fires; on the right of -trade (the sale of wine, bread or meat); the _vingtaine_, whereby the -peasant gave up a twentieth of his produce to the seigneur; and such -oddities as a tax on the first kiss of the newly married; bardage, a -sort of turnpike road duty for the privilege of singing certain songs; -and on all manner of foolish fancies. - -After the taxation by the seigneurs there came that by the clerics, who -claimed their "ecclesiastical tenth," a tax which was levied in France -just previous to the Revolution with more severity, even, than in Italy. - -Finally the people rose, and the French peasants delivered themselves -all over the land to a riot of evil, as much an unlicensed tyranny as -was the oppression of their feudal lords. One may thus realize the means -which planted feudal France with great fortresses, chateaux and country -houses, and the motives which caused their destruction to so large an -extent. - -It was the tyranny of the master and the cruelty of the servant that -finally culminated in the Revolution. Not only the petty seigneurs had -been the oppressors, but the Crown, represented by the figurehead of the -Bourbon king in his capital, put the pressure on the peasant folk still -harder by releasing it on the nobles. The tax on the people, that great, -vague, non-moving mass of the population, has ever produced the greatest -revenue in France, as, presumably, it has elsewhere. In the days before -the Revolution it was _le peuple_ who paid, and it was the people who -paid the enormous Franco-German war indemnity in 1871. - -The feudality in France, in its oppressive sense, died long years before -the Revolution, but the aristocracy still lives in spite of the efforts -of the Assembly to crush it--the Assembly and the mob who sang: - - _"Ah! ca ira, ca ira, ca ira,_ - _Les aristocrates a la lanterne!_ - _Ah! ca ira, ca ira, ca ira,_ - _Les aristocrates on les pendra!"_ - -And the French noblesse of to-day, the proud old French aristocracy, is -not, on the whole, as bad as it has frequently been painted. They may, -in the majority, be royalists, may be even Bonapartists, or Orleanists, -instead of republicans, but surely there's no harm in that in these days -when certain political parties look upon socialists as anarchists and -free-traders as communists. - -The honour, power and profit derived by the noblesse in France all -stopped with the Revolution. The National Assembly, however, refused to -abolish titles. To do that body justice they saw full well that they -could not take away that which did not exist as a tangible entity, and -it is to their credit that they did not establish the new order of -Knights of the Plough as they were petitioned to do. This would have -been as fatal a step as can possibly be conceived, though for that -matter a plough might just as well be a symbol of knighthood as a -thistle, a _jaratelle_, a gold stick or a black rod. - -In France a whole _seigneurie_ was slave to the seigneur. Under feudal -rule the clergy (not the humble _abbes_ and _cures_, but the bishops and -archbishops) were frequently themselves overlords. They, at any rate, -enjoyed as high privileges as any in the land, and if the Revolution -benefited the lower clergy it robbed the higher churchmen. - -Just previous to the Revolution, the clergy had a revenue of one hundred -and thirty million _livres_ of which only forty-two million five hundred -thousand _livres_ accrued to the _cures_. The difference represents the -loss to the "Seigneurs of the Church." - -With the Revolution the whole kingdom was in a blaze; famished mobs -clamoured, if not always for bread, at least for an anticipated -vengeance, and when they didn't actually kill they robbed and burned. -This accounts for the comparative infrequency of the feudal chateaux in -France in anything but a ruined state. Sometimes it is but a square of -wall that remains, sometimes a mere gateway, sometimes a donjon, and -sometimes only a solitary tower. All these evidences are frequent enough -in the provinces of the Pyrenees, from the more or less complete -Chateaux of Foix and of Pau, to the ruins of Lourdes and Lourdat, and -the more fragmentary remains of Ultrera, Ruscino and Coarraze. - -The mediaeval country house was a chateau; when it was protected by walls -and moats it became a castle or chateau-fort; a distinction to be -remarked. - -The chateau of the middle ages was not only the successor of the Roman -stronghold, but it was a villa or place of residence as well; when it -was fortified it was a _chastel_. - -A castle might be habitable, and a chateau might be a species of -stronghold, and thus the mediaeval country house might be either one -thing or the other, but still the distinction will always be apparent if -one will only go deeply enough into the history of any particular -structure. - -Light and air, which implies frequent windows, have always been -desirable in all habitations of man, and only when the chateau bore the -aspects of a fortification were window openings omitted. If it was an -island castle, a moat-surrounded chateau,--as it frequently was in later -Renaissance times,--windows and doors existed in profusion; but if it -were a feudal fortress, such as one most frequently sees in the -Pyrenees, openings at, or near, the ground-level were few and far -between. Such windows as existed were mere narrow slits, like -loop-holes, and the entrance doorway was really a fortified gate or -port, frequently with a portcullis and sometimes with a _pont-levis_. - -The origin of the word chateau (_castrum_, _castellum_, castle) often -served arbitrarily to designate a fortified habitation of a seigneur, or -a citadel which protected a town. One must know something of their -individual histories in order to place them correctly. In the fifteenth -and sixteenth centuries, chateaux in France multiplied almost to -infinity, and became habitations in fact. - -In reality the middle ages saw two classes of great chateaux go up -almost side by side, the feudal chateau of the tenth to the fifteenth -centuries, and the frankly residential country houses of the Renaissance -period which came after. - -For the real, true history of the feudal chateaux of France, one cannot -do better than follow the hundred and fifty odd pages which -Viollet-le-Duc devoted to the subject in his monumental "_Dictionnaire -Raisonee d'Architecture_." - -In the Midi, all the way from the Italian to the Spanish frontiers, are -found the best examples of the feudal chateaux, mere ruins though they -be in many cases. In the extreme north of Normandy, at Les Andelys, -Arques and Falaise, at Pierrefonds and Coucy, these military chateaux -stand prominent too, but mid-France, in the valley of the Loire, in -Touraine especially, is the home of the great Renaissance country house. - -The royal chateaux, the city dwellings and the country houses of the -kings have perhaps the most interest for the traveller. Of this class -are Chenonceaux and Amboise, Fontainebleau and St. Germain, and, within -the scope of this book, the paternal chateau of Henri Quatre at Pau. - -It is not alone, however, these royal residences that have the power to -hold one's attention. There are others as great, as beautiful and as -replete with historic events. In this class are the chateaux at Foix, at -Carcassonne, at Lourdes, at Coarraze and a dozen other points in the -Pyrenees, whose architectural splendours are often neglected for the -routine sightseeing sanctioned and demanded by the conventional -tourists. - -There are no vestiges of rural habitations in France erected by the -kings of either of the first two races, though it is known that -Chilperic and Clotaire II had residences at Chelles, Compiegne, Nogent, -Villers-Cotterets, and Creil, north of Paris. - -The pre-eminent builder of the great fortress chateaux of other days was -Foulques Nerra, and his influence went wide and far. These -establishments were useful and necessary, but they were hardly more than -prison-like strongholds, quite bare of the luxuries which a later -generation came to regard as necessities. - -The refinements came in with Louis IX. The artisans and craftsmen became -more and more ingenious and artistic, and the fine tastes and instincts -of the French with respect to architecture soon came to find their equal -expression in furnishings and fitments. Hard, high seats and beds, which -looked as though they had been brought from Rome in Caesar's time, gave -way to more comfortable chairs and canopied beds, carpets were laid down -where rushes were strewn before, and walls were hung with cloths and -draperies where grim stone and plaster had previously sent a chill down -the backs of lords and ladies. Thus developed the life in French -chateaux from one of simple security and defence, to one of luxurious -ease and appointments. - -The sole medium of communication between many of the French provinces, -at least so far as the masses were concerned, was the local _patois_. -All who did not speak it were foreigners, just as are English, Americans -or Germans of to-day. The peoples of the Romance tongue stood in closer -relation, perhaps, than other of the provincials of old, and the men of -the Midi, whether they were Gascons from the valley of the Garonne, or -Provencaux from the Bouches-du-Rhone were against the king and -government as a common enemy. - -The feudal lords were a gallant race on the whole; they didn't spend all -their time making war; they played _boules_ and the _jeu-de-paume_, and -held court at their chateau, where minstrels sang, and knights made -verses for their lady loves, and men and women amused themselves much as -country-house folk do to-day. - -The following, extracted from the book of accounts of one of the minor -noblesse of Bearn in the sixteenth century, is intimate and interesting. -The master of this feudal household had a system of bookkeeping which -modern chatelains might adopt with advantage. The items are curiously -disposed. - - Francs Sous Deniers - - Pot de vinaigre 5 0 - Livre de l'huile d'olive 6 0 - Sac du sel 30 0 - Aux pauvre 30 0 - {Pour deux laquais et la mulette 18 0 - {Au valet pour boire 1 0 - En {A Tarbes pour la couchee de lundi 4 10 0 - Voyage {Un releve pour la mulette 8 2 6 - {Un fer pour la mulette 5 0 - {Aux nomads 1 10 0 - -Evidently "la mulette" was a very necessary adjunct and required quite -as much as its master. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -THE PYRENEES--THEIR GEOGRAPHY AND TOPOGRAPHY - - -One of the great joys of the traveller is the placid contemplation of -his momentary environment. The visitor to Biarritz, Pau, Luchon, Foix or -Carcassonne has ever before his eyes the massive Pyrenean bulwark -between France and Spain; and the mere existence of this natural line of -defence accounts to no small extent for the conditions of life, the -style of building, and even the manners of the men who live within its -shadow. - -The Pyrenees have ever formed an undisputed frontier boundary line, -though kingdoms and dukedoms, buried within its fastnesses or lying -snugly enfolded in its gentle valleys, have fluctuated and changed -owners so often that it is difficult for most people to define the -limits of French and Spanish Navarre or the country of the French and -Spanish Basques. It is still more difficult when it comes to locating -the little Pyrenean republic of Andorra, that tiniest of nations, a -little sister of San Marino and Monaco. Some day the histories of these -three miniature European "powers" (sic) should be made into a book. It -would be most interesting reading and a novelty. - -Unlike the Alps, the Pyrenees lack a certain impressive grandeur, but -they are more varied in their outline, and form a continuous chain from -the Atlantic to the Mediterranean, while their gently sloping green -valleys smile more sweetly than anything of the kind in Switzerland or -Savoie. - -They possess character, of a certain grim kind to be sure, particularly -in their higher passes, and a general air of sterility, which, however, -is less apparent as one descends to lower levels. The very name of -Pyrenees comes probably from the word _biren_, meaning "high pastures," -so this refutes the belief that they are not abundantly endowed with -this form of nature's wealth. - -From east to west the chain of the Pyrenees has a length of four hundred -and fifty kilometres, or, following the detours of the crests of the -Hispano-Francais frontier, perhaps six hundred. Between Pau and Huesca -their width, counting from one lowland plain to another, is a trifle -over a hundred and twenty kilometres, the slope being the most rapid on -the northern, or French, side. The Pyrenees are less thickly wooded than -the Savoian Alps, and there is very much less perpetual snow and fewer -glaciers. - -In reality they are broken into two distinct parts by the Val d'Aran, -forming the Pyrenees-Orientales and the Pyrenees-Occidentales. Of the -detached mountain masses, the chief is the Canigou, lying almost by the -Mediterranean shore, and a little northward of the main chain. Its -highest peak is the Puigmal (_puig_ or _puy_ being the Languedocian word -for peak), rising to nearly three thousand metres. - -For long the Canigou was supposed to be the loftiest peak of the -Pyrenees, but the Pic du Midi exceeds it by a hundred metres. However, -this well proportioned, isolated mass looks more pretentious than it -really is, standing, as it does, quite away from the main chain. From -its peak Marseilles can be seen--by a Marseillais, who will also fancy -that he can hear the turmoil of the Cannebiere and detect the odour of -the saffron in his beloved _bouillabaise_. At any rate one can certainly -see as much of the earth's surface spread out before him here as from -any other spot of which he has recollection. - -[Illustration: _The Peaks of the Pyrenees_] - -The Pyrenees-Occidentales abound in more numerous and better defined -mountains than the more easterly portion. Here are the famous Monts -Maudits, with the Pic de Nethou, the highest of the Pyrenees (three -thousand four hundred and four metres), with a summit plateau or -belvedere perhaps twenty metres in length by five in width. - -The Vignemal (three thousand two hundred and ninety-eight metres) is the -highest peak wholly on French soil and dominates the famous _col_, or -pass, known as the Breche de Roland. - -The Pic du Midi, back of Bigorre, is justly the best known of all the -crests of the Pyrenees. Its height is two thousand eight hundred and -seventy-seven metres, and it is worthy of a special study, and a book -all to itself. The observatory recently established here is one of the -_chefs-d'oeuvre_ of science. The astronomical, climatological and -geographical importance of this prominent peak was already marked out on -the maps of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and its glory has -been often sung in verse by Guillaume Saluste, Sire du Bartas, -gentilhomme Gascon; and by Bernard Palissy, better known as a potter -than as a poet. - -[Illustration: _Breche de Roland_] - -Towards the Gulf of Gascony the Pyrenees send out their ramifications in -much gentler slopes than on the Mediterranean side. Forests and pastures -are more profuse and luxuriant, but the peaks are still of granite, as -they mostly are throughout the range. Grouped along the flanks of the -river Bidassoa this section of the chain is known to geographers as the -"Montagnes du pays Basque." - -At the foot of these Basque Mountains passes the lowest level route -between France and Spain,--that followed by the railway and the "Route -Internationale, Paris-Madrid." - -This easy and commodious passage of the Pyrenees has ever been the -theatre of the chief struggles between the peoples of the Spanish -peninsula and France. At Roncevaux the rear-guard of the army of -Charlemagne--"his paladins and peers"--were destroyed in 778, and it was -here that the French and Spanish fought in 1794 and 1813. - -The French slopes of the Pyrenees belong almost wholly to the basin or -watershed of the Garonne, one of the four great waterways of France, the -other three being the Loire, the Seine and the Rhone. In the upper -valley of the Garonne is the Plateau de Lannemazan. It lies in reality -between the Garonne and the Adour. The Adour on the west and the Tech on -the east, with their tributaries, play an important part in draining off -the waters from the mountain sources, but they are entirely overshadowed -by the Garonne, which, rising in Spain, in the Val d'Aran, flows six -hundred and five kilometres before reaching salt water below Bordeaux, -through its estuary the Gironde. Nearly five hundred kilometres of this -length are navigable, and the economic value of this river to Agen, -Montauban and Toulouse is very great. - -Between the Adour and the Gironde lies that weird morass-like region of -the Landes, once peopled only by sheep-herders on stilts and by -charcoal-burners, but now producing a quantity of resin and pine which -is making the whole region prosperous and content. - -The source of the Garonne is at an altitude of nearly two thousand -metres, and is virtually a cascade. Another tiny source, known as the -Garonne-Oriental, swells the flood of the parent stream by flowing into -it just below St. Gaudens, the nearest "big town" of France to the -Spanish frontier. - -The Ariege is the only really important tributary entering the Garonne -from the region of the Pyrenees. Its length is a hundred and fifty-seven -kilometres, and its source is on the Pic Negre, at an altitude of two -thousand metres, three kilometres from the frontier, but on French soil. -It waters two important cities of the Comte de Foix, the capital Foix -and Pamiers. - -On the west, the chain of the Pyrenees slopes gently down to the great -bight, known so sadly to travellers by sea as the Bay of Biscay. From -the mouth of the Gironde southward it is further designated as the Golfe -de Gascogne. There is no perceptible indentation of the coast line to -indicate this, but its waters bathe the sand dunes of the Landes, the -Basque coasts, and the extreme northeastern boundary of Spain. - -The shore-line is straight, uniformly monotonous and inhospitable, the -great waves which roll in from the Atlantic beating up a soapy surf and -long dikes of sand in weird, unlovely contours. For two hundred and -forty kilometres, all along the shore-line of the Gironde and the -Landes, this is applicable, the only relief being the basin of Archachon -(Bordeaux' own special watering-place), the port of Bayonne,--at the -mouth of the Adour,--the delightful rocky picturesqueness immediately -around Biarritz, and Saint-Jean-de-Luz and its harbour, and the estuary -of the Bidassoa, that epoch-making river which, with the crest of the -Pyrenees, marks the Franco-Espagnol frontier. - -The French coast line at the easterly termination of the Pyrenees -possesses an entirely different aspect from that of the west. -Practically there is no tide in the Mediterranean, and the gateway -between France and Spain through the eastern Pyrenees is less gracious -than that on the west. The Pyrenees-Orientales come plump down to the -blue waters of the great inland sea just north of Cap Creus with little -or no intimation of a slope. - -The frontier commences at Cap Cerbere, and at Port Vendres (the -Portus-Veneris of the ancients) one finds one of the principal -Mediterranean sea ports of France, and the nearest to the great French -possessions in Africa. - -On Cap Creus in Spain, and on Cap Bear in France, at an elevation of -something over two hundred metres, are two remarkable lighthouses whose -rays carry a distance of over forty kilometres seaward. - -The _etangs_, Saint Nazaire and Leucate, cut the coast line here, and -three tiny rivers, whose sources are high up in the mountain valleys of -the Tech, the Tet and the Aglay, flow into the sea before Cap Leucate, -the boundary between old Languedoc and the Comte de Roussillon. - -Off-shore is the tempestuous Golfe des Lions, where the lion banners of -the Arlesien ships floated in days gone by. The Aude, the Orb and the -Herault mingle their waters with the Mediterranean here, and on the -Montagne d'Agde rises another of those remarkable French lighthouses, -this one throwing its light a matter of forty-five kilometres seawards. - -With Perpignan, Narbonne, Beziers and Agde behind, one draws slowly out -from under the shadow of the Pyrenees until the soil flattens out into a -powdery, dusty plain, with here and there a pond, or great bay, of soft, -brackish water, whose principal value lies in its fecundity at producing -mosquitoes. - -Aigues-Mortes cradles itself on the shores of one of these great inlets -of the Mediterranean, and Saintes Maries on another. Little gulfs, -canals, dwarf seaside pines, cypresses, olive trees and vineyards are -the chief characteristics of the landscape, while inland the surface of -the soil rolls away in gentle billows towards Nimes, Montpellier and -St. Giles, with the flat plain of the Camargue lying between. - -Since the Christian era began, it is assumed that this coast line -between the Pyrenees and the Rhone has advanced a matter of fourteen -kilometres seaward, and since Aigues-Mortes, which now lies far inland, -is known to be the port from which the sainted Louis set out on his -Crusade, there is no gainsaying the statement. The immediate region -surrounding Aigues-Mortes is a most fascinating one to visit, but would -be a terrible place in which to be obliged to spend a life-time. - -Between Roussillon and Spain there are fifteen passes by which one may -cross the chain of the Pyrenees, though indeed two only are practicable -for wheeled traffic. - -The Col de Perthus is the chief one, and is traversed by the ancient -"Route Royale" from Paris to Barcelona. There is a town by the same -name, with a population of five hundred and a really good hotel. It's -worth making the journey here just to see how a dull French village can -sleep its time away. The passage is defended by the fine Fortress de -Bellegarde. It was on the Col de Perthus that Pompey erected the famous -"trophy," surmounted by his statue bearing the following legend: - - +----------------------------------------+ - | FROM THE ALPS TO THE ULTERIOR EXTREMITY| - | OF SPAIN, POMPEY HAS FORCED | - | SUBMISSION TO THE ROMAN REPUBLIC | - | FROM EIGHT HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-SIX | - | CITIES AND TOWNS. | - +----------------------------------------+ - -Twenty years after, Caesar erected another tablet beside the former. No -trace of either remains to-day, and there are only frontier boundary -stones marking the territorial limits of France and Spain, which replace -those torn down in the Revolution. - -[Illustration] - -Proceeding by the coast line, a difficult road into Spain lies by the -Col de Banyuls, just where the Pyrenees plunge beneath the -Mediterranean, a mere shelf of a road. - -The _cirques_, or great amphitheatres of mountains, are a characteristic -of the Pyrenees, and the Cirque de Gavarnie is the king of them all. It -represents, very nearly, a sheer perpendicular wall rising to a height -of five hundred metres, and three thousand five hundred metres in -circumference. Perpetual snow is an accompaniment of some of its gorges -and neighbouring peaks, and twelve cascades tumble down its rock walls -at various points. There is nothing quite so impressive in the -world--outside Yosemite or the Yellowstone. - -Gavarnie, its _cirque_ and its village, is the natural wonder of the -Pyrenees. Said Victor Hugo: "_Grand nom, petit village._" To explore the -Cirque de Gavarnie is a passion with many; when you get in this state of -mind you become what the touring Frenchman knows as a "_gavarniste_," as -an Alpine climber becomes an "_alpiniste_." - -As for the climate of the Pyrenees, it is, for a mountain region, soft -and mild; not so mild as that of the French Riviera perhaps, nor of -Barcelona, nor San Sebastian in Spain, but on the whole not cold, and -certainly more humid than in the Alpes-Maritimes, on the Cote d'Azur. - -Generally blowing from the northwest in winter, the wind accumulates -great masses of cloud in the bight of the Golfe de Gascogne and sweeps -them up against the barrier of the Pyrenees, there to be held in -suspension until an exceedingly stiff wind blows them away or the sun -burns them off. The French Riviera is cursed with the mistral, but it -has the blessing of almost continual sunshine, while in the -Pyrenees-Occidentales the wind is less strong as it comes only from the -sea in the northwest, instead of from the north by the Rhone valley, and -the "disagreeable months" (November, December and January) often bring -damp and humid, if not frigidly cold weather with them. - -The rainfall is often as much as eight decimetres per annum in the -Landes, one metre in the Pyrenees proper, and a metre and a half in the -Basque country. The average rainfall for France is approximately eight -decimetres, perhaps thirty-two inches. - -In the Pyrenees the temperature is, normally, neither very hot nor very -cold. Perpignan is the warmest in winter. Its average is 15 deg. Centigrade -(59 deg. F.), about that of Nice, whilst that for France is 6 deg. Centigrade -(43 deg. F.). - -The climate of the Pyrenees comes within the _climat Girondin_, and the -average for the year is 13 deg. Centigrade. The _climat-maritime_ is a -further division, and is considerably more elevated in degree. This -comes from the western and northwestern winds off the sea, which, it may -be remarked, almost invariably bring rain with them. At Montauban the -saying is: "_Montagne claire, Bordeaux obscure, pluie a coup sur._" In -Gascogne: "_Jamais pluie au printemps ne passe pour mauvais temps._" At -Bordeaux the average summer temperature is but 29 deg. Centigrade, at -Toulouse 21.5 deg. Centigrade and Pau about the same, with a winter -temperature often 4 deg. or 5 deg. below zero Centigrade. - -The general aspect of the region of the Pyrenees is one of the most -varied and agreeable in all southern France. There is a grandeur and -natural character about it that has not fallen before the march of -twentieth century progress, save in the "resorts," such as Biarritz or -Pau; and yet the primitiveness and savagery is not so uncomfortable as -to make the traveller long for the super-civilization of great capitals. -It is virgin in its beauty and varied wildness, and yet it is a soft, -pleasant land where even the winter snows of the mountains seem less -rigorous than the snow and cold of Savoie or Switzerland. On one side is -the great bulwark of the Pyrenees, and on two others the dazzling waters -of the ocean, while to the north the valley of the Garonne, west of the -Cevennes, is not at all a frigid, austere, frost-bound region, save only -in the very coldest "snaps." - -The ranges of foothills in the Pyrenees divide the surface of the land -into slopes and valleys every bit as charming as those of Switzerland, -and yet oh! so different! And the fresh, limpid rivulets and rivers are -real rivers, and not mere trickling brooks, whose colouring and -transparency are the marvel of all who view. The majesty of the sea on -either side, and of the mountains between, makes the very aspect of life -luxurious and less hard than that in the more northerly Alpine climes, -and above all the outlook on life is French, and not that money-grabbing -Anglo-German-Swiss commercialism which the genuine traveller abhors. He -sees less of that sort of thing here in the Pyrenees, even at Pau and -Biarritz, than anywhere else in southern Europe. - -At Nice, Monte Carlo, Naples, Capri, along the Italian lakes, and -everywhere in French, German or Italian speaking Switzerland, one must -pay! pay! pay! continually, and often for nothing. Here you pay for what -you get, and then not always its full value, according to standards with -which you have previously become familiar. The Pyrenees form quite the -ideal mountain playground of Europe. - -The Basses-Pyrenees, made up from the coherent masses of Navarre, the -Basque country, Bearn, and a part of Chalosse and the Landes, contains a -superficial area of seven hundred and sixty-three thousand nine hundred -and ninety French acres. Its name comes naturally enough from the -western end of the Pyrenean mountain chain. - -Throughout, the department is watered by innumerable streams and -rivulets, whose banks and beds are as reminiscent of romanticism as any -waterways extant. The Adour is one of the "picture-rivers" of the world; -it joins the rustling, tumbling Nive, as it rushes down by Cambo from -the Spanish valleys, and forms the port of Bayonne. - -The Gave de Pau commences in the high Pyrenees, in the wonderfully -spectacular Cirque de Gavarnie, literally in a cascade falling nearly -one thousand three hundred feet, perhaps the highest cascade known in -the four quarters of the globe, or as the French say, "in the five -parts of the world," which is more quaint if less literal. - -The Gave d'Oloron has its birth in the valley of the Aspe, and is a -tributary of the Gave de Pau. It is what one might call pretty, but has -little suggestion of the scenic splendour of the latter. - -The Bidassoa is one of the world's historic rivers. It forms the -Atlantic frontier between France and Spain, and was the scene of -Wellington's celebrated "Passage of the Bidassoa" in 1813, also of a -still more famous historical event which took place centuries before on -the Ile des Faisans. - -The Nivelle is a tiny stream which comes to light on Spanish soil, over -the crest of the Pyrenees, and flows rapidly down to the sea at -Saint-Jean-de-Luz, on the shores of the Gulf of Gascony. - -The Ministry for the Interior in France classes all these chief rivers -as _flottable_ for certain classes of boats and barges through a portion -of their length, and each of them as _navigable_ for a few leagues from -the sea. - -Four great "Routes Nationales" cross the Basses-Pyrenees. They are the -legitimate successors of the "Routes Royales" of monarchial days. The -"Route Royale de Paris a Madrid, par Vittoria et Burgos," the very same -over which Charles Quint travelled to Paris, via Amboise, as the guest -of Francois Premier, passes via Bayonne and Saint-Jean-de-Luz. It is a -veritable historic highway throughout every league of its length. - -The climate of the Basses-Pyrenees is by no means as warm as its -latitude would seem to bespeak, the snow-capped Pyrenees keeping the -temperature somewhat low. Pau and Luchon in the interior (as well as -Bayonne and Biarritz on the coast) seem, curiously enough, to be -somewhat milder than the open country between. The Pyrenees, though less -overrun and less exploited than the Alps, are not an unknown world to be -ventured into only by heroes and adventurers. They are what the French -call a "new world" lively in aspect, infinitely varied, and as yet quite -unspoiled, take them as a whole. This is a fact which makes the -historical monuments and souvenirs of the region the more appealing in -interest, particularly to one who has "done" the conventionally overrun -resorts of the Tyrol, Egypt or Norway; and the country here is far more -accessible. Furthermore the comforts of modern travel, as regards palace -hotels and sleeping-cars, if less highly developed, are more to be -remarked. One lives bountifully throughout the whole of the French -slopes of the Pyrenees, from a table well supplied with many exotic -articles of food such as truffles, and _salaisons_ of all sorts, fresh -mountain lake trout, and those delightful _crouchades_ and _cassoulets_, -which in the more populous centres are only occasional, expensive -luxuries. - -Both the valleys and the mountains are equally charming and -characteristic. The lowlanders and the mountaineers are two different -species of man, but they both join hands in the admiration of, and -devotion to their beloved country. - -The soft, sloping valleys and the plains below, in the great watersheds -of the Garonne, the Aude, the Nive, or the Adour, tell one story, and -the _terre debout_, as the French geographers call the mountains, quite -another. The contrast and juxtaposition of these two topographical -aspects, the varying manners and customs of the peoples, and the -picturesque framing given to the chateaux and historic sites make an -undeniably appealing ensemble which the writer thinks is not equalled -elsewhere in travelled Europe. - -One of the chief characteristics of the chain of the Pyrenees is that -it possesses numerous passages or passes at very considerable -elevations, being outranked by surrounding peaks usually to the extent -of a thousand metres only. These passes are not always practicable for -wheeled traffic to be sure, but still they form a series of exits and -entrances from and into Spain which are open to the dwellers in the high -valleys of either country on foot or on donkey back. They are -distinguished by various prefixes such as _puerto_, _collada_, _passo_, -_hourque_, _hourquette_, _breche_, _port_, _col_, and _passage_, but one -and all answer more or less specifically to the name of a mountain pass. - -The expression of "_il y a des Pyrenees_," has been paraphrased in -latter days as "_il n'y a plus de Pyrenees_." A Spanish aeronaut has -recently crossed the crest of the range in a balloon, from Pau to -Grenada--seven hundred and thirty kilometres as the birds fly. This -intrepid sportsman, in his balloon "El Cierzo," crossed the divide in -the dead of night, at an elevation varying between two thousand three -hundred and two thousand nine hundred metres, somewhere between the Pic -d'Anie and the Pic du Midi d'Ossau. In these days when automobiles beat -express trains, and motor-boats beat steamships for speed, this -crossing of the Pyrenees by balloon stands unique in the annals of -sport. - -The crossing of the Pyrenees has already resolved itself into a -momentous economic question. Half a dozen roads fit for carriage -traffic, and two gateways by which pass the railways of the east and -west coasts, are the sole practicable means of communication between -France and Spain. - -The chain of the Pyrenees from west to east presents nearly a uniform -height; its simplicity and uniformity is remarkable. It is a veritable -wall. - -To-day the Parisian journals are all printing scare-heads, reading, -"_Plus de Pyrenees_" and announcing railway projects which will bring -Paris and Madrid within twenty hours of each other, and Paris and -Algiers within forty. New tunnels, or _ports_, to the extent of five in -place of two, are to be opened, and if balloons or air-ships don't come -to supersede railways there will be a net-work of iron rails throughout -the upper valleys of the Pyrenees as there are in Switzerland. - -The _ville d'eaux_, or watering-places, of the Pyrenees date from -prehistoric times. At Ax-les-Thermes there has recently been discovered -a tank buried under three metres of alluvial soil, and dating from the -bronze age. - -Old maps of these parts show that the baths and waters of the region -were widely known in mediaeval times. It was not, however, until the -reign of Louis XV that the "stations" took on that popular development -brought about by the sovereigns and their courts who frequented them. - -[Illustration: _The Five Proposed Railways_] - -Not all of these can be indicated or described here but the accompanying -map indicates them and their locations plainly enough. - -[Illustration] - -Nearly every malady, real or imaginary (and there have been many -imaginary ones here, that have undergone a cure), can be benefited by -the waters of the Pyrenees. Only a specialist could prescribe though. - -In point of popularity as resorts the baths and springs of the Pyrenees -rank about as follows: Eaux-Bonnes, Eaux-Chaudes, Cauterets, St. -Sauveur, Bareges, Bagneres de Bigorre, Luchon, Salies de Bearn, Ussat, -Ax-les-Thermes, Vernet and Amelie les Bains. - -Whatever the efficacy of their waters may be, one and all may be classed -as resorts where "all the attractions"--as the posters announce--of -similar places elsewhere may be found,--great and expensive hotels, tea -shops, theatres, golf, tennis and "the game." If the waters don't cure, -one is sure to have been amused, if not edified. The watering-places of -the Pyrenees may not possess establishments or bath houses as grand or -notorious as those of Vichy, Aix, or Homburg, and their attendant -amusements of sport and high stakes and cards may not be the chief -reason they are patronized, but all the same they are very popular -little resorts, with as charming settings and delightful surroundings as -any known. - -At Eaux-Bonnes there are four famous springs, and at Eaux-Chaudes are -six of diverse temperatures, all of them exceedingly efficacious -"cures" for rheumatism. At Cambo--a new-found retreat for French -painters and literary folk--are two _sources_, one sulphurous and the -other ferruginous. Mostly the waters of Cambo are drunk; for bathing -purposes they are always heated. Napoleon first set the pace at Cambo, -but its fame was a long while becoming widespread. In 1808 the emperor -proposed to erect a military hospital here, and one hundred and fifty -thousand francs were actually appropriated for it, but the fall of the -Empire ended that hope as it did many others. In the commune of Salies -is a _source_, a _fontaine_, which gives a considerable supply of salt -to be obtained through evaporation; also in the mountains neighbouring -upon Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, and in the Arrondissement of Mauleon, are -still other springs from which the extraction of salt is a profitable -industry. - -In the borders of the blue Gave de Pau, in full view of the extended -horizon on one side and the lowland plain on the other, one appreciates -the characteristics of the Pyrenees at their very best. - -One recalls the gentle hills and vales of the Ile de France, the rude, -granite slopes of Bretagne, the sublime peaks of the Savoian Alps, and -all the rest of the topographic tableau of "la belle France," but -nothing seen before--nor to be seen later--excels the Pyrenees region -for infinite variety. It is truly remarkable, from the grandeur of its -sky-line to the winsomeness and softness of its valleys, peopled -everywhere (always excepting the alien importations of the resorts) with -a reminiscent civilization of the past, with little or no care for the -super-refinements of more populous and progressive regions. The -Pyrenees, as a whole, are still unspoiled for the serious-minded -traveller. This is more than can be said of the Swiss Alps, the French -Riviera, the German Rhine, or the byways of merry England. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -THE PYRENEES--THEIR HISTORY AND PEOPLES - - -It may be a question as to who discovered the Pyrenees, but Louis XIV -was the first exploiter thereof--writing in a literal sense--when he -made the famous remark "_Il y a des Pyrenees_." Before that, and to a -certain extent even to-day, they may well be called the "_Pyrenees -inconnues_," a _terra incognita_, as the old maps marked the great -desert wastes of mid-Africa. The population of the entire region known -as the Pyrenees Francaises is as varied as any conglomerate population -to be found elsewhere in France in an area of something less than six -hundred kilometres. - -The Pyrenees were ever a frontier battle-ground. At the commencement of -the eleventh century things began to shape themselves north of the -mountain chain, and modern France, through the _feodalite_, began to -grow into a well-defined entity. - -Charles Martel it was, as much as any other, who made all this possible, -and indeed he began it when he broke the Saracen power which had -over-run all Spain and penetrated via the Pyrenean gateways into Gaul. - -The Iberians who flooded southern Gaul, and even went so far afield as -Ireland, came from the southwestern peninsula through the passes of the -Pyrenees. They were of a southern race, in marked distinction to the -Franks and Gauls. Settling south of the Garonne they became known in -succeeding generations as Aquitains and spoke a local _patois_, -different even from that of the Basques whom they somewhat resembled. -The Vascons, or Gascons, were descendants of this same race, though -perhaps developed through a mixture of other races. - -Amidst the succession of diverse dominations, one race alone came -through the mill whole, unscathed and independent. These were the -Basques who occupied that region best defined to-day as lying around -either side of the extreme western frontier of France and Spain. - -A French savant's opinion of the status of this unique province and its -people tells the story better than any improvisation that can be made. A -certain M. Garat wrote in the mid-nineteenth century as follows:-- - -[Illustration: _The Basques of the Mountains_] - -"Well sheltered in the gorges of the Pyrenees, where the Gauls, the -Francs and the Saracens had never attacked their liberties, the Basques -have escaped any profound judgments of that race of historians and -philosophers which have dissected most of the other peoples of Europe. -Rome even dared not attempt to throttle the Basques and merge them into -her absorbing civilization. All around them their neighbours have -changed twenty times their speech, their customs and their laws, but the -Basques still show their original characters and physiognomies, scarcely -dimmed by the progress of the ages." - -Certainly they are as proud and noble a race as one remarks in a round -of European travel. - -A Basque will always tell you if you ask him as to whether he is French -or Spanish: "_Je ne suis pas Francais, je suis Basque; je ne suis -Espagnol, je suis Basque; ou,--tout simplement, je suis homme._" - -This is as one would expect to find it, but it is possible to come -across an alien even in the country of the Basque. On interrogating a -smiling peasant driving a yoke of cream-coloured oxen, he replied: -"_Mais je ne suis pas Basque; je suis Perigourdin_--born at Badefols, -just by the old chateau of Bertrand de Born the troubadour." - -One may be pardoned for a reference to the _cagots_ of the Basque -country, a despised race of people not unlike the cretins of the Alps. -As Littre defines them they are distinctly a "people of the Pyrenees." -The race, as a numerous body, practically is extinct to-day. They lived -in poor, mean cabins, far from the towns and under the protection of a -seigneurial chateau or abbey. All intercourse with their neighbours was -forbidden, and at church they occupied a space apart, had a special holy -water font, and when served with blessed bread it was thrown at them as -if they were dogs, and not offered graciously. - -This may have been uncharitable and unchristianlike, but the placing of -separate holy water-basins in the churches was simply carrying out the -principle of no intercourse between the Basques and the _cagots_, not -even between those who had become, or professed to be Christians. "The -loyal hand of a Basque should touch nothing that had previously been -touched by a _cagot_." - -From the Basque country, through the heart of the Pyrenees, circling -Bearn, Navarre and Foix, to Roussillon is a far cry, and a vast change -in speech and manners. - -Life in a Pyrenean village for a round of the seasons would probably -cure most of the ills that flesh is heir to. It may be doubtful as to -who was the real inventor of the simple life--unless it was Adam--but -Jean Jacques Rousseau was astonished that people did not live more in -the open air as a remedy against the too liberal taking of medicine. - -"_Gouter la liberte sur la montagne immense!_" This was the dream of the -poet, but it may become the reality of any who choose to try it. One -remarks a certain indifference among the mountaineers of the Pyrenees -for the conventions of life. - -The mountaineer of the Pyrenees would rather ride a donkey than a pure -bred Arab or drive an automobile. He has no use for the proverb:-- - - "Honourable is the riding of a horse to the rider, - But the mule is a dishonour and a donkey a disgrace." - -When one recalls the fact that there are comparatively few of the bovine -race in the south of France, more particularly in Languedoc and -Provence, he understands why it is that one finds the _cuisine a l'huile -d'olive_--and sometimes _huile d'arachide_, which is made from peanuts, -and not bad at that, at least not unhealthful. - -In the Pyrenees proper, where the pasturage is rich, cattle are more -numerous, and nowhere, not even in the Allier or Poitou in mid-France, -will one find finer cows or oxen. Little, sure-footed donkeys, with -white-gray muzzles and crosses down their backs, and great -cream-coloured oxen seem to do all the work that elsewhere is done by -horses. There are ponies, too,--short-haired, tiny beasts,--in the -Pyrenees, and in the summer months one sees a Basque or a Bearnais -horse-dealer driving his live stock (ponies only) on the hoof all over -France, and making sales by the way. - -The Mediterranean terminus of the Pyrenees has quite different -characteristics from that of the west. Here the mountains end in a great -promontory which plunges precipitately into the Mediterranean between -the Spanish province of Figueras and the rich garden-spot of Roussillon, -in France. - -[Illustration: _In a Pyrenean Hermitage_] - -French and Spanish manners, customs and speech are here much -intermingled. On one side of the frontier they are very like those on -the other; only the uniforms of the officialdom made up of _douaniers_, -_carabineros_, _gendarmes_ and soldiers differ. The type of face and -figure is the same; the usual speech is the same; and dress varies but -little, if at all. "_Voila! la fraternite Franco-Espagnole_". - -One ever-present reminder of two alien peoples throughout all Roussillon -is the presence of the _chateaux-forts_, the walled towns, the -watch-towers, and defences of this mountain frontier. - -The chief characteristics of Roussillon, from the seacoast plain up the -mountain valleys to the passes, are the chateau ruins, towers and -moss-grown hermitages, all relics of a day of vigorous, able workmen, -who built, if not for eternity, at least for centuries. In the -Pyrenees-Orientales alone there are reckoned thirty-five abandoned -hermitages, any one of which will awaken memories in the mind of a -romantic novelist which will supply him with more background material -than he can use up in a dozen mediaeval romances. And if he takes one or -more of these hallowed spots of the Pyrenees for a setting he will have -something quite as worthy as the overdone Italian hilltop hermitage, and -a good deal fresher in a colour sense. - -The strategic Pyrenean frontier, nearly six hundred kilometres, -following the various twistings and turnings, has not varied in any -particular since the treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659. From Cap Cerbere on -the Mediterranean it runs, via the crests of the Monts Alberes, up to -Perthus, and then by the crests of the Pyrenees-Orientales, properly -called, up to Puigmal; and traversing the Segre, crosses the Col de la -Perche and passes the Pic Negre, separating France from the Val -d'Andorre, crosses the Garonne to attain the peaks of the -Pyrenees-Occidentales, and so, via the Foret d'Iraty, and through the -Pays Basque, finally comes to the banks of the Bidassoa, between Hendaye -and Irun-Feuntarrabia. - -The Treaty of Verdun gave the territory of France as extending up to the -Pyrenees _and beyond_ (to include the Comte de Barcelone), but this -limit in time was rearranged to stop at the mountain barrier. The graft -didn't work! Roussillon remained for long in the possession of the house -of Aragon, and its people were, in the main, closely related with the -Catalans over the border, but the Treaty of the Pyrenees, in 1659, -definitely acquired this fine wine-growing province for the French. - -The frontier of the Pyrenees is much better defended by natural means -than that of the Alps. For four hundred kilometres of its length--quite -two-thirds of its entirety--the passages and breaches are inaccessible -to an army, or even to a carriage. - -From the times of Hannibal and Charlemagne up to the wars of the Empire -only the extremities have been crossed for the invasion of alien -territory. It is in these situations that one finds the frontier -fortresses of to-day; at Figueras and Gerone in Spain; in France at -Bellegarde (Col de Perthus), Prats-de-Mollo, Mont Louis, Villefranche -and Perpignan, in the east; and at Portalet, Navarrino, -Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port (guarding the Col de Roncevaux) and Bayonne in -the west. Bayonne and Perpignan guard the only easily practicable routes -(Paris-Madrid and Paris-Barcelona). - -Hannibal and Charlemagne are the two great names of early history -identified with the Pyrenees. Hannibal exploited more than one popular -scenic touring ground of to-day, and for a man who is judged only by his -deeds--not by his personality, for no authentic portrait of him exists, -even in words--he certainly was endowed with a profound foresight. -Charlemagne, warrior, lawgiver and patron of letters, predominant figure -of a gloomy age, met the greatest defeat of his career in the Pyrenees, -at Roncevaux, when he advanced on Spain in 778. - -Close by the Cap Cerbere, where French and Spanish territory join, is -the little town and pass of Banyuls. This Col de Banyuls was, in 1793, -the witness of a supreme act of patriotism. The Spaniards were biding -their time to invade France via Roussillon, and made overtures to the -people of the little village of Banyuls--famous to-day for its _vins de -liqueur_ and not much else, but at that time numbering less than a -thousand souls--to join them and make the road easy. The _procureur du -roi_ replied simply: "_Les habitants de Banyuls etant francais devaient -tous mourir pour l'honneur et l'independance de la France_." - -Three thousand Spaniards thereupon attacked the entire forces of the -little commune--men, women and children--but finding their efforts -futile were forced to retire. This ended the "Battle of Banyuls," one of -the "little wars" that historians have usually neglected, or overlooked, -in favour of something more spectacular. - -On the old "Route Royale" from Paris to Barcelona, via Perpignan, are -two chefs-d'oeuvre of the mediaeval bridge-builder, made before the -days of steel rails and wire ropes and all their attendant ugliness. -These are the Pont de Perpignan over the Basse, and the Pont de Ceret on -the Tech, each of them spanning the stream by one single, graceful arch. -The latter dates from 1336, and it is doubtful if the modern stone-mason -could do his work as well as he who was responsible for this -architectural treasure. - -One finds a bit of superstitious ignorance once and again, even in -enlightened France of to-day. It was not far from here, on the road to -the Col de Banyuls, that we were asked by a peasant from what country we -came. He was told by way of a joke that we were Chinese. "_Est-ce -loin?_" he asked. "_Deux cents lieues!_" "_Diable! c'est une bonne -distance!_" One suspects that he knew more than he was given credit for, -and perhaps it was he that was doing the joking, for he said by way of -parting: "_Ma foi, c'est bien triste d'etre si loin de votre mere._" - -What a little land of contrasts the region of the Pyrenees is! It is all -things to all men. From the low-lying valleys and sea-coast plains, as -one ascends into the upper regions, it is as if one went at once into -another country. Certainly no greater contrast is marked in all France -than that between the Hautes-Pyrenees and the Landes for instance. - -The Hautes-Pyrenees of to-day was formerly made up of Bigorre, Armagnac -and the extreme southerly portion of Gascogne. Caesar called the people -Tarbelli, Bigerriones and Flussates, and Visigoths, Franks and Gascons -prevailed over their destinies in turn. - -In the early feudal epoch Bigorre, "the country of the four valleys," -had its own counts, but was united with Bearn in 1252, becoming a part -of the patrimony which Henri Quatre brought ultimately to the crown of -France. - -Antiquities before the middle ages are rare in these parts, in spite of -the memories remaining from Roman times. Perhaps the greatest of these -are the baths and springs at Cauterets, one of them being known as the -Bains des Espagnoles and the other as the Bains de Cesar. These -unquestionably were developed in Roman times. - -The chief architectural glory of the region is the ancient city of St. -Bertrand, the capital of Comminges, the ancient _Lugdunum Convenarum_ of -Strabon and Pliny. Its fortifications and its remarkable cathedral place -it in the ranks with Carcassonne, Aigues-Mortes and Beziers. - -[Illustration: _A Mountaineer of the Pyrenees_] - -The manners and customs of the Bigordans of the towns (not to be -confounded with the Bigoudens of Brittany) have succumbed somewhat to -the importation of outside ideas by the masses who throng their baths -and springs, but nevertheless their main characteristics stand out -plainly. - -Quite different from the Bearnais are the Bigordans, and, somewhat -uncharitably, the latter have a proverb which given in their own tongue -is as follows:--"_Bearnes faus et courtes._" Neighbourly jealousy -accounts for this. The Bearnais are morose, steady and commercial, the -Bigordans lively, bright and active, and their sociability is famed -afar. - -In the open country throughout the Pyrenees, there are three classes of -inhabitants, those of the mountains and high valleys, those of the -slopes, and those of the plains. The first are hard-working and active, -but often ignorant and superstitious; the second are more gay, less -frugal and better livers than the mountaineers; and those of the plains -are often downright lazy and indolent. The mendicant race, of which old -writers told, has apparently disappeared. There are practically no -beggars in France except gypsies, and there is no mistaking a gypsy for -any other species. - -In general one can say that the inhabitants of the high Pyrenees are a -simple, good and generous people, and far less given to excess than many -others of the heterogeneous mass which make up the population of modern -France. - -Simple and commodious and made of the wool of the country are the -general characteristics of the costumes of these parts, as indeed they -are of most mountain regions. But the distinctive feature, with the men -as with the women, is the topknot coiffure. In the plains, the men wear -the pancake-like _beret_, and in the high valleys a sort of a woollen -bonnet--something like a Phrygian cap. With the women it is a sort of a -hood of red woollen stuff, black-bordered and exceedingly picturesque. -"_C'est un joli cadre pour le visage d'une jolie femme_," said a fat -commercial traveller, with an eye for pretty women, whom the writer met -at a Tarbes table d'hote. - -A writer of another century, presumably untravelled, in describing the -folk of the Pyrenees remarked: "The Highlanders of the Pyrenees put one -in mind of Scotland; they have round, flat caps and loose breeches." -Never mind the breeches, but the _beret_ of the Basque is no more like -the tam-o'-shanter of the Scot than is an anchovy like a herring. - -An English traveller once remarked on the peculiar manner of transport -in these parts in emphatic fashion. "With more sense than John Bull, the -Pyrenean carter knows how to build and load his wagon to the best -advantage," he said. He referred to the great carts for transporting -wine casks and barrels, built with the hind wheels much higher than the -front ones. It's a simple mechanical exposition of the principle that a -wagon so built goes up-hill much easier. - -Here in the Hautes-Pyrenees they speak the speech of Languedoc, with -variations, idioms and bizarre interpolations, which may be Spanish, but -sound like Arabic. At any rate it's a beautiful, lisping _patois_, not -at all like the speech of Paris, "twanged through the nose," as the men -of the Midi said of it when they went up to the capital in Revolutionary -times "to help capture the king's castle." - -The great literary light of the region was Despourrins, a poet of the -eighteenth century, whose verses have found a permanent place in French -literature, and whose rhymes were chanted as were those of the -troubadours of centuries before. - -To just how great an extent the _patois_ differs from the French tongue -the following verse of Despourrins will show:-- - - "Aci, debat aqueste peyre, - Repauese lou plus gran de touts lou medecis, - Qui de poue d'esta chens besis, - En a remplit lou cimetyre. - - "Ici, sous cette pierre, - Repose le plus grand de tous les medicins, - Qui de peur d'etre sans voisins - En a rempli le cimetiere." - -A humourist also was this great poet! - -Throughout the Pyrenean provinces, and along the shores of the -Mediterranean, from Catalonia to the Bouches-du-Rhone are found the -Gitanos, or the French Gypsies, who do not differ greatly from others of -their tribe wherever found. This perhaps is accounted for by the fact -that the shrines of their patron saint--Sara, the servant of the "Three -Maries" exiled from Judea, and who settled at Les Saintes -Maries-de-la-Mer--was located near the mouth of the Rhone. This same -shrine is a place of pilgrimage for the gypsies of all the world, and on -the twenty-fourth of May one may see sights here such as can be -equalled nowhere else. Not many travellers' itineraries have ever -included a visit to this humble and lonesome little fishing village of -the Bouches-du-Rhone, judging from the infrequency with which one meets -written accounts. - -Gypsy bands are numerous all through the Departements of the south of -France, especially in Herault and the Pyrenees-Orientales. Like most of -their kind they are usually horse-traders, and perhaps horse-stealers, -for their ideas of honesty and probity are not those of other men. They -sometimes practise as sort of quack horse-doctors and horse and dog -clippers, etc., and the women either make baskets, or, more frequently, -simply beg, or "_tire les cartes_" and tell fortunes. They sing and -dance and do many other things honest and dishonest to make a -livelihood. Their world's belongings are few and their wants are not -great. For the most part their possessions consist only of their -personal belongings, a horse, a donkey or a mule, their caravan, or -_roulotte_, and a gold or silver chain or two, ear-rings in their ears, -and a knife--of course a knife, for the vagabond gypsy doesn't fight -with fire-arms. - -The further one goes into the French valleys of the Pyrenees the more -one sees the real Gitanos of Spain, or at least of Spanish ancestry. -Like all gypsy folk, they have no fixed abode, but roam and roam and -roam, though never far away from their accustomed haunts. They multiply, -but are seldom cross-bred out of their race. - -It's an idyllic life that the Gitano and the Romany-Chiel leads, or at -least the poet would have us think so. - - "Upon the road to Romany - It's stay, friend, stay! - There's lots o' love and lots o' time - To linger on the way; - Poppies for the twilight, - Roses for the noon, - It's happy goes as lucky goes - To Romany in June." - -But as the Frenchman puts it, "look to the other side of the coin." - -Brigandage is the original profession of the gypsy, though to-day the -only stealing which they do is done stealthily, and not in the plain -hold-up fashion. They profess a profound regard for the Catholic -religion, but they practise other rites in secret, and form what one -versed in French Catholicism would call a "_culte particuliere_." It is -known that they baptize their newly-born children _as often as -possible_--of course each time in a different place--in order that they -may solicit alms in each case. Down-right begging is forbidden in -France, but for such a purpose the law is lenient. - -[Illustration: _Gitanos from Spain_] - -They are gross feeders, the Gitanos, and a fowl "a little high" has no -terrors for them; they have even been known to eat sea-gulls, which no -white man has ever had the temerity to taste. It has been said that they -will eat cats and dogs and even rats, but this is doubtless another -version of the Chinese fable. At any rate a mere heating of their viands -in a saucepan--not by any stretch of the imagination can it be called -cooking--is enough for them, and what their dishes lack in cooking is -made up by liberal additions of salt, pepper, _piment_ (which is tobacco -or something like it), and saffron. - -As to type, the French Gitanos are of that olive-brown complexion, with -the glossy black hair, usually associated with the stage gypsy, rather -small in stature, but well set up, strong and robust, fine eyes and -features and, with respect to the young women and girls (who marry -young), often of an astonishing beauty. In the course of a very few -years the beauty of the women pales considerably, owing, no doubt, to -their hard life, but among the men their fine physique and lively -emotional features endure until well past the half-century. - -The gypsies are supposedly a joyful, amiable race; sometimes they are -and sometimes they are not; but looking at them all round it is not -difficult to apply the verses of Beranger, beginning: - - "Sorciers, bateleurs ou filous - Reste immonde - D'un ancien monde - Gais Bohemiens, d'ou venez-vous." - -One other class of residents in the Pyrenees must be mentioned here, and -that is the family of Ursus and their descendants. - -The bears of the Pyrenees are of two sorts; the dignified _Ours des -Pyrenees_ is a versatile and accomplished creature. Sometimes he is a -carnivorous beast, and sometimes he is a vegetarian pure and simple--one -of the kind which will not even eat eggs. The latter species is more -mischievous than his terrible brother, for he forages stealthily in the -night and eats wheat, buckwheat, maize, and any other breakfast-food, -prepared or semi-prepared, he finds handy. - -The carnivorous breed wage war against cattle and sheep, or did when -they were more numerous, so that all live stock were obliged to be -enclosed at night. Curiously enough, both species are fattest in winter, -when conditions of life are supposed to be the hardest. There are -wolves, too, in the Pyrenees, but they are not frequently met with. A -bear will not attack a wolf, but a number of wolves together will attack -a bear. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -ROUSSILLON AND THE CATALANS - -[Illustration: map of ROUSSILLON] - - -Roussillon is a curious province. "Roussillon is a bow with two -strings," say the inhabitants. The workers in the vineyards of other -days are becoming fishermen, and the fishermen are becoming vineyard -workers. The arts of Neptune and the wiles of Bacchus have however -conspired to give a prosperity to Roussillon which many more celebrated -provinces lack. - -The Roussillon of other days, a feudal power in its time, with its -counts and nobles, has become but a Departement of latter-day France. -The first historical epochs of Roussillon are but obscurely outlined, -but they began when Hannibal freed the Pyrenees in 536, and in time the -Romans became masters here, as elsewhere in Gaul. - -Then there came three hundred years of Visigoth rule, which brought the -Saracens, and, in 760, Pepin claimed Roussillon for France. Then began -the domination of the counts. First they were but delegates of the king, -but in time they usurped royal authority and became rulers in their own -right. - -Roussillon had its own particular counts, but in a way they bowed down -to the king of Aragon, though indeed the kings of France up to Louis IX -considered themselves suzerains. By the Treaty of Corbeil Louis IX -renounced this fief in 1258 to his brother king of Aragon. At the death -of James I of Aragon his states were divided among his children, and -Roussillon came to the kings of Majorca. Wars within and without now -caused an era of bloodshed. Jean II, attacked by the men of Navarre and -of Catalonia, demanded aid of Louis XI, who sent seven hundred lances -and men, and three hundred thousand gold crown pieces, which latter the -men of Roussillon were obliged to repay when the war was over. Jean II, -Comte de Roussillon, hedged and demanded delay, and in due course was -obliged to pawn his countship as security. This the Roussillonnais -resented and revolt followed, when Louis XI without more ado went up -against Perpignan and besieged it on two occasions before he could -collect the sum total of his bill. - -Charles VIII, returning from his Italian travels, in a generous frame of -mind, gave back the province to the king of Aragon without demanding -anything in return. Ferdinand of Aragon became in time king of Spain, by -his marriage with Isabella, and Roussillon came again directly under -Spanish domination. - -Meantime the geographical position of Roussillon was such that it must -either become a part of France or a buffer-state, or duelling ground, -where both races might fight out their quarrels. Neither Francois I nor -Louis XIII thought of anything but to acquire the province for France, -and so it became a battle-ground where a continuous campaign went on for -years, until, in fact, the Grand Conde, after many engagements, finally -entered Perpignan and brought about the famous Treaty of the Pyrenees, -signed on the Ile des Faisans at the other extremity of the great -frontier mountain chain. - -The antique monuments of Roussillon are not many; principally they are -the Roman baths at Arles-sur-Tech, the tomb of Constant, son of -Constantine, at Elne, and an old Mohammedan or Moorish mosque, -afterwards serving as a Christian church, at Planes. The ancient city of -Ruscino, the chief Roman settlement, has practically disappeared, a -tower, called the Tor de Castel-Rossello, only remaining. - -Impetuosity of manner, freedom in their social relations, and a certain -egotism have ever been the distinctive traits of the Roussillonnais. It -was so in the olden times, and the traveller of to-day will have no -difficulty in finding the same qualities. Pierre de Marca first -discovered, and wrote of these traits in 1655, and his observations -still hold good. - -Long contact with Spain and Catalonia has naturally left its impress on -Roussillon, both with respect to men and manners. The Spanish tone is -disappearing in the towns, but in the open country it is as marked as -ever. There one finds bull-fights, cock-fights, and wild, abandoned -dancing, not to say guitar twanging, and incessant cigarette rolling and -smoking, and all sorts of moral contradictions--albeit there is no -very immoral sentiment or motive. These things are observed alike of the -Roussillonnais and the Catalonians, just over the border. - -[Illustration: _Catalans of Roussillon_] - -The bull-fight is the chief joy and pride of the people. The labourer -will leave his fields, the merchant his shop, and the craftsman his -atelier to make one of an audience in the arena. Not in Spain itself, at -Barcelona, Bilboa, Seville or Madrid is a bull-fight throng more -critical or insistent than at Perpignan. - -He loves immensely well to dance, too, the Roussillonnais, and he often -carries it to excess. It is his national amusement, as is that of the -Italian the singing of serenades beneath your window. On all great gala -occasions throughout Roussillon a place is set apart for dancing, -usually on the bare or paved ground in the open air, not only in the -country villages but in the towns and cities as well. - -The dances are most original. Ordinarily the men will dance by -themselves, a species of muscular activity which they call "_lo batl_." -A _contrepas_ finally brings in a mixture of women, the whole forming a -melange of all the gyrations of a dervish, the swirls of the Spanish -dancing girl and the quicksteps of a Virginia reel. - -The music of these dances is equally bizarre. A flute called _lo -flaviol_, a _tamborin_, a _hautboy_, _prima_ and _tenor_, and a -_cornemeuse_, or _borrassa_, usually compose the orchestra, and the -music is more agreeable than might be supposed. - -In Roussillon the religious fetes and ceremonies are conducted in much -the flowery, ostentatious manner that they are in Spain, and not at all -after the manner of the simple, devout fetes and _pardons_ of Bretagne. -The Fete de Jeudi-Saint, and the Fete-Dieu in Roussillon are gorgeous -indeed; sanctuaries become as theatres and tapers and incense and gay -vestments and chants make the pageants as much pagan as they are -Christian. - -The coiffure of the women of Roussillon is a handkerchief hanging as a -veil on the back of the head, and fastened by the ends beneath the chin, -with a knot of black ribbon at each temple. - -[Illustration: _The Women of Roussillon_] - -Their waist line is tightly drawn, and their bodice is usually laced -down the front like those of the German or Tyrolean peasant maid. A -short skirt, in ample and multifarious pleats, and coloured stockings -finish off a costume as _unlike_ anything else seen in France as it -is _like_ those of Catalonia in Spain. - -The great Spanish cloak, or _capuchon_, is also an indispensable article -of dress for the men as well as for the women. - -The men wear a tall, red, liberty-cap sort of a bonnet, its top-knot -hanging down to the shoulder--always to the left. A short vest and wide -bodied pantaloons, joined together with yards of red sash, wound many -times tightly around the waist, complete the men's costume, all except -their shoes, which are of a special variety known as _spardilles_, or -_espadrilles_, another Spanish affectation. - -The speech of Roussillon used to be Catalan, and now of course it is -French; but in the country the older generations are apt to know much -Catalan-Spanish and little French. - -Just what variety of speech the Catalan tongue was has ever been a -discussion with the word makers. It was not Spanish exactly as known -to-day, and has been called _roman vulgaire_, _rustique_, and -_provincial_, and many of its words and phrases are supposed to have -come down from the barbarians or the Arabs. - -In 1371 the Catalan tongue already had a poetic art, a dictionary of -rhymes, and a grammar, and many inscriptions on ancient monuments in -these parts (eighth, ninth and tenth centuries) were in that tongue. In -the twelfth and thirteenth centuries the Catalan tongue possessed a -written civil and maritime law, thus showing it was no bastard. - -A fatality pursued everything Catalan however; its speech became -Spanish, and its nationality was swallowed up in that of Castille. At -any rate, as the saying goes in Roussillon,--and no one will dispute -it,--"one must be a Catalan to understand Catalan." - -The Pays-de-Fenouillet, of which St. Paul was the former capital, lies -in the valley of the Agly. Saint-Paul-de-Fenouillet is the present -commercial capital of the region, if the title of commercial capital can -be appropriately bestowed upon a small town of two thousand inhabitants. -The old province, however, was swallowed up by Roussillon, which in turn -has become the Departement of the Pyrenees-Orientales. - -The feudality of these parts centred around the Chateau de Fenouillet, -now a miserable ruin on the road to Carcassonne, a few kilometres -distant. There are some ruined, but still traceable, city walls at -Saint-Paul-de-Fenouillet, but nothing else to suggest its one-time -importance, save its fourteenth-century church, and the great tower of -its ancient chapter-house. - -Nearer Perpignan is Latour-de-France, the frontier town before Richelieu -was able to annex Roussillon to his master's crown. - -Latour-de-France also has the debris of a chateau to suggest its former -greatness, but its small population of perhaps twelve hundred persons -think only of the culture of the vine and the olive and have little -fancy for historical monuments. - -Here, and at Estagel, on the Perpignan road, the Catalan tongue is still -to be heard in all its silvery picturesqueness. - -Estagel is what the French call "_une jolie petite ville_;" it has that -wonderful background of the Pyrenees, a frame of olive-orchards and -vineyards, two thousand inhabitants, the Hotel Gary, a most excellent, -though unpretentious, little hotel, and the birthplace of Francois Arago -as its chief sight. Besides this, it has a fine old city gate and a -great clock-tower which is a reminder of the Belfry of Bruges. The wines -of the neighbourhood, the _macabeu_ and the _malvoisie_ are famous. - -North of Estagel, manners and customs and the _patois_ change. -Everything becomes Languedocian. In France the creation of the modern -departments, replacing the ancient provinces, has not levelled or -changed ethnological distinctions in the least. - -The low-lying, but rude, crests of the Corbieres cut out the view -northward from the valley of the Agly. The whole region roundabout is -strewn with memories of feudal times, a chateau here, a tower there, but -nothing of great note. The Chateau de Queribus, or all that is left of -it, a great octagonal thirteenth-century donjon, still guards the route -toward Limoux and Carcassonne, at a height of nearly seven hundred -metres. In the old days this route formed a way in and out of -Roussillon, but now it has grown into disuse. - -Cucugnan is only found on the maps of the Etat-Major, in the Post-Office -Guide, and in Daudet's "Lettres de Mon Moulin." We ourselves merely -recognized it as a familiar name. The "Cure de Cucugnan" was one of -Daudet's heroes, and belonged to these parts. The Provencal literary -folks have claimed him to be of Avignon; though it is hard to see why -when Daudet specifically wrote C-u-c-u-g-n-a-n. Nevertheless, even if -they did object to Daudet's slander of Tarascon, the Provencaux are -willing enough to appropriate all he did as belonging to them. - -The Catalan water, or wine, bottle, called the _porro_, is everywhere in -evidence in Roussillon. Perhaps it is a Mediterranean specialty, for the -Sicilians and the Maltese use the same thing. It's a curious affair, -something like an alchemist's alembic, and you drink from its nozzle, -holding it above the level of your mouth and letting the wine trickle -down your throat in as ample a stream as pleases your fancy. - -Those who have become accustomed to it, will drink their wine no other -way, claiming it is never so sweet as when drunk from the _porro_. - - "_Du miel delaye dans un rayon de soleil._" - - * * * * * - - "_Boire la vie et la sante quand on le boit c'est le vin ideal._" - -Apparently every Catalan peasant's household has one of these curious -glass bottles with its long tapering spout, and when a Catalan drinks -from it, pouring a stream of wine directly into his mouth, he makes a -"study" and a "picture" at the same time. - -A variation of the same thing is the gourd or leathern bottle of the -mountaineer. It is difficult to carry a glass bottle such as the _porro_ -around on donkey back, and so the thing is made of leather. The neck of -this is of wood, and a stopper pierced with a fine hole screws into it. - -It comes in all sizes, holding from a bottleful to ten litres. The most -common is a two-litre one. When you want to drink you hold the leather -bag high in the air and pour a thin stream of wine into your mouth. The -art is to stop neatly with a jerk, and not spill a drop. One _can_ -acquire the art, and it will be found an exceedingly practical way to -carry drink. - -It is a curious, little-known corner of Europe, where France and Spain -join, at the eastern extremity of the Pyrenees, at Cap Cerbere. One read -in classic legend will find some resemblance between Cap Cerbere and the -terrible beast with three heads who guarded the gates of hell. There may -be some justification for this, as Pomponius Mela, a Latin geographer, -born however in Andalusia, wrote of a _Cervaria locus_, which he -designated as the _finis Galliae_. Then, through evolution, we have -_Cervaria_, which in turn becomes the Catalan village of _Cerveia_. This -is the attitude of the historians. The etymologists put it in this wise: -_Cervaria_--meaning a wooded valley peopled with _cerfs_ (stags). The -reader may take his choice. - -At any rate the Catalan Cerbere, known to-day only as the frontier -French station on the line to Barcelona, has become an unlovely railway -junction, of little appeal except in the story of its past. - -In the twelfth century the place had already attained to prominence, and -its feudal seigneur, named Rabedos, built a public edifice for civic -pride, and a church which he dedicated to San Salvador. - -In 1361 Guillem de Pau, a noble of the rank of _donzell_, and a member -of a family famous for its exploits against the Moors, became Seigneur -de Cerbere, and the one act of his life which puts him on record as a -feudal lord of parts is a charter signed by him giving the fishing -rights offshore from Collioure, for the distance of ten leagues, to one -Pierre Huguet--for a price. Thus is recorded a very early instance of -official sinning. One certainly cannot sell that which he has not got; -even maritime tribunals of to-day don't recognize anything beyond the -"three mile limit." - -The seigneurs of Pau, who were Baillis de Cerbere, came thus to have a -hand in the conduct of affairs in the Mediterranean, though their own -bailiwick was nearer the Atlantic coast. At this time there were nine -vassal chiefs of families who owed allegiance to the head. After the -fourteenth century this frontier territory belonged, for a time, to the -Seigneurs des Abelles, their name coming from another little feudal -estate half hidden in one of the Mediterranean valleys of the Pyrenees. - -The chapel of Cerbere, founded by Rabedos in the twelfth century, had -fallen in ruins by the end of the fourteenth century, but many pious -legacies left to it were conceded to the _clercs beneficiaires_, a body -of men in holy orders who had influence enough in the courts of justice -to be able to claim as their own certain "goods of the church." Louis -XIV cut short these clerical benefits, however, and gave them--by what -right is quite vague--to his _marechal_, Joseph de Rocabruna. - -Some two centuries ago Cerbere possessed something approaching the -dignity of a chateau-fortress. - -An act of the 25th May, 1700, refers to the Chateau de Caroig, perhaps -the Quer-Roig. The name now applies, however, only to a mass of ruins on -the summit of a near-by mountain of the same name. Not every one in the -neighbourhood admits this, some preferring to believe that the same heap -of stones was once a signal tower by which a warning fire was built to -tell of the approach of the Saracens or the pirates of Barbary. It might -well have been both watch-tower and chateau. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -FROM PERPIGNAN TO THE SPANISH FRONTIER - -[Illustration: Coat of Arms Parpignan] - - -Once Perpignan was a fortified town of the first class, but now, save -for its old Citadelle and the Castillet, its warlike aspect has -disappeared. - -One of Guy de Maupassant's heroes, having been asked his impressions of -Algiers, replied, "_Alger est une ville blanche!_" If it had been -Perpignan of which he was speaking, he would have said: "_Perpignan est -une ville rouge!_" for red is the dominant colour note of the entire -city, from the red brick Castillet to the sidewalks in front of the -cafes. Colour, however, is not the only thing that astonishes one at -Perpignan; the _tramontane_, that cruel northwest wind, as cruel almost -as the "mistral" of Provence, blows at times so fiercely that one -wonders that one brick upon another stands in place on the grand old -Castillet tower. - -The brick fortifications of Perpignan are, or were, wonderful -constructions, following, in form and system, the ancient Roman manner. - -It was a sacrilege to strip from the lovely city of Perpignan its triple -ramparts and Citadelle, leaving only the bare walls of the Castillet, -the sole remainder of its strength of old. - -Perpignan's walls have disappeared, but still one realizes full well -what an important strategic point it is, guarding, as it does, the -eastern gateway into Spain. - -All the cities of the Midi possess some characteristic by which they are -best known. Toulouse has its _Capitole_, Nimes its _Arena_, Arles its -Alyscamps, Pau its Chateau, and Perpignan its Castillet. - -Built entirely of rosy-red brick, its battlemented walls rise beside the -Quai de la Basse to-day as proudly as they ever did, though shorn of -their supporting ramparts, save the Porte Notre Dame adjoining. That -fortunately has been spared. Above this Porte Notre Dame is a figure of -the Madonna, which, as well as the gate, dates from the period when the -kings of Aragon retook possession of the ephemeral Royaume de Majorque, -of which Perpignan was the capital,--a glory, by the way, which endured -less than seventy years, but which has left a noticeable trace in all -things relating to the history of the region. - -In the tenth century Perpignan was known only as "Villa Perpiniani," -indeed it so remained until it was conquered by Louis XIII, when it -became definitely French. Bloody war, celebrated sieges, ravages by the -pest, an earthquake or two, and incendiaries without number could not -raze the city which in time became one of the great frontier strongholds -of France. - -The Place de la Loge, the great cafe centre of Perpignan, is unique -among the smaller cities of France. Here is animation at all hours of -the day--and night, a perpetual going and coming of all the world, a -veritable Rialto or a Rue de la Paix. It is the business centre of the -city, and also the centre of its pleasures, a veritable forum. Cafes are -all about; even the grand old _Loge de Mer_, a delicious construction -of the fourteenth century, is a cafe. - -[Illustration: _Porte Notre Dame and the Castillet, Perpignan_] - -What a charming structure this Loge is! Its fourteenth-century -constructive elements have been further beautified with late flowering -Gothic of a century and a half later, and its great bronze lamps suggest -a symbolism which stands for eternity, or at any rate bespeaks the -solidity of Perpignan for all time. - -Beside the Loge is the Hotel de Ville, with its round-arched doorways -and windows, iron-barred in real mediaeval fashion, with dainty -colonnettes between. - -Next is the ancient Palais de Justice, adjoining the Hotel de Ville. It -has a battery of mullioned twin windows of narrow aperture, and is in -perfect keeping with the mediaeval trinity of which it is a part. - -The cathedral of St. Jean is another of Perpignan's historical -monuments, but it is far from lovely at first glance, an atrocious -facade having been added by some "restorer" in recent times with more -suitable ideas for building fortresses than churches. - -The tower of the cathedral is modern and, taken as a whole, is -undeniably effective with its iron cage and bell-rack. The original -tower fell two centuries ago during an extra violent blow of the -_tramontane_. - -Passing centuries have changed Perpignan but little, and aside from the -boulevards and malls the streets are narrow and tortuous and almost -devoid of sidewalks. There are innumerable little bijou houses of Gothic -or Renaissance times, and in one narrow street, called quaintly Main de -Fer, one sees a real, unspoiled bit of the sixteenth century. One -curious house, now occupied by the Cercle de l'Union, dates from 1508, -and was erected for one Sancho or Xanxo. Its interior, so far as its -entrance hall and stairway are concerned, remains as it was when first -built. - -The Rue Pere Pigne has a legend connected with it which is worth -recounting. The Pere Pigne, or Pigna, as his name was in Catalan-Spanish -days, was a cattle-herder in the upper valley of the Tet, beside the -village of Llagone. Weary of his lonely life he whispered to the rocks -and rills his desire for a less rude calling elsewhere, and the river -took him up in its arms and washed him incontinently down on to the -lowland plain of Roussillon, and, by some occult means or other, -suggested to the old man that his mission in life was to found there a -fertile, prosperous city. Thus Perpignan came to be founded. - -There may be doubts as to the authenticity of the story, but there was -enough of reality attached to it to have led the city fathers to name a -street after the hero of the adventure. - -Since the demolishment of its walls Perpignan has lost much of its -mediaeval character, but nothing can take away the life and gaiety of its -streets and boulevards, its shops, its hotels and cafes. Perpignan comes -very near being the liveliest little capital of old France existing -under the modern republic of to-day. - -The population is cosmopolitan, like that of Marseilles, and every -aspect of it is picturesque. The vegetable sellers, the fruit merchants, -the water and ice purveyors, all dark-eyed Catalan girls, are delightful -in face, figure and carriage. Their baggy white coiffes set off their -dark complexions and jet black hair. The men of this race are more -serious when they are at business (they are gay enough at other times) -and you may see twenty red onion or garlic dealers and never see a -smile, whereas an orange seller, a woman or girl, always has her mouth -open in a laugh and her headdress is always bobbing about; nothing -about her is passive and life to her is a dream, though it is serious -business to the men. - -The taste of the Catalans of Perpignan for bright colouring in their -dress is akin to that of their brothers and sisters in Spain. The fact -that both slopes of the Eastern Pyrenees were under the same domination -up to the reign of Louis XIII may account for this. - -The Citadelle of Perpignan is closed to the general tourist. None may -enter without permission from the military authorities, and that, for a -stranger, is difficult to obtain. The great gateway to the Citadelle is -a marvel of originality with its four archaic caryatides. Within is the -site of the ancient palace of the kings of Majorca, but the primitive -fragments have been rebuilt into the later works of Louis XI, Charles V -and Vauban until to-day it is but a species of fortress, and not at all -like a great domestic establishment such as one usually recognizes by -the name of palace. - -The Eglise de la Real, beside the Citadelle, was built in the fourteenth -century and is celebrated for the council held here in 1408 by the -Anti-Pope, Pierre de Luna. - -There are some bibliographical gems in Perpignan's Bibliotheque which -would make a new-world collector envious. There are numerous rare -incunabulae and precious manuscripts, the most notable being the "Missel -de l'Abbaye d'Arles en Vallespir" (XIIth century) and the "Missel de la -Confrere," illustrated with miniatures (XVth century), worthy, each of -them, to be ranked with King Rene's "Book of Hours" at Aix so far as -mere beauty goes. - -The habituated French traveller connects _rilettes_ with Tours, the -Cannebiere with Marseilles, Les Lices with Arles, and, with Perpignan, -the _platanes_--great plane-trees, planted in a double line and forming -one of the most remarkable promenades, just beyond the Castillet, that -one has ever seen. It is a Prado, a Corso, and a Rambla all in one. - -The Carnival de Perpignan is as brilliant a fete as one may see in any -Spanish or Italian city, where such celebrations are classic, and this -Allee des Platanes is then at its gayest. - -Another of the specialties of Perpignan is the _micocoulier_, or "_bois -de Perpignan_," something better suited for making whip handles than any -other wood known. Each French city has its special industry; it may -elsewhere be _berets_, _sabots_, truffles, pork-pies or sausages, but -here it is whips. - -Perpignan has given two great men to the world, Jean Blanca and -Hyacinthe Rigaud. Jean Blanca, Bourgeois de Perpignan, was first consul -of the city when Louis XI besieged it in 1475. His son had been captured -by the besiegers and word was sent that he would be put to death if the -gates were not opened forthwith. The courageous consul replied simply -that the ties of blood and paternal love are not great enough to make -one a traitor to his God, his king and his native land. His son was, in -consequence, massacred beneath his very eyes. - -Hyacinthe Rigaud was a celebrated painter, born at Perpignan in the -eighteenth century. His talents were so great that he was known as the -_Van Dyck francais_. - -Canet is a sort of seaside overflow of Perpignan, a dozen kilometres -away on the shores of the Mediterranean. On the way one passes the -scant, clumsy remains of the old twelfth-century Chateau Roussillon, now -remodelled into a little ill-assorted cluster of houses, a chapel and a -storehouse. The circular tower, really a svelt and admirable pile, is -all that remains of the chateau of other days, the last vestige of the -dignity that once was Ruscino's, the ancient capital of the Comte de -Roussillon. - -[Illustration: CHATEAU ROUSSILLON] - -At Canet itself there are imposing ruins, sitting hard by the sea, -of centuries of regal splendour, though now they rank only as an -attraction of the humble little village of Roussillon. The belfry of -Canet's humble church looks like a little brother of that of -"Perpignan-le-Rouge" and points plainly to the fact that styles in -architecture are as distinctly local as are fashions in footwear. - -Canet to-day is a watering place for the people of Perpignan, but in the -past it was venerated by the holy hermits and monks of Roussillon for -much the same attractions that it to-day possesses. Saint Galdric, -patron of the Abbey of Saint Martin du Canigou, and, later, Saints Abdon -and Sennen were frequenters of the spot. - -Rivesaltes, practically a suburb of Perpignan, a dozen kilometres north, -is approached by as awful a road as one will find in France. The town -will not suggest much or appeal greatly to the passing traveller, unless -indeed he stops there for a little refreshment and has a glass of -_muscat_, that sweet, sticky liquor which might well be called simply -raisin juice. It is a "_specialite du pays_," and really should be -tasted, though it may be had anywhere in the neighbourhood. It is a wine -celebrated throughout France. - -At Salces, on the Route Nationale, just beyond Narbonne and Rivesaltes, -is an old fortification built by Charles V on one of his ambitious -pilgrimages across France. A great square of masonry, with a donjon -tower in the middle and with walls of great thickness, it looks -formidable enough, but modern Krupp or Creusot cannon would doubtless -make short work of it. - -A dozen kilometres to the south of Perpignan is Elne, an ancient -cathedral town. From afar one admires the sky line of the town and a -nearer acquaintance but increases one's pleasure and edification. - -The Phoenicians, or the Iberians, founded the city, perhaps, five -hundred years before the beginning of the Christian era, and Hannibal in -his passage of the Pyrenees rested here. Another five hundred years and -it had a Roman emperor for its guardian, and Constantine, who would have -made it great and wealthy, surrounded it with ramparts and built a -donjon castle, of which unfortunately not a vestige remains. - -Ages came and went, and the city dwindled in size, and the church grew -poor with it, until at last, in 1601, Pope Clement VIII (a French Pope, -by the way) authorized its bishop to move to Perpignan, where indeed -the see has been established ever since. - -Of the past feudal greatness of Elne only a fragmentary rampart and the -fortified Portes de Collioure and Perpignan remain. The rest must be -taken on faith. Nevertheless, Elne is a place to be omitted from no -man's itinerary in these parts. - -The great wealth and beauty of Elne's cathedral cannot be recounted -here. They would require a monograph to themselves. Little by little -much has been taken from it, however, until only the glorious fabric -remains. To cite an example, its great High Altar, made of beaten silver -and gold, was, under the will of the canons of the church themselves, in -the time of Louis XV, sent to the mint at Perpignan and coined up into -good current _ecus_ for the benefit of some one, history does not state -whom. - -From the beautiful cloister, in the main a tenth-century work, and the -largest and most beautiful in the Pyrenees, one steps out on a little -_perron_ when another ravishing Mediterranean panorama unfolds itself. -There are others as fine; that from the platform of the chateau at -Carcassonne; from the terrace at Pau; or from the citadel-fortress -church at Beziers. This at Elne, however, is the equal of any. Below -are the plains of Roussillon and Vallespir, red and green and gold like -a _tapis d'Orient_, with the Alberes mountains for a background, while -away in the distance, in a soft glimmering haze of a blue horizon, is -the Mediterranean. It is all truly beautiful. - -In the direction of the Spanish frontier Argeles-sur-Mer comes next. It -has historic value and its inhabitants number three thousand, though few -recognize this, or have even heard its name. As a matter of fact, it -might have become one of the great maritime cities of the eastern slope -of the Pyrenees except that fickle fate ruled otherwise. - -The name of Argeles-sur-Mer figured first in a document of Lothaire, -King of France, in 981; and, three centuries later, it was the -meeting-place between the kings of Majorca and Aragon and the princes of -Roussillon, when, at the instigation of Philippe le Bel, an expiring -treaty was to be renewed. - -The city at that time belonged to the Royaume de Majorque, and Pierre IV -of Aragon, in the Chateau d'Amauros, defended it through a mighty siege. - -Five hundred metres above the sea, and to be seen to-day, was also the -Tour des Pujols, another fortification of the watch-tower or -block-house variety, frequently seen throughout the Pyrenees. - -At the taking of Roussillon by Louis XI, Argeles-sur-Mer was in turn in -possession of the King of Aragon and the King of France. Under Louis -XIII the city surrendered with no resistance to the Marechal de la -Meilleraye; and later fell again to the Spaniards, becoming truly French -in 1646. - -It was a _Ville Royale_ with a right of vote in the Catalonian -parliament, and enjoyed great privileges up to the Revolution, a fact -which is plainly demonstrated by the archives of the city preserved at -the local Mairie. - -In 1793 the Spanish flag again flew from its walls; but the brave -Dugommier, the real saviour of this part of the Midi of France in -revolutionary times, regained the city for the French for all time. - -Five kilometres south of Argeles-sur-Mer is Collioure, the ancient Port -Illiberries, the seaport of Elne. It is one of the most curiously -interesting of all the coast towns of Roussillon. Here one sees the best -of the Catalan types of Roussillon, gentle maidens, coiffe on head, -carrying water jugs with all the grace that nature gave them, and rough, -hardy, red-capped sailors as salty in their looks and talk as the sea -itself. - -Collioure is not a _grande ville_. Even now it is a mere fishing port, -and no one thinks of doing more than passing through its gates and out -again. Nevertheless its historic interest endures. From the fact that -Roman coins and pottery have been found here, its bygone position has -been established as one of prominence. In the seventh century it was in -the hands of the Visigoths and three centuries later Lothaire, King of -France, gave permission to Wifred, Comte de Roussillon et d'Empories, to -develop and exploit the ancient settlement anew. - -Here, in 1280, Guillaume de Puig d'Orphila founded a Dominican convent; -and it is the Eglise de Collioure of to-day, sitting snugly by the -entrance to the little port, that formed the church of the old -conventual establishment. In 1415 the Anti-Pope Benoit XIII, Pierre de -Luna, took ship here, frightened from France by the menaces of -Sigismond. Louis XI, when he sought to reduce Roussillon, would have -treated Collioure hardly, but so earnest and skilful was its defence -that it escaped the indignities thrust upon Elne and Perpignan. The -kings of Spain for a time dominated the city, and during their rule -the fortress known to-day as the Fort St. Elne was constructed. - -[Illustration: COLLIOURE] - -One of the red-letter incidents of Collioure was the shipwreck off its -harbour of the Infanta of Spain, as she was en route by sea from -Barcelona to Naples in 1584. A galley slave carried the noble lady on -his shoulders as he swam to shore. News of the adventure came to the -Bishop of Elne who was also plain Jean Teres, a Catalan and governor of -the province; and he caused the unfortunate lady to be brought to the -episcopal palace for further care. In return the princess used her -influence at court and had the prelate made Archbishop of Tarragona, -viceroy of Catalonia, and counsellor to the king of Spain. Of the -_forcat_ who really saved the lady, the chroniclers are blank. One may -hope that he obtained some recompense, or at least liberty. - -There are numerous fine old Gothic and Renaissance houses here, with -carved statues in niches, hanging lamps, great bronze knockers, and iron -hinges, interesting enough to incite the envy of a curio-collector. - -Collioure has a great fete on the sixteenth of August of each year, the -Fete de Saint Vincent. There is much processioning going and coming from -the sea in ships and gaily decorated boats, and after all fireworks on -the water. The religious significance of it all is lost in the general -rejoicing; but it's a most impressive sight nevertheless. - -Collioure is also famous for its fishing. The sardines and anchovies -taken offshore from Collioure are famous all over France and Russia -where gastronomy is an art. Two classic excursions are to be made from -Collioure; one is to the hermitage of Notre Dame de Consolation, and the -other to the Abbey of Valbonne. The first is simply a ruined hermitage -seated on a little verdure-clad plateau high above the vineyards and -olive orchards of the plain; but it is remarkably attractive, and it -takes no great wealth of imagination to people the courtyard with the -holy men of other days. Now its ruined, gray walls are set off with -lichens, vines and rose-trees; and it is as quiet and peaceful a retreat -from the world and its nerve-racking conventions as may be found. - -The Abbey of Valbonne is practically the counterpart of Notre Dame de -Consolation so far as unworldliness goes. It was founded in 1242, but -left practically deserted from the fifteenth century, after the invasion -of Roussillon by Louis XI. The Tour Massane, a great guardian -watch-tower, dominates the ruins and marks the spot where Yolande, a -queen of Aragon, lies buried. - -[Illustration: _Chateau d'Ultrera_] - -Inland from Collioure, perhaps five kilometres in a bee line, but a -dozen or more by a sinuous mountain path, high up almost on the crest of -the Alberes, is the chateau fort of Ultrera. Its name alone, without -further description, indicates its picturesqueness, probably derived -from the _castrum vulturarium_, or nest of vultures of Roman times. What -the history of this stronghold may have been in later mediaeval times no -one knows; but it was a Roman outpost in the year 1073 and later a -Visigoth stronghold. It was a fortress guarding the route to and from -Spain via Narbonne, Salies, Ruscino, Elne, Saint Andre, Pave and so on -to the Col de la Carbossiere. Now this road is only a mule track and all -the considerable traffic between the two countries passes via the Col de -Perthus to the westward. - -The peak upon which sits Ultrera culminates at a height of five hundred -and seventeen metres, and rises abruptly from the seashore plain in most -spectacular fashion. The ruins are but ruins to be sure, but the grim -suggestion of what they once stood for is very evident. En route from -Perpignan or Collioure one passes the Ermitage de Notre Dame de Chateau, -formerly a place of pious pilgrimage, and where travellers may still -find refreshment. - -Banyuls-sur-Mer is the last French station on the railway leading into -Spain. At Banyuls even a keen observer of men and things would find it -hard, if he had been plumped down here in the middle of the night, to -tell, on awaking in the morning, whether he was in Spain, Italy or -Africa. The country round about is a blend of all three; with, perhaps, -a little of Greece. It possesses a delicious climate and a flora almost -as sub-tropical and as varied as that of Madeira. - -No shadow hangs over Banyuls-sur-Mer. The sea scintillates at its very -doors; and, opposite, lie the gracious plains and valleys which reach to -the crowning crests of the Pyrenees in the southwest. It is an ancient -bourg, and its history recurs again and again in that of Roussillon. -Turn by turn one reads in the pages of its chroniclers the names of the -Comtes d'Empories-Roussillon, and the Rois de Majorque et d'Aragon. - -Lothaire and the then reigning Comte d'Empories came to an arrangement -in the tenth century whereby the hill above the town was to be fortified -by the building of a chateau or _mas_. This was done; but the seaport -never prospered greatly until the union of France and Roussillon, when -its people, whose chief source of prosperity had been a contraband -trade, took their proper place in the affairs of the day. - -The National Convention subsequently formulated a decree that the -"_Banyulais ayant bien merite de la patrie_," and ordered that an -obelisk be erected commemorative of the capitulation of the Spaniards. -For long years this none too lovely monument was unbuilt,--"_Banyuls est -si loin de Paris_," said the habitant in explanation--but to-day it -stands in all its ugliness on the quay by the waterside. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -THE CANIGOU AND ANDORRA - - -There is a section of the Pyrenees that may well be called "the unknown -Pyrenees." The main chain has been travelled, explored and exploited for -long years, but the Canigou, lying between the rivers Tet and Tech, has -only come to be known since half a dozen years ago when the French Alps -Club built a chalet-hotel on the plateau of Cortalets. This is at an -altitude of 2,200 metres, from which point it is a two hour and a half -climb to the summit. - -All the beauties of the main chain of the Pyrenees are here in this -side-long spur just before it plunges its forefoot into the blue waters -of the Mediterranean. It is majestic, and full of sweet flowering -valleys stretching off northward and eastward. Unless one would conquer -the Andes or the Himalayas he will find the Canigou, Puig, Campiardos, -or Puigmal, from eight to ten thousand feet in height, all he will care -to undertake without embracing mountaineering as a profession. - -The great charm of the Canigou is its comparatively isolated grandeur; -for the mountains slope down nearly to sea level, before they rise again -and form the main chain. - -A makeshift road runs up as far as the Club's chalet, but walking or -mule back are the only practicable means of approach. To-day it is all -primitive and unspoiled, but some one in the neighbourhood has been to -Switzerland and learned the rudiments of "exploitation" and every little -while threatens a funicular railway--and a tea room. - -In the chalet are twenty-five beds ready for occupancy, at prices -ranging from a franc and a half to two francs and a half in summer. In -winter the establishment is closed; but those venturesome spirits who -would undertake the climb may get a key to the snow-buried door at -Perpignan. - -One may dispute the fact that Canigou is as fine as Mont Blanc, Mount -McKinley or Popocatepetl, but its three thousand majestic metres of -tree-grown height are quite as pleasing and varied in their outline as -any other peak on earth. - -The Savoyard says: "_Ce n'est tout de meme pas le Mont Blanc avec ses -4,800 metres_," and you admit it, but one doesn't size up a mountain -for its mere mathematical valuation. - -The Canigou stands out by itself, and that is why its majesty is so -impressive. This is also true of Mont Ventoux in Provence, but how many -tourists of the personally conducted order realize there are any -mountains in Europe save the Alps and its kingly Mont Blanc--which they -fondly but falsely believe is in Switzerland. - -High above, as the pilgrims of to-day wind their way among the -moss-grown rocks of the mountainside, rises the antique Romano-Byzantine -tower and ruins of the old Abbey of Saint Martin. - -Built perilously on a rocky peak, the abbey is a regular eagle's nest in -fact and fancy. In grandiose melancholy it sits and regards the sweeping -plains of Roussillon as it did nearly a thousand years ago. The storms -of winter, and the ravages incident to time have used it rather badly. -It has been desecrated and pillaged, too, but all this has been stopped; -and the abbey church has, with restoration and care, again taken its -place among the noble religious monuments of France. - -[Illustration: The Pilgrimage to St. Martin] - -At the beginning of the eleventh century the Comte de Cerdagne and -Conflent, and his wife Guifred, gave this eerie site, at an altitude -of considerably more than a thousand metres above the sea, to a -community of Benedictine monks for the purpose of founding a monastery. -Ten years later the Bishop Oliba, of Vic-d'Osona in Catalonia, -consecrated the church and put it under the patronage of Saint Martin; -and a Bull of Pope Sergius IV, dated 1011 and preserved in the Musee at -Perpignan, confirmed the act and granted the institution the privilege -of being known as a mitred abbey, bestowing on its governor the -canonical title. It is this antique monastery which rises to-day from -its ruins. It has been sadly robbed in times past of columns, capitals -and keystones, and many a neighbouring farm-house bears evidence of -having, in part, been built up from its ruins. - -The yearly Catalan pilgrimage to St. Martin de Canigou and the services -held in the ruined old abbey are two remarkably impressive sights. The -soft, dulcet Catalan speech seems to lend itself readily to the mother -tongue of Latin in all its purity. A Spanish poet of some generations -ago, Jacinto Verdaguer--called the Mistral-espagnol--wrote a wonderfully -vivid epic, "Canigou," with, naturally, the old abbey in the centre of -the stage. - -In Verdaguer's charming poem, written in the Catalan tongue, the old -abbey tower is made to moan:--"_Campanes ja no tinch_"--"_Bells I have -no longer_." This is no longer true, for in 1904 the omnific "Eveque de -Canigou" (really the Bishop of Perpignan) caused to be hung in the old -crenelated tower a new peal, and to-day there rings forth from the -campanile such reverberating melody as has not been known for centuries: -"_Campanes ja tinch_"--"_I have my bell; Oliba has come to life again; -he has brought them back to me_." - -The present Bishop of Perpignan, Monseigneur de Carsalade du Pont, in -recent years took steps to acquire proprietorship in the abbey church, -that it might be safe from further depredations, and solicited donations -throughout his diocese of Perpignan and Catalonia for the enterprise. - -In 1902, this prelate and his "faithful" from all the Catalan country, -in Spain as well as France, made the Fete de Saint Martin (11th -November) memorable. To give a poetic and sentimental importance to this -occasion the bishop invited the "Consistoire" of the "Jeux Floraux" of -Barcelona to hold their forty-fourth celebration here at the same time. - -On a golden November sunlit day, amid the ring of mountains all -resplendent with a brilliant autumn verdure, this grandest of all Fetes -of St. Martin was held. In the midst of the throng were the Bishop of -Perpignan in his pontifical robes, and the mitred Abbe de la Trappe--a -venerable monk with snowy beard and vestments. At the head of the -procession floated the reconstituted banner of the Comte Guifred, -bearing the inscription "_Guifre par la gracia de Dieu Comte de Cerdanya -y de Conflent_." The local clergy from all over Roussillon and Catalonia -were in line, and thousands of lay pilgrims besides. - -At the church, when the procession finally arrived, was celebrated a -Pontifical Mass. At the conclusion of this religious ceremony the -Catalans of Barcelona took possession of the old basilica and the "_fete -litteraire_" commenced. - -The emotion throughout both celebrations was profound, and at the end -there broke out seemingly interminable applause and shouts of "_Vive la -Catalogne!_" "_Vive le Roussillon._" "_Vive Barcelone!_" "_Vive -Perpignan!_" - -Back of the Canigou, between it and the main chain of the Pyrenees, is -the smiling valley of the Tech and Vallespir. - -The route from Perpignan into Spain passes by Le Boulou, on the Tech. -If one is en route to Barcelona, and is not an automobilist, let him -make his way to Le Boulou, which is really an incipient watering-place, -and take the diligence up over the Col de Perthus and down into Spain on -the other side. The hasty travellers may prefer the "Paris-Barcelone -Express," but they will know not the joy of travel, and the entrance -into Spain through the cut of Cerbere is most unlovely. - -France has fortified the Col de Perthus, but Spain only guards her -interests by her _carabiniers_ and _douaniers_. The little bourg of -Perthus consists of but one long main street, formed in reality by the -"Route Internationale," of which one end is French and the other, the -Calle Mayor, is Spanish. - -Above the village is Fort Bellegarde. It looks imposing, but if guns -could get near enough it would doubtless fall in short order. It was -built by Vauban under Louis XIV, in 1679, on a mamelon nearly fifteen -hundred feet above the pass, and its situation is most commanding. To -the west was another gateway into Spain, once more frequented than the -Col de Perthus, but it has been made impracticable by the military -strategists as a part of the game of war. - -Just beyond Le Boulou is Ceret, a little town at an elevation of a -couple of hundred metres above the sea. - -Ceret's bridge has been attributed to the Romans, and to the devil. The -round loophole, on either side of the great arch, is supposed to have -been a malicious afterthought of the engineers who built the bridge to -head off the evil influences of the devil who set them to the task. The -application is difficult to follow, and the legend might as well apply -to the eyes painted on the bows of a Chinese junk. As a matter of record -the bridge was built in 1321, by whom will perhaps never be known. - -Amelie-les-Bains is ten kilometres higher up in the valley of Tech, and -has become a thermal station of repute, due entirely to the impetus -first given to it by the spouse of France's "Citizen King" in 1840, -whose name it bears. - -Bagneres-de-Luchon, or more familiarly Luchon, is called the queen of -Pyrenean watering-places. If this is so Amelie-les-Bains is certainly -the princess, with its picturesque ring of mountain background, and its -guardian sentinel the Canigou rising immediately in front. It enjoys a -climate the softest in all the Pyrenees, a sky exempt of all the -vicissitudes of the seasons, and a winter without freezing. - -Just north of Amelie-les-Bains is the little village of Palada. It sits -halfway up the mountainside, beneath the protection of a once formidable -chateau, to-day in ruins, its gray green stones crumbling before the -north wind which blows here in the winter months with a severity that -blows knots from their holes,--at least this is the local description of -it, though the writer has never experienced the like. The inhabitants of -the poor little village of Palada got hot-headed in 1871, when Paris was -under the Commune, and had a little affair of their own on the same -order. - -The whole valley of the Tech, being a near neighbour of Spain, has that -hybrid French-Spanish aspect which gives a distinctive shade of life and -colour to everything about. The red cap of the Catalan is as often seen -as the blue hat of the Languedocian. - -At Arles-sur-Tech, not for a moment to be confounded with -Arles-en-Provence, is a remarkable series of architectural monuments, as -well as a charming old church which dates back to the twelfth century, -and a Roman sarcophagus which mysteriously fills itself with water, and -performs miracles on the thirtieth of each July. Within the church are -the relics of the Christian martyrs, Abdon and Sennen, brought from -Rome in the ninth century. The charming little mountain town is at once -an historic and a religious shrine. - -High up in the valley of the Tech is Prats-de-Mollo, with its guardian -fortress of Lagarde high above on the flank of a hill. This tiny -fortress looks hardly more than a block-house to-day, but in its time it -was ranked as one of the best works of Vauban. To keep it company, one -notes the contrasting ruins of the feudal Chateau de Peille hard by. - -The town itself is fortified by a surrounding rampart, still well -preserved, with great gates and pepper-box towers well distributed -around its circumference. In olden times these ramparts held off the -besieging kings of Aragon, but to-day they would quickly succumb to -modern guns and ammunition. - -Along with its bygone attractions Prats-de-Mollo is trying hard to -become a resort, and there are hotels of a modernity and excellence -which are surprising for a small town of twenty-five hundred -inhabitants, so far off the beaten track. In spite of this no amount of -improvements and up-to-date ideas will ever eradicate the mediaeval -aspect of the place, unless the walls themselves are razed. Its -churches, too, are practically fortresses, like those of its neighbour -Arles, and the whole aspect of the region is warlike. - -The principal church, which dominates the city with its great Roman -tower, is a remarkable construction in more ways than one. It is a -veritable church militant, for from its great crenelated tower one may -pass by an underground vaulted gallery to and from Fort Lagarde. There -is no such view to be had up and down the valley and off towards the -Spanish frontier as from its platform. The interior is most curious; -more Spanish than French in its profuse application of gold and tinsel. -A gigantic _retable_ of the time of Louis XIV is the chief artistic -accessory within. - -There is no carriage road from Prats into Spain, but a mule track leads -to the Spanish village of Camprodon. - -In a little corner of the Pyrenees, between Vallespir and the valley of -the Tech--where lie Ceret, Arles and Prats-de-Mollo--and the valley of -the Tet, around the western flank of the Canigou, is the Cerdagne, a -little district of other days, known to-day only to travellers to or -from Perpignan or Quillan into Andorra, via Hospitalet or Bourg-Madame. -Vauban fortified the Col de la Perche on the Spanish border to protect -the three districts ceded to Louis XIII by Spain--Cerdagne, Capcir and -Conflent. - -Almost the whole of the Cerdagne is mountains and valleys; and until one -reaches the valley of the Tet, at Villefranche or Prades, one is -surrounded by a silent strangeness which is conducive to the thought of -high ideals and the worship of nature, but drearily lonesome to one who -likes to study men and manners. This is about the wildest, ruggedest, -and least spoiled corner of France to-day. Nothing else in the Pyrenees -or the Alps can quite approach it for solitude. - -Villefranche--Conflent and Barcelonnette in the Basses-Alpes might be -sisters, so like are they in their make-up and surroundings. Each have -great fortresses with parapets of brick, and great stairways of ninety -steps leading up from the lower town. The surrounding houses--half-fortified, -narrow-windowed, and bellicose-looking--stand as grim and silent to-day -as if they feared imminent invasion. - -Far away in the historic past Villefranche was founded by a Comte de -Cerdagne who surrounded himself with a little band of adventurers who -were willing to turn their hand to fighting, smuggling or any other -profitable business. - -Vauban took this old foundation and surrounded it with walls anew, and -gave the present formidable aspect to the place, building its ramparts -of the red marble or porphyry extracted from the neighbouring mountains. -Its naturally protected position, set deep in a rocky gorge, gave added -strength to the fortress. - -Louis XIV, in one of his irrational moments, built a chateau here and -proposed living in it, but fate ruled otherwise. About the only -connection of the king with it was when he chained up four women in a -dungeon. The chains and rings in the walls may be seen to-day. - -Villefranche, its fortifications and its chateau are admirable examples -of the way of doing things in Roussillon between the tenth and -fourteenth centuries; and the town is typically characteristic of a -feudal bourg, albeit it has no very splendid or magnificent -appointments. - -Prades, just east of Villefranche, dates its years from the foundation -of Charles-le-Chauve in 844, and has a fourteenth and fifteenth century -chateau (in ruins) affectionately referred to by the habitant as "La -Reine Marguerite." Assiduous research fails however to connect either -Marguerite de France or Marguerite de Navarre with it or its history. - -[Illustration: _Villefranche_] - -Near Villefranche is the little paradise of Vernet. It contains both a -new and an old town, each distinct one from the other, but forming -together a delightful retreat. It has a chateau, too, which is something -a good deal better than a ruin, though it was dismantled in the -seventeenth century. - -Vernet has a regular population of twelve hundred, and frequently as -many more visitors. This is what makes the remarkable combination of the -new and the old. The ancient town is built in amphitheatre form on a -rocky hillside above which rises the parish church and the chateau -which, since its partial demolition, has lately been restored. The new -Vernet, the thermal resort, dates from 1879, when it first began to be -exploited as a watering-place, and took the name of Vernet-les-Bains for -use in the guide books and railway timetables. Naturally this -modern-built town with its hotels, its casino and its bath houses, is -less lovely and winsome than its older sister on the hill. There are -twelve springs here, and some of them were known to the Romans in the -tenth century. - -On towards the frontier and the mountain road into the tiny Pyrenean -state of Andorra is Mont Louis. Just before Mont Louis, on the main road -leading out from Perpignan, one passes below the walls of the highest -fortress in France. - -Within a couple of kilometres of Mont Louis, at the little village of -Planes, is one of the most curious churches in France. It is what is -known as a "round church," and there are not many like it in or out of -France, if one excepts the baptistries at Pisa and Ravenna, and at -Aix-en-Provence, and Charlemagne's church at Aix-la-Chapelle. This -Eglise de Planes is more like a mosque than a church in its outlines, -and its circular walls with its curious mission-like bell-tower (surely -built by some Spanish _padre_) present a ground plan and a sky line -exceedingly bizarre. - -Beyond Mont Louis and close under the shadow of Spain is Bourg-Madame. A -peculiar interest attaches to Bourg-Madame by reason of the fact that it -is a typical Franco-Spanish frontier town, a mixture of men and manners -of the two nations. It sits on one side of the tiny river Sevre, which -marks the frontier at this point, a river so narrow that a plank could -bridge it, and the comings and goings of French and Spanish travellers -across this diminutive bridge will suggest many things to a writer of -romantic fiction. Bourg-Madame is a good locale for a novel, and plenty -of plots can be had ready-made if one will but gossip with the French -and Spanish gendarmes hanging about, or the driver of the diligence who -makes the daily round between Bourg-Madame and Puigcerda in Spain. - -In 1905 there was held a great fete at Bourg-Madame and Puigcerda, in -celebration of the anniversary of the signing of the Franco-Spanish -Convention of 1904, relative to the Trans-Pyrenean railways. It was all -very practical and there was very little romance about it though it was -a veritable fete day for all the mountaineers. - -The mayors from both the French and Spanish sides of the frontier, and -the municipal councillors and other prominent persons from Barcelona met -at the baths of Escalde, at an altitude of fourteen hundred metres. M. -Delcasse, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, described the various -stages of Franco-Spanish relations leading up to the convention as to -the Trans-Pyrenean railways, which he hoped to see rapidly constructed. -He said that while in office he had done all in his power to unite -France and Spain. "He drank to his dear friends of Spain, to the noble -Spanish nation, to its young sovereign, who had only to show himself to -the public to win universal sympathy, to the gracious queen, daughter of -a great country, the friend of France, who never tired of formulating -good wishes for the prosperity and grandeur of valiant Spain." After the -fetes on the French side, the party crossed the frontier and continued -this international festival at Puigcerda. The fetes ended long after -midnight, after a gala performance at the theatre, at which the -Marseillaise and the Spanish national air were enthusiastically cheered. - -The French highroad turns northwest at Bourg-Madame, and via Porta and -Porte and the Tour de Carol--perhaps a relic of the Moors, but more -likely a reminder of Charlemagne, who chased them from these parts--one -comes to Hospitalet, from which point one enters Andorra by crossing the -main chain of the Pyrenees at the Col de Puymorins. - -"A beggarly village," wrote a traveller of Hospitalet, just previous to -the Revolution, "with a shack of an inn that made me almost shrink. Some -cutthroat figures were eating black bread, and their faces looked so -much like galley-slaves that I thought I heard their chains rattle. I -looked at their legs, but found them free." - -There's good material here for a novel of adventure, or was a hundred -years ago, but now the still humble inn of Hospitalet is quiet and -peaceful. - -[Illustration: arms of Andorra] - -The little republic of Andorra, hidden away in the fastnesses of the -Pyrenees between France and Spain, its allegiance divided between the -Bishop of Urgel in Spain and the French Government, is a relic of -mediaevalism which will probably never fall before the swift advance of -twentieth century ideas of progress. At least it will never be over-run -by automobiles. - -From French or Spanish territory this little unknown land is to be -reached by what is called a "_route carrossable_," but the road is so -bad that the sure-footed little donkeys of the Pyrenees are by far the -best means of locomotion unless one would go up on foot, a matter of -twenty kilometres or more from Hospitalet in Spanish or Porte in French -territory. - -This is a good place to remark that the donkeys of the Pyrenees largely -come from Spain, but curiously enough the donkeys and mules of Spain are -mostly bred in the Vendee, just south of the Loire, in France. - -The political status of Andorra is most peculiar, but since it has -endured without interruption (and this in spite of wars and rumours of -war) for six centuries, it seems to be all that is necessary. - -A relic of the Middle Ages, Andorra-Viella, the city, and its six -thousand inhabitants live in their lonesome retirement much as they did -in feudal times, except for the fact that an occasional newspaper -smuggled in from France or Spain gives a new topic of conversation. - -This paternal governmental arrangement which cares for the welfare of -the people of Andorra, the city and the province, is the outcome of a -treaty signed by Pierre d'Urg and Roger-Bernard, the third Comte de -Foix, giving each other reciprocal rights. There's nothing very strange -about this; it was common custom in the Middle Ages for lay and -ecclesiastical seigneurs to make such compacts, but the marvel is that -it has endured so well with governments rising and falling all about, -and grafters and pretenders and dictators ruling every bailiwick in -which they can get a foothold. Feudal government may have had some bad -features, but certainly the republics and democracies of to-day, to say -nothing of absolute monarchies, have some, too. - -The ways of access between France and Andorra are numerous enough; but -of the eight only two--and those not all the way--are really practicable -for wheeled traffic. The others are mere trails, or mule-paths. - -The people of Andorra, as might be inferred, are all ardent Catholics; -and for a tiny country like this to have a religious seminary, as that -at Urgel, is remarkable of itself. - -Public instruction is of late making headway, but half a century ago the -shepherd and labouring population--perhaps nine-tenths of the whole--had -little learning or indeed need for it. Their manners and customs are -simple and severe and little has changed in modern life from that of -their great-great-great-grandfathers. - -Each family has a sort of a chief or official head, and the eldest son -always looks for a wife among the families of his own class. Seldom, if -ever, does the married son quit the paternal roof, so large households -are the rule. In a family where there are only girls the eldest is the -heir, and she may only marry with a cadet of another family by his -joining his name with hers. Perhaps it is this that originally set the -fashion for hyphenated names. - -The Andorrans are generally robust and well built; the maladies of more -populous regions are practically unknown among them. This speaks much -for the simple life! - -Costumes and dress are rough and simple and of heavy woollens, clipped -from the sheep and woven on the spot. Public officers, the few -representatives of officialdom who exist, alone make any pretence at -following the fashions. The women occupy a very subordinate position in -public affairs. They may not be present at receptions and functions and -not even at mass when it is said by the bishop. Crime is infrequent, and -simple, light punishments alone are inflicted. Things are not so -uncivilized in Andorra as one might think! - -In need all men may be called upon to serve as soldiers, and each head -of a family must have a rifle and ball at hand at all times. In other -words, he must be able to protect himself against marauders. This does -away with the necessity of a large standing police force. - -Commerce and industry are free of all taxation in Andorra, and customs -dues apply on but few articles. For this reason there is not a very -heavy tax on a people who are mostly cultivators and graziers. - -There is little manufacturing industry, as might be supposed, and what -is made--save by hand and in single examples--is of the most simple -character. "Made in Germany" or "Fabrique en Belgique" are the marks one -sees on most of the common manufactured articles. "Those terrible -Germans!" is a trite, but true saying. - -The Andorrans are a simple, proud, gullible people, who live to-day in -the past, of the past and for the past; "_Les vallees et souverainetes -de l'Andorre_" are to them to-day just what they always were--a little -world of their own. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -THE HIGH VALLEY OF THE AUDE - - -The Aude, rising close under the crest of the Pyrenees, flows down to -the Mediterranean between Narbonne and Beziers. It is one of the -daintiest mountain streams imaginable as it flows down through the -Gorges de St. Georges and by Axat and Quillan to Carcassonne, and the -following simple lines by Auguste Baluffe describe it well. - - "Dans le fond des bleus horizons, - Les villages ont des maisons - Toutes blanches, - Que l'on apercoit a travers - Les bois, formant des rideaux verts - De leurs branches." - -At Carcassonne the Aude joins that natural waterway of the Pyrenees, the -Garonne, through the Canal du Midi. This great Canal-de-Deux-Mers, as it -is often called, connecting with the Garonne at Toulouse, joins the -Mediterranean at the Golfe des Lions, with the Atlantic at the Golfe de -Gascogne, and serves in its course Carcassonne, Narbonne and Beziers. -The Canal du Midi was one of the marvels of its time when built (1668), -though it has since been superseded by many others. It was one of the -first masterpieces of the French engineers, and may have been the -inspiration of De Lesseps in later years. - -Boileau in his "Epitre au Roi," said:-- - - "J'entends deja fremir les deux mers etonnees - De voir leurs flots unis au pied de Pyrenees." - -South of Carcassonne and Limoux, just over "the mountains blue" of which -the old peasant sang, is St. Hilaire, the market town of a canton of -eight hundred inhabitants. It is more than that. It is a mediaeval shrine -of the first rank; for it is the site of an abbey founded in the fifth -or sixth century. This abbey was under the direct protection of -Charlemagne in 780, and he bestowed upon it "_lettres de sauvegarde_," -which all were bound to respect. The monastery was secularized in 1748, -but its thirteenth-century church, half Romanesque and half Gothic, will -ever remain as one of the best preserved relics of its age. For some -inexplicable reason its carved and cut stone is unworn by the ravages of -weather, and is as fresh and sharp in its outlines as if newly cut. -Within is the tomb of St. Hilaire, the first bishop of Carcassonne. The -sculpture of the tomb is of the ninth century, and it is well to know -that the same thing seen in the Musee Cluny at Paris is but a -reproduction. The original still remains here. The fourteenth-century -cloister is a wonderful work of its kind, and this too in a region where -this most artistic work abounds. - -One's entrance into Quillan by road is apt to be exciting. The -automobile is no novelty in these days; but to run afoul of a five -kilometre procession of peasant folk with all their traps, coming and -going to a market town keeps one down to a walking pace. - -[Illustration: _Chateau de Puylaurens_] - -On the particular occasion when the author and artist passed this way, -all the animals bought and sold that day at the cattle fair of Quillan -seemed to be coming from the town. The little men who had them in tow -were invariably good-natured, but everybody had a hard time in -preventing horses, cows and sheep from bolting and dogs from getting run -over. Finally we arrived; and a more well-appreciated haven we have -never found. The town itself is quaint, picturesque and quite different -from the tiny bourgs of the Pyrenees. It is in fact quite a city in -miniature. Though Quillan is almost a metropolis, everybody goes to -bed by ten o'clock, when the lights of the cafes go out, leaving the -stranger to stroll by the river and watch the moon rise over the Aude -with the ever present curtain of the Pyrenees looming in the distance. -It is all very peaceful and romantic, for which reason it may be -presumed one comes to such a little old-world corner of Europe. And yet -Quillan is a gay, live, little town, though it has not much in the way -of sights to attract one. Still it is a delightful idling-place, and a -good point from which to reach the chateau of Puylaurens out on the -Perpignan road. - -Puylaurens has as eerie a site as any combination of walls and roofs -that one has ever seen. It perches high on a peak overlooking the valley -of the Boulzane; and for seven centuries has looked down on the comings -and goings of legions of men, women and children, and beasts of burden -that bring up supplies to this sky-scraping height. To-day the chateau -well deserves the name of ruin, but if it were not a ruin, and was -inhabited, as it was centuries ago, no one would be content with any -means of arriving at its porte-cochere but a _funiculaire_ or an express -elevator. - -The roads about Quillan present some of the most remarkable and -stiffest grades one will find in the Pyrenees. The automobilist doesn't -fear mountain roads as a usual thing. They are frequently much better -graded than the sudden unexpected inclines with which one meets very -often in a comparatively flat country; nevertheless there is a ten -kilometre hairpin hill to climb out of Quillan on the road to Axat which -will try the hauling powers of any automobile yet put on the road, and -the patience of the most dawdling traveller who lingers by the way. It -is the quick turns, the _lacets_, the "hairpins," that make it difficult -and dangerous, whether one goes up or down; and, when it is stated that -slow-moving oxen, two abreast, and often four to a cart, are met with at -every turn, hauling hundred-foot logs down the mountain, the real danger -may well be conceived. - -Axat, the gateway to the Haute-Vallee is a dozen or more kilometres -above Quillan, through the marvellous Gorges de Pierre Lys. This is a -canyon which rivals description. The magnificent roadway which runs -close up under the haunches of the towering rocks beside the river Aude -is a work originally undertaken in the eighteenth century by the Abbe -Felix Arnaud, Cure of St. Martin-Lys, a tiny village which one passes -en route. The Abbe Arnaud who planned to cut this remarkable bit of -roadway through the Gorges du Pierre-Lys, formerly a mere trail along -which only smugglers, brigands and army deserters had hitherto dared -penetrate, and who to-day has the distinction of a statue in the Place -at Quillan, was certainly a good engineer. It is to be presumed he was -as good a churchman. - -The Aude flows boldly down between two great beaks of mountains, and -here, over-hanging the torrent, the gentle abbe planned that a great -roadway should be cut, by the frequent aid of tunnels and galleries and -"corniches." And it was cut--as it was planned--in a most masterful -manner. One of the rock-cut tunnels is called the "Trou du Cure," and -above its portal are graven the following lines:-- - - "Arrete, voyageurs! Le Maitre des humains - A fait descendre ici la force et la lumiere. - Il a dit au Pasteur: Accomplis mon dessein, - Et le Pasteur des monts a brise la barriere." - -Surely this is a more noble monument to the Abbe Arnaud than that in -marble at Quillan. The actual "Gorge" is not more than fifteen hundred -metres in length, but even this impresses itself more profoundly by -reason of the great height of the rock walls on either side of the -gushing river. At Saint Martin-Lys, midway between Quillan and Axat, is -the church where the Abbe Arnaud served a long and useful life as the -pastor of his mountain flock. - -Axat, at the upper end of the Gorge, will become a mountain summer -resort of the very first rank if a boom ever strikes it; but at present -it is simply a delightful little, unspoiled Pyrenean town, where one -eats brook trout and ortolans in the dainty little Hotel Saurel-Labat, -and is lulled to sleep by the purling waters of the Aude directly -beneath his windows. This quiet little town has a population of three -hundred, and is blessed with an electric supply so abundant and so -cheap, apparently, that the good lady who runs the all-satisfying little -hotel does not think it worth while to turn off the lamps even in the -daytime. This is not remarkable when one considers that the electricity -is a home-made product of the power of the swift flowing Aude, which -rushes by Axat's dooryards at five kilometres an hour. - -[Illustration: AXAT] - -Two kilometres above the town are the Gorges de St. Georges, also with a -superb roadway burrowed out of the rock. Here is the gigantic -_usine-hydro-electrique_ of 6,000 horse-power obtained from a -three-hundred-foot fall of water. That such things could be, here in -this unheard of little corner of the Pyrenees, is far from the minds of -most European travellers who know only the falls of the Rhine at -Schaffhausen. Axat has a ruined chateau on the height above the town -which is a wonderful ruin although it has no recorded history. To -imagine its romance, however, is not a difficult procedure if you know -the Pyrenees and their history. Its attractions are indeed many; but it -would be a paradise for artists who did not want to go far from their -inn to search their subjects. There are in addition a quaint old -thirteenth-century church, a magnificently arched stone bridge, and -innumerable twisting vaulted passages high aloft near the chateau. - -Away above Axat is the plateau region known as the Capcir, thought to be -the ancient bed of a mountain lake. It is closed on all sides by a great -fringe of mountains, and is comparatively thickly inhabited because of -its particularly good pasture lands; and has the reputation of being the -coldest inhabited region in France, though it may well divide this -honour with the Alpine valleys of the Tarentaise in Savoie. One passes -from the Capcir into the Cerdagne lying to the eastward by the Col de -Casteillon. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -THE WALLS OF CARCASSONNE - - -Never was there an architectural glory like that of Carcassonne. Most -mediaeval fortified bourgs have been transformed out of all semblance to -their former selves, but not so Carcassonne. It lives to-day as in the -past, transformed or restored to be sure, but still the very ideal of a -walled city of the Middle Ages. - -The stress and cares of commerce and the super-civilization of these -latter days have built up a new and ugly commercial city beyond the -walls, leaving _La Cite_ a lonely dull place where the very spirit of -mediaevalism stalks the streets and passages, and the ghosts of a past -time people the chateau, the donjon, and the surrounding buildings which -once sheltered counts and prelates and chevaliers and courtly ladies. -The old cathedral, too, dedicated to St. Nazaire, as pure a Gothic gem -as may be found outside Sainte Chapelle in Paris, is as much of the past -as if it existed only in memory, for services are now carried on in a -great, gaunt church in the lower town, leaving this magnificent -structure unpeopled and alone. - -Carcassonne, as seen from the low-lying plain of the valley of the Aude, -makes a most charming _motif_ for a picture. In the purple background -are the Pyrenees, setting off the crenelated battlements of walls, -towers and donjon in genuine fairy-land fashion. It is almost too -ethereal to be true, as seen through the dim mist of an early May -morning. "A wonderful diadem of chiselled stone set in the forehead of -the Pyrenees," an imaginative Frenchman called it. It would not be wise -to attempt to improve on this metaphor. - -This world's wonder--for it is a world's wonder, though not usually -included in the magic seven--has enchanted author, poet, painter, -historian and architect. Who indeed could help giving it the homage due, -once having read Viollet-le-Duc's description in his "Dictionnaire -Raisonee d'Architecture," or Nadaud's lines beginning:-- - - "Je n'ai jamais vu Carcassonne." - -Five thousand people from all over the world pass its barbican in a -year, and yet how few one recalls among his acquaintances who have ever -been there. - -It began to dawn upon the French away back in 1835, at the instigation -of Prosper Merimee, that they had within their frontiers the most -wonderfully impressive walled city still above ground. It was the work -of fifty years to clear its streets and ramparts of a conglomerate mass -of parasite structures which had been built into the old fabric, and to -reconstruct the roofings and copings of walls and houses to an -approximation of what they must once have been. - -Carcassonne is not very accessible to the casual tourist to southern -France who thinks to laze away a dull November or January at Pau, -Biarritz, or even on the Riviera. It is not in the least inaccessible, -but it is not on the direct line to anywhere, unless one is en route -from Bordeaux to Marseilles, or is making a Pyrenean trip. At any rate -it is the best value for the money that one will get by going a couple -of hundred kilometres out of his way in the whole circuit of France. By -all means study the map, gentle reader, and see if you can't figure it -out somehow so that you may get to Carcassonne. - -Carcassonne, the present city, dates from the days of the good Saint -Louis, but all interest lies with its elder sister, _La Cite_, a bouquet -of walls and towers, just across the eight-hundred-year-old bridge over -the Aude. - -Close to the feudal city, across the Pont-Vieux, was the barbican, a -work completed under Saint Louis. It gave immediate access to the city -of antiquity, and defended the approaches to the chateau after the -manner of an outpost, which it really was. This one learns from the old -plans, but the barbican itself disappeared in 1816. - -[Illustration] - -Carcassonne was a most effective stronghold and guarded two great routes -which passed directly through it, one the Route de Spain, and the other -running from Toulouse to the Mediterranean, the same that scorching -automobilists "let out" on to-day as they go from one gaming-table at -Monte Carlo to another at Biarritz. - -The Romans first made Carcassonne a stronghold; then, from the fifth to -the eighth centuries, came the Visigoths. The Saracens held it for -twenty-five years and their traces are visible to-day. After the -Saracens it came to Charlemagne, and at his death to the Vicomtes de -Carcassonne, independent masters of a neighbouring region, who owed -allegiance to nobody. This was the commencement of the French dynasty of -Trencavel, and the early years of the eleventh century saw the court of -Carcassonne brilliant with troubadours, minstrels and _Cours d'Amour_. -The _Cours d'Amour_ of Adelaide, wife of Roger Trencavel, and niece of -the king of France, were famous throughout the Midi. The followers in -her train--minstrels, troubadours and lords and ladies--were many, and -no one knew or heard of the fair chatelaine of Carcassonne without being -attracted to her. - -Simon de Montfort pillaged Carcassonne when raiding the country round -about, but meanwhile the old _Cite_ was growing in strength and -importance, and many were the sieges it underwent which had no effect -whatever on its walls of stone. All epochs are writ large in this -monument of mediaevalism. Until the conquest of Roussillon, Carcassonne's -fortress held its proud position as a frontier stronghold; then, during -long centuries, it was all but abandoned, and the modern city grew and -prospered in a matter-of-fact way, though never approaching in the least -detail the architectural magnificence of its hill-top sister. - -The military arts of the Middle Ages are as well exemplified at -Carcassonne as can anywhere be seen out of books and engravings. The -entrance is strongly protected by many twistings and turnings of walled -alleys, producing a veritable maze. The Porte d'Aude is the chief -entrance, and is accessible only to those on foot. Verily, the walls -seem to close behind the visitor as he makes his way to the topmost -height, up the narrow cobble-paved lanes. Four great gates, one within -another, and four walls have to be passed before one is properly within -the outer defences. To enter the _Cite_ there is yet another encircling -wall to be passed. - -Carcassonne is practically a double fortress; the distance around the -outer walls is a kilometre and a half and the inner wall is a full -kilometre in circumference. Between these fortifying ramparts unroll -the narrow ribbons of roadway which a foe would find impossible to pass. - -[Illustration: _The Walls of Carcassonne_] - -Finally, within the last line of defence, on the tiny wall-surrounded -plateau, rises the old Chateau de Trencavel, its high coiffed towers -rising into the azure sky of the Midi in most spectacular fashion. On -the crest of the inner wall is a little footpath, known in warlike times -as the _chemin de ronde_, punctuated by forty-eight towers. From such an -unobstructed balcony a marvellous surrounding panorama unrolls itself; -at one's feet lie the plain and the river; further off can be seen the -mountains and sometimes the silver haze shimmering over the -Mediterranean fifty miles away. Centuries of civilization are at one's -hand and within one's view. - -A curious tower--one of the forty-eight--spans the two outer walls. It -is known as the Tour l'Eveque and possesses a very beautiful glass -window. Here Viollet-le-Duc established his bureau when engaged on the -reconstruction of this great work. - -Almost opposite, quite on the other side of the _Cite_, is the Porte -Narbonnaise, the only way by which a carriage may enter. One rises -gently to the plateau, after first passing this monumental gateway, -which is flanked by two towers. Over the Porte Narbonnaise is a rude -stone figure of Dame Carcas, the titular goddess of the city. Quaint and -curious this figure is, but possessed of absolutely no artistic aspect. -Below it are the simple words, "Sum Carcas." - -The Tour Bernard, just to the right of the Porte Narbonnaise, is a -mediaeval curiosity. The records tell that it has served as a -chicken-coop, a dog-kennel, a pigeon loft, and as the habitation of the -guardian who had charge of the gate. Here in the walls of this great -tower may still be seen solid stone shot firmly imbedded where they -first struck. The next tower, the Tour de Benazet, was the arsenal, and -the Tour Notre Dame, above the Porte de Rodez, was the scene of more -than one "inquisitorial" burning of Christians. - -The second line of defence and its towers is quite as curiously -interesting as the first. - -From within, the Porte Narbonnaise was protected in a remarkable manner, -the Chateau Narbonnaise commanding with its own barbican and walls every -foot of the way from the gate to the chateau proper. Besides, there were -iron chains stretched across the passage, low vaulted corridors, -wolf-traps (or something very like them) set in the ground, and -loop-holes in the roofs overhead for pouring down boiling oil or melted -lead on the heads of any invaders who might finally have got so far as -this. - -The chateau itself, so safely ensconced within the surrounding walls of -the _Cite_, follows the common feudal usage as to its construction. Its -outer walls are strengthened and defended by a series of turrets, and -contain within a _cour d'honneur_, the place of reunion for the -armour-knights and the contestants in the Courts of Love. - -On the ground floor of this dainty bit of mediaevalism--which looks -livable even to-day--were the seigneurial apartments, the chapel and -various domestic offices. Beneath were vast stores and magazines. A -smaller courtyard was at the rear, leading to the fencing-school and the -kitchens, two important accessories of a feudal chateau which seem -always to go side by side. - -On the first and second floors were the lodgings of the vicomtes and -their suites. The great donjon contained a circular chamber where were -held great solemnities such as the signing of treaties, marriage acts -and the like. To the west of the _cour d'honneur_ were the barracks of -the garrison. All the paraphernalia and machinery of a great mediaeval -court were here perfectly disposed. Verily, no such story-telling feudal -chateau exists as that of the Chateau de Narbonnais of the Trencavels in -the old _Cite_ of Carcassonne. - -The Place du Chateau, immediately in front, was a general meeting-place, -while a little to the left in a smaller square has always been the well -of bubbling spring-water which on more than one occasion saved the -dwellers within from dying of thirst. - -Perhaps, as at Pompeii, there are great treasures here still buried -underground, but diligent search has found nothing but a few arrowheads -or spear heads, some pieces of money (money was even coined here) and a -few fragments of broken copper and pottery utensils. - -Finally, to sum up the opinion of one and all who have viewed -Carcassonne, there is not a city in all Europe more nearly complete in -ancient constructions, or in better preservation, than this old mediaeval -_Cite_. Centuries of history have left indelible records in stone, and -they have been defiled less than in any other mediaeval monument of such -a magnitude. - -Gustave Nadaud's lines on Carcassonne come very near to being the -finest topographical verses ever penned. Certainly there is no finer -expression of truth and sentiment with regard to any architectural -monument existing than the simple realism of the speech of the old -peasant of Limoux:-- - - "'I'm sixty years; I'm getting old; - I've done hard work through all my life, - Though yet could never grasp and hold - My heart's desire through all my strife. - I know quite well that here below - All one's desires are granted none; - My wish will ne'er fulfilment know, - I never have seen Carcassonne." - - * * * * * - - "'They say that all the days are there - As Sunday is throughout the week: - New dress, and robes all white and fair - Unending holidays bespeak.' - - * * * * * - - "'O! God, O! God, O! pardon me, - If this my prayer should'st Thou offend! - Things still too great for us we'd see - In youth or near one's long life end. - My wife once and my son Aignan, - As far have travelled as Narbonne, - My grandson has seen Perpignan, - But I have not seen Carcassonne.'" - -What emotion, what devotion these lines express, and what a picture they -paint of the simple faiths and hopes of man. He never did see -Carcassonne, this old peasant of Limoux; the following lines tell why:-- - - "Thus did complain once near Limoux - A peasant hard bowed down with age. - I said to him, 'My friend, we'll go - Together on this pilgrimage.' - We started with the morning tide; - But God forgive. We'd hardly gone - Our road half over, ere he died. - He never did see Carcassonne." - -In August, 1898, a great fete and illumination was given in the old -_Cite de Carcassonne_. All the illustrious Languedocians alive, it would -seem, were there, including the _Cadets de Gascogne_, among them Armand -Sylvestre, D'Esparbes, Jean Rameau, Emil Pouvillon, Benjamin Constant, -Eugene Falguiere, Mercier, Jean-Paul Laurens, et als. - -All the artifice of the modern pyrotechnist made of the old city, at -night, a reproduction of what it must have been in times of war and -stress. It was the most splendid fireworks exhibition the world has seen -since Nero fiddled away at burning Rome. "_La Cite Rouge_," Sylvestre -called it. "_Oh, l'impression inoubliable! Oh! le splendide tableau! It -was so perfectly beautiful, so completely magnificent! I have seen the -Kremlin thus illuminated; I have seen old Nuremberg under the same -conditions, but I declare upon my honour never have I seen so beautiful -a sight as the illuminations of Carcassonne."_ - -One view of the _Cite_ not often had is from the Montagne Noire, where, -from its supreme height of twelve hundred metres (the Pic de Nore) there -is to be seen such a bird's-eye view as was never conceived by the -imagination. On the horizon are the blue peaks of the Pyrenees cutting -the sky with astonishing clearness; to the eastward is the -Mediterranean; and northwards are the Cevennes; while immediately below -is a wide-spread plain peopled here and there with tiny villages and -farms all clustering around the solid walls of Carcassonne--the _Ville_ -of to-day and the _Cite_ of the past. - -Over the blue hills, southward from Carcassonne, lies Limoux. Limoux is -famous for three things, its twelfth-century church, its -fifteenth-century bridge and its "_blanquette de Limoux_," less ancient, -but quite as enduring. - -If one's hunger is ripe, he samples the last first, at the table d'hote -at the Hotel du Pigeon. "Blanquette de Limoux" is simply an ordinarily -good white, sparkling wine, no better than Saumur, but much better than -the hocks which have lately become popular in England, and much, much -better than American champagne. The town itself is charming, and the -immediate environs, the peasants' cottages and the vineyards, recall -those verses of Nadaud's about that old son of the soil who prayed each -year that he might make the journey over the hills to Carcassonne (it is -only twenty-four kilometres) and refresh his old eyes with a sight of -that glorious mediaeval monument. - -North of Carcassonne, between the city and the peak of the Montagne -Noire, is the old chateau of Lastours, a ruined glory of the days when -only a hill-top situation and heavy walls meant safety and long life. - - - - -CHAPTER X - -THE COUNTS OF FOIX - - -The Comte de Foix and its civilization goes back to prehistoric, Gallic -and Roman times. This much we know, but what the detailed events of -these periods were, we know not. Archaeology alone, by means of remaining -monuments in stone, must supply that which history omits. The primitives -of the stone age lived mostly in caverns, but here they lived in some -species of rude huts or houses. This at any rate is the supposition. -With the Romans came civic importance; and fortified towns and cities -sprang up here and there of which existing remains, as at St. Lizier, -tell a plain story. - -The principal historical events of the early years of the Middle Ages -were religious in motive. Written records are few, however, and are -mostly legendary accounts. Dynasties of great families began to be -founded in the ninth century; and each region took on different manners -and customs. The Couserans, a dismemberment of Comminges, became -practically Gascon; while Foix cast off from Toulouse, had its own -development. Victor Balaguer, the poet, expresses this better than most -historians when he says: "_Provence et Pyrenees, s'ecriet-il, portent le -deuil du monde latin. Le jour ou tomberent ceux de Foix tomba aussi la -Provence_." - -The resistance of the counts in the famous wars of the Albigeois only -provoked the incursion of the troops of the cruel Simon de Montfort. The -Comte de Foix fell back finally on his strong chateau; and, on the -sixteenth of June, 1229, in the presence of the papal legate, -representative of the king of France, Roger-Bernard II made his -submission without reserve. - -In 1272, under Comte Roger-Bernard III, the Chateau de Foix underwent a -siege at the hands of Philippe-le-Hardi; and, at the end of three days, -seeing the preponderance of numbers against him, and being doubtful of -his allies, he surrendered. By marriage with Marguerite de Moncade, -daughter of the Vicomte de Bearn, he inherited the two important fiefs -of Catalogne and Bearn et Bigorre, thus preparing the way for possession -of the throne of Navarre. By the thirteenth century the great feudal -families of the Midi were dwindling in numbers, and it was this -marriage of a Comte de Foix with the heiress of Bearn which caused -practically the extinction of one. - -The modern department of the Ariege, of which the ancient Comte de Foix -formed the chief part, possesses few historical monuments dating before -the Middle Ages. There are numerous residential chateaux scattered -about, and the most splendid of them all is at Foix itself. Fine old -churches and monasteries, and quaint old houses are numerous; yet it is -a region less exploited by tourists than any other in France. - -Not all these historic shrines remain to-day unspoiled and untouched. -Many of them were destroyed in the Revolution, but their sites and their -ruins remain. The mountain slopes of this region are thickly strewn with -watch-towers and observatories; and though all but fallen to the ground -they form a series of connecting historical links which only have to be -recognized to be read. The towers or chateaux of Quie, Tarascon-sur-Ariege, -Gudanne, Lourdat and Vic-Dessos are almost unknown to most travellers. -They deserve to become better known, however, especially Lourdat, one -of the most spectacularly endowed chateau ruins extant. - -The fourteenth century was the most brilliant in the history of Foix. -These were the days of Gaston Phoebus; and the description of his -reception of Charles VI of France at Mazeres, as given by the -chroniclers, indicates an incomparable splendour and magnificence. -Gaston Phoebus, like Henri de Bearn, was what might be called a good -liver. Here is how he spent his day--when he was not warring or building -castles. He rose at noon and after a mass he dined. Usually there were a -great number of dishes; and, on really great occasions, as on a fete or -_festin_, the incredible number of two hundred and fifty. These princes -of the Pyrenees loved good cheer, and their usage was to surcharge the -tables and themselves with the good things until the results were -uncomfortable. Gaston's two sons, Yvain and Gratain, usually stood -behind him at table, and the youngest son, another Gaston, first tried -all the dishes before his august father ate of them. He was weak and -sickly, a "mild and melancholy figure," and no wonder! The feasting -terminated, Gaston and his court would pass into the Salle de Parlement, -"where many things were debated," as the chroniclers put it. Soon -entered the minstrels and troubadours, while in the courts there were -trials of skill between the nobles of one house and another, stone -throwing, throwing the spear, and the _jeu de paume_. The -count--"_toujours magnifique_" (no chronicler of the time neglects to -mention that fact)--distributed rewards to the victors. After this there -was more eating, or at least more drinking. - -When he was not sleeping or eating or amusing himself, or conducting -such affairs as he could not well depute to another, such as the -planning and building of castles, Gaston occupied himself, like many -other princes of his time, with belles-lettres and poesy. He had four -_secretaires_ to do his writing; and it is possible that they may have -written much which is attributed to him, if the art of employing -literary "ghosts" was known in that day. He composed _chansons_, -_ballades_, _rondeaux_ and _virelais_, and insisted on reading them -aloud himself, forbidding any one to make a comment on them. How many -another author would like to have the same prerogative! - -Gaston Phoebus de Foix, so named because of his classic beauty, was -undoubtedly a great author in his day. This bold warrior wrote a book on -the manners and usage of hunting in mediaeval times, entitled the -"_Miroir de Phoebus_;" and, while it might not pass muster among the -masterpieces of later French literature, it was a notable work for its -time and literally a mirror of contemporary men and manners in the -hunting field. - -Gaston de Foix was another gallant noble. He died at the age of -twenty-four at the Battle of Ravenna in 1512. Jacques Fournier, who -became Pope Benoit XII, also came from Foix. - -The honour of being the most celebrated of the Counts of Foix may well -be divided by Gaston Phoebus (1343-1390) and Henri Quatre (1553-1610). -The latter was the last of the famous counts of the province; and he it -was who united it with the royal domain of France, thus sinking its -identity for ever, though his predecessors had done their utmost to keep -its independence alive. - -During the Hundred Years War the Comtes de Foix, masters of the entire -middle chain of the Pyrenees, were the strongest power in the southwest; -and above all were they powerful because of their alliances and -relations with the Spanish princes, whose friendship and aid were -greatly to be desired, for their support meant success for their allies. -This is proven, absolutely, from the fact that, when the English were -ultimately driven from France, it was through the aid and support of -Gaston Phoebus himself and his successors, Archambaud, Jean I and -Gaston IV. - -The fifteenth century saw the apogee of the house of Foix. One of its -princes married Madeleine de France, sister of Louis XI. The sixteenth -century saw sad times during a long civil war of more than thirty years -duration. War among the members of a household or among one's own people -is really an inexcusable thing. In the Comte the Abbey of Boulbonne was -destroyed. At Pamiers all the religious edifices were razed; and the -Abbey of St. Volusien at Foix, the special pride of the counts for ages, -was destroyed by fire. - -Calm came for a period under the reign of Henri IV, at Paris; but, after -his death, local troubles and dissensions broke out again, inspired and -instigated by the wily Duc de Rohan, which culminated at Pamiers, where -the great Conde and Montmorenci appeared at the head of their troops. - -The peace of Alais ended this final struggle; and, to assure the -security of the country, Richelieu gave the order to dismantle all the -walls and ramparts of the fortified places in the Comte, and all the -chateaux-forts as well. This was done forthwith, and that is why many a -mediaeval chateau in these parts is in ruins to-day. The Chateau de -Foix, by reason of its dignity, was allowed to keep its towers and -battlemented walls. - -For a hundred and fifty years, that is up to the Revolution, Foix was -comparatively tranquil. Under the reign of Louis XIV, however, the -region saw the frequent passage of troops and warlike stores as they -came and went to the Spanish wars. This nearly ruined many dwellers in -town and country by reason of the tax they had to pay in money and -provisions. - -Like the Basques and the Bearnais the inhabitants of the Ariege, the -descendants of the old adherents of the Comtes de Foix, bear many traces -of their former independence and liberty. Civilization and their easy, -comfortable manner of living have not made of them a very robust race, -but they are possessed of much fairness of face and figure and -gentleness of manner. - -The smugglers of feudal times, and considerably later times for that -matter, were the pest of the region. It was rude, hard work smuggling -wines or tobacco over the mountains, in and out of Spain, and its wages -were uncertain, but there were large numbers who embarked on it in -preference to grazing flocks and herds or engaging in other -agricultural pursuits. - -It was hard work for the smugglers of Foix to get their burdens up the -mountains, but they had a custom of rolling their load up into great -balls bound around with wool and thongs and rolling them down the other -side. Thus the labour was halved. The _Romany chiel_ or gypsy adopted -the contraband business readily; and with the competition of the French -and Spanish, there were lively times on the frontier between Foix and -Gascogne and Spain and Andorra. - -M. Thiers recounts an adventure in an auberge of the Pyrenees with such -a crew of bandits, and thought himself lucky to escape with his life. - -The chief of the band, as the travellers were all sitting around the -great log fire, began cleaning his pipe with a long poignard-like knife -which, he volunteered, was ready to do other service than whittling -bread or tobacco if need be. The night passed off safely enough by -reason of the arrival of a squad of gendarmes, but the next night a -whole house full of travellers were murdered on the same spot. - -The roads of the old Comte de Foix, a very important thing for many who -travel by automobile, are throughout excellent and extensive. There are -fourteen Routes Nationales and Departementales crossing in every -direction. The highway from Toulouse to Madrid runs via St. Girons and -Bayonne into Andorra by way of the valley of the Ariege, and to -Barcelona via Perpignan and the Col de Perthus. - -The valley of the Ariege, to a large extent included in the Comte de -Foix, has a better preserved historical record than its neighbours on -the east and west. - -In the ninth century the ruling comte was allied with the houses of -Barcelona and Carcassonne. His residence was at Foix from this time up -to the Revolution; and his rule embraced the valley of the Hers, of -which Mirepoix was the principal place, the mountain region taken from -Catalogne, and a part of the lowlands which had been under the scrutiny -of the Comtes de Toulouse. - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -FOIX AND ITS CHATEAU - - -Foix, of all the Prefectures of France of to-day, is the least -cosmopolitan. Privas, Mende and Digne are poor, dead, dignified relics -of the past; but Foix is the dullest of all, although it is a very gem -of a smiling, diffident little wisp of a city, green and flowery and -astonishingly picturesque. It has character, whatever it may lack in -progressiveness, and the brilliant colouring is a part of all the cities -of the South. - -Above the swift flowing Ariege in their superb setting of mountain and -forest are the towers and parapets of the old chateau, in itself enough -to make the name and fame of any city. - -Architecturally the remains of the Chateau de Foix do not, perhaps, rank -very high, though they are undeniably imposing; and it will take a -review of Froissart, and the other old chroniclers of the life and times -of the magnificent Gaston Phoebus, to revive it in all its glory. A -great state residence something more than a mere feudal chateau, it -does not at all partake of the aspect of a chateau-fort. It was this -last fact that caused the Comtes de Foix, when, by marriage, they had -also become seigneurs of Bearn, to abandon it for Mazeres, or their -establishments at Pau or Orthez. - -Foix nevertheless remained a proud capital, first independent, then as -part of the province of Navarre, then as a province of the Royaume de -France; and, finally, as the Prefecture of the Departement of Ariege. -The population in later times has grown steadily, but never has the city -approached the bishopric of Pamiers, just to the northward, in -importance. - -Many towns in this region have a decreasing population. The great cities -like Toulouse and Bordeaux draw upon the youth of the country for -domestic employment; and, lately, as chauffeurs and manicurists, and in -comparison to these inducements their native towns can offer very -little. - -If one is to believe the tradition of antiquity the "_Rocher de Foix_," -the tiny rock plateau upon which the chateau sits, served as an outpost -when the Phoceans built the primitive chateau upon the same site. Says a -Renaissance historian: "On the peak of one of nature's wonders, on a -rock, steep and inaccessible on all sides, was situated one of the most -ancient fortresses of our land." - -In Roman times the site still held its own as one of importance and -impregnability. A representation of the chateau as it then was is to be -seen on certain coins of the period. This establishes its existence as -previous to the coming of the Visigoths in the beginning of the sixth -century. The first written records of the Chateau de Foix date from the -chronicles of 1002, when Roger-le-Vieux, Comte de Carcassonne, left to -his heir, Bernard-Roger, "_La Terre et le Chateau de Foix_." - -The Chateau de Foix owes its reputation to its astonishingly theatrical -site as much as to the historic memories which it evokes, though it is -with good right that it claims a legendary renown among the feudal -monuments of the Pyrenees. All roads leading to Foix give a long vista -of its towered and crenelated chateau sitting proudly on its own little -_monticule_ of rock beside the Ariege. Its history begins with that of -the first Comtes de Foix, the first charter making mention thereof being -the last will and testament of Roger-Bernard, the first count, who died -in 1002. - -During the wars against the Albigeois the chateau was attacked by Simon -de Montfort three times, in 1210, 1212, 1213, but always in vain. -Though the surrounding faubourgs were pillaged and burned the chateau -itself did not succumb. It did not even take fire, for its rocky base -gave no hold to the flames which burned so fiercely around it. - -The most important event of the chateau's history happened in 1272 when -the Comte Roger-Bernard III rebelled against the authority of the -Seneschal-Royal of Toulouse. To punish so rebellious a vassal, -Philippe-le-Hardi came forthwith to Foix at the head of an army, and -himself undertook the siege of the chateau. At the end of three days the -count succumbed, with the saying on his lips that it was useless to cut -great stones and build them up into fortresses only to have them razed -by the first besiegers that came along. Whatever the qualifications of -the third Roger-Bernard were, consistent perseverance was not one of -them. - -Just previous to 1215, after a series of intrigues with the church -authorities, the chateau became a dependence of the Pope of Rome; but at -a council of the Lateran the Comte Raymond-Roger demanded the justice -that was his, and the new Pope Honorius III made over the edifice to its -rightful proprietor. - -During the wars of religion the chateau was the storm-centre of great -military operations, of which the town itself became the unwilling -victim. In 1561 the Huguenots became masters of the city. - -Under Louis XIII it was proposed to raze the chateau, as was being done -with others in the Midi, but the intervening appeal of the governor -saved its romantic walls to posterity. In the reign of Louis XIV the -towers of the chateau were used as archives, a prison and a military -barracks, and since the Revolution--for a part of the time at least--it -has served as a house of detention. When the tragic events of the -Reformation set all the Midi ablaze, and Richelieu and his followers -demolished most of the chateaux and fortresses of the region, Foix was -exempted by special orders of the Cardinal-Minister himself. - -Another war cloud sprang up on the horizon in 1814, by reason of the -fear of a Spanish invasion; and it was not a bogey either, for in 1811 -and 1812 the Spaniards had already penetrated, by a quickly planned -raid, into the high valley of the Ariege. - -In 1825 civil administration robbed this fine old example of mediaeval -architecture of many of those features usually exploited by -antiquarians. To increase its capacity for sheltering criminal -prisoners, barracks and additions--mere shacks many of them--were built; -and the original outlines were lost in a maze of meaningless roof-tops. -Finally, a quarter of a century later, the rubbish was cleared away; -and, before the end of the century, restoration of the true and faithful -kind had made of this noble mediaeval monument a vivid reminder of its -past feudal glory quite in keeping with its history. - -[Illustration: _Ground Plan of the Chateau de Foix_] - -The actual age of the monument covers many epochs. The two square towers -and the main edifice, as seen to-day, are anterior to the thirteenth -century, as is proved by the design in the seals of the Comtes de Foix -of 1215 and 1241 now in the _Bibliotheque Nationale_ in Paris. In -the fourteenth century these towers were strengthened and enlarged with -the idea of making them more effective for defence and habitation. - -[Illustration: CHATEAU DE FOIX] - -The escutcheons of Foix, Bearn and Comminges, to be seen in the great -central tower, indicate that it, too, goes back at least to the end of -the fourteenth century, when Eleanore de Comminges, the mother of Gaston -Phoebus, ruled the Comte. - -[Illustration: _Key of the Vaulting, Chateau de Foix. Showing the Arms -of the Comtes de Foix_] - -The donjon or _Tour Ronde_ arises on the west to a height of forty-two -metres; and will be remarked by all familiar with these sermons in stone -scattered all over France as one of the most graceful. Legend attributes -it to Gaston Phoebus; but all authorities do not agree as to this. The -window and door openings, the mouldings, the accolade over the entrance -doorway and the machicoulis all denote that they belong to the latter -half of the fifteenth century. These, however, may be later -interpolations. - -Originally one entered the chateau from exactly the opposite side from -that used to-day. The slope leading up to the rock and swinging around -in front of the town is an addition of recent years. Formerly the -plateau was gained by a rugged path which finally entered the precincts -of the fortress through a rectangular barbican. - -Finally, to sum it up, the pleasant, smiling, trim little city of Foix, -and its chateau rising romantically above it, form a delightful -prospect. Well preserved, well protected, and for ever free from further -desecration, the Chateau de Foix is as nobly impressive and glorious a -monument of the Middle Ages as may be found in France, as well as chief -record of the gallant days of the Comtes de Foix. - -Foix' Palais de Justice, built back to back with the rock foundations of -the chateau, is itself a singular piece of architecture containing a -small collection of local antiquities. This old Maison des Gouverneurs, -now the Palais de Justice, is a banal, unlovely thing, regardless of its -high-sounding titles. - -In the Bibliotheque, in the Hotel de Ville, there are eight manuscripts -in folio, dating from the fifteenth century, and coming from the -Cathedral of Mirepoix. They are exquisitely illuminated with miniatures -and initials after the manner of the best work of the time. - -It was that great hunter and warrior, Gaston Phoebus who gave the -Chateau de Foix its greatest lustre. - -It was here that this most brilliant and most celebrated of the counts -passed his youth; and it was from here that he set out on his famous -expedition to aid his brother knights of the Teutonic Order in Prussia. -At Gaston's orders the Comte d'Armagnac was imprisoned here, to be -released after the payment of a heavy ransom. As to the motive for this -particular act authorities differ as to whether it was the fortunes of -war or mere brigandage. - -They lived high, the nobles of the old days, and Froissart recounts a -banquet at which he had assisted at Foix, in the sixteenth century, as -follows:-- - -"And this was what I saw in the Comte de Foix: The Count left his -chamber to sup at midnight, the way to the great salle being led by -twelve varlets, bearing twelve illumined torches. The great hall was -crowded with knights and equerries, and those who would supped, saying -nothing meanwhile. Mostly game seemed to be the favourite viand, and the -legs and wings only of fowl were eaten. Music and chants were the -invariable accompaniment, and the company remained at table until after -two in the morning. Little or nothing was drunk." - -Froissart's description of the table is simple enough, but he develops -into melodrama when he describes how the count killed his own son on the -same night--a tragic ending indeed to a brilliant banquet. "'Ha! -traitor,' the Comte said in the _patois_, as he entered his sleeping -son's chamber; 'why do you not sup with us? He is surely a traitor who -will not join at table.' And with a swift, but gentle drawing of his -_coutel_ (knife) across his successor's throat he calmly went back to -supper." Truly, there were high doings when knights were bold and -barons held their sway. They could combat successfully everything but -treachery; but the mere suspicion of that prompted them to take time by -the forelock and become traitors themselves. - -Foix has a fete on the eighth and ninth of September each year, which is -the delight of all the people of the country round about. Its chief -centre is the Allees de Vilote, a great tree-shaded promenade at the -base of the chateau. It is brilliantly lively in the daytime, and -fairy-like at night, with its trees all hung with great globes of light. - -A grand ball is the chief event, and the "Quadrille Officiel" is opened -with the maire and the prefet at the head. After this comes _la fete -generale_, when the happy southrons know no limit to their gaieties. -There are three great shaded promenades, and in each is a ball with its -attendant music. It is a pandemonium; and one has to be habituated to -distinguish the notes of one blaring band from the others. The central -park is reserved for the country folk, that on the left for the town -folk, and that on the right for the nobility. This, at any rate, was the -disposition in times past, and some sort of distinction is still made. - -In suburban Foix, out on the road to Pamiers, is the little village of -St. Jean-de-Vergues. It has a history, of course, but not much else. It -is a mere spot on the map, a mere cluster of houses on the _Grande -Route_ and nothing more. In the days of the Comte Roger-Bernard, -however, when he would treat with the king of France, and showed his -willingness to become a vassal, its inhabitants held out beyond all -others for an "_independance comtale_." They didn't get it, to be sure, -but with the arrival of Henri Quatre on the throne of France, the -vassalage became more friendly than enforced. - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -THE VALLEY OF THE ARIEGE - - -The entire valley of the Ariege, from the Val d'Andorre until it empties -into the Garonne at Toulouse, contains as many historic and romantic -reminders as that of any river of the same length in France. - -Saverdun and Mazeres, between Toulouse and Pamiers, and perhaps fifty -kilometres north of Foix, must be omitted from no historical trip in -these parts. Saverdun sits close beside one of the few remaining columns -which formerly marked the boundary between Languedoc and Gascogne, a -veritable historical guide-post. It was one of the former fortified -towns of the Comte de Foix. It is an unimportant and unattractive enough -place to-day, if a little country town of France can ever be called -unattractive, but it is the head centre of innumerable chateaux and -country houses of other days hidden away on the banks of the Ariege. -Mostly they are without a traceable history, but everything points to -the fact that they played an important part in the golden days of -chivalry, and such names as l'Avocat-Vieux, Frayras, Larlenque, Madron, -Pauliac and Le Vigne--the oldtime manor of the family of Mauvasin--will -suggest much to any who know well their mediaeval history. - -A diligence runs to-day from Saverdun to Mazeres, the birthplace of the -gorgeous and gallant Gaston of Foix, the hero of Ravenna. Mazeres is a -most ancient little town, built on the banks of a small river, the Hers, -and in the thirteenth century was surrounded by important -fortifications, now mostly gone to build up modern garden walls. Around -the old ramparts has been laid out a series of encircling boulevards, -which, as an expression of civic improvement, is far and away ahead of -the squares and circles of new western towns in America. The encircling -boulevard is one, if not the chief, charm of very many French towns. - -The ruins of the ancient chateau where was born the celebrated Gaston -are still seen, but nothing habitable is left to suggest the luxury amid -which the youth was brought up. Near by are the chateaux of Nogarede and -Nassaure, each of them reminiscent of family names writ large in the -history of Foix. - -Another dozen kilometres southward towards Foix is Pamiers. It is -extremely probable that provincial France has changed its manners -considerably since the Revolution, but one can hardly believe of -Pamiers, to-day a delightful little valley town, all green and red and -brown, that a traveller with a jaundiced eye once called it "an ugly, -stinking, ill-built hole with an inn--_of sorts_," This is not the -aspect of the city, nor does it describe the Hotel Catala. - -Pamiers owes its origin to the erection of a feudal chateau by Comte -Roger II on his return from the Holy Land, and which he called _Apamea_ -or _Apamia_, in memory of his visit to _Apamee_ in Syria. Evolution has -readily transformed the name into Pamiers. Virtually, so far as its -lands went, the place belonged to a neighbouring abbey, but as the monks -were forced to call upon the Comtes de Foix to aid them in protecting -their property from the Comtes de Carcassonne, the title rights soon -passed to the ruling house of Foix. In 1628 Conde pillaged and sacked -the city, and not a vestige now remains of its once proud chateau, save -such portions as may have been built into and hidden in other -structures. The site of the old chateau is preserved in the memory only -by the name of Castellat, which has been given to a singularly -beautiful little park and promenade. - -It was in the thirteenth century that a Bishop of Pamiers, the legate of -Pope Boniface VIII, insulted Philippe-le-Bel in full audience of his -parlement. The king, resentful, drove him from the council, and a Bull -of Pope Boniface delivered the bishop to an ecclesiastical tribunal. So -far, so good, but Boniface issued another Bull demanding that the king -of France submit to papal power in matters temporal as well as in -matters spiritual. Thus a pretty quarrel ensued, beginning with the -famous letter from the king, which opened thus: "Philippe, by the grace -of God, King of the French, to Boniface, the pretended Pope, has little -or no reason for homage...." - -Pamiers itself is a dull little provincial cathedral town, lying low in -a circle of surrounding hills. Its churches are historically famous, and -architecturally varied and beautiful, and the octagonal belfry of its -cathedral (1512), in the style known as "_Gothic-Toulousain_," is -particularly admirable. - -Mirepoix, a dozen kilometres east of Pamiers, is interesting. The -Seigneurie of Mirepoix became an appanage of Guy de Levis, marechal in -the army of Simon de Montfort in the thirteenth century, but the -legislators of Revolutionary times, disregarding the usage of five -centuries, coupled the control of the affairs of the region with those -of Foix, from which it had indeed been separated long ages before. - -Mirepoix has, nevertheless, an individuality and a history quite its -own. In 1317 it was made a bishopric, and was under the immediate -control of the Seneschalship of Carcassonne. It had, by parent right, a -certain attachment for Foix, but by the popular consent of its people -none at all; thus it lay practically under the sheltering wing of -Languedoc. - -The descendants of Guy de Levis were distinguished in the army, in -diplomacy and held many public offices of trust at Paris. Under Louis XV -the last representative of the family was made a "Duc, Marechal de -France et Gouverneur de Languedoc." It was his cousin, Francois de -Levis-Ajac (from whom Levis opposite Quebec got its name), who became -also Marechal de France, and illustrious by reason of his defence of -Canada. - -The Chateau de Montsegur, in the valley of the Hers, was the scene of -the last stand of the Albigeois tracked to their death by the -inquisitors. - -Just westward of Foix is La Bastide-de-Serou, founded in 1254, another -of those ancient bastides with which this part of the Midi was covered -in mediaeval times. To-day it is a mere nothing on the map, and not much -more in reality, a dull, sad town, whose only liveliness comes from the -exploitations of a company whose business it is to dig phosphate and -bauxite from the hillsides round about. - -Below La Bastide is the Chateau de Bourdette, charmingly set about with -vines in a genuine pastoral fashion. For a neighbour, not far away, -there is also the Chateau de Rodes, set in the midst of a forest of -mountain ash and quite isolated. Either, if they are ever put on the -market (for they are inhabitable to-day), would make a good retiring -spot for one who wanted to escape the strenuous cares and hurly-burly of -city life. - -South of Foix is Tarascon-sur-Ariege, a name which has a familiar sound -to lovers of fiction and readers of Daudet. It was not at -Tarascon-sur-Ariege where lived Daudet's estimable bachelor, Tartarin, -but Tarascon-sur-Rhone in Provence. Daudet pulled the latter smug little -town from obscurity and oblivion--even though the inhabitants said that -he had slandered them--but nothing has happened that gives -distinction to the Tarascon of the Pyrenees since the days when its -seigneurs inhabited its chateau. - -[Illustration: _Tarascon-sur-Ariege_] - -Reminders of the town's mediaeval importance are few indeed, and of its -chateau only a lone round tower remains. There are two fortified -gateways in the town still above ground, and two thirteenth-century -church towers which take rank as admirable mediaeval monuments. - -Tarascon was one of the four principal fortified towns of the Comte de -Foix, but suffered by fire, and for ever since has languished and dozed -its days away, so that not even a passing automobile will wake its -dwellers from their somnolence. Tarascon has a fine and picturesque -bridge over the Ariege which intrudes itself in the foreground from -almost every view-point. It is not old, however, but the work of the -last century. - -Here nearly everything is of the mouldy past and rusty with age and -tradition, though there is a local iron industry something considerable -in extent. - -The highroad from Foix into Andorra cuts the town directly in halves, -and on either side are narrow, climbing streets running up the hillside -from the river bank, but architectural or topographical changes have -been few since the olden times. Tarascon's population--though the place -is the market town of the commune--has, in a hundred years, fallen from -fifteen hundred to fourteen hundred and forty five, to give exact -statistical figures, which are supposed not to lie. Such observations in -France really prove nothing, not even that signs of progress are -wanting, nor that folk are less prosperous; they simply suggest that its -cities and towns are self-satisfied and content, and are not ambitious -to outdistance their neighbours in alleged civic improvements of -doubtful taste--always at the tax-payers' expense. - -Tarascon of itself might well be omitted from a Pyrenean itinerary, but -when one includes the neighbouring church of Notre Dame de Sabart--a -place of pilgrimage for the faithful of the whole region of the Pyrenees -on the eighth and fifteenth of September--the case were different. It is -one of the sights and shrines of the region, as is that of Stes. -Maries-de-la-Mer in Provence, or Notre Dame de Laghat in the old Comte -de Nice. - -The old abbey-fortress built here by Charlemagne has disappeared, but -the great Romanesque church, with its three great naves, is avowedly -built up from the remains of the former edifice. Most of Charlemagne's -handiwork has vanished throughout his kingdom, but the foundations -remain, here and there, and upon them has been built all that is best -and most enduring in Gaul. - -In the environs it was planned to make a great centre of affairs, but -destiny and the Comtes de Foix ruled otherwise, though, curiously -enough, up to the Revolution the "_Pretres de Sabart_" ruled with an -iron-bound supremacy many of the affairs of neighbouring parishes which -were no business of theirs. It was church and state again in conflict, -but the Revolution finished that for the time being. - -Like many of the _pardons_ of Brittany, or the fete of Les Saintes -Maries in Provence, the fete of Notre Dame de Sabart commences as a -religious function, but degenerates finally into a _Fete Profane_, with -dancing, bull-baiting, and eating and drinking to the full. It is -perhaps not a wholly immoral aspect that the fete takes on; certainly -the participants do not act in any manner outrageous; but by contrast -the thing is bound to be remarked by westerners, and probably misjudged -and set down as something worse than it is. Bull-baiting, for instance, -sounds bad, but when one learns that it consists only of trying to -snatch a ribbon rosette from between the bull's horns--for a prize of -three francs for a blue one, and five francs for a red one, the bull -carrying the red rosette being, supposedly, more vicious and savage than -the others--the whole thing resolves itself into a simple, harmless -amusement, far more dangerous for the amateur rosette picker than the -bull, who really seems to enjoy it. - -Vic Dessos, just southwest of Tarascon, is a quaint little mountain -town, with the ruins of the Chateau de Montreal and a twelfth-century -church as attractions for the traveller. The savage surroundings of Vic, -the denuded mountain peaks, and the deep valleys, bring tempests and -thunderstorms in their train with astonishing violence and frequency. -The clouds roll down like a pall, suddenly, at any time of the year, and -as quickly pass away again. The phenomena have been remarked by many -travellers in times past, and one need not fear missing it if he stays -anything over three hours within a fifty-kilometre radius. If this -offers anything of a sensation to one, Vic Dessos should be visited. You -can arrive by diligence from Tarascon, and can get comfortably in out of -the rain at the excellent Hotel Benazet. - -From Tarascon to Ax-les-Thermes, still in the valley of the Ariege, is -twenty-five kilometres of superb roadway. All the way are strung out -groups of dainty villages surrounded with cultivated country. Here and -there is an isolated mass of rock, a round watch-tower, or a ruined -fortress, still possessing its crenelated walls to give an attitude of -picturesqueness. There are innumerable little villages, a whole battery -of them, linked together. At the end of this long peopled highway is an -unpretentious mediaeval country house, of that class known as a -_gentilhommiere_, of fawn-coloured stone, and still possessing its two -flanking sentinel towers preserved in all the romantic grimness of their -youth. - -At the junction of the Ariege with the Ascou, the Oriege, the Lauze and -the Foins is Ax-les-Thermes--the ancient _Aquae_ of the Romans, and now a -"thermal station" of the first rank. Primarily Ax is noted for its -sulphurous waters, but for the lover of romantic days and ways its -architectural and Historical monuments are of the first consideration. -The ruins of the Chateau des Maures, the ancient _Castel Maue_, are the -chief of these monuments, while a neighbouring peak of rock bears aloft -an enormous square tower surmounted by a statue of the Virgin. - -There are sixty-one "sources" at Ax-les-Thermes giving a supply of -medicinal waters. In part they were known to the Romans, and in 1260 -Saint Louis founded a hospital here for sick soldiers returning from the -Crusades. - -Ax-les-Thermes is not a howlingly popular watering place, but it is far -more delightful than Luchon, Cauterets or Bigorre, if quaintness of -architecture, manners and customs, and modesty of hotel prices count for -anything. - -The Porte et Pont d'Espagne at Ax is one of the most interesting -architectural reminders of the past that one will find throughout the -Pyrenees. The bridge itself is but a diminutive span carrying a narrow -roadway, which if not forbidden to automobile traffic should be, for the -negotiating of this bridge and road, and the low, arched gateway at the -end, will come very near to spelling disaster for any who undertakes it. - -Throughout the neighbourhood one sees more than an occasional yawning -pit's mouth. All through the Comte de Foix were exploited, and are yet -to some extent, iron mines and forges, the latter known as _Forges -Catalans_. Roger-Bernard, Comte de Foix, in 1293 gave the first charter -to the mine-promotors of the neighbourhood, and the industry flourished -in many parts of the Comte until within a few generations, when, -apparently, the supply of mineral was becoming exhausted. - -At Luzenac, on the line between Tarascon and Ax, one turns off the road -and in a couple of hours, if he is a good brisk walker, makes the -excursion to the _chateau-a-pic_ of Lourdat. There is a little village -of the same name at the base of the rocky peak which holds aloft the -chateau, but that doesn't count. - -Without question this Chateau de Lourdat ranks as one of the most -spectacular of all the Pyrenean chateaux. Its rank in history, too, is -quite in keeping with its extraordinary situation, though nothing very -startling ever happened within its walls. It dates from the thirteenth -and fifteenth centuries, and outside that of the capital of Foix was the -most efficient stronghold the counts possessed. Louis XIII demolished -the edifice, in part, fearing its powers of resistance, and as a base -from which some new project might be launched against him. Accordingly, -it is a ruin to-day, but in spite of this there are still left four -pronounced lines of fortifications before one comes to the inner -precincts of the chateau. For this reason alone it ranks as one of the -most strongly defended of all contemporary feudal works. Even the old -_Cite de Carcassonne_ has but two encircling walls. - -The square donjon rising in the middle is in the best style of that -magnificent royal builder, Gaston Phoebus, and is reminiscent of the -works of Foulques Nerra in mid-France. There is also a great -ogive-arched portal, or gateway, which made still another defence to be -scaled before one finally entered within. - -In situation and general spectacular effect the Chateau de Lourdat takes -a very near rank to that rock-perched chateau at Le Puy--"the most -picturesque spot in the world." - -[Illustration: _Chateau de Lourdat_] - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - -ST. LIZIER AND THE COUSERANS - - -Le Pays de Couserans lies in the valley of the Salat, in the -mid-Pyrenees, hemmed in by Foix, Comminges and Spain. Its name is -derived from the Euskarans, an Iberian tribe who were here on the spot -in the dark ages. - -The history of the Couserans is not known to anything like the extent of -its neighbouring states, and is, accordingly, very little travelled by -strangers from afar, save long-bearded antiquarians who come to study -St. Lizier, and regret that they were not obliged to come on donkey-back -as of old, instead of by rail or automobile. The trouble with -antiquarianism, as a profession, or a passion, is that it leads one to -fall into a sleepy unprogressiveness which comports little with the -modern means at hand for doing things. A photographic plate of a curious -Roman inscription is far more truthful and convincing than the most -painstaking Ruskinese pencil drawing ever limned, and a good -"process-cut" of the broad strokes of some facile modern artist's brush -is more typical of the characteristics of a landscape than the finest -wood or steel engraving our grandfathers ever knew. - -If you like grand mountains, here in Couserans is Mont Vallier, a superb -giant of the central chain of the Pyrenees. If it is sweet sloping -valleys that you prefer, here they are in all their unspoiled wildness, -for the railway actually does stop at St. Girons. If an ice-cold -mountain stream would please your fancy, there is the Salat and its -tributaries, flowing down by St. Girons and St. Lizier into the Garonne. -And, finally, if you wish to roll back the curtain of time you will see -in old St. Lizier a stage set with the accessories the reminiscent -splendours of which will be scarcely equalled by any other feudal bourg -of France. - -There is no region in the Pyrenees of which less is known historically -than the Valley of the Salat. A vicomte reigned here in the sixteenth -century, but the seigneury was divided among different branches of the -family soon after; and, if they had an archivist among them, he failed -to preserve his documents along with the written history of the greater -affairs of Toulouse and Foix. Soon religious and civil troubles began to -press and much of Couserans gave allegiance to neighbouring -feudalities, with the result that from the times of Henri IV to those of -the Revolution, not an historical event of note has been chronicled. - -As one approaches St. Girons, the metropolis of the Couserans, by road -from Foix, he passes through the Grotto of the Mas d'Azil, a great -underground cave, through which runs a splendid carriage road. It is a -work unique among the masterpieces of the road builders of France. This -subterranean roadway has, perhaps, a length of half a kilometre and a -width of from ten to thirty metres. It is not a stupendous work nor an -artistic one, but a most curious one. This Grotte de Mas d'Azil with its -great domed gallery can only be likened to a Byzantine cupola. This much -is natural; but a roadway beneath this noble roof and a parapet -alongside are the work of man. - -It gave shelter to two thousand persons under its damp vault during the -wars of religion, in 1625, when the neighbouring Calvinists here -defended themselves successfully against the Catholic army of invaders. -The cavern was practically a fortress, then, and an old atlas of the -time shows its precise position as being directly behind a little -fortified or walled town, the same which exists to-day. The roadway on -this old map was marked, as now on the maps of the Etat-Major, as -running directly through the "Roch du Mas," and an engraved footnote to -the plate states that the "_riviere passe dessoubs ceste montagne_." - -When Richelieu triumphed against the Protestants he razed the -fortifications of Mas d'Azil, as he did others elsewhere. The little -town is really delightfully disposed to-day, and has a quaint, old domed -church and a fine shaded promenade which would make an admirable -stage-setting for a mediaeval costume play. - -At Montjoie, on the road to Foix, is a curious relic of the past. In the -fourteenth century it was a famous walled town of considerable -pretensions; but, to-day, a population of a hundred find it hard work to -earn a livelihood. The square, battlemented walls of the little bourg -are still in evidence, flanked with four tourelles at the corners and -pierced with two gates. Architecturally it is a melange of Romanesque -and Gothic. - -Castelnau-Durban lies midway between St. Girons and Foix, and possesses -still, with some semblance to its former magnificence though it be a -ruin, an old thirteenth-century chateau. At Rimont, near by, is an -ancient _bastide royale_, a sort of kingly rest-house or hunting lodge -of olden days. The _bastide_ and the _cabanon_ are varieties of small -country-houses, one or the other of which may be found scattered -everywhere through the south of France, from the Pyrenees to the Alps. -They are low-built, square, red-tiled, little houses, a sort of -abbreviated Italian villa, though their architecture is more Spanish -than Italian. They are the punctuating notes of every southern French -landscape. - -One cannot improve on an unknown French poet's description of the -_bastide_:-- - - "Monuments fastueux d'orgueil ou de puissance, - Hotels, palais, chateaux, votre magnificence - N'eblouit pas mes yeux, n'inspire pas mes chants. - Je ne veux celebrer que la maison des champs, - La riante bastide...." - -St. Girons has a particularly advantageous and attractive site at the -junction of two rivers, the Lez and the Salat, and of four great -transversal roadways. The traffic with the Spanish Pyrenean provinces -has always been very great, particularly in cattle, as St. Girons is the -nearest large town in France to the Spanish frontier. - -A century ago a traveller described St. Girons as a "dull crumbling -town," but he died too soon, this none too acute observer. It was -near-by St. Lizier that had begun to crumble, while St. Girons itself -was already prospering anew. To-day it has arrived. Its definitive -position has been established. Its affairs augment continually; and it -is one of the few towns in these parts which has added fifty per cent. -to its population in the last fifty years. - -St. Girons is without any remarkably interesting monuments, though the -town is delightfully situated and laid out and there is real character -and picturesqueness in its tree-lined promenade along the banks of the -Salat. Originally St. Girons was known as Bourg-sous-Ville, being but a -dependency of St. Lizier. To-day the state of things is exactly -reversed. In the twelfth century it came to have a name of its own, -after that of the Apostle Geronius. In the Quartier Villefranche, at St. -Girons, on the left bank of the Salat, is the Palais de Justice, once -the old chateau of the seigneurs, which architecturally ranks second to -the old Eglise de St. Vallier with its great Romanesque doorway and its -crenelated tower like that of a donjon. - -St. Lizier, just out of St. Girons on the St. Gauden's road, is one of -the mediaeval glories which exist to-day only in their historic past. - -[Illustration: _St. Lizier_] - -Its chateau, its cathedral and its old stone bridge are unfortunately so -weather-worn as to be all but crumbled away; but they still point -plainly to the magnificent record that once was theirs. Once St. Lizier -was the principal city of Couserans, a region which included all that -country lying between the basins of the Ariege and the Garonne. In Roman -days it was an important strategic point and bore the imposing name of -_Lugdunum Consoranorum_. Later it became a bishopric and preserved all -its prerogatives up to the Revolution. - -The cloister of the twelfth and fourteenth-century cathedral has been -classed as one of those _Monuments Historiques_ over which the French -Minister of Beaux Arts has a loving care. The chateau of other days was -used also as an episcopal palace, but has undergone to-day the -desecration of serving as a madhouse. - -At each step, as one strolls through St. Lizier, he comes upon relics of -the past, posterior even to the coming of Christianity. On the height of -the hill were four pagan temples, one each to the honour of Minerva, -Mars, Jupiter and Janus. Only a simple souvenir of the latter remains to -complete the story of their former existence as set forth in the -chronicles. There is a two-visaged "Janus-head," discovered in 1771, -which is now in the old cathedral. - -To the north of St. Lizier, a dozen kilometres or so, is the Chateau de -Noailhan, dating from the fifteenth century, which is admirable from an -architectural point of view. - -Above St. Girons, in the valley of the Salat, is the quaint little city -of Seix. It is delightful because it has not been exploited; and if you -do not mind a twenty-kilometre diligence ride from St. Girons, if -travelling by rail, it will give you a practical demonstration of a -"rest-cure." The ruins of the Chateaux de Mirabel and La Garde, close to -the Pont de la Saule, recall the fact that Charlemagne confided the -guarding of these upper valleys of the Couserans to the inhabitants of -Seix, and gave it the dignity of being called a "_Ville Royale_." - -In the Vallee d'Ustou one may see a real novelty in industry which the -mountaineers have developed, and a monopoly at that. Think of that, ye -who talk of the uncommercialism of effete Europe! - -[Illustration: _Trained Bears of the Vallee d'Ustou_] - -It is the trade in dancing bears which the _montagnards_ of Ustou -control. Not great, overbearing, ugly, unwholesome-looking animals like -grizzlies, nor sleek pale polar bears, but spicy-looking, -cinnamon-coloured little bears, as gentle apparently as a shaggy -Newfoundland, and frequently not much bigger. When one does grow out of -his class, and rises head and shoulders above his fellows as he stands -on his hind legs, he is a moth-eaten, crotchety specimen whose only -usefulness is as a "come-on," or a preceptor, for the younger ones. - -There's nothing difficult about teaching a bear to dance. At least one -so judges from watching the process here; but one needs patience, a -will, and must not know fear, for even a dancing bear has wicked teeth -and claws; and, his strength, if dormant, is dangerous if he once -suspects he is master and not slave. Above all the teeth are a great and -valuable asset to a dancing bear. A bear who simply struts around and -holds his muzzle in air is put in the very rear row of the chorus and -called a _sal cochon_, but one who grins and shows his teeth has -possibilities in his profession that the other will never dream of. The -bears of the country fairs of France are all descended from the best -families of Ustou; and, whatever their lack of grace may be in the -dance, certainly "_personne est plus amoureux dans la societe_." - -All through Couserans, particularly along the river valleys, are -piquant little villages and smiling peasant folk, ever willing to pass -the time of day with the stranger, or discuss the good old days before -the railroad came to St. Girons, and when St. Lizier was looked upon as -being a possible religious capital of the world. - -In the high valleys, above St. Girons, in Bethmale in particular, one -finds still a reminiscence of the past in the picturesque costumes of -the peasants not yet fallen before the advance of Paris modes. The men -wear short red or blue breeches, embroidered with arabesques down the -sides, and, on fete-days, a big broad-brimmed hat, and a vest of -embroidered velours, with great turned-up sabots, something like those -of the Ariege. - -The women have a sort of red bonnet coiffe, held tight around the head -by a kind of diadem of ribbon, and a great white-winged cap tumbling to -the shoulders. The skirt is short with very many pleats, and there is -also the traditional sabot. This is the best description the author, a -mere man, can give. - -High up in this same valley is the little village of Biert, once the -civil capital of the region, as was St. Lizier the religious capital. -To-day there are between three and four thousand people here. Just above -is the Col de Port, 1,249 metres high, leading into the watershed of the -Ariege and the Comte de Foix. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - -THE PAYS DE COMMINGES - - -On the first steep slope of the Pyrenees, bounded on one side by -Couserans and on the other by Bigorre, is the ancient Comte de -Comminges, the territory of the Convenes, whose capital was _Lugdunum -Convenarum_, established by Pompey from the remains left by the legions -of Sertorius. Under the Roman emperors the capital became an opulent -city, but to-day, known as St. Bertrand de Comminges, but seven hundred -people think enough of it to call it home. - -It possesses a historic and picturesque site unequalled in the region, -but Luchon, Montrejeau and St. Gaudens have grown at the expense of the -smaller town, and its grand old cathedral church and ancient ramparts -are little desecrated by alien strangers. - -The view of Comminges from a distance is uncommon and startling. One may -see across a valley the outline of every rock and tree and housetop of -the little town clustered about the knees of the swart, sturdy church -of St. Bertrand of Comminges, one of the architectural glories of the -mediaeval builder. The mountains rise roundly all about and give a rough -frame to an exquisite picture. - -What the precise date of the foundation of Comminges may be no one seems -to know, though St. Jerome has said that it was a city built first by -the _montagnards_ in 79 B.C. This sacred chronicler called the founders -"_brigands_," but authorities agree that he meant merely mountain -dwellers. - -There is a profuse history of all this region still existing in the -archives of the Departement, which ranks among the most important of all -those of feudal times still preserved in France. Only those of the Seine -(Paris), Normandy (Rouen) and Provence (Marseilles and Aix) surpass it. - -In autumn St. Bertrand de Comminges is an enchanted spot, with all the -colours of the rainbow showing in its ensemble. It is grandly superb, -the panorama which unrolls from the terrace of the old chateau, -succeeding ranges of the Pyrenees rising one behind the other, cloud or -snow-capped in turn. St. Bertrand, the ancient bishop's seat of -Comminges, with the fortress walls surrounding the town and towering -cathedral is, in a way, a suggestion of St. Michel's Mount off the -Normandy coast, except there is no neighbouring sea. It is a townlet on -a pinnacle. - -The constructive elements of the grim ramparts are Roman, but mediaeval -additions and copings have been interpolated from time to time so that -they scarcely look their age. In the _Ville Haute_ were built the -cathedral and its dependencies, the chateau of the seigneurs, and the -houses of the noblesse. Beyond these, but within another encircling -wall, were the houses of the adherents of the counts; while outside of -this wall lived the mere hangers-on. This was the usual feudal -disposition of things. Eighty thousand people once made up the -population of St. Bertrand. And three great highways, to Agen, to Dax, -and to Toulouse, led therefrom. This was the epoch of its great -prosperity. It is one of the most ancient Roman colonies in Aquitaine, -and its history has been told by many chroniclers, one of the least -profuse being St. Gregoire, Archbishop of Tours. - -[Illustration: _St. Bertrand de Comminges_] - -After a frightful massacre in the ninth century the city, its churches, -its chateau and its houses became deserted. It was a century later that -Saint Bertrand de l'Isle, who had just been sanctified by his uncle -the archbishop at Auch, undertook to reconstruct the old city on the -ruins of its past. He re-established first the fallen bishopric, and -elected himself bishop. This gave him power, and he started forthwith to -build the singularly dignified and beautiful cathedral which one sees -to-day. Comminges was made a comte in the tenth century, and the fief -contained two hundred and eighty-eight towns and villages and nine -castellanies, all owing allegiance to the Comte de Comminges. The -episcopal jurisdiction varied somewhat from these limits, for it -included twenty Spanish communes beyond the frontier as well. - -One enters St. Bertrand to-day by the great arched gateway, or Porte -Majou, which bears over its lintel the arms of the Cardinal de Foix. As -a grand historical monument St. Bertrand commences well. Narrow, -crooked, little streets climb to the platform terrace above where sits -the cathedral. It is a sad, grim journey, this mounting through the -deserted streets, with here and there a Gothic or Renaissance column -built helter-skelter into a house front, and the suggestion of a barred -Gothic window or a delicate Renaissance doorway now far removed from its -original functions. At last one reaches a great mass of tumbled stones -which one is told is the ruin of the episcopal palace built by St. -Bertrand himself. But what would you? It is just this atmosphere of -antiquity that one comes here to breathe, and certainly a more musty and -less worldly one it would be difficult to find outside the catacombs of -Rome. - -Another city gate, the Porte Cabirole, still keeps the flame of -mediaevalism alive; and, near by, is the most interesting architectural -bit of all, a diminutive, detached tower-stairway, dating at least from -the fifteenth century. It is an admirable architectural note, quite in -contrast with all the grimness and sadness of the rest of the ruins. - -Opposite the entrance to the walled city is a curious monumental -gateway, better described as a _barbacane_, or perhaps a great -watch-tower, through which one has still to pass. The upper town had no -source of water supply, so a well was cut down in the rock, and this -tower served as its protection. There is another gate, still, in the -encircling city walls, the third, the Porte de Herrison. After this, in -making the round, one comes again to the Porte Majou, by which one -entered. - -Rising high above all, on the top of the hill, as does the tower of the -abbey on St. Michel's Mount, is the great, grim, newly coiffed tower of -the cathedral of St. Bertrand, one of the most amply endowed and -luxuriously installed minor cathedrals in all France. Its description in -detail must be had from other works. It suffices here to state that the -cathedral is of the town, and the town is of it to such an intermingled -extent that it is almost impossible to separate the history of one from -that of the other. The site of the cathedral is that of the old Roman -citadel. Of the edifice built by St. Bertrand nothing remains but the -first arches of the nave and the great westerly tower, really more like -a donjon tower than a church steeple. In fact it is not a steeple at -all. The whole aspect of St. Bertrand de Comminges, the city, the -cathedral and the surroundings is militant, and looks as though it might -stand off an army as well as undertake the saving of men's souls. - -The altar decorations, sculptured wood and carved stalls of the interior -of this great church are very beautiful. Its like is not to be seen in -France outside of Amiens, Albi and Rodez. The cloister, too, is superb. - -The happenings of the city since its reconstruction were not many, save -as they referred to religion. Two bishops of the see became Popes, -Clement V and Innocent VIII. The end of the sixteenth century brought -the religious wars, and Huguenots and Calvinists took, and retook, the -city in turn. With the Revolution came times nearly as terrible; and, in -the new order of things following upon the Concordat, the bishopric was -definitely suppressed. The few hundred inhabitants of to-day live in a -city almost as dead as Pompeii or Les Baux. - -The word Comminges signifies an assembly inhabited by the Convenae in the -time of Caesar. The inhabitants of feudal times were known as -Commingeois. "The Commingeois are naturally warriors," wrote St. -Bertrand de Comminges, and from this it is not difficult to follow the -evolution of their dainty little feudal city, though difficult enough to -find the reason for its practical desertion to-day. - -The Comtes de Comminges were an able and vigorous race, if we are to -believe the records they left behind. There was one, Loup-Aznar, who -lived in 932, who rode horse-back at the age of a hundred and five, and -one of his descendants was married seven times. It was a Comte de -Comminges, in the time of Louis XIV, who was compared by that monarch to -a great cannon ball, whose chief efficiency was its size. Subsequently -cannon balls, in France, came to be called "Comminges." Not a very great -fame this, but still fame, and it was still for their warlike spirit -that the Commingeois were commended. - -Jean Bertrand, a one-time Archbishop of Comminges, became a Cardinal of -France upon the recommendation of Henri II. The king afterwards -confessed that he was persuaded to urge his appointment by Diane de -Poitiers, who was distributing her favours rather freely just at that -time. - -The "Memoires du Comte de Comminges" was the title borne by one of the -most celebrated works of fiction of the eighteenth century--a -predecessor of the Dumas style of romance. It is a work which has often -been confounded by amateur students of French history with the "Memoires -de Philippe de Commines," who lived in another era altogether. The -former was fiction, pure and simple, with its scene laid in the little -Pyrenean community, while the latter was fact woven around the life of -one who lived centuries later, in Flanders. - - - - -CHAPTER XV - -BEARN AND THE BEARNAIS - - -The Bearnais and the Basques have no historical monuments in their -country anterior to the Roman invasion, and for that matter Roman -monuments themselves are nearly non-existent. Medals and coins have been -occasionally found which tell a story neglected by the chroniclers, or -fill a gap which would be otherwise unbridged, but in the main there is -little remaining of a period so far remote, save infrequent fragmentary -examples of Arab or Saracen art. Of later times as well, the splendid -building eras of Gothic and Renaissance architecture, there is but -little that is monumental, or indeed remarkable for richness. -Architectural styles were strong and hardy, but most often they were a -melange of foreign forms, combined and presented anew by local builders. -This makes for picturesqueness at any rate, so, taken as a whole, what -the extreme southwest of France lacks in architectural magnificence it -makes up for in quaintness and variety, and above all environment. - -The historic memories hovering around Bearn and Navarre are so many and -varied that each will have to establish them for himself if any pretence -at completeness is to be made, and then the sum total will fall far -short of reality. All are dear to the Bearnais themselves, from the -legendary first sip of wine of the infant Henri to the more real, but of -still doubtful authenticity, tortoise-shell cradle. One absorbs them all -readily enough, on the spot, or in any perusal of French history of the -Middle Ages, and the names of the Centulles, the Gastons, the -Marguerites and the Henris are ever occurring and recurring whichever -by-path one takes. - -The province of Bearn came to the Centulle house in the ninth century, -and passed by marriage (in 1170) to that of Moncade, from which family -it was transferred as a dowry, in 1290, to Bernard III, Comte de Foix, -on condition that Bearn and Foix should be united in perpetuity. Gaston -IX, a later descendant, by marrying Elenore de Navarre, in 1434, united -the two sovereignties, and Catherine de Foix, his sister, in turn made -over her hereditary rights to her husband, Comte de Pentievre et de -Perigord. - -In spite of this, Bearn and the Bearnais have always kept a distinct and -separate identity from that of their allies and associates, and Henri, -Prince de Bearn, is as often thought of by the Bearnais as Henri, Roi de -Navarre, even though the two titles belonged to one and the same person. - -The most brilliant epoch of Bearn was that which began with Henri II and -Marguerite de Valois. The old Gothic castle at Pau had become -metamorphosed into a Renaissance palace, and the most illustrious -princess of her century drew thither the most reputed savants, -litterateurs, and artists in the world, until the little Pyrenean -capital became known as the "_Parnasse Bearnais_." Jean d'Albret and -Catherine were succeeded by their eldest son, who became Henri II of -Navarre, and Henri I of Bearn. This prince was born in the month of -August, 1503, and was given the name of Henri because it was the name of -one of two faithful German pilgrims who passed by, en route to pay their -devotions at the shrine of St. Jacques de Compestelle. The pilgrims were -given hospitality by the king of Navarre, and, because it was thought -meet that the newborn prince should bear a worthy, even though humble -name, he was baptized thus, though the proud countrymen of Bearn did -resent it. The circumstance is curiously worthy of record. - -Bearn and Navarre are above all other provinces of France proud indeed -of the great names of history, and Henri Quatre and Gaston Phoebus -were hung well on the line in the royal portrait galleries of their -time. The first was more of a good ruler than a gallant chevalier, and -the second possessed a regal personality which gave him a place almost -as exalted as that of his brother prince. Together they gave an -indescribable lustre to the country of their birth. - -In erecting the statue of Henri IV in the Place Royale at Pau the -Bearnais rendered homage to the most illustrious son of Bearn. Without -Henri Quatre one would not know that Bearn had ever existed, for it was -he who carried its name and fame afar. Luchon, Biarritz and Pau are -known of men and women of all nations as tourist places of a supreme -rank, but the mind ever wanders back to the days of the gallant, rough, -unpolished Henri who went up to Paris and, in spite of opposition, -became the first Bourbon king of the French after the Valois line was -exhausted. - -The Bearnais--the mountaineers, as they were often contemptuously -referred to at the capital--had a time of it making their way at Paris, -for there was a rivalry and jealousy against the southerners at Paris -which was only explainable by traditionary prejudice. - -When Catherine de Medici was making the first efforts to marry off her -daughter Marguerite to Henri, Prince of Bearn, the feeling was at its -height. It is curious to remark in this connection that the two queens -of Navarre by the name of Marguerite were separated by only a half -century of time, and both were to become famous in the world of letters, -the first for her "Heptameron" and the second for her "Memoires." - -The daughter of the Medici would have none of the rough prince of Bearn -and told her mother so plainly, resenting the fact that he was a -Protestant as much as anything. - -"My daughter, listen," said the queen mother. "This marriage is -indispensable for reasons of state. The king, your brother, and I -myself, like the king of Navarre as little as you do. That little -kingdom in the high valleys of the Pyrenees is a veritable thorn in our -sides, but by some means or other we must pluck it out." - -"I shall go to Nerac, in Gascony," the queen mother continued, "to -conclude a treaty with my sister, Reine Jeanne, the mother of Henri de -Bearn. When an alliance is concluded between the queen of Navarre and -myself your marriage _shall_ take place." This was final! - -Tradition--or perhaps it is a fact, though the average traveller won't -remark it--says that the Bearnais are an irascible and jealous people. -Proud they are, but there are no external evidences to show that they -are more irascible or jealous than any other folk one meets in the -French countryside. In the valleys the type is more delicate than that -of the inhabitants of the mountain slopes, and throughout they are -fervidly religious without being in the least fanatical. - -The same tradition that says the Bearnais are rough, irascible spirits, -says also that they seek for a summary personal vengeance rather than -let the process of law take its course. There's something of philosophy -in this, if it's true, but again it is reiterated there are no visible -signs that the peasant of Bearn is of the knife-drawing class of -humanity to which belong Sicilians and gypsies. The writer on more than -one occasion has been stalled in the Pyrenees while blazing an -automobile trail up some valley road that he ought not to have -attempted, and has found the Bearnais a faithful, willing worker in -helping him out of a hole (this is literal), and glad indeed to accept -such an honorarium as was bestowed upon him. Nothing of brigandage in -this! - -The passing times change men and manners, and when it is recorded by the -prefet of the Basses-Pyrenees that no department ever had so much -law-business going on before in its courts, it shows at least that if -the Bearnais do have their little troubles among themselves, they are -now a law-loving, law-abiding people. - -They are good livers and drinkers too, of much the same stamp as the -gallant Gascons, of whom Dumas wrote. It was in a Bearnais inn that the -Prince de Conti saw the following couplet chalked upon the wall: - - "Je m'apuelle Robineau, - Et je bois mon vin sans eaux." - -Whereupon he added: - - "Et moi, Prince de Conti, - Sans eaux je le bois aussi." - -The sentiment is not very high; window-pane poetry and the like never -does soar; but it is significant of the good living of past and present -times in France, and in these parts in particular. - -The peasant dress of the Bearnais is the same throughout all the -communes. They wear a woollen head-dress, something like that of the -Basques. It is round, generally brown, and usually drawn down over the -left ear in a most _degage_ fashion. The student of Paris' Latin Quarter -is a poor copy of a Bearnais so far as his cap goes. In some parts of -the plain below the foot-hills of the Pyrenees,--around Tarbes for -example,--the cap is replaced by a little round hat, a sort of a cross -between that sometimes worn by the Breton, and a "bowler" of the vintage -of '83. - -A long blouse-like coat, or jacket, is worn, and woollen breeches and -gaiters, of such variegated colouring as appeals to each individual -himself. In style the costume of the Bearnais is national; in colour it -is anything you like and individual, but mostly brown or gray of those -shades which were the progenitors of what we have come to know as khaki. - -The shepherds and cattle guardians, indeed all of the inhabitants of the -higher valleys and slopes, dress similarly, but in stuffs of much -coarser texture and heavier weight, and wear quite as much clothing in -summer as in the coldest days of winter. - -The Bearnais speak a _patois_, or idiom, composed of the structural -elements of Celtic, Latin and Spanish. It is not a language, like the -Breton or the Basque, but simply a hybrid means of expression, difficult -enough for outsiders to become proficient in, but not at all unfamiliar -in sound to one used to the expressions of the Latin races. It is more -like the Provencal of the Bouches-du-Rhone than anything else, but very -little like the Romance tongue of Languedoc. - -In cadence the Bearnais _patois_ is sweet and musical, and the -literature of the tongue, mostly pastoral poetry, is of a beauty -approaching the epilogues of Virgil. - -The _patois_ is the speech of the country people, and French that of the -town dwellers. The educated classes may speak French, but, almost -without exceptions, they know also the _patois_, as is the case in -Provence, where the _patois_ is reckoned no _patois_ at all, but a real -tongue, and has the most profuse literature of any of the anciently -spoken tongues of France. - -The following lines in the Bearnais _patois_ show its possibilities. -They were sung when Jeanne de Navarre was giving birth to the infant -prince who was to become Henri IV. - - _"Nouste Dame deue cap deue pouen,_ - _Adyudat-me a d'acquest'hore;_ - _Pregats au Dioue deue ceue_ - _Qu'emboulle bie delioura ceue,_ - _D'u maynat qu'em hassie lou doun_ - _Tou d'inqu' aue haut dous mounts l'implore_ - _Adyudat-me a d'acquest'hore."_ - -The significance of these lines was that the queen prayed God that she -might be delivered of her child without agony, but above all that it -might be born a boy. - -Bearn was fairly populous in the old days with a well distributed -population, and the towns were all relatively largely inhabited. Now, in -some sections, as in the Pays de Baretous, for example, the region is -losing its population daily, and in half a century the figures have -decreased something like thirty per cent. Like many other Pyrenean -valleys the population has largely emigrated to what they call "les -Ameriques," meaning, in this case, South or Central America, never North -America. Buenos Ayres they know, also "la ville de Mexique," but New -York is a vague, meaningless term to the peasant of the French -Pyrenees. - -The _bastides_,--the country houses, often fortified chateaux with -dependencies,--originally a Bearnais institution, often remained -stagnant hamlets or villages instead of developing into prosperous towns -as they did elsewhere in the Midi of France, particularly in Gascogne -and Languedoc. Many a time their sites had been chosen fortunately, but -instead of a bourg growing up around them they remained isolated and -backward for no apparent reason whatever. - -This has been the fate of Labastide-Ville-franche in Bearn. One traces -readily enough the outlines of the original _bastide_, but more than all -else marvels at the great, four-storied donjon tower, planned by the -father of the illustrious Gaston Phoebus of Foix. This sentinel tower -stood at the juncture of the principalities of Bearn, Bidache and -Navarre. Gaston Phoebus finished this great donjon with the same -generous hand with which he endowed everything he touched, and it ranks -among the best of its era wherever found. The _bastide_ and its -dependencies grew up around the foot of this tower, but there is nothing -else to give the little town--or more properly village--any distinction -whatever; it still remains merely a delightful old-world spot, endowed -with a charming situation. It calls itself a _rendezvous commercial_, -but beyond being a cattle-market of some importance, thanks to its being -the centre of a spider's web of roads, not many outside the immediate -neighbourhood have ever heard its name mentioned, or seen it in print. - -In this same connection it is to be noted that all of Bearn and the -Basque provinces are celebrated for their cattle. What Arabia is to the -horse, the Pyrenean province of Bearn, more especially the gracious -valley of Baretous, called the "Jardin de Bearn," is to the bovine race. - -Another delightful, romantic corner of Bearn is the valley of the Aspe. -Urdos is its principal town, and here one sees ancient customs as quaint -as one is likely to find hereabouts. Urdos is but a long-drawn-out, -one-street village along the banks of the Gave d'Aspe, but it is lively -and animated with all the gaiety of the Latin life. On a fete day -omnibuses, country carts, donkeys, mules and even oxen bring a very -respectable crowd to town, and there is much merry-making of a kind -which knows not modern amusements in the least degree. Continuous -dancing,--all day and all night--interspersed with eating and drinking -suffices. Something of the sort was going on, the author and artist -thought, when they arrived at five on a delightful June day; but no, it -was nothing but the marriage feast of a local official, and though all -the rooms of the one establishment which was dignified by the name of a -hotel were taken, shelter was found at an humble inn kept by a worthy -widow. She certainly was worthy, for she charged for dinner, lodging, -and coffee in the morning, for two persons, but the small sum of six -francs and didn't think the automobile, which was lodged in the shed -with the sheep and goats and cows, was an excuse for sticking on a -single sou. She was more than worthy; she was gentle and kind, for when -a fellow traveller, a French Alpinist, would find a guide to show him -the way across the mountain on the morrow, and so on down into the Val -d'Ossau, she expostulated and told him that the witless peasant he had -engaged to show him the road had never been, to her knowledge, out of -his own commune. Her interrogation of the unhappy, self-named "guide" -was as sharp a bit of cross-questioning as one sees out of court. "No, -he knew not the route, but all one had to do was to go up the mountain -first and then down the other side." All very well, but which other -side? There were many ramifications. He was sure of being able to find -his way, he said, but the Frenchman became suspicious, and the bustling -landlady found another who _did_ know, and would work by some other -system than the rule of thumb, which is a very bad one for mountain -climbing. This time the intrepid tourist found a real guide and not a -mere "_cultivateur_," as the mistress of the inn contemptuously called -the first. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI - -OF THE HISTORY AND TOPOGRAPHY OF BEARN - - -The old Vicomte de Bearn lay snug within the embrace of the Pyrenees -between Foix, Comminges and Basse Navarre. It was further divided into -various small districts whose entities were later swallowed by the -parent state, and still later by the royal domain under the rule of -Henry IV. - -There is one of these divisions, which not every traveller through the -smiling valleys of the Pyrenees knows either by name or history. It is -the Pays de Bidache, formerly the principality of Bidache, a tiny -kingdom whose sovereign belonged to the house of Grammont. This little -principality was analogous to that of Liechtenstein, lying between -Switzerland and Austria. Nothing remains but the title, and the -Grammonts, who figure in the noblesse of France to-day, are still by -right Princes de Bidache, the eldest of the family being also Duc de -Guiche. The chateau of the Grammonts at Bidache, which is a town of -eight or nine hundred inhabitants, sits high on the hill overlooking -the town. It is in ruins, but, nevertheless, there are some very -considerable vestiges remaining of the glories that it possessed in the -times of Henri IV when the house of Grammont was at its greatest height. - -In the little village church are the tombs of the Sires de Grammont, -notably that of the Marechal Antoine III, who died in 1678. - -Bidache was made a _duche-pairie_ for the family De Grammont, who, by -virtue of their letters patent, were absolute sovereigns. The Princes de -Bidache, up to the Revolution, exercised all the rights of a chief of -state, a curious latter day survival of feudal powers. - -Tradition plays no small part even to-day in the affairs of the De -Grammonts, and the old walls of the family chateau could tell much that -outsiders would hardly suspect. One fact has leaked out and is on public -record. The sons born in the family are usually named Agenor, and the -daughters Corisande, names illustrious in the golden days of Bearnais -history. - -Throughout all this ancient principality of Bidache the spirit of -feudality has been effaced in these later Republican days, a thing the -kings of France and Navarre and the parlement de Pau could not -accomplish. As in other parts of Bearn and the Basque provinces, it is -now entirely swallowed by "_la nationalite francaise_." - -The Duc de Grammont still possesses the Chateau de Guiche, and the -non-forfeitable titles of his ancestors; but, virtually, he is no more -than any other citizen. - -Just north from Bidache, set whimsically on a hillside above the Adour, -is the feudal village of Hastingues. It was an English creation, founded -by John of Hastings towards 1300, for Edward I. It is crowded to the -very walls with curious old houses in which its inhabitants live with -much more tranquillity than in feudal times. The fourteenth-century -fortifications are still much in evidence. - -Up the river from Hastingues is Peyrehorade, or in the old Bearnais -tongue Perorade, literally _roche-percee_. It is the metropolis of the -region, and has a population of twenty-five hundred simple folk who live -tight little lives, and not more than once in a generation get fifty -miles away from their home. - -The Vicomtes d'Orthe fortified the city in olden times, and the ruined -chateau-fort of Aspremont on the hillside overlooking the river valley -and the town tells the story of feudal combat far better than the -restored and made-over edifices of a contemporary period. Its -pentagonal donjon of the sixteenth century is as grim and imposing a -tower of its class as may be conceived. - -Below, along the river bank, is the sixteenth-century chateau of -Montreal, its walls still standing flanked with grim, heavy, uncoiffed -towers. It is all sadly disfigured, like its fellow on the heights; but -the very sadness of it all makes it the more emphatic as a historical -monument of the past. - -In the villages round about the dominant industry appears to be -_sabot_-making, as in the Basque country it is the making of -_espadrilles_. Each is a species of shoe-making which knows not -automatic machinery, nor ever will. - -Lying between Basse Navarre and Bearn was the Pays de Soule, with -Mauleon and Tardets as its chief centres of population. The district has -a bit of feudal history which is interesting. It was a region of -mediocre extent--not more than thirty leagues square--but with a -political administration more complex than any Gerrymandering -administration has dared to conceive since. - -The district was divided into three _Messageries_, Haute Soule, Basse -Soule and Arbailles. Each of these divisions had at its head a -functionary called a _Messager_, and each was in turn divided again -into smaller parcels of territory called _Vics_, each of which had a -sort of beadle as an official head, called a _Degan_. - -Popular election put all these officials in power, but the Courts of -Justice were administered by the king of France, as heir to the kings of -Navarre. - -Mauleon takes its name from the old chateau which in the local tongue -was known as Malo-Leone. Mainly it is of the fifteenth century. The -interior court has been made over into a sort of formal garden, quite -out of keeping with its former purpose, and by far the most impressive -suggestions are received from the exterior. There are the usual -underground prisons, or _cachots_, which the guardian takes pleasure in -showing. - -From the _chemin de ronde_, encircling the central tower, one has a -wide-spread panorama of the Gave de Mauleon as it rushes down from its -cradle near the crest of the Pyrenees. Mauleon is the centre for the -manufacture of the local Pyrenean variety of footwear called -_espadrilles_, a sort of a cross between a sandal and a moccasin, with a -rope sole. The population who work at this trade are mostly Spaniards -from Ronca, Pamplona and in fact all Aragon. This accounts largely for -Mauleon's recent increase in population, whilst most other neighbouring -small towns have reduced their ranks. For this reason Mauleon is a -phenomenon. Paris and the great provincial capitals, like Marseilles, -Bordeaux and Rouen, constantly increase in numbers, but most of the -small towns of France either stand still, or more likely fall off in -numbers. Here at this little Pyrenean centre the population has doubled -since the Franco-Prussian war. - -The historical monuments of Mauleon are not many, but the whole ensemble -is warm in its unassuming appeal to the lover of new sensations. The -lower town is simply laid out, has the conventional tree-bordered -promenade of a small French town, its _fronton de pelote_ (the national -game of these parts), a fine old Renaissance house called the Hotel -d'Andurrian, and a cross-surmounted column which looks ancient, and is -certainly picturesque. - -Dumas laid the scene of one of his celebrated sword and cloak romances -here at Mauleon, but as the critics say, he so often distorted facts, -and built chateaux that never existed, the scene might as well have been -somewhere else. This is not saying that they were not romances which -have been seldom, if ever, equalled. They were indeed the peers of -their class. Let travellers in France read and re-read such romances as -the D'Artagnan series, or even Monte Cristo, and they will fall far more -readily into the spirit of things in feudal times than they will by -attempting to digest Carlylean rant and guide-book literature made in -the British Museum. Dumas, at any rate, had the genuine spirit of the -French, and with it well-seasoned everything he wrote. The story of -Agenor de Mauleon, a real chevalier of romance and fable, is very nearly -as good as his best. - -Leaving Tardets by the Route d'Oloron, one makes his way by a veritable -mountain road. Its rises and falls are not sharp, but they are frequent, -and on each side rear small, rocky peaks and great _mamelons_ of stone, -as in the Val d'Enfer of Dante. - -Montory is the first considerable village en route, and if French is -to-day the national language, one would not think it from anything heard -here offhand, for the inhabitants speak mostly Basque. In spite of this, -the inhabitants, by reason of being under the domination of Oloron, -consider themselves Bearnais. - -Montory, and the Baretous near-by, have intimate relations with Spain. -All Aragon and Navarre, at least all those who trade horses and mules, -come through here to the markets of Gascogne and Poitou. Frequently they -don't get any farther than Oloron, having sold their stock to the -Bearnais traders at this point. The Bearnais horse-dealers are the -worthy rivals of the Maquignons of Brittany. - -The next village of the Baretous is Lanne, huddled close beneath the -flanks of a thousand-metre peak, called the Basse-Blanc. Lanne possesses -a diminutive chateau--called a _gentilhommiere_ in olden times, a name -which explains itself. The edifice is not a very grand or imposing -structure, and one takes it to be more of a country-house than a -stronghold, much the same sort of a habitation as one imagines the -paternal roof of D'Artagnan, comrade of the Mousquetaires, to have been. - -Aramits, near by, furnished, with but little evolution, one of the -heroic names of the D'Artagnan romances, it may be remarked. If one -cares to linger in a historic, romantic literary shrine, he could do -worse than stay at Aramits' Hotel Loubeu. As for the inner man, nothing -more excellent and simple can be found than the fare of this little -country inn of a practically unknown corner of the Pyrenees. A diligence -runs out from Oloron, fourteen kilometres, so the place is not wholly -inaccessible. Lanne's humble chateau, nothing more than a residence of -a poor, but proud seigneur of Gascogne, is an attractive enough monument -to awaken vivid memories of what may have gone on within its walls in -the past, and in connection with the neighbouring venerable church and -cemetery suggests a romance as well as any dumb thing can. - -Aramits is bereft of historical monuments save the Mairie of to-day, -which was formerly the chamber of the syndics who exercised judiciary -functions here (and in the five neighbouring villages) under the orders -of the Etats de Bearn. - -Another delightful and but little known corner of Bearn is the valley of -the Aspe, leading directly south from Oloron into the high valley of the -Pyrenees. The Pas d'Aspe is at an elevation of seventeen hundred metres. -Majestic peaks close in the valley and its half a dozen curious little -towns; and, if one asks a native of anything so far away as Pau or -Mauleon, perhaps fifty miles as the crow flies, he says simply: "_Je ne -sais pas! Je ne peux pas savoir, moi, je passe tous mes jours dans la -vallee d'Aspe._" Even when you ask the route over the mountain, that you -may make your way back again by the Val d'Ossau, it is the same thing; -they have never been that way themselves and are honest enough, luckily, -not to give you directions that might put you off the road. - -Directly before one is the Pic d'Anie, the king mountain of the chain of -the Pyrenees between the Aspe and the sea to the westward. - -Urdos is the last settlement of size as one mounts the valley. Above, -the carriage road continues fairly good to the frontier, but the side -roads are mere mule paths and trails. One of these zigzags its way -craftily up to the Fort d'Urdos or Portalet. Here the grim walls, with -their machicolations and bastions and redoubts cut out from the rock -itself, give one an uncanny feeling as if some danger portended; but -every one assures you that nothing of the sort will ever take place -between France and Spain. This fortification is a very recent work, and -formidable for its mere size, if not for the thickness of its walls. It -was built in 1838-1848, at the time when Lyons, Paris and other -important French cities were fortified anew. - -War may not be imminent or even probable, but the best safeguard against -it is protection, and so the Spaniards themselves have taken pattern of -the French and erected an equally imposing fortress just over the border -at the Col de Lladrones, in the valley of the Aragon, and still other -batteries at Canfranc. - -One of the topographic and scenic wonders of the world which belongs to -Bearn is the Cirque de Gavarnie, that rock-surrounded amphitheatre of -waterfalls, icy pools and caverns. - -Of the Cirque de Gavarnie, Victor Hugo wrote:-- - - "Quel cyclope savant de l'age evanoui, - Quel etre monstrueux, plus grand que les idees, - A pris un compas haut de cent mille coudees - Et, le tournant d'un doigt prodigieux et sur, - A trace ce grand cercle au niveau de l'azur?" - -Just below the "Cirque" is the little village of Gavarnie, which before -the Revolution was a property of the Maltese Order, it having previously -belonged to the Templars. Vestiges of their former _presbytere_ and of -their lodgings may be seen. A gruesome relic was formerly kept in the -church, but it has fortunately been removed to-day. It was no less than -a dozen bleached skulls of a band of unfortunate chevaliers who had been -decapitated on the spot in some classic encounter the record of which -has been lost to history. - -Above Gavarnie, on the frontier crest of the Pyrenees, is the famous -Breche de Roland. One remembers here, if ever, his schoolboy days, and -the "Song of Roland" rings ever in his ears. - - "High are the hills and huge and dim with cloud; - Down in the deeps and living streams are loud." - -The Breche de Roland, with the Col de Roncevaux, shares the fame of -being the most celebrated pass of the Pyrenees. It is a vast rock -fissure, at least three hundred feet in height. As a strategic point of -defence against an invading army or a band of smugglers ten men could -hold it against a hundred and a hundred against a thousand. At each side -rises an unscalable rock wall with a height of from three to six hundred -feet. - -The legend of this famous Breche is this: Roland mounted on his charger -would have passed the Pyrenees, so giving a swift clean cut of his -famous sword he clave the granite wall fair in halves, and for this -reason the mountaineers have ever called it the Breche de Roland. The -Tours de Marbore were built in the old days to further defend the -passage, a sort of a trap, or barbican, being a further defence on -French soil. - -The aspect roundabout is as of a desert, except that it is mountainous, -and the gray sterile juts of rock and the snows of winter--here at least -five months of the year--might well lead one to imagine it were a pass -in the Himalayas. - -Bordering upon Bearn on the north is the ancient Comte d'Armagnac, a -detached corner of the Duche de Gascogne, which dates its history from -the tenth century. It passed to Henri d'Albret, king of Navarre, in -1525, and by reason of belonging to the crown of Navarre came to France -in due course. - -The ancient family of Armagnac had many famous names on its roll: the -first Comte Bernard, the founder; Bernard II, who founded the Abbey of -Saint Pe; Gerard II, successor of the preceding and a warrior as well; -Bernard III, canon of Sainte-Marie d'Auch; Gerard III, who united the -Comte de Fezensac with Armagnac; Bernard V, who, in league with the -Comtes de Toulouse, went up against Saint Louis; Gerard V, who became an -ally of the English king; Bernard VI, who warred all his life with -Roger-Bernard, Comte de Foix, on the subject of the succession of the -Vicomte de Bearn, to which he pretended; Jean II, who terminated the -quarrel with the house of Foix; Bernard VI, the most famous warrior of -his race, whose name is written in letters of blood in the chronicles -of the wars of the Armagnacs and Jean IV, who was called "Comte par la -grace de Dieu." - - - - -CHAPTER XVII - -PAU AND ITS CHATEAU - -[Illustration: _Pau and the Surrounding Country_] - -[Illustration: _Arms of the City of Pau_] - - -Pau, _ville d'hiver mondaine et cosmopolite_, is the way the -railway-guides describe the ancient capital of Bearn, and it takes no -profound knowledge of the subtleties of the French language to grasp -the significance of the phrase. If Pau was not all this it would be -delightful, but what with big hotels, golf and tennis clubs, and a pack -of fox-hounds, there is little of the sanctity of romance hanging over -it to-day, in spite of the existence of the old chateau of Henri IV's -Bourbon ancestors. - -The life of Pau, in every phase, is to-day ardent and strenuous, with -the going and coming of automobile tourists and fox hunters, -semi-invalids and what not. In the gallant days of old, when princes and -their followers held sway in the ancient Bearnaise capital, it was -different, quite different, and the paternal chateau of the D'Albrets -was a great deal more a typical chateau of its time than it has since -become. - -If the observation is worth anything to the reader "_Pau est la petite -Nice des Pyrenees_." This is complimentary, or the reverse, as one -happens to think. Pau's attractions are many, in spite of the fact that -it has become a typical tourist resort. - -The chateau itself, even as it stands in its reconstructed form, is a -pleasing enough structure, as imposingly grand as many in Touraine. This -palace of kings and queens, which saw the birth of the Bearnais prince -who was to reign at Paris, has been remodelled and restored, but, in -spite of this, it still remains the key-note of the whole gamut of the -charms of Pau, and indeed of all Bearn. - -The Revolution and Louis Philippe are jointly responsible for much of -the garish crudity of the present arrangement of the Chateau de Pau. The -mere fact that the edifice was a prison and a barracks from 1793 to 1808 -accounts for much of the indignity thrust upon it, and of the present -furnishings--always excepting that exceedingly popular tortoise-shell -cradle--only the wall tapestries may be considered truly great. In spite -of this, the memories of the D'Albrets, of Henri IV, of Gaston, and of -the "Marguerite des Marguerites" still hang about its apartments and -corridors. - -The Vicomte de Bearn who had the idea of transferring his capital from -Morlaas to Pau was a man of taste. At the borders of his newly acquired -territory he planted three _pieux_ or _pau_, and this gave the name to -the new city, which possessed then, as now, one of the most admirable -scenic situations of France, a terrace a hundred feet or more above the -Gave, with a mountain background, and a low-lying valley before. - -The English discovered Pau as early as 1785, fifty years before Lord -Brougham discovered Cannes. It was Arthur Young, that indefatigable -traveller and agriculturalist, who stood as godfather to Pau as a -tourist resort, though truth to tell he was more interested in industry -and turnip-growing than in the butterfly doings of "_les elements -etrangers_" in French watering places of to-day. - -Throngs of strangers come to Pau to-day, and its thirty-five thousand -souls make a living from the visitors, instead of the ten thousand of a -century and a quarter ago. - -The people of Pau, its business men at any rate, think their city is the -chief in rank of the Basses-Pyrenees. Figures do not lie, however, and -the local branch of the Banque de France ranks as number sixty-five in -volume of business done on a list of a hundred and twenty-six, while -Bayonne, the real centre of commercialism south of Bordeaux, is numbered -fifteen. In population the two cities rank about the same. - -The real transformation of Pau into a city of pleasure is a work, -however, of our own time. It was in the mid-nineteenth century that the -capital of Bearn came to be widely known as a resort for semi-invalids. -Just what degree of curative excellencies Pau possesses it is not for -the author of this book to attempt to state, but probably it is its -freedom from cold north and east winds. Otherwise the winter climate is -wintry to a certain degree, and frequently damp, but an appreciable -mildness is often to be noted here when the Riviera is found in the icy -grip of the Rhone valley _mistral_. - -The contrast of the new and the old at Pau is greatly to be remarked. -There are streets which the French describe as _neuves et coquettes_, -and there are others grim, mossy and as dead as Pompeii, as far as -present-day life and surroundings are concerned. - -Formerly the river Hedas, or more properly a rivulet, filled the moat of -the chateau of the kings of Navarre, but now this is lacking. - -The chateau has long been despoiled of its furnishings of the time of -Henri IV and his immediate successors. Nothing but the mere walls remain -as a souvenir of those royal days. - -The palatial apartments have been in part destroyed, and in part -restored or remodelled, and not until Napoleon III were steps taken to -keep alive such of the mediaeval aspect as still remained. - -Pau, with all its charm and attraction for lovers of history and -romance, has become sadly over-run of late with diversions which -comport little enough with the spirit of other days. Fox-hunting, golf -tournaments and all the Anglo-Saxon importations of a colony of -indulgent visitors from England and America are a poor substitute for -the jousting tournaments, the _jeux de paume_ and the pageants of the -days of the brave king of Navarre. Still Pau, its site and its -situation, is wonderfully fine. - -Pau is the veritable queen of the Pyrenean cities and towns, and mingles -all the elements of the super-civilization of the twentieth century with -the sanctity of memories of feudal times. The Palais d'Hiver shares the -architectural dignity of the city with the chateau, but a comparison -always redounds to the credit of the latter. - -Below the terrace flows the Gave de Pau, and separates the verdant -faubourg of Jurancon from the parent city. The sunlight is brilliant -here, and the very atmosphere, whether it be winter or summer, is, as -Jean Rameau puts it, like the laughter of the Bearnais, scintillating -and sympathetic. - -The memories of the past which come from the contemplation of the really -charming historical monuments of Pau and its neighbourhood are -admirable, we all admit, but it is disconcerting all the same to read in -the local paper, in the cafe, as you are taking your appetizer before -dinner, that "the day was characterized with fine weather and the Pau -fox-hounds met this morning at the Poteau d'Escoubes, some twenty -kilometres away to the north. A short run uncovered a fox in a spinny, -and in time he was 'earthed' near Lascaveries!" - -This is not what one comes to the south of France to find, and the -writer is uncompromisingly against it, not because it is fox-hunting, -but because it is so entirely out of place. - -The early history of the city of Pau is enveloped in obscurity. Some -sort of a fortified residence took shape here under Centulle IV in the -ninth century, and this noble vicomte was the first to be freed of all -vassalage to the Duc d'Aquitaine, and allowed the dignity of independent -sovereignty. On the occasion when the Bishop Amatus of Oloron, the -legate of the Pope Gregory VII, came to confer upon Centulle the title -of comte, in place of that of vicomte which he had inherited from his -fathers, a ceremony took place which was the forerunner of the brilliant -gatherings of later days. Says the chronicler: "The drawbridge of the -chateau lowered before the Papal Legate, and as quickly as possible he -delivered himself of the _mandement_ of the Pope, a document which meant -much to the future history of Bearn." - -Pau owes its fame and prosperity to the building of a chateau here by -the Bearnais princes. To shelter and protect themselves from the -incursions of the Saracens a fortress-chateau was first built high on a -plateau overlooking the valley of the Ossau. Possession was taken of the -ground necessary for the site by a bargain made with the inhabitants, -whereby a certain area of paced-off ground was to be given, by the -original dwellers here, in return for the privilege of always being -present (they and their descendants) at the sittings of the court. - -Just who built or planned the present Chateau de Pau appears to be -doubtful. Of course it is not a thoroughly consistent or homogeneous -work; few mediaeval chateaux are. That master-builder Gaston certainly -had something to do with its erection, as Froissart recounts that when -this prince came to visit the Comte d'Armagnac at Tarbes he told his -host that "_il y a faisait edifier un moult bel chastel en la ville de -Pau, au dehors la ville sur la riviere du Gave_." The great tower is, -as usual, credited to Gaston, and it is assuredly after his manner. - -Old authors nodded, and sometimes got their facts mixed, so one is not -surprised to read on the authority of another chronicler of the time, -the Abbe d'Expilly, that "the Chateau de Pau was built by Alain d'Albret -during the regency of Henri II, towards 1518." Favyn, in his "Histoire -de Navarre," says, "_Henri II fit bastir a Pau une maison assez belle et -assez forte selon l'assiette du pays_." These conflicting statements -quite prepare one to learn that Michaud in his "Marguerite de Valois" -says that that "friend of the arts and humanity" built the "Palais de -Pau." These quotations are given as showing the futility of any -historian of to-day being able to give unassailable facts, even if he -goes to that shelter under which so many take refuge--"original -sources." - -One learns from observation that Pau's chateau, like most others of -mediaeval times, is made up of non-contemporaneous parts. It is probable -that the original edifice served for hardly more than a country -residence, and that another, built by the Vicomtes de Bearn, replaced -it. This last was grand and magnificent, and with various additions is -the same foundation that one sees to-day. It was in the fifteenth -century that the present structure was completed, and the gathering and -grouping of houses without the walls, all closely hugging the foot of -the cliff upon which stood the chateau, constituted the beginnings of -the present city. - -It was in 1464 that Gaston IV, Comte de Foix, and usurper of the throne -of Navarre, established his residence at Pau, and accorded his -followers, and the inhabitants of the immediate neighbourhood, such -privileges and concessions as had never been granted by a feudal lord -before. A parlement came in time, a university, an academy of letters -and a mint, and Pau became the accredited capital of Bearn. - -[Illustration: Chateau de Pau] - -The development of Pau's chateau is most interesting. It was the family -residence of the reigning house of Bearn and Navarre, and the same in -which Henri IV first saw light. In general outline it is simple and -elegant, but a ruggedness and strength is added by the massive donjon of -Gaston Phoebus, a veritable feudal pile, whereas the rest of the -establishment is built on residential lines, although well fortified. -Other towers also give strength and firmness to the chateau, and indeed -do much to set off the luxurious grace of the details of the main -building. On the northeast is the Tour de Montauset of the fourteenth -century, and also two other mediaeval towers, one at the westerly and the -other at the easterly end. The Tour Neuve, by which one enters, does not -belie its name. It is a completely modern work. Numerous alterations and -repairs have been undertaken from time to time, but nothing drastic in a -constructive sense has been attempted, and so the _cour d'honneur_, by -which one gains access to the various apartments, remains as it always -was. - -Within, the effect is not so happy. There are many admirable fittings -and furnishings, but they have been put into place and arranged often -with little regard for contemporary appropriateness. This is a pity; it -shows a lack of what may be called a sense of fitness. You do not see -such blunders made at Langeais on the Loire, for instance, where the -owner of the splendid feudal masterpiece which saw the marriage of Anne -de Bretagne with Charles VIII has caused it to be wholly furnished with -_contemporary_ pieces and decorations, _or excellent copies of the -period_. Better good copies than bad originals! - -The chateaux of France, as distinct from fortified castles merely, are -what the French classify as "_gloires domestiques_," and certainly when -one looks them over, centuries after they were built, they -unquestionably do outclass our ostentatious dwellings of to-day. - -There are some excellent Gobelin and Flemish tapestries in the Chateau -de Pau, but they are exposed as if in a museum. Still no study of the -work of the tapestry weavers would be complete without an inspection and -consideration of these examples at Pau. - -The chief "curiosity" of the Chateau de Pau is the tortoise-shell cradle -of Henri of Bearn. It is a curio of value if one likes to think it so, -but it must have made an uncomfortable sort of a cradle, and the legend -connected with the birth of this prince is surprising enough to hold -one's interest of itself without the introduction of this doubtful -accessory. However, the recorded historic account of the birth of Henri -IV is so fantastic and quaint that even the tortoise-shell cradle may -well be authentic for all we can prove to the contrary. - -There is a legend to the effect that Henri d'Albret, the grandfather of -Henri IV, had told his daughter to sing immediately an heir was born: -"_pour ne pas faire un enfant pleureux et rechigne_." The devoted and -faithful Jeanne chanted as she was bid, and the grandfather, taking the -child in his arms and holding it aloft before the people, cried: "_Ma -brebis a enfante un lion._" The child was then immediately given a few -drops of the wine of Jurancon, grown on the hill opposite the chateau, -to assure a temperament robust and vigorous. - -As every characteristic of the infant prince's after life comported well -with these legendary prophecies, perhaps there is more truth in the -anecdote than is usually found in mediaeval traditions. - -Another account has it that the first nourishment the infant prince took -was a "goutte" (_gousse_) of garlic. This was certainly strong -nourishment for an infant! The wine story is easier to believe. - -The "Chanson Bearnais" sung by Queen Jeanne on the birth of the infant -prince has become a classic in the land. As recalled the Bearnais -_patois_ opened thus:-- - - "Nostre dame deou cap deou poun, ajouda me a d'aqueste hore." - -In French it will be better understood:-- - - "Notre Dame du bout du pont, - Venez a mon aide en cette heure! - Priez le Dieu du ciel - Qu'il me delivre vite; - Qu'il me donne un garcon. - Tout, jusqu'au haut des monts, vous implore. - Notre Dame du bout du pont, - Venez a mon aide en cette heure." - -It was in the little village of Billere, on the Lescar road, just -outside the gates of Pau, that the infant Henri was put _en nourrice_. -The little Prince de Viane, the name given the eldest son of the house -of Navarre, was later confided to a relative, Suzanne de Bourbon, -Baronne de Miossens, who lived in the mountain chateau of Coarraze. The -education of the young prince was always an object of great solicitude -to the mother, Jeanne d'Albret. For instructor he had one La Gaucherie, -a man of austere manners, but of a vast erudition, profoundly religious, -but doubtful in his devotion to the Pope and church of Rome. - -The child Henri continued his precocious career from the day when he -first became a _bon vivant_ and a connoisseur of wine. By the age of -eleven he had translated the first five books of Caesar's Commentary, and -to the very end kept his literary tastes. He planned to write his -memoires to place beside those of his minister, Sully, and the work was -actually begun, but his untimely death lost it to the world. - -Another dramatic scene of history identified with the Pau chateau of the -D'Albrets was when Henri IV took his first armour. As he was -out-growing the early years of his youth, the queen of Navarre commanded -the appearance at the palace of all the governors of the allied -provinces. - -The investiture was a romantic and imposing ceremony. The boy prince was -given a suit of coat armour, a shield and a sword. A day on horseback, -clad in full warrior fashion, was to be the beginning of his military -education. - -All the world made holiday on this occasion; for three days little was -done by the retainers save to sing praises and shout huzzas for their -king to be. For the seigneurs and their ladies there were comedies and -dances, and for all the people of Gascogne who chose to come there were -great fetes, cavalcades and open-air amusements on the plain of Pau -below the castle. - -The culmination of the fete was on the evening of the third day. The -young prince of Navarre, dressed as a simple Bearnais, with only a gold -fleur-de-lis on his _beret_, as a mark of distinction, came out and -mingled with his people. As a finishing ceremony the prince took again -his sword, and, amid the shouts and acclamations of the populace, -plunged it to the hilt in a tall _broc_, or jug, of wine, and raised -it--as if in benediction--first towards the people, then towards the -army, then towards the ladies of the court--as a sign of an unwritten -pact that he would ever be devoted to them all. - -The sun fell behind the crests of the Pyrenees just as this ceremony was -finished, and the youth, saluting the smiling king and queen,--his -father and mother--left with his "_gens d'armes pour faire le tour de sa -Gascogne_." - -The memory of Henri Quatre remains wondrous vivid in the minds of all -the Bearnais, even those of the present day, and peasant and bourgeois -alike still talk of "_notre Henri_," when recounting an anecdote or -explaining the significance of some historic spot. - -Well, why not! Henri lived in a day when men made their mark with a -firmer, surer hand, than in these days of high politics and -socialistics. The Bearnais never forget that Henri, Prince de Bearn--the -rough mountaineer, as he was called at Paris--was a joyous compatriot, a -lover and a poet, and that he knew the joys of passion and the sorrows -of suffering as well as any man of his time. The following old chanson, -sung to-day in many a peasant farmhouse of Bearn proves this:-- - - "Le coeur blesse, les yeux en larmes, - Ce coeur ne songe qu'a vos charmes, - Vous etes mon unique amour; - Pres de vous je soupire, - Si vous m'aimez a votre tour, - J'aurai tout ce que je desire...." - -Under the reign of Louis XIV the inhabitants of Pau would have erected a -statue in honour of the memory of the greatest of all the Bearnais--of -course Henri IV--but the insistent Louis would have none of it, and told -them to erect a statue to the reigning monarch or none at all. - -Nothing daunted the Bearnais set to work at once and an effigy of Louis -XIV rose in place of Henri the mountaineer, but on the pedestal was -graven these words: "_A ciou qu'ils l'arrahil de nouste grand Enric._" -"To him who is the grandson of our great Henri." - -One of the great names of Pau is that of Jean de Gassion, Marechal de -France. He was born at Pau in 1609. At Rocroi the Grand Conde embraced -him after the true French fashion, and vowed that it was to him that -victory was due. He was full of wise saws and convictions, and proved -himself one of France's great warriors. The following epigrams are -worthy of ranking as high as any ever uttered:-- - -"In war not any obstacle is insurmountable." - -"I have in my head and by my side all that is necessary to lead to -victory." - -"I have much respect, but little love for the fair sex." (He died a -_celibataire_.) "My destiny is to die a soldier." - -"I get not enough out of life to divide with any one." - -This last expression was gallant or ungallant, selfish or unselfish, -according as one is able to fathom it. - -At any rate de Gassion was a great soldier and served in the Calvinist -army of the Duc de Rohan. The following "_mot_" describes his character: -"Will you be able to follow us?" asked de Rohan at the Battle of the -Pont de Camerety in Gascogne. "What is to hinder?" demanded the future -Marechal of France, "you never go too fast for us, except in retreat." - -He recruited a company of French for the aid of Gustavus Adolphus in his -campaign in Upper Saxony, and presented himself before that monarch on -the battle field with the following words: "Sire, I come with my -Frenchmen; the mention of your name has induced them to leave their -homes in the Pyrenees and offer you their services...." At the battle -of Leipzig (1631) Gassion and his men charged three times and covered -themselves with glory. - -The "Histoire de Marechal de Gassion," by the Abbe de Pure, and another -by his almoner Duprat, an "Eloge de Gassion" (appearing in the -eighteenth century), are most interesting reading. De Gassion it would -seem was one of the chief anecdotal characters of French history. - -Another of the shining lights of Pau (though he was born at Gan in the -suburbs) was Pierre de Marca, an antiquarian whose researches on the -treasures of Bearn have made possible the writings of hundreds of his -followers. He was born in Pau a few years before Henri IV, and died an -Archbishop of Paris in 1689. - -His epitaph is a literary curiosity. - - "Ci-git Monseigneur de Marca, - Que le Roi sagement marqua - Pour le Prelate de son Eglise, - Mais la mort qui le remarqua - Et qui se plait a la surprise - Tout aussitot le demarqua." - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII - -LESCAR, THE SEPULCHRE OF THE BEARNAIS - - -The antique city of Beneharnum is lost in modern Lescar, though, indeed, -Lescar is far from modern, for it is unprogressive with regard to many -of those up-to-date innovations which city dwellers think necessary to -their existence. Lescar was the religious capital of Bearn, and its -bishops were, by inheritance, presidents of the Parliament and Seigneurs -of their diocesan city. - -Lescar is by turns gay and sad; it is gay enough on a Sunday or a fete -day, and sad and diffident at all other times, save what animation may -be found in its market-place. Architecture rises to no great height -here, and, beyond the picturesque riot of moss-grown roof-tops and -tottering walls, there is not much that is really remarkable of either -Gothic or Renaissance days. The ancient cathedral, with a weird -triangular facade, belongs to no school, not even a local one, and is -unspeakably ugly as a whole, though here and there are gems of -architectural decoration which give it a certain fantastic distinction. - -Lescar is but a league distant from Pau, but not many of those who -winter in that delightful city ever come here. "The Normans razed it in -856, when it was rebuilt on the side of a hill in the midst of a wood." -This was the old chronicler's description, and it holds good to-day. -Usually travellers find the big cities like Pau or Tarbes so -irresistible that they have no eye for the charm of the small town. The -country-side they like, and the cities, and yet the dull, little, sleepy -old-world towns whose names are never mentioned in the newspapers, and -often nowhere but on the road maps of the automobilist, are possessed of -many pleasing attributes for which one may look in vain in more populous -places. Lescar has some of these, one of them being its Hotel Uglas. - -Lescar is a good brisk hour and a half's stroll from Pau, the classic -constitutional recommended by the doctors to the semi-invalids who are -so frequently met with at Pau, and is a humble, dull bourgade even -to-day, sleepy, rustic, and unprogressive, and accordingly a delightful -contrast to its ostentatious neighbour. Poor Lescar, its fall has been -profound since the days when it was the Beneharnum of the Romans. Its -bishopric has been shredded into nonentity, and its ancient cathedral -disfigured by interpolated banalities until one can hardly realize -to-day that it was once a metropolitan church. - -St. Denis, as the old cathedral of Lescar is named, was once the royal -burial-place of Bearn, as was its namesake just outside of Paris the -sepulchre of the kings of France. Here the Bearnais royalties who were -kings and queens of Navarre came to their last long slumbers. Side by -side lie the Centulles and the D'Albrets. - -The cathedral sits upon a terrace formed of the ancient ramparts of the -old city, and right here is the chief attraction and charm of Lascarris, -"_la ville morte_." Lascarris, as it was known before it became simply -Lescar, was built up anew after the primitive city had been destroyed by -the Saracens in 841. - -This rampart terrace has one great architectural monument, formerly a -part of the ancient fortress, a simple, severe tower in outline, but of -most complicated construction, built up of bands of brick and stone in a -regular building-block fashion, a caprice of some local builder. Through -this tower one gains access to the cathedral, which shows plainly how -the affairs of church and state, and war and peace, were closely bound -together in times past. This little brick and stone tower is the only -remaining fragment of the fourteenth-century fortress-chateau known as -the Fort de l'Esquirette. - -Within the cathedral were formerly buried Jeanne d'Albret, Catherine de -Navarre, Marguerite de Valois, and other Bearnais sovereigns, but no -monuments to be seen there to-day antedate the seventeenth century, -those of the Bearnais royalties having been destroyed either by the -Calvinists or later revolutionists. Catherine of Bearn was buried here -in the cathedral of Lescar in spite of her wish that she should be -entombed at Pamplona beside the kings of Navarre. - -The ceremony of the funeral of Marguerite de Navarre is described in -detail in a document preserved in the Bibliotheque Nationale at Paris. -It recounts that among those present were the kings of Navarre and -France, the Duchesse d'Estonteville, the Duc de Montpensier, M. le -Prince, the Duc de Nevers, the Duc d'Aumale, the Duc d'Etampes, the -Marquis du Mayne, M. de Rohan and the Duc de Vendomois, with the Vicomte -de Lavedan as the master of ceremony. As is still the custom in many -places in the Pyrenees, there was a great feasting on the day of the -interment, the chief mourners eating apart from the rest. - -Charles de Sainte-Marthe wrote the funeral eulogy, in Latin and French, -and Ronsard, the prince of poets, wrote an ode entitled "Hymne -Triomphale." Three nieces of Jane Seymour, wife of Henry VIII of -England, composed four _distiques_, in Latin, Greek, Italian, and -French, entitled "Tombeau de Marguerite de Valois, Reine de Navarre." -Valentine d'Arsinois gave publicity to this work in the following words: -"Musarum decima, et charitum quarta, inclyta regum et soror et conjux -Margaris illa jacet." - -This in French has been phrased thus: - - "Soeur et femme de roys, la reine Marguerite - Des Muses la dixieme et leur plus cher souci - Et la quatrieme Charite - La reine du savoir git sous ce marbre-ci." - -Throughout the valley of the Gave d'Ossau, and from Lescar all the way -to Lourdes on the Gave de Pau, the chief background peak in plain view -is always the Pic du Midi d'Ossau. This the peasant of the neighbourhood -knows by no other name than "_la montagne_." "What mountain?" you ask, -but his reply is simply "_Je ne sais pas--la montagne._" It should not -be confounded with the Pic du Midi de Bigorre. - -Between Pau and Lescar, lying just northward of the Gave, is the last -vestige of an incipient desert region called to-day La Lande de -Pont-Long. It now blossoms with more or less of the profusion which one -identifies with a land of roses, but was formerly only a pasture ground -for the herders of the Val d'Ossau, who, by a certain venturesome -spirit, crossed the Gave de Pau at some period well anterior to the -foundation of the city of Pau and thus established certain rights. It -was these sheep and cattle raisers who ceded the site of the new city of -Pau to the Vicomtes de Bearn. - -Henri II de Navarre, grandfather of Henri IV, would have fenced off -these Ossalois, but every time he made a tentative effort to build a -wall around them they rose up in their might and tore it down again. In -vain the Bearnais of the valley tried to preempt the rights of the -_montagnards_, and willingly or not they perforce were obliged to have -them for neighbours. This gave saying to the local diction "_En despicit -deus de Pau, lou Pounloung ser sera d'Aussau_." - -Intrigue, feudal warfare and oppression could do nothing towards -recovering this preempted land, and only a process of law, as late as -1837, finally adjudicated the matter, when the Ossalois were bound by -judgment to give certain reciprocal rights in their high valleys to any -of the lowland population who wanted to pasture their flocks in the -mountains for a change of diet. It is a patent fact that the sheep of -all the Midi of France thrive best in the lowlands in winter and in the -mountains in summer. It is so in the Pyrenees and it is so in the -Basses-Alpes, which in summer furnish pasturage for the sheep of the -Crau and the Camargue, even though they have to march three hundred or -more kilometres to arrive at it. - -Closely allied with Lescar is the ancient capital of Bearn, Morlaas. -After the destruction of Lescar by the Normans Morlaas became the -residence of the Vicomtes de Bearn. Its history is as ancient and almost -as important as that of its neighbour. The Romans here had a mint and -stamped money out of the copper they took from the neighbouring hills. -The Visigoths, the Franks, the Ducs de Gascogne and the Vicomtes de -Bearn all held sway here for a time, and the last built a pretentious -sort of an establishment, the first which the town had had which could -be dignified with the name of a palace. This palace was called La -Fourquie and has since given its name to a hill outside the proper -limits of the present town, still known as Vieille Fourquie. - -Morlaas is a mere nonentity to-day, though it was the capital of Bearn -from the time of the destruction of Lescar by the Saracens until the -thirteenth century, when the vicomtes removed the seat of the government -to Pau. - -The town is practically one long, straight _grand rue_, with only short -tributary arteries running in and from the sides. The Eglise Sainte Foy -at Morlaas is a real antiquity, and was founded by Centulle, the fourth -vicomte, in 1089. - -There are still vestiges of the ancient ramparts of the city to be seen, -and the great market held every fifteen days, on the Place de la -Fourquie, is famous throughout Bearn. Altogether Morlaas should not be -omitted from any neighbouring itinerary, and the local colour to be -found on a market day at Morlaas' snug little Hotel des Voyageurs will -be a marvel to those who know only the life of the cities. Morlaas is -one of the good things one occasionally stumbles upon off the beaten -track; and it is not far off either; just a dozen kilometres or so -northwest of Pau. Morlaas' importance of old is further enhanced when -one learns that the measure of Morlaas was the basis for the measure -used in the wine trade of all Gascony, and the same is true of the -_livre morlan_, and the _sou morlan_, which were the monetary units of -Gascony and a part of Languedoc. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX - -THE GAVE D'OSSAU - - -On ascending the Gave d'Ossau, all the way to Laruns and beyond, one is -impressed by the beauty of the snow-crested peaks before them, unless by -chance an exceptionally warm spell of weather has melted the snow, which -is quite unlikely. - -You can name every one of the peaks of the Pyrenees with the maps and -plans of Joanne's Guide, but you will glean little specific information -from the peasants en route, especially the women. - -"_Attendez, monsieur, je vais demander a mon mari_," said a buxom, -lively-looking peasant woman when questioned at Laruns. Her "mari" came -to the rescue as well as he was able. "_Ma foi, je ne sais pas trop_," -he replied, "_mais peut etre_....;" there was no use going any further; -all he knew was that the mountains were the Pyrenees, and were the peaks -high or low, to him they were always "les Pyrenees" or "_la montagne_." - -Not far from Pau, on mounting the Gave d'Ossau, is Gan, one of the -thirteen ancient cities of Bearn. In a modest castle flanked by a tiny -pepper-box tower Pierre de Marca, the historian of Bearn, first saw the -light, some years after the birth of Henri IV. - -A little further on, but hemmed in among the high mountains between the -valley of the Ossau and the Pau, is a tiny bourg bearing the incongruous -name of Bruges. - -It is not a simple coincidence in name, with the well-known Belgium -port, because the records show that this old feudal _bastide_ was -originally peopled by exiled Flemings, who gave to it the name of one of -their most glorious cities. The details of this foreign implantation are -not very precise. The little bourg enjoyed some special privileges, in -the way of being immune from certain taxes, up to the Revolution. There -are no architectural monuments of splendour to remark at Bruges, and its -sole industries are the manufacture of _espadrilles_, or rope-soled -shoes, and _chapelets_, the construction of these latter "objects of -piety" being wholly in the hands of the women-folk. - -[Illustration: _Espadrille-makers_] - -Like many a little town of the Pyrenees, Laruns, in the Val d'Ossau, is -a reminder of similar towns in the Savoian Alps-Barcelonnette, for -instance. They all have a certain grace and beauty, and are yet -possessed of a hardy character which gives that distinction to a -mountain town which one lying in the lowlands entirely lacks. Here the -houses are trim and well-kept, even dainty, and the church spire and all -the dependencies of the simple life of the inhabitants speak volumes for -their health and freedom from the annoyances and cares of the big towns. - -Laruns merits all this, and is moreover more gay and active than one -might at first suppose of a little town of scarce fifteen hundred -inhabitants. This is because it is a centre for the tourist traffic of -Eaux-Bonnes and Eaux-Chaudes, not greatly higher up in the valley. - -There are many quaint old Gothic houses with arched windows and -doorways, and occasionally a curious old buttress, but all is so -admirably kept and preserved that the whole looks like a newly furbished -stage-setting. For a contrast there are some Renaissance house fronts of -a later period, with here and there a statue-filled niche in the walls, -and a lamp bracket which would be worth appropriating if that were the -right thing to do. - -There is a picturesqueness of costume among the women-folk of Laruns, -too. They wear a sort of white cap or bonnet, covered with a black -embroidered fichu, and a coloured shawl and apron which gives them a -holiday air every day in the week. When it comes Sunday or a fete-day -they do the thing in a still more startling fashion. The coiffes and -costumes of France are fast disappearing, but in the Pyrenees, and in -Brittany, and in just a few places along some parts of the coast line -bordering upon the Bay of Biscay, they may still be found in all their -pristine quaintness. - -The Fete Dieu procession (the Thursday after Trinity) at Laruns is an -exceedingly picturesque and imposing celebration. Here in the pious -cortege one sees more frequent exhibitions of the local costumes of the -country than at any other time or place. The tiny girls and the older -unmarried girls have all the picturesque colouring that brilliant -neckerchiefs, fichus and foulards can give, with long braided tresses -like those of Marguerite, except that here they are never golden, but -always sable. The matrons are not far behind, but are more sedately -clothed. The men have, to a large extent, abandoned the ancient costume -of their forefathers, save the _beret_ and a high-cut pantaloon, which -replaces the vest. But for these two details one finds among the men a -certain family resemblance to a carpenter or a boiler maker of Paris -out at Courbevoie for a happy Sunday. - -The procession at the Fete Dieu at Laruns is very calm and dignified, -but once it is dispersed, all thoughts of religion and devoutness are -gone to the winds. Then commences the invariable dance, and they don't -wait for night to begin. Most likely this is the first _Bal d'Ete_, -though usually this comes with Easter in France. The dance is the -passion of the people of the Pays d'Ossau, but this occasion is purely a -town affair, and you will not see a peasant or a herder from the -countryside among all the throng of dancers. Their great day in town -comes at quite another season of the year, in the autumn, in the summer -of Saint Martin, which in America we know as the Indian summer. - -On the highroad, not far from Laruns, is a great oak known locally as -the "Arbre de l'Ours" because on more than one occasion in the past a -bear or a whole family of them has treed many an unfortunate peasant -travelling by this route. This may have been a danger once, but the -bears have now all retreated further into the mountains. They are not by -any means impossible to find, and not long since one read in the local -journal that three were killed, practically on the same spot, not far -above Laruns, and that a sporting Russian prince had killed two within a -week. - -In the high valley of the Ossau the bear is still the national -quadruped, and the arms of the district represent a cow struggling with -a bear and the motto VIVA LA TACHA, which in French means simply VIVE LA -VACHE. - -Near Laruns is the little village of Louvie-Soubiron which takes its -name from an ancient seigneurie of the neighbourhood. It has no artistic -embellishments worthy of remark, but on this spot was quarried the stone -from which were carved the symbolical statues of the great cities of -France surrounding the Place de la Concorde at Paris. - -The ancient capital of Ossau was Bielle, and up to the Revolution the -assemblies of the ancient government were held here. It hardly looks its -part to-day. The population is but seven hundred, and it is not even of -the rank of a market-town. Traditions still persist, however, and -delegates from all over the Pays d'Ossau meet here at least once a year -to discuss such common interests as the safeguarding of forests and -pastures. In a small chamber attached to the little parish church is -preserved the ancient coffer, or strong box, of the old Republic of -Ossau. It is still fastened by three locks, the keys being in the -possession of the mayors of Bielle, of Laruns, and of Saint Colome. - -Ten kilometres from Laruns is Eaux-Bonnes. Their virtues have been known -for ages. The Bearnais who so well played their parts at the ill-fated -battle of Pavia were transported thither that they might benefit from -these "waters of the arquebusade," as the generic name is known. A -further development came under the leadership of a certain Comte de -Castellane, prefet of the department under the great Napoleon. He indeed -was the real exploiter, applying some of the ideas which had been put -into practice in the German spas. He set to with a will and beautified -the little town, laid out broad tree-lined avenues, and made a veritable -little paradise of this rocky gorge. The little bourg is therefore -to-day what the French describe as "_amiable_," and nothing else -describes it better. The town itself is dainty and charming enough, but -mostly its architectural characteristics are of the villa order. The -church is modern and everybody is "on the make." - -It is not that the population are swindlers,--far from it; but they -have discovered that by exploiting tourists and "_malades imaginaires_" -for three months in the year they can make as ample a living as by -working at old-fashioned occupations for a twelvemonth. A sign on one -house front tells you that a "Guide-Chasseur" lives there, and that he -will take you on a bear hunt--_prix a forfait_; which means that if you -don't get your bear you pay nothing to your guide; but you have given -him a fine ten-days' excursion in the mountains, _at your expense_ for -his food and lodging nevertheless, beside which he has had the spending -of your money for the camp equipment and supplies. He really would make -a very good thing, even if you did not have to pay him a bonus for every -bear sighted, not shot, mind you, for all the guide undertakes to do is -to point out the bear, if he can. - -Another very business-like sign may be seen at Eaux-Bonnes,--that of a -transatlantic steamship company. They gather traffic, the steamship -agents, even here in the fastnesses of the Pyrenees, and Amerique du Sud -especially is still depopulating southern France. - -Eaux-Chaudes is another neighbouring thermal station. As its name -implies, it is a _source_ of hot water, and was already famous in the -reign of Henri IV. The little community points out with pride that the -archives record the fact that this monarch "took the waters here with -much benefit." - -The little Pyrenean village of Gabas lies high up the valley under the -shelter of the Pic du Midi d'Ossau. It is not greatly known to fame; it -is what the French call a hamlet with but a few chimneys. A late census -gave it twenty-three inhabitants, but probably the most of these have -departed in the last year or so to become _femmes de chambre_ and -_garcons de cafe_ in the big towns. - -The place is, however, very ancient, and was the outgrowth of a little -settlement which surrounded a chapel built as early as 1121, and a sort -of resting-house or hospital for pilgrims who passed this way in -mediaeval times. This establishment was known as Santa-Christina, and was -consecrated to the pilgrims going and coming from Saint Jacques de -Compostelle. - -Plastered up recently on the wall of the mayor's office in the little -village was a placard addressed to the "Messieurs d'Ossau," by the -Conseiller d'Arrondissement. This singular form of address is a survival -of the ancient constitution of this little village, which, in times -past, when everything else round about was feudal or monarchial, was -sort of demi-republican. The "Messieurs d'Ossau" recognized no superior -save the Prince of Bearn, and considered him only as a sort of a titular -dignitary with no powers over them worth speaking of. - -Here in the communes of Laruns and Arudy the peasants have certain -rights of free pasture for their flocks and herds, a legacy which came -originally through the generosity of Henri IV, and which no later rule -of monarchy or republic has ever been able to assail. The "Messieurs -d'Ossau" also had the ancient right of gathering about the same council -table with the Vicomtes of Bearn when any discussion of the lands -included in the territorial limits of Bearn was concerned. - - - - -CHAPTER XX - -TARBES, BIGORRE AND LUCHON - - -There is a clean-cut, commercial-looking air to Tarbes, little in -keeping with what one imagines the capital of the Hautes-Pyrenees to be. -Local colour has mostly succumbed to twentieth-century innovations in -the train of great hotels, tourists and clubs. In spite of this, the -surrounding panorama is superb; the setting of Tarbes is delightful; and -at times--but not for long at a time--it is really a charming town of -the Midi. Tarbes possessed a chateau of rank long years ago; not of so -high a rank as that of Pau, for that was royal, but still a grand and -dignified chateau, worthy of the seigneurs who inhabited it. Raymond I -fortified the place in the tenth century, and all through the following -five hundred years life here was carried on with a certain courtly -splendour. To-day the chateau, or what is left of it, serves as a -prison. - -The unlovely cathedral at Tarbes was once a citadel, or at least served -as such. It must have been more successful as a warlike accessory than -as a religious shrine, for it is about the most ungracious, unchurchly -thing to be seen in the entire round of the Pyrenees. - -The chief architectural curiosity of Tarbes is the Lycee, on whose -portal (dated 1669) one reads: "May this building endure until the ant -has drunk the waters of the ocean, and the tortoise made the tour of the -globe." It seems a good enough dedication for any building. - -The ever useful Froissart furnishes a reference to Tarbes and its inns -which is most apropos. Travellers even in those days, unless they were -noble courtiers, repaired to an inn as now. - -The Messire Espaing de Lyon, and the Maitre Jehan Froissart made many -journeys together. It was here under the shelter of the Pyrenees that -the maitre said to his companion: - -"Et nous vinmes a Tarbes, et nous fumes tout aises a l'hostel de -l'Etoile.... C'est une ville trop bien aisee pour sejourner chevaux: de -bons foins, de bons avoines et de belles rivieres." - -Tarbes is something of an approach to this, but not altogether. The -missing link is the Hostel de l'Etoile, and apparently nothing exists -which takes the place of it. From the fourteenth century to the -twentieth century is a long time to wait for hotel improvements, -particularly if they have not yet arrived. - -The great Marche de Tarbes is, and has been for ages, one of its chief -sights, indeed it is the rather commonplace modern city's principal -picturesque accessory, if one excepts its grandly scenic background. -Every fifteen days throughout the year the market draws throngs of -buyers and sellers from the whole region of the western Pyrenees. - -In the very midst of the most populous and wealthy valleys and plains of -the Pyrenees, one sees here the complete gamut of picturesque peoples -and costumes in which the country abounds. Here are the Bearnais, agile -and gay, and possessed of the very spirit associated with Henri IV. They -seat themselves among their wares, composed of woollen stuffs and -threads, pickled meats, truffles, potatoes, cheeses of all sorts, -agricultural implements--mostly primitive, but with here and there a -gaudy South Bend or Milwaukee plough--porcelain, coppers, cattle, goats, -sheep and donkeys, and a greater variety of things than one's -imagination can suggest. It is almost the liveliest and most populous -market to be seen in France to-day. The gaudy umbrellas and tents cover -the square like great mushrooms. There are much picturesqueness and -colour, and lively comings and goings too. This is ever a contradiction -to the reproach of laziness usually applied to the care-free folk of the -Midi. - -In olden times the market of Tarbes was the resort of many Spanish -merchants, and they still may be distinguished as donkey-dealers and -mule traders, but the chief occupants of the stalls and little squares -of ground are the dwellers of the countryside, who think nothing of -coming in and out a matter of four or five leagues to trade a side of -bacon--which they call simply _sale_--for a sheep or a goat, or a sheep -or a goat for a nickel clock, made in Connecticut. It's as hard for the -peasant to draw the line between necessities and superfluities as it is -for the rest of us, and he is often apt to put caprice before need. - -Neighbouring close upon Tarbes is the ancient feudal bourg of Ossun, -which most of the fox-hunters of Pau, or the pilgrims of Lourdes, know -not even by name. It's only the traveller by road--the omnipresent -automobilist of to-day--who really stands a chance of "discovering" -anything. The art of travel degenerated sadly with the advent of the -railway and the "personally conducted pilgrimage," but the automobile -is bringing it all back again. The bicycle stood a chance of -participating in the same honour at one time, but folk weren't really -willing to take the trouble of becoming a vagabond on wheels. - -Ossun was the site of a Roman camp before it became a feudal stronghold, -and with the coming of the chateau and its seigneurs, in the fifteenth -century, it came to a prominence and distinction which made of it nearly -a metropolis. To-day it is a dull little town of less than two thousand -souls, but with a most excellent hotel, the Galbar, which is far and -away better (to some of us) than the popular hotels of Pau, Tarbes or -Luchon. - -The chateau of Ossun, or so much of it as remains, was practically a -fortress. What it lacks in luxury it makes up for in its intimation of -strength and power, and from this it is not difficult to estimate its -feudal importance. - -The Roman camp, whose outlines are readily defined, was built, so -history tells, by one Crassus, a lieutenant of Caesar. It was an -extensive and magnificent work, a long, sunken, oblong pit with four -entrances passing through the sloping dirt walls. Four or five thousand -men, practically a Roman legion, could be quartered within. - -It was from the Chateau d'Odos, near Tarbes, in the month of December, -1549, that the Queen of Navarre observed the comet which was said to -have made its appearance because of the death of Pope Paul III. Says -Brantome: "She jumped from her bed in fright at observing this celestial -phenomenon, and presumably lingered too long in the chill night, for she -caught a congestion which brought about her death eight days later, 21st -December, 1549, in the fifty-eighth year of her age." According to -Hilarion de Coste her remains were transported to Pau, and interred in -the "_principal eglise_," but others, to the contrary, say that she was -buried in the great burial vault at Lescar. This is more likely, for an -authentic document in the Bibliotheque Nationale describes minutely the -details of the ceremony of burial "_dans l'antique cathedrale de -Lescar_." - -On the Landes des Maures, near by, was celebrated a bloody battle in the -eighth century between the Saracens and the inhabitants of the country. -Gruesome finds of "skulls of extraordinary thickness" have frequently -been made on this battlefield. Just what this description seems to augur -the writer does not know; perhaps some ethnologist who reads these -lines will. At any rate the combatants must have died _hard_. - -[Illustration: _A Shepherd of Bigorre_] - -Following up the valley of the Adour one comes to the Bagneres de -Bigorre in a matter of twenty-five kilometres or so. Bagneres de Bigorre -is a hodge-podge of a name, but it is the "Bath" of France, as an -Englishman of a century ago called it. There are other resorts more -popular and fashionable and more wickedly immoral, such as Vichy, Aix -les Bains and even Luchon, but still Bigorre remains the first choice. -From the times of the Romans, throngs have been coming to this charming -little spot of the Pyrenees where the mineral waters bubble up out of -the rock, bringing health and strength to those ill in mind and body. -Pleasure seekers are here, too, but primarily it is the baths which -attract. - -There are practically no monuments of bygone days here, but fragmentary -relics of one sort or another tell the story of the waters from Roman -times to the present with scarcely a break. - -Arreau, seven leagues from Bigorre, towards the heart of the Pyrenees, -through the Val d'Arreau, certainly one of the most picturesquely -unspoiled places in all the Pyrenees, is a relic of mediaevalism such as -will hardly be found elsewhere in the whole chain of mountains from the -Atlantic to the Mediterranean. Its feudal history was fairly important, -but its monuments of the period, save its churches and its market house -or "Halle," have practically disappeared. Whatever defences there may -have been, have been built into the town's fine stone houses and -bridges, but the Roman tower of St. Exupere, and the primitive church -now covered by Notre Dame show its architectural importance in the past. - -By reason of being one of the gateways through the Pyrenees into Spain -(by the valley of the Arreau and the _portes_, so called, of Plan and -Vielsa) Arreau enjoys a Franco-Espagnol manner of living which is quaint -beyond words. It is the nearest thing to Andorra itself to be found on -French soil. - -Luchon is situated in a nook of the Larboust surrounded with a rural -beauty only lent by a river valley and a mountain background. The range -to the north is bare and grim, but to the southward is thickly wooded, -with little eagles'-nest villages perched here and there on its flanks -and peaks, in a manner which leads one to believe that this part of the -Pyrenees is as thickly peopled as Switzerland, where peasants fall out -of their terrace gardens only to tumble into those of a neighbour -living lower down the mountain-side. - -The surroundings of Luchon are indeed sublime, from every point of view, -and one's imagination needs no urging to appreciate the sentiment which -is supposed to endow a "nature-poet." Yes, Luchon is beautiful, but it -is overrun with fashionables from all over the world, and is as gay as -Biarritz or Nice. "_La grande vie mondaine_" is the key-note of it all, -and if one could find out just when was the off-season it would be -delightful. Of late it has been crowded throughout the year, though the -height of fashion comes in the spring. Outside of its sulphur springs -the great world of fashion comes here to dine and wine their friends and -play bridge. - -Luchon has a history though. As a bathing or a drinking place it was -known to the Romans as _Onesiorum Thermae_ and was mentioned by Strabo as -being famous in those days. - -There were many pagan altars and temples here erected to the god -Ilixion, which by evolution into Luchon came to be the name by which the -place has latterly been known. - -In 1036, by marriage, Luchon was transferred from the house of Comminges -to that of Aragon, but later was returned to the Comtes de Comminges -and finally united with France in 1458 under Charles VII, retaining, -however, numerous ancient privileges which endured until the end of the -seventeenth century. - -This was the early history of Luchon. Its later history began when, in -1754, the local waters were specially analyzed and a boom given to a -project to make of the place a great spa. - -The city itself is the proprietor of all the springs and its -administrative sagacity has been such that fifty thousand visitors are -attracted here within the year. - - - - -CHAPTER XXI - -BY THE BLUE GAVE DE PAU - - -The Gave de Pau, a swiftly-flowing stream which comes down from its icy -cradle in the Cirque de Gavarnie and joins with the Adour near Bayonne's -port, winds its way through a gentle, smiling valley filled with -gracious vistas, historic sites and grand mountain backgrounds. - -Next to the aesthetic aspects of the Gave de Pau are its washhouses. The -writer in years of French travel does not remember to have seen a stream -possessed of so many. - -One sees similar arrangements for washing clothes all over France, but -here they are exceedingly picturesque in their disposition, and the -workers therein are not of the Zola-Amazon type, nor of the withered -beldam class. How much better they wash than others of their fraternity -elsewhere is not to be remarked. - -There are municipal washhouses in some of the larger towns of France, -great, ugly, brick, cement and iron structures, but as the actual -washing is done after the same manner as when carried on by the banks of -a rushing river or a purling brook there is not much to be said in their -favour that cannot as well be applied to the washhouses of Pau, Oloron -or Orthez in Navarre, and artist folk will prefer the latter. - -Coarraze, twenty kilometres above Pau, on the banks of the Gave, is a -populous centre where the hum of industry, induced by the weavers who -make the _toile du Bearn_, is the prevailing note. _Toile du Bearn_ and -_chapelets_ are the chief output of this little bourg, and many francs -are in circulation here each Saturday night that would probably be -wanting except for these indefatigable workers who had rather bend over -greasy machines at something more than a living wage, than dig a mere -existence out of the ground. - -The little bourg is dull and gray in colour, only its surroundings being -brilliant. Its situation is most fortunate. Opposite is a great -tree-covered plateau, a veritable terrace, on which is a modern chateau -replacing another which has disappeared--"_comme un chevreau en -liberte_," says the native. - -[Illustration: _Chateau de Coarraze_] - -It was in this old Chateau de Coarraze that the youthful Henri IV was -brought up by an aunt, _en paysan_, as the simple life was then -called. Perhaps it was this early training that gave him his later -ruggedness and rude health. - -The chateau has been called royal, and its construction has been -attributed to Henri IV, but this is manifestly not so. Only ruined walls -and ramparts, and the accredited facts of history, remain to-day to -connect Henri IV with the spot. - -The chateau virtually disappeared in a revolutionary fury, and only the -outline of its former walls remains here and there. A more modern -structure, greatly resembling the chateau at Pau, practically marks the -site of the former establishment endowed with the memory of Henri IV's -boyhood. - -Froissart recounts a pleasant history of the Chateau de Coarraze and its -seigneur. A certain Raymond of Bearn had acquired a considerable -heritage, which was disputed by a Catalan, who demanded a division. -Raymond refused, but the Catalan, to intimidate his adversary, -threatened to have him excommunicated by the Pope. Threats were of no -avail, and Raymond held to his legacy as most heirs do under similar -claims. One night some one knocked loudly at Raymond's door. - -"Who is there?" he cried in a trembling voice. - -"I am Orthon, and I come on behalf of the Catalan." - -After a parley he left, nothing accomplished, but returned night after -night in some strange form of man or beast or wraith or spook or -masquerader and so annoyed Raymond that he was driven into madness, the -Catalan finally coming to his own. - -At Nay, Gaston Phoebus is said to have built a sort of modest country -house which in later centuries became known simply as La Maison Carree. -Perhaps Gaston Phoebus built it, and perhaps he did not, for its -architecture is of a very late Renaissance. At any rate it has a -charming triple-galleried house-front, quite in keeping with the spirit -of mediaevalism which one associates with a builder who has "ideas" and -is not afraid of carrying them out, and this was Gaston's reputation. -The house is on record as having one day been occupied by the queen of -Navarre, Jeanne d'Albret. - -Just beyond Coarraze is Betharrem whose "Calvary" and church are -celebrated throughout the Midi. From the fifteenth of August to the -eighth of September it is a famous place of pilgrimage for the faithful -of Bearn and Bigorre, a veritable New Jerusalem. Its foundation goes -back to antiquity, but its origin is not unknown, if legend plays any -part in truthful description. - -One day, too far back to give a date, a young and pious maiden fell -precipitately into the Gave. She could not swim and was sinking in the -waters, when she called for the protection of the Virgin Mary. At that -moment a tree trunk, leaning out over the river, gave way and fell into -the waters; the maiden was able to grasp it and keep afloat, and within -a short space was drifted ashore. There is nothing very unplausible -about this, nothing at all miraculous; and so it may well be accepted as -a legend based on truth. - -A modest chapel was built near at hand, by some pious folk, to -commemorate the event, or perhaps it was built--as has been claimed--by -Gaston IV himself, on his return from the Crusades in the middle of the -twelfth century. The latter supposition holds good from the fact that -the place bears the name of the city by the Jordan. - -Montgomery burned the chapel during the religious wars, but again in the -seventeenth century, Hubert Charpentier, _licencie_ of the Sorbonne, -came here and declared that the configuration of the mountain resembled -that where took place the crucifixion, and accordingly erected a Calvary -dedicated to "Our Lady," "in order," as he said, "to revivify the faith -which Calvinism had nearly extinguished." - -Saint-Pe-de-Bigorre, lying midway between Pau and Lourdes, is an ideally -situated, typical small town of France. It is not a resort in any sense -of the word, but might well be, for it is as delightful as any Pyrenean -"station" yet "boomed" as a cure for the ills of folk with imaginations. - -It is a genuine garden-city. Its houses, strung out along the banks of -the Gave, are wall-surrounded and tree-shaded, nearly every one of them. -But one hotel extends hospitality at Saint Pe to-day, but soon there -will be a dozen, no doubt, and then Saint Pe will be known as a centre -where one may find "_all the attractions of the most celebrated -watering-places_." - -To-day Saint Pe depends upon its ravishing site and its historic past -for its reason for being. It derives its name from the old Abbey of -Saint-Pe-de-Generes (Sanctus Petrus de Generoso), founded here in the -eleventh century, by Sanchez-Guillaume, Duc de Gascogne, in -commemoration of a victory. This monastery, with its abbatial church, -was razed during the religious wars by the alien Montgomery who outdid -in these parts even his hitherto unenviable cruelties. The church was -built up anew, from such of its stones as were left, into the present -edifice which serves the parish, but nothing more than the tower and the -apse are of the original structure. - -To Lourdes is but a dozen kilometres by road or rail from Saint Pe. In -either case one follows along the banks of the Gave with delightful -vistas of hill and dale at every turn, and always that blue-purple -curtain of mountains for a background. - -Lourdes is perhaps the most celebrated, if not the most efficacious, -pilgrim-shrine in all the world. It's a thing to see, if only to remark -the contrasting French types among the pilgrims that one meets -there--the Breton from Pont Aven or Quimperle, the Norman from the Pays -de Caux, the Parisian, the Alsacien, the Nicois and the Tourangeau. All -are here, in all stages of health and sickness, vigorous and crippled. -The shrine of "Our Lady of Lourdes" is all things to all men. Lourdes is -a beastly, unclean, and uncomfortable place in which to linger, in spite -of its magnificent situation, and its great and small hotels with all -manner of twentieth-century conveniences. - -It's a plague-spot on fair France, looking at it from one point of view; -and a living superstition of Christendom from another. The medical men -of France want to close it up; the churchmen and hotel keepers want to -keep it open. Arguments are puerile, so there the matter stands; and -neither side has gained an appreciable advantage over the other as yet. - -Lourdes was one day the capital of the ancient seigneurie, -Lavedan-en-Bigorre, and at that time bore the name of Mirambel, which in -the _patois_ of the region signified beautiful view. Originally it was -but a tiny village seated at the foot of a rock, and crowned by the same -chateau which exists to-day, and which in its evolution has come down -from a _castellum-romain_, a Carlovingian bastille, a Capetian and -English prison of state, a hospital for the military, a barracks, to -finally being a musee. - -Of the chateau of the feudal epoch nothing remains save two covered -ways, the donjon, a sixteenth-century gate and a drawbridge, this latter -probably restored out of all semblance to its former outlines. One of -these covered ways gave access to the upper stages with so ample a sweep -that it became practically a horse stairway upon which cavaliers and -lords and ladies reined their chargers. - -[Illustration: CHATEAU DE LOURDES] - -The donjon is manifestly a near relation to that of Gaston Phoebus at -Foix, though that prince had no connection with the chateau. -Transformation has changed all but its outlines, its fosse has become a -mere sub-cellar, and its windows have lost their original proportions. - -The Chateau de Lourdes was undoubtedly a good defence in its day in -spite of its present attenuated appearance. In 1373 it resisted the -troops of Charles V, commanded by the Duc d'Anjou. Under the ancient -French monarchy its career was most momentous, though indeed merely as a -prison of state, or a house of detention for political suspects. Many -were the "_lettres de cachet_" that brought an unwilling prisoner to be -caged here in the shadow of the Pyrenees, as if imbedded in the granite -of the mountains themselves. - -The rock which supports the chateau rises a hundred metres or so above -the Gave. A great square mass--the donjon--forms the principal -attribute, and was formerly the house of the governor. This donjon with -a chapel and a barracks has practically made up the ensemble in later -years. - -Here, on one of the counterforts of the Pyrenees, just beyond the grim -old chateau, and directly before the celebrated Pic du Ger, now -desecrated by a cog-railway, where the seven plains of Lavedan blend -into the first slopes of the mountains, were laid the first stones of -the Basilique de Lourdes in 1857. - -Previously the site was nothing more than a moss-grown grotto where -trickled a fountain that, for ages, had been the hope of the incurably -ill, who thought if they bathed and drank and prayed that miracles would -come to them and they would be made whole again. - -The fact that the primitive, devout significance of this sentiment has -degenerated into the mere pleasure seeking of a mixed rabble does not -affect in the least the simple faith of other days. The devout and -prayerful still come to bathe and pray, but they are lost in the throng -of indiscriminately "conducted" and "non-conducted" tourists who make of -the shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes a mere guide-book sight to be checked -off the list with others, such as the Bridge of Sighs, the Pyramids of -Gizeh, the Tour Eiffel, or Hampton Court,--places which once seen will -never again be visited. - -To-day only the smaller part of the visitors, among even the French -themselves, excepting the truly devout, who are mostly Bretons--will -reply to the question as to whether they believe in Lourdes: "_Oui, -comme un article de foi_." - -No further homily shall be made, save to say that the general aspect of -the site is one of the most picturesque and enchanting of any in the -Pyrenees--when one forgets, or eliminates, the signs advertising -proprietary condiments and breakfast foods. - -It doesn't matter in the least whether one Frenchman says: "_C'est ma -Foi_;" or another "_C'est un scandale_;" the landscape is gloriously -beautiful. Of the Grotto itself one can only remark that its present-day -garnishings are blatant, garish and offensive. The great, slim basilica -rises on its monticule as was planned. It has been amply endowed and -extravagantly built. Before it is a _perron_, or more properly a -_scala-sancta_, and the whole is so theatrically disposed, with a great -square before it, that one can quite believe it all a stage-setting and -nothing more. - -As a place of pilgrimage, Lourdes is perhaps the most popular in all the -world, certainly it comes close after Jerusalem and Rome. Alphonse -XIII, the present ruler of Spain, made his devotions here in August, -1905. - -Argeles is practically a resort, and has the disposition of a Normandy -village; that is, its houses are set about with trees and growing -verdure of all sorts. For this reason it is a delightful garden city of -the first rank. - -Argeles' chief attraction is its site; there are no monuments worth -mentioning, and these are practically ruins. Argeles is a watering-place -pure and simple, with great hotels and many of them, and prices -accordingly. - -Above Argeles the Gave divides, that portion to the left taking the name -of Gave de Cauterets, while that to the right still retains the name of -Gave de Pau. - -Cauterets has, in late years, become a great resort, due entirely to its -waters and the attendant attractions which have grouped themselves -around its _etablissement_. The beneficial effect of the drinking or -bathing in medicinal waters might be supposed to be somewhat negatived -by bridge and baccarat, poker and "_petits chevaux_" but these -distractions--and some others--seem to be the usual accompaniments of a -French or German spa. - -[Illustration: _Cauterets_] - -"_C'est le premier jour de septembre que les bains des Pyrenees -commencent a avoir de la vertu._" Thus begins the prologue to -Marguerite de Navarre's "Heptameron." The "season" to-day is not so -late, but the queen of Navarre wrote of her own experiences and times, -and it is to be presumed she wrote truly. - -A half a century ago Cauterets was a dirty, shabby village, nearly -unknown, but the exploiter of resorts got hold of it, and with a few -medical endorsements forthwith made it the vogue until now it is as trim -and well-laid-out a little town as one will find. - -The town is a gem of daintiness, in strong contrast to the surrounding -melancholy rocks and forests of the mountainside. Peaks, approximating -ten thousand feet in height, rise on all sides, and dominate the more -gentle slopes and valleys, but still the general effect is one of a -savage wildness, with which the little white houses of the town, the -electric lights and the innumerable hotels--a round score of -them--comport little. Certainly the beneficial effects accruing to -semi-invalids here might be supposed to be great--if they would but -leave "the game" alone. - -A simple mule path leads to the Col de Riou back of Cauterets, though it -is more frequented by tourists on foot than by beasts of burden. - -Here on the Col itself, in plain view of the Pic du Midi and its sister -peaks, the Touring Club has erected one of those admirable guide-book -accessories, a "_table d'orientation_." - -On its marbled circumference are traced nearly three hundred -topographical features of the surrounding landscape, and a study of this -well-thought-out affair is most interesting to any traveller with a -thought above a table d'hote. Throughout the region of the Pyrenees -these circular "_tables d'orientation_," with the marked outlines of all -the surrounding landscape, are to be found on many vantage grounds. The -principal ones are:-- - -On the Ramparts of the Chateau de Pau. - -The Col d'Aspin. - -The Col de Riou. - -Platform of the Tour Massey at Tarbes. - -Platform de Mouguerre. - -Summit of the Pic du Midi. - -Summit of the Cabaliros. - -Summit of the Canigou. - -Over the Col de Riou and down into the Gave de Pau again, and one comes -to Luz. Luz is curiously and delightfully situated in a triangular basin -formed by the water-courses of the Gave de Pau and the Gave de Bareges. -Practically Luz is a _ville ancienne_ and a _ville moderne_, the older -portion being by far the most interesting, though there is no squalor -or unusual picturesqueness. Civic improvements have straightened out -crooked streets and razed tottering house fronts and thus spoiled the -picture of mediaevalism such as artists--and most others--love. - -A ruined fortress rises on a neighbouring hill-top which gives a note of -feudal times, but the general aspect of Luz, and its neighbouring pretty -suburb of St. Sauveur, each of them possessed of thermal establishments, -are resorts pure and simple, which, indeed, both these places were bound -to become, being on the direct route between Pau and Tarbes and -Gavarnie, and neighbours of Cauterets and Bareges. - -Bareges lies just eastward of Luz on a good carriage road. Like -Bagneres-de-Bigorre, it is an oddly named town which depends chiefly -upon the fact that it is a celebrated thermal station for its fame. It -sits thirteen hundred metres above the sea, and while bright and smiling -and gracious in summer, in winter it is as stern-visaged as a harpy, and -about as unrelenting towards one's comfort. Only this last winter the -mountain winds and snows caved in Bareges' Casino and a score of houses, -killing several persons. There is no such a storm-centre in the -Pyrenees. Bareges has got a record no one will envy, though the efficacy -of its waters makes them worthy rivals of those of Bigorre and -Cauterets. - -The fame of Bareges' waters goes back to the days of the young Duc du -Maine, who came here with Madame de Maintenon, in 1667, on the orders of -the doctor of the king. In 1760 a military hospital was founded here to -receive the wounded of the Seven Years War. - -Bareges is one of the best centres for mountain excursions in the -Pyrenees. The town itself is hideous, but the surroundings are -magnificent. - -Above Saint Sauveur, Luz and Cauterets, in the valley of the Gaube, -rises the majestic Vignemale, whose extreme point, the Pic Longue, -reaches a height of three thousand, two hundred and ninety-eight metres, -which is the greatest height of the French Pyrenees. In the year 1808, -on the occasion of the coming of the Queen of Holland, spouse of Louis -Bonaparte, to the Bains de Saint Sauveur, an unknown muse of poesy sang -the praise of this great mountain as follows:-- - - "Roi des Monts: Despote intraitable. - Toi qui domine dans les airs, - Toi dont le trone inabordable - Appelle et fixe les eclairs! - Fier Vignemale, en vain ta cime - S'entoure d'un affreux abime - De niege et de debris pierreux; - Une nouvelle Berenice - Ose, a cote du precipice, - Gravir sur ton front sourcilleux!" - -Each of the thermal stations in these parts possesses its own special -peak of the Pyrenees. Luchon has the Nethou; Bigorre the Pic du Midi de -Bagneres; Eaux-Bonnes the Balaitous; Eaux-Chaudes the Pic du Midi -d'Ossau; Vernet the Canigou and Saint Sauveur and Cauterets the -Vignemale. - -The Vignemale, composed of four peaks, each of them overreaching three -thousand, two hundred metres, encloses a veritable river of ice. Its -profound crevasses and its _Mer de Glace_ remind one of the Alps more -than do the accessories of any other peak of the Pyrenees. - -The ascension of the Vignemale, from Cauterets or Luz, is the classic -mountain climb of the Pyrenees. No peak is more easy of access, and none -gives so complete an idea of the ample ranges of the Pyrenees, from east -to west, or north to south. - - - - -CHAPTER XXII - -OLORON AND THE VAL D'ASPE - - -Oloron, at the confluence of the Gave d'Ossau and the Gave d'Aspe, has -existed since Roman times, when it was known as Iluro, finally changing -to Oloro and Olero. It was sacked by the Saracens in 732, and later -entirely ruined by the Normans. Centulle, Vicomte de Bearn, -reestablished the city, and for a time made it his residence. - -The roads and lanes and paths of the neighbourhood of Oloron offer some -of the most charming promenades of the region, but one must go on foot -or on donkey-back (the latter at a cost of five francs a day) to -discover all their beauties. The highroads of the Pyrenees are a speedy -and a short means of communication between two points, but the delicate -charm of the region is only discovered by following the by-roads, quite -away from the beaten track. - -Oloron will some day be an artists' resort, but it hasn't been exploited -as such yet. It sits delightfully on the banks of the two Gaves, and -has all the picturesqueness that old tumble-down Gothic and Renaissance -houses and bridges can suggest, the whole surrounded with a verdure and -a rocky setting which is "all things to all (painter) men." - -In reality Oloron is a triple city, each quite distinct from one -another: Sainte-Marie, the episcopal city, with the cathedral and the -bishop's palace; Sainte-Croix, the old feudal bourg; and the Quartier -Neuve, the quarter of the railway station, the warehouses and all the -smug commercialism which has spoiled many a fair landscape elsewhere. - -The feudal Sainte-Croix has character; the episcopal Sainte-Marie -dignity. In Sainte-Croix the houses rise up from the surface of the Gave -in the most entrancing, damp picturesqueness imaginable as the waters -flow swiftly down towards Orthez. Back from the river, the houses are -mounted on tortuous hillsides, with narrow, silent streets, as if they -and their inhabitants all lived in the past. On the very crest of the -hill is the Eglise Sainte-Croix, founded in the ninth century by one of -the Vicomtes de Bearn, a monument every whit as interesting as the great -cathedral lower down. - -The diocese of Saint-Marie d'Oloron was the least wealthy of any of -mediaeval France. Its government allowance was but thirteen thousand -francs, and this sum had to be divided with the Bishop of Lescar. On the -other hand, the city of Oloron itself was important and wealthy in its -own right. - -In the Faubourg of Sainte-Croix one remarks as real a mediaevalism as -exists anywhere in France to-day. Its streets are narrow and silent, and -therein are found many examples of domestic habitations dating back to -Roman times. These are very rare to-day, even in southern Gaul, where -the hand of progress is supposed to be weak. Interspersed with these -Romanesque houses are admirable works of the Gothic and Renaissance -periods. There is very little that is modern. - -Of the old city walls but little evidence remains. A kind of rampart is -seen here and there built into other structures, and one, at least, of -the watch-towers is left, of the dozen or more that once existed. -Sainte-Croix still has, however, an archaic aspect which bids fair not -to change within the lives of the present generation. - -The chief industries of Oloron are the making of _espadrilles_, and the -weaving of "toile du Bearn," a species of linen with which housewives -all over these parts stock their linen closets once in a lifetime, and -which lasts till they die, or perhaps longer, and is handed down to -their daughters and granddaughters. - -Another echo of Protestantism in Bearn still reverberates at Oloron. A -one-time Bishop of Oloron, a protege of Marguerite de Navarre, became a -disciple of Martin Luther. He was named Roussel, and had been a -professor of philosophy in the University of Paris. He had travelled in -Germany, had met Luther, and had all but accepted his religion, when, -returning to Bearn, he came into favour with the learned Marguerite, who -nominated him Bishop of Oloron. He hesitated between the two religions, -knowing not which to take. Meantime he professed both one and the other; -in the morning he was for Rome, and in the evening for Luther; and -preaching thus in the churches and temples he became a natural enemy of -both parties. One day he was summarily despatched by a blow with a -hatchet which one of his parishioners had concealed upon his person as -he came to church. For this act the murderer was, in the reign of Henri -IV, made Bishop of Oloron in the unworthy Roussel's place. - -Six kilometres from Oloron, at Eysus, a tiny hamlet too small to be -noted in most guide books, is an old _Chateau de Plaisance_ of the -Vicomtes de Bearn. Folks had the habit, even in the old days, of living -around wherever fancy willed--the same as some of us do to-day. It has -some advantages and not many disadvantages. - -Back of Oloron, towards the foot-hills of the Pyrenees, is another of -those little kingdoms which were scattered all over France, and which -only geographers and antiquarians know sufficiently well to be able to -place offhand. This is the Baretous, and very curious it is with the -survival of its old customs and costumes. Up to Aramits the routes are -much frequented, but as one penetrates further into the fastnesses of -the mountains, there is an immense sadness that is as entrancing as the -most vivid gaiety. Pushing through to the Spanish frontier, fifty -kilometres or more beyond Aramits, a whole kaleidoscope of mountain -charms unrolls itself at every step. - -At the Spanish frontier limit, a quaint and curious ceremony is held on -the thirteenth of July in each year by the Baretains and their Spanish -neighbours. The Baretains, by an ancient right, pasture their flocks up -in the high valleys of the Roncal, and, to recognize the right of the -Roncalois to keep them out of their pasturage if they so chose, the -Baretains pay them homage. The ceremony is carried out before a notary, -seven _jurats_ being the representatives of the Baretains, each armed -with a pike, as are the representatives of Roncal. The first lay down -their pikes before the latter, and, in a second layer, their points -turned towards the Bearnais capital, are placed those of the Roncalois. -Then a shout of acclamation goes up and rends the air: "Patz abantz! -Patz abantz! Patz abantz!--Peace for the future!" This is the signal for -a general rejoicing, and a merry-making of dancing and eating and -drinking, not far different from other fetes. It is the setting that -makes it so remarkable, and the quaint costumes and customs of the men -and women of two nations mingling in a common fete. - -This Franco-Espagnol ceremony is accomplished with much eclat on a -little square of ground set off on the maps of the Etat Major as "Champ -de Foire Francais et Espagnol." Tradition demands that three cows be -given or offered to the Spanish by the French for the privilege of -pasturage over the border in the Spanish valleys. The cows are loosed on -the _Champ de Foire_, and if they remain for half an hour without -crossing the line into France again they belong to the Spanish. If, on -the other hand, one or more cross back into France they remain the -property of the French. - -Formerly three horses were used for this part of the function, but as -they were bound to have a white star on the forehead, and as that -variety of beast is rare in these parts, a compromise was made to carry -out the pact with the cows. - -The most historic spot in the Gave d'Aspe is unquestionably Sarrance. -Notre Dame de Sarrance is a venerable and supposedly miraculous statue. -Numbers of pilgrims have visited the shrine in times past, among them -the none too constant Louis XI, who, if he was devoted to Our Lady of -Clery and Notre Dame de Embrun, was ready to bow down before any whom he -thought might do him a good turn. - -Certainly Sarrance's most favourite memory is that of the celebrated -Marguerite de Navarre. If she did not write, she at least conceived the -idea of her "Heptameron" here, if history is to be believed. - -The title page of this immortal work reads as follows, - - L'HEPTAMERON - - "des nouvelles de tres illustre et tres excellente - princesse, Marguerite de Valois, Reine de Navarre." - -The history of the inception of these tales is often inexactly recounted -at this late day, but in the main the facts seem to be as follows:-- - -In September (1549?), when the queen and her followers were journeying -from Cauterets to Tarbes, the waters of the Gave overflowed their banks -and destroyed the bridge of Sarrance. The party stopped first at the -Abbaye de Saint Savin, and again at the Monastere de Notre Dame de -Sarrance. Ten days were necessary to repair the bridge which had been -carried away, and time apparently hung heavy on the hands of every one. -To break the ennui of their sojourn in the company of these austere -monks of Sarrance, the royal party sought what amusements they might. - -In the morning all met with the Dame Oysille, the eldest of the company, -when they had an hour's reading of the Scriptures. After this there was -a mass; then at ten o'clock they dined; finally each retired to his -room--"_pour ses affaires particulieres_," says the old -record--presumably to sleep, though it was early in the day for that. In -the afternoon ("_depuis midi jusques a quatres heures_," ran the old -chronicle) they all assembled in the meadow by the river's bank beneath -the trees, and each, seated at his ease, recounted such salacious -satires and tales as would have added to the fame of Boccaccio. This -procedure went on until the tellers of tales were interrupted by the -coming of the prior who called them to vespers. - -These tales or "_contes_," or "_petites histoires_," or whatever one -chooses to call them, free of speech and of incident as was the custom -of the time, were afterwards mothered by the queen of Navarre, and given -to the world as the product of her fertile mind. Judging from their -popularity at that time, and since, the fair lady must have been a -wonderful storyteller. - -The gentle slopes of a prairie along the banks of the Gave near by is -the reputed spot where these tales were told,--a spot "where the sun -could not pierce the thick foliage," certainly romantically and -picturesquely endowed. The site is charming, and one can picture the -scene all out again for himself if he is possessed of the least bit of -imaginative sense. - -Still following the valley of the Aspe upward, one comes next to Bedous, -really a pretentious little city, but unheard of by conventional -travellers. Everything begins to take on a Spanish hue, and the church, -dating from 1631, is more Spanish than French in its architecture and -all its appointments. All the commercial life of the valley centres -here, and a mixed Franco-Espagnol traffic goes on. It is principally the -trading of cattle, sheep and wool, with an occasional porker or a donkey -sold, or bargained for, on the side. Bedous has been marked out as being -the terminus of a railway line yet to be built. Until the times shall be -propitious for pushing the railway on into Spain the town will remain -simply what it has been for centuries. When that day comes, much of the -charm of the region will be gone. The automobile is no such desecrator -as the railway, let scoffers say what they will. - -In the valley of the Aspe, with snow-capped mountains in full view, -there is a surprising softness of climate all through the year. In this -valley was the last refuge of Protestantism in the days of the religious -wars, and the little village of Bedous still possesses a "temple" and a -"pastor." - -Above Bedous, towards the crest of the Pyrenees, is Accous, and as one -progresses things become more and more Spanish, until the sign -"_Posada_" is as frequent as "_Auberge_." - -Accous offers no curiosities to visitors, but it was here that Victor -Hugo gave the last glimpses of Jean Valjean when the police were close -upon his trail; "at the place called the _Grange de Doumec_, near the -hamlet of Chavilles," ran the romance. - -From this point the valley of the Aspe opens almost perpendicularly into -the heart of the rock wall of the Pyrenees; it is a veritable chasm in -its upper reaches; and in this rocky defile was once a tiny feudality, -absorbed and later wiped into oblivion by the Revolution. - -Beyond Sarrance are Urdos and Somport and the fortress of Portalet. The -route was known to the ancients as that through which the Saracens came -from Spain to over-run southern Gaul. Somport was the _Summus Pyreneus_ -of the old-time historians of the Romans. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII - -ORTHEZ AND THE GAVE D'OLORON - - -Orthez is another of those cities of the Pyrenees which does not live up -to its possibilities, at least not in a commercial sense. Nevertheless, -some of us find it all the more delightful for that. It is a city where -the relics of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance are curiously -intermingled, and if one within its walls so chose he could imagine -himself as living in the past as well as in the present, and this in -spite of the fact that the city has been remodelled and restored in -certain quarters out of all semblance to its former self. - -There is little or nothing remaining of that time which Froissart -described with such minuteness when writing of the court at Orthez' -chateau. - -All that remains of this great pile is the Tour de Moncade, but from its -grandeur and commanding site one realizes well enough that in its time -it was hardly overshadowed by the better preserved edifices at Pau and -Foix. - -At the northeast of Orthez, on a hill overlooking the city is an -ancient, rectangular tower, its sides mellowed by ages, and its crest in -ruins. - -"_Savez-vous ce que sont ces ruines?_" you ask of any one, and they will -tell you that it is all that remains of the fine chateau of Gaston -Phoebus. Fetes and crimes were curiously intermingled within its -walls, for always little rivulets of blood flowed in mediaeval times as -the accompaniment of the laughter of the feast. - -Gaston de Foix, after the burning of his chateau, came to Orthez in the -thirteenth century, and began the citadel of Orthez--the -"_chateau-noble_" of the chronicles of Froissart. The edifice played an -important role in the history of Bearn. - -At that time Gaston was a vassal of Edward III of England who was then -making a Crusade in the East. On his return he found this -"_chateau-noble_" already built, and his surprise was great, for he knew -not what it portended. He concluded that it could only mean the -rebellion of his vassal, and he ordered the Seneschal of Gascony to -demand the surrender of the property. When this was refused Edward -seized it and all the domains of Bearn, and sent Gerard de Laon as envoy -to put the new political machinery in running order. The envoy entered -Orthez without the least obstacle being put in his way, but in an -instant the gates were closed and he was made a prisoner. Irritated by -this outrage, Edward, at the head of an imposing army, marched on -Orthez. Gaston, seized with fear, lost his head, and made up his mind to -surrender before he was attacked. No protestations of future devotion to -his overlord would, however, be accepted, and Edward made him prisoner -on the spot. To regain his liberty, Gaston promised to turn over the -"Fortresse d'Orthez" but, when he was set free, he established himself -with a doubled garrison behind his walls and prepared for resistance. -Edward pleaded for justice and honourable dealing, and a quarrel, long -and animated, followed. The affair took on such proportions that the -Pope sent his legate, as an intermediary, to make peace. Gaston would -hear of no compromise, and called upon the king of France to take his -part. A sort of council was finally arranged, during which Gaston became -so exasperated that he threw his glove in the face of the English king. -He begged the king's pardon afterwards, and an agreement was reached -whereby everything was left as it had been before the quarrel began. - -Many imperishable souvenirs are left of the reign at Orthez of the -brilliant Gaston de Foix, when tourneys and fetes followed in rapid -succession. It was Orthez' most brilliant epoch. - -It was here, to the court of Gaston Phoebus, that Messire Jehan -Froissart came, in 1388, and stayed three weeks and some of his most -brilliant pages relate to this visit. Of his host, the chronicler said: -"_De toutes choses il est si parfait_." - -Gaston Phoebus was so powerful and magnificent a seigneur in his own -right, and his castle at Orthez was such a landmark of history that -Louis XI--who conceded little enough to others as a usual thing--said to -his followers as he was passing through Bearnais territory on a -pilgrimage: "_Messeigneurs, laissez l'epee de France, nous sortons ici -du royaume_." - -Gaston Phoebus was the most accomplished seigneur of his time, and he -had for his motto "_Toquos-y se gaasos_"--"Attack who dares." - -One day, in the month of August, 1390, on returning from a bear hunt, -greatly fatigued, he was handed a cup from which to drink. He drank from -the cup and instantly expired. Was he poisoned? That is what no one -knows. It was the custom of the time to make away with one's enemies -thus, and in this connection one recalls that Gaston himself killed -his own son because he would not eat at table. - -[Illustration: _The Pont d'Orthez_] - -Orthez was deserted by the court for Pau, and in time the natural -destruction of wind and weather, and the hand of man, stripped the -chateau to what one sees to-day. - -The Pont d'Orthez is a far better preserved monument of feudal and -warlike times, and it was a real defence to the city, as can be readily -understood by all who view it. Its four hardy arches span the Gave as -they did in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. It was from the -summit of one of the sentinel towers of this most remarkable of mediaeval -bridges that the soldiers of Montgomery obliged the monks to throw -themselves into the river below. The "Brothers of the Bridge" were a -famous institution in mediaeval times, and they should have been better -treated than they usually were, but too frequently indeed they were -massacred without having either the right or the means to defend -themselves. - -The history of Montgomery's connection with Orthez, or more particularly -the Pont d'Orthez, reads almost as if it were legend, though indeed it -is truth. The story is called by the French historians "La Chronique de -la Tour des Caperas." - -Jeanne d'Albret, the mainstay of Protestantism in her day, wished to -make Orthez the religious capital, and accordingly she built here a -splendid church in which to expound the theories of Calvin and brought -"professors" from Scotland and England to preach the new dogma. Orthez -became at once the point of attack for those of the opposite faith, and -as horrible a massacre as was ever known took place in the streets of -Orthez and gave perhaps the first use of the simile that the river -flowed as a river of blood. Priests and monks were the special prey of -the Protestants, while they themselves were being attacked from without. -One by one as they were hunted out from their hiding-places the priests -and lay brothers were pushed from the parapet of the bridge into the -Gave below. If any gained the banks by swimming they were prodded and -stabbed by still other soldiery with lances, and from this great -_noyade_ the great Tour des Caperas became known as the Tour des -Pretres. - -To-day Montauban and Orthez have relatively the largest Protestant -populations of any of the cities of France. - -The old Route Royale between Bayonne and the capital of Bearn and -Navarre passed through Orthez, and the same narrow streets, irregular, -badly paved, and badly kept up, are those which one traverses to-day on -entering and leaving the city. One great improvement has been made in -the ancient quarter of the town--though of course one does not know what -historical souvenirs it may have supplanted--and that is the laying out -of a _mail_ or mall, planted on either side with great elms, and running -from the banks of the Gave to the fine fifteenth-century--but still -Gothic--church, well at the centre of the town. - -The "_jambons de Bayonne_" are mostly cured at Orthez, and it is indeed -the leading industry of the city. The porkers of Orthez may not be corn -fed, but they are well and cleanly nourished, which is more than can be -said of many "domesticated pigs" in New and Old England, which are eaten -with a great relish by those who have brought them up. - -In the religious wars Orthez played a grand role, and in 1814 it was the -scene of one of the great struggles of France against alien invasion of -her territory. Just north of the city, on the height of a flanking hill, -Wellington--at the head of a force very much superior, let no one -forget--inflicted a bloody defeat on Marechal Soult. The Duc de Dalmatie -lost, it is recorded, nearly four thousand men, but he wounded or -killed six thousand in the same engagement. General Foy here received -his fourth wound on the field of battle. - -Orthez is one of the really great feudal cities of the south of France. -In the ninth century it was known as Orthesium, and belonged to the -Vicomtes de Dax, who, only when they were conquered by Gaston III, -Prince of Bearn, ceded the city to the crown of Bearn and Navarre. - -It was in the chateau of Orthez that the unfortunate Blanche of -Castille, daughter of the king of Aragon, was poisoned by her sister, -the wife of Gaston IV, Comte de Foix. This was one of the celebrated -crimes of history, though for that matter the builder of the chateau, -the magnificent (_sic_) Gaston Phoebus, committed one worthy to rank -with it when he killed his brother and "propre fils" on the mere -suspicion that they might some day be led to take sides against him. - -Orthez flourished greatly under its Protestant princes, but it waned and -all but dwindled away in the unpeaceful times immediately following upon -the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The cessation of the practice of -the arts of industry, and very nearly those of commerce, left the city -poor and impoverished, and it is only within recent generations that it -has arisen again to importance. - -The donjon of Moncade is all that remains of the once proud chateau -where Gaston Phoebus held more than one brilliant court on his -excursions beyond the limits of his beloved Foix. It dominates the whole -region, however, and adds an accentuated note of grimness to the -otherwise gay melody of the Gave as it flows down to join the Adour from -the high valleys of the Pyrenees. - -On the opposite hillside is a memorial in honour of the brave General -Foy, which will recall to some the victory of Wellington over Soult, and -to others, who have not forgotten their Dumas, the fact that it was -General Foy who first gave the elder Dumas his start as writer of -romances. - -Salies de Bearn is a near neighbour of Orthez, and can be omitted from -no Pyrenean itinerary. The bustling little market-town and -watering-place combined dates, as to the foundation of its great -industry, back to the tenth century, when the Duc de Gascogne gave to -the monks of the Monastery of Saint Pe an establishment ready fitted -that they might commence the industry of recovering salt from the -neighbouring salt springs. All through mediaeval times, and down as late -as 1840, the industry was carried on under the old concession. - -All the distractions of a first-class watering-place may be had here -to-day, and the "season" is on from May to September. The city is the -birthplace of Colonel Dambourges, who became famous for his defence of -Quebec against the English in 1775. - -At Salies is still the house which sheltered Jeanne d'Albret when she -took the waters here, and not far away is the spot where died Gaston -Phoebus, as he was returning from a bear hunt. These two facts taken -together make of Salies hallowed historic ground. - -At Salies de Bearn one recalls a scrap of literary history that is -interesting; Dumas pere certainly got inspiration for the names of his -three _mousquetaire_ heroes from hereabouts. Not far away is -Athos--which he gave to the Comte de la Fere, while Aramits and Artagnan -are also near-by. In any historical light further than this they are all -unimportant however. - -Six kilometres to the northward is the Chateau de Bellocq, a fine -mediaeval country house (fourteenth century), though unroofed to-day, the -residence of Jeanne d'Albret when she sojourned in the neighbourhood. -The walls, flanked with four great round towers, are admirably -preserved, and the vaulting and its ribs, two square towers and a great -entrance gate show the manner of building of the time with great detail. - -Five leagues from Orthez, on a little valley plain, watered by the Gave -d'Oloron, is the tiny little city of Navarreux. Its population is scarce -above a thousand, but it is the centre of affairs for twenty-five -communes, containing perhaps twelve thousand souls. It is a typical, -bustling, little Pyrenean metropolis, and the comings and goings on -market-day at the little Hotel de France are as good an illustration of -the life and manners of a people of small affairs as one will find in a -year of travel. - -Henri d'Albret of Navarre picked out the site of the city in the midst -of this fertile plain, and planned that it should increase and multiply, -if not in population, at least in prosperity, though it was at first a -"private enterprise," like Richelieu's garden-city in Touraine. - -The preeminence of Navarreux was short lived. Henri d'Albret had built -it on the squared-off, straight-street, Chicago plan, had surrounded it -with walls, and even had a fortress built by Vauban, in the expectation -of making it the commercial capital of the Pyrenees, but man proposes, -and the lines of communication or trade disposes, and many a -thought-to-be-prosperous town has finally dwindled into impotency. There -was a good deal in the favour of Navarreux; its situation was central, -and it was surrounded by a numerous population, but its dream was over -in a couple of hundred years and the same year (1790) saw both its -grandeur and its decadence. - -To-day it remains still a small town, tied to the end of an omnibus line -which runs out from Orthez a dozen or fifteen kilometres away. The -fortifications of Vauban are still there and a remarkable old city gate, -called the Porte St. Antoine, a veritable gem of feudal architecture. -The very dulness and disappointment of the place appeal to one hugely. -One might do worse than doze away a little while here after a giddy -round at Pau or Biarritz. Navarreux is of the past and lives in the -past; it will never advance. As a fortress it has been unclassed, but -its walls one day guarded--as a sort of last line of defence--the route -from Spain via Roncevaux and Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. In those days it -certainly occupied a proud position in intent and in reality, as its -citadel sat high on a little terrace-plateau, dominated in turn by -the red dome of its church still higher up. The effect is still much the -same, impotent though the city walls and ramparts have become. - -[Illustration: The Walls of Navarreux] - -The route into Navarreux from the south is almost a tree-shaded -boulevard, and crosses the Gave on an old five-arched bridge, so narrow -that one vehicle can scarcely pass,--to say nothing of two. This -picturesque bridge was also the work of Henri d'Albret, the founder of -the primitive city. This first foundation was a short distance from the -present village. Its founder in a short time came to believe he had made -a mistake, and that the bourg as it was placed would be too difficult to -defend, so he tore it down in real northwest Dakota fashion, and built -the present city. Louis XIV and Vauban had great plans for it, and would -have done much, but Oloron in time relieved it of all pretensions to a -distinction, as, in turn, Pau robbed Oloron. - -Between Navarreux and Sauveterre, along the Gave d'Oloron, is a whole -string of little villages and hamlets whose names are scarcely ever -mentioned except by the local postman. It is a winsome valley, and the -signs of civilization, pale though they be, throw no ugly shadows on the -landscape. Midway between these two little centres is Audaux, which -possesses a vast seventeenth-century chateau, flanked with a series of -high coiffed pavilions and great domes, like that of Valencay in -Touraine. - -Its history is unimportant, and is rather vague, but a mere glance at -its pompous ornateness is a suggestion of the great contrast between the -chateaux of the north and centre of France and those of the Midi. In the -north the great residential chateaux, as contrasted with the -fortress-chateaux, were the more numerous; here the reverse was the -case, and the feudal chateau, which was more or less of a fortress, -predominated. The Chateau d'Audaux, sitting high on its own little -plateau, and surrounded by great chestnut trees, is almost the peer of -its class in these parts--from a grandiose architectural view point at -any rate. - -Sauveterre, twenty kilometres from Navarreux, is one of those old-time -bourgs which puts its best side forward when viewed from a distance. -Really it is nothing but a grim old ruin, so far as its appeal for the -pilgrim goes. Close acquaintance develops a squalor and lackadaisical -air which is not in the least in keeping with that of its neighbours. It -is the ensemble of its rooftops and its delightful site which gives -Sauveterre almost its only charm. In the Middle Ages it was a fortified -town which played a considerable part in olden history. To-day the sole -evidence that it was a place of any importance is found in a single -remaining arch of its old bridge, surmounted by a defending tower -similar to those which guard the bridges at Orthez and Cahors, but much -smaller. - -There is another relic still standing of Sauveterre's one-time -greatness, but it is outside the town itself. The grim, square donjon of -the old Chateau de Montreal rises on a hilltop opposite the town, and -strikes the loudest note of all the superb panorama of picturesque -surroundings. It was the guardian of the fate of Sauveterre in feudal -times, and it is the guardian, or beacon, for travellers by road to-day -as they come up or down the valley. - -Within the town there is, it should be mentioned, a really curious -ecclesiastical monument, the thirteenth-century church, with a -combination of Romanesque and Gothic construction which is remarkable; -so remarkable is it that in spite of its lack of real beauty the French -Government has classed it as a "_Monument Historique_." The sublime -panorama of the Pyrenees frames the whole with such a gracious splendour -that one is well-minded to take the picture for the sake of the frame. -This may be said of Tarbes as well, which is a really banal great town, -but which has perhaps the most delightful Pyrenean background that -exists. - -Sauveterre is another centre for the manufacture of rope-soled -_espadrilles_, which in Anglo-Saxon communities are used solely by -bathers at the seaside, but which are really the most comfortable and -long-enduring footwear ever invented, and are here, and in many other -parts of France, worn by a majority of the population. - -Up out of the valley of the Oloron and down again into that of the -Bidouze, a matter of eighteen or twenty kilometres, and one comes to -Saint-Palais which formerly disputed the title of capital of French -Navarre with Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. This was because Henri d'Albret, -king of Navarre, established his _chancellerie_ here after the loss of -Pamplona to Spain. - -Saint-Palais is what the French call a "_ville mignonne_." Nothing else -describes it. It sits jauntily perched on a tongue of mother earth, at -the juncture of the Joyeuse and the Bidouze, and its whitewashed houses, -its tiled roofs and its washed-down dooryards and pavements suggest -that some of its inhabitants must one day have been in Holland, a place -where they pay more attention to this sort of house-cleaning than -anywhere else. - -Saint-Palais has no historical monuments; all is as new and shining as -Monte Carlo or the Digue at Ostend, but its history of long ago is -important. Before 1620 it was the seat of the sovereign court of French -Navarre and possessed a mint where the money of the little state was -coined. - -The most distinctive architectural monument of Saint-Palais, the modern -church and the hybrid Palais de Justice being strictly ineligible, is -the _fronton_ for the game of _pelote_, Saint-Palais being one of the -head centres for the sport. - -Arthur Young, a great traveller, an agriculturist, and a writer of -repute, passed this way in 1787. He made a good many true and just -observations, more or less at hazard, of things French, and some others -that were not so just. The following can hardly be literally true, and -if true by no means proves that Jacques Bonhomme is not as good a man as -his cousin John Bull, nor even that he is not as well nourished. -"_Chacun a son gout!_" He said, writing of the operation of getting -dinner at his inn: "I saw them preparing the soup, the colour of which -was not inviting; ample provision of cabbage, grease and water, and -about as much meat, for a score of people, as half a dozen Suffolk -farmers would have eaten, and grumbled at their host for short commons." -What a condemnation to be sure, and what an unmerited one! The receipt -is all right, as far as it goes, but he should have added a few leeks, a -couple of carrots and an onion or two, and then he would have composed a -_bouilli_ as fragrant and nourishing as the Englishman's chunks of -blood-red beef he is for ever talking about. Our "agriculturist" only -learned half his lesson, and could not recite it very well at that. - -In the midst of a great plain lying between Saint-Palais, -Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port and Bayonne, perhaps fifty kilometres south of -the left bank of the Adour, are the neighbouring little towns of Iholdy -and Armendarits. The former is the market town of a vast, but little -populated, canton, and a village as purely rustic and simple as one -could possibly imagine. Iholdy and its few unpretentious little shops -and its quaint unworldly little hotel caters only to a thin population -of sheep and pig growers, and their wants are small, save when they go -afield to Peyrehorade, St. Jean or Bayonne. One eats of the products of -the country here, and enjoys them, too, even if mutton, lamb and little -pig predominate. The latter may or may not be thought a delicacy, but -certainly it was better here than was ever met with before by the writer -of these lines; and no prejudice prevented a second helping. - -Armendarits, Iholdy's twin community, saw the birth of Renaud -d'Elissagory, who built what was practically the first gunboat. The -birthplace of "_Petit Renaud_," as he was, and is still, affectionately -called, the inventor of _galiotes a bombes_, is still inhabited and -reckoned as one of the sights of these parts. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV - -THE BIRTH OF FRENCH NAVARRE - -[Illustration] - - -Basse-Navarre or Navarre-Francaise, together with Bearn, made, under the -Emperor Hadrian, a part of Aquitaine. - -The Roman conquest of Gaul was the first impetus given towards a -coherent massing of the peoples. Formerly there had been many tribes and -races, but the three divisions made by the Romans reduced things to a -minimum. Cisalpine Gaul was that part where the inhabitants wore a sort -of adaptation of the Roman toga. In Trans-Alpine Gaul, situated in the -Rhone basin and along the Mediterranean between Italy and Spain, the -inhabitants wore _braies_ or _bragues_--a sort of jacket extending down -almost to the knees, a detail of dress which has evolved itself into the -blouse, and perhaps even the great cloak of the mountaineers of the -Pyrenees. The remainder of ancient Gaul was known as the country where -the natives wore their long hair hanging,--literally the _Gaule -chevelue_. - -Through the times of Caesar the divisions became indifferently known by -various names, until with Augustus there came to be four great -divisions, the Narbonnaise, Aquitaine, Lyonnaise and Belgique. - -Towards the fifth century the Vascons, or Gascons, the ancient -inhabitants of Spanish Cantabria, established themselves snugly in these -well protected valleys of the Pyrenees. They warred with the Saracens, -and for five centuries were in a continual uproar of battle and -bloodshed. - -Among themselves, the dukes and counts of Gascogne quarrelled -continuously, and disputed the sovereignty of the country with the -Vicomtes de Bearn. - -In the ninth century a treaty was consummated which assured to Bernard, -Comte d'Armagnac, the Comte de Gascogne, and to Gaston de Centulle the -suzerainty of Bearn, while Navarre came by heritage to the Comtes de -Champagne, and in the thirteenth century to Philippe-le-Bel as a dot -with Jeanne, his wife. In the same manner it came to the house of Evreux -through Jeanne II, daughter of Louis-le-Hutin. - -With the marriage of Blanche II, the grand-daughter of Jeanne II, -Navarre passed to the king of Aragon and to Eleonore, and later with the -Comte de Foix et de Bigorre and the Vicomte de Bearn, went to Jean, -Sieur d'Albret, with whom the history of the kingdom is so commonly -associated. - -Jean d'Albret II, by reason of his marriage with Catherine of Bearn, the -heiress to the crown of Navarre, became joint ruler of the kingdom. He -was a gentle, easy-going prince, liberal, but frivolous, and loved no -serious occupation in life. He was popular to excess and dined, say the -chronicles, "without ceremony, with any one who asked him," a custom -which still obtains with many who are not descendants of a king of -Navarre. He danced frequently in public with the wives and daughters of -his subjects, a democratic proceeding which was not liked by his court, -who told him that he "danced on a volcano." This in a measure was true, -for he lost that part of the kingdom known as Spanish Navarre to -Ferdinand of Aragon. - -Up to the commencement of the sixteenth century, the Royaume de Navarre -occupied both slopes of the Pyrenees and had Pamplona for its capital, -but in 1512, Ferdinand the Catholic, of Aragon, with the approbation of -the Pope, usurped most of the territory and left the king of Navarre, -the legitimate sovereign, only a small morsel eight leagues long by five -in width, with St. Jean-Pied-de-Port as its principal city. - -A picturesque figure was Ferdinand, King of Aragon on his own part, King -of Castille by his wife Isabella, and King of Grenada by conquest; "a -heritor of three bastard crowns," he was called. At his death he was -succeeded by the infamous and cruel Charles V. - -That which remained, French Navarre, was the portion of the united -kingdom lying on the French slopes of the Pyrenees. The loss of the -Spanish province was really due to the excommunication of Jean d'Albret -and Catherine by the Pope, thus giving the Catholic Ferdinand power to -compel a division. - -The then ruling monarchs of Bearn and Navarre came to a sad realization -of their position. It was this circumstance which gave birth to one of -the famous _mots_ of history. "If we had not been born, we would not -have lost Navarre," said the unhappy Catherine to her spouse. - -Previously, though, the region had been known as Basse-Navarre; and in -Spanish, Navarra Baja, and had had its _Etats_ or _Parlement_, and its -own special laws. Its _Parlement_ was composed of three orders, the -clergy, the noblesse and the _tiers_. Two great families stood out in -Basse-Navarre in these times above all others, the Seigneurs de Grammont -et Bidache and those of Lux and Ostabat. Bearn at the time was composed -of twelve ancient baronies, the bishoprics of Lescar and Oloron, and the -seigneuries of Navailles, Andoins, Lescun, Correze, Miossens, Arros and -Lons. - -French Navarre--the Navarre-Francaise--was by this time a reality and -has been variously known since to historians; to the French as -Basse-Navarre and Navarre du Nord; to the Spaniards as Navarra Baja; to -the Basques as Navarra-deca-ports, and Navarra-francia; and to the -kings of France as the Royaume de Navarre. - -Henri, son of Jean d'Albret, married the first Marguerite de Valois, -sister of Francois I, the "Marguerite of Marguerites." The only daughter -of this marriage was wed with Antoine Bourbon-Vendome and became the -mother of Henri IV. - -By an edict of 1620 Louis XIII united the crown of France with that of -Navarre, Bearn and the other patrimonial states. Such is the evolution -of the little Royaume de Navarre and its incorporation into French -domain. - -The king of Navarre's title was a formidable one, and even included the -word monsieur. Princes, bishops, popes and saints were at that time -known as Monsieur, a title even more dignified than Monseigneur, and the -"_Messieurs de France_" were as much of the noblesse of France as were -the "_Milords d'Angleterre_" of the nobility of England. - -The full title of the king of Navarre in the fifteenth century was as -follows:-- - -Monsieur Francois-Phoebus, par la grace de Dieu, Roi de Navarre, Duc -de Nemours, de Guandi, de Montblanc et de Penafiel, et, par la meme -grace Comte de Foix, Seigneur de Bearn, Comte de Bigorre et de -Rivegorce, Vicomte de Castelbon, de Marsau, Gavardan et Nebouzan, -Seigneur de la ville de Valaguer et Pair de France. - -[Illustration: - - Catherine de Foix et Jean III d'Albret - -------------------+------------------ - | - ---+--------+-----+----+-----+-------+----------+--------------+--- - | | | | | | | | - Madeleine Jean Andre | | | | | - | | | | | - +------------+ +--+ | | | - | | | | | - Henri I Isabelle, Anne, Catherine, "Fils naturel" - de Bearn et II de Married Married who became of Jean III - Navarre--d'Albret. Rene, Jean, the abbesse d'Albret. - 1517-1555. Vicomte Comte of La He became - Married, in 1527, de Rohan d'Astarac Trinite at Eveque de - Marguerite Caen in Comminges - d'Angouleme, Normandy - Duchesse - d'Alencon - [Maltese Cross]1549 - | - +--------+----------+-------------+---------------+ - | | | | - Jeanne d'Albret. Jean Princesse Princesse - 1555-1572. - Married (1), in 1541, - Guillaume Duc de Cleves. -This marriage annulled 1545. - Married (2), in 1548, - Antoine de Bourbon. - [Maltese Cross]1562 - | ---------+---+-----------+--------+-------+--------+--------+-------- - | | | | | | -Henri de Bourbon Louis | Princesse | | -Duc de Beaumont Comte de Marl | | | - | | | - | | | - +--------------------+ +------------+ | - | | | - Henri II de Bearn, Catherine, Charles - III de Navarre (1572) et who married "Batart du - IV de France, Henri de Roi." - Called le Grand. Lorraine, He also became - Married (1), in 1572, Duc de Bar Eveque de - Marguerite de Valois Comminges - whom he repudiated and afterwards - in 1599, (she died 1615 Archeveque - sans posterity). de Rouen - Married (2), in 1600, - Marie de Medici - [Maltese Cross]1642 - | - Louis XIII - Roi de France et - Navarre 1610. -Union of the two Kingdoms, - France and Navarre 1620. -] - -[Illustration: _The Arms of Navarre_] - -The arms of Navarre have ever been a mystery to antiquarians, but it -seems there is some semblance of Basque tradition and folk-lore in it -all, in that there is an old Basque game which is played upon a diagram, -or scale, traced upon the ground, and following the principal outlines -of the blazonings of the ancient kings of Navarre. Which came first, the -hen or the egg? - -Authorities differ, and so it is with the Basque game of _laz Marellas_, -and the royal arms of the Navarres. Labastide says the game came down -from the time when the Basques of to-day were originally Phoenicians. -If this be so, the royal arms were but a copy of something that had gone -before. Certainly they form as curious and enigmatic an armorial device -as is found in heraldry. - -The Royaume de Navarre has so completely disappeared and been so -absorbed by France that it takes a considerable knowledge of geography -and history to be able to place it precisely upon the map of modern -Europe, hidden away as it was in what are now the two arrondissements of -Bayonne and Saint-Palais. - -They were a noble race, the men of Bearn and Navarre, the Basques -especially, and the questionable traits of the _cagots_ and gypsies have -left but little impress on the masses. - -Henri IV, faithful in his sentiment for his first subjects, would have -shown them his predilection by allowing them to remain an independent -monarchy. He would not that the kingdom of his mother be mingled with -that of France, but intriguing counsel prevailed and the alliance was -made, though Navarre escaped conquest and was still ruled by the sceptre -of its legitimate sovereign. - -How near France came to being ruled by Navarre instead of Navarre by -France is recalled by the following bit of recorded history. When -Philippe V (le Long) came to the throne of France (1316) his right was -contested by many princes. Among others the crown was claimed by Jeanne -de Navarre, but an assembly of bishops, seigneurs and bourgeois of Paris -declared for the Salic law--which proscribed the right to rule the -French to one of the female sex, and this against feudal rights as they -were known and protected in the satellite kingdoms surrounding the royal -domain. It was agreed later (by Philippe-le-Long) that if the widow of -Louis X should have another female child, the rights appertaining to -Navarre should belong to her and her stepsister Jeanne, making it an -independent monarchy again. - -When Philippe-le-Bel came to the throne of France it was his wife Jeanne -who, by common consent, administered the affairs of Navarre. She chased -the Aragonians and Castilians from her fair province, and put her people -into a state of security hitherto unknown. "She held," said Mezeray the -historian, "every one enchanted by her eyes, her ears, and her heart, -and she was equally eloquent, generous and liberal." A veritable paragon -of a woman evidently. - -Henri II, son of Catherine and Jean d'Albret II, succeeded to the throne -of French Navarre at the age of thirteen. He followed the French king, -Francois, to Italy, and was made prisoner at the unfortunate battle of -Pavia, finally escaping through a ruse. - -Francois Premier, king of France, and Henri d'Albret, king of Navarre, -each nourished an equal aversion for the king of Spain, the prime cause -of that fateful day at Pavia. The first hated the Spanish monarch as a -rival; the second as the usurper of his lands. They united arms, but the -battle of Pavia, when "all was lost save honour," gave matters such a -setback that naught but time could overcome them. - -It was Henri II's marriage with Marguerite of Valois, the Duchesse -d'Alencon, in 1526, by which he acquired the Armagnac succession as a -gift from his brother-in-law, Francois Premier, that brought to -Navarre's crown nearly all of Guyenne. In 1555 the young king died at -Pau, leaving a daughter, Jeanne d'Albret, who with her second husband, -Antoine de Bourbon, Duc de Vendome, succeeded to the throne. - -The new rulers did not attempt or accomplish much, save to embrace -Calvinism with zeal. Suffice to recall the well-known facts that Antoine -died in 1562 from a wound received in the siege of Rouen, and that -Jeanne herself died from the poison of the wicked Catherine de Medici's -gloves at Paris. - -Their son, Henri III of Navarre, was the Henri IV of France. Born at Pau -in 1553, he was first only the Comte de Viane. When he came to Paris he -would not have allied his Pyrenean possessions with those of France but -for the pressure brought to bear upon him. He declared that his -ancestral lands should remain entirely separate, but the procureur -general, La Guesle, forced his hand, and it was thus that the Royaume de -France became augmented by Basse-Navarre, the Comtes d'Armagnac, Foix, -d'Albret and Bigorre, the Duche de Vendome, the Comte de Perigord and -the Vicomte de Limoges. - -The story of Bearn and Navarre, for most folk, begins with those kings -of Navarre who were also kings of France. The first of these was the -white-plumed knight Henri III, Prince of Bearn, who became Henri IV of -France. The France of the Valois, which strain died with Henri III, -murdered by the black monk Clement, was much more narrow in its confines -than now. In the northeast it lacked Lorraine, Franche Comte, Bresse, -Dombes and Bucey; in the south Roussillon, Bearn and Basse-Navarre, and -there was a sort of quasi-independence observed by the former great -states of Bretagne, Bourgogne and Dauphine. - -With the coming of the king of Navarre to the throne of France, the -three great movements which took place in the religious situation, the -manners and customs of the court and noblesse, and in the aspirations of -the people gave an aspect of unity and solidarity to France. - -The religious question was already momentous when Henri IV was crowned, -and Protestantism and its followers were gaining ground everywhere, -though the real Francais--the Guises and the Bourbons, the princes of -Lorraine and the "princes of the blood"--were on the side of -Catholicism, and had their swords ever unsheathed in its behalf. - -The court, in the midst of this great religious quarrel, was also in a -state of transition. Catherine and her gay troupe of damsels had -passed, as also had Charles IX, who died shortly after the Huguenot -massacre of St. Bartholomew's night. His brother, and successor to the -throne, Henri III, Duc d'Anjou, was a weakling, and he too died -miserably at the point of the assassin's knife, and few seemed to regret -the passing of him who devoted himself more to monkeys, parrots and -little dogs than to statecraft. Henri of Bearn was the strong man in -public view, and of him great things were expected by all parties in -spite of his professed Calvinism of the time. - -It was during the reign of the feeble-witted Henri III that Henri, king -of Navarre, became the titular head of the Huguenots; thus abjuring the -Catholic religion that he had previously embraced under pressure. The -Protestant League became a powerful institution, and the _gentilshommes_ -of Bearn, Guienne, Poitou and Dauphine became captains in the cause, -just as the _gentilshommes_ of Picardie and Artois became captains of -Catholicism. The whole scheme was working itself out on traditional -hereditary lines; it was the Protestantism of the mountains against the -Catholicism of the lowlands. As for the people, the masses, they simply -stood by and wondered, ready for any innovation which augured for the -better. - -[Illustration: _Arms of Henri IV of France and Navarre_] - -This was the state of France upon the coming of Henri IV to the throne, -and the joining of Basse-Navarre and Bearn to the royal domain. - -Unquestionably it is a fact that the feudality in France ceased only -with the passing of Louis XI, and the change in the Pyrenean states was -contemporary. The Renaissance made great headway in France, after its -importation from Italy at the hands of Charles VIII and his followers. -Constantinople had been taken; art and letters were everywhere in the -ascendency; printing had been invented; and America was on the verge of -being discovered. The golden days of the new civilization were about -dawning. - -The Renaissance here in Bearn and Navarre, under the shadow of the -Pyrenees, flowered as it did nowhere else out of Italy, so far as its -application to life and letters went. Many celebrated litterateurs and -poets had been persecuted and chased from France, and here they found a -welcome refuge. To remark only two, Desperriers and Marat, it is -interesting to note that the sympathetic Marguerite of Navarre took them -under her patronage, and even made them _valets de chambre_. - -Marguerite's passions were, according to the historians, noble, but -according to the romancers they were worldly. Said Erasmus: "_Elle -etait chaste et peu sujette aux passions_," and contemporary historians -agree with him; while Marat, the poet _valet de chambre_, wrote the -following:-- - - "Que je suis serf d'un monstre fort etrange, - Monstre je dis, car pour tout vrai, elle a - Corps feminin, coeur d'homme et tete d'ange." - -In 1574 Brantome, the chronicler, had finished his military career and -was retained by Henri III of France as a gentleman of the bed-chamber. -Here he passed through many affairs of intrigue and the heart. In 1581 -he received a mission to go and interview the king of Navarre, for which -he received the sum of six hundred _ecus soleil_. What the subject of -this mission was no one knows; there is no further mention of it either -in the works of Brantome or the letters of the king of Navarre, but at -any rate he became enamoured of Marguerite, and his account of his first -meeting with her is one of the classic documents of French history. "I -dare to say," said he, "that she was _si belle et si admirable_ that all -the three hundred persons of the assembly were ravished and astounded." - -It is on Marguerite of Navarre, no less than on the plumed Henry, that -the popular interest in Navarre and its history has been built. - - -_A Brief Chronology of French and Spanish Navarre_ - -Spanish Navarre came to be annexed to the Spanish crown in 1512 through -the efforts and energies of Ferdinand the Catholic king of Aragon. - -French Navarre virtually came to France in 1328, but its independent -monarchs since that time have been: - - Jeanne II (et Philippe) 1328 - Charles II (le Mauvais) 1349 - Charles III 1387 - Jean II (et Blanche) 1425 - Eleonore 1479 - Phoebus de Foix 1479 - Catherine (et Jean d'Albret II) 1484 - Henri II 1517 - Jeanne d'Albret (et Antoine de Bourbon) 1555 - Henri III 1589-1610 - -It was Henri III of Navarre who became Henri IV of France and it was he -who first brought the little kingdom to the crown of France, the double -title being borne by his successors up to the abdication of Charles X in -1830. - - - - -CHAPTER XXV - -THE BASQUES - -[Illustration: _The Basque Country_] - - -Most people, or certainly most women, connect the name basque with a -certain article of ladies' wearing apparel. Just what its functions -were, when it was in favour a generation ago, a mere man may not be -supposed to know. Theophile Gautier has something to say on the -subject, so he doubtless knew; and Victor Hugo delivered himself of the -following couplet:-- - - "C'etait plaisir de voir danser la jeune fille; - Sa basquine agitait ses pailettes d'azur." - -The French Basques are divided into three families, the Souletins, the -Bas-Navarrais and the Labourdins. They possess, however, the same -language and other proofs of an identical origin in the simplicity and -quaintness of their dress and customs. - -The Labourdin Basques inhabit the plains and valleys running down to the -sea at the western termination of the Pyrenees, and live a more -luxurious life than the Navarrais, even emigrating largely, and entering -the service of the merchant and naval marine; whereas the Navarrais -occupy themselves mostly with agriculture (and incidentally are the -largest meat eaters in France) and contribute their services only to the -army. The contrast between the sailor and fisher folk of the coast, and -the soldiers and farmers of the high valleys is remarkable, as to face -and figure, if not readily distinguishable with respect to other -details. - -The Labourdin Basques have a traditional history which is one of the -most interesting and varied records of the races of western Europe. In -olden times the Golfe de Gascogne was frequented by great shoals of -whales, and the Basques, harpooning them and killing them in the waters -of their harbours, came to control the traffic. - -When the whale industry fell off, and the whales themselves receded to -the south seas, the Basques went after them, and for long they held the -supremacy as before, finally chasing them again to the Newfoundland -Banks, which indeed it is claimed the Basques discovered. At any rate -the whaling industry proved a successful and profitable commerce for the -Basques, and perhaps led the way for their migration in large numbers to -South America and other parts of the New World. - -Among the Basques themselves, and perhaps among others who have given -study to the subject, the claim is made that they were the real -discoverers of the New World, long before Columbus sighted the western -isles. Thus is the Columbus legend, and that of Leif, son of Eric, -shattered by the traditions of a people whom most European travellers -from overseas hardly know of as existing. It seems that a Spanish -Basque, when on a voyage from Bayonne to Madeira, was thrown out of his -course and at the mercy of the winds and waves, and finally, after many -weeks, landed on the coast of Hayti. Columbus is thus proved a -plagiarist. - -The Basques as a race, both in France and in Spain, are a proud, jovial -people, not in the least sullen, but as exclusive as turtle-doves. -Unlike most of the peasants of Europe, whether at work or play, they -march with head high, and beyond a grave little bow, scarcely, if ever, -accost the stranger with that graciousness of manner which is usually -customary with the farmer folk of even the most remote regions in -France, those of the Cevennes or the upper valleys of Dauphine or -Savoie. - -Upon acquaintance and recognition of equality, the Basques become -effusive and are undoubtedly sincere. They don't adopt the mood for -business purposes as does the Norman or the Nicois. - -The traditions of the Basques concerning their ancestors comport exactly -with their regard for themselves, and their pride of place is noticeable -to every stranger who goes among them. They believe that they were -always an independent people among surrounding nations of slaves, and, -since it is doubtful if the Romans ever conquered them as they did the -other races of Gaul, this may be so. The very suggestion of this -superior ancestry accounts for many of their manners and customs. Full -to overflowing with the realization of their "_noblesse collective_," -they have an utter contempt for an individual nobility that borders -close upon radicalism and republicanism. The greatest peer among them is -the oldest of the house (_eteheco-semia_) and he, or she, is the only -individual to whom is paid a voluntary homage. - -Like the children of Abraham, the Basques are, away from the seacoast, -for the most part tenders of flocks and herds, and never does one meet a -Basque in the mountains or on the highroads but what he finds him -carrying a _baton_ or a goad-stick, as if he were a Marechal de France -in embryo. It is their "_compagnon de voyage et de fete_," and can on -occasion, when wielded with a sort of Jiu-Jitsu proficiency, be a -terrible weapon. As many heads must have been cracked by the _baton_ of -the Basque, as by the shillelagh of the Irishman, always making -allowance for the fact that the Basque is less quarrelsome and peppery -than Pat. - -There is absolutely no question but that the Basques are hospitable when -occasion arises, and this in spite of their aloofness. In this respect -they are like the Arabs of the desert. And also like the Hebrews, the -Basques are very jealous of their nationality, and have a strong -repugnance against alliances and marriages with strangers. - -The activity and the agility of the Basques is proverbial, in fact a -proverb has grown out of it. "_Leger comme un Basque_," is a saying -known all over France. The Basque loves games and dances of all sorts, -and he "makes the fete" with an agility and a passion not known of any -other people to a more noticeable extent. A fete to the Basque, be it -local or national, is not a thing to be lightly put aside. He makes a -business of it, and expects every one else to do the same. There is no -room for onlookers, and if a tourney at _pelota_--now become the new -sport of Paris--is on, it is not the real thing at all unless all have a -hand in it in turn. There are other _pelota_ tourneys got up at -Biarritz, Bayonne and Feuntarrabia for strangers, but the mountain -Basque has contempt for both the players and the audience. What he would -think of a sixty or eighty thousand crowd at a football or a cricket -game is too horrible for words. - -_Pelota Basque_ has its home in the Basque country, both in the French -and Spanish provinces, and the finest players of _pelota_ come from -here. _Pelota Basque_ is played in various parts of Spain, as well as -_pelota_ which is played with the three walls and the open hand, and -thus the two games are found in the same country at the same time, -though differing to no small extent. - -It is to be regretted that there is not more literature connected with -the game. The history of ball games is always interesting, and _pelota_ -is without doubt worthy of almost as much research as has been expended -on the history of tennis. - -In Spain _pelota_ is largely played at San Sebastian, Bilbao, Madrid, -Barcelona. There are three walls, and the game is played by four -players, two on each side. Before the three-wall game was ever thought -of, _Pelota Basque_ was played in the principal cities of the Basque -country, and it is still played on one wall in such cities as St. -Jean-de-Luz, Biarritz, Cambo, Dax, Mauleon, Bordeaux, and even at Paris, -and is recognized as the superior variety. - -This was explained over the signatures of a group of professional -players who introduced the game to Paris as follows:-- - -[Illustration: _The Game of Pelota_] - - "We, the _pelotarie_ playing here, can play either on _frontones_ - of the Spanish or Basque form; but there is no doubt that the - latter is the better game, and we feel we must state that the - measures of the court, and the wall, and its top curves are the - same in the Paris _fronton_ as at St. Jean-de-Luz, which is - considered by all authorities an ideal court. Here we play three - against three, and all the '_aficionados_' who have witnessed a - game of Basque _pelota_ are unanimous in saying it is a sport of a - high grade, although different from the three-wall game. - - "We, the undersigned, are the recognized champions of _pelota - Basque_. - - ELOY, _of the Barcelona's Fronton_. - - MELCHIOR, _of San Sebastian's Fronton_. - - VELASCO, _of Biarritz and Bilbao's Fronton_. - - LEON DIHARCE, _of Paris and Buenos Ayres Fronton_." - -It is by the word _euskualdunac_ that the Basques are known among -themselves. Their speech has an extraordinary sound, the vowels jumping -out from between the consonants as a nut shell crushes in a -_casse-noisette_. No tongue of Europe sounds more strange to foreign -ears, not even Hungarian. On the other hand a Basque will speak French -perfectly, without the slightest accent, when he feels like it, but his -Bearnais neighbour makes a horrible mess of it, mixing Parisian French -with his chattering _patois_. What a language and what a people the -Basques are, to be sure! Some day some one will study them profoundly -and tell us much about them that at present we only suspect. This much -we know, they are allied to no other race in Europe. - -Perhaps the Basques _were_ originally Arabs. Who knows? A young Basque -woman who carries a water-jug on her head, and marches along with a -subtle undulation of the hips that one usually sees only in a desert -Arab or a Corsican girl, certainly is the peer of any of the northern -Europeans when it comes to a ravishing grace and carriage. - -It is the Pays Basque which is the real frontier of France and Spain, -and yet it resembles neither the country to the north nor south, but -stands apart, an exotic thing quite impossible to place in comparison -with anything else; and this is equally true of the men and women and -their manners and customs; the country, even, is wild and savage, but -gay and lively withal. - -One may not speak of two peoples here. It is an error, a heresy. On one -side, as on the other, it is the same race, the same tongue, the same -peoples--in the Basses-Pyrenees of modern France as in the Provinces of -Guipuzcoa, Navarre and Biscaye of modern Spain. The only difference is -that in France the peasant's _beret_ is blue, while in Spain it is red. - -The antiquity of _la langue escuara_ or _eskual-dunac_ is beyond -question, but it is doubtful if it was the speech of Adam and Eve in -their terrestrial paradise, as all genuine and patriotic Basques have no -hesitancy in claiming. - -At a Geographical Congress held in London in 1895 a M. L. d'Abartiague -claimed relationship between the Basques of antiquity and the aborigines -of the North American continent. This may be far-fetched or not, but at -any rate it's not so far-flung as the line of reasoning which makes out -Adam and Eve as being the exclusive ancestors of the Basques, and the -rest of us all descended from them. - -Curiously enough the Spanish Basques change their mother-tongue in -favour of Castilian more readily than those on the other side of the -Bidassoa do for French. The Spanish Basques to-day number perhaps three -hundred and fifty thousand, though included in fiscal returns as -Castilians, while in France the Basques number not more than one hundred -and twenty thousand. There are two hundred thousand Basques in Central -and South America, mostly emigrants from France. - -The Basque language is reckoned among the tongues apportioned to Gaul by -the geographer Balbi; the Greco-Latine, the Germanic, the Celtic, the -Semitic, and the Basque; thus beyond question the Basque tongue is a -thing apart from any other of the tongues of Europe, as indeed are the -people. The speech of the Basque country is first of all a _langue_, not -a corrupted, mixed-up _patois_. Authorities have ascribed it as coming -from the Phoenician, which, since it was the speech of Cadmus, the -inventor of the alphabet, was doubtless the parent of many tongues. The -educated Basques consider their "tongue" as one much advanced, that is, -a veritable tongue, having nothing in common with the other tongues of -Europe, ancient or modern, and accordingly to be regarded as one of the -mother-tongues from which others have descended. - -It bears a curious resemblance to Hebrew, in that nearly all -appellatives express the qualities and properties of those things to -which they are applied. From the point of grammatical construction, -there is but one declension and conjugation, and an abundance of -prepositions which makes the spoken speech concise and rapid. Basque -verbs, moreover, possess a "familiar" singular and a "respectful" -singular--if one may so mark the distinction, and they furthermore have -a slight variation according to the age and sex of the person who speaks -as well as with regard to the one spoken to. - -Really, it beats Esperanto for simplicity, and the Basque tongue allows -one to make words of indeterminate length, as does the German. It is all -things to all men apparently. _Ardanzesaroyareniturricoborua_, one -single word, means simply: "the source of the fountain on the -vineyard-covered mountain." Its simplicity may be readily understood -from the following application. The Basque "of Bayonne" is _Bayona_; -"from Bayonne," _Bayonaco_; "that of Bayonne," _Bayonacoa_. - -The ancient and prolific Basque tongue possesses a literature, but for -all that, there has never yet been discovered one sole public contract, -charter or law written in the language. It was never the official speech -of any portion of the country, nor of the palace, nor was it employed in -the courts. The laws or _fueros_ were written arbitrarily in Latin, -Spanish, French and Bearnais, but never in Basque. - -The costume of the Basque peasant is more coquettish and more elegant -than that of any other of the races of the Midi, and in some respects is -almost as theatrical as that of the Breton. All over Europe the -characteristic costumes are changing, and where they are kept very much -to the fore, as in Switzerland, Tyrol and in parts of Brittany, it is -often for business purposes, just as the yodlers of the Alps mostly -yodel for business purposes. - -The Basque sticks to his costume, a blending of Spanish and something -unknown. He, or she, in the Basque provinces knows or cares little as to -what may be the latest style at Paris, and bowler hats and _jupes -tailleurs_ have not yet arrived in the Basque countryside. One has to go -into Biarritz or Pau and look for them on strangers. - -For the Basque a _beret bleu_ (or red), a short red jacket, white vest, -and white or black velvet corduroy breeches are _en regle_, besides -which there are usually white stockings, held at the knees by a more or -less fanciful garter. On his feet are a rough hob-nailed shoe, or the -very reverse, a sort of a moccasin made of corded flax. A silk -handkerchief encircles the neck, as with most southern races, and hangs -down over the shoulders in what the wearer thinks is an engaging manner. -On the days of the great fetes there is something more gorgeous still, -a sort of a draped cloak, often parti-coloured, primarily the possession -of married men, but affected by the young when they try to be "sporty." - -The _tambour de Basque_, or drum, is a poor one-sided affair, all top -and no bottom; virtually it is a tambourine, and not a drum at all. One -sees it all over the Basque country, and it is as often played on with -the closed fists as with a drumstick. - -Like most of the old provincials of France, the Basques have numerous -folk-songs and legends in verse. Most frequently they are in praise of -women, and the Basque women deserve the best that can be said of them. -The following as a sample, done into French, and no one can say the -sentiment is not a good deal more healthy than that of Isaac Watts's -"hymns." - - "Peu de femmes bonnes sont bonnes danseuses, - Bonne danseuse, mauvaise fileuse; - Mauvaise fileuse, bonne buveuse, - Des femmes semblables - Sont bonnes a traiter a coups de baton." - -In the Basque country, as in Brittany, the clergy have a great influence -over the daily life of the people. The Basques are not as fanatically -devout as the Bretons, but nevertheless they look to the _cure_ to -explain away many things that they do not understand themselves; and let -it be said the Basque _cure_ does his duty as a leader of opinion for -the good of one and all, much better than does the country squire in -England who occupies a somewhat analogous position. - -It is through the church that the Euskarian population of the -Basses-Pyrenees have one of their strongest ties with traditional -antiquity. The _cures_ and the communicants of his parish are usually of -one race. There is a real community of ideas. - -As for the education of the new generation of Basques, it is keeping -pace with that of the other inhabitants of France, though in times past -even rudimentary education was far behind, and from the peasant class of -only a generation or so ago, out of four thousand drawn for service in -the army, nearly three hundred were destitute of the knowledge of how to -read and write. In ten years, however, this percentage has been reduced -one half. - -The emigration of the Basques has ever been a serious thing for the -prosperity of the region. Thirteen hundred emigrated from the "Basque -Francaise" (for South and Central America) and fifteen hundred from the -"Basque Espagnole." In figures this emigration has been considerably -reduced of late, but the average per year for the last fifty years has -been (from the Basse-Pyrenees Departement alone) something like -seventeen hundred. - -The real, simon-pure Basque is seen at his best at Saint -Jean-Pied-de-Port, the ancient capital of French Navarre. "_Urtun hiriti -urrumoffagariti_," say the inhabitants: "Far from the city, far from -health." This isn't according to the doctors, but let that pass. - -To know the best and most typical parts of the Basque country, one -should make the journey from Saint Jean-Pied-de-Port to Mauleon and -Tardets. Here things are as little changed from mediaevalism as one will -find in modern France. One passes from the valley of the Nive into the -valley of the Bidouze. There are no railways and one must go by road. -The road is excellent moreover, though the distance is not great. Here -is where the automobilist scores, but if one wants to take a still -further step back into the past he may make the forty kilometres by -diligence. This is a real treat too, not at all to be despised as a -means of travel, but one must hurry up or the three franc diligence -will be supplanted by a "light railway," and then where will mediaevalism -come in. All the same, if you've got a feverish automobile panting -outside St. Jean's city gate, jump in. - -There are numerous little villages en route which will not detain one -except for their quaintness. One passes innumerable oxen, all swathed in -swaddling clothes to keep off the flies and plodding slowly but surely -along over their work. A train of Spanish mules or smaller donkeys -pulling a long wagon of wood or wool is another common sight; or a man -or a woman, or both, on the back of a little donkey will be no novelty -either. This travel off the beaten track, if there is not much of note -to stop one, is delightful, and here one gets it at its best. - -Stop anywhere along the road at some inn of little pretence and you will -fare well for your _dejeuner_. It will be very homely, this little -Basque inn, but strangers will do very well for their simple wants. All -one does is to ask "Avez-vous des oeufs? Avez-vous du jambon? Du vin, -je vous prie!" and the smiling rosy-cheeked _patronne_, whose name is -Jeanne, Jeannette, Jeanneton, Jeannot or Margot--one or the other it's -bound to be--does the rest with a cackling "Ha! he! Eh ben! eh ben!" -And you will think you never ate such excellent ham and eggs in your -life as this Bayonne ham and the eggs from Basque chickens--and the wine -and the home-made bread. It's all very simple, but an Escoffier could -not do it better. - -The peasant's work in the fields in the Basque country may not be on the -most approved lines, and you can't grow every sort of a crop here in -this rusty red soil, but there is a vast activity and an abundance of -return for the hard workers, and all the Basques are that. The plough is -as primitive as that with which the Egyptian fellah turns up the -alluvial soil of the Nile, but the Basque makes good headway -nevertheless, and can turn as straight a furrow, up the side of a hill -or down, as most of his brothers can on the level. - -In the church at Bunus is a special door reserved in times past for the -descendants of the Arabs who had adopted Christianity. - -Here in the Basque country you may see the peasants on a fete day dance -the fandango with all the ardour and the fervour of the Andalusians -themselves. Besides the fandango, there is the "_saute basque_," a sort -of a hop-skip-and-a-jump which they think is dancing, but which isn't -the thing at all, unless a grasshopper can be said to dance. - -"Le Chevalet" is another Basque dance whose very name explains itself; -and then there is the "Tcherero," a minuet-sort of a dance, wholly by -men, and very graceful and picturesque it is, not at all boisterous. - -The peasants play the _pastoral_ here as they do in Languedoc and -Provence, with good geniuses and evil geniuses, and all the machinery -that Isaac Watts put into his hymns for little children. Here the grown -men and women take them quite as seriously as did the children of our -nursery days. - -[Illustration: "_Le Chevalet_"] - -In the Basses-Pyrenees, besides the Basques, is distinguishable another -race of dark-skinned, under-sized little men, almost of the Japanese -type, except that their features are more regular and delicate. They are -descendants of the Saracen hordes which overran most of southern Gaul, -and here and there found a foothold and left a race of descendants to -tell the story. The Saracens of the Basque country were not warlike -invaders, but peaceful ones who here took root, and to-day are known as -Agotacs-Cascarotacs. It is not difficult to distinguish traces of -African blood among them, just the least suspicion, and they have -certain religious rites and customs--seemingly pagan--which have -nothing in common with either the Basques or the French. They are -commonly considered as pariahs by other dwellers roundabout, but they -have a certain individuality which would seem to preclude this. They are -more like the "holy men" of India, than they are like mere alms beggars, -and they have been known to occupy themselves more or less rudely with -rough labour and agricultural pursuits. They have their own places in -the churches, those who have not actually died off, for their numbers -are growing less from day to day. It can be said, however, that--save -the _cagots_ and _cretins_--they are the least desirable and most -unlikable people to be found in France to-day. They are not loathsome, -like lepers or _cretins_ or _goitreux_, but they are shunned by all -mankind, and for the most part remain well hidden in obscure corners and -culs-de-sac of the valleys away from the highroads. - -The Spanish gypsies are numerous here in the Basque country, as might be -expected. They do not differ greatly from the accepted gypsy type, but -their marriage customs are curious. As a local authority on gypsy lore -has put it: "an old pot serves as a _cure_ and notary--_u bieilh toupi -qu'ous sert de cure de nontari_." The marriageable couple, their -parents and their friends, assemble in a wood, without priest or lawyer, -or any ceremony which resembles an official or religious act. An -earthenware pot is thrown in the air and the broken pieces, as it -tumbles to the ground, are counted. The number of pieces indicate the -duration of the partnership in years, each fragment counting for a year. -Simple, isn't it! - - - - -CHAPTER XXVI - -SAINT-JEAN-PIED-DE-PORT AND THE COL DE RONCEVAUX - - -Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, the ancient capital of Basse-Navarre, is the -gateway to one of the seven passes of the Pyrenees. To-day it is as -quaint and unworldly as it was when capital of the province. Its aspect -is truly venerable, and this in spite of the fact that it is the chief -town of a canton, and transacts all the small business of the small -officialdom of many square leagues of country within its walls. - -There is no apparent approach to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, as one comes -up the lower valley of the Nive; it all opens out as suddenly as if a -curtain were withdrawn; everything enlarges and takes on colouring and -animation. - -The walled and bastioned little capital of other days was one of the -_cles_ of France in feudal times, and it lives well up to its -traditions. Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port is a little town, red and rosy, as a -Frenchman--certainly a poet, or an artist--described it. There is no -doubt but that it is a wonder of picturesqueness, and its old walls and -its great arched gateway tell a story of mediaevalism which one does not -have to go to a picture fairy book to have explained. All is rosy, the -complexions of the young Basque girls, their costumes, the brick and -stone houses and gates, and the old bridge across the Nive; all is the -colour of polished copper, some things paler and some deeper in tone, -but all rosy red. There's no doubt about that! - -Along the river bank the houses plunge directly into the water without -so much as a skirt of shore-line. Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, its ancient -ramparts and its river, is a combination of Bruges and Venice. Its -_citadelle coiffe_ tells of things that are militant, and its -fifteenth-century church of those that are spiritual. Between the two -comes much history of the days when the little bourg was the weight in -the balance between French and Spanish Navarre. - -[Illustration: _The Quaint Streets of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port_] - -The streets are calm, but brilliant with all the rare colourings of the -artist's palette, not the least of these notes of colour being the milk -jugs one sees everywhere hung out, strongly banded with great circles of -burnished copper, and ornamented with a device of the royal crown, -the fleur-de-lis, the initial =H= and the following inscription: "_a le -grand homme des pays bearnais et basques_." No one seems to know the -exact significance of this milk jug symbolism, but the jugs themselves -would make good souvenirs to carry away. All around is a wonderful -wooded growth, fig-trees, laurels and all the semi-tropical flora -usually associated with the Mediterranean countries, including the -_chataigniers_, whose product, the chestnut, is becoming more and more -appreciated as an article of food. - -Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port was, and is, the guardian of one of the most -facile means of communication between France and Spain, the Route de -Pamplona via Roncevaux; facile because it has recently been rendered -suitable for carriage traffic, whereas, save the coast routes on the -east and west, no other is practicable. - -In 1523 the great tower and fortifications of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port -were razed by order of the king of Navarre. The decree, dated and signed -from "_notre chateau de Pau_," read in part thus:-- - -"_Know you that the demolition of the walls of the city of -Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port is not made for any case of crime or felony or -suspicion against the inhabitants ... and that we consider said -inhabitants still as good, faithful vassals and loyal subjects._" - -The existing monuments of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port are many, though no -royal residences are left to remind one of the days when kings and -queens tarried within its walls. Instead one must be content with the -knowledge that the city grew up from a Roman bourg which in the ninth -century was replaced with the predecessor of the later capital. Its -name, even in this early day, was Saint-Jean-le-Vieux, and it was not -until the eleventh or twelfth centuries that the present city took form, -founded doubtless by the Garcias, who were then kings of all Navarre. -Saint-Jean belonged to Spain, as did all the province on the northern -slope of the Pyrenees, until the treaty of 1659, and the capital of the -kingdom was Pamplona. - -Under the three reigns preceding the French Revolution the city was the -capital of French Navarre, but the French kings, some time before, as we -have seen, deserted it for more sumptuous and roomy quarters at Pau, -which became the capital of Bearn and Navarre. - -The chief architectural characteristics, an entrancing melange of French -and Spanish, are the remaining ramparts and their ogive-arched gates, -the Vieux Pont and its fortified gateway, and the fifteenth and -sixteenth century church. The local fete (August fifteenth-eighteenth) -is typical of the life of the Basques of the region, and reminiscent, in -its "charades," "bals champetres," "parties de pelote," "mascarades," -and "danses allegoriques" of the traditions of the past. - -Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port lies in the valley of the Nive, and St. -Etienne-de-Baigorry, just over the crest of the mountains, fifteen -kilometres away, in the Val de Baigorry, is the chief town of a commune -more largely peopled than that presided over by Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. -Really the town is but a succession of hamlets or quarters, but it is -interesting because of its church, with its great nave reserved -exclusively for women, even to-day--as was the ancient Basque -custom--and the Chateau d'Echaux sitting above the town. - -The chateau was the property of the ancient Vicomtes of Baigorry, and is -a genuine mediaeval structure, with massive flanking towers and a -surrounding park. - -One of the Vicomtes de Baigorry, Bertrand d'Echaux, was also bishop of -Bayonne, and afterwards almoner to Louis XIII. That monarch proposed to -Pope Urban VIII to make his almoner a cardinal, but death overtook him -first. - -The nephew of this Bertrand d'Echaux, Jean d'Olce, was also a bishop of -Bayonne, and it was to him, in the church of St. Jean de Luz, fell the -honour of giving the nuptial benediction to Louis XIV and the Infanta -Marie-Therese upon their marriage. - -The Chateau de Baigorry of the Echaux belonged later to the Comte -Harispe, one of the architects of the military glory of France. He first -engaged in warfare as a simple volunteer, but died _senateur_, _comte_, -and _marechal_ of France. - -There is a first class legend connected with the daughter of the -chatelain of D'Echaux. A certain warrior, baron of the neighbouring -chateau of Lasse, became enamoured of the daughter of the Seigneur -d'Echaux, Vicomte de Baigorry, and in spite of the reputation of the -suitor of being cruel and ungallant the vicomte would not willingly -refuse the hand of his daughter to so valiant a warrior, so the young -girl--though it was against her own wish--became la Baronne de Lasse. - -The marriage bell echoed true for a comparatively long period; it was -said that the soft character of the lady had tempered the despotism of -her husband. One day a young follower of Thibaut, Comte de Champagne, -returning from Pamplona in Spain, knocked at the door of the Chateau de -Lasse and demanded hospitality, as was his chevalier's right. The young -knight and Madame la Baronne fell in love at first sight, but not -without exciting the suspicions of the baron, who, by a subterfuge, -caught the loving pair in their guilt. He threw himself upon the young -gallant, pierced his heart with a dagger-thrust, cut him into pieces, -and threw them into the moat outside the castle walls. - -An improvised court of justice was held in the great hall of the castle, -and the vassals, fearing the wrath of their overlord, condemned the -unhappy woman to death, by being interred in a dungeon cave and allowed -to starve. - -When the Vicomte de Baigorry heard of this, he marched forthwith against -his hard-hearted son-in-law, and after a long siege took the chateau. -Just previously the baron committed suicide, anticipating the death that -would have awaited him. This is tragedy as played in mediaeval times. - -Between Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port and Saint-Etienne-de-Baigorry, just by -the side of the road, is the ruined chateau of Farges, a famous -establishment in the days of the first Napoleon's empire, though a -hot-bed of political intrigue. Its architectural charms are not many or -great, the garden is neglected, and the gates are off their hinges. The -whole resembles those Scotch manors now crumbling into ruin, of which -Sir Walter has given so many descriptions. At Ascarat, too, is a house -bearing a sculpture of a cross, a mitre, and two mallets interlaced on -its facade, with the date 1292. It is locally called "La Maison -Ancienne," but the present occupant has given it frequent coats of -whitewash and repaired things here and there until it looks like quite a -modern structure. - -Above Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, on the road to Arneguy, is the little -hamlet of Lasse, with a church edifice of no account, but with a ruined -chateau donjon that possesses a historic, legendary past. It recalls the -name of the baron who had that little affair with the daughter of the -Vicomte de Baigorry. - -In the heart of the Pyrenees, twenty kilometres above -Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, is Val Carlos and the Col de Roncevaux, where -fell Roland and Archbishop Turpin in that bloody rout of Charlemagne. -Blood flowed in rivers. Literature more than history, though the event -was epoch-making in the latter sense, has made the story famous. The -French call it a _drame militaire_, and this, as well as anything, gives -a suggestion of its spectacular features all so fully set forth in a -cycle of chivalrous legends in the famous Song of Roland. - -The Alps divide their warlike glories with Napoleon and Hannibal, but -the Pyrenees will ever have Charlemagne for their deity, because of this -affair at Roncevaux. Charlemagne dominated everything with his "host of -Christendom," and the people on the Pyrenees say to-day: "There are -three great noises--that of the torrent, that of the wind in the pines, -and that of the army of Charlemagne." He did what all wise commanders -should do; he held both sides of his defensive frontier. - - "When Charlemagne had given his anger room, - And broken Saragossa beneath his doom, - And bound the valley of Ebro under a bond, - And into Christendom christened Bramimond." - -All who recall the celebrated retreat of Charlemagne and the shattering -of his army, and the Paladin Roland, by the rocks rolled down upon them -by the Basques will have vivid emotions as they stand here above the -magnificent gorge of Val Carlos and contemplate one of the celebrated -battle-fields of history. - -The abbey of Roncevaux, a celebrated and monumental convent, has been -famous long years in history. The _royale et insigne collegiale_, as it -was known, was one of the most celebrated sanctuaries in Christendom, -and takes its place immediately after the shrines of Jerusalem, Rome, -and St. Jacques de Compostelle, under the immediate protection of the -Holy See, and under the direct patronage of the king of Spain, who -nominates the prior. This dignitary and six canons are all that exist -to-day of the ancient military order of Roncevaux, called by the Spanish -Roncevalles, and by the Basques Orhia. - -There's not much else at Roncevaux save the monastery and its classic -Gothic architectural splendours, a few squalid houses, and an inn where -one may see as typical a Spanish kitchen as can be found in the depths -of the Iberian peninsula. Here are all the picturesque Spanish -accessories that one reads of in books and sees in pictures, soldiers -playing guitars, and muleteers dancing the fandango, with, perhaps, a -Carmencita or a Mercedes looking on or even dancing herself. - -Pamplona in Spain, the old kingly capital of Navarre, is eighty -kilometres distant. One leaves Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port by diligence at -eleven in the morning, takes _dejeuner_ at Val Carlos, and at two in the -afternoon takes the Spanish diligence and sleeps at Burgette, leaving -again at four in the morning and arriving at Pamplona at eight. - -This is a classic excursion and ought to be made by all who visit the -Pyrenees. Val Carlos is the Spanish customs station, and soon after one -passes through the magnificent rocky Defile de Val Carlos and finally -over the crest of the Pyrenees by either the Port d'Ibaneta or the Col -de Roncevaux, at a height of one thousand and fifty-seven metres. - -The route from Roncevaux to Pamplona is equally as good on Spanish soil -as it was on French--an agreeable surprise to those who have thought the -good roads' movement had not "arrived" in Spain. - -The diligence may not be an ideally comfortable means of travel, but at -least it's a romantic one, and has some advantages over driving from -Saint Jean in your own, or a hired, conveyance, as an expostulating -Frenchman we met had done. He freed the frontier all right enough, but -within a few kilometres was arrested by a roving Spanish officer who -turned him back to the official-looking building--which he had no right -to pass without stopping anyway--labelled "Aduana Nacional" in staring -letters, that any passer-by might read without straining his eyes. - -"Surely he would never have driven by in this manner," said the dutiful -functionary, "unless he was intending to sell the horse and carriage and -all that therein was, without acquitting the lawful rights which would -enable a royal government to present a decent fiscal balance sheet." - -Pamplona is the end of our itinerary, and was the capital of Spanish -Navarre. It's not at all a bad sort of a place, and while it doesn't -look French in the least, it is no more primitive than many a French -city or town of its pretentions. It has a population of thirty thousand, -is the seat of a bishop, has a fine old cathedral, a bull ring--which is -a sight to see on the fete day of San Sebastian (January twentieth)--and -a hotel called _La Perla_ which by its very name is a thing of quality. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVII - -THE VALLEY OF THE NIVE - - -There is no more gracious little river valley in all France than that of -the Nive, as it flows from fabled Roncevaux by Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, -Bidarray and Cambo, to the Gulf of Gascony, down through the fertile -Pyrenean slopes. Ronsard sang of the Loir at Vendome and his rhymes have -become classic; but much of the phrasing might apply here. All about is -a profound verdure, a majesty, and a magnificence of colour which will -ravish the heart of an artist, be he realist or impressionist. From the -very first, the Nive flows between banks wide and sinuous, and in its -lower reaches, between Cambo and the sea, takes on an amplitude that -many longer and more pretentious streams lack utterly. By a rock-cut -way, the Nive passes from French Navarre into the Pays de Labourd, an -ancient fief of feudal times, between Cambo and the Pas de Roland. - -The legend which has perpetuated the death of Roland and so many of the -rear-guard of Charlemagne's army gives an extraordinary interest to this -otherwise striking region. Here the Nive narrows its banks and tumbles -itself about in a veritable fury of foam, and whether the sword stroke -of the Paladin Roland made the passage possible, as it did in the famous -"Breche," or not has little to do with one of the strikingly sentimental -episodes of legendary history. If it took place anywhere likely enough -it happened here also. - -Between the Pas de Roland and Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port one passes -Bidarray and a curious donkey-back bridge, and the famous Bassin de -Bidarray, famous only because it is a cavern underground, for it does -not differ greatly in appearance from others of its family. Above -Bidarray is the superb cone of Mondarrain, crowned with the ruins of a -feudal castle. - -The following legend of a dragon who once lived in a cavern on the banks -of the Nive is worthy of preserving in print; at any rate it sounds -plausible, as told the writer by an old dealer in _berets_ and _sabots_. -He had an eye for the picturesque, though, and if his facts are correct -he would make a very good historian. - -A young Bayonnais went out one day to attack this fabled monster whom no -one yet had been able to kill. By name he was Gaston Armaud de Belzunc, -and his father was governor of Bayonne in 1372. - -After a day and a half of journeying, the young Tartarin of other days -came upon his quarry. The beast, furious, jumped upon the cavalier and -threw him to the ground, but his lance pierced the scaly neck and so -weakened the monster that man and beast grappled together. The two died, -and Gaston's companions, who had ungallantly fled precipitately at the -first encounter, found them later laced in each other's embrace. - -To perpetuate the memory of this act of bravery, the king of Navarre -granted the family De Belzunc the privilege of adding a dragon to its -arms. Up to the Revolution there existed a fund in behalf of the clergy -of a Bayonne church to pray for the repose of the soul of this gallant -young knight of the Middle Ages. - -High above the banks of the upper reaches of the Nive are the grim ruins -of the Chateau de Laustan. Practically it was, in its palmy days, a -fortress-chateau. It was built by the Seigneur de Laustan, who possessed -great privileges in the neighbourhood, to turn the tide of aggression of -his jealous neighbours, and of the Spaniards. It was constructed of a -sort of red sandstone, with walls of great thickness, as evidences show -to-day, and must have been a very successful feudal habitation of its -class. The family De Laustan was one of the most celebrated in -Basse-Navarre. It gave three archbishops to Spain, and its archives are -now kept in the royal library at Madrid. - -Cambo, in the mid-valley of the Nive, is as delightful a spot of its -class as is marked on any map, far more so than many pretentious resorts -where bridge, baccarat and the bumptious pretence of its habitues are -the chief characteristics. - -Cambo is simple, but pleasant, and besides its quiet, peaceful delights -it has two historical institutions which are as un-French as they are -really and truly Basque. First: its remarkable church, with its golden -_retable_ and its galleries surrounding the nave, is something -distinctively local, as is also its churchyard. The other feature is the -court or _fronton_ where is played the _jeu de paume_, or, to give it -its Basque nomenclature, _pelota_. Here meet from time to time, all -through the year, the most famous players of the French Basque country -and of Guipuzcoa, the chief Spanish centre, across the border. - -This game of _pelota_ is the passion of the Basques, but as the habitant -says, "the game plays out the player, and in four or five years his -suppleness disappears, his muscles become hardened, and he is -superannuated." - -Still one cannot get away from the fact that Cambo's present-day vogue -is wholly due to the coming of Edmond Rostand. It was famous before, -among a select few, but the craze is on, and the land-boomer and the -resort-exploiter have already marked its acres for their own. - -Rostand's country home "Arnaga" is something like a palace of an Arabian -Nights tale. The walls of the apartments, whose windows look out over -the crests of the Pyrenees, are covered with paintings by some of the -most celebrated French artists. One room has a decorated frieze taken -from the ever-delightful tales immortalized by Andersen and the Grimm -brothers, and the gem of this poet's dwelling is Madame Rostand's -boudoir. Familiar stories of "Cinderella" and the "Beauty and the Beast" -are told again, with a wealth of colour and fantasy, by that whimsical -artist Jean Weber. - -This artistic retreat is a happy combination of Byzantine palace and -Basque chalet. Here Rostand lives part of the year, with his wife and -son, in a retirement only broken to receive a friend, who is supposed -never to speak of the strenuous life. To escape from the continual -excitement of city life and the feverish fashionable resorts, and also -to be able to devote himself entirely to work, the creator of "Cyrano" -fled to this spot eight years ago. Arnaga is not constructed along the -conventional lines of the French chateau, but looks rather like a -Moorish palace as it stands on a high hill, surrounded by parks and -terraces, and the wonderful Basque landscape. On one side the castle or -palace, or chateau, or whatever you choose to call it, overlooks a -verdant plain sprinkled with semi-tropical blossoms and watered by the -winding stream of the Nive. On the other rise the majestic Pyrenees, -which, in the glory of the southern sunset, flush to a deep crimson and -then pale to a sombre purple. - -Surely it is an ideal spot and will be till the madding crowd comes and -sets this ideal litterateurs' and artists' retreat in an uproar, as it -did Etretat and St. Raphael in the days of Alphonse Karr. - -Rostand's earnings as a dramatist might not suffice to keep up such a -pretentious establishment, but since he is married to the daughter of a -Paris banker the thing seems simpler. - -"The fame of Cambo is only just coming to be widespread. This is due to -the fact that the great poet and playwright whose fame rests upon -having invented a _papier-mache_ nose for his chief creation has made it -so." This was the rather unkindly criticism of a brother professional (a -French playwright) jealous, presumably, of Rostand's fame, and must not -be taken seriously. - -Rostand's house is one of the sights of Cambo, but as a Frenchman wrote: -"_M. Rostand n'est pas toujours a sa fenetre_." Still the house is there -and those who would worship at the shrine from without may do so. - -To get in and out of Cambo one passes over a tiny bridge, so narrow that -one conveyance must wait while another crosses. As the same observant -Frenchman said: "No wonder M. Rostand does not quit Cambo if he has to -cross a bridge like this!" Automobiles especially have an annoying time -of it, and the new "automobile _corne quadruple_" as it whistles out the -famous air: "_Je suis le patre des montagnes_," will not turn a Basque -peasant and his donkey aside once the latter has set his forefoot on the -curious old bridge. - -At Cambo the bathing establishment is in a half-hidden, tree-grown -corner on the banks of the transparent Nive. - -Cambo, in spite of having "arrived" to a position of affluence and -popularity, is but a commune of the canton of Espelette, whose -market-town itself has but a population of fifteen hundred souls, though -it draws half as many again to its bosom each bi-weekly market day, -mostly Basques from Spain. Espelette is full of curious old Basque -houses, and its manners and customs are quaint and queer; in short it is -most interesting, though if you stop for lunch at any one of its four or -five little inns you will most likely want to get back to Cambo by -diligence for the night. Espelette's chief industry is tanning leather -and making those curious Basque shoes called _espadrilles_. - -Above Cambo, a dozen kilometres, are the Chateaux Teillery and Itxassou. -Itxassou possesses a richly endowed church, with an entire silver-gilt -altar, the gift of a "Basque-Americain" of the eighteenth century, Pedro -d'Echegaray. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVIII - -BAYONNE: ITS PORT AND ITS WALLS - -[Illustration] - - -The foundation of Bayonne is lost in the obscurity of ages, but it was -the capital of the Basque country. - -Three distinct _quartiers_ are formed by the flowing waters of the Nive -and the Adour, communication being by a series of exceedingly -picturesque, if not exactly serviceable, bridges. The bridges of -Bayonne are famous in the eyes of artists, and lovers of damp, -moss-grown and weathered masonry, but an engineer of this age of steel -would consider them inefficient abominations, and not at all suited to a -great port and sous-prefecture such as Bayonne. - -One of the finest works of Vauban, the fortress builder, was the -defences of Bayonne. The walls and ramparts were exceedingly efficacious -in times past (though to-day they look flimsy enough), and crowning all, -was a superb fortress at the juncture of the two rivers which come -together here, flowing from the fastnesses of the Pyrenees to the sea. - -The Allees Marines at Bayonne, a sort of tree-covered jetty-promenade, -are a unique feature in civic embellishment. The water-gate at Bordeaux -is fine, and so is the Thames Embankment in London, and the Battery in -New York, but those Allees at Bayonne lead them all. - -The Adour, coursing its way to the sea down through Bayonne, was fickle -enough one day to leave its bed, and force an outlet three leagues or -more away, threatening disaster to Bayonne's port. The citizens rose in -might and took counsel, and decided that something must be done or they -would die of sheer ennui, if not of poverty. There came to the rescue -one Louis de Foix, the same who had been the architect of Spain's -Escurial, and in 1579 he harnessed the water's flow and returned it to -its ancient bed. - -[Illustration: _A Gateway of Bayonne_] - -Bayonne glories in the fact that she has never submitted to a foreign -yoke, and when taken from the English, who had usurped it as a -Plantagenet birthright, by Charles VII, in the fifteenth century, the -people of Bayonne recognized that they had come to their own again -through the efforts of their fellow Basques. The city's device "_Nunquam -Polluta_" is distinctly appropriate. - -It was to Bayonne that Francois Premier came to meet his court, after -his days of imprisonment at Madrid, as the hostage of his old enemy -Charles V. He was confined only in the luxuriously appointed palace at -Madrid, but, as he himself said, "the cage was none the less a cage for -being gilded." - -Here at Bayonne awaited Francois' mother, his sister Marguerite, and a -gay court of followers, not forgetting "a brilliant _parterre_ of young -beauties assembled in their train," as Du Bellay puts it. - -Francois' adoration for "brilliant _parterres_" of young ladies was ever -one of his failings, and the master of ceremonies of the temporary -court of Bayonne thought enough of his position to get together an -entrancing bevy, the most beautiful among them all being the famous Anne -de Pisseleu, she who was afterwards to become the Duchesse d'Etampes. -Diane de Poitiers was there too, having come to Bayonne as lady in -waiting to the regent, but it was Anne de Pisseleu who won Francois' -favour of the moment, and he even allowed her to publicly refer to the -insistent Diane as "an old hag," and declare that she herself was born -on Diane's wedding day. This was after he had put aside Diane. - -Vicomte d'Orth was governor of Bayonne on that dread Bartholomew's night -when the tocsin rang out all over the French domain. He wrote to Charles -IX as follows, showing the fidelity and steadfastness of the people of -these parts, when in more frigid climes they lost their heads in an -uncontrollable fury: - -"I have communicated the letter of your Majesty to the garrison, and to -the inhabitants of the city; I have found only brave soldiers and good -citizens and not a single murderer." - -Bayonne to-day is frankly commercial; its docks and wharves are -possessed of a considerable deep-sea traffic; and one sees -three-masters from the Banks of Newfoundland, and cargo-boats from -Senegal, side by side at its quays. It is, too, the distributing depot -for the whole Basque country, the chief market where the peasant goes to -buy Seth Thomas clocks and Smith and Wesson revolvers, each made in -Belgium most likely; in England and America the cry is "made in -Germany;" in France, it's "made in Belgium." - -All of the Basque country, and a part of Bearn, depend on Bayonne for -certain supplies; even Biarritz and Saint-Jean-de-Luz are but its -satellites. - -Walckenaer's "Geographie des Gauls" says the evolution of the name -Bayonne was from the Basque Lapurdam, "city of thieves," but nothing -to-day about her warm welcome for strangers justifies this, so it were -best forgot. Bayonne in the old days--and to some extent to-day--spoke -intermittently Gascon, Francais, Bearnais and Spanish, and it is this -notable blend of peoples and tongues that makes it so charming. - -The _Quartier Landais_ was the mother city of Bayonne, the oldest -portion out of which the other faubourgs grew. Within the old walls, and -in the narrow streets, all is mediaeval even now, but in the newer -quarters the straight, rectangular lines of streets and sidewalks are, -as the French call them, _a l'Americaine_. - -The Pont Mayou at Bayonne is the liveliest, gayest spot in all the -Basque country. It is the virtual centre of this ancient capital. - -Bayonne's cathedral is lovely enough when viewed from afar, particularly -the ensemble of its spires with the roof-tops of the town--a sort of -reminiscence of Nuremberg--and this in spite of the fact that Taine in -his description of it called it ugly. - -In the olden times, the city had an important Jewish quarter, whose -inhabitants were an overflow of those expelled from Spain and Portugal. -This little city of the Landes became a miniature Frankfort, and had -three synagogues where the rabbis held services in the Spanish tongue. -The phenomenon has disappeared, by a process of evolution and infusion, -and one no more remarks the Jewish type as at all distinct from the -Basque. - -An incident happened at Bayonne fort during the Peninsular War which -seems to have been greatly neglected by historians, though Gleig, the -novelist, in "The Subaltern," makes much of it. The English, believing -that peace had been declared, resented an unprovoked French sortie from -Bayonne's citadel on the tenth of April, 1814. This was the last -British fight on French soil, if fight it was. A number of the guards, -including four officers, died of wounds received at this engagement. - -The following anonymous verses tell the story well: - - "For England here they fell. - Yon sea-like water guards each hero's grave. - Far Pyrenean heights, mindful, attest - That here our bravest and our best - Their supreme proof of love and loyalty gave, - Dying for England well. - - "Among those distant heights, - Had many a day the wrathful cannon roared. - Through black ravine and sunny field of Spain - War's headlong torrent rolled amain. - Irun's defile and Bidassoa's ford - Beheld a hundred fights. - - "Last, by this sea-like wave, - Threatening the fort our martial lines were drawn. - Fierce broke upon their watch at midnight hour - The swift sortie, the bullets' shower. - Red carnage ceased with slowly wakening dawn. - France keeps the true and brave." - -A kilometre or two outside the walls of Bayonne--the same which defied -the British in 1814--is a guide-post bearing the inscription (the writer -thinks in English) "To the Guards' Cemetery." Down a by-road around a -turning or two, and past a score of vine-clad cottages of Basque -peasants one comes to the spot in question, a little railed-in plot of -hallowed ground. Here are seen the original weather-worn headstones of -nearly a century ago, and a newer series, practically replicas of the -former. - -There is also a tablet stating that on this spot stood the "Third Guards -Camp." That is all. It resembles the conventional cemetery not at all, -and may be considered a memorial, nothing more. Certainly there is -nothing pathetic or sad about it, for all is green and bright and -smiling. If one can put themselves in this mood it is certainly a good -one in which to make a pilgrimage to a city of the dead. - -There is another warlike reminiscence connected with Bayonne, which is -worth recalling, and that is that Bayonne was the birthplace of the -bayonet, as was Troyes (in France) the birthplace of that species of -weights which is not avoirdupois. - -A mid-Victorian writer in England criticized Dickens' story in -_Household Words_, called "Perils of Certain English Prisoners," wherein -the soldiers carried bayonets in their muskets and cartridges in their -haversacks. This particular critic nodded, as they sometimes do. -Cartridges were invented in 1586, and bayonets first made their -appearance at Bayonne in 1641, and the scene of Dickens' tale was laid a -hundred or two years later. - -Those who think that York ham, which even the French know as _Jambon -d'Yorck_, is a superlative sort of pig-product, should become acquainted -with the _jambons de Bayonne_, from Basque pigs, cured with the natural -salts of the commune of Salies. There is no room left for comparison -with other hams. Those of Bayonne are the peers of their class, not -forgetting even the sugar-cured variety of the Old Dominion. - -There is a considerable chocolate business at Bayonne, too, though not -with the interior, which mostly gets its supplies from Paris, but with -the French colonies, notably with the tiny market of St. -Pierre-et-Miquelon, which, by some business pact or reasoning, is held -to be sacred to the chocolate manufacturers of Bayonne. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIX - -BIARRITZ AND SAINT-JEAN-DE-LUZ - -[Illustration: _Biarritz and the Surrounding Country_] - - -If Bayonne is the centre of commercial affairs for the Basque country, -its citizens must at any rate go to Biarritz if they want to live "the -elegant and worldly life." - -The prosperity and luxury of Biarritz is very recent; it goes back only -to the second empire, when it was but a village of a thousand souls or -less, mostly fishermen and women. - -The railway and the automobile omnibus make communication with Bayonne -to-day easy, but formerly folk came and went on a donkey side-saddle for -two, arranged back to back, like the seats on an Irish jaunting-car. If -the weight were unequal a balance was struck by adding cobble-stones on -one side or the other, the patient donkey not minding in the least. This -astonishing mode of conveyance was known as a _cacolet_, and replaced -the _voitures_ and _fiacres_ of other resorts. An occasional example may -still be seen, but the _jolies Basquaises_ who conducted them have given -way to sturdy, bare-legged Basque boys--as picturesque perhaps, but not -so entrancing to the view. To voyage "_en cacolet_" was the necessity of -our grandfathers; for us it is an amusement only. - -Napoleon III, or rather Eugenie, his spouse, was the faithful godfather -of Biarritz as a resort. The Villa Eugenie is no more; it was first -transformed into a hotel and later destroyed by fire; but it was the -first of the great battery of villas and hotels which has made Biarritz -so great that the popularity of Monte Carlo is steadily waning. -Biarritz threatens to become even more popular; some sixteen thousand -visitors came to Biarritz in 1899, but there were thirty-odd thousand in -1903; while the permanent population has risen from two thousand, seven -hundred in the days of the second empire to twelve thousand, eight -hundred in 1901. The tiny railway from Bayonne to Biarritz transported -half a million travellers twenty years ago, and a million and a half, or -nearly that number in 1903; the rest, being millionaires, or gypsies, -came in automobiles or caravans. These figures tell eloquently of the -prosperity of this _villegiature imperiale_. - -The great beauty of Biarritz is its setting. At Monte Carlo the setting -is also beautiful, ravishingly beautiful, but the architecture, the -terrace, Monaco's rock and all the rest combine to make the pleasing -ensemble. At Biarritz the architecture of its casino and the great -hotels is not of an epoch-making beauty, neither are they so -delightfully placed. It is the surrounding stage-setting that is so -lovely. Here the jagged shore line, the blue waves, the ample horizon -seaward, are what make it all so charming. - -[Illustration: BIARRITZ] - -Biarritz as a watering-place has an all the year round clientele; in -summer the Spanish and the French, succeeded in winter by Americans, -Germans, and English--with a sprinkling of Russians at all times. - -Biarritz, like Pau, aside from being a really delightful winter resort, -where one may escape the rigours of murky November to March in London, -is becoming afflicted with a bad case of _la fievre du sport_. There are -all kinds of sports, some of them reputable enough in their place, but -the comic-opera fox-hunting which takes place at Pau and Biarritz is not -one of them. It is entirely out of place in this delightful southland, -and most disconcerting it is as you are strolling out from Biarritz some -bright January or February morning, along the St. Jean-de-Luz road, to -be brushed to one side by a cantering lot of imitation sportsmen and -women from overseas, and shouted at as if you had no rights. This is bad -enough, but it is worse to have to hear the talk of the cafes and hotel -lounging-rooms, which is mostly to the effect that a fox was "uncovered" -near the ninetieth kilometre stone on the Route d'Espagne, and the -"kill" was brought off in the little chapel of the Penitents Blanc, -where, for a moment, you once loitered and rested watching the blue -waves of the Golfe of Gascogne roll in at your feet. It is indeed -disconcerting, this eternal interpolation of inappropriate manners and -customs which the _grand monde_ of society and sport (_sic_) is trying -to carry round with it wherever it goes. - -To what banal depths a jaded social world can descend to keep -amused--certainly not edified--is gathered from the following -description of a "gymkhana" held at Biarritz at a particularly silly -period of a silly season. It was not a French affair, by the way, but -gotten up by visitors. - -The events which attracted the greatest interest were the "_Concours -d'addresse_," and the "pig-sticking." For the first of these, a very -complicated and intricate course was laid out, over which had to be -driven an automobile, and as it contained almost every obstacle and -difficulty that can be conceived for a motor-car--except a police trap, -the strength and quality (?) of the various cars as well as the skill -(??) of the drivers, were put to a very severe test. Mr ---- was first -both in "tilting at the ring" and in the "pig-sticking" contests, the -latter being the _best_ item of the show. One automobile, with that -_rara avis_, a flying (air-inflated dummy) pig attached to it, started -off, hotly pursued by another, with its owner, lance in hand, sitting -beside the chauffeur. The air-inflated quarry in the course of its wild -career performed some curious antics which provoked roars of laughter. -Of course every one was delighted and edified at this display of wit and -brain power. The memory of it will probably last at Biarritz until -somebody suggests an automobile race with the drivers and passengers -clad in bathing suits. - -The gambling question at Biarritz has, in recent months, become a great -one. There have been rumours that it was all to be done away with, and -then again rumours that it would still continue. Finally there came the -Clemenceau law, which proposed to close all public gambling-places in -France, and the smaller "establishments" at Biarritz shut their doors -without waiting to learn the validity of the law, but the Municipal -Casino still did business at the old stand. - -The mayor of Biarritz has made strenuous representations to the Minister -of the Interior at Paris in favour of keeping open house at the Basque -watering-place, urging that the town would suffer, and Monte Carlo and -San Sebastian would thrive at its expense. This is probably so, but as -the matter is still in abeyance, it will be interesting to see how the -situation is handled by the authorities. - -The picturesque "Plage des Basques" lies to the south of the town, -bordered with high cliffs, which in turn are surmounted with terraces of -villas. The charm of it all is incomparable. To the northwest stretches -the limpid horizon of the Bay of Biscay, and to the south the snowy -summits of the Pyrenees, and the adorable Bays of Saint-Jean-de-Luz and -Fontarabie, while behind, and to the eastward, lies the quaint country -of the Basques, and the mountain trails into Spain in all their savage -hardiness. - -The offshore translucent waters of the Gulf of Gascony were the _Sinus -Aquitanicus_ of the ancients. A colossal rampart of rocks and sand dunes -stretches all the way from the Gironde to the Bidassoa, without a -harbour worthy of the name save at Bayonne and Saint-Jean-de-Luz. Here -the Atlantic waves pound, in time of storm, with all the fury with which -they break upon the rocky coasts of Brittany further north. Perhaps this -would not be so, but for the fact that the Iberian coast to the -southward runs almost at right angles with that of Gascony. As it is, -while the climate is mild, Biarritz and the other cities on the coasts -of the Gulf of Gascony have a fair proportion of what sailors the world -over call "rough weather." - -The waters of the Gascon Gulf are not always angry; most frequently they -are calm and blue, vivid with a translucence worthy of those of Capri, -and it is that makes the "Plage de Biarritz" one of the most popular -sea-bathing resorts in France to-day. It is a fashionable -watering-place, but it is also, perhaps, the most beautifully disposed -city to be found in all the round of the European coast line, its -slightly curving slope dominated by a background terrace decorative in -itself, but delightfully set off with its fringe of dwelling-houses, -hotels and casinos. Ostend is superbly laid out, but it is dreary; Monte -Carlo is beautiful, but it is _ultra_; while Trouville is constrained -and affected. Biarritz has the best features of all these. - -The fishers of Biarritz, living mostly in the tiny houses of the -Quartier de l'Atalaye, like the Basque sailors of Bayonne and -Saint-Jean-de-Luz, pursue their trade to the seas of Iceland and -Spitzbergen. - -As a whaling-port, before Nantucket and New Bedford were discovered by -white men, Biarritz was famous. A "_lettre patent_" of Henri IV gave a -headquarters to the whalers of the old Basque seaport in the following -words: - -"Un lieu sur la coste de la mer Oceane, qu'il se decouvre de six et set -lieus, tous les navaires et barques qui entrent et sortent de la coste -d'Espaine." - -A dozen miles or so south of Biarritz is Saint-Jean-de-Luz. The -coquettish little city saw in olden times the marriage of Louis XIV and -Marie Therese of Spain, one of the most brilliant episodes of the -eighteenth century. In the town is still pointed out the Maison -Lohabiague, a queer little angle-towered house, not in the least -pretentious, where lived for a time the future queen and Anne d'Autriche -as well. It is called to-day the Maison de l'Infante. - -There is another historic edifice here known as the Chateau Louis XIV, -built by him as a residence for occupation "on the day of his marriage." -It was a whim, doubtless, but a worthy one. - -[Illustration: _St.-Jean-de-Luz_] - -St.-Jean-de-Luz has become a grand pleasure resort, and its picturesque -port has little or no commercial activity save such as is induced by its -being a safe port of shelter to which ships may run when battled by -adverse winds and waves as they ply up and down the coasts of the -Gascon Gulf. The ancient marine opulence of the port has disappeared -entirely, and the famous _goelettes Basques_, or what we would call -schooners, which hunted whales and fished for cod in far-off waters in -the old days, and lent a hand in marine warfare when it was on, are no -more. All the waterside activity to-day is of mere offshore -fishing-boats. - -Vauban had planned that Saint-Jean-de-Luz should become a great -fortified port. Its situation and surroundings were admirably suited to -such a condition, but the project was abandoned by the authorities long -years since. - -The fishing industry of Saint-Jean-de-Luz is very important. First there -is "_la grande peche_," carried on offshore by several small steamers -and large _chaloupes_, and bringing to market sardines, anchovies, -tunny, roach, and _dorade_. Then there is "_la petite peche_," which -gets the shallow-bottom fish and shellfish, such as lobsters, prawns, -etc. The traffic in anchovies is considerable, and is carried on by the -cooeperative plan, the captain or owner of the boat taking one part, the -owner of the nets three parts of one quarter of the haul; and the other -three-quarters of the entire produce being divided equally among the -crew. Similar arrangements, on slightly varying terms, are made as to -other classes of fish. - -Saint-Jean-de-Luz had a population of ten thousand two centuries ago; -to-day it has three thousand, and most of those take in boarders, or in -one way or another cater to the hordes of visitors who have made of -it--or would if they could have suppressed its quiet Basque charm of -colouring and character--a little Brighton. - -Not all is lost, but four hundred houses were razed in the -mid-eighteenth century by a tempest, and the stable population began to -creep away; only with recent years an influx of strangers has arrived -for a week's or a month's stay to take their places--if idling -butterflies of fashion or imaginary invalids can really take the place -of a hard-working, industrious colony of fishermen, who thought no more -of sailing away to the South Antarctic or the Banks of Newfoundland in -an eighty-ton whaler than they did of seining sardines from a shallop in -the Gulf of Gascony at their doors. - -Enormous and costly works have been done here at Saint-Jean-de-Luz since -its hour of glory began with the marriage of Louis XIV with the Infanta -of Spain, just after the celebrated Treaty of the Pyrenees. - -The ambitious Louis would have put up his equipage and all his royal -train at Bayonne, but the folk of Saint-Jean would hear of nothing of -the sort. The mere fact that Saint-Jean could furnish fodder for the -horses, and Bayonne could not, was the inducement for the royal cortege -to rest here. Because of this event, so says tradition, the king's -equerries caused the great royal portal of the church to be walled up, -that other royalties--and mere plebeians--might not desecrate it. -History is not very ample on this point, but local legend supplies what -the general chronicle ignores. - -On the banks of the Nivelle, in the days of Louis XIII, were celebrated -shipyards which turned out ships of war of three hundred or more tons, -to battle for their king against Spain. In 1627, too, Saint-Jean-de-Luz -furnished fifty ships to Richelieu to break the blockade of the Ile of -Re, then being sustained by the English. - -One recalls here also the sad affair of the Connetable de Bourbon, his -conspiracy against the king of France, and how when his treachery was -discovered he fled from court, and, "accompanied by a band of -gentlemen," galloped off toward the Spanish frontier. Here at -Saint-Jean-de-Luz, almost at the very entrance of the easiest gateway -into Spain through the Pyrenees, Bourbon was last seen straining every -power and nerve to escape those who were on his trail, and every wit he -possessed to secure an alliance with the Spanish on behalf of his -tottering cause. - -"By Our Lady," said the king, "such treason is a blot upon knighthood. -Bourbon a man as great as ourselves! Can he not be apprehended ere he -crosses the frontier?" But no, Bourbon, for the time, was safe enough, -though he met his death in Italy at the siege of Rome and his projected -Spanish alliance never came off anyway. - -Ten or twelve kilometres beyond Saint-Jean-de-Luz is Urrugne and its -clock tower. Victor Hugo rhymed it thus: - - "...Urrugne, - Nom rauque dont le nom a la rime repugne," - -and his words, and the Latin inscription on its face, have served to -make this little Basque village celebrated. - - "Vulnerant omnes, ultima necat." - -Travellers by diligence in the old days, passing on the "Route Royale" -from France to Spain, stopped to gaze at the _Horloge d'Urrugne_, and -took the motto as something personal, in view of the supposed dangers of -travelling by road. To-day the automobilist and the traveller by train -alike, rush through to Hendaye, with never a thought except as to what -new form of horror the customs inspection at the frontier will bring -forth. - -Urrugne is worth being better known, albeit it is but a dull little -Basque village of a couple of thousand inhabitants, for in addition it -has a country inn which is excellent of its kind, if primitive. All -around is a delightful, green-grown landscape, from which, however, the -vine is absent, the humidity and softness of the climate not being -conducive to the growth of the grape. In some respects the country -resembles Normandy, and the Basques of these parts, curiously enough, -produce cider, of an infinitesimal quantity to be sure, compared to the -product of Normandy or Brittany, but enough for the home consumption of -those who affect it. - - - - -CHAPTER XXX - -THE BIDASSOA AND THE FRONTIER - - -In the western valleys of the Pyrenees, opening out into the Landes -bordering upon the Golfe de Gascogne, rises the little river Bidassoa, -famous in history and romance. To the Basques its name is Bastanzubi, -and its length is but sixty-five kilometres. - -In the upper valley, in Spanish territory, is Elizondo, the tiny capital -of olden times, and three other tiny Spanish towns whose names suggest -nothing but an old-world existence. - -In its last dozen or fifteen kilometres the Bidassoa forms the boundary -between France and Spain, and mid-stream--below Hendaye, the last French -station on the railway between Paris and Madrid--is the famous Ile des -Faisans. - -All of this is classic ground. Just across the river from Hendaye is -Irun, the first station on the Spanish railway line. It offers nothing -special in the way of historical monuments, save a fourteenth-century -Hotel de Ville and innumerable old houses. Its characteristics are as -much French as Spanish, and its speech the same, when its people don't -talk Basque. - -[Illustration: _Ile des Faisans_] - -A historic incident of the Ile des Faisans was the famous affair of -1526, when, after the Battle of Pavia, and Francois Premier had been -made prisoner by Charles V, the former was _exchanged_ against his two -children as hostages. - -Three years later the children themselves were redeemed by another -_exchange_, this time of much gold and many precious "relics," as one -learns from the old chronicles. - -In 1615, on the same classic spot, as far from Spanish territory as from -French, Anne of Austria, the fiancee of Louis XIII, was put into the -hands of the French by the Spanish, who received in return Elizabeth of -France, fiancee of Philippe III. Quite a mart the Ile des Faisans had -become! The culminating event was the signing of the celebrated Traite -des Pyrenees, on November 7th, 1659. - -When Francois Premier, fleeing from Madrid, where he had been the -prisoner of Charles V, first set foot upon French soil again at this -imaginary boundary line, he said: "At last I am a king again! Now I am -really free." It was only through the efforts of his sister that -Francois was able to escape his royal jailer. He had made promises which -he did not intend to live up to; the king perjured himself but he saved -France. - -He rode with all speed from Madrid to meet his boys, the Dauphin and the -Duc d'Orleans, who were to replace him as hostages at Madrid. On the -river's edge the sons were awaiting their father, with an emotion too -vivid for description. They had no fear, and they entered willingly into -the plan which was laid down for them, but the meeting and the parting -was most sad. Wild with excitement of liberty being so near, Francois -could hardly wait for the ferry to take him across, and even waded into -the river to meet it as they pulled towards it. On French soil a -splendid retinue awaited him, and once more the French king was -surrounded by his luxurious court. - -To-day the Island of Pheasants is hardly more than a sand bar, and -Mazarin and Don Louis de Haro, and their numerous suites would have a -hard time finding a foothold. The currents of the river and the ocean -have made of it only a pinhead on modern maps. In 1856, at the expense -of the two countries, a stone memorial, with an inscription in French -and Spanish, was erected to mark the site of this fast dwindling island. - -Irun and Feuntarrabia, with the three French communes of Biriaton, -Behobie and Hendaye enjoy reciprocal rights over the waters of the -estuary of this epoch and history making river. This is the result of an -agreement of long years standing, known as the "Pacte de Famille," an -agreement made between the French and Spanish Basques (those of the -_beret bleu_ with the _beret rouge_) with the concurrence of the French -and Spanish authorities. - -Crossing the Pont International between France and Spain may prove to be -an amusing and memorable sensation. If a man at one end of the bridge -offers you an umbrella, or a parasol, to keep off the sun's rays during -this promenade, saying that you can leave it with a friend at the other -end, don't take it. The other who would take it from you may be -prevented from doing so by a Spanish gendarme or a customs official, who -indeed is just as likely to catch you first. The fine is "easy" enough -for this illicit traffic, but the international complications are many -and great. So, too, will be the inconveniences to yourself. - -Around the Pont International, on both the French and Spanish sides, is -as queer a collection of stray dogs and cats as one will see out of -Constantinople. They are of a "_race imprecise, vraies betes -internationales_," the customhouse officer tells you, and from their -looks there's no denying it. They may not be wicked, may only bark and -not bite, mew and not scratch, but only they themselves know this. To -the rest of us they look suspicious. - -From Hendaye one may enter Spain by any one of three means of -communication,--by railway, on foot across the Pont de Behobie, or by a -boat across the Bidassoa. The first means is the most frequented; for a -_piecette_--that is to say a _piece blanche_ of Spanish money, which has -the weight and appearance of a franc, but a considerably reduced -value--one can cross by train; a boatman will take you for half the -price at any time of the day or night; and by the Pont International, -it costs nothing. - -[Illustration: _The Frontier at Hendaye_] - -This international bridge belongs half to France and half to Spain, the -post in the middle bearing the respective arms marking the limits of the -territorial rights of each. - -This is one of the most curiously ordained frontiers in all the world. -The people of Urrugne in France, twenty kilometres distant from the -frontier, can hold speech freely in their mother tongue with those of -Feuntarrabia in Spain, but officialdom of the customs and railway -organizations at Hendaye and Irun, next-door neighbours, have to -translate their speech from French to Spanish and vice versa, or have -an interpreter who will. Curious anomaly this! - -Hendaye's chief shrine is a modern one, the singularly-built house, on a -rock dominating the bay, formerly inhabited by Pierre Loti, though most -of his fellow townsmen knew him only as Julian Viaud, Lieutenant de -Vaisseau. This, though the commander of the miserable little gunboat -called the "_Javelot_" stationed always in the Bidassoa was an -_Academicien_. - -At the French entrance to this important frontier bridge one reads on a -panel PONT INTERNATIONAL; and at the Spanish end, PUENTE INTERNACIONAL; -and here the _gendarme_ of France become the _carabiniero_ of Spain. - -Behobie, at the Spanish end of the bridge, the French call "the biggest -hamlet in Europe." It virtually is a hamlet, but it has some of the -largest business and industrial enterprises in the country, for here -have been established branch houses and factories of many a great French -industry in order to avoid the tariff tax imposed on foreign products in -the Spanish peninsula. The game has been played before elsewhere, but -never so successfully as here. - -[Illustration: _Maison Pierre Loti, Hendaye_] - -On the Pointe de Ste. Anne, the northern boundary of the estuary of -the Bidassoa, is a monumental chateau, the work of Viollet-le-Duc, built -by him for the Comte d'Abbadie. Modern though it is, its architectural -opulence is in keeping with the knowledge of its builder (the greatest -authority on Gothic the world has ever known, or ever will know); and as -a combination of the excellencies of old-time building with modern -improvements, this Chateau d'Abbadie stands quite in a class by itself. -At the death of the widow of the Comte d'Abbadie, the chateau was -bequeathed by her to the Institut de France. - -The view seaward from the little peninsula upon which the chateau sits -is marvellously soft and beautiful, and what matter it if the fish of -the Golfe de Fontarabie to the south have no eyes--if indeed his -statement be true. No oculist or zooelogist has said it, but a poet has -written thus:-- - - "Le poisson qui rouvrit l'oeil mort du vieux Tobie - Se joue au fond du golfe ou dort fontarabie." - -Near by is the Foret d'Yraty, much like most of the forests of France, -except that this is all up and down hill, clinging perilously wherever -there is enough loose soil for a tree to take root. - -The inhabitants tell you of a "wild man" discovered here by the -shepherds, in 1774, long before the days of circus wild men. He was -tall, well proportioned and covered with hair like a bear, and always in -a good humour, though he did not speak an intelligible language. His -chief amusement was sheep-stealing, and one day it was determined to -take him prisoner. The shepherds and the authorities tried for -twenty-five years, until finally he disappeared from view--and so the -legend ends. - -Across the estuary of the Bidassoa, in truth, the Baie de Fontarabie, -the sunsets are of a magnificence seldom seen. There _may_ be others as -gorgeous elsewhere, but none more so, and one can well imagine the same -refulgent red glow, of which historians write, that graced the occasion -when Cristobal Colon (or his Basque precursor) set out into the west. - -In connection with all this neighbouring Franco-Espagnol country of the -Basques, one is bound to recall the great events of these last years, -both at Biarritz, and at San Sebastian, across the border. The cachet of -the king of England's approval has been given to the former, and of that -of the king of Spain to the latter. Already the region has become known -as the _Cote d'Argent_, as is the Riviera the _Cote d'Azure_, and the -north Brittany coast the _Cote d'Emeraud_. - -It was here on the _Cote d'Argent_ that King Alfonso did his wooing, his -automobile flashing to and fro between St. Sebastian and Biarritz, -crossing and recrossing the frontier stream of the Bidassoa. Bridges of -stone and steel carry the traffic now, and it passes between Irun and -Hendaye, higher up the river, but in the old days, the days of Francois -I, the passage was more picturesquely made by ferry. - -Feuntarrabia is but a stone's throw away, sitting, as it were, desolate -and forgotten on its promontory beyond the sands, and as the sun sets, -flinging its blood-red radiance over sea and shore, the aspect is all -very quiet, very peaceful, and fair. It is difficult to realize the -stirring times that once passed over the spot, the war thunder that -shook the echoes of the hills. May the bloody scenes of the _Cote -d'Argent_ be over for ever, and its future be as happy as King Alfonso's -wooing. - -At Feuntarrabia, but a step beyond Irun, one enters his first typical -Spanish town. You know this because touts try to sell you, and every one -else, a lottery ticket, and because the beggars, who, apparently, are as -numerous as their tribe in Naples, quote proverbs at your head. - -You may understand them or you may not, but since Spain is the land of -proverbs, it is but natural that you should meet with them forthwith. -Here is one, though it is more like an enigma; and when translated it -becomes but an old friend in disguise:-- - - "Un manco escribio una carta, - Un siega la esta mirando; - Un mudo la esta leyenda - Y un sordo la esta escuchando." - - "A handless man a letter did write, - A dumb dictated it word for word; - The person who read it had lost his sight, - And deaf was he who listened and heard." - -One need not be a phenomenal linguist to understand this, even in the -vernacular. - -Feuntarrabia itself is a cluster of brown-red houses piled high along -the narrow streets, with deep eaves over-hanging grated windows, and -carved doorways leading to shady courts. - -There is a certain squalid, gone-to-ruin air about everything, which, in -this case, is but a charm; but one can picture from the blazoned stone -coats-of-arms seen here and there that the dwellers of olden time were -proud and reverend seigneurs. - -[Illustration: _In Old Feuntarrabia_] - -Feuntarrabia, the little sea-coast town, called even by the French -_la perle de la Bidassoa_ is contrastingly different to -Saint-Jean-de-Luz, though not twenty kilometres away. It is Spanish to -the core, and on the escutcheon above the city gate one reads an ancient -inscription to the effect that it belonged to the kings of Castile and -was always "a very noble, very loyal, very brave and always faithful -city." - -Feuntarrabia was once a fortress of renown, but that was in the long -ago. It was a theatre of battles without end. Here Conde was repulsed, -together with the best chivalry of France, and it was then that the -grateful Spanish king ordered that for evermore it should be styled "the -most noble, the most leal, the most valorous of cities"--a title which -does actually appear on legal documents unto this day. The Duke of -Berwick, King James Stuart's gallant son, once succeeded in taking the -place, and it was then so utterly dismantled by the French that it has -never since been reckoned among the fortified places of Spain. But the -city must indeed have felt the old war spirit stir again when it beheld -those two great generals, Soult and Wellington, strive for victory -before its hoary walls in 1813. Inch by inch the British had forced -Napoleon's men from Spain; and here on the very frontier of France, -Marechal Soult gathered his forces for one last desperate stand. No -British foot, he swore, should dare to touch the soil of France. But one -chill October day, when the rain was falling on the broken, trodden -vineyards, and the wind came moaning from the sullen sea, the word was -given along the English ranks to pass the Bidassoa. And across the river -came a line of scarlet fighting men, haggard and war-worn, many of them -wounded, all of them weary. The result of that day is written on the -annals of military glory as "one of the most daring exploits of military -genius." Long afterwards Soult himself acknowledged it was the most -splendid episode of the Peninsular War. - -THE END. - - - - -Index - - -Abbadie, Chateau d', 443 - -_Abelles, Seigneurs des_, 108 - -Accous, 333 - -Agde, 24, 28, 55 - -Agen, 52, 224 - -Aigues-Mortes, 55, 56, 85 - -_Albret Family, D'_, 232, 235, 256, 260, 261, 267, 270-274, 280, 281, -310, 340, 344, 345, 347, 350, 356-367 - -_Alphonse XIII_, 318, 445 - -Amauros, Chateau d', 122 - -Amboise, 42, 64 - -Amelie-les-Bains, 5, 70, 137, 138 - -Andorra, 47, 140, 144, 146-151, 184, 203, 304 - -Andorra-Viella, 148 - -_Arago, Francois_, 103 - -_Aragon, House of_, 96, 97, 122, 123, 128, 139, 305 - -Aramits, 251-252, 328, 344 - -_Arc, Jeanne d'_, 31 - -Archachon, 53 - -Argeles, 122-123, 318 - -Ariege, 9, 177 - -Arles-en-Provence, 111, 117 - -Arles-sur-Tech, 98, 138-139, 140 - -Armagnac, Comte d', 9, 13, 14, 84, 256, 266, 366 - -_Armagnac Family, D'_, 193, 256-257, 356, 365 - -Armendarits, 252, 253 - -_Arnaud, Abbe Felix_, 156-157 - -Arneguy, 400 - -Arques, 41 - -Arreau, 303-304 - -_Arsinois, Valentine d'_, 282 - -Artagnan, 344 - -Arudy, 296 - -Ascarat, 400 - -Aspremont, Chateau of, 246-247 - -Athos, 344 - -Auch, 8, 225 - -Audaux and Its Chateau, 348 - -_Aude, Departement de l'_, 9, 15, 16 - -Avignon, 104 - -Avocat-Vieux, L', 198 - -Axat, 152, 156, 158-159 - -Ax-les-Thermes, 67-68, 70, 206-209 - - -Badefols, 76 - -_Baluffe, Auguste_, 152 - -Bagneres de Bigorre, 5, 70, 303, 321, 322, 323 - -Bagneres-de-Luchon (_see_ Luchon) - -_Baigorry, Vicomtes de_, 397-399, 400 - -_Balaguer, Victor_, 176 - -Banyuls-sur-Mer, 14, 58, 82, 128-129 - -Barcelona, 3, 56, 58, 81, 82, 99, 107, 125, 136, 145, 184 - -Bareges, 70, 321-322 - -Baretous, 250-251, 328-330 - -Bas-Languedoc, 8, 9 - -Basque Provinces, 9, 46, 53, 59, 62, 74-76, 80, 241, 246, 372-392 - -Basse-Navarre, 17, 244, 246, 354-371, 393 - -Basses-Pyrenees, 9, 62, 63, 64, 262, 380, 390 - -Bayonne, 7, 13, 24, 53, 62, 64, 81, 184, 262, 307, 340, 352, 374, 377, -413-421, 422, 423, 424, 428, 429, 433 - -Bearn, 1, 9, 13, 17, 28, 44, 62, 76, 84, 176, 177, 186, 191, 230-296, -311, 336, 342, 354-371, 396 - -_Bearn, Vicomtes de_, 176, 261, 267, 283, 284, 296, 324, 325, 328, 355 - -Bedous, 332-333 - -Behobie, 439, 440, 442 - -Bellegarde, Fortress de, 4, 56, 81, 136 - -Bellocq, Chateau de, 344-345 - -_Benoit XII_, 180 - -_Benoit XIII_, 124 - -_Beranger_, 93 - -Bergerac, 13 - -_Bertrand, Jean_, 229 - -Betharrem, 310-312 - -Bethmale, 220 - -Beziers, 15, 24, 55, 85, 122, 152, 153 - -Biarritz, 2, 3, 46, 54, 60, 61, 64, 163, 165, 233, 305, 346, 377, 378, -384, 417, 422-430, 444, 445 - -Bidache and Its Chateau, 240, 244-246 - -Bidarray, 405, 406 - -Bielle, 292-293 - -Biert, 220-221 - -Bigorre, 3, 5, 9, 50, 70, 84, 176, 208, 222, 283, 303, 311, 356, 366 - -Bilboa, 99 - -Billere, 272 - -Biriaton, 439 - -_Blanca, Jean_, 118 - -_Boileau_, 30, 153 - -_Boniface VIII_, 200 - -Bordeaux, 8, 12, 13, 15, 28, 52, 53, 60, 163, 186, 249, 262, 378 - -Born, Bertrand de, Chateau of, 76 - -Boulbonne, Abbey of, 181 - -_Bourbon, Antoine de_, 366 - -_Bourbon, Connetable de_, 433-434 - -Bourdette, Chateau de, 202 - -Bourg-Madame, 140, 144-146 - -_Brantome_, 302, 370 - -Breche de Roland, 50, 254-256, 406 - -Bruges, 2, 288 - -Bunus, 389 - -Burgette, 403 - -Burgos, 64 - - -_Caesar_, 57, 84, 301, 355 - -Cahors, 13 - -Camargue, The, 56, 284 - -Cambo, 62, 71, 378, 405, 408-412 - -Camprodon, 140 - -Canfranc, 254 - -Canet, 118-119 - -Capcir, 141, 159-160 - -Carcassonne and Its Chateau, 3, 7, 15, 24, 25, 42, 46, 85, 102, 104, -121, 152, 153, 154, 161-174, 184, 210 - -_Carcassonne, Counts of_, 187, 199 - -Carol, Tour de, 146 - -Castel-Biel, 25-26 - -Castelnau-Durban, 214 - -Catalogne, 176, 184 - -Cauterets, 3, 5, 70, 84, 208, 318-319, 321, 322, 323, 331 - -_Centulle Family_, 231, 265, 280, 285, 324, 356 - -Cerbere and Its Chateau, 106-108 - -Cerdagne, The, 140-141, 160 - -Ceret, 83, 137, 140 - -Cette, 15 - -Chalosse, 13, 62 - -_Charlemagne_, 4, 51, 81, 146, 153, 165, 204-205, 218, 400, 401, 406 - -_Charles Martel_, 73-74 - -_Charles I_, 142 - -_Charles V_, 64, 116, 120, 315, 415, 437, 438 - -_Charles VI_, 178 - -_Charles VII_, 306, 415 - -_Charles VIII_, 23, 97, 269, 369 - -_Charles IX_, 368, 416 - -_Charpentier, Hubert_, 311 - -Chavilles, 334 - -Chelles, 42 - -Chenonceaux, 42 - -_Chilperic_, 42 - -Cirque de Gavarnie, 254, 307 - -_Clement V_, 227 - -_Clement VIII_, 120 - -_Clotaire II_, 42 - -Coarraze and Its Chateau, 39, 42, 272, 308-310 - -Col de Banyuls, 58, 82, 83 - -Col de la Carbossiere, 127 - -Col de la Perche, 140 - -Col de Lladrones, 254 - -Col de Perthus, 56-57, 80, 81, 127, 136, 184 - -Col de Puymorins, 146 - -Col de Roncevaux, 255, 400 - -Collioure, 14, 107, 123-127 - -Comminges, Comte de, 9, 84, 191, 211, 222-229, 244 - -_Comminges, Comtes de_, 225, 228-229, 305-306 - -Compiegne, 42 - -_Conde_, _"The Grand,"_ 97, 181, 199, 275, 447 - -Conflent, 141 - -_Constant, Benjamin_, 172 - -_Constant, son of Constantine_, 98 - -_Constantine_, 98, 120 - -_Conti, Prince de_, 236 - -_Convenes, The_, 222 - -Cortalets, 130 - -Coucy, 42 - -Couserans, 211-221, 222 - -Creil, 42 - -Cucugnan, 104 - - -_Dambourges_, 344 - -_Dante_, 250 - -_Daudet_, 104, 202 - -Dax, 224, 378 - -_Delcasse, M._, 145 - -_Desperriers_, 369 - -_Despourrins_, 87-88 - -_Dickens_, 420-421 - -Digne, 185 - -_Du Bellay_, 415 - -_Dugommier_, 123 - -_Dumas_, 236, 249-250, 251, 343, 344 - -_Duprat_, 277 - - -Eaux-Bonnes, 5, 70, 289, 293-294, 323 - -Eaux-Chaudes, 70, 289, 294-295, 323 - -Echaux, Chateau d', 397, 398 - -_Edward I_, 246 - -_Edward III_, 336-337 - -_Elissagory, Renaud d'_, 353 - -Elizondo, 436 - -Elne, 28, 98, 120-122, 123, 124, 127 - -_Erasmus_, 370 - -Escalde, 145 - -Espelette, 412 - -Estagel, 103 - -_Estarbes, D'_, 172 - -_Evreux Family_, 356 - -_Expilly, Abbe d'_, 267 - -Eysus, 327-328 - - -Falaise, 42 - -_Falguiere, Eugene_, 172 - -Farges, Chateau de, 399-400 - -_Favyn_, 267 - -Fenouillet, Chateau de, 102 - -_Ferdinand of Aragon_, 97, 357-358, 371 - -Feuntarrabia, 80, 377, 439, 441, 445-447 - -Figueras, 81 - -Foix and Its Chateau, 3, 8, 39, 42, 46, 53, 176, 177, 181, 182, 184, -185-196, 197, 199, 202, 209, 213, 214, 315, 335, 343 - -Foix, Comte de, 1, 8, 9, 17, 53, 76, 175-177, 181-184, 197, 201, 202, -208-209, 211, 212, 221, 244, 256, 356, 366 - -_Foix, Counts of_, 148, 176-184, 185, 186, 187, 188, 190-195, 198, 199, -205, 208, 209, 231, 268, 311, 342 - -Fontainebleau, 42 - -_Foulques, Nerra_, 43, 210 - -_Fournier, Gaston_ (see _Benoit XII_) - -_Foy, General_, 342, 343 - -_Francois I_, 21, 23, 64, 97, 365, 415-416, 437-439, 445 - -Frayras, 198 - -_Froissart_, 185, 194, 266, 298, 309, 335, 336, 338 - -Frontignan, 15 - - -Gabas, 295 - -Gan, 277, 288 - -_Garat, M._, 74 - -Gard, 9, 15, 16 - -Gascogne, 8, 84, 197, 240, 256, 273, 286, 355, 356 - -_Gassion, Jean de_, 275-277 - -_Gaston Phoebus de Foix_, 4, 8, 178-180, 185, 191, 192, 193, 210, 233, -240, 261, 266, 267, 268, 310, 315, 336-339, 342, 343, 344 - -_Gautier, Theophile_, 373 - -Gavarnie, 58, 62, 254, 321 - -Gibraltar, 3 - -Ginestas, 15 - -Gorges de Pierre Lys, 3, 156-157 - -Gorges de St. Georges, 152, 158-159 - -_Grammont Family_, 244-246, 358 - -_Gregory VII_, 265 - -Grenada, 3, 66 - -Grotte de Mas d'Azil, 213-214 - -Gudanne, Chateau de, 177 - -Guiche, Chateau de, 246 - -_Gustavus Adolphus_, 276 - -Guienne, 8, 9, 365 - - -_Hadrian_, 354 - -_Hannibal_, 81, 96, 120 - -_Haro, Don Louis de_, 439 - -Hastingues, 246 - -Haute-Garonne, 9 - -Haute-Languedoc, 8, 9 - -Hautes-Pyrenees, 9, 84, 87, 297 - -Hendaye, 80, 436, 439, 440-442, 445 - -_Henri II of France_, 229, 267 - -_Henri II of Navarre_, 232, 283 - -_Henri III of France_, 367, 368, 370 - -_Henri III of Navarre_ (see _Henri IV of France_) - -_Henri IV of France_, 3, 7, 13, 24, 84, 178, 180, 181, 196, 213, 231, -232, 233-235, 239, 244, 245, 260, 261, 263, 264, 268, 270-275, 277, -283, 288, 295, 296, 299, 308-309, 327, 359, 363, 366-371, 429 - -_Henry VIII of England_, 282 - -Herault, 9, 15, 16, 89 - -Hospitalet, 140, 146-147, 148 - -_Honorius III_, 188 - -Huesca, 47 - -_Hugo, Victor_, 254, 333, 373, 434 - -_Huguet, Pierre_, 107 - - -Iholdy, 352, 353 - -Ile des Faisans, 63, 97, 436, 437-439 - -_Innocent VIII_, 227 - -Irun, 80, 436-437, 439, 442, 445 - -_Isabella of Castile_, 97, 357 - -Itxassou, Chateau, 412 - - -_James I of Aragon_, 96 - -_Jean II of Roussillon_, 96-97 - -Jurancon, 264, 271 - - -Lagarde, Fortress of, 139, 140 - -La Bastide-de-Serou, 25, 202 - -La Garde, Chateau de, 218 - -_La Gaucherie_, 272 - -Laghat, Notre Dame de, 204 - -_La Guesle_, 366 - -Landes, The, 9, 13, 52, 53, 59, 84 - -Languedoc, 14, 15, 55, 77, 87, 197, 201, 238, 240, 286 - -Lanne and Its Chateau, 251-252 - -_Laon, Gerard de_, 336-337 - -Laruns, 287, 288-293, 296 - -Larlenque, 198 - -Lascaveries, 265 - -Lasse and Its Chateau, 398-399, 400 - -Lastours, Chateau of, 174 - -Latour-de-France and Its Chateau, 103 - -_Laurens, Jean Paul_, 172 - -Laustan, Chateau de, 407-408 - -Le Boulon, 136, 137 - -Le Puy, 210 - -Les Andelys, 41 - -Lescar, 272, 278-284, 285, 302, 326 - -_Lesseps, De_, 153 - -Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer (_see_ Saintes Maries) - -Le Vigne, 198 - -_Levis, Guy de_, 200, 201 - -_Levis-Ajac, Francois de_, 201 - -Lezignan, 15 - -Limoux, 15, 104, 153, 171, 172, 173-174 - -_Littre_, 76 - -Llagone, 114 - -_Lorris, Guillaume de_, 22 - -_Lothaire_, 122, 124, 128 - -_Loti, Pierre_, 442 - -_Louis IX_, 43, 56, 96, 163, 164, 208, 256 - -_Louis X_, 18, 364 - -_Louis XI_, 35, 96-97, 116, 119, 123, 124, 126, 181, 330, 338, 369 - -_Louis XIII_, 97, 112, 116, 123, 140, 189, 209, 359, 397, 433, 437 - -_Louis XIV_, 23, 73, 108, 136, 140, 142, 182, 189, 228, 275, 347, 398, -430, 432-433 - -_Louis XV_, 68, 121, 201 - -_Louis Philippe_, 261 - -Lourdat, Chateau de, 39, 177, 209-210 - -Lourdes and Its Chateau, 2, 3, 8, 39, 42, 282, 300, 313-317 - -Louvie-Soubiron, 292 - -Luchon, 2, 3, 8, 25, 46, 64, 70, 137, 208, 222, 233, 301, 303, 304-306, -323 - -_Luna, Pierre de_, 116, 124 - -Lunel, 15 - -_Luther, Martin_, 327 - -Luz, 320-321, 322, 323 - -Luzenac, 209 - -Lyons, 28 - - -Madrid, 3, 64, 67, 81, 99, 184 - -Madron, 198 - -_Majorca, Kings of_, 96, 112, 116, 122, 128 - -_Mansard_, 23 - -_Marat_, 369 - -Marbore, Tours de, 255 - -_Marca, Pierre de_, 98, 277, 288 - -Marseilles, 3, 28, 48, 115, 117, 163, 249 - -Mas d'Azil, 213-214 - -Mauleon and Its Chateau, 2, 71, 247-250, 252, 378, 387 - -_Maupassant, Guy de_, 110 - -Maures, Chateau de, 207 - -_Mazarin_, 439 - -Mazeres and Its Chateau, 2, 8, 178, 186, 197, 198 - -_Medici, Catherine de_, 234-235, 366, 367 - -_Meilleraye, Marechal de la_, 123 - -Mende, 185 - -_Mercier_, 172 - -_Merimee, Prosper_, 163 - -_Mezeray_, 365 - -_Michaud_, 267 - -_Mirabel, Chateau de_, 218 - -Mirepoix, 184, 193, 200-201 - -_Moncade Family_, 176, 231 - -Montauban, 16, 36, 52, 60, 340 - -Montelimar, 17 - -_Montesquieu_, 23 - -_Montfort, Simon de_, 165, 176, 187, 200 - -_Montgomery_, 311, 313, 339 - -Montjoie, 214 - -Mont Louis, 81, 144 - -_Montmorenci_, 181 - -Montory, 250 - -Montpellier, 8, 15, 56 - -Montreal, Chateau de, 206, 247, 349 - -Montrejeau, 222 - -Montsegur, Chateau de, 201 - -Morlaas, 2, 261, 284-286 - - -_Nadaud, Gustave_, 162, 170-172, 174 - -Naples, 125 - -_Napoleon I_, 30, 71, 293, 400, 447 - -_Napoleon III_, 263, 423 - -Narbonne, 15, 55, 120, 127, 152, 153 - -Nassaure, Chateau de, 198 - -Navarre, 1, 9, 28, 46, 62, 76, 176, 186, 231, 240, 281, 354-371, 396, -403 - -_Navarre Family_, 30, 231, 239, 256, 280, 330-332 - -Navarreux, 2, 345-348 - -Navarrino, 81 - -Nay, 2, 310 - -Nice, 59, 305 - -Nimes, 56, 111 - -Noailhan, Chateau de, 218 - -Nogarede, Chateau de, 198 - -Nogent, 42 - -Notre Dame de Chateau, 127 - -Notre Dame de Consolation, 126 - - -Odos, Chateau d', 302 - -Oloron, 28, 250, 251, 252, 265, 308, 324-327, 347 - -_Orphila, Guillaume de Puig de_, 124 - -_Orth, Vicomte d'_, 416 - -_Orthe, Vicomtes d'_, 246 - -Orthez and Its Chateau, 28, 186, 308, 325, 335-346, 349 - -Ossun and Its Chateau, 300-301 - - -Palada, 138 - -_Palissy, Bernard_, 51 - -Pamiers, 53, 181, 186, 196, 197, 199-200 - -Pamplona, 248, 281, 350, 357, 395, 396, 399, 402-404 - -Paris, 3, 28, 31, 42, 56, 64, 67, 81, 82, 138, 154, 161, 190, 234, 249, -253, 274, 280, 291, 292, 377, 378, 379, 384, 421, 427 - -Pas de Roland, 405-406 - -Pau and Its Chateau, 2, 3, 8, 9, 24, 39, 42, 46, 47, 60, 61, 64, 66, -111, 121, 163, 186, 232, 233, 245, 252, 258-277, 279, 283, 285, 288, -300, 301, 302, 308, 309, 321, 335, 339, 346, 347, 366, 384, 396, 425 - -_Pau, Guillem de_, 107 - -_Paul III_, 302 - -Pave, 127 - -Pays-de-Fenouillet, 102 - -Pays-Entre-Deux-Mers, 9 - -Peille, Chateau de, 139 - -_Pentievre et de Perigord, Comte de_, 232 - -_Pepin_, 96 - -Perorade, 246 - -Perpignan, 3, 4, 8, 24, 55, 59, 81, 82, 83, 97, 99, 103, 110-121, 124, -127, 131, 133, 134, 140, 144, 155, 184 - -Perthus, 136 - -Peyrehorade, 246, 352 - -_Philippe III_, 176, 188, 438 - -_Philippe IV_, 122, 200, 356, 364 - -_Philippe V_, 364 - -_Pierre IV of Aragon_, 122 - -Pierrefonds, 42 - -Planes, 98, 144 - -_Poitiers, Diane de_, 229, 416 - -_Pompey_, 56-57, 222 - -_Pont, De Carsalade du_, 134-135 - -Porta, 146 - -Portalet, 81, 253 - -Porte, 146, 148 - -Port Vendres, 54 - -_Pouvillon, Emil_, 172 - -Prades, 141, 142 - -Prats-de-Mollo, 4, 7, 81, 139-140 - -Privas, 185 - -Puigcerda, 145-146 - -Pujols, Tour des, 122-123 - -_Pure, Abbe de_, 277 - -Puylaurens, Chateau de, 24, 155 - -Pyrenees-Occidentales, 48, 50, 59, 80 - -Pyrenees-Orientales, 9, 48, 54, 79, 80, 89, 102 - - -Quercy, 13 - -Queribus, Chateau de, 104 - -Quie, Chateau de, 177 - -Quillan, 140, 152, 154-158 - - -_Rabedos_, 107, 108 - -_Rameau, Jean_, 172, 264 - -_Rene, King_, 117 - -_Richelieu_, 103, 181, 189, 214, 345, 433 - -_Rigaud, Hyacinthe_, 118 - -Rimont, 214 - -Rivesaltes, 14, 119, 120 - -Rodes, Chateau de, 202 - -_Rohan, Duc de_, 181, 276 - -_Roland_, 255, 400-401, 405-406 - -Ronca, 248 - -Roncevaux, 51, 81, 82, 346, 395, 400-403, 405 - -_Ronsard_, 282, 405 - -_Rostand, Edmond_, 409-411 - -Rouen, 28, 249, 366 - -_Rousseau_, 77 - -_Roussel_, 327 - -Roussillon, 1, 8, 9, 14, 16, 28, 55, 56, 77, 78-79, 80, 82, 95-129, -166, 367 - -Roussillon, Chateau, 118 - -_Roussillon, Princes of_, 122, 124, 128 - -Ruscino and Its Chateau, 39, 98, 118, 127 - - -Sabart, Notre Dame de, 204-205 - -_St. Abdon_, 119 - -St. Andre, 127 - -_St. Bernard_, 18 - -St. Bertrand de Comminges and Its Chateau, 7, 24, 84, 222-227 - -_St. Bertrand de l'Isle_, 224-227, 228 - -St. Colome, 293 - -St. Etienne-de-Baigorry, 397, 399 - -_St. Galdric_, 119 - -St. Gaudens, 52, 222 - -St. Germain, 42 - -St. Giles, 56 - -St. Girons, 184, 212, 213, 214-216, 218, 220 - -_St. Gregoire_, 224 - -St. Hilaire, 153-154 - -_St. Hilaire_, 154 - -St. Jacques de Compostelle, 295 - -St.-Jean-de-Luz, 54, 63, 64, 378, 379, 417, 425, 428, 429-434, 447 - -St. Jean-de-Vergues, 196 - -St. Jean-Pied-de-Port, 9, 28, 71, 81, 346, 350, 352, 357, 387-388, -393-400, 403, 405, 406 - -_St. Jerome_, 223 - -St. Lizier and Its Chateau, 175, 211, 212, 216-218, 220 - -St. Martin, Abbey of, 132-135 - -St. Martin-Lys, 156, 158 - -St. Palais, 350-352 - -St. Paul-de-Fenouillet, 102 - -St. Pe-de-Bigorre, 312-313 - -St. Sauveur, 70, 321, 322, 323 - -_St. Sennen_, 119 - -_Sainte-Marthe, Charles de_, 282 - -Saintes Maries, 55, 88-89, 204, 205 - -Salces, 120 - -Salies de Bearn, 5, 70, 71, 127, 343-344, 421 - -_Saluste, Guillaume_, 50 - -San Sebastian, 3, 58, 444, 445 - -Sarrance, 330-332, 334 - -Saumur, 15 - -Sauveterre, 347, 348-350 - -Saverdun, 197, 198 - -Selx, 218 - -_Sergius IV_, 133 - -_Sertorius_, 222 - -Seville, 3, 99 - -_Sigismond_, 124 - -Somport, 334 - -_Soult, Marechal_, 341, 343, 447-448 - -_Sully_, 272 - -_Sylvestre, Armand_, 172 - - -Tarascon and Its Chateau, 177, 202-206, 209 - -Tarbes and Its Chateau, 3, 8, 266, 279, 297-300, 301, 302, 321, 331, 350 - -Tardets, 247, 250, 387 - -Teillery, Chateau, 412 - -_Teres, Jean_, 125 - -_Thiers, M._, 183 - -Toulouse, 3, 8, 13, 24, 52, 60, 111, 152, 164, 176, 184, 186, 197, 212, -224 - -Tours, 117 - -_Trencavel Family_, 165, 170 - - -Ultrera and Its Chateau, 39, 127 - -_Urban VIII_, 397 - -Urdos, 241-243, 253, 334 - -Urgel, 149 - -Urrugne, 434, 441 - -Ussat, 70 - - -Valbonne, Abbey of, 126 - -Val Carlos, 400-403 - -Val d'Aran, 48, 52 - -Vallespir, 122, 140 - -_Valois, Marguerite de_, 21, 231, 232, 234-235, 261, 267, 281-282, 302, -369-370 - -_Vauban_, 7, 116, 136, 139, 140, 142, 345, 346, 347, 414, 431 - -_Verdaguer, Jacinto_, 133-134 - -Vernet, 70, 143, 323 - -Vic-Dessos and Its Chateau, 177, 206 - -Villefranche and Its Chateau, 81, 141-143 - -Villers-Cotterets, 42 - -_Viollet-le-Duc_, 41, 162, 167, 443 - -Vittoria, 64 - -_Voltaire_, 23 - - -_Weber, Jean_, 409 - -_Wellington_, 63, 341, 343, 447-448 - - -_Young, Arthur_, 262, 351-352 - - * * * * * - -Typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber: - -Pot de vinalgre=> Pot de vinaigre {pg 44} - -populous and progressve=> populous and progressive {pg 72} - -Prats de Mollo=> Prats-de-Mollo {pg 139} - -in-invariably=> invariably {pg 154} - -balls bounds around with wool=> balls bound around with wool {pg 183} - -Memoires du Philippe de Commine=> Memoires de Philippe de Commine {pg -229} - -St. Jean-Pied-de-Porte=> St. Jean-Pied-de-Port {pg 357} - -resembles neiher the country=> resembles neither the country {pg 380} - -analagous position=> analogous position {pg 386} - -but a step belond=> but a step beyond {pg 445} - -Basses-Pyrenees=> Basses-Pyrenees {pg 450} - -St. Jean-Pied-de-Porte=> St. Jean-Pied-de-Port {pg 357} - -=> {pg} - -=> {pg} - -=> {pg} - -=> {pg} - -=> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Castles and Chateaux of Old Navarre -and the Basque Provinces, by Francis Miltoun - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CASTLES AND CHATEAUX *** - -***** This file should be named 43609.txt or 43609.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/3/6/0/43609/ - -Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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