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diff --git a/old/52061-0.txt b/old/52061-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 5ea3369..0000000 --- a/old/52061-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,10876 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook, A Book of the Pyrenees, by S. (Sabine) -Baring-Gould - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - - -Title: A Book of the Pyrenees - - -Author: S. (Sabine) Baring-Gould - - - -Release Date: May 14, 2016 [eBook #52061] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A BOOK OF THE PYRENEES*** - - -E-text prepared by David Edwards, Charlie Howard, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images -generously made available by Internet Archive (https://archive.org) - - - -Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this - file which includes the original illustrations. - See 52061-h.htm or 52061-h.zip: - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/52061/52061-h/52061-h.htm) - or - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/52061/52061-h.zip) - - - Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive. See - https://archive.org/details/bookofpyrenees00bariuoft - - - - - -A BOOK OF THE PYRENEES - - - * * * * * * - - BY THE SAME AUTHOR - - - THE LIFE OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE - THE TRAGEDY OF THE CÆSARS - STRANGE SURVIVALS - SONGS OF THE WEST - A GARLAND OF COUNTRY SONG - OLD COUNTRY LIFE - YORKSHIRE ODDITIES - OLD ENGLISH FAIRY TALES - A BOOK OF GHOSTS - THE VICAR OF MORWENSTOW - A BOOK OF NURSERY SONGS AND RHYMES - A BOOK OF FAIRY TALES - - AND - - (_Uniform with this Volume_) - - A BOOK OF BRITTANY - A BOOK OF CORNWALL - A BOOK OF DEVON - A BOOK OF NORTH WALES - A BOOK OF SOUTH WALES - A BOOK OF THE RHINE - A BOOK OF THE RIVIERA - - * * * * * * - - -[Illustration: LA VALLÉE DU LYS] - - -A BOOK OF THE PYRENEES - -by - -S. BARING-GOULD - -Author of “A Book of Brittany,” “A Book of the Riviera,” etc. - - - IT IS THE SOUL THAT SEES; THE OUTWARD EYES - PRESENT THE OBJECT, BUT THE MIND DESCRIES. - - _LONGFELLOW_ - - -With Twenty-Five Illustrations - - - - - - - -Methuen & Co. -36 Essex Street W.C. -London - -First Published in 1907 - - - - -CONTENTS - - - CHAPTER PAGE - I. THE PYRENEAN CHAIN 1 - - II. GASCONY 15 - - III. BAYONNE 30 - - IV. S. JEAN-PIED-DE-PORT 51 - - V. ORTHEZ 66 - - VI. PAU 85 - - VII. OLORON 114 - - VIII. THE VAL D’OSSAU 124 - - IX. LOURDES 134 - - X. THE LAVEDAN 152 - - XI. LUZ AND CAUTERETS 162 - - XII. TARBES 175 - - XIII. BAGNÈRES 189 - - XIV. THE VAL D’AURE 201 - - XV. LUCHON 214 - - XVI. COUSERANS 236 - - XVII. FOIX 245 - - XVIII. LA CERDAGNE 264 - - XIX. THE CANIGOU 272 - - XX. PERPIGNAN 286 - - INDEX 305 - - - - -LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS - - - LA VALLÉE DU LYS _Frontispiece_ - PAGE - MAP OF THE PYRENEES 1 - - NATIVES OF ROUSSILLON 4 - - THE CASCADE, GAVARNIE 7 - From a photograph by Messrs. Levy and Sons, Paris - - THE CATHEDRAL, BAYONNE 32 - - THE COAST, BIARRITZ 44 - - SAN SEBASTIAN 48 - - PAS DE ROLAND 54 - - THE BRIDGE, ORTHEZ 66 - - PAU 85 - - THE CASTLE, PAU 92 - - ROOM OF JEANNE D’ALBRET, CASTLE OF PAU 100 - - BETHARAM 112 - - THE BASILICA, LOURDES 134 - - THE TEMPLAR CHURCH, LUZ 167 - From a photograph by Messrs. Levy and Sons, Paris - - LA BRÈCHE DE ROLAND 169 - From a photograph by Messrs. Levy and Sons, Paris - - CHOIR OF S. BERTRAND DE COMINGES 220 - - CLOISTERS, S. BERTRAND DE COMINGES 226 - - LA CASCADE D’ENFER, LUCHON 232 - - LE LAC D’OO 234 - - VERNET LES BAINS 274 - - CHÂTEAU DE ROUSSILLON 286 - - GATEWAY OF THE CITADEL, PERPIGNAN 291 - - CATHEDRAL INTERIOR, PERPIGNAN 294 - - THE CLOISTERS OF ELNE 298 - - NOTE.--The illustrations are from photographs by Messrs. - Neurdein frères, of Paris, except where other acknowledgment is - made. - - - - -PREFACE - - -This _Book of the Pyrenees_ follows the same lines as my _Book of -the Rhine_ and _Book of the Riviera_. It is not a guide, but an -introduction to the chain, giving to the reader a sketch of the History -of the Country he visits. - -[Illustration: PYRENEES] - - - - -THE PYRENEES - - - - -CHAPTER I - -THE PYRENEAN CHAIN - - The wall of division--A triple chain--Contrasts--Deforesting-- - The Catalan of Roussillon--The Basque of Navarre--Roman roads-- - The three ports--Central ridge--Trough to the north--Watershed-- - Glacial moraines--Lakes--Cirques--Abrupt termination of the - lower valleys--Cave dwellers--Dolmens--That of Buzy--Landes of - Pontacq--The Iberian stock--Development of language--Auxiliary - verbs--The Basque villages and people. - - -The Pyrenees stand up as a natural wall of demarcation between two -nations, the French and the Spaniards, just as the mountains of -Dauphiné sever the French from the Italians. It has been remarked that -these natural barriers are thrown up to part Romance-speaking peoples, -whereas the mountain ranges sink to comparative insignificance between -the French and the Germans. Over the Jura the French tongue has flowed -up the Rhone to Sierre, above the Lake of Geneva, so the Spanish or -Catalan has overleaped the Pyrenees in Roussillon, and the Basque -tongue has those who speak it in both cis-Pyrenean and trans-Pyrenean -Navarre. The Pyrenees are the upcurled lips of the huge limestone -sea-bed, that at some vastly remote period was snapped from east to -west, and through the fissure thus formed the granite was thrust, -lifting along with it the sedimentary rocks. - -Consequently the Pyrenees consist of from two to three parallel chains. -The central and loftiest is that of granite, but where loftiest is -hidden on the north side by the upturned reef of limestone. On the -south the calcareous bed is lifted in great slabs, but split, and does -not form so ragged and so lofty a range. - -The Pyrenees start steeply out of the Mediterranean, which at a -distance of five-and-twenty miles from Cape Creuse, has a depth of -over 500 fathoms, and there the limestone flares white and bald in the -line of the Albères. But to the west the chain does not drop abruptly -into the Atlantic, but trails away for 300 miles, forming the Asturian -mountains, and then, curving south, serves to part Galicia from Leon. -The range of the Pyrenees dividing France from Spain is 350 miles in -length. - -The chain to the west wears a different aspect from that in the east. -The Basque mountains are clothed with trees, pines and birch, walnut -and chestnut, and above them are turf and heather. But the eastern -extremity is white and barren. This is due to the fact that the Western -Pyrenees catch and condense the vapours from the Atlantic, whereas the -Oriental Pyrenees do not draw to them heavy and continuous rains. The -boundary between the regions and climates is Mont Carlitte. In the -Western Pyrenees the snow line lies far lower than in the east. On the -former of these glaciers hang in wreaths, whereas there are none in the -east. - -The contrast between the northern and southern slopes is even more -marked than that between the extremities of the chain. On the French -side are snow, ice, running streams, fertile vales, luxuriant meadows -and forests, and valleys and hillsides that sparkle with villages -smiling in prosperity. But on the southern slope the eye ranges over -barren rocks, sun-baked, scanty pastures, and here and there at long -intervals occur squalid clusters of stone hovels, scarce fit to shelter -goats, yet serving as human habitations. - -To the mountaineers the French side is _bach_, that in shadow; the -Spanish is _soulane_, the sunny. At one time this latter slope was -not as arid and desert as at present, but the thriftlessness of man -has shorn down the forests and the teeth of the goats have nipped -off or barked every seedling or sapling thrown up by nature to cover -its nakedness and redress the evil. Thereby the rainfall has been -diminished, and the soil is exposed to be carried away into the plain -by every storm that breaks over the heights.[A] Trees are the patient -workers that reconstitute the flesh over the bones of the mountains. -They derive their elements from the air and the rock, and they perform -transformations far more wonderful than those attributed to the -philosopher’s stone. As Victor Hugo sang:-- - - “Les arbres sont autant de mâchoires qui rongent - Les aliments épars dans l’air souple et vivant; - Ils dévorent la pluie, ils dévorent le vent. - Tout leur est bon: la nuit, la mort. La pourriture - Voit la rose, et lui va porter sa nourriture.” - - [A] É. Reclus: _Géographie universelle_, II. “La France.” - -When the trees disappear from a country it shows the thriftlessness -of the inhabitants--“sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof”; -with the axe and the firebrand they destroy in a day what it will take -centuries to replace. - -Two non-French races occupy the extremities of the chain and the -lowlands at its feet. In the Basses Pyrénées are the Basques, in -Pyrénées Orientales are the Catalonians, speaking a dialect of the -Spanish of Barcelona. - -The whole of Aquitaine, from the Loire to the Pyrenees, the whole of -Western Spain and Portugal, was once occupied by the Iberians, of whom -the Basques are the shrunken residue. All Eastern France and Eastern -Spain were overflowed by the Celts. The Romans recognized that Spain -was in the possession of two races totally distinct, ethnographically -and linguistically, and they termed the population of the peninsula -Celtiberians. - -When the Romans arrived on the scene they carried one main causeway -from Arles to Narbonne, and thence to Toulouse, and from Toulouse to -Dax. From this, roads branched to the south and crossed the Pyrenees -into Spain by three gaps, natural doorways--one to the east, the -easiest of all, by Le Perthus, where Pompey set up a trophy; one by -Somport leading from Iluro (Oloron) to Saragossa; a third by Roncevaux -to Pampeluna. - -By the first of these ports Hannibal crossed from Spain on his way to -Italy; by it also poured the Saracens to devastate the fields of Gaul. -By Roncevaux Charles the Great passed to menace the Saracen power, and -on his return met there with disaster at the hands of the Basques, -which has been immortalized in song. - -East and west were debatable lands. Navarre sat astride on the -ridge, with a foot in Spain and the other in Gascony. To the east -was Roussillon, that pertained to the kings of Aragon, till ceded -definitely to France in 1659. - -[Illustration: NATIVES OF ROUSSILLON] - -But to revert to the geological structure of the Pyrenees. The central -chain is, as already said, composed of crystalline rocks, granite, and -micaceous schist, whereas the northern chain exhibits the upturned beds -of superincumbent deposits, and on the Spanish side the limestone -lies on the granite. In the department of Haute Garonne the chains are -soldered together by a transverse bar of mountain. - -J. H. Michon, author of _Le Maudit_, says well:-- - - “These mountains reveal to me almost the entire history of the - successive periods in the terrestrial crust. I have but to - follow the torrent of the Arbouste, and mount to the Lac de - Seculéjo, and push farther to the Pic d’Espingo, to find myself - on the crest of the ridge dividing France from Spain. Often at - these altitudes, reaching to 3000 metres above the sea, the - prodigious force which has rent the terrestrial crust in a - fault of eighty leagues in breadth, which has upheaved, as in - the Marboré, enormous masses of limestone that once formed the - basin of seas succeeding each other at different epochs--often - has this phenomenon filled me with amazement. There in the - Marboré lie the beds, retaining their horizontality, as though - the aqueous deposits had been formed at this great elevation. - - “But more commonly the central chain presents to our view - masses of granite of astounding thickness. What a terrible - cataclysm must that have been which thus reft and upset the - globe, changing an extensive plain long submerged into a - gigantic wall of granite shielded right and left with encasing - masses of sedimentary formations which the upheaved granite has - split and displaced in all directions.” - -To the north of the Pyrenees lies a deep trough extending from the Bay -of Biscay to the Corbières that links the Pyrenees to the Cevennes, and -which at the present day forms the watershed between the Mediterranean -and the Atlantic. This gulf was gradually silted up by the torrents -from the Pyrenees. Masses of rubble may be seen backing and capping -isolated hills of sandstone, and forming long ridges, as that of the -Park at Pau. The drift was from east to west. All the low hills are -crowned with rolled stones. The boulders vary in size in proportion to -the distance they have travelled. At Pamiers, Tarbes, and Pau they are -of the size of a child’s head, but farther north dwindle to pebbles and -gravel, and finally we enter on a region of clay and sand, which heavy -rains convert into quagmires. Indeed, those of Armagnac, between the -Garonne and the Upper Adour, have hardly their equal in France. These -are not glacier deposits, for the stones and pebbles have been rolled, -and the clay or mud is the chewed or mumbled remains of boulders. At -a later period the entire basin thus choked was lifted high above its -original level. - -That there was a glacial period in the south of France is certain, -and the glaciers have left their moraines behind them. The glacier of -Argelez extended in one stream to Lourdes, and then fanned out towards -Tarbes. At Argelez it filled the valley to the height of 4430 feet. To -morraine is due the desolate plain of detritus of Lannemezan. Separated -from the mountain spurs by the profound depression in which flows the -Neste, it is attached to the main chain solely by the isthmus that runs -out from the Pic d’Arneille towards the plains. - -The true watershed, between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, lies -far to the east, on the frontier between Ariège and the Pyrénées -Orientales. All the streams and rivers to the west of the insignificant -chain there flow into the Bay of Biscay. The rivers to the east are -comparatively unimportant, the Aude alone being of a respectable -size; and this does not derive its waters from the main chain of the -Pyrenees, its sources are in the spur that acts as the watershed. - -[Illustration: THE CASCADE, GAVARNIE] - -The lakes of the Pyrenees are nothing more than mountain tarns; the -largest is the Lac Lanoux, in Pyrénées Orientales, lying below an -irregular cirque, commanded by the Pic Pédroux. It stands 6500 feet -above the sea-level, and is about two and a half miles long. It is -usually frozen over from September to the end of June. - -But if the lakes be insignificant, the cirques are of the most imposing -character. There are none in Europe comparable to that of Gavarnie. -This consists of an immense cul-de-sac, a vast amphitheatre, the stages -of limestone capped with snow and ice, and above it tower five huge -snow-clad mountain crests. The arena is heaped up with rubble brought -down by the cascades. The mighty walls are wept over by water from -the thawing glaciers. The highest fall of all is that in the lap of -the cirque; it is a stream that precipitates itself from a height of -1270 feet, and, speedily resolving itself into spray, waves in the air -like an ostrich plume. Superb as is the Cirque de Gavarnie in summer -its appearance in winter is even more sublime. Especially is it so -when the mountain-tops are enveloped in vapour. Then the aspect is as -of a series of walls with snow bars intervening, mounting as a giant -staircase into heaven; and the cascades are transformed into crystal -columns. - -There are other cirques deserving of notice, as that of Estaubé, -commanded by the Pic de Pinède, behind which rises the Mont Perdu, on -Spanish ground. - -Troumousse, to the east of Estaubé, is a basin of pasture, girded about -by a rampart 3000 feet in height, above which soars the Munia, a mass -of snow and ice. - -From the French side long lush valleys run to the roots of the first -chain between the buttresses, but above this the character of the -scenery changes abruptly. The melted snows descending from peak -and terrace have sawn their way through the barrier imposed by the -northern belt of limestone, feeling for and finding faults, through -which they have torn their way, and debouch abruptly on to the lower -broad valleys out of restricted ravines. Above these gorges we light -on basins, such as that of Luz, green, in spring a sheet of gold from -the crocuses. These were lake-beds, dried up when the torrents had -contrived their escape. The rich vale of Ossau, between monotonous -spurs, ends abruptly above Laruns, and there, through a cleft in the -precipice, rages forth the Gave. It is much the same with the other -Gave. Above Lourdes it glides through a broad, well-cultivated valley, -but at Pierrefite, the mountain barrier is cleft in two places, through -one of which roars forth the river from Luz, through the other the -Gave from Cauterets. The Val de Campan, the Val d’Arreau, and that of -Luchon, have much the same character. - -Of the mountains, undoubtedly the Pic de Midi d’Ossau is the most -conspicuous, not on account of its height, for it attains only to 8700 -feet, but from its form, resembling a dog’s tooth, cleft near the -summit, glittering with snow, and rising in singular majesty above the -Val d’Ossau, where the mountains fall back respectfully to allow a full -view of its majesty. There are many noble mountains,--the Pic de Midi -de Bigorre, 9436 feet; the Vignemale, 10,820 feet; Mont Perdu, 11,168 -feet; Maladetta of the same height almost to a foot; but these last -hold themselves screened behind the inferior but snow-clad northern -range. The Canigou, however, belongs to this latter range, and is -afflicted with none of the retiring qualities of the crystalline range. -It steps boldly, ostentatiously forth above the plain of Roussillon, -and for long was supposed to be the highest peak of the Pyrenees, -though actually reaching only to 8360 feet. M. Élisée Reclus says of -it:-- - - “Like Etna, the Canigou is one of those mountains which rise - vigorous as masters over a wide stretch of country. From below - this grey pyramid, cleft with ravines, streaked with detritus - between salient ribs of rock, of every tint, is not a whit less - striking in aspect than the Sicilian volcano.” - -To the lover of flowers the Pyrenees present greater attractions -than even the Alps. They lie farther to the south, enjoy more sun, -and exhibit a greater luxuriance of vegetation and more variety in -species. We meet in the Pyrenees with all old Alpine friends and -make fresh acquaintances. Nowhere does the _Saxifraga longifolia_ or -_pyramidalis_ throw up such a _jet-d’eau_ of blossom. I have grown -it at home, but it does not equal the beauty and abundance of flower -as here wild. Nowhere are the geraniums in greater abundance and -variety, springing up among the tufts of sharp-scented box. The crimson -_Erodium manescavi_, the yellow _Hypericum mummularium_, the imbricated -_Dianthus monspessulanus_, and the still more tattered _Dianthus -superbus_, the purple toothwort, the blue stately aconite or monkshood, -the lemon-coloured _Adonis vernalis_, the violet _Ramondia pyrenaica_, -the _Primula viscosa_ and _P. auricula_, the _Lilium bulbiferum_, -the _Lilium pyrenaicum_, and a thousand more. Strange is it that the -Alpen rose, the _Rhododendron ferrugineum_, should be as capricious a -plant as it is. It luxuriates on the Alps, in the Pyrenees, and in the -Dauphiné Alps; but does not appear in the Cevennes, the mountains of -Auvergne, or Corsica. The great central plateau of France, though the -heights rise to considerable altitudes and the constituent rocks are -the same as those of the Pyrenees and the Alps, yet are totally devoid -of this beautiful shrub. - -The earliest inhabitants of the chain of the Pyrenees have left their -traces in the limestone caverns. They were contemporary with the -reindeer, the cave-bear, and hyena. Hardly a grotto that has been -explored does not reveal that these men had lived there. - -There are not many megalithic monuments to the north of the chain, -but sufficient remain to show us that the dolmen-builder occupied the -land from sea to sea. At Buzy, near the entrance to the Val d’Ossau, -is a fine dolmen. I saw it first in 1850; it had been recently dug out -by a treasure-seeker. A peasant told me that the man who had rifled -it had found a bar of gold so soft that he could bend it. In fact, it -consisted of pure gold without alloy. Near the dolmen lay a slab of red -sandstone, with circles carved on it, some concentric, much like the -carvings on the stones of Gavr’innis, in Brittany, and in the great -covered way at Drogheda, in Ireland. Not having a drawing book with me -nor a scale, all I could do at the time was to sketch the sculpture on -my cuff. Three weeks later I revisited Buzy to make a careful drawing -to scale of the slab, and found that in the meantime it had been broken -up by the road-menders. - -The road from Pau to Tarbes traverses a vast plateau, rising 300 feet -above the plain of the Adour. It is composed of marshy moorland covered -with fern and gorse. This is actually the old moraine deposited by the -glacier of Argelez. It is made up of angular blocks brought down from -the mountains, excellent material from which to construct mortuary -cells. And on this plateau we find tumuli in remarkable abundance. -This, as well as Lannemezan, must have served as huge cemeteries. Of -late these cairns have been excavated, and prove to cover dolmens -and covered avenues; one, the Grande Butte of the lande of Pontacq, -contains a megalithic chamber, recalling the finest monuments of the -kind in Brittany. - -The tumulus of La Hallade had been violated in the Iron Age, and used -then as a place of interment; but underneath the cinerary urns of the -Early Gaulish period was discovered the prehistoric monument intact--a -long low gallery of stones set on edge and covered with flat slabs. It -was subdivided into eight cells, and contained twenty-three vases, some -of which contained burnt bones, flakes of schist and quartz, a handful -of turquoise beads, and a little blade of gold. - -That the people of the rude stone monuments have their modern -representatives in the Basques is probable. All this region was held by -the Vascones, who gave to it their name--Gascony. They were driven over -the Pyrenees by the Gauls, but in the sixth century they forced their -way back to their old dwelling places and the tombs of their fathers, -and falling on Novempopulania, as the territory was then called, -defeated the Duke Bladastus, in 581, and settled down on the plains. -But they were beaten in their turn, and, abandoning the plains, settled -in those districts known as Labourde, Soule, and Lower Navarre. - -The Basques are a people of great interest to the ethnologist, as -the last shrunken remains of that Iberian race that once occupied -all Western Europe from Scotland to Portugal and Spain, and, indeed, -overleaped the Straits and spread as Kabyles and Berbers in Northern -Africa. Although overlapped by other races this Basque element forms -the main constituent of the French race in the south-west. - -Every cook knows what “stock” is. It is the basis on which almost every -known kind of soup is built up, whether Julienne, soupe claire, à la -marquise, à la vermicelle, and Mrs. Beeton only knows how many more. -The Iberian has been the stock out of which the English, Irish, Welsh, -French, Italians, and Spaniards have been concocted. In France there -was a dash of Gaulish, a smack of the Roman, a soupçon of Frank, _et -voilà_; the Frenchman of to-day is at bottom an Iberian. - -This same Iberian was an accommodating personage. He was ready to -abandon his own rudimentary tongue and adopt the language of his -conquerors. He cast his agglutinative tongue behind his back, took in -as much Latin as he could swallow, and produced the French language. In -Wales he adopted the British tongue, in Ireland the Gaelic. - -He was wise in so doing, for his own language, as represented by -the Basque of the present day, is crude, unformed, and wanting in -flexibility. The first stage in the formation of speech is in the -utterance of nouns substantive. A child embraced by a stranger says, -“Man kiss baby.” Kiss is a noun substantive. The child has not as yet -arrived at the formation of a verb; and baby is a substantive, he has -not yet attained to the use of a personal pronoun. The Chinese language -remains in this primitive condition. In it the position of the words in -a sentence governs the signification. - -The second stage is that reached by the agglutinative tongues, where a -differentiation of the parts of speech has taken place, and pronouns -and particles acting as prepositions are tacked on to the nouns and -verbs, but in such an elementary manner as never to become fused into -them so as to affect and alter them. Always their separate existence is -manifest. The third stage is where they are united and interpenetrate -each other. The soldering has been so close that only a skilled eye can -discover that an inflexion in a verb, a case in a noun, are composite -words. - -_Amo_, _amas_, _amat_, are actually formed of the root _ama_, love, -with primitive pronouns welded on to them so as to distinguish the -person who loves. - -In Basque the auxiliary verbs alone undergo conjugation, and they -exhibit a peculiarity that deserves notice. Take an instance: the -auxiliary verb _izan_, to be. “I am” may be rendered in four different -ways, according to the person addressed. In speaking to a male -familiarly “I am” is _nuk_; but a woman addressed in like manner is -_nun_; “I am,” when used in address to a person highly respected of -either sex, is _nuzu_; “I am” spoken without any particular reference -to any one is _niz_. So “he or she is” may be rendered _duk_, _dun_, -_duzu_, _da_; and “we are” by _gaituk_, _gaitun_, _gaituzu_, _gare_. - -The Basque language is capable of an incredible amount of agglomeration -in the formation of words, and of indefinite modification of times, -conditions, forms of words. - -_Etche_ is a house; _argizagi_ is the moon; _elhur_ is snow; _chori_ is -a bird; _sagar_ an apple; _oski_ a shoe; _aurhide_ a child; _arrolze_, -an egg. - -We feel at once that we meet here with a language which has no -relations that we can detect with any of the European tongues with -which we are familiar. - -The Basque has not distinguished himself in literature. It is true that -a set of poems pretending to be ancient has been produced and published -as relics of Early Basque poetry, but they were forgeries, like -Macpherson’s _Ossian_. - -The nucleus of the Basque country may be said to be S. Jean-de-Luz. -Formerly it was Ustaritz (i.e. the Oak of Judgment), where the Elders -assembled in Council; but at the French Revolution this oak was cut -down. - -The Basque villages have a character of their own. Erected by a people -who do not feel eagerness to look in at one another’s windows, a -people pushing independence to fanaticism, the villages consist rather -of isolated buildings loosely united than of close agglomeration of -houses. Like the Welsh, the Basques love whitewash, but paint their -shutters brilliant red. The churches stand in the midst of a clump -of trees, their towers surmounted by three points, symbolical of the -Trinity. They are a healthy people, clean in mind and clean in body, -religious and honest. The whole population has been described as “la -plus belle, la plus saine, la plus alerte, la plus joyeuse qui se -puisse se trouver en Europe.” - - - - -CHAPTER II - -GASCONY - - The province of Gascony--Protest against inclusion in - Aquitaine--Union of Béarn, Foix, and Bigorre--Navarre-- - Interest of Gascony to English people--Gascony annexed to the - Crown of England--Viscounty of Béarn--The Fors--Independence - of the people--A babe with open hands--An elderly wife--John - of Béarn’s treatment of a Pope--Charles of Viana--Schemes of - Juana--Murder of Blanche--The coveted crown--Death of Francis - Phœbus--Choice of a husband--Gascon braggarts. - - -The province of Gascony included Labourde, of which Bayonne was the -capital; the viscounty of Soule, with Mauleon as its chief town; -Basse Navarre; Béarn, a viscounty, with its residential châteaux at -Orthez and at Pau, and its cathedrals at Lescar and Oloron; Bigorre, a -county with its capital at Tarbes; Cominges, and to the south of that -Couserans; and finally the county of Foix, on the frontier of Languedoc. - -The whole of this stretch of land was included by Augustus in -Aquitaine. This the peoples of Vasconia did not like, and they sent to -him an embassy to request that they might be organized into a separate -province. To this the emperor agreed. Concerning this transaction -history is silent; but we know about it from a Roman inscription at -Hasparren, set up by the ambassador, to commemorate his journey and the -favourable reply he received. - -In the thirteenth century the viscounty of Béarn was annexed to the -county of Foix, and the intervening county of Bigorre fell to Foix in -1425, through the marriage of an heiress. Finally, Navarre also was -united to Foix-Béarn-Bigorre in 1479. It furnished the holder with -a royal title, nothing more save the scrap of land on this side the -Pyrenees called Basse Navarre, of which the principal town was S. -Jean-pied-du-port. - -Gascony should be of special interest to us English, as it was for so -long a possession of the English Crown. - -Louis VII, before the death of his father, had contracted marriage with -Eleanor of Guyenne, heiress of Poitou and of the duchy of Aquitaine. He -obtained the most splendid dower that ever fell to the lot of a French -king. It consisted of nothing less than half of the south of France. -Eleanor was a passionate, frivolous girl; Louis, a pale, feeble prince, -a prey to petty religious scruples. He took the cross and started on -the disastrous and disgraceful crusade of 1147. He took Eleanor with -him. She made no secret of her contempt for her husband. “He is a -monk, and not a man.” She became over-intimate with her uncle, Raymond -of Antioch, the handsomest man of his time. She was accused also of -carrying on an intrigue with a Saracen. On her return to Europe she -insisted on being divorced from Louis, and she cast herself into the -arms of Henry Plantagenet, Count of Anjou, Duke of Normandy, and heir -to the crown of England. Thus she detached all these provinces from -France and annexed them to the realm of England. Indeed, Henry, by the -marriage of one of his sons to the heiress of Brittany, found himself -master of nearly the whole of Western France. The House of Anjou had -sprung into domination on Gaulish soil equal to that of the French -king and his other vassals put together, and controlling the mouths of -the three great rivers. Add to all this the possession of the English -kingdom. The long protracted and desolating wars that ensued on French -soil was a struggle between the kings as to whether France should be -annexed to England, or Aquitaine to France. - - “By the peace between Henry III and Louis IX,” says Mr. - Freeman, “Aquitaine became a land held by the King of England - as a vassal of the French crown. From that time it became - one main object of the French kings to change this feudal - superiority over this great duchy into an actual possession. - The Hundred Years’ War began through the attempt of Philip of - Valois (1337) on the Aquitanian dominions of Edward III. Then - the King of England found it politic to assume the title of - King of France. But the real nature of the controversy was - shown by the first great settlement. At the Peace of Bretigny - (1360) Edward gave up all claim to the crown of France, in - exchange for the independent sovereignty of his old fiefs - and of some of his recent conquests. Aquitaine and Gascony, - including Poitou ... were made over to the King of England - without the reservation of any homage or superiority of any - kind. These lands became a territory as foreign to the French - kingdom as the territory of her German and Spanish neighbours. - But in a few years the treaty was broken on the French side, - and the actual possessions of England beyond the sea were cut - down to Calais and Guines, with some small part of Aquitaine - adjoining the cities of Bordeaux and Bayonne. Then the tide - turned at the invasion of Henry V. Aquitaine and Normandy were - won back; Paris saw the crowning of an English king, and only - the central part of the country obeyed the heir of the Parisian - kingdom. But the final result of the war was the driving out - of the English from all Aquitaine and France except the single - district of Calais. - - “The French conquest of Aquitaine (1451-3), the result of the - Hundred Years’ War, was in form the conquest of a land which - had ceased to stand in any relation to the French crown.” - -Thus Aquitaine, including Gascony, had belonged to the crown of England -from 1152 to 1453, just three hundred and one years. - -But, although nominally pertaining to England, it contained stubborn -and recalcitrant elements, notably the counts of Foix, who were -viscounts of Béarn. - -Towards the close of the eleventh century the viscounty of Béarn had -enjoyed sovereign rights, admitting allegiance to none. Later, when -Louis XI went in pilgrimage to Notre Dame de Sarrance, he lowered -the sword of France on entering Béarn, as being no longer in his own -kingdom. This little territory during the Middle Ages was perhaps the -best governed corner of the earth, the freest and happiest in France, -and perhaps in all Europe. The _fors_ of Béarn were the liberties -to which the viscount was required to swear adhesion before he was -recognized as sovereign. The earliest of these _fors_ is that of Oloron -(1080), renewed in 1290, and it is one of the earliest monuments extant -of the Romance tongue. By these constitutions the inhabitants of the -viscounty governed themselves. - -An instance or two of the independent spirit of the Béarnais may be -given. - -Marie, daughter of Peter, Viscount of Béarn, upon the death of her -brother, in 1134, became heiress. She had been reared at the Court of -Aragon, and had married William de Moncada, a Catalonian noble. She had -the weakness to do homage to the king for Béarn. The people rose in -revolt, deposed her, and elected as their viscount a knight of Bigorre, -well spoken of for his virtues. He, however, disregarded the _fors_, -and attempted to rule as a feudal lord, whereupon within a year he -was assassinated. Then a knight of Auvergne was chosen, and held the -viscounty for two years. But he also disregarded the constitution and -was put to death. Then his estates of Béarn sent a deputation to Marie -de Moncada, to inform her that it had come to their ears that she had -given birth to twin boys, and the people authorized their commissioners -to select one of the twins to be their viscount. The deputation were -shown the cradle in which the infants lay; one slept with his hands -open, the other held his fists clenched. “We will have the open-handed -lad,” said the Béarnais, and he became Viscount Gaston VI. On his death -in 1170 his brother, the close-fisted William Raymond, claimed the -inheritance, but the Béarnais refused to acknowledge his claim as one -of right, protesting that the viscountship was elective. They compelled -him to submit to their will, and accepted him only when he had granted -still greater liberties than they had hitherto enjoyed, and this not -till five years after the death of his brother. - -William Raymond died in 1223, leaving a son, William, to succeed him, -but he was killed in battle against the Moors in 1229, and William’s -son Gaston succeeded under the regency of his mother Garsende. She is -described as having been so stout that only a large wagon could contain -her, and then she overlapped the sides. Gaston VII, son of this plump -lady, left an only child, a daughter Margaret, the heiress of Béarn, -which she carried with her when married to Roger Bernard, Count of -Foix. Thus it came about that Foix and Béarn were united in one hand. - -I. PEDIGREE OF THE VISCOUNTS OF BÉARN, COUNTS OF FOIX - -[Illustration: - - Roger Bernard = Margaret da. and heiress - Count of Foix | of Gaston VII of Béarn - _d._ 1302 | - | - +---------------+ - | - Gaston VIII - of Béarn - _d._ 1316 - | - +------------------------------------+ - | | - Gaston IX = Eleanor of Roger Bernard - of Béarn | Cominges Visc. Castelbon - _d._ 1343 | _d._ 1349 - | | - +----+ | - | | - Gaston Phœbus X | - of Béarn Roger Bernard - _d._ 1391 | - | - | - +-------------------+ - | | - Matthew Isabella = Archibald de Gralli - Visc. Castelbon heiress of | Captal de Buch - _d._ 1398 Béarn | _d._ 1412 - _d._ 1426 | - | - +--+ - | - John of - Béarn - _d._ 1436 - | - Gaston XI = Leonora of - of Béarn | Navarre - _d._ 1472 | heiress - | _d._ 1479 - +----------------+----------------------+ (_See Table II_) - | | - Francis Phœbus Catherine = Jean d’Albret - K. of Navarre heiress | _d._ 1516 - _d._ 1483 _d._ 1517 | - | - Marguerite = Henri d’Albret and Navarre - de France | _d._ 1555 - | - Antoine de = Jeanne d’Albret - Bourbon | heiress - _d._ 1562 | _d._ 1572 - | - Henri de Navarre - IV of France - _d._ 1610] - -II. PEDIGREE OF LEONORA, HEIRESS OF NAVARRE - -[Illustration: - - Charles the Noble - K. of Navarre - _d._ 1425 - | - 1. Blanche = Juan I, K. of Aragon = 2. Juana Henriquez - _d._ 1441 | _d._ 1479 | _d._ 1468 - | | - +---------+----+------------+ +----------------------+ - | | | | - Charles of Viana Blanche Leonora = Gaston XI of Béarn | - heir to Navarre poisoned by _d._ 1479 | Count of Foix | - _d._ 1461 her sister | | - 1464 (_See Table I_) | - | - +-----------------+ - | - Isabella = Ferdinand the - heiress of Catholic, K. of - Castille Aragon and - _d._ 1504 Castille - _d._ 1516] - -Roger Bernard and Margaret had a grandson, Gaston IX of Béarn. At -the age of eighteen he was married to Eleanor of Cominges, a lady -considerably older than himself. Some one without tact remarked to -the Countess on the disparity of their ages. “Disparity of ages!” -exclaimed she, “Why, I would have waited for him till he was born.” - -The young husband fell fighting against the Moors in 1343. By his -elderly wife he left a son, Gaston Phœbus, of whom more when we come to -Orthez. - -Gaston Phœbus was succeeded by a cousin, Matthew de Castelbon, who died -in 1398, without issue, and he was followed by his sister Isabella, -married to Archibald, Captal de Buch, a just and worthy ruler. They had -a son, John of Béarn, who succeeded his mother in 1426. He captured -the antipope, Benedict XIII, and threw him into a dungeon in one of -his castles, where he died of ill-treatment, and then John denied -Christian burial to his body. This so delighted Pope Martin, the rival -of Benedict, that he conferred on John the title of “Avenger of the -Faith.” Jean was succeeded by his son Gaston, who placed his sword -at the disposal of Charles VI. At Bordeaux with his aid the English -underwent a signal defeat. He was married to Eleanor of Navarre, -through whom the claim to the title of King of Navarre came to her -descendants. How that was, and the crimes that brought it about, must -now be told. - -Charles the Noble, King of Navarre, died in 1425. Having lost his -only son, he bequeathed crown and kingdom to his daughter Blanche, -married to Juan of Aragon, brother of Alphonso, King of Aragon and the -Two Sicilies, and by reversion after her death to their son Charles, -Prince of Viana. Juan of Aragon acted as viceroy to his brother whilst -Alphonso was in Italy. On the death of Charles the Noble Juan and -Blanche assumed the titles of King and Queen of Navarre. Blanche died -in 1441, and by her will bequeathed the kingdom, in accordance with her -father’s desire, to her son Charles of Viana. But Juan had no thought -of surrendering the crown to his son. He married a young, handsome, -and ambitious woman, Juana Henriquez, daughter of the Admiral of -Castille, and she became the mother of Ferdinand, afterwards known as -“the Catholic.” Thenceforth she schemed to obtain all that could be -grasped for her own son Ferdinand. - -Charles was an amiable, accomplished youth, fond of literature and -of the arts. Queen Blanche, in her will, had urged him not to assume -the government without the consent of his father; but when, in 1452, -the estates of Aragon recognized him as heir to the crown, and Juan -declined to resign, Charles openly raised the standard of revolt. Juan -marched against his son, and Charles was defeated, taken prisoner, -and consigned to a fortress. There he remained for a year, and would -have remained on indefinitely had not the Navarrese armed for his -deliverance. Juan was forced to yield, and as a compromise confirmed -Charles in the principality of Viana, and promised to abandon to him -half the royal revenues. - -The reconciliation thus forcibly effected was not likely to last; -in fact, the compromise suited neither party. The father burned to -chastise sharply his rebellious son, and Charles chafed at being -defrauded of the crown which was his undoubted heritage. Hence in 1455 -both prepared to renew the contest. The following year, 1456, the -prince was again defeated by his father, and was compelled to fly to -his uncle Alphonso, who was then at Naples. During his absence Juan -summoned the estates and declared that both Charles and his eldest -daughter Blanche were excluded from succession to the throne--Charles -on account of his rebellion, Blanche for having espoused his cause--and -Juan proclaimed his youngest daughter Leonora to be his heir. Blanche -had been married to, and then separated from, Henry the Impotent, King -of Castille. Leonora was married to the Count of Foix. - -The inhabitants of Pampeluna, and the people generally throughout -Navarre, were indignant at the injustice committed by Juan; they -elected Charles to be their king, and invited him to ascend the throne. -Unfortunately for him, Alphonso, King of Aragon and the Two Sicilies, -died in 1458, whereupon Juan ascended the throne that had been occupied -by his brother. Charles now hoped for a reconciliation, which he had -reason to expect, as his father now wore three crowns which had come -to him by right; and he hoped that Juan would readily surrender to -him that of Navarre, which he had usurped, and to which he had no -legitimate claim. The Prince of Viana landed in Spain in 1459, and -dispatched a messenger to Juan entreating him to forget the past and to -recognize his claim to Navarre at present and his right to succession -to Aragon. But Juan would allow nothing further than restoration to -the principality of Viana, and expressly forbade his son setting foot -in Navarre. Had the misunderstanding ended here, it had been well for -Charles; but a new occasion of dispute arose. - -Henry IV of Castille offered his sister Isabella, heiress to the crown -after his death, to Charles of Viana. This alarmed and enraged Juana, -the stepmother of Charles, who calculated on effecting this alliance -for her own son Ferdinand, and uniting under his sceptre the kingdoms -of Aragon and Castille. To obtain this end Charles must be got rid of. -Accordingly she induced his father Juan to invite him to a conference -at Lerida. The prince went thither unsuspiciously, and was at once -arrested and thrown into prison. The Estates of Aragon and Catalonia -were incensed at the harsh and unjust treatment of one whom they -hoped eventually to proclaim as their sovereign. They demanded his -liberation. The King refused. Insurrection broke out, became general, -and so menacing that Queen Juana was alarmed and herself solicited the -release of the Prince. She did more; she went in person to Morella, -whither the captive had been transferred, to open the prison gates. -He was conducted by her to Barcelona, which admitted him, but shut -its gates in her face. All Catalonia now recognized the Prince, and -proclaimed him heir to the thrones of Aragon, Navarre, and Sicily. But -the rejoicing of the people was of brief duration, as shortly after -his release from durance Charles fell ill, lingered a few days, and -died. By his testament he bequeathed the crown of Navarre to his sister -Blanche as next in order of succession to himself. - -The death of Charles was too opportune for it not to have been -attributed to poison, administered by an agent of his stepmother. Soon -after a ray of sunlight focussed by a mirror set fire to Juana’s hair. -This was at once set down as a Judgment of Heaven falling on her, an -indication by the finger of God that she was the murderess of her -stepson. - -Charles was now out of the way; Blanche, however, obstructed the path, -and the will of her brother in her favour proved fatal to her. Juan -was resolved to retain the sovereignty of Navarre during his own life, -and none the less to transmit it at death to his favourite daughter -Leonora, Countess of Foix, or her issue. He determined to compel -Blanche to renounce her rights. To effect this she was sent across -the Pyrenees, closely guarded, under the pretext that she was about -to be given in marriage to the Duke of Berri, brother of the French -king. But she perceived clearly enough what was her father’s purpose, -and at Roncevaux, on her way, she caused a protest to be prepared in -all secrecy, in which she declared that she was being carried out of -Spain by violence, against her will, and that force would be used to -compel her to renounce her rights over Navarre; and now she declared -beforehand against the validity of such a renunciation. Upon reaching -S. Jean-Pied-du-port, she was, as she had anticipated, constrained to -make a formal surrender of all her rights, in favour of her sister and -brother-in-law, Gaston, Count of Foix. In a letter addressed to Henry, -couched in pathetic terms, she reminded him of the dawn of happiness -that she had enjoyed when united to him years before, of his promises -made to her, and of her subsequent sorrows. As she was well aware that -her father was consigning her to imprisonment, and perhaps death at -the hands of her ambitious and unscrupulous sister, she conferred on -him all her rights to the crown of Navarre, to the exclusion of those -who meditated her assassination, the Count and Countess of Foix. On -the same day that this letter was dispatched she was handed over to -an emissary of the Countess Leonora, 30 April, 1462, and was conveyed -to the Castle of Orthez. The gates closed on her, and she was seen no -more, but not long after they opened to allow a coffin to issue to be -conveyed to Lescar, there to be interred. - -The secret of Blanche’s death was closely kept, till the Navarrese -Cortes took the matter up, and demanded her release as their rightful -queen. Then only was it announced that she was dead, but on what day -and in what manner she died was never revealed. - -The Count and Countess of Foix now congratulated themselves on having -secured the crown of Navarre to themselves and to their descendants, -and their son Gaston was at once invested with the title of Prince -of Viana. But the crime committed brought but a barren gain. A few -years later Gaston of Viana, their hope, was killed by a lance in a -tournament at Lillebourne. Count Gaston never obtained the kingdom, -and died at Roncevaux in 1472. His widow, Leonora, was balked to the -very last. Her father retained the title of King and the rule over -Navarre up to his death in 1479, and when the coveted diadem fell to -her, she retained it but for fifteen days, and then died also. Her -grandson, Francis, called Phœbus on account of his beauty, was indeed -crowned at Pampeluna. He was a gallant and amiable boy, but the doom -of the ill-gotten crown was on him. Ferdinand the Catholic, son of -the wicked Joanna, would not allow a pretty boy to stand in his way. -One day, 29 January, 1483, after dinner, the prince, _adonné à toutes -gentillesses_, took a flute on which he was wont to play. Scarcely had -he raised it to his lips ere he turned deadly white and sank into a -chair. In two hours he was dead, at the age of sixteen. As he lay dying -he turned to his mother with a smile and said, “My kingdom is not of -this world.” - -It was the conviction of all contemporaries that Ferdinand the Catholic -had contrived to have the lad poisoned. - -The claim to the crown of Navarre now passed to Catherine, the -sister of Francis Phœbus, married to Jean d’Albret. This marriage is -interesting. It was determined by the Estates of Béarn. No sooner was -Francis Phœbus dead than Ferdinand of Castille, his supposed murderer, -sent to demand the hand of Catherine for his son, a child in the -cradle. But the mother, Magdalen of France, coldly replied that the -choice of a husband for her daughter was a matter for decision by the -Assembly of the delegates of Béarn. The Estates were convoked to Pau, -and the majority voted for Jean d’Albret, whose lands adjoined Béarn, -and who was himself then but a child. During the infancy of Catherine -and Jean d’Albret Magdalen acted as regent. The Count of Grammont -and others formed a plot to poison her in favour of Jean de Foix, -Catherine’s uncle. It was discovered, and the minor conspirators were -executed at Pau; the instigators, being grandees, escaped scot-free. - -Catherine, on growing to woman’s estate, left no stone unturned in her -attempt to obtain the kingdom of Navarre, but feebly supported by her -amiable husband. “Would that I had been born John and you Catherine!” -exclaimed the impetuous princess; “and then we would have secured -Navarre.” In the end Catherine died of disappointment at the failure -of all her schemes, and in dying turned her eyes in the direction of -Navarre. - -The rest of the story of the viscounts of Béarn, counts of Foix, and -titular kings of Navarre, shall be told when we come to Pau. - -By some fatality, surely unjustly, the Gascons are credited throughout -France with being braggarts, cowards, the makers of bad bulls and -as bad jokes. This is what a writer says of them in _Le Passe-temps -Agréable_, Rotterdam, 1737:-- - - “If in France you would speak of a braggart and swash-buckler, - whose magnanimity and courage are discoverable in his speech, - and in his speech alone; who speaks of war, without having been - in it; say but, He is a Gascon, and this explains everything. - Those friends at the table who are faithful so long as it is - spread with good cheer, but who vanish when the platter and - the beaker are empty--say that they are Gascons, and that - explains all. Should you encounter a fellow who boasts of his - gallantries and the favours he has received from fair ladies, - intimate that he is a Gascon, and all will know the worth of - his statements. The word Gascon suffices to comprehend various - characters never estimable. But it must not be supposed that - all Gascons are such sorry creatures as those spoken of above. - There are to be found among them men of rare merit, and men - with plenty of courage, men as honest as are any others. But, - actually, all Gascons do not come from Gascony. Every nation - under the sun breeds its braggarts and false braves. ‘The true - Gascons,’ says a writer who knew them well in their own land - washed by the Garonne, ‘the true Gascons possess a good deal of - heart, and are desirous of making all the world aware of the - fact.’ But I am not satisfied that they do not make display of - more heart than they actually possess.” - -A collection of bons-mots and blunders made by Gascons is found in -_Vasconia_, Lyons, 1730. The description of a Gascon, as given by -a fellow-countryman, is more flattering than that above. He says: -“To be a Gascon is to be a happy mixture of dazzling virtues and of -agreeable and convenient faults. Everything in us is charming, even our -imperfections. What if there be blemishes perceptible in us? There are -spots in the sun itself.” - - - - -CHAPTER III - -BAYONNE - - Approach to the Pyrenees--Colour of the mountains--Bayonne-- - Cathedral--Attachment of Bayonne to the English--Quarrels - with Norman towns--Taken by the French--Bayonets--Meeting of - queens--Wild Scotchmen--Napoleon lures the Infante and King - of Spain to Bayonne--Dethrones the King--The crossing of the - Pyrenees by Wellington--Battles--About Bayonne--Cemetery-- - Lakes in the Landes--Biarritz--The Refuge--S. Jean de Luz-- - Riding _en cacolet_--Heaving at Eastertide--The Bidassoa-- - Peace of the Pyrenees--Fontarabia--Passages--San Sebastian-- - Siege--Charges brought against the English. - - -Michelet, with florid eloquence, describes the approach to the Pyrenees -from Bordeaux in the first chapter of the second volume of his _History -of France_. - - “However beautiful and fertile may be the valley of the - Garonne, one cannot lag there. The distant summits of the - Pyrenees exercise on us a too powerful attraction. But it is - a serious matter to reach them. Whether you take the way by - Nérac, a doleful _seigneurie_ of the Albrets, or whether you - follow the coast, it is all the same, you must either traverse - or skirt an ocean of _landes_, covered with cork trees and vast - pine forests, where nothing is met save black sheep under the - conduct of a shepherd of the department, that have left the - mountains for the plains in quest of warmth. The roving life of - these shepherds is one of the most picturesque elements in the - South. These nomads, companions of the stars in their eternal - solitude, half astronomers, half sorcerers, carry their goods - with them. Here in the West they continue to lead the Asiatic - life of Lot and Abraham. - - “The formidable barrier of Spain now rises before us in all its - majesty. The Pyrenees are not, like the Alps, a complicated - system of peaks and valleys, they are simply a mighty wall - that drops to lower elevations at its extremities. Two - peoples, distinct from one another--the Basques at the west, - the Catalans at the east--hold the doors of two worlds. These - irritable and capricious porters open and shut at will, wearied - and impatient at the incessant passage of the nations through - these ports. They opened to Abderaman, they shut to Roland. - Many graves lie between Roncevaux and the Seu d’Urgel.” - -Certain it is that the approach to the Pyrenees across the long level -of the Landes lends to them an advantage only possessed by the Alps -when seen from the plains of Lombardy. I know nothing so impressive as -the scene from a swell on the surface of the Landes, when the eye sees -the great range in silver and cobalt stretching to the south from a dim -east, in which snowy peaks and silver clouds are indistinguishable, to -die away beyond the reach of the eye in the west, and all beheld over a -vast sheet of dark green forest, like a sea stretching to their roots. -Nowadays we whirl from Bordeaux to Dax and Bayonne by rail. I recall -the journey by carriage, when before our eyes for two days we saw that -blue ridge tipped with silver half-way up the sky, hour after hour -becoming more distinct. I have spoken of the colours of the mountains -as cobalt and silver. So they are in the remote distance, but when near -at hand the tints are richer. I had a drawing-master at Bayonne, to -whom I showed some water-colour sketches of English scenery. He shook -his head. “Cobalt!” said he; “that will not do for the shadows of our -Pyrenees. For them you must employ ultramarine and carmine.” He spoke -the truth. Such are the royal purples of Pyrenean shadows worn in -summer and autumn. - -Bayonne is a trefoil. There are three towns, but the third is on the -north side of the Adour, and in the department of Landes. It has grown -up about the railway station and the citadel. Old Bayonne is a city -planted on both banks of the Nive, where it joins the Adour. Bayonne is -the capital of the Basque country, and the population of the town is -composed of Basques, Spaniards, Jews, with a sprinkling only of French. -The cathedral, the old castle, the Mairie, and the theatre are in Grand -Bayonne on the left bank of the Nive. In Petit Bayonne, on the right -bank, are the arsenal, the Châteaux Neuf, and the military hospital. - -The old town, cramped within its fortifications, capable of expansion -upwards only, has narrow and gloomy streets. - -The cathedral was left incomplete by the English when driven out -of Bayonne. It lacked a west front and towers; but these have been -supplied of late years. Externally the cathedral is not striking, -but within it is well-proportioned. Choir and apse pertain to the -thirteenth century, the nave to the fourteenth, all constructed when -the English were masters of the town. The arms of England, of Talbot, -and other noble families that are English, are emblazoned on the keys -of the vaulting ribs. On the south side of the church are the beautiful -cloisters, almost the largest in France. Their date is 1240. - -[Illustration: THE CATHEDRAL, BAYONNE] - -A good many houses in the town have cellars vaulted with ribs to a key, -and on some of these latter are English arms. But few old buildings -in the town are of interest. The château dates from the twelfth and -thirteenth centuries, and the new château is of the fifteenth and -sixteenth, but neither is architecturally remarkable. - -Bayonne and Bordeaux were warmly attached to England during the three -hundred years that they pertained to the English crown. Their love was -not altogether sentimental; it sprang out of self-interest, as these -two ports furnished the wine that was supplied to Britain and Ireland. -Our kings did what they could to attach the citizens to their crown by -the grant of extensive privileges, and undoubtedly Bayonne reached its -greatest prosperity when under the sceptre of England. This prosperity -roused the jealousy of the commercial ports of Normandy, especially was -this the case when that duchy was detached from the English crown. To -avenge the death of a Rouen merchant killed in an affray in Bayonne the -Normands attacked and butchered a whole ship’s crew that had entered -one of their ports. On another occasion they surprised sixty-two -Bayonnais merchant vessels in the port of S. Malo, and hung from the -yardarm one of the crew of each side by side with dogs. This latter -insult was more keenly felt by the Bayonnais than the execution itself. -They appealed to Edward I “against these bad persons who have put -your subjects to death, hanging mastiffs alongside of Christians, in -defiance of Christianity and of your Majesty, and of your subjects.” - -The outrage had to be chastised. Large armaments were equipped on both -sides, and in one engagement the Normands lost five thousand men. The -grim joke with the dogs proved costly to them in the end. - -But at the close of the thirteenth century these petty quarrels between -rival cities were merged in the general war that raged between England -and France. Philip the Fair got possession of Bayonne in 1294. Edward I -hastened into Gascony, besieged the town, retook it, and thenceforth -the leopards of England waved from their battlements till July, 1451, -when the English were expelled from Bayonne by Charles VII. The -Bayonnais watched the entry of the French with sullen dissatisfaction, -and were only consoled for the change of master by a miracle. A -luminous white cross appeared in the sky, and this led them to suppose -that Heaven had decreed that the white cross of France should take the -place of the red cross of England. Bayonne has given its name to the -bayonet, which was invented there about the year 1647. Originally it -was a dagger with a round handle that fitted into the bore of a gun, -and was fixed only after the soldier had discharged his piece. The use -of the bayonet fastened on to the barrel was an improvement introduced -by the French. In the battle of Marsaglia in 1693 the success of the -French was mainly due to the employment of this weapon. The enemy were -unable to stand against so formidable a novelty. - -In 1565 the queen-mother, Catherine de Medici, here met her daughter, -Isabella of Spain, who had just recovered from a severe illness. - - “Political motives were not forgotten, and among other - matters to be considered between the sovereigns of France - and Spain--for Catherine hoped that Philip would accompany - his wife--was undoubtedly the repression of heresy. There - exists among the state papers at Simancas what is called - by diplomatists an ‘identical note’ of the subjects to be - discussed at Bayonne. In it we read that the two powers engaged - not to tolerate the Reformed worship in their respective - states, that the canons of the Council of Trent should be - enforced, that all nonconformists should be incapacitated for - any public office, civil or military, and that heretics should - quit the realm within a month, permission being accorded them - to sell their property. Although Catherine gave her assent - to these declarations, so far as the discussion of them was - concerned, we have indisputable evidence that she did not - intend to adopt them in the same sense as Philip of Spain.”[B] - - [B] White (H.), _The Massacre of S. Bartholomew_. London, 1868. - -It has been supposed that on this occasion the massacre of S. -Bartholomew was planned. Such, however, was not the case. Catherine at -the time was indisposed to adopt violent measures. She sought to hold -the balance between the contending parties. Moreover, the massacre -did not take place till seven years later. The meeting at Bayonne in -1565 was rather one of rejoicing, with a series of magnificent fêtes, -and political business was transacted only at odd moments. Some years -later, when Walsingham referred to this Bayonne meeting as the occasion -of an inauguration of a general league against the Protestants, -Catherine replied that it had no such result at all, and that it -“tended to no other end but to make good cheer.” - -One of the masques performed on this occasion was a representation of -“Wild Scotchmen.” The Duke of Guise and six others were equipped in -what was fondly believed to be the Highland costume. Over a white satin -shirt embroidered with gold lace and crimson silk they wore a jacket -of yellow velvet, with short skirts closely plaited “according to the -custom of these savages,” trimmed with a border of crimson satin, -ornamented with gold, silver, pearls, and other jewels of various -colours. Their yellow satin hose were similarly adorned, and their silk -boots were trimmed with silver fringe and rosettes. - - “On their heads they wore a cap _à l’antique_ of cloth of gold, - and for crest a thunderbolt pouring out a fragrant jet of - perfumed fire--the said thunderbolt being twined round by a - serpent reposing on a pillow of green satin. Each cavalier wore - on his arm a Scotch shield or targe covered with cloth of gold - and bearing a device. The horses’ trappings were of crimson - satin with plumes of yellow, white, and carnation. So much for - the Frenchman’s ideal of a Scotchman!”--White. - -We must pass on to the time of the First Empire, before Bayonne became -the scene of any political event of importance. - -Napoleon had resolved on dethroning the King of Spain, and on -converting the peninsula into a kingdom for his brother Joseph. The -condition of affairs in Spain was favourable. The King, Charles IV, -was the feeblest of the fainéant race of the Bourbons. He retained a -tame confessor about his person, for whom he would whistle when he was -conscious of a twinge of conscience. The Queen, Louisa Maria of Parma, -had made a paramour of Manuel Godoy, a lusty private in the Guards. Him -she created Prince of the Peace and Prime Minister. His power over her -and over the mind of the poor King was complete. - -The Infante, the Prince Ferdinand, was also feeble-minded. He was the -rallying point of the faction opposed to Godoy. Ferdinand appealed -by letter to Napoleon (11 October, 1807), and the Emperor at once, -through his agent Savary at Madrid, pressed him to throw himself on -his protection by coming to Bayonne, “where,” said Savary, “you will -hear him salute you as Ferdinand VII, King of Spain and the Indies.” -The stupid Bourbon prince walked into the trap. On 16 April, 1808, -he crossed the frontier. “Ha! is the fool actually come!” exclaimed -Napoleon, who was at Bayonne. “I could hardly have thought it possible.” - -Napoleon received him graciously, but instead of hailing him as king, -endeavoured to induce him voluntarily to resign his pretensions to the -throne. But Ferdinand, though stupid, was stubborn, and he refused. -It was accordingly necessary for the Emperor to ensnare the old king -as well. He wrote to him and to the Queen, inviting them to Bayonne -so that he might settle the dispute between him and the Infante, in -order to place the throne of Charles beyond danger of usurpation by -Ferdinand. The King was also dull enough to walk into the snare. - -On 30 April a huge, lumbering coach drawn by eight Biscayan mules -rolled over the drawbridge of Bayonne. It contained the monarch, -his queen, his youngest son, and some attendants. Two other -antiquated chariots discharged their cargoes of chamberlains -and ladies-in-waiting. Godoy, who had preceded the royal party, -welcomed it, and assured his sovereign that the intentions of the -Emperor towards him were most generous. This assurance was speedily -corroborated by Napoleon, who appeared in person. The childish king -threw himself, weeping, into the arms of Napoleon, and called him his -best friend and truest support. - -As the infirm old man was unable to walk unassisted, Napoleon took him -under the arm to help him up the steps. Charles turned to the Queen and -said, “See, Louisa, he is sustaining me!” - -The resentment of the old couple against their son had increased. -Ferdinand was summoned to their presence before Napoleon, and then -ensued a scene to which the Emperor afterwards looked back with -disgust. The King loaded his son with bitter reproaches, the Queen -broke out into invectives. Losing all command over herself, this royal -virago foamed at the mouth, called on her good friend the Emperor to -send him to the guillotine, and had the indecency to protest that this -son, though borne by her, had not the King for his father. Then the -old king, crippled with rheumatism, raised his shaking hand over the -prince and threatened him with his cane. - -The main quarrel between the King and Ferdinand was due to Charles -having abdicated when a riot broke out in Madrid and Ferdinand having -been proclaimed. But Charles afterwards revoked his abdication, which -had been wrung from him by his terrors, and Ferdinand refused to -withdraw his claim to having succeeded his father on the surrender -of the crown by the old man. After the deplorable scene described, -Ferdinand gave way so far as to consent to resign the crown, on -condition that this renunciation was in favour of his father only, and -that it was ratified in Madrid. This did not satisfy Napoleon; it was -not what he wanted. - -At this juncture Marbot, the aide-de-camp of Murat, who had been sent -to Madrid, arrived at full gallop to announce to the Emperor that -an insurrection had broken out in the capital, in consequence of an -attempt made to remove the remaining members of the royal family. - -This furnished Napoleon with the excuse he wanted. “Unless,” said he to -Ferdinand, whom he accused of having provoked the riot, “unless between -this and midnight you have recognized your father as king, and have -sent information to this effect to Madrid, I will have you dealt with -as a rebel.” - -The terrified prince yielded. On 6 May Ferdinand signed a formal -renunciation of the crown. But on the previous day Charles had been -induced also to surrender his claims. Ferdinand in return was to have -the palace of Navarre and an income of six hundred thousand francs; -Charles was accorded the châteaux of Chambord and Compiègne. The -despised and disinherited princes were to receive in all ten millions; -“but,” as Napoleon wrote, “we will reimburse ourselves out of Spain!” -Yet even this undertaking was not observed. Ferdinand was interned in -France. - -The stretch of country from Bayonne to the frontier is full of interest -to the Englishman as the scene of the contest between Wellington and -Soult, after the former had driven the French over the frontier and out -of Spain. - -The autumn of 1813 had been passed by the greater part of the allied -army of English, Portuguese, and Spaniards under canvas on the cold and -cloudy summits of the Western Pyrenees. They endured great privations. -Their picket and night duties were incessant and harassing; the -weather, moreover, was stormy. The tedium of these camps, and the -sufferings from frost and sleet, exhausted the patience and shook the -constancy of the soldiers of weakest fibre. - -But the fall of Pampeluna released the army on the Pyrenees from its -inactivity. It was known that Marshal Soult had prepared a defensive -position on the Nivelle stretching from ten to twelve miles from the -sea at S. Jean de Luz to the Petite Rhune before the village of Sare. - -Soon after midnight, on the morning of 10 November, the columns of -the allies under Wellington wound down the passes of the mountains in -silence, lighted by the moon. At earliest dawn the attack was made on -the lines of the enemy, and by sunset, in a succession of brilliant -charges, the allies had broken the line. Soult had been out-manœuvred -and out-fought on his own long-prepared ground, and beaten at every -point. The French, numbering seventy thousand men, had been placed in -carefully selected positions. Strongly entrenched, they knew the roads, -and were fighting to protect their native land from invasion; yet they -suffered themselves to be dislodged from every point assailed with a -lack of spirit that surprised the allies. - -Under cover of night Soult withdrew and concentrated his forces in -front of Bayonne. Wellington took up a position within two miles of -the enemy, his left resting on the sea and his right on Cambo. As the -weather was stormy and wet, all operations ceased. The roads were -execrable, the crossroads a quagmire. It was not possible at that -time of the year to move artillery over the sodden ground, and even -communication between the wings was difficult. - -Sir Rowland Hill on the right crossed the Nive at Cambo, and the French -in front of him fell back on Bayonne; he then occupied the heights of -Villefranche. The forces of the allies were disposed in a semicircle, -their communications intersected by a river, and made difficult by the -muddy roads. The position of the French was central, with short and -easy communications, and was supported by the guns of the fortress. -Soult could fling himself with all his weight on any point where the -allies were weakest in his estimation, and that before they could bring -up reinforcements. This, in fact, is what he did. On 10, 11, and 12 -December, the Marshal directed repeated attacks on Sir John Hope on -the left; but met with no success. Then hastily passing through the -town with his main force, on the night of the 12th, he hurled thirty -thousand men against the position held by Sir Rowland Hill on the -British right. Sir Rowland mustered but thirteen thousand men, British -and Portuguese. The French columns advanced steadily, disregarding the -crushing bullets of a well-served artillery, the grape and the musketry -of the light troops. They were gaining ground by sheer weight of -numbers, when the reserve advanced, arriving from the centre, and the -French were beaten back with terrible slaughter, all Bayonne looking on -from the ramparts. - -The battle was fought by Sir Rowland Hill with his own corps, -unassisted. Wellington did not arrive on the field until the victory -was won. - -Soult now strongly garrisoned Bayonne, and withdrew along the road to -Orthez and Pau, in order to defend the latter. Wellington followed him, -but not until the close of January, and he left Sir John Hope to watch -Bayonne. It was necessary for this gallant officer to cross the Adour, -as the citadel was on the right bank. The river was three hundred yards -wide at the point selected, one where a bend in its course concealed it -from the view of the garrison of Bayonne. - - “At one in the morning of 23 January Sir John Hope marched - from his cantonments to direct and support this movement. The - pontoons were unavoidably delayed by the depth and softness of - the sandy road, therefore the design of sending a detachment - across the river before daylight was defeated. However, the - attention of the garrison was entirely occupied by the lively - demonstrations upon their entrenched camp. Sir John Hope - determined to commence passing the river as soon as ever a - few boats and pontoons could be launched. Owing to light and - baffling winds the bridge flotilla had not arrived off the bar. - The pontoons from Bidart did not accomplish their march in the - time expected, and at noon four jolly-boats and five pontoons, - which the men took on their shoulders and carried over the - sand-hills, were the only means of passage at the disposal of - the general. To protect the launch of these boats some field - guns were moved forward. At sight of the troops the enemy’s - picket retired without firing a shot, and walked leisurely - to the citadel. Fifty men were instantly rowed over to the - right bank. A hawser was stretched across the river, the five - pontoons were formed into rafts, and a detachment of the Guards - was ferried over. When about 600 men had been put across, the - tide flowed so strong that the rafts could no longer work; - and, save a few sent over in the jolly-boats, the passage of - troops ceased. At this time only six companies of the Guards, - two of the 60th Rifles, and a small party of the rocket corps, - had been passed to the right bank. All seemed quiet in their - front; when, suddenly, about five o’clock in the evening, two - columns issued from the citadel to attack this detachment. - Colonel Stopford, in command, drew up his troops in a position - that secured his flanks, and enabled him to avail himself of - the support of the guns on the opposite bank. His right rested - on the Adour, his left on a morass. The artillery could sweep - his front with a defensive fire, and he judiciously placed - his rocket men on each flank. The French had nearly 1500 men, - and advanced to the attack with some show of resolution; when - the rockets opened on them, and being well directed, swept - through their ranks with so rushing a sound, and so destructive - an effect, that the novelty startled and appalled them. They - seemed paralyzed with astonishment, and a few quickly following - discharges of the ground-rockets drove them back in haste and - fear. More men were crossed over in the night at slack water; - and on the following evening the first division, two guns, and - a squadron of dragoons, were established on the right bank.”[C] - - [C] Sherer, _Military Memoirs of the Duke of Wellington_. - London, 1832. - -The flotilla appeared off the Adour on the morning of the 25th, the -bar was successfully passed, thirty-four _chasse-marées_ were brought -into position, and anchored head and stern upon the line selected; -the sappers worked all night, and by noon next day a solid bridge was -laid down. Troops and artillery now filed over it, and the citadel of -Bayonne was invested. - -Upon the morning of 14 April the governor of the citadel made a furious -sortie upon the investing corps, which was wholly unprepared for the -attack, as peace had been declared, and Bonaparte had abdicated on 5 -April. The news had reached Bayonne; the commandant of the citadel -was well aware of it, but could not resist the treacherous attempt to -retrieve his laurels by catching the British unprepared. - -His assault was repulsed, with the loss of 830 men to the British, and -with the capture of Sir John Hope, who was wounded. The French attack -was supported by the fire of the gunboats on the river, which opened -indiscriminately on friend and foe. The French lost 910 men. - -The cemetery where our gallant fellow-countrymen lie who thus fell -is on the edge of the Landes, on the north side of the Adour. When -Queen Victoria visited Biarritz, as also recently when King Edward VII -was there, this cemetery was duly visited by both monarchs. No one -who remains any length of time in Bayonne should omit a visit to the -beautiful lakes that lie embosomed in cork woods and pine forests in -the Landes, in the abandoned course of the Adour. The river, instead -of entering the sea where it does now, formerly turned north, and had -its mouth at Cape Breton, something like ten miles distant. But at the -close of the fourteenth century a violent tempest blowing from the west -threw up a barrier of sand and blocked the mouth of the Adour, which -then pursued its course northward, and finally discharged its waters -into the Atlantic at Vieux-Boucau, and that remained its mouth for two -centuries. But in 1579 the inhabitants of Bayonne, aided by a flood, -managed to pierce the isthmus of sand-hills which separated their town -from the sea, and thus created a new mouth for the river. The Adour, -however, pours into the bay in a contrary direction to the prevailing -winds, consequently there is an incessant struggle going on there -between the current and the waves, resulting in a deposit of mud, sand, -and pebble, and the building up of a bar which the sea is incessantly -driving towards the shore, whereas the river is as incessantly engaged -in repelling it. The existence of this bar makes the entrance to the -Adour difficult and even dangerous, and has necessitated expensive -works. - -The lakes in the Landes are a haunt of wild fowl, and afford good -fishing. - -Biarritz needs little more than a mention, though a place of some -antiquity. It is spoken of in the eleventh century, when some Basques -harpooned a whale in the Bay of Biscay. It throve on the whale fishery, -and so wealthy did it become that the tithe of its revenue constituted -the principal source of the income of the bishops of Bayonne. In course -of time the whales abandoned the coast and migrated to the north, and -then the prosperity of Biarritz declined, and it sank to being an -insignificant fishing village, till the Empress Eugénie took a fancy to -it, and a new era of prosperity began. It is now a fashionable resort, -especially for Spanish nobles. The heaths around in early summer are -lovely with the intensely blue _Lithospermum_, and the crimson _Daphne -cneorum_. - -[Illustration: THE COAST, BIARRITZ] - -Visitors to Biarritz make an expedition to the “Refuge,” distant about -three miles, over a heath. The Abbé Céstac had founded an orphanage at -Bayonne for girls, and had placed it under the charge of the Servantes -de Marie. Not content with this good work he gathered about him a -number of penitents and lodged them in the attics of the orphanage. -Then in 1839 he bought a little property near Biarritz, and moved -his penitents to it and placed them under the control of his sister -Madelaine. - - “Complete isolation, absolute silence, total abstinence from - flesh meat, manual labour in the garden and graveyard, constant - prayer in the church, or meditation in their cells, constitute - their rule of life. Like the Trappists, their bed is a hard - board, to which they retire at eight in the evening to rise at - four in the morning. On Friday they take a meal which serves - for dinner--unseasoned vegetables--on their knees. They never - read a book, except one of devotion, and are entirely ignorant - of the politics and changes of society. This holy Thebaid is - shut out from all view of the external world; neither ocean nor - river, nor plain nor hill, can be discerned from it, although - Nature, immediately outside its limits, presents herself in - her loveliest aspects of sea and mountain. Unbroken silence - and solitude prevail, and the stranger who enters its sacred - seclusion becomes involuntarily overpowered by the sentiment - that pervades the atmosphere and fills the mind with awe and - wonder.”[D] - - [D] Lawlor, _Pilgrimages in the Pyrenees_. London, 1870. - -I should add, with indignation that human beings, even penitents, -should be reduced by this method to stultification. - -S. Jean de Luz is a favourite bathing place for such as desire more -quiet and less heavy hotel charges than Biarritz affords. In 1660 the -church saw the marriage of Louis XIV and Maria Theresa, Infanta of -Spain. In commemoration of this event, the magistrates walled up the -door by which the bridal pair passed out, and it has remained thus shut -to this day. At S. Jean de Luz may be seen what is usual in Basque and -Béarnais churches, as also in Tyrol, the men occupying the galleries, -not infrequently in double tiers, whilst the women fill the body of the -church. In the Maison Lobobiagne, with turrets, lodged Louis XIV; the -Infanta and her mother, Anne of Austria, occupied the Maison Joanoëna. - -I can recall rides _en cacolet_ as customary among the Basques some -sixty years ago, now quite obsolete. A horse was furnished with two -baskets, one on each side, and two persons were accommodated, one in -each basket. Inglis says in 1835:-- - - “Morning, noon, and evening, the road between Bayonne and - Biarritz is crowded with travellers _en cacolet_. The - horses belong generally to the women who drive them; these - women are generally young, many of them handsome. They - generally speak French, Basque, and a little Spanish, and - are rather intelligent than otherwise, always carrying on an - unintermitting conversation during the whole ride. The horses - are usually indifferent; they go at a small trot, and perform - the _trajet_ in about forty minutes.” - -One of the most puzzling facts in the study of mankind is the manner -in which the most unmeaning customs are found extended far and wide. -I shall have something to say of the _couvade_ in another chapter. -There is another which is met with in the Basque country, and which -is also, or was, usual in Yorkshire. On Easter Monday the girls seize -on lads and heave them up in the air, and hold them aloft till they -redeem themselves with a coin or a kiss. On Tuesday the boys enjoy the -same privilege with the girls. I have been so lifted up near Bayonne. -I recall an instance in Yorkshire, where H.M. Inspector of Schools, -a grave and reverend signor, came to a manufacturing town on Easter -Monday. As he was sedately walking from the station he encountered a -bevy of mill lasses, when at once he was uplifted by them and carried -in triumph, in vain expostulating, and a kiss from him was demanded by -each before he was released. - -So with April Fools’ Day--_le poisson d’avril_--it is honoured in the -same fashion in Hindustan as in Europe. - -Few visitors to Biarritz fail to take a run over the frontier into -Spain. The Bidassoa for about twelve miles forms the line of -demarcation between France and Spain. Near the bridge of Behobia are -the remains--they are nothing more--of the Ile des Faisans, on which -conferences were held between Cardinal Mazarin, plenipotentiary for -France, and Don Luis da Haro, acting for Spain, which led to the -conclusion of the famous Treaty of the Pyrenees, in 1659, cemented -by the marriage of Louis XIV with the daughter of Philip IV. At the -meeting on the Ile des Faisans each party advanced from its own -territory by a temporary bridge to this patch of neutral ground in -mid-stream. The death of Velasquez, the painter, was due to exposure -whilst superintending the decoration of the tent for the minister of -Spain--a duty more befitting an upholsterer than a great artist. By -the treaty France received la Cerdagne and Roussillon, but surrendered -Lorraine to Duke Charles IV, on condition that he should dismantle all -its fortresses. As he delayed doing this Louis retained his hold on the -duchy. - -Fontarabie (Fuenterrabia) does not signify the Fountain of Arabia, -and retains in its name no reminiscence of Moorish domination; the -derivation is from the Latin _fons rapidus_. It is a picturesque, dirty -town, malodorous; bearing as its arms in quarterings an angel holding a -key, to signify that the town holds the key of Spain--a squalid beggar -would be more appropriate than an angel; a whale and two syrens, the -whale to indicate the fishing of the leviathan, now long departed; -and lastly a castle between two stars. These arms were accorded to -Fuenterrabia by Philip IV in 1638, when the admiral of Castile repulsed -the Prince of Condé, who was besieging it. The church, Gothic in -style, has been modernized externally; within it is overloaded with -barbaric ornament. The castle, known as the palace of Charles V, dates -originally from the tenth century, but has undergone much rebuilding -and adaptation. The courtyard is picturesque, and the terrace commands -a beautiful view. - -Fuenterrabia brings no pleasing remembrances to an Englishman. The -citizens begrudged a lodging to our sick and wounded during the -passage of the Pyrenees by the allied troops under Wellington when in -pursuit of Soult in the depth of winter. The town authorities even -wanted to take away the boards on which were stretched the disabled -soldiers. “These,” wrote the Duke, “are the people to whom we have -given medicines, etc., whose wounded and sick we have taken into our -hospitals, and to whom we have rendered every service in our power, -after having recovered their country from the enemy.” - -Irun signifies in Basque “the good town,” but it contains little that -is good, nothing that is interesting. Passages, however, will arrest -the traveller, owing to its picturesque harbour, land-locked, and -the entrance commanded by the castles--reminding a Devonshire man of -Dartmouth. The port has been neglected and suffered to be silted up, -although the rock-bound coast possesses no better harbour of refuge for -storm-tossed boats. - -[Illustration: SAN SEBASTIAN] - -San Sebastian has suffered so severely from sieges that it has lost -its medieval character; but nothing can destroy its natural beauty of -situation. The Monte Urgull, on which is the castle, was originally -a rocky island, but it has been united to the land by the deposits -of the River Urumea, and the town now occupies this neck. Beyond is -the concha, a semi-lunar bay, with excellent sands, and with the -Isle of Sta. Clara breaking the force of the waves that roll in from -the Atlantic. San Sebastian is the most fashionable seaside resort -in Spain, and is much frequented by the nobility and by well-to-do -citizens of Madrid. The church of S. Vincent is a Gothic edifice of -1507. San Sebastian is memorable for its siege by Wellington. Mr. Ford -says:-- - - “It was obtained in March, 1808, by Therenot, when the French - got in under false pretences. They held it during the war, and - being in the rear of the Duke when advancing in 1815 on the - Pyrenees, it retarded his progress, and its possession became - absolutely necessary. This was a work of great difficulty, for - the naturally strong position was garrisoned by 3000 brave - French veterans under General Rey, and the Duke, from the usual - neglect of our Government, in spite of repeated applications to - Lord Bathurst, was forced to wait from 25 July to 26 August for - want of means even to commence operations, during which time - the active enemy strengthened their defences, being supplied - from France by sea. - - “In vain the Duke had warned Lord Melville, under whose fatal - rule the navy of England was first exposed to defeat, and who - now did his best to ensure a similar misfortune to the army. - And to make matters worse, Graham, to whom the siege was - entrusted, neglected the advice of Sir C. Felix Smith and of - Sir R. Fletcher. Graham having failed in a night attack on 24 - August, the Duke was forced to come in person to set matters - right. His arrival was, as usual, the omen of victory. Now the - town was assaulted as it ought to have been at first, from - the _chafres_ or sand banks, and was taken on 31 August. The - French, after a most gallant defence, retired to the upper - citadel, on which, by the almost superhuman efforts of the - engineers, backed by the bluejackets, guns were brought to - bear, and it surrendered on 9 September, two-thirds of the - valorous garrison having perished, while nearly 5000 English - troops were killed and wounded.” - -Wellington--then only the Marquess Wellesley--had not bombarded the -town, so as to spare the inhabitants, but General Rey himself had set -fire to the town on 22 July, as is admitted by him in his own dispatch, -and it was done for the express purpose of hampering the progress of -the English, when he saw that the place must inevitably fall; and this, -when Wellington would not suffer his batteries to play upon the town. - -When finally San Sebastian was taken, all control over the soldiers, -who were exasperated by the stubborn resistance, was for a while lost. -A thunderstorm burst at the same time that the soldiers broke in, -and a scene of riot and rapine ensued. In the midst of explosions of -thunder and lightning the city was sacked. Fires broke out in various -places, and flames waved over such houses as had been spared by Rey. -At the same time the garrison of the castle ploughed the streets with -their artillery, killing alike inhabitants flying from the English, -Spanish and Portuguese soldiery, as well as the soldiers themselves. -It was found impossible to extinguish the flames or to control the -soldiers. The most was made of this. Napoleon wrote: “Les Anglais -commettent des horreurs dont les annales de la guerre offrent peu -d’examples, et dont cette nation barbare êtait seule capable dans un -siècle de civilisation.” But Napoleon never minced words. The sack of -San Sebastian, though regrettable, was mild in comparison with the -atrocities committed by the French elsewhere in Spain. In justice it -must be said that it was not English alone who were guilty of these -excesses, but the far more lawless Spaniards and Portuguese who formed -our allies, and that the sack was stopped as soon as ever Wellington -was able to gain control over the maddened soldiery. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -S. JEAN-PIED-DE-PORT - - Four valleys--The Basque land--Quarrels with Bayonne--The - Sieur de Puyane--Cambo--Itxasson--Pas de Roland--Stalagmitic - saint--S. Jean-Pied-de-Port--The first book in Basque-- - Patronal feasts--Roncevaux--The Song of Roland--The history of - Turpin--Death of Roland--His horn--Convent--Canons--Virgin - with diamonds in her eyes--Spanish kitchen--Smugglers--Escape - of the Princess of Beira--The Couvade. - - -From the ridge of the Western Pyrenees descend four large valleys -towards the north, each with a river running at the bottom. The -westernmost and least important is that of the Nivelet, that flows -into the Bay of Biscay at S. Jean de Luz. The second thence is the -Nive, that discharges its waters into the Adour at Bayonne. The third -is the Bidouze, which reaches the Adour just below where that river -receives the mingled waters of the two Gaves. The last of these, and -the easternmost of these rivers, is the Cenon, that loses itself in the -Gave of Oloron, near Sauveterre. - -In the ancient geography of France these four valleys were somewhat -irregularly divided into districts, of which the westernmost was called -Labourde, and the easternmost Soule, and the central portion was Lower -Navarre. Taken collectively these districts constitute the Basque land, -the population of which was closely related in language, habits, and -blood to the inhabitants of Biscay, Guipuzcoa, and Upper Navarre in -Spain. The narrow strip of land comprising the two cantons of S. Palais -and S. Jean-pied-de-Port was for many centuries regarded as forming -a parcel of the province of Gascony, but Alphonso the Noble took it, -together with Labourde, from the English King John, so that it became -a portion of the kingdom of Navarre, though Bayonne was recovered by -the English. Sancho, King of Navarre, strengthened his hold on it more -firmly, but eventually, when the claim to the crown of Navarre passed -to the Counts of Foix and Viscounts of Béarn, it was the sole portion -of that kingdom that these latter were able to retain, the Spanish -Navarre having been annexed by Ferdinand the Catholic. - -The Basques never obtained political independence. They were always -subjected to Frank or English domination; they passed under the -rule of the kings of Navarre and counts of Foix, and finally under -the crown of France. Nevertheless they succeeded in maintaining a -communal right of self-government, and enjoyed great privileges, -notably that of conveying their wares and those of Spain free of duty -to the markets of Toulouse and Bordeaux; rights these that awoke the -jealousy of the citizens of Bayonne, who were incessantly at feud with -them. The Bayonnais claimed Villefranche as belonging to Labourde, -because the tide flowed through the arches of the bridge there. In an -affray over this the mountaineers killed several citizens of Bayonne. -In reprisal, in the reign of Edward III of England, Duke of Gascony -and Aquitaine, the mayor of Bayonne, a Sieur de Puyane, descended on -Villefranche on S. Bartholomew’s Day, when a fair was being held there, -caught five burgesses of note and fastened them to the arches of the -bridge, and let them drown to show by occular demonstration that the -tide did rise to Villefranche, and that therefore it was within the -jurisdiction of Bayonne. The Basques rose _en masse_ and massacred -the Labourdins wherever they caught them. Finally, both parties -appealed to the arbitration of the Sieur d’Albret, and the town of -Bayonne was condemned to pay a heavy sum as indemnity to the families -of the drowned men. The Bayonnais appealed to the King of England. -He mitigated the fine, but the Basques would only consent to his -adjudication on condition of reserving the right to pursue the sons of -the Sieur de Puyane till they had exterminated the family. This was the -last act by which the Basque nation manifested its political existence. -But they retained their special privileges till the French Revolution, -when the common law of France superseded all local independence of -jurisdiction. - -Cambo is a pretty, pleasant place, that has of late years risen to -notice as a health resort. It takes its name from what has been -supposed to be an Euscaldunic, i.e. Basque camp. I planned this and -sent plan and description to the Archæologia, in 1852. But with -greater experience of ancient camps than I had then, I have come to -doubt whether it is what has been supposed. It consists of a platform -on a hillock with a network of trenches about it, and ridges between -them sharp as the back of a knife. It may have been used as a camp of -refuge, but it could not contain a large force, and the dykes around -appear to have been formed by currents of water. - -Itxasson is an eminently Basque village. The church contains rich -ornaments of silver gilt for the altar, given in the eighteenth century -by an emigrant, Pedro d’Echegaray, on his return from America, where he -had realized a fortune. The Basques, it may be noticed, do not give -their names to houses and farms, but assume as surnames those place -names from which they came. - -From Itxasson the Pas de Roland is reached in half an hour on foot. -It is an archway bored in the crag beside the river. Road and railway -have so maltreated the rock that the Pas is now hardly worth a special -visit. It was through this arch that the Roman road passed, and through -it Roland the Paladin went to his death at Roncevaux. According to -local legend Roland set his foot against the rock and burst a way -through it by pressure. Road and rail now enter the mountains following -the river. - -At Bidarray, on the mountain-side, is a grotto, about thirty feet deep. -In one corner a ladder conducts to a cavity, at the back of which is -a stalagmitic incrustation three feet high, of a livid hue, rudely -representing a human torso. This is held in high veneration by the -peasantry, and is called “the Saint of Bidarry,” though who the saint -was whom it is supposed to represent nobody can say. A very similar -incrustation occupies a niche in the Gorge of the Ardèche, and is there -held to be a lively presentation of Charlemagne. Sick people seek this -cave and soak rags in the water that dribbles from the figure, and -which has in fact built it up. They apply the rags to the suffering -parts of their bodies, and depart believing themselves to be healed, -but the rags are left behind as _ex votos_. - -[Illustration: PAS DE ROLAND] - -S. Jean-Pied-de-Port was the key to the port or pass into Spain, and -especially to the communication between Upper and Lower Navarre. It -occupies a point where three streams fall into the Nive. There had been -a Gallo-Roman town three miles distant at S. Jean-le-Vieux, but it had -been destroyed by the Saracens. The present town was founded by the -Garcias, kings of Navarre, in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. S. -Jean, from the Treaty of the Pyrenees to the Revolution, during three -reigns, was the capital of French Navarre. There are several old houses -in the town, some of the Renaissance Period, and owing to their being -built of red sandstone have a warm and pleasant aspect. The citadel was -constructed by Deville in 1668, but was remodelled by Vauban, as were -also the ramparts of the town. - -The first book in Basque that was printed and published was by Bernard -d’Echepare, curé of S. Jean-Pied-de-Port, in 1545. It consists of two -parts. The first contains Christian doctrine, moral sentences, and -passages from Scripture, good for edification. But strangely united -with this, under the same cover and with continuous numeration of -pages, is a collection of the priest’s erotic poems. - - Si ... turpiter atrum - Desinat in piscem mulier fermosa superne, - Spectatum admissi risum teneatis, amici? - -He frankly admits that he had had his love adventures. “I would not go -to heaven, not I,” he tells us, “unless I were sure of meeting women -there.” - -He gives us a picture of female charms too highly coloured to bear -reproduction. He throws in episodes from his own experience. In one of -his escapades he got into such a scrape that he was incarcerated by -order of the king of Navarre. “Il est à regretter,” says Michel, “qu’il -se soit borné à nous parler de sa détention, sans en indiquer ni la -cause, ni le lieu, ni l’époque.” - -S. Jean-Pied-de-Port should be visited at the time of its patronal -fête, 15 to 18 August, where day and night are given up to concerts, -games, masquerades, and allegorical dances performed by the peasants of -la Haute Soule. - -But should a visitor be there at midsummer he should make an effort -to push on to Pampeluna for the fête of 7 July, when for over a -week the city keeps holiday--_les gigantes_ parade the streets, -monstrous figures, representing Moors; and the Alcalde and Corporation -dance in front of the cathedral in honour of S. Firmin, the patron -saint. He will, moreover, have an opportunity of seeing the pretty -Navarrese girls, who have come out of the country for the great annual -merry-making. - -But the place of highest historic and romantic interest to be visited -from S. Jean-Pied-de-Port is Roncevaux. Here, on 15 August, 778, the -army of Charlemagne met with a crushing defeat, in which Roland and the -twelve peers of the emperor were overwhelmed by rocks hurled down on -them by the Basques. - -The contemporary Eginhard tells us that the king invaded Spain at the -head of a huge army, pushed on as far as Saragossa, and there received -hostages from the Saracen chiefs. On his return, whilst entangled in -the Pyrenean pass, the Basques attacked his rearguard, which perished -to a man. Most of the officers of the palace, to whom Charlemagne had -confided the command of the troops, were among the slain, and with them -“Roland, prefect of the Marches of Brittany.” - -No revenge could be taken for this disaster, as the light-footed -mountaineers dispersed, and could not be reached. This is all we know -for certain, but even in this account the existence of Roland among -the captains slain is doubtful, as the passage referring to him is an -interpolation, and is not found in the best MSS. copies. - -In 810 Louis “le Debonaire,” at that time King of Aquitaine, on his -return from an expedition into Spain, took the precaution of securing -the wives and children of the Basques and retaining them as hostages -till he was safely through the pass. But in 824 the Frank army -descended to Pampeluna, under two counts, and on its way back was -surprised at Roncevaux by the Basques; the troops were slaughtered and -the counts taken. These two disasters in popular tradition were run -into one, and gave occasion to the composition of the “Song of Roland,” -one of the finest pieces of medieval poetry that we possess. - - “‘The Song of Roland,’” says Mr. Ludlow, “apart from any - question of literary merit, has a peculiar interest for our - country, not only as forming one of the treasures of the - Bodleian, but from its connexion with one of the half dozen - greatest events in our history--the Battle of Hastings. For - there, as we are told by Wace, William of Normandy’s minstrel - ‘Taillefer who full well sang, on a horse that was swift, went - before them singing _Of Charlemagne and of Roland, and of - Oliver and of the vassals who died at Roncevaux_.’”[E] - - [E] Ludlow, _Popular Epics of the Middle Ages_. London, 1865. - -The very earliest text extant of this poem is in the Bodleian Library -at Oxford. All other songs of Roland are amplifications of later date. - -Thus it appears that to the chanting of this ballad by a minstrel -William went forward to the conquest of England. - -One of the most popular books of the Middle Ages was the _History of -the Life of Charlemagne and of his Nephew Roland_, which passed as -the composition of Turpin, Archbishop of Rheims, a man who died about -800. It was a historical romance based on old ballads, composed in the -twelfth century, and of no historic value whatsoever. Pope Callixtus II -formally decided, however, in 1122, that it was veracious history. - -In this book we have the fully-developed story of the defeat at -Roncevaux. In it, declared by an infallible Pope to be authentic and -trustworthy, we are informed that Charlemagne was eight feet high, -measured by his own feet, “which were of the largest size,” that at a -meal he would consume a quarter of a sheep, and if that were not at -hand, then he would appease his appetite with two fowls, or a duck, a -peacock, a crane, or a hare. - -The army had marched into Spain, and Roland and Ganilon the Traitor -had been sent forward to Saragossa on an embassage to the Soudan, who, -according to the counsel of Ganilon, spake fair and consented to all -Charlemagne’s demands. Consequently the host of the Franks returned -through the Pyrenees, unsuspicious of evil. Charles led the van, and -Roland and Oliver the rearguard. Meanwhile the Saracens had gone about -by bypaths, and they suddenly appeared to intercept the march of that -body of men which was under the command of Roland and Oliver. A furious -fight ensued, Oliver fell, and Roland alone survived. Then he put his -ivory horn to his lips and blew such a blast that Charles heard it, -though many leagues away, and he knew thereby that his nephew was in -danger. With the blast Roland broke a blood-vessel, and, sinking to the -ground, he dashed his good sword Durandal against the rocks with intent -to break it, lest it should fall into the hands of the paynim. - -To this day at Roncevaux a mass is said in May above the tombs of -the paladins, in the little chapel supposed to have been founded by -Charlemagne, and this mass is for the repose of the souls of those who -fell in the massacre of Roncevaux. - -Roncevaux itself consists of a few poor huts about a monumental -convent, from the midst of which rises the church with a massive -square tower. The “royal and illustrious collegiate church” was -considered in Spain to be the fourth in order of the holy spots on -earth. The other three were Jerusalem, Rome, and Compostella. The -chapter was under the special protection of the Holy See, and the King -of Spain nominated the prior. This dignitary and six canons are all -that remain of the ancient order of Roncevaux. Throughout the convent -may be seen its badge, a cross, the middle member curved at the head -like a pastoral staff, and with a sword at the feet. - -Pilgrims from France, Germany, and Italy were wont to cross the -Pyrenees on their way to Compostella, and many lost their lives in -the snow. On this account, in 1131, the Bishop of Pampeluna founded a -hospital at Roncevaux for their accommodation, and he dispatched one of -the canons of his cathedral to attend to the requirements and comforts -of the pilgrims. This was the origin of the convent that grew rich -with the gifts of kings and princes who were lodged there. The canons -of Roncevaux wear a sleeveless surplice and a black amice over their -shoulders in summer, but in winter a thick black cloak and a furred -hood. When they go out they wear a short linen scapular over their -cassocks. - -Under the tower is a Gothic hall. This, with the cloister and the -church, was erected by Sanchez the Strong, King of Navarre, in the -thirteenth century. He and his wife repose in the church under a marble -tomb. - -In this church is a Mater Dolorosa, the eyes of which are apparently -full of tears. This appearance is due to the insertion of diamonds, -but the ignorant peasantry are fully convinced that the eyes of the -Madonna really brim with tears for their sorrows, and out of profound -compassion. - -Near the convent formerly stood a pillar commemorative of the defeat of -Charlemagne’s rearguard, but the monument was destroyed in 1794 by two -commissioners of the French Republic, to the performance of a “musique -touchante.” These men headed a column called l’Infernale; it entered -Spanish territory, and carried fire and sword everywhere. They pillaged -the church and the convent, and wrecked all they could lay hands on. - -Over this pass fled Joseph Bonaparte, without his crown, after the rout -of Vittoria. At Roncevaux is a little inn where the traveller has an -opportunity of seeing a Spanish kitchen, with a central hearth, about -which are ranged as many little saucepans as there are visitors to be -entertained, and of hearing the custom-house officers play the guitar, -and seeing the muleteers dancing the fandango. - -Smuggling thrives in the Pyrenees, indeed it is impossible to suppress -it. The most daring and successful of all smugglers are the Basques, -and the mountains in their part not being of the loftiest, free trade -can be carried on with comparative ease. F. Michel, in _Le Pays -Basque_, says:-- - - “Contraband is a veritable profession that employs a great many - hands. Men thoroughly upright and strictly honest take part in - it. The chiefs are well known, and one is certain of meeting - with fidelity, integrity, and chivalrous devotion among them. - This may be understood, because their profession depends mainly - on the confidence which their character inspires, and without - which the merchants would not venture to have recourse to them.” - -Consider what the length of the chain is--350 miles as the crow flies, -500 if you follow the frontier line. Tobacco is a Government monopoly -in France, and French tobacco is execrable. There are in that 500 miles -a thousand passes: some easy, others difficult. The douane cannot be -everywhere; it can be planted at certain fixed points, but the officers -are not ubiquitous, cannot guard every port, for the ports are in the -region of perpetual snow, where, if stationed, the officers would -freeze at their posts. Besides, the douanier gravitates instinctively -towards the cabaret, where he can have his wine, his coffee, his -absinthe, about a stove. And none of the taverns are planted on the -more difficult cols. Consequently a very considerable traffic is done -across the frontier by these honourable and intelligent men, the -smugglers. - -In November, 1835, the Princess of Beira was on her way from Naples -to Spain to be married to the Pretender, Don Carlos. She was his -sister-in-law, but at Rome dispensations are ever obtainable for money. - -Ferdinand VII, by his third wife, Maria Christina, daughter of Francis -I, King of the Two Sicilies, had a daughter, Isabella, born in 1830. -Now Don Carlos was the brother of Ferdinand. When this latter died, -in 1834, Carlos claimed the crown. Queen Christina had become regent, -whilst Isabella was a minor. Carlos went to the north of Spain, and war -broke out between the Carlists and the Christinos. Spain, Portugal, -England, and France united in quadruple alliance to support the claims -of Queen Christina. Carlos was in the Spanish Biscay, and he summoned -to him his son by his wife Maria Frances, who was dead, and also his -intended wife, the Princess of Beira. This lady undertook to leave -Naples, traverse France, pick up on her way the Prince of the Asturias, -who was at Toulouse, and join her intended husband in the Basque -province of Spain. - -Her journey had to be carried out with precaution, as France -opposed the pretensions of Don Carlos. She managed, attended by the -Count Custine and a Portuguese lady, to secure the Prince of the -Asturias and to make her way to Bayonne. There she remained awhile -in concealment till warned that her retreat was discovered, when she -fled and delivered herself up to the protection and guidance of some -smugglers. After a day spent in wandering through the forest of Mixe, -with which her guides were unfamiliar, she reached in the evening -the valley of Mìharin, between Hasparren and S. Palais. It had been -arranged that she should sup at the cabaret of Sallubria; but the place -was so squalid that Count Custine advised the Princess to throw herself -on the hospitality of the Viscount de Belsunce, who had a château hard -by. This she did, and was received with the utmost civility, though it -was not allowed to transpire who she was. Thence one of the smuggler -guides, Baptista Etchegoyen, was dispatched with instructions to the -contraband Captain Ganis to aid the Princess in her escape. He arrived -in the middle of the night with some of his band, and with horses -carrying bundles containing disguises. - -In order to reach the frontier it was necessary to pass through -Hélitte, a station of douaniers, on the high road from Bayonne to S. -Jean-Pied-de-Port. In order to effect this, Ganis took advantage of -a funeral that was to take place at half-past ten in the morning. He -left Méharin at 9 a.m. attending the two ladies, dressed as mourners. -At a little distance from the place the Princess and her attendant -had to alight and go direct to the church, where Ganis informed her -they were to place themselves behind a tall woman in mourning, and to -follow her when she left the church. The ladies assisted at the office -for the dead, with hoods concealing their faces. They followed the -corpse to the cemetery, and passed the station of the douaniers without -attracting attention. On reaching a valley they found horses awaiting -them, and by evening they had reached Macaye, near Hasparren, where -they lodged in the house of Ganis. - -Fatigued by the journey, the Princess hoped to pass a quiet night, -but soon after dark an alarm was given. Fifteen to eighteen hundred -men--soldiers, gendarmes, and douaniers--were patrolling the country in -quest of the Princess. A party of these men, suspecting that she was -under the protection of Ganis, approached the house with the purpose -of searching it. The smuggler roused the ladies, made them follow him -on foot, and under his conduct they reached the banks of a river that -was swelled by the rain then descending in torrents. Ganis took the -Princess on his back, and stepped into the water. He was followed by -his brother with the lady-in-waiting. The flood rose to his armpits, -and he had the utmost difficulty in struggling across. Before he had -reached the further bank he heard shouts, and looking back, saw a crowd -of uniforms on that he had quitted. The smugglers and their charges now -made for the road into Spain by Anhoue, and succeeded in passing the -frontier without further adventures. - -Next morning the south wind bore to Bayonne the joyous clatter of the -bells of Urdase, and of all the Spanish villages over the frontier, -celebrating the marriage of the Princess of Beira with the Pretender, -Don Carlos of Bourbon. In the meantime the Count Custine had remained -with the Prince of the Asturias in the château of M. de Belsunce. -Baptista now returned for them. They were disguised as Basque peasants, -mounted horses, and departed under the conduct of the energetic and -indefatigable Etchegoyen, who conducted them by a different route from -that taken by the Princess, to where they met her and the Prince, his -father. - -It would be unpardonable to quit the Basques without a few words -on the Couvade, a custom once prevalent among them, but by no means -peculiar to them, as it has been found in Asia, Africa, and America. - -Immediately after childbirth the woman rises and goes about the -business of the house, whereas the husband at once retires to bed -with the baby, receives the congratulations of the neighbours, and -is fed on broth and pap during ten days. Strabo mentions this usage -above eighteen hundred years ago as prevalent among the Iberians, the -ancestors of the Basques. “The women,” he says, “after the birth of a -child, nurse their husbands, putting them to bed instead of going to it -themselves.” That this custom was widely spread in the south of France -appears from the medieval tale of _Aucussin and Nicolette_. In it the -hero finds King Theodore _au lit en couche_, whereupon he takes a stick -and thrashes him till he vows to abolish the Couvade in his realms. -Diodorus Siculus, at the beginning of the Christian era, tells us that -this custom also prevailed in Corsica. - -Marco Polo, in the thirteenth century, met with it in Eastern Asia, so -that the widow’s remark to Sir Hudibras was not amiss-- - - “Chineses go to bed - And lie-in in their ladies’ stead.” - -The same custom is found among the American Indians. - -What can be its meaning? What topsy-turvydom of the human brain can -have originated it? Mr. Tylor, in his _Early History of Mankind_, says -that it proceeded from a notion that the woman was a mere machine for -the turning out of babies, and that the babes were not in the least -supposed to belong to her, but to the father. Also that the child was -part and parcel of the father, a feeble and frail parcel, and that the -utmost precaution had to be taken to keep the male parent in health -lest the child should suffer. If the father were to take a pinch of -snuff, the infant would sneeze its brains away; if he were to eat -solid food, the babe would suffer indigestion. A missionary found it -impossible to persuade his Indian servant to eat anything but slops -directly after the birth of a son and heir, as he was persuaded heavy -diet would injure the child. Then the missionary belaboured his servant -with a stick, and sent him to look at his infant smiling in its sleep, -and so convinced the man of his delusion. - -This may be the explanation. I cannot say. Mankind does many things out -of sheer cussedness. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -ORTHEZ - - Court of the counts of Foix--Froissart--Gaston Phœbus--Kills - his son--And a cousin--Death of Phœbus--Evan de Foix--The - bastards of Phœbus--Tragic death of Evan--Bridge over the - Gave--Jeanne d’Albret--Her despotic actions--Flight to La - Rochelle--Charles sends La Terride into Béarn--Jeanne invites - Montgomery to her aid--He enters Béarn--Takes Orthez-- - Massacre--The castle capitulates--Broken faith--Murder of - ten barons--Slaughter of priests and monks--Catholic worship - forbidden--Death of Jeanne--Castle of Belocq--Puyôo-- - Battlefield of Orthez--Retreat of Soult. - - -Orthez has little to occupy it save to brood over its past. It is -a dull town, without characteristic features, and it sulks because -Pau the parvenue is flourishing, and flaunting, whilst itself, the -venerable Orthez, the once capital, sits as a widow, desolate. - -Till the fifteenth century it was the residence of the Court of the -counts of Foix and viscounts of Béarn, whose castle of Moncada occupied -the height above the town. A splendid pile it was, erected by Gaston -VII, in 1240, after the pattern of a Spanish castle of the name that he -had taken. This had proved to him a hard nut to crack, and he hoped to -make the new Moncada by additional works wholly uncrackable. But the -tooth of Time has broken it completely, and nothing of it now remains -save the keep. - -[Illustration: THE BRIDGE, ORTHEZ] - -The town was astir and aglow when Gaston Phœbus resided in the -castle. Froissart so describes it. Minstrels, merchants, knights, -adventurers, swarmed in the streets, and streamed into the castle, -which they did not leave empty-handed. “I have heard him say, when the -King of Cyprus was in Béarn proposing a crusade, that if the kings of -France and of England had gone to the Holy Land, he himself would have -been the most considerable lord in the host, second only to them, and -would have led the largest contingent.” - -Gaston Phœbus, Count of Foix and Viscount of Béarn, was the son of -Gaston IX and the elderly Eleanor de Cominges. On account of his beauty -he was given the name of Phœbus, and he adopted the blazing sun as his -device. He was arrested by King John of France when at Paris because he -refused to do homage for his lands, but was released and given command -of an army in Guyenne to war against the English. - -Froissart visited Orthez, and lodged at the tavern “La Lune,” now -rebuilt and renamed “La belle Hôtesse.” - - “I must say,” wrote he, “that although I have seen many - knights, kings, princes, and other great men, I have never seen - any so handsome as he, either in mould of limb and shape, or - in countenance, which was fair and ruddy, lit up with grey, - amorous eyes, that delighted whenever he chose to express - affection. He was so perfectly formed that it is not possible - to overpraise him. Gaston Phœbus was a prudent knight, full - of enterprise and wisdom. He never allowed men of abandoned - character to be about his person; he reigned prudently, and was - constant at his devotions. He mightily loved dogs above other - animals, and during the summer and winter amused himself with - hunting. He employed four secretaries, whom he called neither - John, Walter, nor William, but his Good-for-noughts, and to - these he gave his letters to copy out.” - -But this prince was no other than a lusty, handsome animal, incapable -of controlling his passions, and whilst profuse in largesses to -wandering _jongleurs_ and travellers, who would bruit abroad his -praises, mean in money matters in other particulars. - -Gaston Phœbus succeeded his father in 1343, and in 1348 married -Agnes, daughter of Philip III of Navarre. By her he had one son, -Gaston, as beautiful as Phœbus himself, and an amiable youth. Before -long the Count and his wife fell out. The quarrel was sordid--it -concerned money. Phœbus had imprisoned the Sieur d’Albret. The King -of Navarre, Charles the Bad, brother of the Countess, interceded for -his liberation, and undertook to guarantee payment of fifty thousand -francs for his ransom. Accordingly Gaston released him, and d’Albret -paid the money into the hands of the King of Navarre, who pocketed -it, and declined to send it to the Count of Foix, under the plea that -he was trustee for his sister and reserved it as her dower. The Count -resented this upon his wife, whom he called by all the bad names in his -copious vocabulary. He had taken a mistress, and he openly favoured -her in the face of his wife for her humiliation. By this woman he had -three sons. Then he ordered Agnes to visit the Court of Navarre and use -her personal influence to obtain the money due. The Countess went, but -failed to induce her brother to disburse; and knowing how ungovernable -was the temper of her husband, how little he loved her, she shrank from -returning to Orthez. - -The boy Gaston at the age of fifteen entreated leave to visit his -mother at Pampeluna. The lad was distressed at the estrangement, and -pined for his mother. Accordingly his father gave him a splendid -retinue of gallant youths, and the Bishop of Lescar as his chaplain. -Charles the Bad resolved on a diabolical act of treachery. When the -boy was leaving he drew him aside, assured him of his distress at -seeing the lad’s father alienated in heart from his mother, and gave -him a bag of arsenic, which he informed him was a love powder. This he -was to strew on his father’s meat, or drop into his cup, when Phœbus’s -love for his wife would infallibly revive. But on no account, said -Charles, was Gaston to breathe a word of this to any one, and he must -be cautious to seize the right moment for the administration of the -dose, when unobserved. Gaston, fully believing what his uncle said, -hung the bag round his neck under his dress, and returned to Orthez. - -Now it happened that Gaston and his half-brother, the bastard Evan, -slept in the same room. They were nearly of the same age and size, and -dressed alike. Evan did not fail to notice the silk bag and questioned -Gaston about it, but was put off with evasive answers. - -Three days after Evan and Gaston quarrelled over a game of tennis, and -Gaston boxed his half-brother’s ears. Evan ran to his father and told -him that Gaston carried in his bosom a mysterious pouch of which he -would give no account. - -At dinner Phœbus was served by his son, Gaston, and looking hard at -him observed the string about his neck. Laying hold of him, he tore -open his vest, and discovered the bag of powder. He cut the string, -and gave some of the white contents on a piece of meat to a dog, that -ate it and died. Then in a paroxysm of rage, knife in hand, he leaped -over the table, swearing that he would kill Gaston, who had purposed to -poison him. He would have slain him on the spot had not his servants -interposed and disarmed him. - -The Count then ordered the boy to be thrown into a dungeon. At the same -time he had all the attendants of the youth who had been with him in -Navarre arrested and tortured, and fifteen of them were forthwith hung. -“Which was a pity,” says Froissart, “for there were not in all Gascony -such handsome and well-appointed squires.” The Bishop of Lescar had -timely warning, and took to his heels. - -The Count assembled the Estates of Béarn and laid before them his -charge against the boy, and they unanimously decided that the prince -must not be executed, but kept in durance for awhile; nor would they -separate till they had extorted from Phœbus a solemn undertaking to -submit to their decision. - -But the poor lad, knowing his innocence, wounded to the quick at the -manner in which he had been duped by his uncle, at the blind conviction -of his guilt entertained by his father, at the barbarity with which his -companions had been racked, and strung up, refused all food. He was -confined in a narrow dungeon, badly lighted, and his gaoler at first -did not observe that the meals he brought him remained untouched. But -on the tenth day--I quote Froissart-- - - “The person who served him, looking about the cell, saw all the - meat unconsumed with which he had been previously supplied. - Then, shutting the door, he went to the Count of Foix and said, - ‘My lord, for God’s sake, look to your son, he is starving - himself in his prison. I do not believe that he has eaten a - morsel since his confinement.’ On hearing this the Count was - enraged, and without saying a word went to his son’s prison. In - an evil hour he had a knife in his hand, with which he had been - paring his nails. He held it so close by the blade that of the - point scarcely so much as the size of a groat showed. - - “Thrusting aside the tapestry that covered the door of the - dungeon, through ill luck he struck his son on the jugular - vein, as he shouted, ‘Ha, traitor! why dost thou not eat?’ and - instantly flung out of the chamber without saying or doing - more. The lad was frightened at his father’s violence, and was, - moreover, weak through long fasting. The point of the knife, - small though it was, had severed the artery, and when he felt - what had been done, he turned himself on one side on his pallet - and expired. - - “The Count had hardly returned to his apartment before his - servants came running after him to announce the death of his - son. ‘Dead is he? God help me!’ exclaimed the Count. ‘Dead he - is, my lord.’ The Count was greatly affected, and said, ‘Ah, - ha, Gaston! what a sorry business this has proved for me and - thee.’” - -This was by no means his only crime. He induced his cousin, Pierre -Arnaut de Béarn, governor of the Castle of Lourdes, to visit him, -on the plea that he wished to discuss matters with him. Arnaut held -Lourdes for the English. Gaston Phœbus desired to acquire this -stronghold, which was the key to the Valley of Argelez. He received -Arnaut in a friendly manner, and they dined together. For three days -he showed him lavish hospitality, and then demanded the surrender of -the castle. Arnaut refused. “I hold it for the King of England. It has -been confided to my honour,” he replied, “and to no other person will -I surrender my trust.” Gaston Phœbus flew into one of his mad fits of -rage, rushed upon him, and stabbed him in five places with his dagger. -“My Lord,” said the gallant castellan, “this is ungentle treatment, -to summon me to your house as a guest, and therein to murder me.” The -Count ordered him to be flung into a dungeon, where he died of his -wounds. - -The crime availed Phœbus nothing, for Jean, the brother of Pierre, had -been left in charge of the castle, and he refused to give it up. - -The Viscount of Châteaubon, the Count’s cousin-germain, heir to his -lands and titles, after the death of Gaston the younger, was greatly -hated by Phœbus. He retained him in prison for eight months, and only -released him for a ransom of fifty thousand francs. Froissart gives an -account of the end of Phœbus. He had been out hunting near Sauveterre, -in the month of August, when the heat was great. He had killed a boar, -that was brought to the inn at Riou, where the Count would dine. - - “The Count went to his chamber, that was strewn with rushes - and green leaves; the walls were hung with boughs freshly - cut for perfume and coolness. He had no sooner entered the - room than he remarked, ‘These greens are agreeable to me, for - the day has been desperately hot.’ When seated he conversed - with Sir Espagne du Lyon (his chaplain) on the dogs that had - best hunted. He called for water to wash, and two squires - advanced. Ernaudin d’Espagne took the silver basin, and another - knight, Sir Thibaut, the napkin. The Count rose from his seat, - and stretched out his hands to wash; but no sooner had his - fingers touched the cold water than he changed colour, from an - oppression at his heart, and his legs failing him, fell back - on his seat, exclaiming, ‘I am a dead man; but God have mercy - on me!’ He never spoke after this. He was carried to another - chamber, and laid on a bed and well covered. - - “The two squires who had brought the water, to free themselves - from any charge of having poisoned him, said, ‘Here is the - water; we have already drunk of it, and will now do it again - in your presence,’ which they did, to the satisfaction of all. - They put into the Count’s mouth bread, water, and spices, but - all to no purpose, for in less than half an hour he was dead.” - -No sooner was the breath out of his body than Evan de Foix, his -bastard, whom he loved dearly, galloped to Orthez to get possession -of the treasure in the tower. On his admission to the castle, before -it was known in the town that the Count was dead, he endeavoured to -open the chamber that contained the treasure, but failed; it was fast -behind three oak doors, and he could nowhere find the key. But in the -meanwhile the chaplain had found it upon the body of the Count, and -guessing the predicament in which was Evan, he also took horse and -raced off to Orthez. - -By this time a vague rumour had reached the town that something had -happened to the Count, and the townsmen began to assemble in the -streets. The chaplain entered the castle, and now that he was provided -with the key Evan de Foix was able to reach the treasure. But it was -too late for him to make off with it. Before he could pack it up and -form plans for its transport, the death of Gaston Phœbus was known, and -crowds surrounded the castle and forbade egress. Evan was constrained -to show himself at a window and speak the citizens fair. They wished -him no ill, they replied, but they would neither suffer him to plunder -and carry off the treasure, nor leave the castle, till the Viscount of -Châteaubon, the lawful heir, had arrived--this latter was in Aragon at -the time. He at once started for Orthez, and a great assembly of the -Estates of Béarn was held. It was then determined that of the treasure, -the Viscount should have five thousand francs, and the bastards, who -had been put in chains till the will of the Estates was known, should -be set at liberty and allowed each two thousand francs. - - “The Viscount of Châteaubon, on his arrival at Orthez, set at - liberty all prisoners confined in the castle. They were very - numerous; for the Count of Foix was very cruel to any person - who incurred his indignation, never sparing them, however high - their rank, but ordering them to be flung headlong over the - walls, or confined on bread and water during his pleasure; and - such as ventured to speak for their deliverance ran the risk of - being treated in like manner.” - -Gaston Phœbus was born in 1331, and died in 1391. He left three -bastards; of these Bernard married Isabella de la Cerda, and became the -ancestor of the dukes of Medina-Celi. The eldest son, Evan, he who had -unwittingly brought about the death of his half-brother Gaston, met -with a tragic fate. A marriage was to take place between a squire in -whom the King, Charles VI, was interested and a damsel of the Queen’s -household, and it was arranged that there should be a masque of savages -in the evening, 29 January, 1392-3, in which the King was to take part. -There were to be six of these savages in chains, and they were to -perform a dance before the wedding party, and one of these maskers was -to be the Bastard of Foix. The performers were to be dressed in coats -of linen covered with flax, stuck on by means of pitch, and these linen -vests were to be stitched on so as to fit the person tight as a glove. -Sir Evan de Foix, with some foresight, entreated the King to forbid any -one approaching the dancers with torches. Such an order was accordingly -issued, and when the maskers entered the room, the serjeants commanded -all torch-bearers to withdraw. But, unhappily, whilst the savages were -capering, and producing much merriment, the Duke of Orleans entered -attended by four knights and six torches, they being not aware of the -King’s order, and so amused were those present with the dance that this -infraction of the royal command was not noticed. No one knew who the -maskers were, and various conjectures were offered. Happily for him -the King quitted the others, by unhooking his chain, and danced up to -the Duchess of Berri, who laid hold of him exclaiming, “You shall not -escape me till I have learned your name.” - -At that very moment the Duke of Orleans, young and thoughtless, ran -forward with a torch to examine the savages more closely. In an instant -the flax on one ignited, in another moment the flame was communicated -to the others, for those five were chained together; only the King was -unlinked. The shrieks of those enveloped in flames were awful. Some -knights rushed forward and did their utmost to disengage the dancers, -but the pitch burnt their hands so severely, and so impossible did they -find it to rip away the habits, that they were constrained to desist. -One of the five, Jean de Nantouillet, recollected that the buttery was -near at hand. Exerting all his force, he snapped the chain, and flying -thither, plunged into a large tub of water prepared for the washing of -plates and dishes. This saved him, but he ever after bore the scars of -his burns. - -The Duchess de Berri, the moment that she saw what had occurred, with -presence of mind, threw her mantle over the King, and retained him in -her arms, as he was rushing off in thoughtless generosity to endeavour -to save his companions. “Quick,” said she, “leave the room and assume -another dress.” - -Evan de Foix, when enveloped in flames, cried aloud, “Save the King! -save the King!” - -Of the four that were on fire, two died on the spot. The other two--the -Bastard of Foix and the Count de Joigny--died two days after in great -agony. - -Orthez contains the Calvinist University established here by Jeanne -d’Albret, a building of the sixteenth century, now no longer used for -the purpose designed. - -The bridge over the Gave is picturesque; it has one broad arch spanning -the river, and three pointed arches sustaining the road leading to it, -raised high to avoid floods. On the main pier is a tower, whence in -1569 the Calvinist soldiery of Montgomery precipitated the priests who -would not abjure the faith, upon the pointed rocks below. - -Jeanne d’Albret, after the death of her husband, Antoine de Bourbon, -threw off the mask, and set diligently to work Protestantizing her -dominions. She put one of her pastors in the see of Oloron; her -kinsman, d’Albret, Bishop of Lescar, apostatized and married. She found -in many places that the people were ready for a change, especially such -as had been subject to exactions from the monasteries, which owned much -land and exercised extensive jurisdiction. In many, however, there was -strong resistance. In 1566 she was about to absolutely interdict the -exercise of the Catholic religion in Béarn, Foix, and Bigorre, when the -resistance of the Estates and the threatening attitude of the people -alarmed her and she withheld the edict for a time. In 1568, finding -that Charles IX was about to send troops into her land to protect the -oppressed Catholics, and fearing lest she should have her children -taken from her, she fled to La Rochelle, the Geneva of French Calvinism. - -Charles IX announced his resolution to take possession of Béarn. -Bigorre was in revolt against her reforms, and a good many of the -seigneurs of Béarn could not endure them. The King commissioned the -terrible Monluc to pacify Bigorre, and the Baron de Terride to do -the same in Béarn. The Béarnais were in difficulties. They were to a -man loyal to their Viscountess, the titular Queen of Navarre, but a -considerable number of them were opposed to her religious policy, and -did not relish the taste of Calvinism. If they joined the forces of -the King they were rebels to their sovereign. If they took up arms for -her they fought for a religion that their soul abhorred. Nay, Pontacq, -Morlaas, shut their gates against the royal forces, and were reduced. -Lescar, Sauveterre, and Salies opened their gates to them. - -Béarn was rapidly reduced. Clearly the object at which the King aimed -was to bring it completely under the crown of France. Two syndics of -Béarn addressed the King in the name of the Estates to declare that for -eight centuries the viscounty had been independent, that the King of -France was the protector but not the sovereign of the land. The Queen -of Navarre now gave commission to the Count of Montgomery to drive the -French out of her territories, and to establish throughout them the -reform of Calvin as the sole religion permissible. Montgomery was the -lieutenant of the Scottish Guard, who, in a tournament, in 1559, had -inadvertently killed Henry II, King of France. Obliged to fly the land, -he placed his sword at the disposal of any prince who was disposed to -smite the Catholics and the Royalists hip and thigh. Obeying the orders -of Jeanne, communicated to him from La Rochelle, Montgomery raised a -body of sturdy Huguenots and entered Béarn. - -Alarmed at the rapidity of his movements, and himself at the head of -but a small body of men, the Baron de Terride retreated to Orthez, and -shut himself up in the Castle of Moncada. - -Montgomery arrived at Pontacq on 6 August, 1562, crossed the Gave, and -advanced on Orthez. There, taking advantage of the gates being opened -to receive fugitives from the villages round, some of his soldiers -thrust in. Simultaneously the walls were escaladed, and the town was -given up to indiscriminate slaughter. In the name of their queen, all -the inhabitants were put to the sword. - -The Gave rolled down the dead and flowed crimson with blood. The -Protestant historian Olhagaray says: “The river was full of blood, -the streets were heaped up with corpses. The convents were burnt. The -cries of the dying and the shouts of the murderers, the lamentations -of women and children filled the air with piteous sounds.” The Convent -of the Cordeliers offered a theatre for barbarities. The friars were -made to leap from the windows into the river, and were shot if they -endeavoured to gain the bank. - -No excuse offered for this massacre will avail. The town was not taken -after a siege; it was not stormed by night; it was entered without -offering resistance, in broad day. The butchery at Orthez leaves an -indelible stain on the brow of Jeanne d’Albret. - -A striking incident is remembered. One of the friars was at the altar -when the Huguenots burst in. He hastily took the monstrance, folded his -arms over it, and to save the Host from profanation, threw himself into -the Gave. The river swept his body into the Bidouze, and the Bidouze -into the Adour, and it was washed up under the walls of the Cordelier -Convent at Bayonne, still clasping in its rigid arms the vessel with -its sacred contents. - -Terride, accompanied by the principal chiefs, had retreated into the -castle, but with such precipitation that they had forgotten to take in -a supply of provisions. Consequently in a few days they were forced to -surrender, under oath from Montgomery that their lives would be spared. - -They were sent to Pau, ten barons of Béarn in all. One evening they -were invited by the Calvinist captain to dine with him at his table -in the Queen’s banqueting hall. During the meal they shook off their -despondency, and began to be merry over their cups, when, at a signal -from Montgomery, soldiers entered and butchered all the barons about -the table where they had been feasting. - -“This cruel execution,” says Favyn, in his _History of Navarre_, -“took place on 24 August, the feast of S. Bartholomew.... The news -angered King Charles greatly, and it is supposed that he then formed -the resolution of making a second S. Bartholomew’s Day in expiation of -the first.” So one crime draws on another--a Nemesis, which, however, -does not fall on the criminals, but on the guiltless. Montgomery was -now master of Béarn. How many priests and monks were slaughtered none -knew. Nearly all the friars of Morlaas were shot down. The prior of -the Carmelites at Sauveterre was hung, and the rest of the brethren -thrown into a well till they choked it up. All the priests caught near -S. Sever were led to the brow of a precipice and forced at the point of -pikes to leap down. At Orthez the prior of the Augustines was ordered -to mount the pulpit and recant. He ascended, but it was to profess his -adherence to the Catholic faith, whereupon he was shot in the pulpit. -All his seven brethren met their fate with like heroism. They were made -to walk down a lane formed of Huguenot soldiers with swords drawn, and -were hacked to pieces, one after another. - -The Calvinist soldiers did not even respect the dead. They broke open -the vault in which lay Gaston Phœbus, took his skull, and played -skittles with it. Great numbers of gentlemen and their families, -Catholics of every rank and sex, fled to the mountains or crossed into -Spain. - -Montgomery, having finished with Béarn, left the command with the -Baron d’Arros, and departed for more active work elsewhere. Jeanne -d’Albret now dispatched injunction after injunction, proclamation after -proclamation, in one continuous stream, into Béarn from her refuge -in La Rochelle. On 28 November, 1569, she required that Calvinistic -worship should be established everywhere, in every town and parish, -throughout her dominions; and in 1571 she forbade the celebration of -the Mass under pain of death. She would allow an amnesty to such as -had taken up arms during the late troubles, but only on condition that -they adopted her form of religion. - -In 1572 Jeanne died in Paris, not without suspicions of poison. She had -gone there to negotiate the marriage of her son Henry with Marguerite -de Valois, sister of Charles IX. - -An excursion may be made to the Castle of Belocq, whose towers are -visible from the high road to Bayonne, on the further side of the Gave. -It is situated on a height, at the feet of which the green river sweeps -past the wooded slopes on the farther bank. - -The castle is ruinous. It consists of a large, irregular yard with -seven towers in the wall. The entrance gateway is under a donjon. -Through a little door one can mount to the top by a flight of stone -steps, disturbing the bats. On the same side of the enclosure is -a circular tower, octagonal within, with a vaulted chamber in the -basement. On the west side is a beautiful little chamber in a tower, -also vaulted. One tower towards the river, and commanding it, has -been blown up and a great solid mass has fallen into the river below; -on it sit the washerwomen of the village beating their linen. On the -right bank, opposite Belocq, is the village of Puyôo. Puyôo in patois -signifies a tumulus, and the place takes its name from a huge mound -hollowed out as a cup at the top. Certainly the substructure of a Frank -wooden castle, exactly like the tumps that are found in Southern Wales, -and the representations of fortresses in the Bayeux tapestry. The -hamlet of Puyôo is occupied mainly by Calvinists. - -But that which will mainly interest an Englishman at Orthez will be to -go over the ground of the battle fought on 27 February, 1814, in which -Lord Wellington defeated Marshal Soult. It was, in fact, one of his -most brilliant victories. - -Leaving Sir John Hope and Admiral Penrose to invest Bayonne, -Wellington, with the main force, had pushed on in pursuit of the French -under Soult. These were drawn up at Sauveterre, but whilst Wellington -demonstrated upon the front of the line on which Soult rested, and -whilst the attention of the marshal was wholly engaged by the movements -in his front, Sir Rowland Hill crossed the Gave d’Oloron at Villenave -without opposition on 24 February and turned his left. Upon this Soult -hastily abandoned his ground, transferred his headquarters to Orthez, -and took up a formidable position behind the Gave de Pau. - -The position chosen by him was well selected and apparently -impregnable. A half-moon of heights of sandstone and rubble, steep -towards the west, and with gullies torn in the sides, was occupied by -him. His right rested on the bluff above the village of S. Boës. The -left flank rested on the town of Orthez. A reserve of two divisions -of infantry and a brigade of cavalry were drawn up on an elevated and -commanding height by the road to Sault de Navailles. The French marshal -disposed of eight divisions of infantry and one of cavalry, but these -had been wasted from their former strength, and hardly mustered forty -thousand sabres and bayonets, with forty guns. - -Wellington was able, unopposed, to cross the Gave in three places, in -three advancing columns. - -At daybreak on the 27th Beresford, with the left wing, commenced the -action by turning the enemy’s extreme right at S. Boës, whilst at the -same time Picton assaulted the centre. Hill, with the second British -and Le Cor’s Portuguese brigade, was to endeavour to force the passage -at Orthez and attack the enemy’s left. There was an interval of a mile -and a half between Beresford’s and Picton’s columns, and here was a -conical hill occupied by a Roman camp on the summit, and separated by -a marsh from the semilunar range held by the French. On this height -in the midst of the camp Wellington took his station with his staff, -having the whole battle spread out like a map before him. Beresford, -having overlapped the French right, commenced a vigorous attack in -front and flank on the village of S. Boës. At length the English -reached the top of the hill, and, pursuing the enemy, began to move -along the narrow ridge which stretched from S. Boës to the centre of -the French position. But they failed to dislodge the enemy, who kept -up a rolling fire upon their pursuers, and the artillery raked both -flanks, occasioning dreadful carnage, so that the English were brought -to a stand-still. At the same time a Portuguese brigade, completely -unnerved, turned and fled in disorderly rout, throwing our own men into -confusion. - -Happily a brigade was moved up to cover the retreat of the Portuguese -and allow our own men to recover and re-form. “At last I have him!” -exclaimed Soult exultantly. Wellington, from his point of observation, -saw that the effort to dislodge the French and roll them back on their -centre had failed. He then executed one of those sudden and masterly -changes of attack which exhibit the ready resource of a great general. -He at once ordered up the third and sixth divisions to assail the -centre of the enemy’s position, and turn and take the right wing in -flank. Simultaneously Picton was to mount the ridge where the French -had their right centre, and, breaking the line of formation, drive it -back on to the left. The gallant troops crossed the swamp, with the -water up to their knees, and mounting the hill through the brushwood -unperceived by the foe, amidst the smoke, with a loud shout and a -withering fire plunged into the opening at the very moment that the -French on the right were pressing their advantage against Beresford, -and were driving the fourth division before them. - -At the same time Picton reached the summit of the ridge in the middle, -drove the French down the slope, and, planting his guns, plunged -through the enemy’s masses from one end of his position to the other. - -Soult saw that the day was lost, and ordered the army to retreat, which -it did in regular echelons of divisions, and they held the several -positions taken up till the allies closed on their front and moved upon -their flank, Hill having by this time crossed above Orthez and cut off -the retreat by the road to Pau. Then the French broke their formation, -and ran for Sault de Navailles with such speed that the great body of -them passed over the bridge in a wild, terror-stricken crowd. However, -nearly two thousand prisoners were taken in the pursuit, and several -guns. The French loss in killed, wounded, and taken, exceeded six -thousand, and some hundreds afterwards deserted, or rather disbanded, -and went to their homes. The loss of the allies amounted to 2300. - -It is pleasing to know what excellent discipline was maintained by -Wellington in his march through the Gascon land from Bayonne to -Toulouse. This was due not solely to humanity towards the peasantry, -but also as a precaution to obviate insurrectionary movements in his -rear. He issued a proclamation, authorizing the people of the country, -under the mayors of the villages, to arm themselves, and arrest all -stragglers and marauders from the army. Allison says:-- - - “Nor did his proclamation remain a dead letter, for on the - night of the 25th the inhabitants of a village on the high - road leading from Sauveterre, having shot one British soldier - who had been plundering, and wounded another, he caused the - wounded man to be hung, and sent home an English colonel who - had permitted his men to destroy the municipal archives of - a small town on the line of march. ‘Maintain the strictest - discipline; without that we are lost,’ said he to General - Freyre. By this means tranquillity was preserved in his rear - during this critical movement; and the English general reaped - the fruits of the admirable discipline and forbearance he had - maintained in the enemy’s country, by being enabled to bring up - all his reserves, and hurl his undivided force upon the hostile - army.” - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -PAU - - Situation--Climate--Stillness of the air--Castle--Abd-el-Kader-- - Thackeray on his imprisonment--View of the Pyrenees--Henry II of - Navarre--His escape from Pavia--Marguerite des Marguerites--What - Henry II did for Béarn--Refugee Huguenot preachers--Solon and - his many wives--Clement Marot--His Psalms--The Queen an odd - mixture--Story of Mlle. de la Roche--Jeanne d’Albret--Marries - the Duke of Cleves--Then Antoine de Bourbon--His murder - planned--Birth of Henry IV--Cradle--Bilhère--Reared at Coarraze - --Death of Antoine--Intolerance of Jeanne--Meeting with Charles - IX--Gondin’s unfortunate pleasantry--Marguerite de France’s - visit to Pau--The Count of Moret--A mysterious hermit--Henry IV - tolerant--The Baron d’Arros--Demand for the columns of Bielle-- - La Poule au Pot--Lescar--Mosaics--A Roman villa--Gassion-- - Bernadotte--Morlaas--Pont-long--Legend--Coarraze--Betharam-- - A flying Virgin--Jurançon wine. - - -The situation of Pau is singularly favoured, and one can appreciate -the judgment of Henry II of Navarre in transferring thither the -court residence from Orthez. Pau occupies the back of a rubble ridge -stretching east and west, facing the south, and drinking in the -sunlight and warmth. It does not suffer from cold winds. The land rises -behind it to the north, and one may see the clouds fly overhead without -feeling the air stir at Pau. The calmness of the atmosphere often -persists for weeks together. - -[Illustration: PAU] - -In this it has an advantage over some of the towns of the French -Riviera, where the mistral cuts like a knife that has been frozen -in an ice-pail. The bitter winds that sweep down on the Riviera are -produced by the snows of the Maritime Alps. But there are no snows at -the back of Pau. When there is no breeding ground for icy winds, no icy -winds are hatched. - -But, on the other hand, a good deal of rain is brought up and -discharged over Pau, coming from the Atlantic; and a whole month may -elapse without the promenaders on the terrace being able to catch a -glimpse of the Pic du Midi d’Ossau. The Girondin climate is notoriously -rainy, especially in spring; but nothing can surpass the splendour of -the days in summer and autumn. - -Mrs. Ellis, who wrote her _Summer and Winter in the Pyrenees_ in 1841, -says:-- - - “At the foot of the woody range of high ground forming the - promenade runs the broad, shallow river Gave, with a perpetual - low murmur that lulls the senses to repose. It is, in fact, the - only sound we hear, for there is so little wind in this climate - that not a leaf is seen to move, and we therefore distinguish - at a greater distance the toll of the matin and vesper bell in - the neighbouring villages, and the tinkling sounds which tell - when the flocks are led to and from the fields. There appears - at first a sort of mystery in this universal stillness. It - seems like a pause in the breath of Nature, a suspension of - the general throb of life, and we almost feel as if it must - be followed by that shout of joy which the language of poetry - has so often described as the grateful response of Nature for - the blessings of light and life. And never, surely, could this - response be offered more appropriately than from such a scene - as this rich and fertile land presents.” - -It was due to this climatic condition that in the first half of last -century patients in the early stages of consumption were dispatched -to Pau. Now that the treatment of phthisis is revolutionized, it is -no longer a resort for such as suffer from pulmonary complaints, but -serves as a refuge from the stormy English winters for those who desire -pleasant resting places where there are races, fox-hunting, and good -company. The climate, however, does not agree with all constitutions. -It is enervating, a land of lotus-eaters-- - - “In which it seemed always afternoon.” - -Pau, the old Pau, is attached on the north to the dreary _lande_ of the -Pont-long that has belonged from time immemorial to the inhabitants -of the Val d’Ossau, and which is strewn with tumuli. But from this -plateau it is in part cut off by the stream Hédas, that has cleft for -itself a valley dividing the town into two parts. New Pau has spread -and is spreading to north and east, so that its extremities have to be -reached by electric trams. Happily, to the west it cannot encroach on -the rubble ridge occupied by the park. Between this park and the castle -which occupies the extreme west of the town the ridge has been sawn -through by the stream, but the gap has been widened artificially, and -is now spanned by a bridge. - -The Castle of Pau was built at various dates. The four towers and the -curtain uniting them, except the south and east faces, are the oldest -part, and were erected by Gaston Phœbus in or about 1363. The donjon to -the east is of brick, and is furnished with slots. The work begun by -Gaston Phœbus was continued by his successor, but the magnificent south -façade, the state buildings, and the enrichment of the court within, in -the style of the Renaissance, are due to Henry II of Navarre; and the -sixth tower was set up by Louis Philippe. - -The whole castle, especially the interior, has gone through a -complete restoration, for it had been plundered and gutted by the -Revolutionists. The tapestries that now cover the walls were collected -from various places. The furniture, to a large extent modern, is a -clumsy imitation of old work; there are, however, some fine ancient -cabinets. In this castle was confined for a while Abd-el-Kader. In -1848 I visited him there several times. He had with him a suite and -his wives, all insensible to the stateliness of the castle and the -glorious panorama from the windows. They lounged about the rooms -silent and smoking, sulky, without occupation and without interests. -Their habits were so dirty that the tapestries and rich furniture had -all to be removed. Abd-el-Kader had maintained a long and gallant -resistance against the French, and when he surrendered to the Duc -d’Aumale and General Lamorcière, it was on the stipulation that he -should be allowed to retire in freedom to Egypt or into Syria. The -terms were accepted and broken. He was removed a prisoner to Toulon, -then to Pau, and in November, 1848, he was transferred to Amboise. -Napoleon III released him in 1852, and he finally settled in Damascus. -In the terrible massacre of the Christians at Damascus in the summer -of 1860, by Turks and Druses, Abd-el-Kader acted with such energy to -protect the Christians that the Emperor of the French sent him the gold -cross of the Legion of Honour. Possibly enough he may have been moved -to this intervention on behalf of the Christians by recollecting the -kindness that was shown him in his captivity by both English and French -residents at Pau, sending him fruit and flowers for the ladies of his -harem. - -It was during his imprisonment at Toulon that Thackeray wrote his -stirring lines:-- - - “No more, thou lithe and long-winged hawk, of desert life for thee; - No more across the sultry sands shalt thou go swooping free; - Blunt idle talons, idle beak, with spurning of thy chain, - Shatter against the cage the wing thou ne’er mayst spread again. - - * * * * * - - “They gave him what he asked; from king to king he spake - As one that plighted word and seal not knoweth how to break; - ‘Let me pass from out my deserts, be’t mine own choice where to go, - I brook no fettered life to live, a captive and a show.’ - - “And they promised and he trusted them, and proud and calm he came, - Upon his black mare riding, girt with his sword of flame: - Good steed, good sword, he rendered unto the Frankish throng; - He knew them false and fickle--but a Prince’s word is strong. - - “How have they kept their promise? Turned they the vessel’s prow - Upon Acre, Alexandria, as they have sworn e’en now? - Not so: from Oran northwards the white sails gleam and glance, - And the wild hawk of the desert is borne away to France. - - “They have need of thee to gaze on, they have need of thee to grace - The triumph of the Prince, to gild the pinch-beck of their race. - Words are but wind, conditions must be construed by Guizot: - Dash out thy heart, thou desert hawk, ere thou art made a show.” - -With the exception of the castle there is nothing of architectural -interest in Pau. The churches are modern, and the predominant feature -of the place is hotels, monster hotels that even dwarf the castle. - -But the great glory of Pau is the view of the chain of the Pyrenees -from the terrace and the park. That from the Schänzle above Berne of -the giants of the Oberland is beautiful, but not comparable with the -prospect from Pau. All the middle distance in the view from Berne is -filled up with rolling hills, and it is over them that one catches -glimpses of the snowy heads of the Alps. But from Pau one has in front -the broad trough of the Gave, beyond which are the coteaux, not too -high, and not obscuring the lower parts of the mountains. It is true -that an obnoxious swell to the south-west cuts off the prospect of -the range to the Bay of Biscay, but the mountain range can be traced -eastward till it fades into vapour, and the mountains on that side -are by far the boldest and loftiest. Moreover, one can look from Pau -right up the gap of the Val d’Ossau to the roots of the Pic du Midi, an -exquisitely beautiful mountain, only surpassed by the Matterhorn; and -it has this advantage over its rival, that it can be seen from a great -distance, which the other cannot. - -Below the terrace of the castle rises the insignificant tower of la -Monaye, where the specie for circulation in Béarn and the annexed -counties was coined. - -In the second chapter I told the story of the House of Foix and Béarn -down to the death of Catherine, who ate out her heart with rage because -she could not acquire the kingdom of Upper Navarre, to which she laid -claim. Her son and successor was Henry II of Navarre. - -He obtained the name of Henry in a somewhat singular fashion. At his -birth a pilgrim was passing through Pau, of obscure origin, named -Henry, on his way to S. James of Compostella. Jean d’Albret, moved by -a sudden freak, summoned this man to be godfather to his boy, the heir -to the crown of Navarre, instead of inviting a prince to stand sponsor. -This occasioned much ridicule among the haughty Spaniards, who said it -presaged that the young Henry would be a stranger to his kingdom. - -He was brought up with Francis I of France, and the two were warmly -attached to each other. He accompanied Francis in his disastrous -expedition to the Milanese, and shared captivity with the King at -Pavia. His ransom was fixed at a hundred thousand crowns. Henry did -not care to burden his little territory with such a charge, and he -devised means to escape. A lady in Pavia managed to convey to his -prison a rope ladder, and one night in December, 1525, when the moon -shone, he slipped out of the window of his cell and descended the -ladder. It was too short, and he fell into the moat. Happily this was -more full of mud than of water, and without loss of time he scrambled -out, plastered with slime, mounted a horse, held in readiness by his -accomplices, galloped away, and managed to reach Lyons. On the morning -after his evasion the commandant of the Castle of Pavia entered the -cell and bade his royal prisoner get up. A voice from the bed replied, -“For pity’s sake, let me sleep a little longer.” He who spoke was a -page of the King of Navarre, who had taken his place, so as to deceive -the guards and give his master time to escape. - -The affection and esteem which Francis I had for Henry were shown -in that he gave him as wife his dearly-loved sister Margaret, the -“Marguerite des Marguerites, sa mignonne,” as Francis called her. -The marriage took place on 24 January, 1527. The Court of Paris was -inconsolable at the loss of the lively and charming princess. The -Parisian doctors remonstrated with her at going to so inclement a place -as Pau where, said they, “le gros air du pays lui serait mortel.” -However, go she would, with her beloved Henry, and on reaching Pau she -at once set to work to make herself happy, and to be beloved by the -people. She began by studying the patois and worked at it so diligently -that she was herself astounded at the progress she made. - - “The newly-married pair,” says an old historian, “deliberated - how to put Béarn in a better condition from that in which they - found it. This land, good and fertile by nature, was in a poor - state, uncultivated and sterile through the negligence of the - inhabitants. It soon changed its appearance.” - -Henry devoted himself especially to agriculture; he invited farmers -and labourers from Brittany, Berry, and the Saintonge to settle in the -land and teach the natives improved methods of cultivation; and the -introduction of maize into Béarn was due to him. He set up a linen -factory at Nay, and a printing press at Pau. He collected, revised, and -edited the _fors_ of Béarn, and had them printed at his press in 1551. - -[Illustration: THE CASTLE, PAU] - -One of the most important pages in the life of the Queen of Navarre -in the Château of Pau was the part she played in receiving refugee -Huguenot preachers. But she never herself became a convert to -Calvinism; she entertained great pity for the innovators who were -driven from place to place, and subjected to cruel persecution. She -offered them an asylum, and listened to their harangues without the -impatience shown by her husband, who, when they began to preach, -retired to his bottle and his cards. - - “The Queen of Navarre,” says Florimond de Rémond, “gave ear - to them, received their books at first by the hand of her - ladies, has had the Latin prayers of the church translated into - French ... out of kindness of heart she throws open her house - to the proscribed and banished, and bids them regard it as a - retreat and refuge. She exercises marvellous care in protecting - those who are in danger on account of their religion, and in - succouring the refugees from Strassburg and Geneva. - - “Roussel was received by this good princess into Béarn and - given a state lodging in her house. She takes pleasure in - listening to him as he discourses on religion. He persuaded - her to read the Bible, then very uncouthly translated into - French; and this so pleased her that she composed a tragi-comic - translation of nearly the whole of the New Testament, and - had it acted in the great hall before the King, her husband. - For the purpose she secured the best comedians that could be - procured from Italy; and as these buffoons are born only to - afford amusement, and, monkey-like, to mimic what may meet the - humours of their masters, so these people, recognizing the - inclination of the Queen, interlarded the text of these plays - with roundelays and virolais on the theme of the clergy. Always - some poor monk or _religieuse_ was made the butt in one of - these comedies or farces.” - -Florimond de Rémond goes on to say that some of the preachers harboured -by Marguerite were not of high character. Among them was Solon, a -runaway Carmelite, a “brave et courageux moine,” who embraced the -doctrines of Calvin, and to make up for wasted opportunities in the -past married and buried five wives in succession. - -Some of the sacred pieces enacted before the King and Queen were the -Nativity, the Adoration of the Magi, the Flight into Egypt; and into -these plays scurrilous and indecent songs were introduced, without a -word of protest from the preachers. - -Marguerite took as her valet Clement Marot, who had not the best of -characters, and scandal said that she liked him a little too well. - -Unsuspectingly Marot did a great work for Calvinism in France. - -He had translated the Psalms of David into popular rhythm. His metrical -version became the rallying songs of the Huguenots, and formed the -basis of their liturgy. They were set to popular folk-airs. - -The French ladies, as he said himself, placed - - leurs doigts sur les espinettes - pour dire saintes chansonettes. - -So little heretical was his version regarded that in 1540, before it -was printed, Francis I made a present of it to Charles V. Florimond de -Rémond says:-- - - “Each of the princes and courtiers adopted one or other of the - psalms for himself. King Henry chose as his own Psalm XLII., - _Ainsi qu’on oyt le cerf bruire_, which he sang when hunting. - Mme. de Valentinois (Diana of Poitiers), his mistress, took as - hers Ps. CXXX., _Du fond de ma pensée_, which she sang when - galloping. The Queen had selected V.; _Ne veuillez pas, O - Sire_, set to a buffoon melody. The King of Navarre, Antoine de - Bourbon, chose XLIII., _Revenge moy, prens la querelle_, which - he sang to a branle (a dance tune) of Poitou; and so with the - rest.” - -But little by little these metrical psalms assumed an aggressive tone; -passed among the people, and these took them to heart more seriously -than did the courtiers. - -Bordier, in his _Chansonnier huguenot_, says:-- - - “It was soon seen with what energy the Huguenots assimilated - this poetry, which responded so well to their burning faith. - They knew the psalter by heart. It became one of the tokens by - which they recognized one another at long distances, before - coming in sight, when certain familiar melodies were borne - to their ears. From the windows of the Louvre Henry II more - than once saw a crowd flushed with enthusiasm fill the Pré aux - Clercs, promenading in the evening with gravity, trolling out - these psalms.” - -The Queen of Navarre was certainly a strange mixture; she wrote -treatises of piety, composed a _Mirror of the Sinful Soul_, wrote -songs, and in her old age was the authoress of that book of indecent -tales, the _Heptameron_, which is still read, whereas the _Mirror of -the Sinful Soul_ is forgotten. - -She took as her device the marigold turning to the sun, and as her -motto, “Non inferiora sequor,” hardly appropriate to the compiler of -the _Heptameron_. - -A pretty story is told of her by Brantôme. She had as one of her -ladies-in-waiting Mlle. de la Roche, who had been the mistress of -Captain Bourdeille, but whom he had cast aside and forgotten. Mlle. -de la Roche died in the Queen’s service at Pau, and was buried in the -church of S. Martin. Three months later Bourdeille came to Pau, and was -received by the Queen, who invited him to attend her to the church. -When there, standing in a certain place, Marguerite said to him, -“Do you feel the ground heave under your feet?” “Not in the least,” -he replied. “Surely you do?” “Madame, I assure you that I do not.” -“That is strange,” said the Queen, “for beneath your feet lies your -poor, deserted Mademoiselle de la Roche, sighing because that above -her stands the man who deceived her. I leave you now alone to your -reflections.” - -Marguerite entertained a horror of death, but on hearing that her -dearly-loved brother Francis was no more, her joy of life, her spirits -left her, her health failed, and she died at Odos in Bigorre in 1549. - -Her daughter, Jeanne d’Albret, was left heiress of Navarre, Béarn, -Bigorre, Foix, and Armagnac, which had been part of her mother’s dower. -Jeanne was born in the Castle of Pau in 1528. At an early age she was -removed to the Court of the King of France, and was betrothed at the -age of twelve, and married in 1546, when eighteen years old, to the -Duke of Cleves, who was twelve years her senior. She was so burdened -with pearls and embroidery over brocade and gold lace at her wedding -that she was unable to walk, and had to be carried into the church from -the carriage in the arms of the Constable of France. But she did not -relish the union, and it was annulled. In 1548 Jeanne married Antoine -de Bourbon, a feeble, voluptuous, irresolute creature, “to one thing -constant never.” He was first a Catholic, then a Huguenot, under the -influence of the commanding intellect of his wife, and then a Catholic -again; it mattered not to him, for he had no fixed principles. But -Jeanne never forgave his rejoining the Church, for she was a bigoted -Calvinist. - -Jeanne was nearly deprived of her husband. Antoine de Bourbon, who was -suspected of taking part with his brother, the great Condé, in the -conspiracy of Amboise, 1550, was marked out for destruction. The two -brothers were arrested by Francis II. Olhagary, a Protestant writer, -gives what follows. He had it from the recital of Queen Jeanne herself; -but how far coloured by her prejudices we are unable to say. - - “The Prince of Condé was sentenced to have his head cut off - before the King’s residence, on 10 December. Antoine de Bourbon - was to be stabbed by the King himself. For this he was ordered - to attend in the chamber of the King, who pretended to be ill. - Francis was to stab him with his own hand, aided by the Guises - who were hid behind the arras.” - -Antoine was on the point of entering the presence chamber when the -Duchess de Montpensier caught him by the arm and revealed to him the -plot. He then withdrew. But again a messenger arrived from the King -ordering him to appear. Then he summoned to him Reuti, the captain of -his guards, and said-- - - “I am going to where my death is planned, but never shall skin - be sold so dearly as I will sell mine. I beseech you to render - me this last service. If I die, take my shirt soaked in my - blood, and carry it to my wife and son, and charge her--for my - son is too young to be able to avenge me--to send the pierced - and bloody shirt to all the foreign princes, and call on them - to avenge my death.” - -Antoine then entered the room where was the King, but his behaviour, -the frankness with which he met the charges laid against him, caused -the heart of Francis to relent, and he dismissed the King of Navarre -unhurt. It was then that the Cardinal of Lorraine exclaimed, referring -to the weakness of the King--“There is the heart of a poltroon!” - -Jeanne had been the mother of two sons; the elder died of -over-coddling, the second of an accident. When she was again expecting -her confinement, her father, Henry II, roughly told her that she did -not know how to manage her children, and insisted on her coming to the -castle at Pau for confinement, under his eye. She obeyed, and arrived -on 4 December, 1553. Then the old King showed her a casket of gold, -attached to a chain long enough to go thrice round her neck. “Do you -see this?” said he; “I will give it you along with my will, that is -in this box, if you will sing a Béarnais song whilst in your pangs, -so that the child may not be a squaller.” She promised, and on 14 -December, feeling her hour approach, sent for her father, and began to -sing a Béarnais hymn to Our Lady at Bridgend; for there was a chapel to -the Blessed Virgin on the ancient bridge over the Gave. Her song was:-- - - “Nousté Dame deii cap d’eii poun - Adjudat me à d’aqueste ore,” etc. - -But as many of my readers do not understand the patois, I will give it -in English:-- - - “Our Lady at the head of the bridge, assist me in this hour. - Pray to God in Heaven, that He may deliver me, that the fruit - of my body may see the light.... Our Lady at the head of the - bridge, assist me in this hour.” - -She gave birth--some say on 13 December, some on 14 December--still -singing, to a boy. Henry II took it from her, gave her the casket, -saying, “This is for you,” and as to the boy, “this is for me.” Then -he rubbed the child’s lips with garlic, and poured into its mouth some -drops of Jurançon wine, and said: “Va, tu serras un vrai Béarnais.” - -When Marguerite had given birth to Jeanne the Spaniards had remarked, -“The cow has littered a lamb!” in reference to the cow in the Béarnais -arms. Now Henry d’Albret, taking the child in his arms, showed it to -his nobles and exclaimed: “See, the lamb has littered a lion!” - -In the castle is shown the cradle in which the future king of France, -Henri Quatre, was rocked. It is a large tortoise-shell, inverted, and -suspended by silken cords. When the Sansculottes burst into and sacked -the château in 1793, they purposed to destroy this relic of royalty. -But the commandant of the castle had foreseen this, and had substituted -for the original another tortoise-shell, obtained from the cabinet of a -naturalist in the town. This latter was destroyed, but the original was -preserved in the attics of the castle. - -At Bilhère, a little way out of Pau, on the road to Orthez, is the -cottage in which Henry was nursed by a peasantess. That cottage remains -much in the same condition as it was then, and is pointed out to -visitors with pride. - -When only five years old his mother took him to Paris to present him -to Henry II, King of France. The King took the little prince in his -arms and asked him, “Veux-tu être mon fils?” The child, unable to -speak other than Béarnais patois, pointed to his father and answered, -“Aquet es lou seignou pay” (This is monsieur, my father). “You are -right,” said the King, “but as you will not be my son, will you be my -son-in-law?” To which the boy promptly replied, “Obé.” Marguerite de -Valois was then eighteen months older than Henri. - -After a while in Paris he was taken back to Pau and committed to the -care of Suzanne de Bourbon Busset, Baroness Miossens, who was sent -with him to the Castle of Coarraze, near Nay, with instructions that -he should be reared among the children of the mountains on simple, -wholesome diet. - -Accordingly he was treated like the peasant children--was clothed in -the same garb, and partook of the same athletic sports. His food was -often dry bread. Frequently he trod the mountain paths with bare feet, -or clattered about in sabots. For many years he knew no other tongue -than the patois, and in after life a bon mot, or a lively sally in his -maternal language, served as one of the most powerful means by which to -influence the young Gascons whom he led to battle. - -Antoine de Bourbon fell at the siege of Rouen in 1562, fighting against -the Huguenots, and Jeanne was then left free to force Calvinism on -her subjects. Thenceforth she was able to rule despotically in her -own dominions, till interfered with by the French king. Beza, with -approval, records her declaration: “Sooner than ever again attend -Mass, or suffer any of my subjects or my children to do so, I would, -if possible, cast them into the depths of the sea.” And to Henry, when -young, she said passionately that should he at any time attend Catholic -worship, she would repudiate and disinherit him. - -She began by confiscating Church property and appropriating to herself -monastic lands. Commissioners were appointed to go through the country, -wreck the churches, and sweep into her mint all the gold and silver -chalices, candlesticks, and crucifixes, to be coined into money. She -expelled the priests and put ministers in their place. At Pau she hung -two of the canons of S. Martin’s, and sent a Huguenot preacher into -the pulpit. The town council remonstrated. The Queen’s reply was that -she would with her troopers drive the councillors to be present at his -predications. She made it punishable with death as high treason not -only for a priest to say Mass, but for man, woman, or child to attend -at one. - -Charles IX of France went to Nerac, in Gascony, to visit Jeanne. - - “In some respects,” says Mr. White, “the province of Gascony - through which the Court was now travelling, had suffered more - than any part of France from the effects of the war. The - Protestants had succeeded in putting down Romanism, and at - every step he took Charles was reminded of the outrages offered - to his religion; he restored the old form of worship, but the - scenes he then witnessed appear never to have been forgotten. - As he rode along by the side of the Queen of Navarre he pointed - to the ruined monasteries, the broken crosses, the polluted - churches; he showed her the mutilated images of the Virgin and - the saints, the desecrated graveyards, the relics scattered to - the winds of heaven.”[F] - - [F] White (H.), _The Massacre of S. Bartholomew_. London, 1868. - -Jeanne looked with sparkling eyes and with a heart that swelled with -exultation at this wreckage, but she noticed the pain it caused to the -young king, and thenceforth regarded him with distrust. - -[Illustration: ROOM OF JEANNE D’ALBRET, CASTLE OF PAU] - -A Béarnais named Gondin ventured to remonstrate with Jeanne at her -high-handed dealings. “The King of France,” said she, “choses to have -but one religion in his realm. I am a queen, and I choose to have but -one.” “The King of France!” echoed Gondin; “that is another matter. -I could cross your majesty’s kingdom in a hop, skip, and jump.” -“Then I will trouble you, sir, to hop, skip, and jump out of my realm, -and that smartly,” was her prompt reply. - -At the same time that Jeanne issued her order for the change of -religion, she forbade the dances of the peasantry and wailing at -funerals. - -Of Jeanne d’Albret it might be said in the words of Quintus Curtius: -“Nihil præter vultum fœmineum gerens.” Marguerite de France, sister of -Francis II, Charles IX, and Henry III was married in 1572 to Henry of -Navarre. The union was not happy, neither cared for the other; and when -Marguerite came to Pau she was affronted at her treatment. - - “We came to Pau,” she wrote, “where no exercise of the Catholic - religion is tolerated. However, I was allowed as a favour to - hear Mass in a little chapel three or four paces in length, and - so narrow that seven or eight persons filled it. At the hour - of Mass, the drawbridge was raised to prevent the Catholics of - the place from attending; for they were most desirous to do so, - having been debarred from it for several years. But, it being - Whit-Sunday, some of the citizens succeeded in slipping in - before the drawbridge was raised. They were not detected till - the end of the service, when some Huguenots who were spying - perceived them. They instantly informed the king’s secretary, - and in my presence were dragged out, whipped, and cast into - prison, and were not released for long, and then not till they - had paid a heavy fine.” - -When Henry IV came to the throne of France the care of his hereditary -dominions in Gascony was confided to his sister Catherine. In the -Castle of Pau at that time was brought up Antoine de Bourbon, Count of -Moret, Henry’s son by Jacqueline de Bueil. There he studied, but proved -a sorry scholar. In later days he ventured on criticizing the works of -Gombaud, whereupon this latter retaliated with an epigram. - - “Vous chocquez la nature et l’art, - Vous qui n’êtes né que d’un crime; - Mais pensez vous que d’un bastard - Le jugement soit légitime?” - -Antoine fell in the battle of Castelnaudary, in 1631. Half a century -later, there appeared in Anjou an old hermit, who called himself John -Baptist, and whose face resembled Henri Quatre markedly. Moreover, he -admitted having been in the battle of Castelnaudary, and showed himself -to be intimately acquainted with Pau and with every part of the castle; -but he would never say who he was. Louis XIV, having heard of him, sent -to demand whether he was the Antoine de Bourbon, son of Henry IV, who -had been reported dead. He refused to answer, and on his death-bed, -when again questioned on this point, returned an evasive answer. - -In matters of religion Henry IV was tolerant. He wrote in 1594:-- - - “I have in my kingdom of Béarn two parishes separated only by a - river. In one of these there has never during my reign been any - (Calvinist) preacher; in the other, never a Mass said, yet the - inhabitants of these parishes have not wronged one another to - the value of a sou. You will see, that I will bring about such - concord in my kingdom that there will be no further squabbles.” - -But before this, when in Paris, under the surveillance of Catherine -de Medici, he was obliged to send the Count de Grammont and a -commission into Béarn to restore Catholic worship. D’Aubigné relates -an incident relative to this attempt that is characteristic of the -temper of the times. When the Baron d’Arros, who had been appointed -after Montgomery, by Jeanne d’Albret, to enforce the sole exercise -of Calvinistic worship in her states, heard of the coming of De -Grammont, he happened to encounter his father, aged eighty, and -blind, coming out of the Huguenot meeting-house. The old man led his -son home, placed in his hands a drawn sword, and bade him slay and -spare not the Lord’s enemies. Arros and thirty-seven followers went -to Hagetmau, where Grammont and the commissioners were, and entered -the castle unperceived. Then they fell upon and slaughtered officers, -soldiers, and servants, indiscriminately. De Grammont alone was spared. -His wife--Corisande d’Andouins, one of the loveliest women of the -time--threw herself between her husband and Arros, and with tears -implored the latter to spare Grammont. - -When the Baron d’Arros returned to his father to receive a blessing -after this exploit, the old man bitterly reproached him for having -spared even one. “My son,” said he, “how, as a valiant Maccabee, have -you allowed this Nicanor to live? The crow you have spared will pluck -out your eyes.” - -Calvinism, after having had complete mastery for over half a century, -seems not to have taken firm root. At the present day, out of a -population in Béarn of 426,350, there are but 5000 Protestants. - -In one of his bear-hunting expeditions, when a lad, Henry of Navarre -had visited the church of Bielle in the Val d’Ossau, and had noticed -the columns of Italian marble in the church, the spoils of a -Gallo-Roman villa. When he was king he sent to Bielle to have these -pillars forwarded to him in Paris. The reply of the villagers was: -“Sire, our hearts and our properties are yours, dispose of them as you -will; but as to these columns, they belong to God. _Entendez vous-en -avec lui._” - -As king, Henry said that his ambition was that every one of his -subjects, every peasant in Béarn, should be able every Sunday in the -year to put _la poule au pot_! A couple of centuries later an epigram -was written thereon. - - “Enfin, la poule au pot sera donc bientôt mise; - On doit du moins le présumer; - Car, depuis deux cent ans qu’on nous l’avait promise, - On n’a cessé de la plumer.” - -He did not forget the good things he had eaten in his native land when -far away in Paris, and he wrote to Pau to have sent to him “some good -melons, muscat grapes, figs, and peaches”; and again, “a dozen geese -of Béarn, the fattest that can be found, such as will do honour to my -country.” - -The old cathedral church of Lescar occupies a very ancient site--a -Roman town, Beneharnum, on the great Roman road that ran from Narbonne -to Dax. The church deserves a visit. Although not large it is fine, -dating from the twelfth century. It was erected apparently on the site -of some Roman building, for the mosaic that surrounds the high altar, -and marks where stood the original apse of the first church, is Roman -work, and represents a tiger hunt. It was formerly covered by the floor -of the stalls; but these have been removed, and the mosaic, that was -much injured, has been restored carefully. - -The whole of the low country, and the bottoms of the mountain valleys, -were occupied by Romans. Gallic nobles had their villas that studded -the land. At Bielle, already mentioned, is a mosaic pavement, and an -evidence of the luxury of the period is seen in this villa having had -pillars of marble brought from Italy. Other mosaic pavements have been -found at Biellan, near Lescar, and at Taron-Sadirac, in the garden -of the _presbytère_ and in an adjoining field. The high altar of the -church there is entirely formed of slabs taken thence. In 1847, when -I was a boy, I heard peasants romance about a “Palais des Fées,” that -lay underground in a field by the Lyss, in the commune of Jurançon. I -visited the spot and found numerous cubes of mosaic of diverse colours -in a ditch. I then saw the peasant proprietor and asked him whether -he had discovered anything when ploughing. “Mais oui!” he said; “five -years ago I uncovered a picture that represented men sitting about a -table drinking and playing cards.” I knew how to make allowance for -a Gascon’s imagination, so I bargained with the man to allow me to -institute a search. We cut a trench parallel to the stream and crossed -walls and mosaic pavements through a length of 150 feet. I then came to -terms with the owner of the field. He was to allow me to dig, and he -was to charge two sous at the gate for admission. - -In a fortnight we had cleared out several rooms, and then, as my -pocket-money was exhausted, the English of Pau raised a subscription -to pay for the prosecution of the work. In the end we uncovered eleven -chambers with well-preserved mosaic floors, and two more of which the -floors had broken in upon the heating apparatus underneath, but which -had been very richly patterned. The villa consisted of a suite of -winter rooms and another for summer residence. In the former all the -floors and walls were warmed by a hypocaust. The villa was, moreover, -well furnished with baths. - -In the middle, between the winter and the summer quarters, was the -atrium, a court with a tank, in the midst, of pure water, conducted -into it by a lead pipe from a well in the hill above. The bottom of the -tank was paved with mosaic, representing marine animals, fish, crabs, -etc., and the two containing walls were cased in slabs of coloured -marbles. Opening out of the atrium was the _tablinum_, the reception -room of the house; the walls skirted with alabaster, above which they -were painted. The most remarkable of the representations on the floors -was in the hall next the entrance porch; it showed a cross in mosaic, -with a monstrous bust of Neptune at the intersection of the arms, -surrounded by fish and lobsters. - -When the villa was almost wholly excavated, the municipality of Pau -purchased the field, and built a shed over the foundations, but, -penny wise and pound foolish, neglected to cut a drain around the -remains. The consequence was that each room became full of water in -the winter, and, frost ensuing, split up the mosaics. When I revisited -Pau two years later most of the pavements were ruined. Now, shed and -every trace of the villa are gone; the whole is ploughed over, and -the only token that there was anything of interest in the field is a -notice-board set up to forbid trespassers invading it. On the farther -side of the stream is another villa, which I began to dig out, but -found the pavements nearer the surface and not so well preserved. -Moreover, the proprietor got it into his head that I had discovered and -appropriated a pot of gold coins, and he peremptorily forbade further -research. - -The bridge over the river, some quarter of a mile down, is called le -Pont d’Auly (_pons aulæ_), and on the height of Guindalos above are the -earthworks of a Roman camp. - -Pau has produced several eminent men. Hardly had Henri Quatre closed -his eyes before the town gave birth to Gassion, born in 1609. His -father purposed making of him a lawyer; but, as a lad of sixteen, -rather than be chained to a desk, he started barefoot from Pau, with -his shoes slung to a stick over his back, and with twenty sous in -his pocket. He entered the army, and his life was spent in warfare, -beyond the Alps, on the Elbe, on the shores of the Baltic. He was -wounded seventeen times, and fell on the field of battle at the age of -thirty-six, a marshal of France and the greatest captain of his age. - -More fortunate than he was Bernadotte, also a soldier risen from the -ranks, who became King of Sweden and Norway. He was born in the little -house, No. 6 Rue de Trau, and was the son of a needy scrivener. His -name in full was John Baptist Julius Bernadotte, and he was born on 26 -January, 1764. He became a drummer-boy in the marines at the age of -seventeen. - -He came to the front at an opportune time. The Revolution had turned -France topsy-turvy. The officers had fled the country to escape the -guillotine, and the corporals and serjeants stepped into their places. -The regiments elected their captains, and the history of the Republican -wars shows that the soldiers exercised their electoral rights with -discretion. In 1792 Bernadotte was a colonel. - -The Directory appointed him ambassador at Vienna. The choice was -not happy; he had not the breeding of a gentleman, and behaved with -insolence in the most punctilious of courts. On the day upon which the -volunteers were enrolled for the defence of their country, Bernadotte -ostentatiously hoisted the tricolour, which the mob tore down. The -ambassador in vain demanded satisfaction. He quitted Vienna, but the -Directory disavowed him. Soon after his return to France he married -Eugènie, the daughter of the soap-boiler, Clary, of Marseilles, and -sister of the wife of Joseph Bonaparte. He lived for a while in -retirement, but was summoned by the Government to Paris and was given -the command of the army of observation in Germany. - -After the revolution of the 30th Prairial, in the year VII (18 June, -1799), Bernadotte was appointed Minister of War; but the astute Siéyès -was meditating a _coup d’état_, and mistrusting Bernadotte, deprived -him of his portfolio. He accepted the title of Councillor of State from -the First Consul, and the command of the army of the West. - -In 1804 Napoleon raised him to the dignity of Marshal of the Empire, -and gave him the command of the army in Hanover. In June, 1806, he -created him Prince of Pontecorvo, and employed him in the war that -broke out with Prussia. It is unnecessary here to follow his career in -the wars of Napoleon. The Emperor never liked him, and even thought of -depriving him of the title he had conferred upon him. He dispatched -him in disgrace to Rome; but before he reached it a deputation from -Sweden arrived (September, 1810) with the tidings that King Charles -XII had named him Crown Prince, and that the Estates of Sweden had -unanimously ratified the appointment, with the condition that he -should resign his French citizenship and adopt the Lutheran religion. -To this he consented, and landed at Helsingborg on 20 October, 1810, -and on 5 November was recognized as Crown Prince, and adopted the name -of Charles John. By arrangement with Russia Norway was detached from -Denmark and annexed to Sweden, much to the dislike of the Norwegians. - -In 1813 Sweden declared war against France, and Bernadotte led 20,000 -Swedes to join the allies; but his dilatoriness caused him to be too -late to take part in the Battle of the Nations at Liepzig. He was -naturally reluctant to cross swords with his old master. - -In 1814 he marched in the same leisurely manner into France, and -arrived in Paris after it had been occupied by the allies. On 5 -February, 1818, he succeeded his adoptive father, and was crowned King -of Sweden and Norway at both Stockholm and Drontheim. He was succeeded -by his only son, Oscar, in 1844. - -It is a curious fact that both the two kings born at Pau abjured -their religions to obtain a crown. Henry IV abandoned Calvinism to -become a Catholic and receive the crown of France; John Baptist -Julius Bernadotte threw overboard such Catholicism as he had--a light -cargo--and accepted Protestantism to obtain the crown of Sweden and -Norway. - -Morlaas, six miles to the north-east of Pau, reached by a light -railway, was the ancient capital of Béarn. It has dwindled to a -poor village, but retains portions of its old fortifications and an -interesting church, founded in 1089, that has a Romanesque crypt and -west front. The church had fallen into decay and the portal was much -mutilated, but it has been restored. A side chapel contains one of the -very few specimens of church furniture spared by the Huguenots, because -overlooked--an altar-piece of the sixteenth century. - -The Pont-long I have already mentioned, an elevated moor to the north -of Pau, beyond the racecourse, that belongs to the peasantry of the -Val d’Ossau. On it may be seen the shepherds pasturing their flocks -in winter, when the mountain herbage is buried under snow. These men -formerly wore their characteristic costume--a dark blue or brown -_beret_, like a tam-o’-shanter cap, a jacket of brown or scarlet, a -waistcoat of white wool, brown knee-breeches, and a bright-coloured -sash about the waist. They wore their hair long in curls flowing over -their shoulders. Now compulsory military service has deprived them -of their flowing locks, and the blouse is gradually displacing the -handsome traditional costume. - -These men spend their time in knitting stockings whilst watching their -flocks. The sheep are horned, and have pronounced Roman noses. A -curious usage is for the dog to precede the sheep instead of driving -them. - -There are numerous tumuli on the Pont-long. I opened two in 1847, -and found that they pertained to the Iron Age, and were undoubtedly -Gaulish. The floor was formed of rolled stones, and on this were -placed urns, some of great size, containing burnt bones; they were red -outside, black within, and the clay was coarse; but with them was one -beautifully moulded little black vessel of the finest paste. Beside two -of the cinerary urns were hones of grit, rounded on one side and flat -on the other, with a groove running down the middle. - -The peasants had a legend anent the larger of the two that I opened. -Three men resolved on digging into it, and chose for the purpose a -stormy day when no one was likely to be abroad and observe them. - -They had not dug far before Pierre observed, “But we shall surely find -plenty of sous.” - -“Des écus,” said Jacques. - -“Des napoléons,” suggested Baptiste. - -After some hours’ work they came on a flat slab, on raising which a -treasure of gold pieces was revealed. The men plunged their arms in and -could not reach the bottom of the store. Gold, gold, ever more gold. - -It was decided that a cart must be procured to remove the treasure, and -lots were cast as to who was to remain on the tumulus, whilst the other -two returned to Pau for a cart. The lot fell on Pierre, and the others -departed. - -Evening had settled down when they returned with a vehicle drawn by two -oxen. Jacques and Baptiste discerned a dark figure on the mound, which -they assumed to be that of their companion left to guard the treasure. - -Then, mounting the tumulus, they asked whether any one had been there -during their absence. The dark figure said, “Look up!” The men turned, -the figure threw back his cloak, and they knew it was the devil, horns -and hoof complete. Before they could recover from their astonishment -and terror, with a switch of his tail he had whisked them into the -cart. He mounted himself, and instantly the oxen--their own oxen--rose -in the air with the vehicle, wheeled thrice about the mound, and then -suddenly descended, carrying cart, men, and Satan into the pit. The -earth closed over them and they were seen no more. Only Pierre lived to -tell the tale. At the first appearance of the Evil One he had crossed -himself. He was flung from the tumulus, and lay sprawling and blessing -himself till after his comrades had vanished. - -Nay may easily be visited, as it is on the main road to Tarbes. It has -a church of the fifteenth century, and the frontage of a Renaissance -house in which Jeanne d’Albret delighted to reside. - -Farther on is Coarraze, where are the remains of the château in -which Henri Quatre spent his early boyhood. Only the tower and the -portal are of the sixteenth century, the rest is a structure raised -in the eighteenth century. Over the doorway may be read the Spanish -inscription: “Lo que ha de ser no puede fallar.” - -The church is early and fortified. The terrace in front of the castle -commands a beautiful and extensive prospect of the Pyrenees in their -ever-changing tints and lights and shades. - -At the extreme limits of the department is Betharam. The name has been -supposed to be derived from the Arabic _Beit-Haram_, the Holy House, -and the place to have been a sacred spot during the Saracen occupation -of the land. If so, then they bequeathed their veneration for the -locality to the Christians, who drove them from it, for Betharam has -been esteemed a holy house for centuries, owing to the possession by -it of a miraculous statue of the Virgin, about which one of the usual -childish tales is told that have such a family likeness, and show such -lack of variety. A shepherd saw a blaze of light at the foot of a rock, -and discovered that it proceeded from an image. When the figure was -removed to the farther side of the Gave, with a leap into the air like -a field cricket it recrossed the river and returned to its station -under the rock. Then it was transferred to the high altar of the parish -church of Lestelle and locked in. But bolts and bars could not restrain -it; out it came through the key-hole and made for its rock shelter -again. - -A church and convent were erected under the rock. In 1569, by order -of Jeanne d’Albret, both were burnt; but were rebuilt in 1614. The -church is a barbaric structure, immediately below a hill, surmounted -by a Calvary. Here formerly dwelt a hermit, who maintained himself -by selling tooth-combs of boxwood that he had made. But he is gone, -and has left no successor. The bridge at Betharam is greatly admired, -wreathed as it is with ivy, which falls in long tresses and almost -touches the Gave. - -I have spoken of the view from the park at Pau. Finer views may be had -from the heights on the farther side of the Gave, from Guindalos and -Gelos; and in early spring, when strolling among these hills, one may -gather handfulls of cyclamen, anemones, violets, and the white spires -of the asphodel. - -[Illustration: BETHARAM] - -On market-days at Pau may be purchased clumps of the beautiful -little scarlet anemone that formerly grew wild in the vineyards, but -has been so much in request that it has disappeared, except under -garden cultivation. And finally, we must taste the wine of Jurençon -and S. Faust, not in the hotels at Pau, but in the village cabarets. -It is much in request, and is largely bought up by the Bordeaux wine -merchants, who mix it with thinner wines to give them richness and -body. It is of an amber colour, is strong, heady, and delicious. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -OLORON - - Iluro--Road over the port--The _beret_--Three parts to the - town--How the bishop got a cathedral--The porch--Ste. Croix-- - Bishop Roussel--Frightened to death--Escot--Independent - Republic--Emigration--Sarrance--The _Heptameron_--Accous-- - Story of Loustaunau--Osse--Urdos, the French Gibraltar-- - Mauleon--Espadrillos. - - -Oloron is the ancient Iluro, in Gallo-Roman times one of the twelve -cities of Novempopulania, and of importance as the key to the passage -of the Pyrenees by the Val d’Aspe over the Somport. - -The Roman road branched off from the Via Aurelia at Lescar, crossed the -Gave de Pau, and struck direct for Oloron, where, doubtless, soldiers -and merchants and travellers in general rested before undertaking the -passage of the mountains. The Roman road, after crossing the chain, -descended to the plains, and ran straight as a bird-line for Saragossa. -At Escot a Latin inscription remains, cut in the rock by the wayside, -commemorating the remaking of the road under the direction of one, -Valerius Vernus. - -Oloron is a busy town, carrying on the manufacture of the _beret_, the -tam-o’-shanter, wherewith every Basque and Béarnais covers his head. - -The town is prettily situated at the junction of the Gave d’Aspe and -the Gave d’Ossau, which divide it into three parts. One, Ste. Marie, -was for long the communal centre and the residence of the bishops of -Oloron. The old feudal city is staged up a hill between the two rivers. -In it is the church of Ste. Croix, built in 1080 by the Viscount -Centule IV. Centule had married a distant cousin, Gisela. But he -coveted the fair lands of Bigorre, to which Beatrix, daughter of Count -Bernard II, was the heiress. - -Amatus, Bishop of Oloron and the papal legate, was in want of a -cathedral; so they put their heads together, and Amatus undertook to -obtain the annulling of the marriage with Gisela by Pope Gregory VII. -The Pope wanted money, Centule wanted Bigorre, and Amatus a cathedral. -Gregory made no difficulties, so Gisela was repudiated, and sent to end -her days in a convent, as though she were the guilty party. Amatus was -paid for his help in this scandalous job by being given a cathedral, -and Centule, in the exuberance of his delight at becoming possessed of -the rich heiress, built as well the church of Ste. Croix. - -It was easy for any man with means in those days to wriggle out of an -union that was inconvenient. The Popes had drawn up a catalogue of -relationships within which degrees marriage was prohibited, unless -a dispensation had been procured _argent comptant_. Kinship to the -seventh degree, affinity as well as consanguinity, could be pleaded. -Spiritual relationship through sponsorship at the font also served. -Right or wrong in the matter was not considered. It was a contrivance -of the Papacy for extortion of money. - -The church of Ste. Marie is the ancient cathedral. The most ancient -portions belong to the eleventh century. Externally it is not a -striking edifice; nevertheless it is one of the most curious in the -South, and has just one splendid feature--the sculptured porch, which -is the basement of an enormous and massive tower, pierced by arches. -Beneath this is a beautiful portal, round-headed, containing a double -entrance, the doorways parted by a pillar. The sculpture of tympanum -and archivolt are excellent for their period. A man once caught, -plucked, and cooked a nightingale. With such a voice it ought to be -excellent eating, he argued. But when he set his teeth in it, his -judgment on the nightingale was, “Vox et præterea nihil.” So, with such -a throat one might reckon on a magnificent interior, but within the -church responds not at all to the conceptions raised by the portal, and -answers little to the idea formed of a cathedral. - -But the diocese of Oloron was one of the poorest in all France, and was -just half the value of that of Lescar. - -The quarter of Ste. Croix has narrow streets, with old houses, some -Romanesque, some Gothic, and others Renaissance. It had been cramped -within its walls, and could expand upwards only. Now the fortifications -have been demolished, and but a single flanking tower remains. - -The church is remarkable only for its Byzantine cupola. In many points -it recalls the Romanesque structures of Auvergne. Anciently the only -access to the nave was through a richly ornamented door at the side. -The western entrance is a modern addition. - -The third quarter of Oloron is modern, bright, and cheerful, but -uninteresting. In this quarter some houses bear the escutcheons -of foreign powers, for three states speaking Spanish have their -vice-consuls here--Spain, that entertains active relations with the -valleys of Ossau and Aspe; and the Argentine and Uruguay republics, -that are draining Béarn of so many of its natives for settlers. -Moreover, Oloron is the principal centre for the making of the _beret_, -as already said, also of bright-coloured handkerchiefs much affected by -Spanish women in the New as in the Old World. - -Oloron was a bishopric as early as 506. Marguerite de Valois, Queen of -Navarre, appointed to it Roussel, the reformer, who began as a disciple -of Calvin, and finished by entering into unseemly wrangling with -him over some petty question in theology in a series of acrimonious -letters. Marguerite had to interfere, and entreat both to cease their -scurrility as an offence to religion. Roussel, as bishop, did his -utmost to detach the people from their ancient faith, which he had -sworn to maintain when consecrated, but which at the very moment when -he took oath he had resolved on overthrowing. - -He was preaching one day at Mauleon, assailing Catholic doctrine with -vehemence. A gentleman named Matye was present, and unable to endure -this without a protest, and being armed with an axe, struck at the slim -pedestal of the pulpit with the butt-end, and with such force as to -send Roussel a bound into the air. When he came down, again descended -the axe, sending the bishop another leap, like a pea on a drum. -Roussel’s nerves were so shaken that he fled the church, and galloped -off to a Pyrenean watering-place, there to recover the shock. But -instead of recovering he died, 1549. A suit was brought against Matye -in the Parliament at Bordeaux, for having frightened the bishop into -his grave; but nothing came of it. - -Under Jeanne d’Albret the bishopric was suppressed; however, a bishop -was appointed in 1599. Oloron ceased to be an episcopal seat at the -Revolution. - -The Val d’Aspe begins at Escot. At the foot of the mountain of Narpayt -stands up a rocky needle, named after S. Nicolas, separated from the -road by a belt of tillage. From this point the valley narrows; a -bridge crosses the river, over which runs the road to the Val d’Ossau. -Pinnacles of rock and bare precipices pierced with caves border the -Gave, that flows between the green lips of rich pastures. A fine peak, -the Trône-du-Roi, stands up on the left bank. For the most part the -mountain slopes are bare, growing nothing but box shrubs, and yet at -one time hence came the tall pines that furnished the navy of France -with masts. They were improvidently hewn down, and floated in rafts -to Bayonne, and no thought was given to replanting, so that they were -completely exhausted in 1780. - -At Sarrance the valley expands. The village borders a sweep of the -Gave, under the Signal de Sarrance, rising to the height of 4210 feet, -cleft by a ravine well wooded, and with sweet green pastures. To the -south is another peak, clothed in forest, rising to 4380 feet. - -The Val d’Aspe formed one of those independent commonwealths of -which in the Middle Ages there were so many in the Pyrenees. It was -under the suzerainty of the viscounts of Béarn, but enjoyed complete -self-government. In 1477 the Procureur-Général of Béarn claimed the -forests as the property of the viscount, but the inhabitants protested -that the Val d’Aspe existed before the viscounty had been constituted. -The case was tried in the court at Pau, and judgment was given in -favour of the little republic. The Aspois always were proud and -independent. But unhappily a fever for emigration to South America -has set in and has depopulated the valley seriously. In 1862 the -inhabitants numbered 11,368, but in 1901 they had fallen to 7977. And -this is not due to poverty, for there is not a beggar to be found in -the valley. - -Sarrance takes its name from the situation--_sarrada_ in Béarnais is -“narrow” and _ance_ is a “passage.” A bridge wreathed with ivy spans -the stream, near a chapel. A terrace shaded with plane trees has its -walls ablaze with snap-dragon, sprouting out of every crevice. From the -chapel a stair leads down to the riverside, where is a niche containing -a statue of the Virgin and Child, indicating the spot where, according -to tradition, the image of N. D. de Sarrance was found. - -The old monastery stands on an elevation at the southern extremity -of the village. There is a little grass-grown square with a fountain -in it. On one side of the square are untenanted houses, formerly -guest-rooms of the convent; on the other is the monastery with its -church. This latter is of no interest, as the old church, considered to -be the finest in Béarn, was completely destroyed by the Calvinists. The -tower is absolutely hideous. In a side chapel is a rude black Madonna, -an object of superstitious devotion. - -It was here that Marguerite, sister of Francis I and Queen of Navarre, -composed her _Heptameron_. This is what she says in the introduction:-- - - “On the first day of September, when the baths of the Pyrenees - begin to have their virtue, several persons--some of France, - some of Spain, and others from elsewhere--were united at - Cauterets, the marvellous waters of which have cured sick who - were given up by the doctors. When the party was about to - separate it was found that the floods were out so that there - was no reaching Tarbes. So, having halted awhile at the Abbey - of Saint Savin, the whole company met again at the monastery of - Notre Dame de Sarrance, in Béarn. In order to reach Pau it was - necessary that the bridge over the Gave should be repaired, and - this occupied ten days. In order to relieve the tedium of our - stay in the convent of monks, the company arranged a time-table - for proceedings. In the morning we met in the rooms of the Lady - Oysille, the eldest present. An hour was spent in reading the - sacred Scriptures. Then we heard Mass. At ten o’clock came - dinner; after that every one retired to his or her chamber - about their own affairs. At noon no one failed to go to the - beautiful meadow, by the side of the Gave, where the trees are - so covered with foliage that the sun cannot pierce through nor - take the freshness out of the air. There, seated at our ease, - every one relates tales, either true or invented to amuse, as - did Boccaccio. At four o’clock the merry tales are interrupted - in order that we may pray; and no one fails devoutly to attend - vespers.” - -There are certain points to be noted in this. In the first place, -neither here nor anywhere else, does the Queen let fall a word by which -one can see that she appreciated the beauty of the mountain scenery -through which she travelled. Yet the localities for some of her tales -are Cauterets, Sarrance, Odos, and Pau. - -In the next place, the stories that these ladies told, and which the -Queen of Navarre collected, are so indecent, and contain such foul -expressions, that we are amazed to think that any woman, however -corrupt may have been the times, should not blush to hear, and be -ashamed to write them down. - -And lastly, what a jumble of occupations! Bible-reading in the morning, -obscene stories in the evening, and then--prayers. - -The meadow is there still, and one may sit in it now as then; but -now it is with thoughts of thankfulness on the change that has been -accomplished in manners and in sense of decency. A little above -Sarrance, on the east, opens the entrance to a cirque. The southern -wall, which is most precipitous, supports a plateau strangely regular -in form, like a cone with its head sliced off, 4700 feet high. On the -right bank of the Gave opposite Bedous are four little heights, two -pointed, one rounded, the other flattened at top. They are eruptive -dykes of ophite, a rock somewhat abundant in this valley. - -Bedous is now the most considerable place in the valley, much more busy -and fuller of inhabitants than the cantonal capital Accous. - -At Accous is an obelisk erected to the memory of the Béarnais poet, -Despourrins (1690-1759), who was a native of the place. - -One day an English general, crossing from Spain and descending the -Val d’Aspe, encountered a little shepherd boy with quick eye and -intelligent face, whom he questioned about objects of interest in -the neighbourhood. Pleased with the lad, he invited him to enter his -service as valet, and the youth, who had a rough time at home, without -more ado clambered on to the box to travel to distant and unknown -regions. This little shepherd was called Loustaunau, and he followed -the officer to India. When his master died he sought to make his -fortune by starting a house of commerce in the territory of the Mogul. -Then war broke out between the Emperor of Delhi and the Nabob of Lahore. - -Chancing to witness a battle between them from an eminence, Loustaunau -remarked to a Banian that the disposition of the Mogul army was faulty. -“If,” said he, “I had the command of 1200 horsemen, and had a couple -of cannon, I would soon determine the battle.” What he had said was -reported to the Great Mogul, who at once gave him what he desired. The -Béarnais jumped on the back of a horse, took the command of a troop, -and ranged it behind a bit of rising ground, placed his guns where he -could rake the enemy, and charged the centre of the enemy, and broke -it, whilst his cannon pounded the troops of the Nabob. The victory was -complete. - -Loustaunau was richly rewarded, and given a princess to wife, by whom -he had several children. In a battle fought against the Maharattas he -lost his left hand, and had it replaced by one of silver. - -A quarter of a century had elapsed since he left the Pyrenees; he had -amassed a fortune, and a longing came over him to revisit his native -valley. Accordingly he returned to France and invested his money in -factories, and in châteaux that he purchased within Béarn and in -Bigorre. - -But disaster came. His factories were burnt by the Spaniards, and -his fortune melted away. He meditated a return to India, and started -for the East. But unhappily he made the acquaintance of Lady Hester -Stanhope, who gained complete possession of his mind. Forgetting the -needs of his family, and the object of his journey, he stayed with -her at the foot of Lebanon, where he led the life of a prophet and -_illuminé_. Lamartine met him there, and there he died. He had left his -children at Tarbes. Three of his daughters were alive in 1860, living -in poverty, maintaining themselves by needlework, and looking back -sadly on their early days as a dream out of the _Arabian Nights_. - -The village of Osse, planted between strangely shaped hills of ophite, -facing the south, is the last refuge of Protestantism in the valley. -The population is 560, the majority of whom are Calvinists, and they -maintain a pastor and have a “Temple.” - -Urdos, the Forum Ligneum of the Ancients, is the last town in France. -The fortress commanding the pass is hewn in the natural rock, in a -buttress of the mountains rising in stages from the road to the height -of 500 feet. Externally the mountain gives little token of what it is, -honeycombed with galleries, batteries, stairs. A façade of masonry -battlemented and flanked by turrets at the foot of the rock, and a -few loopholes and embrasures for cannon, pierced in the face of the -cliff, are all that show that this is a French Gibraltar, capable of -containing a garrison of 3000 men. - -Mauleon, the ancient capital of the little viscounty of Soule, that -passed to Béarn, is prettily situated on the banks of the Saison, at -the foot of a hill that is crowned by a castle reached by a bridge over -the moat or chasm artificially cut in the rock. - -The huge roofs of the Hôtel d’Andurrain form the hat to a Renaissance -building. - -Mauleon, after remaining stagnant for centuries, has begun to stir, and -has become the centre of manufacture of the espadrillos, or shoe with -canvas top and twisted rope sole, so much in use in the Pyrenees and in -Spain. - -A dozen years ago the whole population of Mauleon was a thousand, -and now two thousand men and five hundred women are engaged in the -factories; for in Senegal the natives have all at once taken a fancy to -the espadrillos, and the fashion is spreading from Senegal; there is no -saying where it may end in wide Africa. - -The workmen and women employed are not, however, Basques or Béarnais, -but are Spaniards. Here is trade, and that a growing trade, in their -midst, and the native population shrug their shoulders, leave it to -foreigners to carry on, and depart for South America in shoals. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -THE VAL D’OSSAU - - The gap of the Val d’Ossau--Gan--Original course of the Gave-- - Buzy--Gorges de Germe--Arudy--Destruction of forests--Boxwood-- - Cromlechs--Bielle--Independence of the Republic of Ossau-- - Costume--Dances--Laruns--Eaux Chaudes--Beggary--Gabas--Eaux - Bonnes--Death of the Rev. Merton Smith. - - -Looking south from the terrace at Pau one sees a noble portal in -the mountain chain apparently leading to the roots of the Pic du -Midi d’Ossau. But it is a mistake to suppose that the drainage of -those snowy crests can descend at once into the Gave at one’s feet. -Between the Val d’Ossau and that of the Gave de Pau a region of hills -intervenes. Moreover, the valley that gapes does not lead to the foot -of that noble pyramid. It leads to Laruns only, and there the broad -trough ends, and above that the Gave descends through a cleft painfully -cut through intervening strata. - -On the railway from Pau to Laruns the first station is at Gan. In this -village, as I remember it fifty years ago, there were but two houses -with glass windows, the parsonage and a Renaissance dwelling that -belonged to Corisande d’Andouins, one of the many mistresses of Henri -Quatre. When cold weather arrived, then the peasants closed their -shutters, perforated with a few holes--a heart, a cross, an S--and -through this opening derived their light. The train clambers up the -heights past Buzy, and then all at once bursts on the sight the broad -Val d’Ossau--rich, fertile, smiling with maize and vines, and villages, -and beyond the Pic du Midi. The Gave d’Ossau descending from the snowy -range on the frontier of Spain ran due north, as if to reach Pau in one -direct channel, but was arrested by the hills, and turned along the -depression at Buzy and turned westward where now goes the branch line -to Oloron. But dissatisfied with this bed, it tore at the rocks near -Arudy, and sawed for itself the Gorges de Germe, a savage ravine, very -tortuous, cut through hills covered with woods. The abandoned bed was -taken possession of by man. It lies at a lower level than the actual -channel, and the river must have been deflected by immense piles of -rubbish brought down from the mountains. At the west end of the church -at Buzy may be seen a huge boulder rounded by rolling, used as the -pedestal to the village cross. The ancient channel furnishes turf for -fuel, and in it are grown beds of rank bulrushes. - -Beyond Buzy, on the way to Arudy, is a dolmen already referred to, but -not on its original site. When the road was altered it was removed and -re-erected. - -The train halts again at Arudy, only interesting for the view, and for -the tomb of a bishop, and a fifteenth-century church with a reredos. - -The Val d’Ossau in its lower parts is a wreck. The mountain spurs on -each side were once clothed with magnificent forests of pine. - - “The Pyrenees,” says Michelet, “exhibit to us the disappearance - of the Old World. Antiquity is no more, the Middle Age is at - the point of death. The mountains themselves, strange as it may - seem, have their very existence attacked. The fleshless peaks - reveal the fact that they are in their senile decay. It is not - that they have failed to withstand the blows of the storm, it - is man who has assisted in their ruin from below. That deep - girdle of forests which veiled the nakedness of the ancient - mother, has been plucked away by man. The vegetable soil, which - the herbage retained on the slopes, is now carried below by - the waters. The rock stands up bare; chapped, exfoliated by - the glare of the sun, by the tooth of frost, undermined by - the melting snow carried down by avalanches. In the place of - succulent pastures nothing remains but a dry and ruined soil. - The agriculturist who has driven away the hunter, gains nothing - thereby. The water which formerly trickled down gently into - the valley athwart pastures and forests, now roars down in - devastating torrents, and covers the fields with the ruins it - has made. A vast number of hamlets in the high valleys have - been abandoned, through lack of fuel, and the inhabitants take - refuge in the lowlands, flying from the results of their own - improvidence. - - “In 1673 the mischief done caused alarm. Orders were issued by - Government that every inhabitant should annually plant at once - one tree in the domain, and two in the communal lands. In 1669 - and 1756 and still later new regulations made give evidence - to the panic caused by the progress of the evil. But, at the - Revolution, every barrier gave way, the population being poor, - set to work to enrich itself by completing the destruction - of the forests. They climbed, axe and firebrand in hand, to - the nests of the eagles, they swung over abysses, hacking - and destroying. Trees were sacrificed to the most trivial - needs. Two pines were cut down to make one pair of sabots. At - the same time the sheep and goats, multiplying, fell on the - forests, gnawed the trunks, devoured the young trees, destroyed - the shrubs, killed the future. The goat above all, that most - destructive of all creatures, and the most daring of all, - introduced a reign of terror into the mountains. That was not - one of the least of the labours of Bonaparte, when he set to - work to control the ravages of this beast. In 1813 the number - of goats had been reduced to a tenth of the number that they - had been in the year X. But he was not powerful enough to put a - finish to the war against Nature.” - -The pines have been succeeded by boxwood that brings in a certain -revenue. It is not cut till the stem has attained a girth of three -inches; but it would be well if it were allowed to reach a girth of -four or five, as it serves as a valuable cover for young pines where -attempts are made to replant. The box never grows very high, but some -bushes arrive at the height of fifteen feet, and a girth of trunk of -fifteen inches. The wood is made use of for the turning the beads of -the rosaries, made at Betharam, Saumur, and Lalouvesc in the Boutierès. -It cannot be utilized till the stem has arrived at the diameter of a -two-franc piece. In 1892 the boxwood from Laruns sold for 3185 francs, -but in 1895 for not more than a thousand francs. - -At Louvie Juxon and above Bielle and Bilhères, near the entrance of -Benon, are what the French call cromlechs, circles of stones, supposed -to be prehistoric monuments. These are, however, very small, the stones -insignificant, and the shepherds of the district state that precisely -similar stones are planted by themselves about temporary huts of -branches and turf that they erect when obliged to spend nights as well -as days on the mountain. - -Bielle was the ancient capital of Ossau. This valley was a republic -under the suzerainty of the viscounts of Béarn. It governed itself, and -had its own courts of justice, and absolutely refused to suffer the -soldiers of the viscount to enter their little republic. He himself was -not recognized till he had sworn to respect its rights and privileges -as contained in the ancient _fors_. - -At the present day a candidate for election to the Assembly addresses -the electors always as “Messieurs d’Ossau.” It was by this title that -the princes of Béarn spoke to them. In Ossau there were no nobles; -there was no appeal from the judgment of their court to Viscount of -Béarn or to the King of France. - -The constitution of former days still exists in regard to communal -property. This is divided into two categories: the particular mountains -belonging to each separate commune, and the general mountains in the -canton of Laruns pertain to a syndicate formed of representatives -of seventeen parishes. In addition the Ossalois own the lande of -Pont-long, of which I have already spoken. In recognition of their -having ceded to Gaston Phœbus, or before him to the first viscount who -built a castle at Pau, sufficient ground for his castle and park, they -obtained the privilege to sit at table with their viscounts. - -The valley bottom is fertile, but tillage is pursued only there. Cattle -and sheep spend the summer on the high pastures, and the sheep are -driven in winter to the Pont-long. - -Costume is fast disappearing. On Sunday at Bielle and Laruns may be -seen the old women still wearing their scarlet _capulets_ lined with -silk and edged with black velvet; the black corset is faced on the -breast with crimson silk. A woollen skirt descends in symmetrical folds -to a little way below the calf; the leg is clothed in white stockings, -unfooted, that widen over the foot. The male costume is quite gone. The -only part retained is the _beret_. It is a pity, for the costume was -admirably adapted to the men’s life in the mountains. The thick, red, -brown, and white jackets, waistcoats, and breeches were of home make -and handloom weaving, from the wool of their own sheep, and lasted for -years without becoming threadbare. - -Even the musical instruments general when there was a dance have gone, -the _tambouri_ of six strings, struck by a fiddlestick, whilst a piper -played a flageolet of four holes, from which he could draw six or seven -notes. The great fête at Laruns is on 15 August, and if the charm of -this is gone with the abandonment of the pretty costumes, it is still -an animated and gay scene. - -At Laruns the broad trough of the Val d’Ossau comes abruptly to an -end. Here from the left comes down the Valentin of Eaux Bonnes in a -series of cascades, the drainage of the snows of the noble mountains -at the head of the Val d’Azun, where they spill westward. But the Gave -d’Ossau, that has its source under the Pic du Midi, has sawn for itself -a way through rocks, and gushes forth through a notable chasm directly -above Laruns. This, the ravine in which lies the thermal establishment -of Eaux Chaudes, is by far the most interesting, it gives access to -the elevated village of Gabas, and to the Col d’Aneou, by which one -can pass into Spain. All the upper part of the course of the Gave is -of surpassing beauty, and the Alpine pastures yield rich spoil to the -botanist, owing to the variety of geological formation, limestone, -schist, granite, and porphyry. - -The road to Eaux Chaudes, made in 1847, has been in part superseded by -one made later, but for pedestrians it is the most pleasant, as it is -the shortest. It enters the Gorge du Hourat, and runs the whole way -between precipitous walls of rock, beside the torrent which roars down -with tremendous velocity. At one point the road has had to be built -up against the side of the precipice as a bridge, to allow a torrent, -which falls from a height of several hundred feet, to pass under it, -and so join the Gave, the river that has formed the cleft of the -valley. At Eaux Chaudes there is little space; in winter hardly any -sun, in summer there is a sense of oppression from the contraction of -the mountains and the exclusion of distant view. But many delightful -excursions may be made from it. Eaux Chaudes owes its origin to -Henri Quatre, who required his chancellor, the Bishop of Oloron, to -build there an establishment for one of Henri’s many mistresses, la -Fousseuse, that she might there drink the waters. - -The sturdy independence and self-respect of the peasantry of Ossau -have been broken down sadly by the influx of visitors. Mr. Blackburn -observes truly enough:-- - - “It is said that English visitors have completely demoralized - the Valley of Chamounix, and that the _curés_ are in despair; - but whatever sins we have committed in Switzerland, the French - people have done worse, the difference between the two nations - being this, that the latter enjoy indiscriminate almsgiving, - and we do not. The result in this valley is demoralizing - to an extent that would scarcely be credited excepting by - eye-witnesses. As we drive along we see the peasantry leaving - their work in the fields at the sound of approaching wheels, - and crouching at the roadside in attitudes of pain and misery; - girls and boys leave their play to follow the carriages, and - whine for _quelquechose_; crops are half-gathered, and work of - all kinds is neglected during the season of the sous; the cry - is everywhere, ‘Give, give!’ - - “A girl of sixteen, well dressed and evidently well-to-do, - comes up with a bouquet of wild flowers; she asks ten sous for - it (about the wages of a day’s work), but will take no less; - and on receiving the money will immediately ask for the bouquet - back again, to sell to some one else. - - “And this is not all, for those of the inhabitants who have - not brought up their children to the liberal profession of - begging, have invented another ingenious and profitable mode of - life, that of turning the cascades in the neighbourhood into - penny peepshows, shutting them off so that they can only be - approached by a wicket gate kept by one of themselves.”[G] - - [G] Blackburn (H.), _The Pyrenees_. London, 1867. - -One of the pleasantest short walks is to the Grotte des Eaux Chaudes, -passing before a little cave from which issues a stream that proceeds -at once to dash headlong down the crags into the Gave. Beyond this is -the large cave opening in the face of a cliff. This grotto is traversed -by a stream which may be crossed by a bridge of wood to where, in the -depth of the cave, it leaps down out of a fissure in the wall in a -cascade. It is probably fed by the drainage of the Plateau d’Anouillas, -where the water descending from the Pic de Gers disappears. When the -stream has left the cavern it again dives underground, and flows below -the rocks in stages that descend to the bottom of the valley, and -reappears only just before it enters the Gave. But the finest excursion -from Eaux Chaudes is to Bious-Oumettes, a plateau whence a superb view -is obtained of the Pic du Midi d’Ossau. This peak is 9800 feet high, -of porphyry and granite, cleft by a profound vertical fissure, and is -perhaps the finest, certainly the quaintest, of the Pyrenean mountains. - -Gabas, the last village on the French side of the chain, is a -halting-place for travellers and for muleteers conveying goods from -Spain. It is a cantonment of custom-house officers; and here may be -seen picturesque groups of shepherds in their fleecy jackets, Spaniards -in their richly-coloured blankets, and the uniformed douaniers. The -path leading to the plateau is lined with fir trees, but on all sides -may be seen the ravages of fire, the axe, and winter storm, in charred -stumps, twisted or hewn-down trunks, thrown down to be floated by the -Gave through its stages to the lower valley. - -The distance from Laruns to Eaux Bonnes is much the same as it is to -Eaux Chaudes. On reaching the former watering-place--“Je comptais -trouver ici la campagne,” wrote M. Taine. “Je rencontre une rue de -Paris et les promenades du Bois de Boulogne!” It is a place of big -hotels, baths, pensions, shops where toys, trinkets, and trumpery are -displayed for sale, and, of course, a casino. - - “In whichever direction we turn,” says Mr. Blackburn, “there - are houses built into and often forming part of the mountain, - resting on ledges of rock, like to eyries; but so cleverly - contrived is the arrangement of the place, so admirably has - space been economized, that there is a feeling of freedom about - it, quite inconsistent with living in a bird’s nest. - - “Thus, with the mountains several thousand feet above our - heads, and the Val d’Ossau stretching away for many miles at - our feet, with rocks overhanging and tree-tops waving, through - which we can see the blue sky--with scarcely a foot of level - ground anywhere, save the Promenade Horizontale, with cascades - and waterfalls at our windows, we find ourselves as comfortably - and luxuriously housed as in any modern city.” - -Speaking of the church Taine says: “Cette église est une boïte ronde, -en pierre et plâtre, faite pour cinquante personnes, ou l’on en met -deux cents.” This box of stone and plaster has disappeared to make room -for one of more suitable dimensions in what is caricature of Romanesque. - -There is a good carriage road from Eaux Bonnes over a fine pass into -the Val d’Aruns and to Argelez. The chief excursion is to the Pic de -Gers, 8570 feet high. - -The Eaux Bonnes springs have been known for centuries. The Béarnais -soldiers wounded in the battle of Pavia in 1525, were sent here to -be healed; and for some time after that the springs went by the name -of les Eaux d’arquebusades. But they owe their modern renown to the -works of Théophile Bordeu. There are seven sources of sulphurated -waters, which are good for throat disorders, wounds, sores, and morbid -maladies. - -The Eaux Bonnes was the scene of a sad accident in 1883, that happened -to the Rev. Merton Smith, vicar of Plympton S. Mary, in Devonshire. -He had gone to the Pyrenees for his month’s holiday, and visited this -watering-place. On 8 August he left his hotel at 3 p.m., in his usual -spirits, to walk to Eaux Chaudes, and never returned. He had intended -to return the same evening. - -Nothing could be heard of him. Inquiries were made in all directions, -search parties were organized; he could nowhere be found. Months -passed, and his disappearance remained unexplained. The Bishop of -Exeter was in perplexity what to do. He could not institute to the -living without certain knowledge that Mr. Merton Smith was dead, and -this knowledge could not be obtained. - -Uncharitable tongues wagged. Some said that he had fallen a victim to -the fascinations of a Pyrenean shepherdess, and that he was picking -edelweiss and playing a flute on some high Alp to the delectation of -the damsel. Some said that he had been captured by Roman Catholics and -interned in a monastery. Some said that he had been murdered by Ossau -mountaineers for the sake of his money. - -Not till eighteen months after his disappearance was the mystery -cleared up. His body was found on the mountainside, buried among thick -bushes of box that had concealed it. He had apparently been stooping -to pick a flower and had fallen over a precipice and been killed -instantaneously. His watch and purse were intact. It was by chance only -that a woodcutter discovered the remains whilst clearing the boxwood. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -LOURDES - - Line from Lourdes turns north--Argelez glacier--The Lavedan-- - The Seven Valleys--Lourdes of old--The castle--Held by the - English--Attacked by the Duke of Anjou--Held by Saracens-- - Besieged by Charlemagne--The Grotto--Bernadette Soubirous-- - The _curé_ Ader--The apparition expected--The vision-- - Repeated--Crowds attend Bernadette--The spring--Mud--Price - of the water--Je suis l’Immaculée Conception--Explanation-- - Compromising pamphlet suppressed--The Abbé Ader removed--La - Salette--Similar visions seen by Huguenots--Doctor Dozous--The - Empress and Prince Imperial--The Emperor patronizes the Grotto-- - Disappearance of documents--Laserre--His book a romance--The - Jesuit Cros exposes it--The water of the spring--Drawn from - the Gave--The Bishop’s commission--Pius IX appoints a festival - in honour of the apparition--Removal of Bernadette to Nevers-- - Her brother refused permission to see her--Forces his way in-- - Last scene--The procession--Where the natural ends and the - supernatural begins--No guarantee that the cures are permanent. - - -As the train sweeps into the station at Lourdes, on the right side, a -few feet above the Gave, may be seen the twinkling lights of the Grotto -of Massabielle, about which presently. - -From the station of Lourdes the line turns north to Tarbes and -Toulouse, along what was the ancient course of the Gave, a course that -is patent to the eye, till the Argelez glacier threw up a barrier of -morraine that deflected the river, and sent it careering to the west. - -[Illustration: THE BASILICA, LOURDES] - -Lourdes stands at the entrance to and is the key to the Lavedan, so -called from _abies_, the pines that once clothed the mountain-sides. -The Lavedan is fertile. It is the trunk whence branch out numerous -valleys that run up to the roots of the mountains and receive -their water. But Lavedan formed a republic of seven of these -valleys--Batsouriguère, Castelloubon (through which flows the Nès), -Estrom de Salles, Azun, Saint Savin, Devantaïgue, and Barèges. - -“Count” Henri Russell-Killough, in his _Fortnight Among the Pyrenees_, -describes the Lavedan. - - “Vine, fig trees, cherry trees, poplars, willows, elms, - walnuts, maize, all meet here, and vegetation rises nearly to - the tops of the mountains. On a fine day the whole thing looks - like a modern Eden.” - -I remember Lourdes before it was “invented” by Bernadette Soubirous and -the _curé_ Peyramale. It was a dead place, with narrow streets, very -dirty, clustered about the rock on which stands the castle. Although -the true capital of the Lavedan, the market for all the produce of the -Seven Valleys, yet it seemed to be tenanted only by beggars. - -Lourdes commands the roads which here unite from Argelez, Tarbes, Pau, -and Bagnères. It was a place of great military importance, and was -the last stronghold in Guyenne retained by the English. It did not -surrender till 1418. The castle had been given to the English by the -French king John as part of his ransom, in conformity with the Treaty -of Bretigny, 1360, when the towns and barons of Gascony were required -to swear allegiance to the Black Prince, as representative of the -English king. After awhile the country rose in revolt, exasperated by -the exactions of the English, and the Duke of Anjou, brother of Charles -V, supported the Bigorriens. - -After that all the plain had been recovered by the French, nothing -remained to the English but the Castle of Lourdes, the Lavedan to -Barèges, far removed from their base at Bayonne. The Duke of Anjou took -the town easily, as it was defended merely by a pallisade, but could -not capture the castle, which bade defiance to him during six weeks. -He vainly endeavoured to buy the governor, and was forced to retire -discomfited. The attempt made by Gaston Phœbus and the murder of Pierre -Arnaut de Béarn by him has been already related. - -But the castle has an earlier history. It is supposed to have been a -Roman castrum. It was occupied by the Saracens, who retained it after -their defeats at Poitiers and Tarbes, till the reign of Charlemagne. -He besieged it. According to legend an eagle, flying above the highest -tower of the castle, dropped a fish on the battlement at a spot still -called Pierre de l’Aigle. Thereupon the Moorish commandant Mirad sent a -messenger to Charlemagne to say that he might understand how vain were -his expectations of reducing the garrison by famine, as the Prophet -himself provided it with food. - -Charlemagne did not accept this view of the incident, and continued -the investment till the castle surrendered. The Bishop of Le Puy had -promised Charles the aid of Our Lady of Puy, if properly considered. -“Give her something,” said he, “if it be but a tuft of grass from the -castle wall.” - -Mirad and the garrison put wisps of hay about the points of their -lances, in token of submission. Then Charles bade the bishop open his -lap and threw into it all the hay from the spear-heads. This was in 778. - -In the eighteenth century the castle (Mirabel is its name) was -converted into a state prison, and it became the Bastille of Gascony. -Since the empire it has served as a barrack for a small garrison. - -But it is not the castle that now attracts visitors to Lourdes, but the -Grotto of Massabiel, the story of which must be told briefly. - -Bernadette Soubirous was the daughter of a drunken, dishonest miller, -who had lost his mill through speculation, and had been imprisoned. -He and his family were living as pensioners on the Abbé Peyramale, -_curé_ of Lourdes, in a wretched cottage in a back street--five persons -huddled into one room. Bernarde, afterwards called Bernadette, was -an under-sized, ill-fed, unhealthy child of limited intelligence -and utterly uneducated. For some reason never explained she was -sent to Bartrès, where she was employed in tending sheep. There she -attracted the attention of the _curé_ Ader, who repeatedly declared -his conviction that she was just the sort of person to be vouchsafed a -vision like that seen by the shepherd children of La Salette. - -At the end of January, 1858, the Abbé Ader sent Bernadette, then aged -fourteen, back to Lourdes, where she was at once taken in hand by -one of the _vicaires_ of the place, the Abbé Pomian, who became her -confessor and director. - -Singularly, perhaps significantly, on 28 December, 1857, M. Falconnet, -_procureur général_ at Lourdes deemed it expedient to send a report to -the _procureur impériale_ at Pau, that something was brewing in the -place. This is his letter:-- - - “I have been informed that manifestations of a supernatural - character and of a miraculous aspect are being prepared for the - end of this year. I would advise you to take measures that the - facts should be closely watched. I must know the details so as - to be aware under what articles of the penal code prosecution - is possible. I fear that little help can be gained from the - administration civil or religious. Our duty is to do all in our - power to stop the recurrence of such scandals as those of La - Salette, the more so as the religious intrigue is a means of - hiding one that is political.” - -It is evident from this letter that something was expected at Lourdes. -The magistrate was mistaken only as to when it would take place, which -was forty-five days after this letter was written. On 11 February, -1858, a cold day, Bernadette was dispatched along with her younger -sister, Marie, and a companion, Jeanne, to collect sticks for fuel -beside the Gave, under the rock of Massabielle. Bernadette suffered -from asthma, had a bad cough, and scrofulous sores on her head. To -reach their destination a small stream had to be crossed. Marie and -Jeanne slipped off their sabots and went through the water, which was -so cold that it made them cry out. Bernadette stopped to remove her -wooden shoes and thick stockings. Beyond the stream rose a limestone -rock with a cave in the face, the floor of which was level with the -bank of the Gave. An oval opening above it allowed light to penetrate -from aloft into the recesses of the grotto. At the entrance to this -hole grew a rose bush. - -Whilst stooping to take off her stockings, the rush of blood to her -head made the child fancy that she heard a sound as of wind, and -looking up she imagined that she saw a light in the upper hole, and a -lady standing in it, robed in white, wearing a blue sash, a veil over -her head, with a rosary in one hand, and golden roses on her feet. - -To her excited fancy it seemed that the apparition smiled and made the -sign of Redemption with the cross of the rosary. Bernadette uttered an -exclamation, traversed the stream, told her companions what she had -seen, and asked them if they observed the lady. “No,” they replied, “we -have seen nothing.” Then Bernadette said, “No more did I, either.” - -On their return to Lourdes, Marie told her mother what Bernadette had -stated, and Mme. Soubirous treated it as idle fancy. - -The matter, however, was noised about and provoked attention, the more -so as from the magistrate’s letter we are made aware that something of -the sort was expected in the place. On Sunday, 14 February, a party -accompanied the girl to the spot; whereupon she knelt down, fell into -an ecstasy, and declared that she again saw the apparition. All Lourdes -was now stirred. Three ladies next took Bernadette in hand, and were -almost constantly in attendance on her--Mme. Millet, Mlle. Peyret, and -Mlle. Pène, sister of one of the curates of Lourdes. In their presence -Bernadette had other visions. Peasants now came in crowds, surrounded -the girl, and accompanied her on each expedition to the grotto. At the -suggestion of her confessor she put questions to the figure, and it -replied, so Bernadette asserted, enjoining penance, and the building of -a chapel on the spot. - -One day “Madame,” said the child, “if you have something to communicate -to me, have the goodness to write it down.” - -“There is no need for writing what I have to tell you,” replied the -mysterious lady; “but do me the favour of coming here during fifteen -days.” - -On one occasion the apparition bade the girl go into the grotto, grub -for water, wash in it, drink it, and eat a mouthful of grass. - - “The Grotto at this period,” said Mlle. Lacrampe, who was - present on this occasion, “had not the depth that it possesses - now. Pebbles and sand were heaped up in it to a considerable - height, so much so that one speedily reached a point where it - was necessary to bend double to get further. Bernadette, after - having raised her eyes to the niche, put her hand to her hood - to arrange it, and lifted her gown a little so as not to soil - it. Then she stooped to the earth, and when she raised her head - and turned her face towards the apparition, I saw that her face - was all smudged with dirty water.” - -Bernadette herself related:-- - - “The lady told me to drink of the fountain and to wash in - it. Not seeing any spring, I was going to the Gave, but she - signed to me to enter the cave. I entered and saw only a little - dirty water. I put my hand to it, but could collect none, so - I scratched, and the water came, but it was muddy. Thrice I - rejected it. Only on the fourth attempt could I swallow any.” - -The Jesuit father Cros says with regard to this exhibition: -“Mademoiselle Lacrampe se retira si défavorablement impressionée, qu’il -a fallu des années et des miracles pour la convaincre.” M. Estrade, -receiver of indirect taxes, says with respect to this affair: “Je -commerçais à être dérouté, et ne savais que penser de tout ceci.” - -Thus was the miraculous spring discovered, the water of which, or what -is supposed to come from it, is sent throughout the world, a case of -thirty bottles carriage paid to the station 7 fr. 45 c. One bottle, -“franco à domicile,” in France 1 fr. 80 c. - -Now it is absolutely certain that the water was there before Bernadette -Soubirous scratched till she reached it. The Abbé Richard, a geologist, -says that it was there and it was known to be there by many individuals -in Lourdes. - -On 25 March Bernadette made her seventeenth visit to the grotto. The -_curé_ Peyramale had been at her repeatedly insisting that she should -ask the apparition who and what she was. - -Accordingly on this occasion she said: “Madam, kindly inform me who you -are?” - -Then the figure crossed its hands over the breast, lowered the eyes, -and said: “Je suis l’Immaculée Conception, et je désire une chapelle -ici.” - -It is deserving of notice that the apparition did not state that -she was the Blessed Virgin, but that she was an abstraction, the -manifestation in visible form of a dogma. - -Now Bernadette had been subjected for some time to strong suggestion. -She had been influenced by the Abbé Ader at Bartrès, who had announced -that she was just the sort of person to be chosen by the Blessed Virgin -to see her; then she had been under the direction of the _vicaire_ -Pomian, and the strong personality of the _curé_ Peyramale, who -could mould such a feeble creature as wax. I do not imply that they -consciously provoked a fraud; far from it. I think that these clergy -had made up their minds that Bernadette was a suitable subject to be -favoured by a vision, and had let her understand what their opinion of -her was. Indeed, the schoolmaster at Bartrès, in his simplicity, wrote -as much in the _Guide du Pèlerin à Lourdes_. The fathers of Garaison, -who “ran the show,” to use a vulgar expression, were so alarmed at -this revelation, that they brought up and destroyed every copy of the -_Pèlerin_ on which they could lay their hands. According to J. de -Bonnefon, _Lourdes et ses tenanciers_:-- - - “Somewhat later, the Abbé Ader, dissatisfied, neglected, - forgotten, was filled with scruples, and told everything.” - -What his authority for this statement is I do not know, but this is -certain, that Ader was hurriedly removed from his _curé_, and sent -hastily to the Benedictines, and kept in the abbey of Saint Benoît -for two years, without occupation, but lodged and fed and entertained, -not at his own cost. At the end of that time he was thought to be no -longer dangerous, and was appointed _curé_ of Oroix, a little place -with not two hundred inhabitants, in a remote corner of the diocese, -miles from every highroad. That Bernadette had heard of the apparition -at La Salette is certain, even if she had not heard Ader liken her to -one of those who saw that apparition, which took place in 1846, and was -preached about and talked of everywhere. I spent a summer in a château -in the valley of Argelez in 1850, and the _curé’s_ mind was full of -it. He lent me a book concerning it, and became hot in defence of the -veracity of the children. - -Representations of the vision of La Salette were set up in -churches--statues and pictures and stained glass. Bernadette was a -constant attendant at church, and must have heard of this event. - -Again, but three years previously, Pius IX had proclaimed the doctrine -of the Immaculate Conception as _de fide_, and every pulpit was ringing -with it. What it meant Bernadette did not know. But in her narrow, -uncultivated mind it took form as a prime verity of the faith which -was disputed by those who were weak in their belief--who were not good -Catholics. - -What could have been expected under such influences, but that if the -child fancied she saw a vision, that vision would proclaim the doctrine -recently promulgated. Can it for a moment be doubted that if she had -heard the efficacy of a certain medicine vaunted, seen it everywhere -advertised, had it urged on her from the pulpit and in the class and -in the confessional, she would have heard the apparition say, “Je suis -l’infallible pilule pink.” - -That Bernadette was an impostor cannot be admitted; no one who knew -her, none even of those who disbelieved in the apparition, had any -doubt on that score. But she was epileptic, hysterical, and subject -to hallucinations. She was very different from Melanie and Maximin -Mathieu of La Salette, whom the saintly _curé_ d’Ars saw, and was at -once convinced that they were liars. Very similar visions to that seen -by Bernadette had been seen by Huguenots. In the spring of 1668, near -Castres, a young shepherdess of La Capelle, aged ten, beheld an angel -who forbade her going to Mass. The news spread through the country, -and, just as at Lourdes, so at La Capelle, crowds assembled to see -her in an ecstasy, and hear her converse with the angel, who bade her -announce to all to avoid entering Catholic churches. - -Roman Catholics would say that the girl was deceived by the devil, and -that Bernadette’s visions were from heaven. But in fact one was as -genuinely a delusion as the other. - -Unfortunately the case of Bernadette was not examined coolly and -impartially. Very soon a doctor, Dozous, took up the cudgels for the -miracle. Here is what the _procureur impériale_ says of him, and from -that one can judge of the worth of his evidence. - - “Doctor Dozous was formerly physician at the hospital of - Lourdes, but was dismissed his post two years ago. He has - resented this bitterly, I understand. Nor was he pleased that - he was passed over and three of his confrères were nominated - by the prefect to report on the physical and moral condition - of Bernadette Soubirous. Be that as it may, he has made a - change in his opinions since then. He did call these visions - farces, now they are something beyond the power of human nature - to explain. On 7 April he was for the first time struck with - a circumstance that had previously not struck him or any one - else. Bernadette, during her ecstasy, held a lighted candle - between her hands, and the flame licked her hands without - burning them. Other spectators, quite as well situated as M. - Dozous, assert that he saw incorrectly, or ill appreciated what - he did see.” - -On 12 March, 1858, the Emperor Napoleon III demanded information -relative to the affair of Lourdes. Somewhat later the Empress was -at Biarritz, and had with her as attendant Mme. Bruat, who had just -returned from Lourdes, bringing with her some of the grass that grows -in the grotto. It fell out one night that the Prince Imperial was ill, -and croup was feared. Mme. Bruat urged the application of the herb from -Lourdes. The Emperor was roused, and in his presence the bit of dried -grass was applied to the lips of the child, and he became easier. - -The Emperor and Empress at once extended their protection to the -grotto, and all serious examination into the matter was at an end. This -was on 2 August. The consequences were immediately felt. None of the -civil authorities at Tarbes or Lourdes dared thenceforth express doubts -in the genuineness of the apparition. It had a further effect. There -existed a good number of documents in the _dossier_ at Tarbes relative -to what had been going on at Lourdes, very candid accounts--perhaps too -candid. One compromising packet disappeared, and was offered privately -for sale to several persons. The police were at once set to work, and -secured the stolen packet, which was _not_ restored to its place, but -totally and irretrievably disappeared. - -In 1869 appeared Lasserre’s book, _Notre Dame de Lourdes_, which had -an enormous sale; it had reached its 126th edition in 1892. Henri -Lasserre had been a journalist, and his paper, the _Contemporaine_, -had utterly failed. He was in bad circumstances, when the bright idea -struck him to puff Lourdes. He went there in August, 1867, and placed -himself in the house of the _curé_ Peyramale, and took in without -criticism everything that he was told. He did more; he dressed up every -incident fantastically, turned the story into a romance, giving details -and conversations that could only have been obtained had he tracked -Bernadette from day to day with a camera snap-shotting her, and with -a note-book and pencil taking down everything heard in shorthand. He -made no scruple to falsify facts which did not suit him, and he had -his reward; the book sold with an unprecedented rapidity, and filled -his pockets with gold. Now the Jesuit Cros also wrote about Lourdes; -but his work, that appeared in 1901, while exposing many of Lasserre’s -falsehoods and exaggerations, had to be gone through and cut about by -his superiors before that it was suffered to be published. - -It causes some surprise, and it convinces some people that miraculous -agency has worked in the grotto, in that so much water flows away from -the taps supposed to discharge that which issues from the spring in -the cave. This water is drawn off, evaporated, and sold in pastilles -(big boxes, 2 francs; _bonbonnières_, 75 cents). But does it really -come from the source pretended? The water of the cave is merely the -dripping and sweating of the walls and the oozing up of infiltration of -the Gave, that is little lower than the floor; but hence now issues a -copious spring. - -An experienced scientist of Bayonne managed to break through the -wire netting at the end of the grotto that conceals the miraculous -spring from the public, and to pour in sufficient fluorescine to -discolour 10,000 litres of water. This would have revealed itself at -the taps infallibly, had this latter supply come from the grotto. -No discoloration, however, appeared. The gentleman who made this -experiment wrote to the superior of the Fathers of the Grotto to -inform him of the test he had applied. He received no answer. Then, in -a second letter, published in the _Reveil de Bayonne_, he offered to -pay the superior the sum of 40,000 francs if he would allow the matter -of the water to be properly investigated, and could prove that there -was no trickery. The water, he asserted, was drawn from the Gave higher -up stream. The Fathers shrank from the investigation. - -My authority for this is Jean de Bonnefon. But I must add that I wrote -to that gentleman and also to the editor of the _Reveil de Bayonne_ to -learn the name of the man who offered the challenge, and also the date -when made, and that neither one nor the other has had the courtesy to -reply. The editor may, however, be dead, as the _Reveil_ has ceased to -appear. - -Nevertheless, the charge of fraud has been made publicly by M. de -Bonnefon, and it is incumbent on the French Government to see that no -trickery is used to impose on the religious public, and obtain of it -money under false pretences. - -The Fathers of Garaison are no longer nominally in charge of the -grotto and all its belongings, but this is nominally only. They are -now called _vicaires_, under authorization of the Bishop of Tarbes. -The name is altered, that is all. Monte Carlo is under the protection -of the French Government. A German, Captain Weihe, has brought charges -against the Company of fraudulent action, of having the balls loaded -and of employing magnets. The French Government should insist before -extending its patronage to the gambling hell at Monte Carlo and to -the grotto of Lourdes to have the proceedings in both thoroughly and -impartially investigated. But both bring vast sums of money into the -country, and consequently the Government shuts its eyes upon both. -When the inventories were taken in the spring of 1906 the Bishop of -Tarbes gave instructions that no sort of opposition was to be offered -at Lourdes to the Government authorities counting up the silver hearts, -and crutches, etc., in the basilica and grotto. It mattered not to him -to have the feathers of the goose counted, so long as the goose itself -was not killed that laid the golden eggs. He was careful not to provoke -opposition, lest an inquiry should be made that might lead to awkward -disclosures. - -Not that any amount of exposure of trickery--if trickery has been -resorted to--would disabuse the minds of the credulous. Human stupidity -is too crass for that; but it would relieve the French Government of -the discredit of conniving at dishonest proceedings. - -Before Lasserre’s book had appeared, the Bishop of Tarbes had appointed -a commission to investigate the alleged marvels at Lourdes, but there -was not a name on the commission that could command confidence, only a -vicar-general, canons of the cathedral, and the like, not a single man -of science and of independent mind. When the bishop was satisfied--and -most easy to satisfy he was--he gave his sanction to pilgrimages to the -grotto, and Pius IX accorded indulgences to such as made the visit. -He did more; he instituted a liturgical office for 11 February, to be -inserted in the Breviary, in commemoration of the first apparition. -Consequently the Church of Rome is irrevocably committed to this great -delusion. - -It was necessary to get rid of Bernadette; she was not indeed likely -to “faire des bêtises”; but, in her own interest, it was well that -she should be removed, lest her head should be turned, as people were -entreating her to perform miraculous cures. And it was quite possible -that she in her simplicity might let out compromising avowals--not -indeed that the whole thing had been got up as a fraud, for that it -was not, but might avow how greatly she had been influenced by the -suggestive action of the abbés Ader, Pomian, and Peyramale, all doing -their part in good faith, with no intent of deception but who, like -Ader, had become, conscious _après coup_ that they had brought this -affair about. - -Bernadette was taken off and shut up in a convent at Nevers, at such -a distance from her home that there seemed no chance of relative or -acquaintance ever seeing her again. There she was retained very close; -hardly any one was permitted to visit her. Her health, always frail, -gave way in confinement, deprived of her mountain air, and she died -in 1879. When it was known that she was on her death-bed M. le Gentil -very kindly undertook to pay the expenses of her brother to Nevers, -so as to have a last look at his sister. Gentil accompanied him. -Nevers would seem to have been chosen expressly as a place where to -place Bernadette, so difficult is it to be got at from Tarbes--only by -cross lines and slow trains, with long waits at every change. However -difficult and tedious Gentil and Soubirous may have found it, making -their way thither by train, it was nothing to the difficulties caused -by wilful obstruction put in their way on reaching Nevers. Soubirous -went alone to the convent, and asked for the superior. She replied to -his demand for an interview with his dying sister, “It is against the -rules of the convent.” - -Soubirous, timid as poor peasants are, returned to the hotel and told -M. Gentil his want of success. Soubirous went again to the convent and -was again refused. Then the two men called at the palace on the bishop. -He said, “I can do nothing. The superior is mistress in her house.” - -Then Soubirous and his companion went again to the convent and entered -the parlour, where they declared firmly that they would remain till the -request was granted. - -The superior in great agitation entreated them to depart and not -provoke a scandal. “I am but a feeble woman,” she said, “and the bishop -has forbidden me to allow you to see your sister.” - -Throughout the day the two men remained at their post seated in the -parlour. Emissaries ran to and fro between the convent and the bishop’s -palace. The house was like a disturbed ant-heap. Sisters passed and -repassed, peeped in and withdrew. Voices were heard in discussion in -the passages. But the two men would not budge. - -At last night drew on. It would never do to allow them to pass it in -this holy prison. At last, pale and trembling, the superior entered, -and said, “Monseigneur has consented.” - -Soubirous was then conducted to the infirmary. The whole community of -twenty nuns, and all the serving sisters, were there crowded about the -bed. On it Soubirous caught a glimpse of the white face of his sister -with her great burning eyes looking at him, and tears rolling down her -cheeks. The dying girl in a feeble voice said, “The fathers will give -you work. They have promised it.” That was all. The head sank back on -the pillow, and more tears flowed. Soubirous was then hustled out of -the room, and he never more saw Bernadette. - -To-day this man is well-to-do. He has a shop and a house, and fears -God and the Fathers of the Grotto. So ended this poor martyr to the -doctrine of the Immaculate Conception.[H] The annual number of pilgrims -who visit the grotto amounts to something over 600,000, and the -affluence increases every year. Trainloads of sick people leave Paris -in the month of August, when the principal pilgrimage takes place. But -all the festivals of the Blessed Virgin, and that of the Apparition, -inserted in the calendar with proper Mass, give occasion to solemnities -of exceptional grandeur, the most imposing feature of which is the -night processions so beautifully described by Zola. Hideous and vulgar -are basilica and chapel of the Rosary that have been erected over and -by the cave. The situation is exceptionally beautiful, and would lend -itself to a stately and well-proportioned church and pile of buildings; -but it has been used as an occasion for the display of architectural -ineptitude. Grotto and church are crowded with _ex votos_ memorials of -cures wrought there, cures that are reputed miraculous. - - [H] Bonnefon, _Lourdes et ses tenanciers_. Paris, 1906. The - value of this book is in the second part, that contains - the hitherto unpublished documents from the Paris and - Departmental archives relative to the course of development - of the Lourdes story. - -But who is to decide where the natural ends and the miraculous begins? -In the present condition of science we cannot draw the line between -the natural and the supernatural. None can plant his walking-stick at -a certain point and say that he has reached “ubi defuit orbis,” and no -man can declare the exact point “ubi defuit scientia.” We know that the -Maladetta is in Spain, and that the Vingemale is in France, because the -mountain chain has been surveyed, and the line of demarcation drawn -between Spain and France. Such a tree, such a rock, such a hamlet, -we know for certain is in one or other of these countries. But there -is no such boundary in Nature. Where does the vegetable realm end -and the animal kingdom begin? Psychology and physiology overlap and -interpenetrate one another. The body acts on the mind, and the mind -on the body. Those who come to Lourdes come in a condition of nervous -exaltation, in a fever of faith and hope; not only so, but they come in -crowds, and the magnetic, electric influence exercised by great masses -of men and women on one another, is prodigious, when all are actuated -by the same impulse. - -That cures have been wrought at Lourdes I do not doubt. Similar and as -many, and as genuine cures were wrought of old in pagan temples, which -were also crowded with _ex votos_. - -And what guarantee have we that these cures have been permanent? A man -with a rheumatic leg prays at the cave, dips in the dirty pool, feels -that he can walk, and hangs up his crutches. Next day he is as much -crippled as before, but he has not the courage to go back to the grotto -and resume his crutch; he orders another from Paris. - -But that some of the cures are permanent need not be doubted. The -effect of imagination on the body is immense. Every nervous person can -make himself ill by imagining himself to be ill; and a good many can -get well by persuading themselves that they are convalescent. There was -much truth in Mrs. Chick’s saying that Mrs. Dombey died because “dear -Fanny wouldn’t make an effort.” - - - - -CHAPTER X - -THE LAVEDAN - - Pic de Gers--Argelez--Vieuzac--The Balandrau--Intermittent - spring--Cave of Ouzous--Devantaïgue--Beaucens--Val d’Azun-- - Fortresses--Arras--Aucun--Lake--Arreins--Puy-al-Hun-- - Commissioners scared from it--Garrison frightened away--Queen - Hortense--A miscalculation--Saint Savin--The Voisins-- - Palatium Æmilianum--Church--Paintings--S. Orens--Disorderly - monks--Pierrefite--Ravine--Peasantry. - - -A funicular railway takes a visitor to the top of the Pic de Gers, -whence he can obtain a fine comprehensive panorama of the mountains. A -cross surmounts the peak that is illuminated at night. - -On quitting Lourdes to ascend the Valley of Argelez the mountain -sides are seen to be bare, having been denuded of their trees by the -ruthless axe of the peasant. Presently the train passes a mound on -which stands a solitary tower called after the Black Prince, who is -held to have ordered its construction to watch the upper portion of the -valley. Then the basin of Argelez opens up, with villages and culture, -vines, chestnuts, walnuts, running high up the sides of the mountains, -mainly on the right bank of the Gave, and maize in the plain standing -up as high as a man, or in the season sheets of forget-me-not-blue -waving flax, alternating with crimson stretches of the _Trifolium -incarnatum_. On the rubbly slopes the glistening box flourishes -luxuriantly. Argelez is a delightful resort in spring and summer. It -has its bathing establishment, to which the waters of Gazost are led, -its casino, and a park in which the bamboos grow rank, and the acacias -in spring flower and scent the air. Avenues, bordered by hotels, link -the Argelez of the tourist and those who go there for what the Germans -call “Sommerfrische” with the old Argelez. Among the villas is the -château of Vieusac, from which that scoundrel Barrère took a title, -that he dropped in the Reign of Terror, and reassumed as soon as he was -safe under Louis Philippe, when he represented Argelez in the Conseil -Général. - -This place was formerly a Romano-Gaulish settlement; in a field -near the town a considerable number of cinerary urns have been dug -up. A mile below Argelez is the Balandrau, a huge block of stone -balanced at the edge of a crag, held from falling by a small stone of -different nature, that retains it in position, and looking as though -all it needed was a touch to send it hurtling down upon the roof of a -farmhouse planted beneath. A Mass is said annually in the church of -Argelez to invoke Divine intervention against such a catastrophe. The -Balandrau has been supposed to be a megalithic monument of the dolmen -builders, but it is natural, a relic of the Ice Age in the valley when -it was choked with glaciers. Farther down a stream flows into the Gave. -Here, at Ouzous, is an intermittent spring that turns a mill, when it -pleases it to flow. Before it bursts forth it is said to growl and -grumble. Here also, in the face of the limestone cliff, is a cave that -served as a church during the Reign of Terror, when priests were hunted -down like wolves; and here the peasants assembled to hear Mass. Fifty -years ago the rude stone altar, made like that of Gilgal, was standing; -I have not been to the grotto since. - -Facing Argelez, the right bank of the Gave to the crest of the -mountains, from Préchac to the mouth of the Valley of Isaby constitutes -one of the seven valleys of the ancient confederation of the Lavedan. -It is not a valley at all, any more than is that of S. Savin, which -formed another, both being mountain slopes, one on the right, the other -on the left bank of the Gave. This was the Devantaïgue, which means -literally, “in face of the waters,” and comprised five communes. In -it is the Castle of Beaucens, the former residence of the counts of -Lavedan, before it passed into the hands of the King of Navarre. It -is an imposing ruin, with the little village clustered about the feet -of the rock on which it stands. Tradition is, as we were informed by -the peasants, that up to the Revolution a terrible toll was exacted of -this little commune; it was bound annually to supply a girl to become a -prostitute in Paris. - -The Valley of Azun, next to that of Barèges, is the largest of the -seven of the confederacy. It is cut off from the basin of Argelez by a -barrier of rock, through which its steel-blue Gave has sawn a way. The -road to reach the valley has to mount high to surmount the barrier; -and this point was strongly defended by three fortresses, the most -considerable of which was Castelnau-d’Azun. The ruins are dominated -by a donjon and a square tower, of the fourteenth century, which -castle was held by the English till taken by assault by the peasants -in 1404. Above the ravine cleft by the river is a rock from which the -inhabitants hurled a collector of taxes into the abyss, a simpler -proceeding than paying their dues. But they were always an independent -people, self-governing, almost autonomous. Every householder, female -as well as male, voted to elect their consuls and representative at -the common parliament that sat at Argelez, comprising those sent from -each of the seven valleys to regulate such matters as concerned -all conjointly. One can understand how restive they were under the -English tyranny. The kings of Navarre respected the privileges of the -confederate little republics, and did not interfere with them, but sent -a bailiff to administer justice in his name. - -The Valley of Azun had to be watched and well guarded, as down it came -one of the passages from Spain over a col. Accordingly, the castles -on the barrier were but one link in the defence. Arras, farther up, -had two more castles, now degraded to prosaic use. Above Arras again -is Aucun. The church contains two _bénitiers_, one, richly carved, -represents a wedding, with tumblers, and a musician playing the -bagpipes. The other, also of white marble, has on it rudely-sculptured -bears in various postures. Aucun was the capital of this miniature -republic. A little below it a road descends to and crosses the Gave, -and then mounting to the village of Bun leads up the narrow valley of -the Gave de Lebat to the pretty bottle-green lakelet of Estaing lying -at the foot of the Soum de Monné, behind which is Cauterets. - -Farther up the valley of Azun is Arreins, whence started the track -leading into Spain by the Col de la Peyre S. Martin. The church served -as a refuge in time of danger. It still keeps its crenellated wall of -enclosure. - -Hard by is the pilgrimage chapel of Puy-al-Hun, on a rock standing -boldly up out of the midst of the valley. A writer in 1837 thus -describes it:-- - - “We went up to Notre Dame Pouey-la-Unt, beautifully set down - upon a platform overlooking a world of sweet and serene aspect, - and having for its rough pavement the rock on which it is - built. A fissure runs through it, and when it rains, a stream - through the fissure; but the walls are panelled brown and gold, - the roof is azure starred with gold, the pillars of the high - altar twisted like those of the baldaquin of S. Peter’s at - Rome, gorgeously gilt and gracefully wreathed with vine leaves - and tendrils and bunches of grapes, all gold or its likeness.” - -The chapel is much the same now as it was when this was written, but -the stream no longer flows in the channel athwart the floor. The -Commissioners of the Directory visited the place to plunder the shrine -and destroy the image of the Virgin, but when they entered the church -they were scared by unearthly noises proceeding from above, and they -ran away. These noises were produced by some young peasants who had -secreted themselves between the vaulting and the roof. However, the -chapel was sold, and bought by a farmer’s widow in the place. Next a -small garrison was quartered in it, for the protection of the frontier -against the Spaniards, and the impression of their muskets on the -balustrades may still be seen. One evening the women of Arreins, -disguising themselves as Spanish soldiers, to the roll of drum, in -the dusk made an attack on the chapel, and the garrison, thinking -discretion the better part of valour, decamped, and did not halt to -take breath till they reached Argelez. - -The chapel was visited by Queen Hortense in 1807; she had recently lost -her son, the Prince Royal of Holland, and she founded here a Mass to -be said in perpetuity for the repose of his soul. The Abbé Pome, then -owner and chaplain of the sanctuary, wrote to give the Queen an account -of the first anniversary Mass. - - “That day, which should have been one of mourning by recalling - the memory of a prince born to be the successor of the great - Napoleon, has become a day of joy and thankfulness through - the birth of another prince, who, generated in our mountains, - and, if I may presume to say so, under the special protection - of the Virgin, has dried up all our tears, has reanimated our - courage, and has become the object of our most flattering - hopes.” - -This prince just born was Louis Napoleon, who became Emperor of the -French. - -In 1870 Mr. Lawlor published his _Pilgrimages in the Pyrenees_, and in -it says of Napoleon III:-- - - “The protection of Our Lady of Poëy-la-hun would seem never to - have deserted him through all his adventures and dangers.” - -An unhappy sentence written shortly before the disaster of Sedan in -1871. - -On a beautifully wooded height on the right as ascending the Valley of -Argelez are seen the tower and church and buildings of S. Savin, where -was an abbey of great importance, but of which now all that remain -are the church and the chapter-house. The abbot was Seigneur over the -so-called Valley of S. Savin, and that of Cauterets, then desert and -poor, which belonged to the confraternity. But although seigneur, the -abbot was by no means a despotic lord. The little republic of S. Savin -would not admit him into his monastery, let him even cross the bounds -of the “valley” till he had taken oath to respect the ancient rights -and liberties of the place. Its electors went by the name of _voisins_; -but the abbot alone represented S. Savin in the Estates of Bigorre, -and he presided over the deliberations of the assembly of _voisins_ -and _voisines_, for women as well as men were the representatives of -the will and rights of the little republic, and a single veto would -suffice to prevent the execution of any measure voted. On one occasion -a _voisine_, named Galhardine de Fréchon, opposed her veto to the rest -of the assembly which was otherwise unanimous, and thus paralyzed their -action. - -The abbot and his monks doubtless lived well: hunted, and lounged -and slept in their comfortable quarters, without discharging their -religious duties other than in a perfunctory manner, for the Chevalier -Bestin, in his verses relative to a stay in the Pyrenees, boasted of-- - - “Le long dîner, la courte messe - Du bon abbé de Saint Savin.” - -The abbey occupies, it is believed, the site of the Palatium Æmilianum, -which served as a retreat for Savinus, son of a Count of Barcelona, and -nephew of the Count of Poitiers, in the eighth century. The abbey was -erected by Charlemagne, and here, so goes the legend, Roland fought -and cleft from head to waist two Saracen giants, and constrained a -third to submit to baptism. In 843 the terrible Northmen destroyed -the monastery. Raymond I, Count of Bigorre, rebuilt it in 945; and he -it was who granted the Valley of Cauterets to the monastery. It also -possessed sole rights to the interment of the inhabitants of the Val -d’Azun. When, on one occasion, these people ventured to bury one of -their dead near the church of Arreins, the monks forced them to dig up -the body, although in an advanced state of putrefaction, and transport -it to S. Savin. It is probably in reference to this that Frossard, a -Protestant pastor, and one of the first writers on the Pyrenees, says -that the monks enjoyed “several privileges at once destructive to -individual liberty and to sound morals.” - -The first appearance of S. Savin is eminently striking; the massive -walls, the large rude blocks of which they are constructed, the lofty -apse, the fine portal, and even the clumsy fifteenth-century tower, -with its ill-shaped spire, are all impressive. - -The present church is of the beginning of the twelfth century, and -the architecture is of the plainest and most severe Romanesque. -On the tympanum of the west door is a figure of Christ between -the evangelistic symbols, but so weathered as to be scarcely -distinguishable. - -In the interior is the marble tomb of S. Savin; far more ancient than -the present church, it is a rude, early sarcophagus. But what is of -special interest are the two large paintings on wood, each in nine -compartments, representing the legend of the saint, the inscriptions -under each group are in patois. In the sacristy are preserved the hood -and comb of Savin. - -A “bénétier des cagots” is a holy water vessel, near the entrance, -supported by figures, supposed to represent members of the proscribed -race. The organ case is of 1557, and is adorned with three faces that -loll their tongues and roll their eyes, hardly to the edification of -the congregation, when the bellows are worked. - -The village itself of S. Savin is small, silent, and deserted, and -impresses one with a sense of melancholy. But the great beauty of S. -Savin is the view one enjoys from it, especially from the chapel of -the Pietà, of the upper portion of the basin of the Valley of Argelez. -Villages and hamlets are strewn thick over it and on the mountain side -opposite. One can see up the Valley of Isaby to the ruin of Saint -Orens, and the Pic de Viscos towering as a pyramid above Pierrefite, -where open the gorges of the Gave from Luz and from Cauterets. - -A scramble up the Valley of Isaby to S. Orens will repay the trouble. - -Orens was born at Huescar, in the marches of Aragon. He sold his estate -and retired as a hermit to the Valley of Lavedan. He was elected Bishop -of Auch about 419, and was dispatched as ambassador from Theodoric -the Ostrogoth to sue for peace from Aetius, the Roman general, and was -successful. He was the author of a religious poem, the “Commonitorium,” -still extant, and died in 439 at his monastery in the Lavedan, to which -he had retired at an advanced age from his see. - -This monastery had fallen into bad ways in the eighteenth century, -and the repute of the monks was so evil that the Bishop of Tarbes -visited it in 1738. The prior took to his heels when he heard that an -investigation into his malpractices was to be held. At the time the -entire community was reduced to prior, sacristan, and a single monk, -and these no longer resided in the monastery, but lodged with the -_curé_ of Villelongue. In the _procès_ instituted against the convent -we read:-- - - “One of the three above-mentioned is the craftiest and most - dangerous man conceivable. He is the cock of the village. He - attempted to murder the prior. He stole one of the chalices. - The other monk is the most imbecile and stupid creature in the - place. He has lived on in the house for the last fifty years, - and does not know how to read.” - -The ruins of the church stand boldly above the torrent that descends -in a series of cascades. The stream may be followed up to the Lake of -Isaby, from which it rises. - -The basin of Argelez comes abruptly to an end at Pierrefite, surmounted -by a ruined castle; here the Pic de Viscos divides, with the chain -running from it, the valleys of Luz and of Cauterets; the Gaves from -these break out of the cleft rock, for that is what Pierrefite means, -on one side and on the other, and here unite. At this point terminates -the railway; but hence electric trams ply to Cauterets up one ravine, -and to Luz up the other. - -The line to Cauterez rises rapidly up steep inclines and describing -curves that command views down the chasm where the Gave boils and -thunders. A tunnel is entered, passed through, and the view back of the -sun-bathed, fertile Valley of Argelez, of the walnuts and chestnuts of -S. Savin, is excluded. We have passed from one world into another; from -golden sunlight into mountain gloom, from one vegetation to another as -well. The rocks add to the effect of transition, for they are of dark -schist streaked with ferruginous stains, and there are long spreading -refuse slides from the lead mines of Pierrefite, too poisonous to allow -any shrub, even grass, to grow on them. There are no gaps up which the -eye can look to gleaming snow fields, till all at once we emerge on the -basin of Cauterets, where the mountains fall back and open and show us -the sunlit snow, and a river dancing down in a fine fall, and before us -a bit of Paris dropped out of the clouds into this solitude. - -But Cauterets and Luz must be reserved for another chapter. - -I cannot quit the radiant Valley of Argelez without a kindly tribute to -the simple, warm-hearted peasantry. As I have already said, we spent -a summer in a château on the mountain side, high up opposite Argelez. -My mother visited the poor cottagers, and where there was sickness did -what every English lady would do, sent relief, and did better than -that, showed tender sympathy. When we left, in the autumn, to return -for the winter to Pau, our carriage was surrounded by the poor people, -bringing their humble offerings of stewed pears, grapes, figs, apples, -cakes, and we were laden with their gifts, more than we could consume, -but were unable to refuse; and what was better still, as we whirled -away, were attended by their best wishes, and not a few sincere regrets -and tears. - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -LUZ AND CAUTERETS - - Springs of Cauterets--La Raillère--Taine on Cauterets--Double - _clientèle_--Pont d’Espagne--Lac de Gaube--Drowning of Mr. and - Mrs. Pattison--Avalanches--Ravine to Luz--Val de Barèges-- - Church of the Templars--Hermitage--Castle of Ste. Marie-- - S. Sauveur--Imagined accident--Brêche de Roland--Giants of - Vizos--Gorge of the Gave--Gèdre--The Héas--Landslip--Cirque - de Troumousse--Chaos--Cirque of Gavarnie--Skulls of Templars-- - Du Molay--Citation before God’s throne--Barèges--Defences - against avalanches--Opposition of the peasantry to planting. - - -From an early period Cauterets enjoyed great repute. By a charter of -945 Raymond I, Count of Bigorre, granted the valley to the abbey of -S. Savin, on condition that they built there a church in honour of S. -Martin, and that they maintained at the hot springs a hospital for the -patients who visited them. - -Of these springs there are two groups. The upper, La Raillère, is -at some distance from the town, but is reached by electric tram. It -takes its name from the avalanches (raillères) that have made their -pathway down the mountain side above it, and have left their white and -ghastly scars on the rocks, and heaped wreckage below. This is the most -abundant group of springs, but the space there is narrow, and lies in -a gorge. The thermal establishment has to be maintained on huge walled -terraces. There is no hotel there; but those who use the waters for -baths or for gargling come and go by the tram. The platform on which -the baths of La Raillère are constituted command a view of the deep -valley of Lutour, down which descends a stream issuing from a chain of -little lakes lying in the lap of the Pic de Mallerouge, 9740 feet, the -lowest of which, the Lac d’Estom, discharges its waters by a beautiful -cascade, and they further leap down into the basin of Cauterets at its -extremity in a white streak. Above the Lac d’Estom in a wild chaotic -cirque are the tarns that feed it; one of these retains its coat of ice -almost all the year through. - -The Lutour joins the Gave de Jerret above La Raillère, and it is up -this latter that the way leads to the Pont d’Espagne and the Lac de -Gaube, about which more presently. Another Gave, that of Cambasque, -unites with the Gave of Pierrefite by the station of the electric tram -at Cauterets, and below the town itself. - -The Thermes des Œufs, so designated from the smell of rotten eggs, -sulphuretted hydrogen, emitted by the waters, is one of the most -luxuriously furnished establishments of the kind in Europe. Six springs -contribute their water to the baths. Above these is the casino. - - “Cauterets,” said Taine, “is a bourg at the bottom of a - valley, dismal enough, paved, and furnished with an _octroi_. - Innkeepers, guides, all that ravenous population surround us. - We are annexed by touts, children, donkey-drivers, by the - first _garçons_ who can hitch on to us. We are handed cards, - we receive recommendations to this hotel for its situation, - to that for its cuisine. We are attended, cap in hand, by the - crowd, elbowing one another out of the way, to the end of the - village. ‘This is my traveller,’ shouts one, ‘come near him and - I will horsewhip you.’ Every hotel has its herd of touts. Here - all are hunters. In winter they hunt the chamois, in summer the - tourist.” - -Cauterets has been considerably enlarged and improved since the above -was written, but the tout is ever with you. Something like ten thousand -persons visit Cauterets during the season to drink the waters or to -bathe in them. But in fact it has a double _clientèle_, one of patients -and the other of excursionists. The former move like clockwork to the -baths and back again, like a long black revolving chain; then to their -hotels or lodging-houses, to their meals, to their promenade, to their -beds; and throughout the day thus mechanically passed, the tick-tack -of their talk, always about their symptoms and their sufferings, their -progress or their relapses, is maintained without cessation. But the -second class of visitors are such as desire to climb the Vignemale, to -ascend to the highest tarns above Estom; at the least to see the Lac -de Gaube. These pertain to an order of beings very distinct from the -patients. They have no aches and pains. They turn away their noses from -the savour of the springs. They are quivering with energy, muscular, -and restless. They look upon the patients with undisguised contempt, -and the latter scowl at those who enjoy rude health with querulous -dissatisfaction. There is yet another category of visitors--the -pilgrims to Lourdes; they arrive fagged with their devotions and -overstrained emotions, to relax, laugh, and perhaps entertain some -incredulity as to the marvels of the Grotto of Massabielle. The market -at Cauterets is gay with stalls during the season, that lasts from 1 -June to the end of September; every trifle is to be found in them, -from gay-coloured Merino shawls, rock-crystals, toys, rosaries, sacred -images to picture cards. - -The Pont d’Espagne, that can be reached by a carriage, and the Lac de -Gaube, are points omitted by no excursionist who visits Cauterets. The -former is a stone bridge thrown over the river formed by the junction -of the Gave de Mascadou and that which issues from the Lac de Gaube. -Higher up the first of these is a picturesque wooden bridge thrown -across the torrent. - -The path to the Lac de Gaube leaves the road just before reaching the -Pont d’Espagne. The lake is a lovely mountain tarn two miles and a half -in circumference. The sides are steep, in places clothed with dark -masses of pines; and in the background rises the Vignemale, 10,820 -feet, with its crevassed glacier, that feeds the lake by a cascade. - -By the water is a white marble monument to the memory of a Mr. Pattison -and his wife, who were drowned here whilst on their wedding trip, -within a month of their marriage, on 20 September, 1832. Mrs. Ellis -thus describes the accident. Her husband was acquainted with the -relatives of both:-- - - “It is said to have been a bright and beautiful morning when - the English bride and bridegroom went out upon this lake, - in the fisherman’s rudely-constructed boat, the very same - that we saw lying by the shore, than which a more unsafe or - unmanageable vessel could scarcely be imagined. Little seems to - be known of the awful event which followed, except what those - who stood on the shore relate, that when the boat was about the - middle of the lake, the figure of the man was seen stooping - overboard--that the female, alarmed for his safety, rushed to - the same side--and thus, the vessel being overbalanced, both - were plunged into a watery grave. The bodies were both found, - though one not till a month after. They were conveyed to - England, and buried at Witham, in Essex.” - -The recklessness of the villagers in times past had threatened -Cauterets with destruction. The forests had been cut down, and free -course given to the avalanches to fall into the valley and cover all -with stones and mud. If something had not been effected to bridle -the torrent above La Raillère, the springs there would have been -overwhelmed with rubble, and the thermal establishment utterly wrecked. -The ravine down which the avalanches fall is that of Péquère, and it -was not snow and small stuff only that was brought down, but huge -masses of rock. - -Great pains have been taken, by means of replanting the slopes and the -erection of barriers, to protect the baths, and these efforts have -been happily crowned with success. Since 1897 another avalanche path -has been taken in hand, that of the Lizey, which menaced the road to -Pierrefite, and had in fact cut all communication during three weeks in -1895. - -Even the esplanade of Cauterets was threatened. The winter of 1903-4 -tried the place severely; in the month of January the masses of fallen -snow reached the town itself. In spite of themselves the inhabitants of -the basin have had to yield to the resolution of the Board of Forestry -and allow extensive replantation. - -The journey up the ravine to Luz by electric tram presents a succession -of beautiful peeps of the bottle-green river thundering through the -gorge, breaking into masses of foam at every leap; waterfalls descend -the mountain sides right and left--everywhere is rich and luxuriant -vegetation. - -The gorge opens to reveal the green meadows of Viscos, then contracts -again, once more to expand into the basin of Luz. High aloft on a -terrace stand the villages of Vizos and Esquièze, with their church -spires. In the background is seen a superb circle of snow-clad -mountains, those of the ridge of the Mont Perdu, nearer the Soum Blanc -on one side and the Pic Long on the other. - -[Illustration: THE TEMPLAR CHURCH, LUZ] - -The whole of the district, from the opening of the gorge at Pierrefite -upwards, formed the Pays or Val de Barèges, which formerly enjoyed -to a high degree the rights of self-government. It was practically an -independent republic till the time of the Revolution, its liberties -accorded to it in acknowledgment of services rendered in wars with -Spain. Few taxes were imposed; that most severely felt elsewhere, on -salt, did not trouble the Barègois. They had entire liberty to chase -and to fish, rights so jealously reserved by the princes elsewhere. -Even in diplomacy Barèges preserved a sort of autonomy, and treated -with delegates from the Spanish valleys without reference to the counts -of Bigorre or the kings of France. - -What strikes the eye at once on arriving at Luz is the old Castle of -Sainte Marie, now reduced to a ruin, perched on a height; and the -curious parish church, built and fortified by the Templars, who had a -commandery here. The crenellated walls now enclosing the small area -in which stands the church were built by the Knights of Malta, who -succeeded to the place that had been occupied by the Templars, after -the suppression of this latter order. - -On each side of the apse is a tower, one of which resembles the keep of -a castle. The ramparts surrounding the old cemetery of the Knights are -passed through an embattled gateway. - -There are two portals into the church, that on the north being -the main entrance, and it is Romanesque. The tympanum, surrounded -by inscriptions of the twelfth century, contains symbols of the -evangelists surrounding a figure of Christ. The bases of the columns of -the doorway also bear inscriptions. The interior of the church is dark, -dungeon-like, and the decorations and furniture are barbaric. On the -south side of the nave is a late chapel dedicated to S. Mary Magdalen. -A child’s stone sarcophagus serves as a _bénitier_ at the entrance to -the church. Here, as at S. Savin, is a Cagot’s door. - -This is perhaps the best preserved Templar church in France. So far it -has not undergone restoration, but it is far too small for a growing -place, and a new church will have to be built elsewhere. - -Above Luz, on a height, is a hermitage, formerly occupied by a Père -Ambrose, who died in the odour of sanctity in 1778. He was a Capuchin -friar, born in 1708, who had embraced the religious life at the age -of sixteen. He wrote some godly works, one on the Joy of the Soul, -one on the Peace of the Soul, and a third consisted of letters giving -spiritual advice. - -The chapel is dedicated to S. Peter. Napoleon III had it rebuilt, and -entitled S. Pierre-de-Solférino. Near by is a cairn, under which lie -the bones of Ambrose, the last hermit to occupy the place. The ruins -of the Castle of S. Marie date from the fourteenth and fifteenth -centuries. There are two keeps. This fortress was formerly the -principal stronghold commanding the Valley of Barèges. It was built by -the English originally, and held by them, terrorizing the inhabitants -of the basin, till the Barègois peasants rose in a body against them in -1404, stormed the castle, and put the garrison to the sword. After that -it was rebuilt and strengthened. - -Saint Sauveur consists of a long street of hotels, and is occupied in -the summer alone. In winter and spring every door and window is barred. -It is reached from Luz over a bridge, erected in 1860 by order of -Napoleon III. The keystone of the arch is 198 feet above the torrent. - -[Illustration: LA BRÊCHE DE ROLAND] - -Another bridge, farther up, is that of Scia; like the former, -constructed of white marble, and thrown at an amazing height above the -Gave, where huge blocks of granite intercept its course, and it -roars and tumbles savagely over the obstruction. A French guide-book -asserts that at the spot an English lady, the Lady Clara, standing -on the bridge, recited the celebrated soliloquy of Hamlet, in this -fashion: “To die, to slip!” and then flung herself into the abyss. No -such an incident ever occurred there. - -The Brêche de Roland, a gash in the high ridge of snow and rock above -Gavarnie, now becomes visible, as Pragnères is reached, but it is -invisible from Gavarnie itself. - -The story goes that Roland hacked this opening in the rock with his -sword Durandal in the hopes of breaking the blade, so that the Saracens -might not get possession of it at his death. But the tale has been -transferred hither from Roncevaux. It is certainly curious to note how -that legends of Roland have attached themselves to numerous places in -the Pyrenees from west to east. He occupies there the place that King -Arthur does in England, Scotland, and Wales. We have seen how that at -S. Savin he was said to have fought with giants. Now it is a curious -fact that according to tradition Vizos, near Luz, was occupied by a -race of giants called Empresous, _les Preux_, and that representatives -of them remained on there till the end of the eighteenth century. The -Revolution seems to have cut them down, for we hear of no others since -then. In the Archives of Luz is a record of the death of an Empresou -named Barèque, in 1771, at the age of a hundred and ten. These giants -had a cemetery of their own, and a baptistery of their own. They seem -to have been regarded with something like the repulsion with which the -Cagots were considered. In the churchyard have been turned up human -bones of extraordinary size. - -The valley or gorge of the Gave has been much belauded and often -described. This naturally has produced a revulsion. M. Ardouin-Dumazet -has led the way. He says:-- - - “The road is fine, without exactly deserving all the - hyperbolical praises lavished upon it. That which is the - spoiling of this country is the extravagance of the admiration - expressed for it. Since the time of Ramond no one who speaks - of the Pyrenees can describe a site without declaring it to - be incomparable. If they have judged it incomparable, it is - because they have seen nothing with which to compare it. The - panorama from Pau, truly marvellous, I admit, is not superior - to that of the Alps, the Jura, and the Cevennes, seen from the - hills above Lyons on a clear day. It is so with this country. I - do not venture to use the expression Gasconading with reference - to these descriptions, but I cannot pitch my note at the - diapason of the Pyrenean infatuists.” - -This may be true enough of the way to Gavarnie, but I do venture to -believe that the Cirque of Gavarnie--the end of this expedition up the -Gave--is, _pace_ Ardouin-Dumazet, incomparable. - -Gèdre was a wretched hamlet some years ago, when I first knew it, but -now it has its hotels, and is a very convenient tarrying place whence -to explore the valley of the Héas, and visit the two cirques of Estaubé -and Troumousse; as also the valley of the Aspé, descending from the -glacier of Mallerouge. - -The Héas issues from a narrow fissure, foaming over cascades. Higher up -in the ravine is the chapel of Notre Dame de Héas, planted on a huge -block fallen from the mountain above. It is held that the Virgin once -appeared to a shepherd at this spot. - -This mass is but one portion of a landslip that took place in 1650, -which dammed up the river and formed a lake, which in its turn was -destroyed by a flood in 1788. Among the fallen rocks may be found the -beautiful _Saxifraga pyramidalis_ or _longifolia_, and the _Ramondia -pyrenaica_. Pilgrimages are made to the chapel on 15 August and 8 -September. - -The Cirque de Troumousse is above Héas. It is less remarkable than -that of Gavarnie, though more extensive. It lacks the series of bold -escarpments capped with glacier that form the distinguishing feature of -the latter. - -Above Gèdre, on the route to Gavarnie is a _chaos_, an agglomeration of -fallen gneiss rocks from above; it is as if half a mountain had been -precipitated into the valley from the Coumélie. Farther up may be seen -a cleft rock, between the jaws of which hangs a mass, arrested there -on its way down. The scenery becomes grander, but at the same time -more dreary; the cirque opens before one, and we reach the village of -Gavarnie. - -The Cirque of Gavarnie has been already briefly described in my first -chapter. To see it to advantage it should be visited in spring or early -summer, when, from the melting of the snows, the great fall is full of -water. It resembles the Staubbach only in the long drop of the stream -and its resolution into fine spray. The setting of it is immeasurably -superior to that of the famous Swiss fall. The height is 1385 feet, -and is the highest in Europe, except one or two in Norway. If there -be plenty of water it shoots down in one single column; but in summer -it descends in two leaps. This is not the only cascade in the cirque; -down every part of the huge curve threads of water drop into the basin. -Towards the end of a hot summer many of these fail, and the great -cascade is much reduced. - -The first sight of the cirque is disappointing. There is nothing by -which to scale it, and the appearance is only one of size, gloom, and -cold. The bottom of the great bowl is heaped with rubble brought down -from above. But at Gavarnie we are four miles from the foot of the -cirque, and it looks as if not more than a quarter of an hour’s stroll -was required to reach it. A thousand feet seems to be no more than -a hundred, and the huge rocks hurled down from above are reduced in -appearance to mere pebbles. - -A stone dropped from the top of the Pic du Marboré, 10,600 feet, will -fall 5500 feet into the cirque. In the church of Gavarnie are to be -seen twelve skulls, held to have belonged to the Templars of Luz, who -fled hither, and were here executed. A story is current that on the -last night of the year, just before the clock strikes midnight, a -Templar clothed in white, and with a red cross on his breast, enters -the church at Gavarnie and cries, “Ho! who are there that will stand -up and fight for the temple?” Whereupon one skull after another -replies, “None; the temple is destroyed.” This white-robed Templar is -Du Molay, the Grand Master, burned alive at Paris, with four other -great dignitaries of the Order. King Philip the Fair coveted the great -possessions of the Knights, and Pope Clement V had obtained the tiara -by the help of the King; the price he paid for it was the dissolution -of the Order, and the sacrifice of the Knights to torture and death. -In the midst of the fire Du Molay cried out, “Clement, iniquitous and -cruel judge, I summon thee within forty days to meet me before the -throne of God.” According to some accounts he cited the King as well. -Du Molay was burnt on 18 March, 1314; on 30 April, Clement was dead; -and Philip the Fair on 29 November, in the same year. - -The road over the pass of the Tourmalet branches off below Luz and -ascends the desolate Valley of Bastan, ravaged by avalanches, to -Barèges, a long street of hotels and lodging-houses closed during -the winter. The baths here have been famous for long. The waters -impregnated with sulphate of soda are the most powerful in the -Pyrenees, and are charged with a peculiar nitrogenous substance called -glairine that renders them oily to the touch. Their great use is for -the healing of wounds and ulcers, and for scrofula. They have been -employed for a military hospital since 1760. Barèges stands over 5000 -feet above the sea, yet it is more bleak and inhospitable in appearance -than many a town such as Briançon, little short of it in altitude. A -covered tank for bathers was erected here in 1550; and hither, to take -advantage of the waters, came Mme. de Maintenon, in 1677 with the young -Duke of Maine. - -The scourge of the place has been the avalanches, mainly those that -shoot down by four great paths from the Labas Blancs, the mountain to -the north, and which bring the town or village, call it which you will, -under 100,000 cubic feet of snow. Extensive works have been undertaken -to prevent the complete destruction of the houses, baths, and -hospitals. Huge barriers of masonry 40 feet high and 46 feet long by 18 -feet wide have been drawn across the ravine of Le Theil, and extensive -replanting of the sides with pines has reduced the danger; but it will -take many years of growth before the trees attain a sufficient height -to be able to completely screen the place. The ravine of Le Theil may -be said to have been already rendered innocuous; but that of Midaou -caused disaster in July, 1897, when an avalanche carried away a portion -of the baths, and choked the valley as far as to Luz. Since 1900, -however, this trough of the avalanche has been blocked. - -On the left bank also the work has been energetically pursued to arrest -the fall of torrents of snow from the Pic d’Ayré, where the avalanche -path is formed of glacial clay, hard as cement when dry, but in time -of rain forming a flood of mud falling 1200 feet. Here replanting has -proved efficacious, and barriers of masonry have been erected, that -have served the purpose intended. This work was begun in 1862, and -since 1869 no lava-like flood of mud has reached the Valley of Bastan. -The inspector Dellon says:-- - - “The regulation of the system of the torrents of Rieulet and - Bayet, the fixing of the glacial mud which constitutes to a - large extent the banks of these torrents, and the foot of the - slope of the mountains facing Barèges, the attenuation of the - avalanches, so dangerous to this thermal station, all prove the - efficacy of the means adopted. The contrast is most striking - between the districts within the range of these torrents - acquired by the State, and such others as have not, and still - belong to the communes. In these latter the devastation - increases every year, annually exposing the _route nationale_ - and the Bastan to ever magnifying dangers of obstruction.” - -All the valley might be saved and reclaimed, but everywhere, here as -elsewhere, the Board of Forestation meets with sullen and stubborn -opposition from the peasantry. - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -TARBES - - Tarbes an uninteresting place--A large village--Inglis on the - view--Jardin Massey--Cloister of S. Sever--Horses--The Haras-- - Counts of Bigorre--Petronilla and her five husbands--Her will-- - Numerous claimants--A long contest--Tarbes fortified--Sack by - the Huguenots--Massacre--The Leaguers--Battle of Tarbes--Retreat - of Soult--Barrère--Macaulay on his character. - - -From Tarbes it is possible to escape in four directions, for from it -radiate lines to Paris, to Pau, to Bagnières, and to Toulouse, and -another is in prospect to Rustan and Mayonac. - -No one presumably would stay in Tarbes for two days unless he were -an official tied to duties in it and enjoying a salary, or were -possessed with a passion for horses. For, indeed, in Tarbes itself -there is nothing to be seen save the Haras and the depot for remounts -to the cavalry. The cathedral is the most cumbrous, ungainly minster -in all France. The public buildings lack interest. One thing Tarbes -does possess, that it shares with the meanest village in the same -arrondisement--the view of the Pyrenees. - -Inglis, who trudged the Pyrenees in 1830, thus describes the prospect:-- - - “I have read in some book that the most beautiful part of - every country is where the mountains sink down into the - plains, and of this assertion the situation of Tarbes offers - an excellent illustration. If I had never gone further into - the Pyrenees than Tarbes I might have said that nothing can - exceed the beauty of its neighbourhood. The charming plain that - environs it--yet not altogether a plain--stretches to the foot - of the mountains, rich in every production of the southern - latitude, beautifully diversified with wood, and watered by - the meanderings of the Adour and of several lesser streams. - The celebrated Valley of Bagnères opens to the left, that of - Lourdes to the right; while in the south, apparently at but a - few leagues distant, the Pic du Midi towers above the range of - mountains that extend to the right and to the left, as far as - the eye can reach. - - “After the long continuation of carriage-travelling from - Avignon to Tarbes--oh, how I enjoyed this morning! It was a - glorious morning, and the magnificent range of the Pyrenees, - rising sharply from the plain, was bathed in sunbeams, which - gilded the eminences, reposed on the slopes, and gleamed in - among the valleys. If this book should chance to be read by - anyone who knows the scenery of Scotland, let him recollect the - road from Stirling along the foot of the Ochill Hills, and he - will have a better conception of the country through which I am - now conveying him, than could be conveyed by a thousand minute - descriptions. It is true his imagination must assist me; he - must imagine the Ochills seven to eight thousand feet high in - place of two thousand; he must substitute Indian corn of the - most luxuriant growth, for oats and barley; and, in place of - whin-blossoms covering the knolls, he must fancy them clothed - with vine; he must add the charm of a southern sky, and the - balminess of a southern clime.” - -Tarbes is a huge, straddling city, a great village giving itself the -airs of a capital. On entering it from the station the town has an -unattractive aspect. An avenue has been driven from the Gave to the -Place Maubourguet, which is the centre of the town; but it has few -houses along it, and none of consequence, and these throughout Tarbes -have the appearance of villas in a suburb, surrounded with gardens. -Some effort has been made to retrieve the ugliness of the town by the -erection of fountains and statues, and by planting handsome promenades. -But it is a lifeless place, only acquiring animation on the occasion -of its fairs. The river strays in its vast bed, broken into several -streams by rubble banks. It has been drawn off above the town by -numerous channels of irrigation, so that when it reaches Tarbes it -is out of proportion to its bed, as might be an infant in the vast -fourposter of Ware. - -But the Jardin Massey is the pride of Tarbes; it is a park extending -over thirty acres--space is no object in Tarbes--and is really -interesting. It was the gift to his native town by the man whose name -it bears. Massey left Tarbes as a journeyman gardener, and visited -Holland, where he obtained a situation as director of the gardens -of the king. Louis Philippe summoned him to France, and made him -manager of the gardens of Versailles. As he had amassed a good deal -of money, he resolved on spending it for the adornment of his native -town. He bought the land where now is the park, dug a lake, formed -water-courses, planted rare trees, laid out flower-beds and lawns, -and built a museum of natural history commanded by a lofty tower. In -fifty years the trees have grown to a considerable size; and later -benefactors have enriched the gardens with statues, busts, and the -museum with sculptures and paintings. In the park has been erected -the beautiful cloister of the fifteenth century removed from S. -Sever-de-Rustan, a monastery wrecked by the Calvinists, under Lizier, -who massacred all the inhabitants of the town, with the exception of -seven persons. The monks would have been also put to death but that -Queen Jeanne had already suppressed the abbey, and they had been -dispersed. Next to the Jardin Massey the Haras should be inspected. - -In ancient days the horses of the county of Bigorre, the viscounty -of Béarn, and of Lower Navarre were highly esteemed; the race was -called Navarrine, and it owed its merits to the fact that it was a -cross between the Arab and the native Pyrenean stock. The Saracens had -crossed the mountains, overflowed Aquitaine, and threatened Northern -France, they were met at Poitiers and routed by Charles Martel in 731. -Three hundred thousand Saracens, say the old chroniclers, with their -usual exaggeration, fell on the field; the rest fled, the main body to -Narbonne, others to such passes as they knew that led to Saragossa. A -battle was fought near Tarbes, in which the flying remnant was utterly -routed and exterminated. A great number of their stallions and mares -remained in the hands of the victors, and it was from this capture that -sprang the so much coveted and esteemed race of the Navarrine horse. - -By degrees the quality declined and degenerated, reverting to the -type of the Basque horse. This was due partly to lack of importation -of fresh Arab blood, and partly to the mountaineers neglecting the -breeding of horses for that of mules, specially serviceable to them -among the mountain passes where were tracks, but no roads. The evil -became so great that the Estates of Bigorre voted two thousand livres -annually for the maintenance of stallions. During the Revolution, when -there was great demand for mounts for the cavalry, the scarcity of good -horses attracted the attention of the Council of Five Hundred. Napoleon -took the matter in hand with his characteristic energy. In 1806 he -founded the Haras at Tarbes, and the introduction of English blood was -the basis of the transformation attempted. Later, during the campaigns -in Algeria, the finest stallions taken from the Arabs were sent to -Tarbes; and the result has been the production of a horse admirably -adapted to the use of light cavalry, that goes now by the name of the -Tarbes horse. Mm. Simonoff and Mörder, of the Russian haras, thus speak -of it:-- - - “The three bloods of which the Tarbes horse derives--the Arab, - the English, and the old Navarrin--are so near to each other, - being all of Oriental origin, that the fusion took place easily - and quickly; and although as yet the Tarbes horses are not of - perfect homogeneity, it is quite possible to speak of them as - forming a race which by its qualities, is rather full blood; - than half blood.” - -The stallions are in the Haras at Tarbes, but the mares are dispersed -within a radius of twenty kilometres around Tarbes; and the rearing of -colts is the industry, and makes the fortune of the department, at all -events of the plain and fertile valleys. Within the district where they -are reared there is not a village, not a farm, that has not its mares -for breeding. Even _curés_ supplement their scanty incomes by keeping -them, and rearing from them. One, the Abbé Turon, sold to the State his -stallion Mousquetaire for 20,000 francs. This roused a great outcry -among the Radicals, who denounced the Government for having bought -from a priest. Tarbes is the old capital of Bigorre, and here resided -the Count. I have already mentioned Centule I of Béarn, assassinated -in 1088, who put away his wife with the approval of Pope Gregory VII, -so as to marry the heiress of Bigorre. By this union Bigorre and Béarn -were not united, for his son Gaston by the repudiated Gisela became -Viscount of Béarn, and his son Bernard III inherited Bigorre. This -Bernard left issue, a daughter only, named Beatrice, who married Peter, -Viscount de Marsan, by whom she had Centule III, and he also left an -heiress, Stephanie, married to Bertrand, Count of Cominges, by whom -she had one child, a daughter Petronilla. - -The story of the annexation of Bigorre to Foix and Béarn is complicated -through the matrimonial vagaries of this same Petronilla. And this was -further complicated by the action of a pious ancestor, Count Bernard -II, who in a fit of maudlin devotion placed his territory and family -under the protection of the black doll, Notre Dame du Puy, promising in -return for this protection that the county should annually pay tribute -to the church of Le Puy. Certainly Our Lady of Puy treated Bigorre -scurvily in return, allowing the inheritance to slip through heiresses, -five in all, and, moreover, to involve it in a lawsuit that lasted a -hundred and thirty-nine years. - -Petronilla married Gaston, Viscount of Béarn, and when he died without -issue, in 1215, took as number two Nûnez de Cerdagne, but tired of -him speedily, got the marriage annulled, on the convenient plea of -consanguinity, and married in 1216 Guy, son of Simon de Montfort. -This was sharp work--three husbands in a twelvemonth. By Guy she had -two daughters, Alix and Perette. In 1228 she took a fourth husband, -Aimart de Rançon, and on his death, in the same year, she espoused her -fifth, Boso de Mastas, to whom she bore a daughter, Martha. By her will -Petronilla constituted Esquirat, eldest son of her daughter Alix, heir -to her estates and titles; but in default of male issue the succession -was to go to Jordan, the second son of Alix. Should he fail to have a -son, then the second substitution was in favour of Martha, her daughter -by Boso, who was married to Gaston VII of Béarn. Esquirat did have a -son, also named Esquirat, but this second Esquirat died childless, -and bequeathed the county of Bigorre to his sister Lore, as his uncle -Jordan had died without issue. Now Petronilla and her third husband -Guy de Montfort had left a second daughter, Perette, married to Raoul -de Teisson, and had by him a son William de Teisson, who conceived that -he had a right to the inheritance. Martha, wife of Gaston de Béarn, had -a daughter Constance, and she also put in a claim. In fact, these were -the claimants: Lore, Viscountess de Turenne; Constance, Viscountess de -Béarn; William de Teisson; and Mahut, daughter of Alix and Raoul de -Courtenay. But that was not all. The younger Esquirat had made over his -inheritance to Simon de Montfort by a first will, and then, offended at -the grasping nature of Simon, had revoked his will and constituted Lore -his heiress. But Simon refused to recognize the legality of this second -will, sold the viscounty to Thibalt II, King of Navarre, whose son -Henry gave his claim to it to Jeanne, his daughter, married to Philip -the Fair, King of France, and he was but too ready to acquire this rich -district of Gascony on any plea, bad or good. The church of Le Puy also -put in a claim, so did the King of England as overlord. Consequently -there were from eight to nine claimants. - -By decree of Parliament, in 1290, the rights of the church of Le Puy to -the charge on the viscounty were confirmed. - -Constance, Viscountess of Béarn, occupied Bigorre with her troops, and -assumed the title of Countess of Bigorre. Jeanne of France, however, -expelled her, adopted the title, and Philip the Fair asserted his right -to the territory, and was prepared to maintain it by force of arms. -Philip had already bought off the rights of the church of Le Puy. -Bigorre remained under the crown of France till Charles VIII in 1425 -granted it to John, Count of Foix, in return for his services against -the English, and in consideration of his descent from Petronilla. - -From 1425 to 1566 the county of Bigorre was wisely administered by the -viscounts of Béarn, who had become titular Kings of Navarre. - -Tarbes was fortified in the tenth century by Raymond I. It suffered -destruction at the hands of the English in 1350 and 1406. But its -greatest disasters took place during the Wars of Religion. Jeanne -d’Albret was resolved on forcing the Reform on the Bigorriens, but -they ejected the Huguenot pastors as fast as they were sent to them, -and appealed to the King of France, who sent troops in 1569 to their -aid. Jeanne enlisted the services of Montgomery. He swept through the -country, ravaging it with fire and sword. He sent his lieutenant, -Montamat, to take Tarbes, and Montamat appeared under its walls on -20 January, 1570. The besieged, finding it impossible to hold out, -evacuated the city during the night. When the Huguenots entered they -found no one in the place, and they pillaged the houses and set them on -fire. - -When he was gone the inhabitants returned and began to restore their -wrecked and gutted houses and to repair the walls. Montamat reappeared, -bringing cannons with him. François de Bennasse, commandant of the -garrison at Lourdes, had hastened to the defence of the capital at the -head of 800 men. Montamat attempted an assault, and was repulsed. But a -traitor in the town opened the gates to the Calvinists, and the captain -entered. Bennasse, all his soldiers, and many of the citizens were put -to the sword. The number massacred was so great that it took eight days -to bury them. - - “This took place,” says a contemporary writer, “about the feast - of Easter, in the year 1570. After that the city of Tarbes - remained without inhabitants, and the grass grew in the streets - as in a field, a piteous sight to behold. And three whole years - elapsed without there being a garrison in it; but indeed the - town was incapable of defence on account of the ruins made by - the cannon.” - -Peace was concluded at S. Germain-en-Laye on 15 May, 1570, and it was -hoped that tranquillity would ensue. But this was not to be. Passions -had been wrought to frenzy, and the thirst for revenge was consuming. -The death of Jeanne d’Albret in 1579 did not allay the troubles. In -1592 the town became the prey of the Leaguers of Cominges, and from -it they issued to devastate the surrounding country, till expelled in -1594. Almost the whole population of Cominges had embraced the cause of -the League. “There was never before seen such disorder, such pillage, -from the beginning of these wars. Captains, soldiers, valets, and -volunteers were so laden with furniture that they were carrying off -that they complained it was a trouble to them to be encumbered with so -much spoil. Moreover, in despair, the peasants of Bigorre abandoned the -cultivation of the land, and many migrated into Spain.” - -In 1594 the people themselves rose, and, assisted by Caumont de la -Force, delivered themselves from both Leaguers and Protestants, and -peace was celebrated at Tarbes. - -On 12 March, 1814, a combat took place between the English and -Portuguese under Wellington, and the French under Soult. After the -defeat of Orthez Soult had withdrawn his dispirited soldiers along both -banks of the Adour, steadily pursued by Wellington. - - “A light division,” says Allison, “and hussars were on the - right bank of the Adour; but when they approached the town, a - simultaneous movement was made by Hill with the right wing, - and Clinton on the left, to envelope and cut off Harispe and - Villatte’s divisions, which formed the French rearguard in - occupation of it. - - “The combat began at twelve o’clock by a violent fire from - Hill’s artillery on the right, which was immediately re-echoed - in still louder tones by Clinton on the left; while Alton, with - the light division, assailed the centre. The French fought - stoutly, and, mistaking the British rifle battalions, from - their dark uniforms, to be Portuguese, let them come up to the - very muzzles of their guns. But the rifles were hardy veterans, - inured to victory; and at length Harispe’s men, unable to stand - their deadly point-blank fire, broke and fled. If Clinton’s - men on the left had been up at this moment, the French would - have been totally destroyed; for Hill had, at the same moment, - driven back Villate on the right, and the plain beyond Tarbes - was covered with a confused mass of fugitives, closely followed - by the shouting of victorious British. But Clinton’s troops, - notwithstanding the utmost efforts, had not been able to get - up; the numerous ditches and hedges which intersected the plain - rendered all pursuit impossible; and thus the French, though - utterly broken, succeeded with very little loss in reaching - a ridge, three miles distant, when Clauzel, who, with four - divisions, was drawn up to receive them, immediately opened - fire from all his batteries upon the allies.” - -During the night Soult retired in two columns, and such was the -rapidity of his retreat that he reached Toulouse in four days. - -A native of Tarbes, of whom the town has no occasion to boast, was -Bertrand Barrère, born 10 September, 1755. He was educated for the Bar -at Toulouse, and became a scrivener at Toul. As his father owned a -pretty estate at Vieuzac, in the Valley of Argelez, he called himself -Barrère de Vieuzac, flattering himself that by this feudal addition -to his name he might pass for a gentleman. He was sent as deputy for -Bigorre to the States-General. Being totally devoid of principle, -when the result of a parliamentary struggle could not be foreseen he -took the precaution of having in his pocket two speeches, written -in opposed senses, so that he could always jump in the direction -taken by the cat. Barrère had affected the moderate principles of the -Girondists, till he saw that the extremists were the strongest, and -then he threw in his lot with the Mountain, and voted for the execution -of the King. Then seeing that the current ran strong against the -Girondists, he took the foremost place in procuring the condemnation to -the scaffold of those with whom he had previously acted in concert. He -it was who was set up in the convention to call for the blood of the -Queen. On the day on which Marie Antoinette was dragged to execution -Barrère regaled Robespierre and other Jacobins at a tavern. - - “In the intervals between the Beaume and the Champagne, between - the ragout of thrushes and the partridges with truffles, he - fervently preached his new political creed. ‘The vessel of the - Revolution,’ he said, ‘can float into port only on waves of - blood. We must begin with the members of the National Assembly - and of the Legislative Assembly. That rubbish must be swept - away.’” - -The Reign of Terror began. The Jacobins had prevailed all along the -line. The Convention was reduced to silence. The sovereignty had passed -to the Committee of Public Safety. Six persons held the chief power -in the small cabinet which domineered over France: Robespierre, Saint -Just, Couthon, Collot, Billaud, and Barrère who had hastily divested -himself of his territorial appendix of De Vieuzac. Of the horrors of -those days it is unnecessary to speak. As guilty as Robespierre or -Couthon was the bland, timorous, unscrupulous Barrère. He it was who -proposed the burning of the towns and villages of the Vendéeans, the -total destruction of Lyons, the violation of the royal graves at S. -Denys, the deportation of all such as could not bring irrecusable -proof of patriotism since 1792. He became the declared adversary -of Danton when he found it safe to take that part, and proposed -his arrest on the 9th Thermidor. He contributed powerfully to the -fall of Robespierre; but he had made so many enemies, was so little -trusted, that instead of rising higher by the fall of Robespierre, -he found himself unable to maintain his balance. He was denounced -before the revolutionary tribunal, along with Collot d’Herbois and -Billaud-Varennes, and was sentenced to be deported to the pestilential -swamps of Cayenne, but obtained the change of his destination to -the Isle of Oléron. After having sacrificed his old allies, the -Hébertistes, the Dantonistes, and the Robespierristes, he himself -had fallen. When moved later from Oléron to Saintes, he succeeded in -escaping from prison. The _coup d’état_ of the eighteenth Brumaire -restored him to liberty. We need not follow in detail his further -adventures. When Louis XVIII gained the throne of his ancestors by the -aid of foreign bayonets, Barrère fled to Brussels. The revolution of -July put an end to his exile, and he returned to the south of France, -and settled at Argelez, where he died 14 January, 1841. - -His memoirs in four volumes were published under the editorship of -Hippolyte Carnot and David d’Angers, in 1843. They are replete with -disingenuousness in the representation of the part he played, as also -of falsehoods, that can be proved to be such by reference to the -contemporary files of the _Moniteur_. - -Macaulay, at the opening of his long and brilliant essay on Barrère, -says:-- - - “Our opinion is this: that Barrère approached nearer than any - person mentioned in history or fiction, whether man or devil, - to the idea of consummate and universal depravity. In him - the qualities which are the proper objects of hatred, and the - qualities which are the proper objects of contempt, preserve - an exquisite and absolute harmony. In almost every particular - sort of wickedness he has had rivals. His sensuality was - immoderate; but this was a failing common to him with many - great and amiable men. There have been many men as cowardly as - he, some as cruel, a few as mean, a few as impudent. There may - also have been as great liars, though we never met with them or - read of them. But when we put everything together--sensuality, - paltroonery, baseness, effrontery, mendacity, barbarity--the - result is something which in a novel we would condemn as a - caricature, and to which, we venture to say, no parallel can be - found in history.” - -At the close of the article Macaulay says in reference to Hippolyte -Carnot, who states that Barrère was at no time a sceptic, that he was -the author of a pious treatise, entitled, _Of Christianity and its -Influence_, as also of a book of meditations on the Psalms:-- - - “This makes the character complete. Whatsoever things are - false, whatsoever things are dishonest, whatsoever things are - unjust, whatsoever things are impure, whatsoever things are - hateful, whatsoever things are of evil report; if there be any - vice, and if there be any infamy, all these things, we knew, - were blended in Barrère. But one thing was still wanting, - and that M. Hippolyte Carnot has supplied. When to such an - assemblage of qualities a high profession of piety is added, - the effect is overpowering. - - “We have no pleasure in seeing human nature thus degraded. - We turn with disgust from the filthy and spiteful Yahoos of - the fiction; and the filthiest and most spiteful Yahoo of the - fiction was a noble creature when compared with the Barrère of - history. But what is no pleasure M. Carnot has made a duty. - It is no light thing that a man in high and honourable public - trust should come forward to demand approbation for a life - black with every sort of wickedness, and unredeemed by a single - virtue. This M. Hippolyte Carnot has done. By attempting to - enshrine this Jacobin carrion, he has forced us to gibbet it; - and we may venture to say that, from the eminence of infamy on - which we have placed it, he will not easily take it down.” - -Strange irony of fate. In Barrère’s native town, his victim, Danton, -only less detestable than himself, is glorified with a monument, a -statue in bronze. After Danton, perhaps Tarbes will erect one to -Barrère. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - -BAGNÈRES - - Visitors and residents--Pic du Midi--Ramond--Springs--Captain - Lizier--Observatory--Vaussenat and Nansouty--Death of the - former--Val de Campan--Château d’Asté--The Grammont family-- - La belle Corisande--Philibert de Grammont--His memoirs-- - Larrey--Marbles--The Lac bleu--Slate quarries--The Cagots-- - Caput Mortuum--Lepers--Recuperative power of Nature--Efforts - of the Church to break down the barrier--Crestiaas. - - -Bagnères de Bigorre is a town, but it is country as well; it has the -amusements and dissipations provided by a place of public resort, but -it has also lovely and quiet resting-places in mountain solitudes. - -It swarms during the season with water-drinkers, bathers, loungers, -ladies who wear elegant toilettes, and bucks turned out by the best -Parisian tailors. But it also contains marble works, linen factories, -and women who are skilful at the knitting of the so-called Barèges -shawls. The wool is from Spain, the finest Merino, and this enables -them to make the shawls delicate as lace. - -To the south lie the mountains rising steeply, and commanded by the Pic -du Midi. For long a rivalry existed between the Bigorriens and they -of Roussillon as to whether the Pic du Midi or the Canigou was the -loftiest mountain of the Pyrenean chain; indeed, some claimed for each -that it was the highest peak in Europe. In both cases the mistake was -due to the position of each mountain starting boldly out of the plain. - -It was due to Ramond that the Pic du Midi was forced to lower its -pretensions. In 1787 this secretary of the Cardinal de Rohan ascended -the mountain, and on reaching the summit, and seeing before him to the -south the perpetual snows of the gleaming glaciers above the Cirque of -Gavarnie, he realized what had not before been suspected, that the Pic -du Midi was but a mountain of the second order. Then the inspiration -took him to explore the whole range. He was engaged for fifteen years -on the task, and he was the first to reveal to French people what the -Pyrenees really were. Till he had explored them they knew nothing about -the chains save what they saw from the plains, and from the passes -leading into Spain, for at that time no roads had been engineered up -the gorges. The visitor went no farther than to Laruns in the Val -d’Ossau, and Pierrefite in that of Argelez, unless he committed himself -to a guide, and mounted a mule, and was led over wild heights along -mere tracks. - -The explorations of Ramond and his successors have been recorded with -humour by H. Béraldi in his book, _Cent ans aux Pyrenees_:-- - - “He accomplished,” says Ardouin-Dumazet, “that which ought - to have been done for the Alps; they also were undiscovered, - scientifically, till the year 1787. For, be it observed, Ramond - received his inspiration on the top of the Pic du Midi, in the - same year in which Saussure reached the summit of Mont Blanc, - along with Jacques Balmat.” - -The mountains rising steeply to the south of Bagnères render the place -cool in summer, when some of the sun is cut off; but it is a dreary -residence in the winter, for the same reason. - -There are springs of various temperatures and mineral components, -ferruginous, sulphurous, etc., advertised as good for nearly every -complaint under the sun. It was the Roman Aquæ Convenarum, and visitors -may now bathe in the marble basins in which Gallo-Roman ladies and -gentlemen dipped. Bagnères was always a town, and in the Hôtel de -Ville are preserved archives containing much relative to the history -of the place; among these is a charter of Esquirat, Count of Bigorre, -confirming the customs and liberties of Bagnères, dated 1251. - -The history of the town is one of untroubled serenity till the times -of the Wars of Religion. Captain Lizier, the Huguenot, on occupying -Tarbes, imposed a heavy subsidy on the neighbouring towns, Bagnères -included. But Bagnères demurred to raising the contribution demanded. -Lizier marched to it, got hold of the governor, Beaudéan, and shot him. -The people of Bagnères resolved on revenge. They drew the terrible -captain into an ambuscade and killed him to the shout of “Remember -Beaudéan!” - -On the summit of the Pic du Midi is an observatory, erected by the -energy of two men: Vaussenat and General Nansouty. Vaussenat was a -native of Grenoble, born of a labouring family in 1837. He was admitted -into the school of arts, and traded at Aix, and on leaving it was -engaged in search for metals in Savoy. But summoned to the Pyrenees to -manage some mines there, he married a niece of a general at Bagnères, -and settled there. He saw, what indeed others had seen before him, -that the Pic was admirably suited for a meteorological observatory, -but he could not induce the Government to take any steps towards its -construction. However, he managed to communicate his enthusiasm to -General Nansouty, and between them the foundations were laid and -the work was begun. The general took up his abode in the cabin of -Sencours, just below the terminal cone, where he passed winter and -summer registering his observations, whilst Vaussenat travelled through -France, lecturing, exhorting, wringing money for the work out of -learned societies and from generous individuals. Nansouty underwent -great hardships. On one occasion, in December, 1874, a furious tempest -burst over the refuge of Sencours, and twelve feet of snow was heaped -on the roof, one of the windows was blown in, and the door gave way. It -was absolutely necessary to quit the place. Nansouty, aided by his two -companions, took seventeen hours struggling through the snow to reach -the bottom, a distance that can easily be mounted in two hours and a -half. - -The observatory was completed in 1882, and was made over by these two -energetic men to the State, whereupon Vaussenat was appointed director -of the observatory. He lived till 1891, when he fell ill in it. He was -being conveyed down the mountain, when one of the bearers slipped, and -Vaussenat was flung down a steep descent of ice. He was taken up and -carried to Bagnères, where he succumbed eight days after. - -Bagnères is at the mouth of the Val de Campan. In it are the -ivy-mantled ruins of the Castle of Asté. They are inconsiderable, and -in themselves hardly deserve a visit. But they are of some historic -interest, as this Château d’Asté was the second cradle of the dukes of -Grammont. The barons d’Asté, early in the sixteenth century, became -viscounts, and Menard d’Aure, Viscount Asté, had the good luck to marry -the heiress of Grammont. Thenceforth his descendants assumed the title -of counts of Grammont and viscounts of Asté. - -Their principal residence now became Grammont, in Labourde, on the -Bidouze; but for hunting the wolf and the bear, and in the heat of -summer they came to Asté. Here it was that the amorous Henri Quatre was -wont to visit la belle Corisande, wife of Philibert de Grammont, who -died at the age of twenty-eight, in 1580. Diana, or la belle Corisande, -was the only daughter of Paul, Viscount Louvigny. By her husband she -had Anthony, Count of Grammont, and Guiche, also of Louvigny, Seigneur -of Bidache, Viscount Asté, Viceroy of Navarre, Governor and Perpetual -Hereditary Mayor of Bayonne. One of his sons, Philibert, married -Elizabeth, daughter of George, Earl of Hamilton. Her picture is in the -National Portrait Gallery, and one wonders, looking at it, how she -could have been called “la belle Hamilton” in the French Court. - -Philibert and Elizabeth had a daughter, Claude Charlotte, who married -Henry Howard, Earl of Stafford. It was of Philibert, born in 1621, and -who died in 1707, that the entertaining memoirs were written by Anthony -Hamilton. It has been well said:-- - - “The history of Grammont may be considered as unique: there - is nothing like it in any language. In drollery, knowledge - of the world, various satire, general utility, united with - great vivacity of composition, Gil Blas is unrivalled; but as - a merely agreeable book, the _Memoirs of Grammont_ perhaps - deserve that character more than any which was ever written; - it is pleasantry throughout, and pleasantry of the best sort; - unforced, graceful, and engaging. Some French critic has justly - observed that if any book were to be selected as affording - the truest specimen of perfect French gaiety, the _Memoirs of - Grammont_ would be selected in preference to all others.” - -In the church of Asté is a white marble statue of the Virgin that is an -object of great veneration; also a painting attributed to Philippe de -Champagne. The village of Beaudéan was the native place of the surgeon -Larrey, born in 1766, who behaved with great self-devotion in the -battle of Eylau and the retreat from Moscow. Napoleon I said that he -was the most honest man he had ever known, and the most disinterested. -He created him a baron, and bequeathed to him 100,000 francs. Larrey -died in 1847. The house in which he was born is a humble cottage; he -bequeathed it to the parish that it might be turned into a school. - -Campan, that gives its name to the somewhat overpraised valley, is -chiefly known for the marbles it produces. The peristyle of the Grand -Trianon, the new and vulgar opera-house at Paris, have employed this -splendid marble. Even Berlin has had recourse to its quarries for -twenty-two columns of the royal palace. - -There are several mountain tarns more or less accessible from Bagnères. -That most easily reached--but taking six hours--is the Lac Bleu, a -beautiful sheet of water of the most intense sapphire-blue, girded -about by rocks of a golden yellow. It covers 98 acres, and is 360 feet -deep. The spirit of utility has mounted to this height, and bridled the -outflow, and uses it for economic purposes. A tunnel 900 feet long has -been bored through the rocks on the north side of the lake, to draw off -the water as needed in times when the Adour has dwindled to a thread, -and cannot feed the channels of irrigation needed in the plain. - -Other tarns are the Lac de Peyrelade, lying in a cirque under the Pic -du Midi, also the Lac d’Isaby. - -Many delightful valleys open out into the Val de Campan, The longest of -these is that through which flows the Oussonet, that reaches the Adour -some way below Bagnères; but a good road takes directly from Bagnères -to the lateral valley of Labassere, famous for its slate quarries. -The excavations are in the flanks of the mountain, and are numerous. -The products are brought down by a funicular contrivance worked by -electricity, taking the place of the zigzag road by which oxen formerly -conveyed the slates below. The men who split the slates wear heavy -sabots scooped out of billets of beech that have not been shaped -externally, so as better to resist, should the sharp, cutting flakes -fall on the feet. The men’s legs are bound about thickly with rags to -protect them from the same danger, as the slate cuts like a razor. The -slate-splitters form the aristocracy of the trade, and although their -labour is less considerable than that of the quarrymen, they receive -double the pay of these latter. For a slate-cutter has to learn the -art before he is aged fourteen, whilst the muscles are most flexible. -At the age of twenty he has to undergo military service, and when he -returns to his shed and tools, at the age of twenty-four, finds it very -difficult to recover the skill he possessed before he donned uniform. - -One of the most interesting and perplexing themes connected with the -Pyrenees is the origin of the Cagots, a “race maudit,” that was found -throughout the chain, but not there solely. It existed as well in -Brittany. - -In a considerable number of churches may be seen the Cagots’ door, -through which alone they might pass into a portion of the church -reserved for them, and cut off from the rest, and where alone they -might assist at divine worship. In some of the towns are streets called -Rues des Cagots, in which these outcasts herded. At one time they were -not suffered to inhabit the villages, but were relegated to isolated -hamlets, and they had separate burial grounds. They might not associate -with the more privileged natives, and inter-marriages with them were -strictly interdicted. They were required to wear a distinctive -badge--a goose’s foot in red cloth attached to one shoulder. The -expression “Cagot” is still used as a term of opprobrium. But when one -asks to be shown a Cagot, after some hesitation, a _cretin_ or a poor -creature afflicted with a _goître_ is pointed out. - -But the original Cagot was not such. - -Jean Darnal, a solicitor in the Parliament of Bordeaux, thus describes -the Cagots, whom he calls Gahets, in his _Chronique Bourdeloise_, 1555. - - “The magistrates gave orders that the Gahets should reside - outside the town on the side of S. Julien, in a little - faubourg apart, that they should not leave it without wearing - conspicuously a bit of red cloth. These are a sort of lepers, - with the disease in an undeveloped condition, with whom it is - ill to associate. They are carpenters by trade, and capital - workmen, and gain their livelihood by this trade in the town - and in the country.” - -One notion concerning them was that they descended from the carpenter -who had made the cross of Christ; and most of them, though by no means -all, actually were carpenters. Florimond de Rémond, councillor of the -Parliament of Bordeaux, wrote concerning them in 1613:-- - - “We see in Guyenne this race, commonly designated Cangots or - Capots, one which although Christian and Catholic, holds no - communication with others, and may enter into no alliance with - other Christians; even to live in their towns is not allowed. - They are not suffered to approach the Holy Table along with - other Christians, and have a place set apart for them in the - churches. The people are convinced that they are diseased, - that their breath and sweat is malodorous, and that they are - to some extent lepers. This is why that in many places, as at - Bordeaux, they are constrained to wear a scrap of red cloth on - one shoulder.” - -Florimond goes on to say that he believes them to be descended from the -Arian Goths, and that Cagot is derived from _Canis Gots_, or Dogs of -Goths. - -Popularly they were held to have certain distinguishing -characteristics--ears furred like those of bears and destitute of the -lower lobe. That they had stinking breath, and white granular spots -under the skin in parts of the body, indicating undeveloped leprosy. In -parish registers they were always designated in entries of baptisms and -marriages and burials as Cagots or Capots. - -F. Michel, in 1847, published a work upon them. He went through the -Pyrenees, and recorded how many families of Cagots remained, and where -they resided. - -The theory of their origin as propounded by him was that they were -descended from the Spanish Christians who were driven over the Pyrenees -by the Moors, and whom the natives received with scant hospitality, -and continued to look upon as intruders. One reason for the adoption -of this wild theory was that in ancient documents they are frequently -called Crestiaas. Undoubtedly refugees from Spain did settle in parts -of the Pyrenees, but there exists no evidence to show that they were -looked down upon. Moreover, Cagots were found also in Brittany, and -Michel’s theory does not fit in with this fact. - -Now the word _cagot_ is comparatively modern. A Cagot in old documents -is called _Capot_ or _Crestiaa_. Capot comes from _caput mortuum_, a -legal expression used of one who is outside the pale of the law; the -word is still employed in Germany for what is broken and of no further -use. _Es ist caput._ - -The original Cagots were probably lepers, gradually recruited from the -native population. A religious service was said over a man on whom were -discovered the marks of the disease. It was a form of funeral. Earth -was cast upon him, and he was declared to be legally and socially dead. - -Precisely the same regulations were applied to the Cagots that were -made for lepers. They were forbidden to spit in the roads, and to walk -in them barefooted. If constrained to handle anything that had to be -used by those who were sound, they must wear gloves. They might not -marry out of their caste or company. They were relegated to live and be -buried apart from all others. - -When we consider this identity of regulation, as also that the Cagots -are spoken of by all old writers as quasi-lepers, as that in popular -belief they were held to have on them marks of undeveloped leprosy; -when, further, we see that their old designation comes from _caput -mortuum_, I think it is hard not to arrive at the conclusion that the -Cagots were the descendants of sequestrated communities of lepers. But -such is the recuperative power of Nature, in the healthy surroundings -of the mountains, in its pure air and in wholesome diet, that the -descendants of the lepers in course of time shook off the disease and -became sound and robust men and women. - -The Church in the eighteenth century made an effort to break down the -wall of separation, the occasion for the existence of which had ceased. - -We hear of an archdeacon when visiting one church had his indignation -roused by seeing the Cagots huddled together in a side chapel apart -from the rest of the congregation. Taking the Blessed Sacrament in his -hands, he marched out of the church through the Cagots’ chapel and -door, and signed to the congregation to follow him. After a moment’s -hesitation they obeyed, and from that day the prejudice against these -outcasts failed in that parish. In the Middle Ages no Cagot could -become consul, mayor, juror, or be admitted to Holy Orders. But De -Romagne, Bishop of Tarbes, who died in 1768, ordained to the priesthood -several members of this proscribed race. - -It was due to the French Revolution, that beat down all barriers, that -the distinction between Cagots and other men was wholly obliterated. In -the Val de Campan, between four and five miles from Campan itself, is a -hamlet, situated high up on the mountain side, that is occupied by six -families, all by descent Cagots. The place where they live is called -“Le Quartier des Cagots.” Doctor Abadie, about 1840, wrote concerning -them:-- - - “I know the heads of these families. They are carpenters. Half - a century ago these families intermarried among themselves, - and were not suffered to contract unions outside their narrow - circle. Now they are mingled with and are melted into the - mass of the population. In physiognomy they have nothing - peculiar. One remarks only that the individuals of the families - Pescadère, Latoure, Lacôme, and Daléas have a white skin and - grey eyes; but this is perhaps due to a lymphatic constitution, - the result of living in a cold and damp locality.” - -M. Dufresne, who filled an important, though subsidiary, post in the -administration of finances under Necker, and whose bust, under the -First Consul, was placed in the hall of the Treasury, in recognition of -the public services he had rendered, was by birth and ancestry a Cagot; -so we see that careers were open to these members of an outcast and -despised race even before the Revolution. What that great upheaval did -for them was to destroy the popular prejudice entertained against them. - -The derivation of the word _cagot_ has been given; that of _crestiaas_ -is not so simple. The name is never spelt with an _h_ in early -documents, as if it were derived from Christians. It probably comes -from these unfortunates having been originally compelled to wear a bit -of red cloth on the cap as a cock’s comb, or _crest_, and that later -this more conspicuous mark of infamy was modified into one placed upon -the shoulder. Still, however, the expression “the crested” was applied -to them. - -It is in vain to look for a genuine Cagot at the present time, and in -the words of an old ballad sung by the people-- - - “Encouere qué Cagots siam - Nous noun dam; - Tous qu’em hilhs deü pay, Adam.” - -That may be rendered-- - - “Then let them say just what they will, and call us Cagots vile, - We all the sons of Adam are, on all God deigns to smile.” - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - -THE VAL D’AURE - - Mauvezin--Escaldieu--Lannemezan--The Neste--The lakes - utilized--Lortet--Fortified caves--Marble quarries-- - Sarracolin--Canal--Val d’Arros--The rival lords--Arreau-- - Bordères--The Armagnacs--John IV and his sister--His - ingratitude and death--Extinction of the race--Lac de - Caillaouas--Cadéac--The deadly sins--Tramesaïgues--Lac - d’Orredon--Republic. - - -Before the train reaches the dreary moorland of Lannemezan, on its way -from Tarbes to Toulouse, a glimpse is obtained of a picturesque village -grouped about a castle on a pointed rock. This is Mauvezin, the Bad -Neighbour, _par excellence_. It witnessed many exploits during the -English occupation of Guyenne. It was besieged in 1374 by the Duke of -Anjou, at the head of 8000 men. The strength of the fortress was such -that it would have been impregnable had it not lacked a well within -the walls. The besiegers cut off communication with the water-supply, -and as not a drop of rain fell during the six weeks of the siege, the -garrison was constrained to come to terms. The Duke of Anjou allowed -them to depart, saying: “Get you gone about your business, each one of -you, to your several native lands, without entering any fort that holds -out against me; for if you do, I engage to get hold of you, and deliver -you up to Jocelin (the headsman), who will shave you clean without a -razor.” - -Upon the tower, which bears the arms of Béarn, may be seen the -device, “J’ay belle dame.” It was a fancy of the boy Gaston, son of -Gaston Phœbus, when he was affianced to Beatrix d’Armagnac, to whom -Mauvezin was given as a dower by her father, Count John II. But Gaston -was murdered by his father, as already told, before the marriage was -consummated, and Beatrix was afterwards married to a viscount of Milan. - -Near Mauvezin are the remains of the once famous Abbey of Escaldieu. -The church was destroyed by the Huguenots, and rebuilt in the -seventeenth century. It is devoid of interest, and is now converted -into a coach-house. Only the chapter-house remains of the original -abbey, a structure of the fourteenth century, the vaulting sustained by -marble pillars. - -The great mass of Lannemezan, lying across the threshold of the Val -d’Aure, diverts the Neste from flowing north, and turns it to the east, -just as the heap of the _lande_ of Pontacq acts at the mouth of the -Lavedan, but there deflects the Gave to the west. It falls into the -Garonne at the confines of the department, which also for the same -reason takes an easterly course for some way, then struggles to the -north-east, and only after passing Toulouse turns to take its direction -so as to empty itself into the Atlantic. The Neste is a river of very -great importance. It rises in two main branches under crests clothed -in eternal snows, discharging glaciers into a series of upland lakes. -These natural reservoirs have been artificially raised, and their -waters conducted into a canal that is carried high above the bed of -the river, so as to convey its fertilizing streams over the plateau -of Lannemezan. The lake of Caillaouas, under the Pic de Batchinale, -and the glacier cirque of the Gours Blancs has been captured at the -head of Neste de Luron, and the lakes of Aumar, Aubert, Caplong, and -Orredon, that feed the other Neste of Aure have also been utilized -for the same purpose, at an enormous expense and by remarkably daring -works of engineering. This has had a subsidiary advantage, that the -superb scenery at the sources of these streams is now accessible by -good roads, whereas formerly it could be reached only by difficult and -dangerous mule-paths. - -At La Barthe the Neste debouches from the mountains through a deep -valley, the canal passing above it on the left bank; and although -the river has been thus tapped, it still continues to bring down a -considerable amount of water, the overflow from its reservoirs far away -in the laps of the high mountain ridge. - -The Val d’Aure constituted a viscounty, and of the viscounts there were -several branches: one that of the Viscounts of Larbouste, another that -of the viscounts of Asté, one of whom, as already mentioned, married -the heiress of Grammont. The whole of Aure was under the overlordship -of the counts of Armagnac. - -La Barthe, commanded by a castle of the end of the eleventh century, -will not long detain a visitor. But a short way above it is the village -of Lortet, where are caverns in the face of the limestone cliff that -have been occupied and fortified, it is thought, originally by the -Saracens and the Visigoths; but the structures that remain, notably the -tower, were the work of the Templars, to whom were confided the defence -of most of the passes of the Pyrenees. At Hèches is a picturesque, -ivy-clad tower occupying the summit by a rock. Here are quarries of -marble, rose-coloured, grey, and white, spotted with black; as also of -black marble veined with white. But the principal marble quarries are -farther up, at Sarrancolin on the left bank, others are on the right. -Those on the former are famous. The finest are red, veined with grey, -or flesh tint with yellow veins; other marbles are green, blue, violet. -Versailles was adorned with columns of Sarrancolin. Thence comes the -marble now employed in the Louvre for most of the pedestals. - -The church of Sarrancolin was originally strongly fortified, and served -as the key to the valley; it is early of the twelfth century, with -Romanesque windows. There are no aisles, it is a cross church. The -choir grating is of the fifteenth century. In the church is the shrine -of a Spanish bishop, S. Ebbo, and is the sole specimen in the district -of Limoges work, and is of the thirteenth century. To the north of -the church is the chapter-house in ruins. Fragments of the town walls -remain, as does a gateway and tower of the fifteenth century. The -houses are all built of the marble of which the hill is formed on -which the place stands, and they are crowded about the church, in the -constrained area within the old walls. The place recommends itself to -the painter and to the archæologist. - -The canal takes its waters from the Neste above the little town, and -the river accordingly has in the upper portion of the valley a freer -and fuller flow. - -But before we have mounted so far up the Neste, a diversion may well be -made to the valley of the Arros, which rises in the mountains between -the Val de Campan and that of Aure. We might have supposed that it -would speedily throw itself into the Adour or the Neste. But not so. -It holds on its independent course far away to the north, and does not -condescend to unite with the Adour till it enters the department of -Gers. - -In this narrow valley, high up in the mountains, stand near each other -the two castles of Lomné and Espêche, concerning which the following -legend is told. I will give it in the words of Mr. Inglis:-- - - “The lords of these two castles were enemies, and constantly - disputed with one another the possession of the valley that - lay between their castles; but along with the enmity each - was enamoured of the wife of the other, though the ladies - themselves loved their own lords, and gave no encouragement to - the enemies of their husbands. At this time the Crusades were - published, and both of the nobles resolved to forget private - animosities for a time, and join the standard of the cross. It - so happened, however, that after travelling during several days - the devil entered into their hearts, and they both reasoned - after this manner: ‘My enemy has gone to the Holy Wars, and - has left both his lands and his wife. What hinders me from - returning and making the most of his absence?’ And so both the - Lord of Espêche and the Lord of Lomné returned and took the - road not to their own castle, but to the castles of each other. - - “But it so happened that on the very night upon which these - nobles left their own castles their ladies had a vision. Each - was warned in a dream of the intention of her husband to return - and go to the castle of his enemy. Accordingly the ladies left - their own castles to cross the valley, and met each other by - the way; and having communicated the mutual vision, resolved - upon a method of avoiding the danger. They determined to change - castles, and that very day they put their resolution into - effect. - - “Meanwhile their lords arrived under cover of the night, each - at the castle of his enemy, and were greatly surprised to find - that no wonder was expressed at their return, for the ladies - had forewarned their household of what was to be expected; but - still greater was their surprise when, upon being ushered into - the castle hall, each beheld his own spouse. The explanation - that followed wrought a miraculous change. Touched with the - affection of their wives, they abjured their mutual enmity, - swore unutterable fidelity to their own wives, and set out in - company together for the Holy Land.” - -Arreau stands at the junction of the two rivers called Neste, and also -where the Lastie enters the stream. It has a cheerful appearance. The -church of Notre Dame is of the fifteenth century, castellated, with -additions a century later, built on the foundations of a church of -the twelfth century, of which a good doorway remains. The chapel of -S. Exuperius is of the eleventh century, and has a Romanesque portal. -It stands above the Neste of Aure. The mairie is over the wooden -market-hall. The entrance to the valley of the Neste de Luron is -through a ravine with precipitous sides. Presently it opens out and -reveals the little bourg of Bordères, commanded by the ruined castle -of the Armagnacs. For now we are in Armagnac territory, and with this -castle is connected the story of the last of that evil and ill-omened -race. Michelet says of them:-- - - “Frenchmen and princes as they were become, their diabolical - nature broke out on every occasion. One of them married his - brother’s wife, so as to be able to retain the dower, another - married his own sister, by means of a false dispensation. - Bernard VII, Count of Armagnac, who was almost king, and ended - so ill, had begun by despoiling his kinsman, the Viscount of - Frézenzaguet, flinging him into a cistern, along with his sons, - his eyes plucked out. This same Bernard, pretending to be a - servant of the Duke of Orléans, made war against the English, - but only worked for his own ends, for when the Duke came into - Guyenne he made no attempt to assist him. But no sooner was - that prince dead than he posed as his avenger, brought up all - the South to ravage the North, made the young Duke of Orléans - marry his daughter, and gave her as dower his bands of robbers, - and the malediction of France. - - “What made these Armagnacs specially execrable was their - impious levity allied to their innate ferocity.” - -The Armagnac territory extended as a strip from the Garonne to the -Pyrenees. It was a fertile and well-peopled land; its principal towns -were Auche, Mirande, Vic, and Lectoure. - -The Armagnac family derived from a Garcias Sanchez, Duke of Gascony in -the early part of the tenth century. He was nicknamed the Hunchback, -and he seems to have bequeathed a moral distortion to his descendants. - -John IV, Count of Armagnac, was especially associated with the castle -at Bordères; and his story must now be told. - -This headstrong man fell in love with his own sister, Isabella, and -failing in his application to Rome for a dispensation to allow him -to marry her, he forged one, and presented it to the chaplain of -the castle, and demanded that he should unite them. When the priest -demurred, Count John threatened to throw him headlong from the window -into the river unless he obeyed. When others remonstrated, he drew -his dagger on them. The cowed chaplain submitted to celebrate the -incestuous nuptials. - -The Pope now excommunicated the Count, and King Charles VII vainly -endeavoured to recall him to a better mind; but Armagnac resisted kind -instances, and defied force. Soon after he associated himself with the -insurrection of the Dauphin. The Duke of Clermont was sent against -him. His guilty passion had enfeebled the mind of John, and in place -of resisting the invasion, he abandoned his dominions, and fled with -Isabella to the protection of his relative, the King of Aragon. He was -summoned by the Parliament, and having been rash enough to appear, was -arrested and imprisoned. Soon after he managed to escape. The sentence -of perpetual banishment was passed upon him, and his dominions were -forfeited. The Valley of Aure was, however, exempted so far that it was -granted as a dowry to his sister. - -Then, as his last place of refuge, he retired to the Castle of -Bordères, in the depths of the mountains. The once powerful and haughty -Count of Armagnac was reduced to the deepest destitution, shunned -by all, shrunk from even by his own subjects in the valley of the -Neste, as though he were a leper or a Cagot. At last, impelled by his -necessities rather than moved by remorse, he begged his way to Rome to -obtain absolution for himself and for his sister. This was granted, but -on hard conditions for himself, and that Isabella should retire into a -convent at Barcelona. - -At this time Louis XI ascended the throne of France, and by him the -Count of Armagnac was restored to his former rank and possessions. He -now married Jeanne, daughter of the Count of Foix, and the past was -forgotten, or at least forgiven. - -But this restless man, incapable of feeling gratitude for favours, -allied himself with the enemies of the King, Charles the Bold, the Duke -of Guyenne, and the King of England. - -Louis XI took occasion of the first moment of tranquillity allowed him -by the ambitious projects of the Duke of Burgundy, to chastise John -of Armagnac. In 1473 he confided the task to the Cardinal of Albi, -who besieged him in Lectoure. The town, which was strongly fortified, -defended itself bravely. Proposals of surrender were made to the Count, -but whilst negotiations were in progress, one of the gates was forced, -and John’s son, of the same name as his father, was killed fighting -in the streets. John IV of Armagnac was stabbed in the presence of -his wife, who was pregnant at the time. By order of Louis XI, who had -no desire to see the line of Armagnac continued, she was thrown into -prison and poisoned. - -The title and claim to the county now devolved on Charles, another son -of John IV; but Louis XI had him cast into prison, and retained there -till he died of chagrin. There existed at the time another branch of -the family, that had likewise received favours from King Louis, and -had repaid them with treachery. Jacques d’Armagnac had been given -by Louis XI vast estates in Meaux, Châlons, Langres, and Sens. The -king had married Jacques to Louise of Anjou, and had created him Duke -of Nemours. But Jacques was false to his benefactor, and joined in -the League of Public Good against him. At the Treaty of Conflans he -returned to his allegiance, swore fidelity on the relics in the Sainte -Chapelle, and had the governorship of Paris conferred upon him. The -very next year, 1469, he went over to the enemies of the King, and -sided with his cousin, John IV, entering with him into negotiations -with the English. But alarmed at the fate that befell John, he -solicited pardon, and took an oath of fidelity, the most solemn and -binding that could be devised. - -Two years later, when Louis XI was in embarrassment, the Duke refused -the King the succour he demanded, and prepared to lay his hands on -Languedoc. No sooner was Louis delivered from his anxieties than he -besieged and took Nemours, in his Castle of Carlat, and confined him in -an iron cage in the Bastille. His wife, feeling confident that he would -experience no mercy at the hands of the justly incensed King, died -during her confinement at Carlat. - -Jacques d’Armagnac’s hair turned white within a few days. He was not -mistaken about the gravity of his position. Louis was alarmed at these -incessant conspiracies, and indignant at the ingratitude of the Duke, -whom no oaths could bind. In vain did Nemours implore permission to -speak with the King face to face; Louis refused to see him, and gave -orders that he should be tortured. One day, hearing that the prisoner -had been treated with some consideration, he wrote sharply to the -gaoler, “Give him Hell (the extremity of torture); let him suffer Hell -in his own chamber. Take care not to let him out of the cage except to -be tortured.” Jacques d’Armagnac was executed on 10 July, 1477. The -assertion often made, that by the order of the King his children were -placed under the scaffold so that their father’s blood might fall over -them, is asserted by no contemporary writers. His sons died without -issue, and so ended this wicked family. - -[Illustration: - Bernard VII - _d._ 1418 - | - +-------------------+-------------+ - | | - John IV Bernard, Count of - _d._ 1473 Pardiac - | _d._ after 1462 - +---+-----+ | - | | | - John Charles Jacques d’Armagnac - _d._ 1473 _d._ 1497 created Duc de Nemours - _d._ 1477 - | - +----+-----+ - | | - John Louis - _d._ 1500 _d._ 1503] - -For some way above Bordères the Neste of Luron traverses a gloomy -ravine; but then all at once it opens out and we come on a basin well -cultivated, fringed with woods, and studded with twelve villages, about -their church spires. The road ascends steeply past slate quarries that -send down their avalanches of grey refuse over the base of the hill -surmounted by the donjon of Gélos. It is still a long way on to the Lac -de Caillaouas, that lies at the height of 3500 feet, and covers 120 -acres; its blue waters are fed by some small tarns higher up under -the glaciers of the Gourgs Blancs. This is one of the scenes of most -savage grandeur in the Pyrenees. The lake is of great depth, and swarms -with trout. A tunnel has been driven fifty-five feet below the surface -through the rock that retains the lake, and through this the water can -be drawn off to supply the deficiencies in the Neste and the canal that -leads from it in time of drought. The work was completed in 1848. - -The other Neste, that of Aure, is of even more economic importance. -It rises under the Pic de Campbieil, 9550 feet; but receives a large -influx of water from the Neste de Couplan that is supplied from a whole -series of lakes, the largest of which is Orredon. - -Above Arreau is Cadéac, one of the most ancient sites in the valley. -Hither came the representatives of the various communes of the valley -of the Neste to discuss their affairs, and decide their policy; for -here, as in Lavedan, the people enjoyed great liberties, of which -the Armagnacs did not care to deprive them. Cadéac occupies a hill -surmounted by a feudal tower of the twelfth century. The church has an -early north doorway, and sculptures let into the walls. The road passes -up the valley under the porch of a chapel, Notre Dame de Penetaillade, -that has a curious fresco representing the death of the Virgin on the -façade. Vielle Aure is a village lying on both sides of the river, -with a church of the twelfth century, and is an excellent centre for -excursions. The road then crosses the river and reaches Bourespe, with -a church of the fifteenth century, but a much earlier tower. In the -porch are curious paintings of the date 1592, with representations of -the deadly sins as ladies (why as ladies, and not as men?), in the -costume of the period, mounted on strange beasts, and carrying behind -them demons with hideous faces on their stomachs and breasts. Pride -is riding on a lion, Avarice on a wolf, Gluttony on a pig, Luxury on a -goat, Anger on a horse, and Idleness on an ass. - -Surely Gluttony, Avarice, Anger are traits of man’s intemperate -passions rather than of woman’s humours. _Vitium_ is neuter, it will -serve for either or none. But it is the old story of the sculptor and -the lion. He showed the King of the Beasts a group finely carved that -represented a man slaying a lion. “Ah,” said the royal beast, “if a -lion had been the sculptor, the figures in the group would have been in -reversed positions.” - -It was men, not women, who wrought these representations of the -cardinal vices. - -Tramesaïgues (between the waters) occupies a rock, the road passes -below it. - -The cluster of lakes in the Néouville basin of mountains have been -taken in hand as well as the Lac de Caillaouas. The undertaking was -difficult, as work was possible there for only three months in the -summer; all the rest of the year the basin in which they lie is buried -in snow, and some of the tarns remain hard frozen. The largest of the -lakes is Orredon, lying 5600 feet above the sea; it is the lowest of -all, and receives the waters of the Lac d’Aubert and the Lac Aumar, -lying in one valley, separated by a gravelly ridge of glacial rubbish; -the Lac de Cap-de-Long reposes in another. The works were begun in 1901 -and terminated in 1905. - -The Four Valleys--Magonac, Neste, Aure, and La Baronne--formed another -of those confederate republics of which there existed so many in the -Pyrenees. Of these Magonac, with its chief town Castelnau, lay to the -north of Lannemezan, and was not properly a valley at all. - -After the extinction of the Armagnacs, the overlordship passed to the -kings of France, and each and all from Louis XII to Louis XVI had to -recognize and allow their very extended privileges. From the year 1300 -no seigneur could withdraw an inhabitant of the Four Valleys from the -jurisdiction of their own judges; every citizen could own land, marry, -create an industry, or carry on any trade without authorization. The -right to bear arms belonged to every one; and up to the eve of the -Revolution the Four Valleys were exempt from all war-tax and from the -obligation to have troops quartered on them. - -La Fayette had no occasion to have gone to America to have seen what -republican self-government was. It existed at his doors. - - - - -CHAPTER XV - -LUCHON - - Montréjeau--A bastide--Grotto de Gargas--A cannibal--Blaise - Ferrage--Taken and escapes--Final capture--Execution--S. - Bertrand de Cominges--Sertorius--Gundowald--His coronation-- - Treachery of Boso--And of Mummolus--Murder of Gundowald-- - Destruction of the city--Bishops at Valcabrères--Church of - S. Juste--Bertrand de l’Isle-Jourdain rebuilds the town-- - Bertrand de Got--Jubilee--The cathedral--Nonresident bishops-- - Counts of Cominges--Murder of a boy husband--Imprisonment of - the Countess Margaret--Bequeaths the county to the Crown of - France--The Garonne-Bagnères de Luchon--Its visitors--Its - antiquity--Lac de Seculéjo--Description by Inglis--Cures for - all disorders--_Le Maudit_--S. Aventin and the bear--Val de - Lys--Val d’Aran--S. Béat and its quarries--The valley should - belong to France--Viella--The Maladetta--Trou de Toro--Port - de Venasque. - - -At Montréjeau the line branches off to Bagnères de Luchon from the -trunk to Toulouse. Montréjeau was Montroyal, then Montreal, and then -what it has now become through deformation by the Gascon tongue. It was -a bastide, one of those artificial towns, created first by Edward I, -and then copied by great nobles, and by the kings of France, in which -every street was either parallel to another, or cut it at right angles; -and the houses were built in blocks, the whole surrounded by walls, and -the church usually serving as part of the fortification. - -Montréjeau was the capital of the Marquesate of Montespan. The site -is beautiful; and from the terrace, in clear weather, the giants of -the Pyrenees are seen to stand up due south, and the chain stretches -away into the vaporous distance, east and west. The church has a huge -octagonal tower that served as keep to the fortress. The town stands -a little away from the station, to its disadvantage. From it visitors -usually start to see the Grotte de Gargas, the finest in the Pyrenees; -it might be visited equally well from S. Bertrand de Cominges, but that -no carriage can be obtained in that decayed city. The train, moreover, -halts at Aventignan, the station next before reaching Montréjeau, to -allow of a visit to the grotto. The floor bristles with stalagmites, -and the stalactites from the roof have in several places united with -the stalagmites below. The strangest forms have been assumed by the -calcareous deposits, and the custodian points out an organ front, a -cascade, a bear, an altar, and the bed of the savage. A spring rises -in the cave. Excavations made in the floor have exposed two beds of -palæontological deposits of different epochs: human bones, flint tools, -and bones of long extinct animals. - -The discovery of this grotto is due to a series of ghastly crimes -committed just ten years before the outbreak of the French Revolution. - -A panic terror pervaded the neighbourhood. Among the rocks, somewhere, -none knew exactly where, a monster had his lair, fell upon those who -travelled along the roads, robbed them, maltreated them, carried -them off, and devoured them. And this monster was a man. In 1780 -the Parliament of Languedoc was called upon to try and sentence the -cannibal, who was actuated by no other motive than a ravening appetite -for human flesh. - -Soon after the first disappearance of his victims every one had come -to the conclusion as to who he was. He was Blaise Ferrage, commonly -known as Seyé, a native of Ceseau, born in 1757. He was a small man, -broad-shouldered, with unusually long arms, and was possessed of -extraordinary strength. By trade he was a stonemason, and had worked at -his trade till aged twenty-two. What induced him, in 1779, to throw up -his work, quit his home and human society, in order to abandon himself -in solitude to his wolfish appetite for blood, is not known; whether -it was originally due to his having committed some criminal act that -impelled him to fly to the rocks for refuge was never ascertained. - -High up in a limestone cliff he discovered a cavern, the entrance to -which was at that time so small that it had to be passed through on all -fours. But within it was spacious, and provided with a running stream. - -After he had spent the day in sleep Blaise would descend in the -twilight and ramble over the country through fields and gardens, and -appropriate to his use what he listed--fruit, fowls, sheep, pigs--and -bear them away in the darkness of night to his den. Luck favoured and -emboldened him, and his ferocity increased. He delayed his return till -dawn. Lurking behind a wall or a bush he watched for milkmaids who were -so unfortunate as to come in his way. There was no escaping him, for -he carried a gun and was a sure shot. When he pounced upon his prey -he tore it to pieces, or else carried it alive to his lair, and the -shrieks could be heard from afar, paralyzing the timorous peasantry -with fear. - -His name was a terror to all the country round. In the evenings the -spinners about the fire, the topers at the tavern, spoke only of the -werewolf. It was thought that his tread could be heard at night among -the withered leaves of autumn; that his panting breath was audible -about the doors; that his gleaming eyes pierced the fog. Men pictured -him lying on a ledge of rock half the day peering into the valley, -motionless, watching for and selecting his prey. Imagination figured -what the life must be of this man converted into a wild beast, who had -renounced the society of his fellows to live among the rocks and tread -the snow-fields, hearing naught save the howl of the wind, the cry of -the birds of prey, and the baying of the wolves. As no single person -who had disappeared ever returned, as no bodies were ever found, it was -concluded that he was a man-eater. - -Men he shot, strangled, or stabbed, and dragged their carcases to -his lair. But he preferred to fall on women, especially such as were -young; but the choicest morsels he selected were little children. On -one occasion he fell short of powder and shot, and had the temerity -to descend in full daylight, and in market time, to Montégu. He was -recognized, and immediately the market people fled from him right and -left; the dealers deserted their stalls, and the would-be purchasers -hastened to take refuge within doors. He leisurely possessed himself of -what he required and sauntered out of the place, not a man venturing to -stay him. - -At last the officers of justice seized him, and conveyed him to prison. -But he broke loose the same night, and again disappeared among the -mountains. The peasants were convinced that he had a talisman concealed -in his hair, which enabled him to break the strongest chain and to open -every lock. - -He was again secured, and this time his hair was cut and searched for -the supposed talisman there concealed, but, of course, ineffectually. -He again, nevertheless, effected his escape. - -Fear of him now passed all bounds. Girls and grown women, even the -strongest men no longer ventured abroad after dark, not so much as to -cross the street. - -Then occurred two acts of violence which stirred the magistrates to -greater activity. - -Ferrage entertained a suspicion that a certain landowner in the -district had instigated the police to track him. He set fire to this -man’s barns, stables, and cowsheds; and most of the cattle and all his -grain were consumed in the flames. The other case was that of a Spanish -muleteer who was driving his beasts over the mountains of Aure. Ferrage -associated himself with the man on the way, volunteered to act as his -guide, and the muleteer was never seen again. - -High rewards were offered for the apprehension of Blaise Ferrage, but -no dweller in the district dared attempt to earn it. Moreover, to track -and arrest the cannibal was not a light matter. None knew precisely -where he concealed himself, and it was certain that he would send a -bullet into the first man whom he saw approach his place of refuge and -concealment. - -Finally he was taken, but only by subtlety. There was a fellow who had -been guilty of more than one crime, and whom the officers of justice -desired to secure. In order to make his peace with them, this man -offered to assist in capturing Blaise, if he were assured of a free -pardon and a reward. This was promised. Accordingly he climbed the -rocks, yelling out the name of Seyé, by which Ferrage was commonly -known, and crying for help. The cannibal cautiously thrust his head -out of his cave, and seeing the man fleeing as for his life beckoned -him to approach. The refugee breathlessly told him that he was flying -from justice, that he had broken out of prison, and entreated to -be sheltered. Ferrage took him in, and the fellow gained Blaise’s -confidence. He lived with him for awhile in his cave. However solitary -a man may be, he yet craves for the society of a companion, and -Blaise and this man became intimate. They went together on predatory -excursions, and the betrayer finally lured Ferrage into an ambuscade -laid for him, where he was taken, and firmly secured by a body of -police. He was led to prison and kept there strongly guarded. The whole -country breathed with relief when it was known that he was in chains -and behind strong bars. - -The trial was expedited and short. For three years this monster had -terrorized the countryside. The number of charges of robbery and murder -brought against him were innumerable. - -On 12 December, 1782, the Parliament of Languedoc sentenced him to be -broken on the wheel. He was then aged twenty-five. On the following -13th December Ferrage was executed. The sentence was carried out in the -following manner. The culprit was fastened to a cart wheel, his limbs -twined in and out among the spokes. The executioner smote with an iron -bar on the limbs and broke them, one by one. Then came the _coup de -grâce_, given across the chest. - -It was estimated that he had murdered and eaten eighty persons, the -majority of these were women and children. When he was executed crowds -attended, palpitating with alarm, for they expected that at the last -moment he would burst away and resume his murderous career. - -He walked to death with florid countenance and with seeming -indifference to his fate. Whether the prison chaplain induced him to -express remorse for his guilt is not known. Only when the mangled -body was cast down from the wheel, and consigned for burial to the -grave-digger, did the crowd feel satisfied that they were relieved from -a nightmare of horrors. - -A little way above the station of Montréjeau the two great Pyrenean -torrents of the Neste and the Garonne unite their waters and flow -towards the east. The line to Luchon does not follow the Garonne, that -issues from a gorge, but crosses it farther up at Barbazan, in a broad -basin studded with villages set in luxuriant verdure. - -On an isolated hill, an outlier of the Pyrenees, rises a lofty and -beautiful church, with houses grouped about it; apparently a stately -medieval city, actually a poor village of less than four hundred -inhabitants. This is S. Bertrand de Cominges. At one time it was as -splendid a town as any in Gaul, and was the capital of an important -people, containing from 30,000 to 50,000 souls. These could not all be -accommodated on the rock, and the town flowed down the side into the -plain, where now stands Valcabrères, the Vale of Goats. S. Bertrand de -Cominges is one of the few towns in France of whose foundation we know -the precise date. - -Sertorius was one of the most extraordinary men in the later times of -the Roman Republic. He was a native of Nursia, a Sabine village, born -of obscure but respectable parents, and a devoted son to his widowed -mother. In B.C. 83 Sertorius went to Spain to organize a national -revolt against the intolerable oppression of Rome. Availing himself of -the superstitious character of the people, he tamed a fawn, so that it -accompanied him in his walks, lived in his tent, and was regarded by -the Iberians as a tutellary spirit that communicated to him the will of -the gods. - -[Illustration: CHOIR OF S. BERTRAND DE COMINGES] - -He maintained a stubborn resistance against the power of Rome for many -years, defeating army after army. In B.C. 77 Pompey was appointed by -the Senate to command in Spain, along with Metellus. Sertorius, at -first, defeated both. Pompey was obliged to appeal to the Senate for -men and arms. Unless supported efficaciously, he declared that he -must infallibly be driven out of Spain. At length the tide of success -turned. Disaffection broke out among the troops led by Sertorius, -and a conspiracy was formed to destroy him among some of his most -trusted comrades. One of these invited him to a banquet, at which they -endeavoured to provoke him to anger and make an excuse for a fray by -the employment of obscene language, which they were well aware that he -detested; then by grotesque and undignified capers, as if they were -drunk. Sertorius turned on his couch so as not to see their buffoonery, -when they rushed on him with their daggers and slew him, B.C. 72. His -faithful adherents fled through the defiles, and over the passes of -the Pyrenees, and settled in the district afterwards known as the land -of the Convenæ, and built Lugdunum Convenarum as their capital in that -same year, B.C. 72. - -Even after the fall of the Roman Empire this Lyons of the Convenæ -remained a rich and populous city. But a terrible disaster fell on it -in 584, that caused its utter and irretrievable ruin. This forms one of -the most striking and detailed episodes of the history of the Franks by -Gregory of Tours. In the words of Guizot:-- - - “Southern Gaul, that is to say Aquitaine, Gascony, Narbonne, - called Septimania, and the two banks of the Rhone near its - mouths, were not comprised in the partition of the Frankish - dominions. Each of the co-partners assigned to themselves, - to the south of the Garonne and on the coasts of the - Mediterranean, such and such a district, and such and such a - town, just as heirs-at-law keep to themselves severally such - and such a valuable jewel out of a rich property to which they - have succeeded, and which they divide among themselves. The - peculiar situation of these provinces, at their distance from - the Frank settlements, contributed much to the independence - of Southern Gaul, which was constantly striving and partly - managed, in the tempestuous fortunes of the Frankish monarchy, - to recover its independence. It is easy to comprehend how - that these repeated partitions of a mighty inheritance, these - domains incessantly changing hands, must have tended to - increase the anarchy of the Roman and Barbaric worlds thrown - pell-mell one upon another, and fallen a prey, the Roman to - the disorganization of a lingering death, the Barbaric to the - fermentation of a new existence, striving for development - under social conditions wholly different from those of their - primitive life.” - -An opportunity seemed to offer for Aquitaine to establish its -independence. - -The Merovingian dynasty was represented by an old man and by two -children, and the Aquitanians thought that their chance had come -to have a king of their own. They summoned from Constantinople one -Gundowald, reputed to be of royal Frank blood. - -[Illustration: - - Clovis I - K. of the Franks - _d._ 511 - | - +----------------+---------------------+ - | | - Childebert I Clothair I - K. of Paris K. of Soissons, Orleans, Metz, - _d._ 558 and finally of Paris - _d._ 561 - | - +-------------+---------------+----------+--+------------+ - | | | | | - Charibert Gunthram Chilperie Segebert Gundowald - K. of Paris K. of Orleans K. of Soissons K. of Metz _murdered_ 587 - _d._ 567 _d._ 593 _d._ 584 _d._ 575 - | - Childebert II - K. of Metz - _d._ 596] - -Gregory of Tours says:-- - - “Gundowald, who said he was the son of Clothair I, arrived at - Marseilles, coming from Constantinople. He had been born in - Gaul, had been carefully educated, taught letters, and, as is - the custom with kings of the Franks, had his hair flowing in - long curls over his shoulders. He was presented by his mother - to King Childebert (his uncle, King of Paris), and she said to - him, ‘Behold your nephew, the son of Clothair. His father ever - hated him, but do you take him to you, for he is your own flesh - and blood.’ And this Childebert did, as he had no son of his - own.” - -This was the prince whom the Aquitanians invited to rule over them. -Clothair I had divided the kingdom of the Franks among his sons, but -three of these were dead; Sigebert, King of Metz, however, had left a -son, Childebert II. Gunthram, King of Orleans, still lived. Gundowald -visited his nephew, Childebert, at Metz, and was favourably received -by him. Childebert and Gundowald sent Duke Boso with a deputation to -Gunthram, King of Orleans, to demand the recognition of the prince, -and that he should be given Aquitaine as a kingdom. The deputation was -roughly received by Gunthram at Orleans, seated on his throne. “Pshaw!” -said he, “Gundowald’s father was a miller, or, to be more exact, a -carder of wool.” - -Then one of the deputies said boldly, “Do you pretend that Gundowald -had two fathers--one a miller, the other a wool-carder? Who ever heard -of a man having two fathers?” - -Another deputy broke out with--“Take care, King, the axe that cut off -the heads of your brothers has not lost its edge.” - -In a fury Gunthram ordered the embassy to be driven out of the palace -and pelted with horse-dung and rotten vegetables. - -The Aquitanians flew to arms; Gundowald was crowned at Brives, and -marched to secure Toulouse. The ecclesiastics of the south to a man -favoured the pretender. Gunthram was alarmed, and at once detached his -nephew Childebert from the side of Gundowald, by the bribe of an offer -of the succession to the kingdom of the Franks after his death. - -The reconciliation of the two kings discouraged the party of Gundowald. -The fickle Aquitanians were as hasty in deserting him as they had been -in acknowledging him. As a large army of the Franks was pouring south, -Gundowald was constrained to throw himself into Lugdunum Convenarum, -along with the grandees most compromised, as Duke Mummolus, and two -bishops, Sagittarius and Waddo. - -Duke Boso, who had been foremost in instigating the rising, secured -all Gundowald’s treasures and fled with them. Mummolus and the bishops -only waited for an opportunity to betray him. The army of Gunthram -surrounded the town, lying all along in the plain. Then Mummolus and -the bishops advised the prince to throw himself on the mercy of his -brother Gunthram. “It was at your invitation,” answered he, “that I -came to Gaul. I was in Constantinople with my little children, in high -honour with the Emperor, when Boso sought me out and informed me of -the death of all my brothers save Gunthram, without issue, and that -Childebert, my nephew, was a poor creature. I allowed myself to be -persuaded to return to Gaul; and now this same Boso has stolen the -treasures I had brought with me, and has gone over to my brother who -is warring against me.” Then said Mummolus, “Do as we bid you. Divest -yourself of your golden baldric and sword and go forth. We swear to you -that no harm will befall you.” Seeing that nothing else was open to -him, that he could trust none of those who had egged him on, he issued -from the gates, and at once Mummolus closed them behind him. Otto, -Count of Bourges, received the prince and surrounded him with armed -men. Gundowald raised his hands to heaven and said, “Judge Eternal, -Avenger of the innocent! To Thee I commit my cause, and I pray Thee to -avenge me on my betrayers.” - -As he was descending the hill, Otto dealt him a sharp blow on the back -that made him fall, saying, “This dauber of the walls of churches and -oratories is down at last!” Then raising his spear he attempted to -transfix him, but failed, owing to the armour worn by the prince. - -Gundowald sprang to his feet, and turned to reascend the hill, when -Duke Boso, as base as he was treacherous, dashed a stone at his head -and crushed in his skull. The prince fell, and the men at arms, after -making sure that he was dead, tied his feet together, and dragged him -around the camp with jeers. - -The rock down which Gundowald was thrown is still pointed out. It is -called Mattacan, the place where the dog was slaughtered. It is some -satisfaction to learn that Mummolus gained nothing by his treachery. -When the town was entered by the troops of Gunthram he was put to -death. The city was delivered over to the soldiery of the King, and -the inhabitants--men, women, and children--were massacred, so that, to -use the expression of Gregory of Tours, there did not remain even a -dog alive in it--“ita ut non remaneret mingens ad parietem.” The city -was levelled, and the bishops of Cominges, finding no asylum among the -ruins, settled at Valcabrères, where they erected a church dedicated -to S. Justus. This is an interesting structure, standing alone in -the fields, built out of the ruins. The choir, very archaic in form -and of rude construction, probably dates from its erection after the -destruction of the Lyons of the Convenæ. The nave, less ancient, of the -eleventh century, has been also built of old materials. A delicious -lateral portal enriched with sculptured capitals, and fine statues of -life size, and a bas-relief of Christ between the evangelistic symbols, -is of the twelfth century. Within are ancient columns taken from the -Roman town, and a curious stone sarcophagus or shrine of the fourteenth -century, much mutilated, and reached by two stone flights of steps. -It is not known whose tomb this was. Against the wall at the end of -the nave is the tombstone of a priest named Patroclus, of the fourth -century. - -After five centuries of abandonment, one of the bishops of Cominges -resolved on the re-edification of the city of Lugdunum. He built -a cathedral on the height of the rock, in the midst of the ruins. -This was in the eleventh century, towards its close, when religious -fervour was at its height; and this new church is one of the most -beautiful monuments of medieval art in the south of France. About the -new cathedral canons were installed; the prelate erected for them a -residence and a cloister. He built himself a palace, and in every way -encouraged the people to resettle on the site of their ancient capital. - -[Illustration: CLOISTERS, S. BERTRAND DE COMINGES] - -The man who did this, the second founder, was Bertrand de -l’Isle-Jourdain, and he has given his name to this new foundation, or, -to be more correct, the people have called the new city on the old site -after his name. Bertrand’s mother was daughter of William Taillefer, -Count of Toulouse. He was trained in the abbey of Escaledieu, but -quitted it for the profession of arms. However, before long he -abandoned the life of a camp to accept a canonry at Toulouse. He was -appointed Bishop of Cominges about 1073, and ruled the see for fifty -years. According to popular legend, he killed a dragon that infested -the neighbourhood; and the stuffed monster hangs in the church to this -day. It is a crocodile from the Nile. He died in or about 1120, and -his day of commemoration is on 17 October, when the decayed town is -thronged with pilgrims to visit his shrine. - -At the time of the Papacy at Avignon Bishop Bertrand de Got was elected -Pope, and took the title of Clement V. He retained a liking for the -place, revisited it several times, and contributed sums towards its -completion; and to raise money without having to dip into his own -purse instituted a grand Pardon or Jubilee, charged with Indulgences, -for the Feast of the Invention of the Cross (3 May). This is still -celebrated, and attracts pilgrims to gain the Indulgences, during three -days. The vaulting of the church was begun in 1304, and completed by -Hugh de Châtillon in the middle of the fourteenth century. The apse -is surrounded by five chapels. The windows of the choir, very tall -and narrow, are partly walled up, and partly filled with fragments of -Renaissance glass. The magnificent Renaissance woodwork choir-stalls, -screen, organ-case, and altar-piece are due to Bishop Jean de Mauleon, -and date from 1525. In a chapel is the stately tomb of Bishop Hugh de -Châtillon, who died in 1352; it is of white marble, and was executed -at least a century after his death, probably at the expense of the -Cardinal de Foix, to whom also is due the mausoleum of S. Bertrand -behind the high altar. - -But bishops cannot create a town, even though they enrich a site with a -superb cathedral. S. Bertrand de Cominges never thrived, and little by -little the bishops tired of it, and then abandoned it for their Château -of Alan, near Aurignac; they were rich men, enjoying large revenues, -for the diocese of Cominges, in addition to that part which is in -France, comprised also the whole of the Val d’Aran--that is to say, -thirty-three parishes under the Crown of Spain. - -Some of them rarely visited S. Bertrand, some not at all. One of them, -Urban de S. Gelos, an ardent Leaguer, only went thither to dislodge -the Huguenots, who thrice between 1569 and 1593 entered the town and -committed great ravages. - -At the Revolution the see was suppressed, and the small world of -canons, vicars-general, and diocesan functionaries who had inhabited -the capital of Cominges dispersed, and the little town sank to be a -_chef-lieu de Canton_, and then lost even that dignity, which was -transferred to Barbazan. - -S. Bertrand would be abandoned altogether by its inhabitants, who would -settle on the plain were it not much resorted to by visitors from -Luchon, by artists and antiquaries, and by pilgrims. - -There were counts of Cominges from a very early period, indeed from -900; but the county came to the Crown of France in 1442 through a -domestic quarrel. - -Margaret de Cominges was left an heiress in 1376. She married John -III, Count of Armagnac Fézansac. He died in 1391, having had by her -two daughters. She then married Jean d’Armagnac Pardiac, who was -aged eighteen. As she treated him with contempt as a mere boy he was -offended, and left her so as to reside with his father. But after -awhile, finding that Margaret had installed a lieutenant in the county, -and refused him those rights in it which had been assured to him by the -marriage contract, he appealed to Count Bernard VII of Armagnac for -assistance. This treacherous man went over to the side of Margaret, and -when John hastened to Auch to urge the Count to assist him Bernard had -him arrested, carried to a castle in the Rouergue, and there blinded -by a red-hot basin applied to his eyes. The poor lad died in prison in -great misery. Margaret being free of her boy-husband, looked out for -one who was a man, and pitched on Matthew de Grailli, brother of the -Count of Foix, and married him. - -But Matthew proved a little too much of a man for her. He treated -Margaret as roughly as she had treated Jean. He shut her up in the -Castle of Saverdun, where he retained her for fifteen to sixteen -years. At the end of that time she appealed to Charles VII when he was -at Toulouse, and Matthew was forced to surrender her into the King’s -hands. Then Margaret, to vent her spite against her husband, made over -the county of Cominges, in 1442, along with all her estates, to the -Crown of France. Next year she died at Poitiers at the age of eighty. - -The Garonne does not rise in France, but in Spain, and, by what is -an apparent caprice, the frontier does not follow the crests of the -highest mountains, but runs north, making a loop so as to include the -Val d’Aran in Spain. - -But though the valley is reached by a good carriage road from France, -and can communicate with Spanish neighbours only by a mule path over a -pass 8000 feet high and impassable for many months in the year, yet the -valley has pertained to Spain since 1192. - -Of the Val d’Aran more presently. We must first, after the antiquity -and decay of S. Bertrand, refresh ourselves with the novelty and -up-to-datedness of Luchon; certainly one of the most delightful centres -from which to radiate in all directions, that is to be found in Europe. -All the comforts, distractions, and amusements that go to make a -watering-place pleasant are to be had there as elsewhere, and better -than elsewhere in the Pyrenees. - -A Frenchman shall describe it, lest I should do it scant justice:-- - - “Forty thousand visitors come every year to Luchon, bringing - with them an atmosphere of luxury not to be found to the same - degree in other Pyrenean stations. Their artificial existence - has for corollary an artificial existence in the population - living upon them:--Coachmen and postilions in the livery of the - Opéra-Comique, guides who have adopted an imaginary Pyrenean - costume. The hotel-keepers are not behindhand; correctly - dressed cavaliers, spruce amazons, toilettes changed frequently - during the day, toilettes the product of the best Parisian - dressmakers, affectation of the extreme of fashion, such is the - picture of life at Luchon. Even for mountain excursions there - must be a faultless costume. - - “With the exception of a few guides worthy of the name and - knowing the loftiest crests, these cicerones in costume conduct - walkers to spots to which they could go perfectly well without - them. The mountains are very much humanized here, there are - plenty of carriage-drives, walks innumerable, well kept up, - to reach even great altitudes. But beyond all this Luchon is - one of the principal centres of Pyrenean-Alpine climbing, it - is the point of departure for bold climbers who go to the Mont - Maudit, the loftiest of all the chain, but on Spanish soil” - (Ardouin-Dumazet). - -But even easy ascents lead to superb and savage scenery. The Lake of -Seculejo is easily reached, and is accessible even in a carriage. -It stands 6500 feet above the sea, and is the most visited of all -the Pyrenean sheets of water. It is a mere tarn, but is singularly -beautiful, lying amidst rugged mountains, with the eternal snows above -it spilling their melted waters into it in a fall of 620 feet, after -having paused to spread in two loftily situated tarns, one of which is -frozen almost throughout the year. Inglis thus describes it, at a time -when it was but occasionally visited:-- - - “I dedicated a day to the Seculejo, and have seldom passed one - more to my mind. I left Bagnères de Luchon about sunrise. The - road to it is wild and pastoral, rapidly rising towards the - south, and having constantly in view the majestic scenery that - lies upon the Spanish frontier. The Lake of Seculejo is wild, - solitary, and sombre. The low ripple of the water, the noise - of the cataract, and the cry of a bird of prey, are the only - interruptions of silence that are in keeping with the scene; - and these were the only sounds that disturbed its tranquillity - as I stood upon the margin of the water. The lake is entirely - surrounded by high mountains, excepting where it finds egress; - and its shores are generally bold and rugged. At the upper end, - a cascade falls from the top of a perpendicular rock into the - lake. After lingering upon the margin of Seculejo an hour or - two, I climbed up the eastern bank, by a path which has almost - the appearance of a ladder, and which, indeed, bears the name - of Scala. Having reached the summit of the bank, I entered a - gorge, through which I passed to a hollow lying at the base - of the mountain, called the Espingo; and, still proceeding to - ascend the first ridges of the mountain, I reached the two - lakes of Espingo. These are very elevated mountain tarns lying - almost in the region of snow. All is here sombre, melancholy, - rude, and dismal--great rocks, a few stunted trees, and still, - deep, dark water, are the features of the scene.” - -We return to Luchon. Do you desire health? It is to be found there, if -we may believe the advertisements of the wonders wrought by its waters, -more potent than that from the lips of the Grotto of Lourdes: “Toutes -les maladies de la peau, comme d’autres de toute espèce, les maladies -occassionées par le lait répandu, quelques graves qu’elles soient, les -rheumatismes, maladies des yeux, maladies des parties conservatrices -des yeux, lésions d’oreille, maladie du système osseux, blessures; gale -ventrée, rougeole, maladies des articulations; maladies des glandes -salvaires; humeurs froides; maladies des voies urinaires; catarrhe -pulmonaire; asthme; phthisie pulmonaire, obstructions de toutes sortes, -et jaunisse.” And, nevertheless, there is a cemetery at Luchon. - -Luchon was well-known to the Romans, as the number of _ex voto_ altars -to the god Ilixion that have been found go to prove. The name of this -god of healing is to be recognized in a very altered shape in the -modern Luchon. In 1036 Luchon, with Upper Cominges, passed as dower to -the Crown of Aragon. Later it was restored to the counts of Cominges. -In 1711 the valley was ravaged, and Luchon burned by Charles of -Austria, who was disputing Spain with the Duke of Anjou. - -No one staying at Luchon should omit to read J. H. Michon’s powerful -novel, _Le Maudit_, the scene of which is mainly laid at S. Aventin -on the Neste d’Oucil, a picturesquely situated village, with an -interesting church of the eleventh and twelfth centuries. It has two -towers--one at the west end, the other at the transept. The _grille_ -is specially noticeable, as it is ironwork of the twelfth century. The -tomb of the patron saint is in the church. He is said to have died in -the year 538. - -One stormy night a bear bounced against the door of his cell. Aventin -spent the night in great alarm, but on opening the door in the morning -he saw the bear still there, crouched on the threshold, and it -stretched forth a paw to him. Then the hermit perceived that a splinter -of wood had entered it. So he said, “Poor beast, thou wast in pain, -and didst seek relief, and I thought that thou wast raging for my -life.” Then he took the paw in his lap, drew out the splinter, bathed -and bandaged the wound, and let the bear depart. It is the story of -Androcles and the lion, without the termination. - -Perhaps the finest excursion is up the Valley of Lys to the Cirque -of Crabioules, where the glacier sends down a fine fall, the Cascade -d’Enfer. Nothing can surpass the scenery in this valley. - -[Illustration: LA CASCADE D’ENFER, LUCHON] - -The Val d’Aran should be visited on account of its magnificent scenery, -running up as it does to the roots of the gloomy Maladetta. On -the way to it S. Béat is reached, planted in a narrow defile, into -which the sun penetrates for little more than two hours in the day in -mid-winter. It owed its importance as a key to Spain, that is to say -to such part of Spain as is in the Val d’Aran; and it has a key for -its arms. It maintains a population of quarrymen. The marble there -has been exploited since Roman times with long intermission. A votive -altar has been discovered, erected by Q. J. Julianus and Publicius -Crescentinus to commemorate their having been the first there to cut -and dispatch columns twenty feet long. In the Middle Ages these white -marble quarries were abandoned, but were worked again under Louis XIV, -when hence were sent the marble basins for the gardens at Versailles. -S. Béat is commanded by a castle of the fourteenth century, with a keep -still more ancient. The castle is reached by steps, some hewn out of -the rock. A colossal statue of the Virgin in bronze has been erected on -the rock within the castle precincts. - -From S. Béat it is not four miles to the frontier, at Pont-du-Roi, -where some speculators have built a casino; a restaurant, and gambling -tables are provided; but, of course, this fact is veiled, and it is -called La Société du Vélo Club du Pont-du-Roi. - -The Maladetta with its glaciers now bursts on the sight. - -It is somewhat absurd that the Val d’Aran should not pertain to France, -with which it has a natural connexion. Indeed the Spanish officials -who come to the valley arrive by train either from Bayonne or from -Perpignan, and leave it at the little station at Marignac near Luchon. -The people of Aran who drink Spanish wine have the barrels brought -round one way or the other by French lines, but do not pay duty, only -the long carriage; whereas French wine has to pay at the Customs, -coming only a few miles up from the level land. - -The dialect is Catalan, but so is that of French Roussillon; and nearly -every man in Aran can speak French. The position of the inhabitants is -difficult, as for only two or three months in the year can they reach -a Spanish town beyond the mountains, so that they must purchase French -goods, and these have to be examined at the custom-house, and taxed, -some heavily. - -Curiously enough, at the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659 nothing was -said about annexing Aran to France. Napoleon alone saw the necessity -for it, and did annex it in 1808; but the treaty of 1815 restored it to -Spain. As Aran is now situated, inevitably smuggling thrives and cannot -be suppressed. - -Viella is the capital of the district of Aran. Before reaching it a -monolith is passed, a prehistoric monument, supposed to be dedicated -to the presiding deity of the valley. Viella is planted on the banks -of the Rio Negro, and possesses a church and chapels of massive -construction, overcharged with gilded decorations, in accordance with -Spanish taste. The houses are provided with balconies. - -[Illustration: LE LAC D’OO] - -We are here at the roots of the Maladetta, the accursed mountain, -because devoid of vegetation, and near the Cirque of Sabourede. The -highest peak of the Maladetta is 10,230 feet, and in its flanks rises -the western branch of the Garonne. The melted waters of the glaciers -of the peak Aneto falls into a chasm, the Trou de Toro, and it was -long supposed that after an underground course the same waters broke -forth in the Goueil de Jouéou, which is the true source of the western -Garonne. But sufficient colouring matter has been poured into the gulf -to dye the water issuing from this spring, without its staining the -source any more than the dye poured into the _source_ in the Lourdes -grotto discoloured the water a few yards distant, that issues from -the taps from which the miraculous fluid is drawn. Where the stream -issues that precipitates itself into the Trou de Toro has not yet -been discovered. There is no doubt about the source of the eastern -Garonne. That rises at the foot of the Port de Béret, in two little -springs that go by the name of the Eyes of the Garonne, but which -is speedily lost in the turbulent and mightier stream of the Ruda -descending from the snows of Sabourede. From Luchon the passage into -Spain by the Port de Venasque is to be effected, disclosing views of -mountain crest and suspended glacier hardly to be surpassed in Europe. -A hospice is planted half-way, where is the custom-house. “It is,” says -the Commandant de Oliver-Copóns, “like a great barrack in disorder, a -muddle of hotel, pot-house, and workshop. There are stables that can -shelter sixty beasts, but hardly a room in which a traveller can lodge -comfortably.” However, there is no need to stay the night there; one -can push on to Venasque, and make that a centre of excursions to the -lakes clustering at the heads of the wild valleys that descend from the -Pic d’Eristé, the Pic des Posets and the Maladetta. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI - -COUSERANS - - Cobweb of lines--The Viscounty--S. Lizier--S. Girons--S. - Lizier a double town--Two cathedrals--Bishop Bernard--His - palace--S. Marie de la Sède--The other cathedral--Bridge and - inscription--Ramparts--The training of dancing bears--Bear - hunting--Mendicity--Improvidence--Factory of La Moulasse--Job - cigarette papers--Vic--Sully tree--Oust--The Nine Springs-- - Aulus--The Planturel. - - -The railway lines in the central portion of the Pyrenees converge -on Toulouse, and to get across country from west to east is no easy -matter. In the Eastern Pyrenees they form a cobweb amidst which the -traveller gets entangled and spends a day unprofitably in endeavours to -extricate himself, for French railway directors ingeniously contrive -to make through travelling by branch lines most difficult, or at least -most tedious. To reach S. Girons it is necessary to run northwards from -S. Gaudens to Boussens, then change trains and turn the face due south, -following up the Salat, past the salt springs of Salies. - -We now enter the old viscounty of Couserans, of which the civil capital -was Massat, and the ecclesiastical was S. Lizier. It pertained for -awhile to the counts of Carcassonne; Roger II gave both the district -and the bishopric to his younger son, Bernard, with the title of -viscount, in or about 990. But in 1257 Esquivat, Count of Bigorre, -inherited the land from Roger, Count of Pallier, and thus the -Couserans passed into the possession of the house of Foix-Béarn, and so -to the kings of Navarre. - -The capital of the whole country in early days was Lugdunum -Consoranorum, now S. Lizier, and one of the nine cities of -Novempopulania. The Couserans, situated between the basins of the -Ariège and the Garonne, has much the shape of a vine-leaf, having the -valleys of the Arac, Garbet, Salat, and Lez converging at S. Girons -into the one broad stream of the Salat, as the stalk of the leaf. If S. -Bertrand de Cominges has fallen from its high estate to be a miserable -village, it is not alone in its fall, in that S. Lizier has shared -the same fate. But Lugdunum Convenarum went out in one tragic drama -of blood and flame. Lugdunum Consoranorum is dying of slow decline, -its life-blood sucked out of it by the parasitic growth of S. Girons. -Indeed, so low is it fallen that the railway does not afford it a -station, only a _halte_. Once the fifth in order of size and splendour -of the cities of Novempopulania, it now shelters within its walls not -more than five hundred inhabitants. This was a double town: one portion -was the city, the other the _ville_; and what is more, it possessed two -cathedrals--one in the city, Notre Dame; the other, S. Lizier, in the -town. As just before death a patient often brightens up, puts on an -appearance of renewed life, and enjoys buoyant hopes, only to sink in -relapse to death, so was it with this Lyons of the Couserans. - -Bishop Bernard de Marmiesse (1653-80), not content with the medieval -residence of the prelates, erected an enormous and splendid palace, -commanding the whole town with its long façade flanked by semicircular -towers, embracing the cathedral of S. Marie de la Sède within its -walls. Where the bishops ruled and feasted in purple and fine linen -lunatics are now installed. Lazarus has crept into the shell of Dives. -The bishopric was suppressed at the Revolution and never restored. -There had been on the cathedral staff twelve canons and twenty-four -prebendaries, having under them a swarm of sacristans, _curés_ to -relieve them of burdensome duties, and workmen. - -Ste. Marie de la Sède is a Renaissance church, but built when the -spirit of Gothic architecture had not gone out of the land; but the -portal is Romanesque. The interior woodwork is of the eighteenth -century, and is fine for its period. To the north is the chapter-house, -of the twelfth century. The materials of which cathedral and palace -were built proceeded from the ruins of the Gallo-Roman city. - -The other cathedral is more interesting. It consists of a nave without -aisles, and an apse constructed out of fragments of Roman buildings, -and over a Roman gateway. The central tower is of the fourteenth -century: octagonal, lighted by windows with triangular heads, and the -whole crowned by a crenellated platform. It affects the Toulouse style, -and is of brick. The magnificent cloister of the twelfth and thirteenth -centuries has thirty-two round-headed arches resting on alternate -single and double pillars with quaintly-carved and varied capitals. -Above it is an open walk or cloister, with the pantiled roof supported -on beams, dating from the fifteenth century. Probably the town would -expire altogether were it not kept alive by the lunatics installed in -the episcopal palace, which is lighted by electricity, and such light -as is not wanted in the asylum is distributed over the town. - -Like S. Bertrand, this Lyons changed its name and assumes that of one -of the bishops, a native of Lerida, who is said to have saved the -city from destruction by the Visigoths by his intercession. The town -is built on the slopes of a hill above the Salat. It communicates -with the _halte_ by means of a steep-pitched bridge of the twelfth or -thirteenth century, consisting of three unequal arches. Into one of -the piers is built a votive inscription to the goddess Belisama, who -was identified by the Romans with Minerva. Another inscription to this -goddess has been found at Vaison. A tower formerly stood in the midst -of the bridge. Above, on the right bank of the Salat, is a square tower -that defended a fortified mill. This mill has been reconstructed. The -old city is enclosed in the Roman ramparts forming an ellipse, flanked -by a dozen towers, of which six on the north side are square, and the -rest on the south are semicircular. Against the rampart within is the -episcopal keep of the twelfth century, rectangular, and only to be -entered by a wooden bridge that led to the first story from the palace. -The lower rests on Roman foundations. - -The valleys of the Couserans do not attract many visitors; they have -not the boldness of those farther west. The Pic de Crabère reaches to -7200 feet, that of Mauberme to 8650, that of Roujos to 8340. There is -a little lake, the Lac d’Arrainge, out of which flows the Isar, but it -is insignificant; others are above Aulus. The principal business of -the people in the upper valleys was the training of dancing bears, and -sometimes when a father married his daughter he would hand over to his -son-in-law as the _dot_ a well-trained Bruin. But the taste for seeing -these beasts led about and made to stand on their hind legs and plead -for coppers has died out. There is no further demand for bears, and -the industry is expiring, if not dead. Perhaps the last was seen by M. -Ardouin-Dumazet:-- - - “No sooner had we entered the hamlet of Sérac, with its steep - and muddy streets, than I asked after these strange educators. - Alas! it was a lost tradition. In all the commune of Uston - there was but a single little bear in training. Happily he - inhabited Sérac, so I could see him. - - “A little girl conducted me to the grange in which the small - animal was shut up. It was still a baby, but its mark of - slavery was upon it, the ring through its nostrils, by means of - which the tamer can control it. The little bear, sitting up on - its hind paws, waddled and hopped incessantly, as if afflicted - with S. Vitus’s dance. Our visit seemed to please it; it - invited caresses, and rolled about at our feet. The people said - that it would be easy to tame the poor little bruin.” - -Bears are no longer hunted on the French side of the Pyrenees, and -those who seek for them must cross over the Spanish frontier, where a -good many are still to be found in the forests. But, as already said, -the demand for them has ceased, not only to be led about, but to show -in barber’s yards as evidence that genuine bears’ grease is sold on the -premises. - -This industry having failed, the peasants have had to fall back on -cattle-rearing, and dairy-farming. But this hardly suffices for their -necessities, and many of the men turn into hawkers, and almost all -migrate at the time of the vintage to the Bordelais and to Languedoc. -Whether it be the bear association, or the migratory habits of the -fathers of the household, has given a rudeness and lack of self-respect -to the children cannot be said, but nowhere in the Pyrenees does -mendicity prevail with such persistency and effrontery as in the -valleys of the Couserans. The legend prevails in the plain that when -Christ was walking over the earth with S. Peter He found these valleys -unpopulated; so He took clay and moulded it into a man, and set the -figure on its feet before Him, and breathed into it the breath of -life; whereupon instantly the New Adam held out its hands and cried, -“Un p’tit sou, siou plaît, m’ssius!” Begging has ever since been the -predominant and all-prevailing instinct of the upper region of the -Couserans. - -The population here as elsewhere in the mountains is dwindling owing -to emigration, mainly to South America, especially to the Argentine -Republic. This is largely due to the peasant seeing the comfort and -comparative wealth of his brother peasant in the plain, the proprietor -of vineyard and olive-yard, and of mulberry trees that feed silkworms. -He returns to his Alpine pastures sulky and dissatisfied with his -condition. He is unwilling to change his native, deeply-rooted customs -of farming, that are unscientific and wasteful, incapable maybe of -realizing that he might do better if he adopted newer methods. - - “Nevertheless,” says M. Ardouin-Dumazet, “he might lead a - better existence if he could be brought to limit the quantity - of his cattle to that number which he could rear suitably; - if he would consent to make a practical use of the milk of - his flocks. But everywhere in Ariège one finds every little - property support three times as many beasts as the soil can - well sustain; the result is lean cattle, giving poor meat and - milk, giving consequently but an insufficient return of revenue. - - “However, nowhere has the problem of the renovation of the - pastures and the animals that overrun it been more studied - and theoretically resolved. The Board of Forestry has shown - by example how that the extent of meadowland and the quality - of the grass might be largely extended. But everywhere it - encounters invincible routine. - - “Every hamlet, every farm has its stables, in which during - the winter the beasts are crowded in conditions of hygiene - absolutely deplorable. Air, light, litter are wanting; the - fodder is measured out sparingly. If the winter be long there - is dearth, for the number of beasts is out of all proportion to - the resources of the forage. - - “So soon as the weather becomes mild, at once the animals are - despatched to the pastures or the waste lands; too numerous - for the space, they ruin the turf and trample up the soil. The - high pastures are squandered, and, above all, are not kept up. - Juniper and rhododendrons invade them without the mountaineers - concerning themselves about it. The agents of the Forestry have - shown them how to get rid of these shrubs by eradication and - burning, and how to make the ashes fertilize the meadows; they - have shown them how by irrigation to enhance the quantity and - quality of the herbage. This has been seen, understood, but - not followed. Channels for irrigation have been made by the - foresters and abandoned. The watering places for the cattle are - choked. The paths rendering access to the mountain pastures are - not kept up. The carelessness of the herdsmen surpasses all - that could be imagined. It makes one despair.” - -And the only remedy for their poverty that they can conceive is to turn -their children out into the roads to beg for sous. - -A watering-place at Aulus is coming into fashion. It is reached from S. -Girons by a good road, and is distant from it thirty-three kilometres; -Aulus lies high up in the valley of the Garbet. - -On leaving S. Girons--about which I say nothing, as concerning it -nothing can be said--the factory of La Moulasse is passed, where -cigarette papers are manufactured in large quantities. The man who -started making them was named Jean Bardon, and he put his initials on -the little books of cigarette papers, with a lozenge between, thus -J.◊.B. This was read as Job, and such papers acquired the name and -became famous as Job’s cigarette papers. The name has been accepted on -the spot, and the sources of the Moulasse that feeds the factory are -now called “les sources de Job.” - -Vic, now a little village of 150 inhabitants, was once a Roman station, -and remained of sufficient consequence in the Middle Ages to give to S. -Girons the name of Bourg-sous-Vic. It has a little church with three -Romanesque apses, and a ceiling of the sixteenth century with paintings -in squares. Beside the church is a Sully elm. Such elms were planted -throughout the country as token of rejoicing in 1593, when Henry IV -abjured Calvinism and joined the Catholic Church. - -Oust also speaks of the Roman occupation; the name is derived from -Augusta. At Oust the road leaves the valley of the Salat to ascend its -tributary vale of the Garbet; to the south snowy crests appear and the -cascade of Arse comes in view. The Nine Springs is passed, supposed to -have an underground course from the marshy lake of Lhers, at a distance -of four miles. Usually it gives but little water; but after a storm the -source bursts forth suddenly with violence and pours down in cascade -over the rocks. - -Aulus lies in an extremely agreeable situation, surrounded by -well-wooded mountains, above which soar snowy peaks. The place was -well known to the Romans, who worked there the mines of silver-lead. -As a watering-place it is furnished with a casino, a park, and theatre -in which every evening during the season comedies and farces are -performed; and in the park a band plays twice a day. Old Aulus lay on -the farther side of the river, but the new site is better exposed to -the sun. Aulus lies in a cul-de-sac; no road goes farther--at least -none that can be utilized by a carriage. Some little mountain tarns are -objects of a visit by those who spend a few days at Aulus, ascending -to them on the backs of mules. The largest of these lie in the valleys -scooped out of the mass of the Pic de Bassiès, 8165 feet. - -But it must be allowed that in this portion of the chain the Pyrenees -go in for breadth rather than height. In fact, in Ariège they become -somewhat dishevelled, unwind, and straggle into separate threads. -The loftiest ridge is that along which runs the frontier; the second -is that which starts from the Pic de Camporeile, and is called the -Montagne de Tabe, attaining in the Pic de Campzas only to 7670 feet. -The third chain is the limestone Planturel that reaches its supreme -elevation in the Montagne de Roquefixade, 3010 feet. This is a curious -ridge running parallel with the Pyrenees, very regular, but cut through -in several places, and ending at Foix. Those who desire to visit a -portion of the Pyrenees less in resort than the mountains of the Haute -Garonne and the Hautes Pyrénées will not fail to find in this section -many delightful sites. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII - -FOIX - - Department of Ariège--Watershed--The counts of Foix--Raymond - Roger--The Albigenses--Abuses in the Church--Manicheism-- - Council of Albi--Innocent III--Murder of Peter of Castelnau-- - Raymond VI of Toulouse--Crusade proclaimed--Simon de Montfort-- - Subtlety of the Pope--Massacre at Béziers--And at Cascassonne-- - Battle of Muret--Council of the Lateran--A second Crusade-- - Simon de Montfort killed--Count Roger Bernard--Béarn annexed-- - The town of Foix--The Castle--S. Volusinian--Nailmakers-- - Hermitage--Grotto de l’Herme--Mas d’Azil--The River Ariège-- - Tarascon--Richelieu--Ste. Quiterie--Iron mines--Sabarthès-- - Vicdessos--Iron industry--Cavern of Lombrive--Slaughter - and smothering of heretics--Les Cabannes--Lordat--Talc-- - Ax-les-Thermes--Self-created nobles--Hôtel Dieu--Andorra--The - Republic--The capital--Urgel--The Count of Spain--His death. - - -The county of Foix, now constituting the major portion of the -department of Ariège, is and always was in Languedoc. The Couserans -was, however, ever regarded as forming a part of Gascony. The ridge -between the Volp and the Salat separates two hydrographic basins -and two provinces. Geographically the department of Ariège belongs -nevertheless to the basin of the Garonne; all its streams, with the -exception of a few at the extreme east, flow into that great artery, -and finally discharge into the Atlantic. Linguistically only the -Couserans is Gascon; yet Foix from an early date was united to Béarn -and Bigorre. - -Of the earliest history of the counts of Foix we know very little. -Roger Bernard, who died in 1188, was an excellent prince. His son, -Raymond Roger, lived in difficult times, and was involved in the -troubles arising out of the attempt of Pope Innocent III to stamp out -the heresy of the Albigenses. - -To understand the spread of this heresy and the Crusade which -devastated these fair lands in the South, a few words must be said. - -There can be little doubt that Christianity had not struck deep roots -in Languedoc. The clergy had acquired but a smattering of Latin, and a -meagre knowledge of doctrine in the monastic schools. They entered on -their cures not much raised above their parishioners in culture, and -in morals not infrequently sank below their level. Enforced clerical -celibacy was evaded, but this evasion left a scar on the conscience. -Bishoprics and abbacies were the provision of cadets of noble houses, -whether religiously or morally qualified was of no account. - -In what is now the department of Ariège, no bigger than an ordinarily -sized English county, there were three episcopal sees--S. Lizier, -Pamiers, and Mirepoix--and many abbeys. - -A persecution of the Manichees in the Byzantine Empire sent a stream -of refugees into Lombardy, Provence, and Languedoc, and these heretics -speedily acquired a strong hold on the popular imagination. The Church -had done so little to awaken the spiritual life in the souls of men, -that instinctively, but blindly, they turned to welcome such as -promised something better. - -The Cathari, i.e. Puritans, as they called themselves, offered a -very simple creed and easy conditions of salvation. The fundamental -principle of this religion was a Dualism of Good and Evil principles, -equally matched; the Evil Principle, the author of the visible -Creation; the Good Principle, the author of the invisible, the -Spiritual world. The opposition of matter and spirit formed the -basis of their moral system. All that pertained to the body, all -its functions, its needs, its passions, were of the Evil One; all -the aspirations of the soul emanated from the Good Principle. -To the people of Provence and Languedoc and Gascony the Cathari -seemed to be inoffensive, self-denying enthusiasts. These had their -high-priests--the “Perfect” or “Very Elect”--and it was the function of -these men to “console” the believers; but the sacrament of Consolation -was never administered till it was supposed that a believer was on -his death-bed, for this reason, that after it had been administered -the recipient might not touch food under pain of committing the -unpardonable sin. If there should appear signs of convalescence after -the performance of the rite, the person consoled was bled to death, or -given pounded glass to swallow. - -This new Manichæism offered to the people of the South just what they -wanted. They had set before them a class of enthusiasts, the Very -Elect, who led austere lives; but they themselves were not required -to adopt a life of abstinence, even of self-restraint, for at death -free justification was offered them by a simple formula. Moreover, the -theological system of the Cathari was simplicity itself. - -The whole of the South was infected. A council, held at Albi in -1176, condemned the heresy, and thenceforth the heretics were called -Albigenses. - -The princes, notably the counts of Toulouse and of Foix, did not -interfere. The Albigenses were inoffensive people. If they held odd -opinions, that was their own affair, with which their feudal lords were -not concerned to meddle. - -But the Court of Rome thought otherwise. The flow of contributions -into its treasury from the rich South dwindled to nothing. What to the -Pope was even more serious was that his authority was openly flouted. - -Pope Innocent--is there not bitter satire in the name--in 1203 sent a -legate into the southern provinces, Peter of Castelnau by name. This -man visited Toulouse, but his efforts there to confute the heresy -failed completely. Hopeless of success and mortified in his vanity -Peter appealed to Pope Innocent to adopt drastic measures, and Innocent -bade him require Raymond, Count of Toulouse, to suppress Albigensianism -throughout his dominions by fire and sword. He was ordered, on pain -of excommunication, to become the inquisitor and executioner of his -subjects. At the same time he deposed Raymond, Bishop of Toulouse, -an amiable, liberal-minded man, and put in his place the firebrand -Foulques, who had been a troubadour, and notorious for his licentious -verses. - -Raymond VI of Toulouse promptly refused to do what was required of him, -whereupon Innocent, in 1207, pronounced his excommunication. - -Possibly the Count may have let slip some expression of disgust at the -conduct of the papal legate, and a wish to be well rid of him, as did -Henry II with reference to Becket. The result was the same; a knight -killed Peter of Castelnau in 1208 as he was crossing the Rhone. This -filled up the measure of Innocent’s wrath. He hurled the most dreadful -imprecations against the Count, and loudly summoned all Christendom -to a war of extermination against the Albigenses. “Anathema to the -Count of Toulouse! Remission of all sins to such as arm against these -pestilential Provincials. Go forward, soldiers of Christ! May the -heretics perish out of the land, and let colonies of Christians be -established in their room!” - -Dukes and bishops, counts and viscounts, flew to the standard of the -Cross, eager to glut themselves on the spoil of the South, so rich -with merchandise, and at the same time to gain eternal salvation by -violation and murder. Three armies invaded the South under the supreme -command of a needy northern knight, Simon de Montfort. - -The Pope was as subtle as he was remorseless. In order to weaken the -opposition in the South he had entered into negociation with Raymond -of Toulouse, and had deluded him into expectations of pardon, till the -Crusaders were on him. They began with Béziers, although the viscount -was known to be a Catholic. The city was taken and the inhabitants -massacred. The Abbot of Citeaux, the legate, wrote regretfully to -Innocent that he could only answer for having cut the throats of twenty -thousand. - -Then the papal host marched to Cascassonne, where they hung fifty -prisoners, and burned four hundred Albigenses alive. - -Raymond was now offered pardon if he would dismiss his soldiers, level -his castles and the walls of his towns, give the Inquisition a free -hand in his domains, and make every householder pay a tax of four -deniers to the papal treasury. The Count indignantly refused, and the -legate again sounded the attack. Raymond was defeated at Castelnaudary, -and compelled to fly to Aragon. The conquerors seized on his territory, -which the needy knights of the north parcelled out among themselves; -and they diverted themselves in hunting out the heretics and burning -them. - -Urged on by his kinsman, the Count of Toulouse, Peter II, King of -Aragon, passed the Pyrenees with an army, and was at once joined by the -Count of Foix and many other nobles. A battle was fought at Muret in -1213, in which the King was killed, the army routed, and the nobles of -Languedoc dispersed. This sealed the fate of the country. The Council -of the Lateran, held two years later, ratified the deposition of -Raymond, who, along with the counts of Foix and Cominges, had appeared -before the Council, with bitter complaints in their mouths of the way -in which their subjects had been slaughtered wholesale and the country -laid waste. At once up sprang Foulques, Bishop of Toulouse. “Foix,” -said he, “swarms with heretics. The sister of the Count intercepted and -cut to pieces six thousand Germans, Crusaders, on their way to join the -legate.” - -“Soldiers of the Cross!” retorted the Count of Foix fearlessly. “They -were mere robbers, committing every possible outrage in the country.” - -Then the Baron de Vilamour rose, and in a cold voice gave a detailed -account of the horrors, the rapes, the murders, the ravages committed -by the Soldiers of the Cross, those sent forth by the Holy See with -assurance of gaining Heaven thereby. As he spoke Innocent’s head sank -on his breast, and he heaved a sigh; some sense of shame stole into -his heart. He went to meet his account in 1216, and was succeeded by -Honorius III. - -Toulouse, the whole South, writhed under the despotism of Simon -de Montfort, and called back its exiled count. A new Crusade was -preached. Remission of sins was offered to all who would glean what -the first locust swarm had left, and massacre such as had been spared. -Excommunication was again launched against the Count of Toulouse and -the Count of Foix. In an attack on Toulouse Simon de Montfort was -killed, and the command was taken by Prince Louis of France. Before -this vast army the cities of Languedoc opened their gates. Count -Raymond and he of Foix bowed to the storm. Louis died of exhaustion -on his return, after having secured the submission of almost the whole -land. - -Count Roger Bernard of Foix was excommunicated in 1228, and was forced -to subscribe to the most degrading terms. The truce lasted eight -years. In 1237 he was summoned to appear and answer for his orthodoxy -before the papal Inquisitors quartered in his own domains, and holding -their court in his own castle. Because he refused he was again -excommunicated. He was compelled to submit in 1240, and died in the -ensuing year. - -The horrors of the extirpation of heresy continued till 1244, when the -last of the strongholds of the Albigenses was taken, and two hundred of -them were burnt alive without a trial. - -After that all trace of them gradually disappears. - -Bernard Roger III (1265) married Margaret de Moncada, second daughter -of Gaston de Béarn, and as she was heiress, he annexed her territories, -and thenceforth the history of Foix is merged in that of Béarn. - -Foix, in local patois _Fouch_, is situated at the junction of the Arget -with the Ariège, and where, most conveniently for military purposes, a -rock shoots up, abrupt and bold, inviting the mediæval noble to plant -his castle on the summit. The castle never was a palace like that of -Pau; it never was anything but a stronghold. When the counts became -lords of Béarn they abandoned their ancient nest, which if secure was -inconvenient, and betook themselves to their own creations at Mazères, -Orthez, and Pau. The town occupies a triangle where the two rivers -already mentioned unite. It is a dull place, its sole feature being -the castle, like a very plain man with a very prominent nose. That -it should be capital of the department is due to association, not to -size, for Pamiers, where was a cathedral, exceeds it in population. -It has a theatre, in which but rarely a performance is given; a public -library, open for a few hours one day in the week, into which an -occasional reader saunters; baths, better known externally than within; -an abattoir, where oxen past work are slaughtered, for consumption -by those of the inhabitants who have digestions that could dissolve -leather; a promenade which lacks promenaders; a vast prefecture, in -which the prefect is dying daily of ennui. The Hotel des Gouverneurs -has become Palais de Justice--“un édifice banal, malgré ce nom -grandiloquent.” - -The rock of Foix is 178 feet above the river, and is surmounted by -three noble towers that served successively as keeps. In the donjons -the Inquisition had their court, their trials, and sentences, and the -Count had to resign his castle to them in pledge of submission to the -judgment of the Holy See. The loftiest of the towers is cylindrical, -and is attributed to Gaston Phœbus, but apparently it dates from the -fifteenth century. Between the noble towers appear the mean buildings -of a prison, in which those who are confined yawn their time away. -Below the rock, near the river, at the apex of the triangle, is the -church of S. Volusinian, of the fourteenth century, and, like most of -the great churches in this portion of the south of France, consists of -a nave without aisles. The choir is surrounded by radiating chapels. - -Volusinian was Bishop of Tours, a native of Auvergne. When Alaric, King -of the Goths, invaded Gaul he carried Volusinian away with him south, -and as he proved to be uncompromising in his adherence to the Creed -of Nicæa, had him executed at Foix. His festival is on 11 February, -and he suffered in 491. Foix has no manufactures, no trade--hardly -an expectant _commis voyageur_ visits it; but I am in error. It has -perpetrated a joke, a miserable pun--Foix produces _patés de foie gras_. - -Were there but coal-mines near at hand Foix would revive, for the whole -county is full of iron ore. Foix bleeds iron from its veins, but the -ferruginous springs run away into the river. The stars in their courses -fight against Foix; the valley of the Arget was full of nailmakers at -one time--in 1835 there were forty-seven forges. Now their fires are -put out: machine-made nails have killed the hand-made nails. Those made -in the Barguillère, the valley of the Arget, were for horseshoes, and -the makers dubbed themselves _chevaliers_. The extinction of the little -forges has led to depopulation; between 1891 and 1901 there was a loss -of 27,092 inhabitants in that district. - -To the north of the town rises a steep hill, on the summit of which -is the hermitage of S. Sauveur, but the last hermit has departed -this life; his occupation also is gone, and he has no successor. The -Administration has put an end to the hermits. - -In the neighbourhood of Foix is the Grotto de l’Herme, that has yielded -notable finds of prehistoric man. But the main curiosity is the Mas -d’Azil, where the river Arize has bored its way through the limestone -barrier of the Planturel. This long chain opposed a passage northwards -to the river descending from the mountains to the south. The Arize -discovered a fault in the barrier and pierced it, forming a noble -arch 250 feet high. Beside it is an artificial gallery bored for the -passage of the road. The length of the tunnel is 1250 feet. The road -follows the right bank of the Arize, separated from it by a wall of -rock. The river descends into the gallery, the average width of which -is ninety-five feet, breaking over masses of rock that have fallen from -the roof. Above the left bank, under the huge vault, rises a natural -column, called the Monk. Farther on in the gallery, a pillar thirty -feet in diameter sustaining the roof. There are lateral galleries, at a -higher elevation, that have yielded evidence of human occupation. The -guano produced by the innumerable bats that inhabit the cave actually -forms an article of commerce. - -The opening to the north, through which the river effects its escape, -is less striking in appearance than that where it makes its plunge -underground. - -The road from Foix to Ax leads up the river that gives its name to the -department, and penetrates deep into the recesses of the mountains. - -The first town reached is Tarascon, prettily situated at the junction -of the Vicdessos with the Ariège, about a conical hill surmounted by a -round tower, which is all that remains of a castle that was blown up by -order of Richelieu. The great cardinal thought that the best means of -maiming the independence of the nobles, petty barons, and seigneurs, -was to destroy their nests. It was he, not the Revolutionists, who -made the worst havoc among the stately châteaux of France. He went -so far even as to insist on the pepper-castor roofed round towers -at the angles of every small squire’s mansion being lowered a story -to the level of the eaves of the main roof. Tarascon on Ariège is a -busier place than sleepy Tarascon on Rhone, that was drawn out of its -obscurity by the mythical Tastarin. It is the great centre of activity -to the country, “a land whose stones are iron.” Formerly it was more -prosperous than it is to-day. But the population remains stationary, -which in the midst of a universal shrinkage may be reckoned as good. -The town is divided into two parts. Old Tarascon clusters about the -decayed castle. New Tarascon forms the faubourg Sainte Quitterie, -where there is a ferruginous spring bearing the name of the saint, -and supposed miraculously to cure insanity. The wonder in this part of -the mountains is to find any springs that do not run red. Quiteria, -who has given virtue to this spring, is a person of problematical -existence. Once upon a time--the Bollandists even know not when--there -lived a King Katillas and his wife Calsia, who inhabited doubtlessly -a Château en Espagne. Queen Calsia gave birth to nine daughters at -once, and being afraid what the King would say, gave them to the nurse -with orders to drown them like puppies. But the nurse took them to her -home, and reared all in the Christian faith. In time of persecution the -nine damsels dispersed, but were caught and offered the alternative -of marriage or death. They accepted the latter. One of them, named -Wilgefortis, when pestered by a princely suitor, prayed, and lo! out -sprouted a thick beard and moustache. She was crucified. Quiteria’s -head was struck off with a sword. But unwilling to be less of an oddity -than her sister, after death she developed into three entire bodies. -One became the perquisite of the Portuguese, another of the Spaniards, -and the Gascons got hold of the third, and buried it at Aire. I have -little doubt that, when a man reputed insane was brought to Quiteria’s -well and made to drink eight tumblers full of the red water, he -remonstrated, and vowed that he was well; whereupon his relations cried -out, “A miracle! He has spoken sensibly. Thanks be to Quiteria.” - -To Tarascon comes the iron ore from the mines in the Vicdessos valley -in carts and tumbrils, and is there smelted. There are here also -quarries of gypsum for the manufacture of plaster of Paris. - -To the south of the town is the church of Notre Dame de Sabart, -so-called from Sabarthès, the name of the little region formed by -the Valley of Vicdessos and of the Ariège as far as Les Cabannes. The -church is Romanesque, and there are remains of an abbey founded for -an order of military knights, founded, it is said, by Charlemagne, -as a protection of the population and the valuable iron-mines. -This is a resort of pilgrims on 8 May and 15 September, when fairs -are held at Tarascon, and business, pleasure, and devotion can be -harmoniously combined. The Valley of Vicdessos is, and has been from -time immemorial, the great seat of iron-mining in the Pyrenees. The ore -is nearly pure, and lies in veins and pockets in the limestone of the -mountains of Rance, and the deposits form bands alternating with the -calcareous rock through a height of over 1800 feet. - -The working of the mines is the privilege of the inhabitants of Sem, -Goulier, and Olbier, and natives of Vicdessos and other villages about -can only be admitted to this privilege by marrying a girl of one of the -three named. Otherwise they can be employed only as wagoners drawing -the ore to Tarascon. - -The earliest mention of these mines is in a charter of the Count of -Foix in 1293. For centuries the counts found the utmost difficulty -in levying a toll on the iron carried out of the valley; the miners -exercised their ingenuity in evading it, and overriding all the -restrictions hampering their industry. Unhappily, for many hundred -years the mining was not carried on by companies, but by individuals -who grubbed where they would and carried on the works in the most -wasteful manner. Now the veins of ore are giving out; but the men who -have exclusive rights to the mines refuse obstinately and ignorantly -to admit of new methods in the extraction of the ore, and disapprove -of co-operation. The ancient medieval corporations have survived at -Sem, with their traditional rites and formulas. The law on mines of -1893 has somewhat modified some of the restrictions and extended the -rights of mining. But the men are stolidly opposed to improvement; -they retain the prejudices of their fathers. They have cut down the -trees, and the mountain torrents now devastate their little fields and -carry away the roads. The State has vainly endeavoured to replant, -and by so doing diminish the range of the ravages caused by goats and -sheep. The output of the mines dwindles and the impoverishment of the -villagers increases. From Usat may be visited the cavern of Lombrive, -only an hour’s walk from the baths of Usat. The last stronghold of -the unfortunate Albigenses was the Castle of Montségur, in the valley -of the Lasset, that flows into the Hers. Buried among the mountains, -hidden from most eyes, in an apparently inaccessible position, they -hoped to be forgotten and to remain in security. But they were scented -and tracked by the bloodhounds of the Papacy, and the army of the -Crusaders, reluctantly led by Raymond VII of Toulouse, constrained by -Innocent VI, who carried on the remorseless policy of Innocent III, -and as the sole means of obtaining forgiveness for himself, surrounded -it in 1244. The castle stands on and amidst tremendous precipices, and -is commanded by the Pic S. Barthélemy. The Albigensian chiefs held -out for long, and repulsed several assaults. Then, seeing that their -provisions were failing, and that they could not much longer maintain -their position, they dispatched four of their number to carry away -their treasures to some place of security. These four men crossed the -mountain spurs, and hid the treasure in one of the many caverns that -open in the cliffs above Usat, but where has not yet been discovered. - -On 14 March Montségur was taken, and over two hundred heretics found -in it were thrown alive into a huge bonfire that had been erected, -and burnt alive to satisfy the implacable vengeance of the Papacy. -After that the horde of Crusaders went to Tarascon to search the -valleys for more on whom to glut their rage. All the Albigenses of -the country round had fled to the caves; they were hunted out and -massacred. Nevertheless, all had not been exterminated. In 1325, when -John XXII was reigning in Avignon, a fresh pursuit of the heretics was -instituted. It was reported that the Albigenses employed the cave of -Lombrive as their cathedral. The armies of the Papacy assembled anew -and filled the valley. From five to six hundred of the unfortunate -heretics--men, women, and children--took refuge in the cavern that -runs deep into the heart of the mountain. It has been explored for a -distance of three miles. To save themselves the trouble and risk of -pursuing the Albigenses in darkness through the winding recesses of -the cave, the entrance was walled up, and the miserable wretches were -all left to perish there of starvation in abysmal night. Their bones -still lie scattered about the pit. The treasures of the Albigenses, -supposed to have been hidden there, have never been recovered; but -the true treasure, for which they fought and for which they died, the -emancipation of the human soul from the fetters of slavery in which it -had been bound by Rome, has been won by nearly all Europe. - -Les Cabannes lies in a beautiful basin formed by the junction of the -Aston with the Ariège. From hence the lateral valley branches off -that formed the seigneuries of the Lordadais. In it is planted one of -the mightiest fortresses of the counts of Foix, perched on a rock, -and commanding a most picturesque site. It was blown up in 1632, by -order of Louis XIII, but still retains portions of four concentric -oval-enclosing walls, and a square keep. From the castle can be -viewed the entire mass of the Tabe; its culminating point, the Pic S. -Barthélemy, shoots up superbly to the height of 7060 feet. At Vernaux -is a Romanesque church. This place has given its name to the talc that -is found in quarries near by, situated at a great elevation, some 6600 -feet above the sea, and where the workmen can be employed only from -1 May to 15 November. The bed of talc is about 120 feet thick, and -extends for a length of 1500 feet, and is sent down to the station of -Luzenac by a wire rope. - -Ax-les-Thermes is planted at the junction of the Oriège and the Ariège. -About it rise many bold crags; on the summit of one is Castel Maü, -supposed to have been a Moorish fortress. Another supports a huge -statue of the Virgin. The whole valley has been studded with castles, -of which now only the ruins remain. In troubled times, when warfare -was incessant between the counts of Foix and the counts of Urgel, or -between them and the Crusaders, every country gentleman was obliged -to pitch his house on the top of a rock, and give it the character -of a stronghold. Some of these are so small that they could not have -accommodated more than a little garrison; and the seigneurs must have -lived cramped and uneasy in them. Probably they had their houses in -the valley, and only retreated to these castles when the clash of arms -sounded. It is a pity that some of these picturesque ruins should -not be restored. On the Dordogne, the Lot, and the Vezère, some rich -wine merchant of Bordeaux buys up a castle, and makes it habitable -in the midst of a park. When in residence there M. Blom of Bordeaux -blossoms out into le Comte de Montréal, and M. Dois into le Marquis -de Beausejour. In England we have to pay heavy fees when we acquire -a title; it is not so in France. There a man dubs himself baron, or -count, or marquis. As to the armorial bearings that they assume--“Ma -foi!” exclaimed a painter, looking at the heraldic shield over one of -these châteaux, “what imaginations these _nouveaux riches_ possess!” - -Ax (Aquæ) was probably a Roman thermal station. The place was -frequented in the Middle Ages, when the Hôtel Dieu was founded (in -1260) for the reception of patients. Even before that, in 1200, a -bath for lepers was constructed here. The Hôtel Dieu owes its origin -to King Louis IX, who had it constructed for the use of Crusaders who -had contracted leprosy in Palestine and Egypt. But it was not till the -beginning of the eighteenth century that Ax was much frequented. Now -it receives about ten thousand visitors in the year, seeking healing -in its water. The springs are so numerous, and so thickly strewn, that -the town seems as though erected over the rose of a fountain of thermal -waters. - -From Ax Andorra may be reached by the Port de Saldeu. Andorra is the -sole remaining independent republic in the Pyrenees. It has a legendary -origin. In 805 Louis “le Débonnaire” was on his way to besiege Urgel, -and the Andorrans took up arms and materially aided him. In recognition -of their services Louis conferred on them a charter that accorded to -them the rights of self-government. Later, when Emperor, he conceded to -the Bishop of Urgel half the tithe of the six parishes in the valley, -as well as half his right of suzerainty over the diminutive republic. -Actually Andorra formed a lordship in the county of Urgel, and it was -the counts of that place who granted rights over it to the bishops of -the see of Urgel. Later on the seigneural rights passed to the counts -of Foix. Counts and bishops wrangled over their respective claims, -till in 1278 the feud was settled by a convention that accorded to the -republic the privileges that it still enjoys--local autonomy under the -double suzerainty of the bishops of Urgel and the counts of Foix, to -whom has succeeded the French Government. The Andorrans pay a tribute -to France annually of 950 francs, and to the Bishop of Urgel 450 francs. - -This duodecimo republic has an area of 175 square miles, and a -population of six thousand. It is governed by a council of twenty-four, -elected by the householders, and two provosts--one nominated by the -French Government, the other by the Bishop of Urgel, exercising in -common judicial powers. These provosts are theoretically the captains -of the Andorran militia, which is composed of all the heads of houses. -Of the twenty-four councillors, elected every four years, one half are -renewable every two years. The republic consists of three valleys, -surrounded by mountains on every side save where in the south the -River Embaline issues and flows down to Urgel. The land is fertile for -the altitude at which the basin lies, but its principal products are -timber and iron, and its chief industry is smuggling. Some years ago a -proposal was made to the little republic to convert it into a monster -gambling hell. This was after the closing of the house at Homburg; but -although the sum offered was tempting, the Andorrans had the good sense -to refuse the offer, which accordingly was then made to the Prince of -Monaco, and by him seized. - -The capital is a dirty, ill-built village; the principal buildings in -it are a Romanesque church and the palace, a fortified structure of -the fifteenth century, which serves as the seat of government, school, -Palais de Justice, and prison. On the ground-floor are stables for the -horses of the councillors. - -In the council hall is a great oak chest containing the archives, and -fastened by six locks, the key to each being retained by each of the -six parishes. The town or village has a dismal look, the houses being -constructed of slate and schist rock. - -The original capital was at S. Julien de Loria, where a cross marks the -site. - -On the heights are the remains of an old Moorish castle, called Carol, -a name derived from Charles the Great, who is supposed to have expelled -the infidel. The name of Andorra is supposed to be taken from the -Arabic _aldarra_, “a place thick with trees.” Mr. Ford says:-- - - “The hills around the rich alluvial basin of Andorra abound in - pine forests, which afford fuel; nothing can be prettier than - the distant views of the villages, embosomed in woods; at Mont - Melous are three lakes enclosed by lofty and fantastic walls of - rock.” - -A rough road leads from Andorra to Seo de Urgel, a distance of sixteen -miles. This is a quaint old Spanish town with an interesting cathedral -of the eleventh century, and a cloister of considerable beauty. The -town is commanded by the citadel on the height Las Horcas, “The -Gallows,” where the Bishop of Urgel, who was a sovereign prince, hung -miscreants. - -Urgel was the headquarters of a Carlist insurrection in 1827. This -was put down by an adventurer of French origin; none knew his real -name, and what had been his position in life, before he turned up and -offered his services to Ferdinand VII and dubbed himself the Count of -Spain. He served the King well, was absolutely without scruples, and -remorselessly cruel. He was made by Ferdinand Governor of Catalonia. -But, on the death of his patron in 1833, he passed over to Don Carlos, -and fought under him for the very cause which a few years previously he -had put down. But his former cruelties were not forgotten. He made his -headquarters at Urgel. The Junta of the Carlists was summoned to meet -at Aira on 26 October, 1839, and the Count went to attend it. He was -received with expressions of pleasure and devotion by his aide-de-camp, -Mariano Orteu, who engaged him in conversation, whilst the _curé_, -Ferres, levelled a pistol at him, fired, and wounded him. - -The Count fell, and pleaded for a drink of water. This was refused. He -was then mounted on a mule, his feet bound together under the belly, -and he was conducted from place to place, exposed to the insults and -derision of the people, till 1 November, when he found himself at -Ceselles; there, with cruel irony his former friend Orteu informed the -unfortunate man that he was to be speedily “sent to his own place.” -Then he deliberately shot him, and the rest of the company fell on him -and hacked him to pieces with their long knives. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII - -LA CERDAGNE - - Col de Puy Morens--Etang de Lanous--Many lakes--Dreary country-- - River of Carol--Dam of Quès--County of Cerdagne--Divided at the - Peace of the Pyrenees--Llivia--Ceretani--Bourg-Madame--Paradise - of botanists--Relics of the Flood--Mont Louis--General Dagobert - --Church of Planès--Font-Romeu--Image, object of Pilgrimage-- - Story of Othman and Lampagia. - - -From Ax-les-Thermes a good carriage road crosses the Col de Puy Morens -to the Cerdagne and to Puygcerda in Spanish territory. It passes -through most bald and weariful uplands, under the Pic de Carlitte, -which is the highest point of the watershed between the Atlantic and -the Mediterranean. The height of this peak is 9580 feet, and its flanks -are starred with lakes, many of which are frozen through a great part -of the year, more than are found in any other part of the Pyrenees. -The Etang de Lanous is three kilometres long and from 500 to 600 yards -across, pinched in the middle so as to form two basins. It is covered -with ice for about nine months. It swarms with red-fleshed _Salmo -alpinus_, which is excellent eating. - - “A frame of lofty mountains, reaching above 7500 feet surrounds - this lake. Behind this barrier are other sheets of water; the - most extensive lie on the north side, in the department of - Ariège. Among these is the Etang d’En-Beys, whence issues the - Oriège; the Etangs of Peyrisse from which the water descends - in a series of cascades to form the large and beautiful Lake - of Naguilles, a reservoir to be utilized some day for the - irrigation of the plain of Pamiers, and any number of others - lying asleep at the bottom of valleys, in which, with the - exception of a few shepherds, no other face is seen.” - -All this portion of the chain is almost barren and sad. The road leads -through a dreary country, where the snow lies long, and the scanty -grass is burnt with the frozen streams, and heaped with granitic blocks -thrown up by moraines of glaciers that no longer exist. A few miserable -villages are passed till the ruins are reached of the Castle of Carol, -of which two towers remain. This was at one time the chief place of the -valley, and it maintained independence in the midst of the county of -Cerdagne. - -At Quès the river of Carol, flowing south, is arrested by a barrier -of rocks, formed to serve for irrigation by means of a canal, as far -as Puygcerda. It is, perhaps, the earliest recorded instance, at -least in medieval times, of such an economic undertaking. This canal -was constructed in 1318, by virtue of a charter of Sanchez, King -of Majorca. It was so well constructed that it serves its purpose -admirably to the present day, fertilizing the fields below it, whereas -above the life-giving stream the mountain side is barren. When the -Treaty of the Pyrenees was drawn in 1659 it was stipulated that this -barrier and the canal from it, though on territory ceded to France, -should be maintained in good order. - -The Cerdagne became an independent state soon after the Moorish -invasion of 731. It was governed by a Berber chief, Munuza by name, -who threw in his lot with the Franks against the Yemenite Arabs of the -South, and even married a daughter of Eudes, Duke of Aquitaine. But he -was killed near Puygcerda; his head was salted, and sent to the Caliph -of Damascus. - -About 928 Miro, Count of Barcelona, gave Cerdagne to his son Oliba -Cabréta, and it was ruled by its own counts till 1117, when the last -died childless, and then it was reannexed to the county of Barcelona, -and later went to Aragon. Finally, by the peace of 1659, it was -divided, much to the indignation of the inhabitants, who protested -ineffectually--half went to France, and half remained to Spain. France -thrust her frontier down the Spanish slope of the mountains, taking -in the rivers that flow south to feed the Ebro, just as Spain carried -her frontier beyond the highest crests of the range to include the Val -d’Aran and the head waters of the Garonne. But this acquisition on the -part of France was not as unreasonable as it would seem, for the object -was to secure communication between Foix and the Conflant and Valespir -valleys that opened unto the plain of Roussillon, which had also become -incorporated into the kingdom of France. - -There is, however, a curious little _enclave_ of twelve square -kilometres, about the town of Llivia, completely surrounded by French -territory, that remains Spanish. The explanation of this anomaly is -as follows: At the Peace of the Pyrenees Spain agreed to surrender -to France thirty-three villages in Cerdagne. But Llivia haughtily -protested that she was not a village, but a town, once a city with -a bishop of her own, consequently did not come within the terms -of the agreement. This was admitted, and Llivia remains Spanish, -much to the inconvenience of the custom-house officers, who have to -maintain a cordon of douaniers about the petty territory. Now Llivia, -that possesses 330 inhabitants, regrets the past. Spain exacts of -her taxes to the amount of 30,000 francs, and gives her nothing in -return--neither a post office, nor telegraph, nor roads. The post -office has to be kept up by the citizens, so also the roads till they -reach the frontier. Llivia was a Roman town founded in honour of the -wife of Augustus, and some remains of the Roman walls exist. It is a -poor, decayed place. A castle in ruins occupies the highest point of -the hill on which it is built; the large church is planted on a terrace -above the cold, slated roofs of the sordid houses and narrow streets of -the town. - -Cerdagne is the country of the Ceretani of Pliny, and the same people -occupied the Valespir, and have left their name in the town of Ceret. -The race was not Iberic, but purely Celtic, and their name is the same -as that given to Ceretica, or Ceredigion, Cardigan in Wales. - -Whilst Llivia decays malodorously under Spanish neglect, a little -hamlet on French soil, Bourg-Madame, is growing into vigorous and fresh -life. Not many years ago it was nothing but a cluster of a couple of -taverns and a station of the customs, and it was called Guinguettes -d’Hix. But the situation favoured it, standing on the frontier at the -point where the high road from Barcelona is linked on to a network of -French main roads. Moreover, Barcelona derives much of its butter and -cheese from the French Cerdagne, and the trade consequently passes -through the place. In 1815 the Duke of Angoulême entered France by this -door on the frontier, and the inhabitants obtained from him leave to -alter the name of the growing town to Bourg-Madame. - -The Pyrenees of this part of the chain is one of the most barren -mountain systems in Europe. The passes into Spain are mere notches cut -to a depth of 600 to 900 feet in the ridge, that rises to a height of -about 8000 feet above the sea. Even the mountain peaks have little -individual character, and from the high land whence seen do not show -their true elevation. - -Nevertheless this portion of the range is a paradise for botanists; -plants are found here that are discoverable in no other part of the -Pyrenees. The granitic elevated plateau is strewn with lakes, already -alluded to, which are the sources of the Ariège, the Aude, the Segre, -and the Têt. The peasants believe that these are relics of Noah’s -flood, patches of water that loitered and were left behind when the -Deluge was past and the flood was engulfed. And they are further -convinced that the ark rested on the Puyg Péne. North and east of the -plateau the ground falls away in a series of terraces cleft by ravines; -the finest and best known of these latter is that of the Aude, visited -from the baths of Cascanières. - -In this upland region is a fortress created by Vauban, Mont Louis, in -which a couple of companies are quartered, and spend a joyless time, -where the winter lasts ten months out of the twelve. The fortifications -enclose but a handful of houses. It stands at the height of 5280 feet -above the sea, and is commanded by mountains that rise to 6685 feet, as -the Pic de la Tausse, but they do not impress one with sense of height. -Mont Louis stands at the point of suture of the three little provinces -out of which Louis XIII formed that of Roussillon--the Conflent, the -Capcir, and Cerdagne. - -In Mont Louis there is nothing to be seen of particular interest. The -church was built from designs of Vauban. On the terrace is the monument -of General Dagobert, who died in 1794. It consists of a pile of granite -surmounted by a bomb. Dagobert was, however, not a native of this -place, but of Saint Lô, in Manche. He had been sub-lieutenant in the -regiment of Touraine in the Seven Years’ War, and when the Revolution -broke out he was sent as General of Division with the army of Italy, -and met with some success. He was less fortunate when commanding an -army in the Pyrénées Orientales; he met with defeat at Trouillas, and -was relieved of his charge and arrested. But he succeeded in justifying -himself, before the Committee of Public Safety, by showing that his -failure was due to the jealousy and disobedience of the generals placed -under his orders. He was re-established in his position and allowed -to carry on the campaign according to a plan proposed by himself to -the Convention. He reached Perpignan in March, 1794, but could not -obtain from Dugommier more than a few battalions in place of the 12,000 -infantry and 600 cavalry that had been ordered to be placed at his -disposal. At the head of a small body of men he went to Puygcerda and -invaded Catalonia, took the strong position of Monteska, and surrounded -Urgel. On 10 April he entered that city, which redeemed itself from -sack by paying a contribution of 10,000 francs. Then he attempted to -besiege the citadel, but found it to be too strong to be taken, and he -retreated on the morrow. He was conveyed ill to Puygcerda on 17 April, -where he died. - -To the south-east of Mont Louis is Planès, where there is a curious -church, some suppose of Moorish constructure, by others attributed -to the tenth century, by others again set as late as the twelfth. It -consists of an equilateral triangle, surmounted by a cupola, and each -angle rounded off. That this curious monument should be of Moorish -origin is most improbable. The Arabs in France destroyed much, but -built nothing. - -The hermitage of Font-Romeu is a pilgrimage resort with a Calvary, -situated at the height of 5330 feet, and commanding a wide panorama. - -The way to it is through a pine wood, the old trees bearded with grey -lichen. A hermit takes charge of the shrine--a real hermit, one of the -rare survivals; they are now almost as extinct as the dodo and the -great auk. The sanctuary is the very Mecca of Cerdagne and Capcir. On 8 -September as many as three thousand pilgrims assemble here; the place -is like a disturbed ant-heap. The visitors do not restrain themselves -to devotional exercises; they also dine, drink, sing. Then may be -seen the white caps, laced, of Conflent and Roussillon; the kerchief -of glaring colours--red, yellow, and blue--of the women of Cerdagne; -men wearing the red _barretina_ and the cord-soled _spadrillos_, -Catalonians these who have not abandoned their old costume. The -miraculous image is a seated Madonna, with head and hands out of all -proportion to the body. It spends the winter in the church of Odeillo, -but revisits Font-Romeu as soon as the rhododendrons begin to flush the -mountain sides. - -In winter Mont Louis is a cold and wretched prison. Clouds envelop the -mountain-tops, cold rain and heavy falls of snow alternate with furious -and icy gales. In summer the vapours often fill the valley, and from -the ramparts of Mont Louis is seen the spectacle of a vast plain of -snow, recalling the scenes of winter; but the snow now is the surface -of cloud lying low, silvered by the light from above. - -This wild country saw the end of Othman abu Nessu, the Moorish Governor -of Narbonne. - -In 725 Ambessa, Moslem Governor of Spain, crossed the Pyrenees. -Cascassonne and Nîmes vainly endeavoured to resist him. In the midst -of his successes, however, death surprised him. But he left the Arabs -masters of Septimania, where they established themselves in force and -made Narbonne their capital. The struggle between Moslem and Christian -for the possession of the soil of France now became a struggle -desperate in its earnestness. - -Eudes, Duke of Aquitania, was at the time hampered by an attack from -the North by Charles Martel, Duke of the Franks. In his extremity he -made overtures to Othman, Governor of Narbonne, who was not a Saracen, -but a Moor. The Moors were Berbers from Northern Africa, of the same -blood as the Iberians of Spain; they had been conquered by the Arabs -and forced to become Mahomedans. Eudes gave his beautiful daughter -Lampagia to Othman, who became deeply attached to his Christian wife, -and promised his assistance against the new Emir, Abderahman. This -latter came over the Col de Perche and threatened Narbonne. Othman -was deserted by his men, and fled to Llivia with his wife and a few -attendants. He soon perceived that it was not possible to defend the -little town, and he escaped and attempted to cross the Col de Morens. -In his flight he was entreated to halt by Lampagia, to slake her -thirst at a spring and rest on the turf by it. Othman and she were -surrendering themselves to the pleasing hope that they were safe, when -they saw a detachment of Saracens in full pursuit. - -The servants took to flight, but Lampagia was too weary to join -them, and Othman would not abandon his wife. In a moment they were -surrounded, and Othman, rather than fall into the hands of his enemies, -flung himself down the precipice and perished. His head was cut off -and sent to Abderahman along with Lampagia. She was so lovely in the -eyes of the Emir that he sent her to Damascus to the Commander of the -Faithful. - -Abderahman pursued his successes, but met with discomfiture on the -fields of Poitiers in October, 732, and he himself was among the slain. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX - -THE CANIGOU - - The Canigou a supreme effort of the Pyrenees before dying down-- - The Corbières--Ballad--_Goigs_--Catalonian dances--Prades-- - Priory of Serrabonna--S. Michel de Cuxa--Villefranche--Castle-- - Imprisonment there of two assistants of Mme. de Brinvilliars-- - Conspiracy--Betrayed by Mez de Llar--Castle taken by Gilly-- - Corneilla--Vernet--Ascent of the Canigou--Funicular railway-- - S. Martin de Canigou--Founded--Restored--Le Boulon--Main highway - to Spain--Ceret--Legend of its bridge--Hazel-nuts--Gathering the - crop--Hermitage of S. Ferreolus--Pallada--Amelie les Bains-- - Arles-sur-Tech--Church--Tomb of SS. Abdo and Senen--Miraculous - flow of water--Cloister--Prats de Mollo--Spadrillos. - - -The Pyrenees, before expiring in the cliffs of Cerbère, that drop -abruptly into the Mediterranean, make a supreme effort and rise in the -Canigou, which, though not one of the first-class heights, is certainly -one of the finest. A certain bashfulness prevails among the giants. The -Vignemale, the Mont Perdu, the Maladetta retreat behind screens of less -elevation and conceal their majesty. But the Canigou makes the most of -herself. The height is but 9135 feet, yet it is a stately mountain, -grey with eternal snows, as its name implies, and yielding to none in -dignity. - -Comeliness in a woman is enhanced threefold when she is well set up. -Canigou is admirably set up. The fringe of subsidiary hills that -hitherto has intervened between the high ranges and the plain here -becomes detached and drifts away to the north-east, as the Corbières, -leaving the Canigou to reap the advantage of showing from head to foot. -It is not even the highest mountain of the Pyrénées Orientales; it is -surpassed by the Carlitte, which is 9780 feet, and the Puig Mal, which -is 9730 feet; but as these two summits are confounded among a number of -other heights rising out of the elevated plateau, it seems impossible, -at first sight, to suppose them to be as lofty as the Canigou. This -latter mountain is the termination of a chain that breaks away from the -main range in a north-easterly direction, built up of granite and mica -schist, and is composed of the junction of two ridges, which give to -the Canigou the appearance of having two heads. It dominates the whole -plain of Roussillon, and has inspired a song known to every peasant -there, who, if he does not sing all the words, warbles the air. This -song may be rendered into English thus:-- - - “Of mountains that are wondrous fair - Give me the Canigou! - Where, in the glowing summer air, - Bloom flowers red and blue. - Give me thy love, sweet maid, give me thy love! - - “In autumn and in spring as well - The flowers here unfold, - Blush roses, many a purple bell, - Red pinks, and broom all gold. - Give me thy love, etc. - - “Her chestnut-brown and laughing eye - Has ravishèd my heart, - So neat and trim is she, but I - Feel but my cruel smart. - Give me thy love, etc. - - “White is she as the Canigou, - Her face as cotton grass, - That’s bathèd in the morning dew, - Her eyes are clear as glass. - Give me thy love, etc. - - “Her teeth are pearls, her lips are red, - And archèd are her brows. - She wounds my heart, she turns my head; - Maid! hearken to my vows. - Give me thy love, etc.” - -The _Goigs_ are the “Joys,” sacred songs or carols in honour of the -Virgin and the Saints. The best known is that in praise of Our Lady of -Font-Romeu. The “Goigs dels Ous” “Carol of the Eggs,” sung everywhere, -an Easter song, is trolled in the streets and throughout the night on -the eve of that great festival. One of the chanters carries a basket, -to receive eggs and any other contributions accorded to the carolers. - -On the Place at Vernet, on Sundays and on the local fête, may be seen -Catalan dances about the great elm tree. Unfortunately these dances -have lost much of their primitive character since the _cornet-à-piston_ -has displaced the old bagpipe. The ancient _bals_, _sardanas_, and -_seguedillas_ are danced less frequently every year. The _bal_ is a -musical pastoral representing the love-making of a youth and his lass; -but this is changing its features, and degenerating into a gallop. The -_sardana_ and the _seguedilla_ were ballads, the tunes of which were -taken by the _joglars_, or minstrels, for country dances, but to which -formerly the performers sang. - -Notwithstanding the degeneration of the dances, the tourist will see in -them some traits of the light-hearted character of the people, will be -interested in the traditional music, and be pleased with the quaintness -of the scene, like a bit out of an opera. - -[Illustration: VERNET LES BAINS] - -The peaks of Canigou may be reached by train either on the north or -on the south. The northern line from Perpignan leads to Prades and -Villefranche de Conflent for Vernet, whence the visitor will be able to -ascend the Canigou by a funicular railway in course of construction. -The other way is by the Valespir to Amelie les Bains and Arles-sur-Tech. - -We will begin with the first, and not halt till we reach Prades, though -there is much on the way of interest. The plain of Prades is two and -a half miles wide by two long, not very extensive, but enjoying so -sweet a climate, and having such a fertile soil, and so well watered, -that fruit and vegetables grow there in marvellous abundance. Prades -is a pleasant little town, but without much of interest in its public -buildings. The church was completed in 1686 in the unattractive style -affected at that period. But if Prades itself lacks antiquities, it is -not so with the neighbourhood. - -If the visitor likes to run back to the third station on the line by -which he has arrived, i.e. to Boule-Ternère, and ascend the lateral -valley for five miles, or else take a carriage from Vinca, he can see -one of the most interesting monuments of medieval architecture in -Roussillon. This is an Augustinian priory of Serrabonna, founded in -1082; Artal II, Bishop of Elne, consecrated the church in 1151. The -church consists of a nave and two side aisles, which are cut off from -the nave; that on the south, standing on the edge of a precipice, was -formerly open to sun and air, supported on columns of white marble, the -capitals sculptured with all the richness and quaintness affected in -the early twelfth century. The sun has mellowed the marble to a rich -golden hue. This aisle is now converted into a stable. The north aisle -communicated with the galilee or pro-naos, and with the choir. Between -the doorway into the cemetery and that into the nave is the galilee, -opening outwards, through a large portal covered with magnificent -sculptures. The galilee is composed of a hall supported by round-headed -arches resting on pillars, single and double, with richly sculptured -capitals all in white marble. - -The priory is situated in a wild and desolate region, thinly populated. - -Nearer to Prades, within an easy walk, is another ruined religious -house, S. Michel de Cuxa, founded in the ninth century. The abbot wore -the mitre and exercised quasi-episcopal jurisdiction over fifteen -parishes. The abbey obtained a high repute on account of the sanctity -of several of its members, as S. Romuald and Peter Orseolo, the latter -of whom had been Doge of Venice. - -The situation is delightful. The monastery is planted on the summit of -a hill above the waters of the Riberetta. About it is an amphitheatre -of mountains, opening out to the south to afford a full view of the -Canigou. Springs of pure cold water gush forth in many places. The -great abbey is now in such complete ruin that it is difficult to -distinguish the parts of the monastic building. The splendid cloister -has been destroyed, and portions have been transferred to adorn the -baths at Prades. The church is Romanesque, with a pointed choir. The -nave is now roofless, and is used for a storehouse. The church formerly -possessed two towers: one fell in 1839, the other leans. The story goes -that the architect who built it, finding that his erection was out of -the perpendicular, ran away, and was never heard of again. The fine -Renaissance doorway of the abbot’s house is intact. It is richly carved -in white marble, yellowed by the sun, and is surmounted by a sundial, -on which is represented a Benedictine monk looking up at the sun, and -bearing the inscription, _Sub uno solis radio omnem mundum collectum -conspexit_. - -Five miles above Prades is Villefranche, the terminus of the railway. -It is a dreary little place built of grey marble that discolours and -stains black. Moreover, it consists of two streets only, usually empty; -and the houses are too many for the small population, numbering -less than five hundred. The town was built by William Raymond, Count -of Cerdagne, in 1095. He surrounded the town with a wall flanked by -towers. The castle was erected by Vauban, on a spur of the limestone -mountain of Belloch, 450 feet above the river Tet, and reached by a -subterranean staircase of 999 steps. In this castle were confined for -the rest of their lives two of the assistants of the infamous Marquise -de Brinvilliers. These were La Chappelain and Guesdon. A very brief -notice of the Marchioness and her crimes must suffice. She was a young -and beautiful woman, connected both by birth and marriage with some -of the noblest families of France, and was married to the Marquis de -Brinvilliers, a man of depraved conduct. She formed a guilty attachment -for Sainte Croix, a gay, handsome man, who had learned in Italy the -manufacture of slow poisons, especially the Succession Powder. The -Marquis and Marchioness separated, but were not divorced. Sainte Croix, -who had no fortune of his own, depended on what was given him by his -mistress, and as this did not suffice, he proposed to her to poison -her old father and brothers and sister, so as to gather into her own -hands all their succession. She agreed without hesitation, and herself -administered the fatal draught to her father. The brothers were next -got rid of, and the sister would have been similarly destroyed had -not her suspicions been roused, and she hastily quitted Paris. Others -who were inconvenient in one way or another were similarly got rid -of, but all was done with such caution that no charge could be made -against either. But the day of retribution was at hand, and a terrible -mischance brought the murders to light. The nature of the poisons was -so deadly that when Sainte Croix worked in his laboratory, he was -obliged to wear a mask, to preserve himself from suffocation. One -day the mask slipped off, and the miserable wretch perished in his -crimes. His corpse was found on the following morning in the obscure -lodging where he had fitted up his laboratory, and with it papers which -disclosed the whole series of murders perpetrated by the pair. The -Marchioness fled to England, where she remained for three years, but -went early in 1676 to Liège. There she was caught, brought to Paris, -executed, and her body burnt. - -La Guesdon, along with her husband, had been in the service of Sainte -Croix, and before her marriage had been in that of the Marchioness. She -had been implicated in the poisonings. La Chappelain had acted in Paris -the part of a fortune-teller. By means of her supposed prevision of the -future she was able to presage the death of those marked down by Mme. -de Brinvilliers and Sainte Croix for destruction. La Guesdon died in -the prison at Villefranche in 1717, La Chappelain in 1724. - -In the place itself is the opening into an extensive cavern. In 1674 a -conspiracy was raised to capture the citadel and deliver it over to the -Spaniards. It was widely ramified through the Cerdagne and Roussillon, -neither content at having been made over to France by the Treaty of the -Pyrenees. Some of the leading spirits in the plot were the men of the -family of Llar, in Villefranche, whose dilapidated and dingy _hôtel_ -may be seen in the Rue des Juifs. The cavern mentioned served as a -place of meeting and a storehouse for arms. The conspiracy was betrayed -by Inez de Llar, daughter of the chief man in the plot, Charles de -Llar. He and her brother and relatives involved in it were executed. -The unfortunate Inez, broken-hearted at having brought ruin on her -family, ended her days in a convent. - -In 1793 the Spanish general Crespo succeeded in making himself master -of Villefranche, on 4 August; but on 19 September, Gilly, at the head -of the second battalion of the Grenadiers of Gard, composed of 450 -men, retook the place by an act of audacity. He disposed his men on -the heights as though the vanguard of an army, and then rode up to the -outposts with sixty grenadiers behind him, and haughtily summoned the -Spanish commandant to surrender to General Dagobert, whose army, he -said, was at hand, and who would give no quarter if the place were not -immediately given up. - -The frightened Crespo consented, and an hour later Gilly entered -Villefranche at the head of the little army. - -From Villefranche the distance is hardly five miles to Vernet, up the -valley of the Riu Major. The road passes Corneilla, where there is -a curious Romanesque church with a square tower and a fine marble, -sculptured doorway, as also, what is a rare feature, a retable of -carved marble of 1345, by an artist named Carcall de Berga. It -represents incidents in the life of our Lord. At the Revolution it -was pulled down, but was re-erected by an unintelligent mason, who -put it together badly, as may be seen by the disorder into which -the inscriptions have been thrown. The counts of Cerdagne were much -attached to Corneilla, and erected here a palace, which was abandoned -later and given up to the Augustinian canons. - -Vernet is built in an amphitheatre of verdure, commanded by the -buttresses of the Canigou. It is composed of two distinct parts, of -very different aspect. The upper town is a tangle of little streets -between mean, black houses with broken windows and rickety doors, above -whose red tiled or slated roofs rise the church and the castle. New -Vernet lies along the road lower down, and there are found the baths, -the hotels, and the casino. The watering-places of Bagnères de Luchon, -Cauterez, S. Sauveur, etc., are frequented only in the months of June, -July, August, and rarely September; but at Vernet the season begins -in April, and bathers linger on to November. For the use of winter -residents a _jardin d’hiver_ has been formed. The cold here is never -great; and the salubrity of the spot has induced the erection of an -open-air cure sanatorium at the height of 2250 feet, in an isolated -position, for the use of consumptives. - -From Vernet the ascent of the Canigou can be made on foot or by the -newly-constructed cog-railway. There is a station at S. Martin de -Canigou, an abbey founded at the edge of a precipice in 1007 by Count -Waifre of Cerdagne, and his wife Gisella. Tradition will have it that -he was engaged in warfare with the Moors, and had planned to surround -them. He committed one detachment of troops to his son, with strict -injunctions to delay attack till he himself should appear. But the -young man, in his impetuosity, fell on the unbelievers before the -arrival of the Count, and was defeated. Waifre in a rage killed him, -and then repenting of what he had done, went to Rome, where the Pope -required him to build and endow a monastery in expiation of his crime. -This is, however, mere fable. As a matter of fact, the foundation was -wholly voluntary, and Count Waifre, after having built it retired from -the world within its walls, and occupied his leisure in scooping out a -sarcophagus that was to contain himself eventually, which sarcophagus, -now empty, is still shown. He died in 1049. The abbey, having been -dismantled at the Revolution, fell into complete ruin, but has been -purchased, and the church restored by Bishop du Pont of Perpignan. He -has also revived the pilgrimage to it, which takes place on S. Martin’s -Day (11 November), when a procession winds up the mountain from Vernet. -Whether procession and pilgrims will henceforth go up in trucks by -the cog-railway remains to be seen. The church is a very interesting -example of earliest Romanesque, the aisles are separated from the -nave by granite columns very massive, with Byzantine ornament on the -capitals. Beneath the church is the crypt. - -The second way to reach the roots of the Canigou, and, if it be -desired, to ascend it, is to take the branch line from Elne to -Arles-sur-Tech. At Le Boulou (lo Volo) the line crosses the Great -Eastern highway into Spain, the main pass from Narbonne to Barcelona -in Roman and medieval times, and used by Celts and Iberians before -ever Narbonne and Barcelona were thought of. Le Boulou did well as a -place through which travellers and merchandise streamed this way and -that. But then came the days of steam; the iron road was carried along -the coast from Perpignan to Barcelona, and Le Boulou’s occupation and -prosperity were gone never to return. - -Beyond Le Boulou we reach Ceret, famous for its bridge, a daring -medieval structure, and for its nuts and cherry orchards. The architect -employed on the bridge, unable to throw the bold arch over the Tech, -put himself in communication with the Devil, who promised to complete -it for the usual consideration. As the fatal day approached the -architect became uneasy, and in the night went to the river with a -sack on his back, and waited till half-past eleven. Then he let loose -a cat with a kettle tied to its tail, and the Evil One, frightened at -the noise, let drop the last stone needed to complete the bridge and -fled. Thus the bridge never was finished; it lacks one stone to the -present day. The bridge spans the river with a single arch, and the -height from the key of the arch to the level of the water is 70 feet. -The opening of the arch between the piers is 128 feet. It remains the -boldest achievement in bridge-building accomplished in ancient France, -the only other approaching it was that of Brioude, which no longer -exists. This bridge was constructed in 1321. It marked the limit of the -Valespir, or upper basin of the Tech. - -Ceret really flourishes on hazel-nuts. The plantations extend over -other communes, but Ceret is the centre of the industry. Three kinds of -nuts are grown; the best is thought to be indigenous; it has a russet -shell, pointed, and is contained in a cup divided into four lobes -delicately striated. The taste is superior to that of the other kinds, -and it is in greater request for the making of nougat. Inferior in -taste, but larger, is the second variety, usually sold to be served up -at dessert. The third kind is exotic, and is little cultivated. - -The gathering of the nuts is done by women in the middle of August. -After that the nuts have been freed from their cases, they are dried, -and the sale begins in October. For the production of nougat the shells -are cracked and the kernel released, and this latter is alone sent to -the factories of that dainty. A hazel-nut tree will bear the third year -after it has been planted, but is not calculated to render a good crop -till the fifth. A hectare (2 acres, 1 r., 35 p.) is reckoned to render -a crop that will bring in 130 francs. - -A little over two miles above the bridge of Ceret is the Hermitage -of S. Ferreolus, on the left bank of the Tech. Ferreolus was, so the -story goes, a robber chieftain who committed many murders. Seized -with compunction, he resolved on expiating his crimes by being rolled -downhill from where now stands the chapel, in a barrel, studded -internally with nails, a process the same as that which extinguished -Regulus. His festival is on 18 September, on which day the chapel is -visited, and there is much eating and drinking and dancing. On the -following Sunday is bull-baiting. - -The line passes within sight of Pallada, most picturesquely situated, -at some distance from the iron road; but Pallada is best visited from -Amalie des Bains. - -The baths were known to and used by the Romans, but were a dependency -of Arles-sur-Tech, and so remained till that needy little town in a -weak moment disposed of them in 1813, and has regretted the sale ever -since. - -Amelie, which takes its name from Queen Amelie, occupies a specially -favoured site. Mountains fold about it, it faces the sun, and is -screened from every wind. The terrible Tramontane, which has bowed the -olives and plane trees in Roussillon and Languedoc, is powerless to -reach this blessed valley. The north-east wind indeed can steal up the -ravine of the Tech, but not till it has been despoiled of its humidity, -which renders it so objectionable to the inhabitants of the plain. -Frost and snow rarely visit Amelie; the mean number of days when rain -falls in the winter is eleven, in spring thirty-two, sixteen in the -summer, and twelve in the autumn. There is a military establishment of -baths at Amelie, and the place is much frequented by officers during -the winter, so that it is never utterly deserted and dead, as is the -generality of watering-places. - -Amelie has been formed as a commune out of scraps taken from others, -but mainly from Arles-sur-Tech, to which the springs originally -belonged. Arles is a very curious town, vastly ancient, and is the -terminus of the line. Its principal manufacture is chocolate. The -little town stands on a height, and is surrounded by mountains. -Arles owes its medieval revival to a Benedictine abbey of which a -considerable portion remains to this day. The abbot exercised almost -episcopal jurisdiction over several parishes, of which he was also -temporal lord. In the sixteenth century it was in full decay, and was -so poor that its finances had to be helped out by annexing to it the -funds of another abbey. The reason was that it was held _in commendam_, -the revenue eaten by a titular abbot who resided in Paris, and -discharged none of his duties. - -The church of the monastery was finished in 1040, and is very archaic. -It underwent, however, additions in 1157, when the curious vaulting was -added. As a doubt was entertained whether the piers would sustain it, -they were strengthened, and smaller arches added beneath those first -erected. The church reminds one of the monolithic church of S. Emillon -on the Garonne. The same square, massive piers rising to a great -height, quite unadorned, support the round-headed unmoulded arches. -Above each arch is a small, round-headed clerestory window. The church -consists of five bays, and the nave has side aisles, out of which open -chapels of much later construction. There was in the church at one time -a richly carved altar-piece of the fifteenth century. But when the -present detestable roccoco retable was erected, this was destroyed. -Some of the panels were happily preserved and affixed to the pillars in -the nave. - -Outside the church the western portal is early, with a triangular -lintel, on which is cut a shield with A.ω between A and A. The meaning -of these double A’s is not understood. In the diminutive yard without, -behind is a grating, of an early sarcophagus that contained the bodies -of saints Abdo and Senen. It possesses the curious property of filling -with water, which can be drawn off by a tap at the side to supply -bottles brought by pilgrims, who consider the water as efficacious in -many maladies. How it is that the sarcophagus thus fills with water is -not known; probably the clergy of the church do not themselves know, as -the heavy lid has not been removed for centuries, nor the stone coffin -shifted from the spot where it now stands. - -But the greatest beauty of the church consists in the large cloister on -the north side, of the thirteenth century. The arches are pointed, and -rest on graceful pillars with dainty foliaged capitals, all of marble, -and coupled. The cloister is not vaulted. This cloister was begun -in 1261, but was not completed till the beginning of the fourteenth -century. - -The patrons of the church are SS. Abdo and Senen, Persian saints who -suffered under Decius in 252. In the reign of Constantine the Great -their relics were enshrined in Rome, and the marble sarcophagus that -contained them still exists there, and their remains are in the church -of S. Mark, Rome; but also here. Their day, 30 July, is a high festival -at Arles, when the sleepy town is full of animation, and dances take -place in the public square; then can be seen the red _barretina_ and -the gaily-coloured kerchiefs of the women. - -Farther up the valley is a watering-place, Prats de Mollo. The name -Prats, as Prades, which occurs in so many parts of the south, derives -from the Latin _prates_, and signifies pleasant meadows by the -water-side. The industry of Prats is the making of the red caps worn -by the Catalans, and the rope-woven soles of _spadrillos_. The place -enjoyed great privileges under the kings of Aragon, among these was -freedom from duty on salt. Louis XIV sought to introduce it, but the -people rose and slaughtered the tax-collectors. Louis sent troops to -subdue them, and erected a fortress to intimidate them. On a mountain -above Prats le Coral is a pilgrimage chapel containing a miraculous -image of the Virgin. Crowds visit it--pilgrims from the country round, -and bathers from Amelie--to see the combined devotion and jollification -on 8 September. - - - - -CHAPTER XX - -PERPIGNAN - - County of Roussillon--Devastated by war--Tortured by the - Inquisition--United to France--Given up--Removal of the - Bishopric from Elne--Final annexation to France--Capital - of the kingdom of Majorca--The kings--Peter IV of Aragon-- - Takes possession--Ruscino--Hannibal--William de Cabestang-- - _Sirvente_--Fortified by Vauban--The Puig--Place de la - Loge--Carnival on Ash Wednesday--Cathedral--Altar-pieces-- - Nave without aisles--Indulgenced Crucifix--Other churches-- - Castelet--Promenade des Platanes--Dancing--Gipsy quarter-- - Elne--Arrangement by Hannibal--Murder of Constans--Old - cathedral--Bell--Cloister--Chapel of S. Laurence-- - Arles-sur-Mer--The fisherfolk--Fête of S. Vincent--Salses-- - Poussatin--Typical Gascon--Eastern Pyrenees. - - -The old county of Roussillon, between Languedoc and Catalonia, formerly -pertained to Spain; it was pledged to Louis XI of France by King John -of Aragon along with the Cerdagne. The stipulation was that these -counties should remain to France should John fail to redeem them in -nine years with the sum of three hundred gold crowns, which the crafty -Louis knew was a sum John could not raise. John, finding his inability -to pay, stirred up the people of Roussillon to revolt against French -domination, whereupon Louis poured thirty thousand men into the -country, and during fifteen years it underwent all the miseries of war. -Perpignan capitulated in 1475, and Roussillon remained in the hands -of the French till 1493, when the feeble Charles VIII restored it, -along with the Cerdagne, to the King of Aragon. At this time Aragon -and Castille, united by the marriage of Ferdinand the Catholic with -Isabella, formed from 1479 the kingdom of Spain. - -In 1493 Ferdinand made his solemn entry into Perpignan, and brought -the Inquisition in his train. The already severely tried county was -further tortured by the Inquisitors, and the inhabitants were driven to -desperation. They appealed to Francis I for relief, and he was induced -to attempt the recovery of Roussillon, but was unsuccessful. - -[Illustration: CHATEAU DE ROUSSILLON] - -Under the fanatical Philip II the county was a prey to plague as well -as persecution, so that hatred against Spain became intense. Philip -III, sensible of this, endeavoured to cajole the citizens of Perpignan -by transferring to it the seat of the bishopric from Elne, and by -ennobling several of the leading citizens, but succeeded in doing no -more than in forming a small Spanish faction in the town. - -In 1610 all Catalonia was in revolt against Philip IV, and the county -of Roussillon followed the example of Barcelona. The King of Spain sent -troops to Perpignan and massacred the citizens. Those who survived the -carnage appealed to Louis XIII, who sent an army into the county, and -in 1642 the French, entering Perpignan, were hailed as deliverers. -In 1659 the Treaty of the Pyrenees finally assured to France the -possession of Roussillon and half of Cerdagne, and since then these -have formed an integral portion of France. - -But before all this for a while Perpignan was the capital of the -short-lived kingdom of Majorca. James I, King of Aragon, in 1229 had -expelled the Moors from that island, and in 1238 from Valencia; and -to the title King of Aragon he added those of King of Majorca and -Valencia, Count of Barcelona and of Roussillon and Urgel, and Seigneur -of Montpellier. To his eldest son Peter he left Aragon, and to the -younger, James, he gave the rest. - -James I of Majorca was succeeded by his son Sanchez, who died without -issue in 1324, and the next and last king was James II, son of -Ferdinand, the brother of Sanchez. James married his cousin Constance, -sister of Peter IV of Aragon. - -Peter was an ambitious man and insatiate in his greed. He resolved on -the destruction of his cousin and brother-in-law, and the annexation -of his dominions. James had made himself unpopular by his tyranny, and -the islanders complained to the Aragonese king. This was precisely what -Peter wanted; he summoned James to meet him in conference at Barcelona, -arrested his sister Constance, and would have done the same by his -brother-in-law had not James found means to escape. In the impotence of -his resentment he declared war against Aragon, and thereby sealed his -own fate. In 1343 Peter landed in Majorca, and was at once joined by -the islanders. Then he turned his attention to Roussillon and overran -it. - -The unfortunate James now solicited a safe conduct, and throwing -himself at the feet of the victor, implored forgiveness in -consideration of kinship. He might as well have appealed to a rock. -He was informed that if he would surrender Perpignan, that still held -out for him, he would experience his brother-in-law’s clemency. He -consented; but no sooner was Peter in possession that he declared -Roussillon annexed in perpetuity to Aragon. The estates met, and -offered James a miserable indemnity of 10,000 French crowns. He -indignantly refused the offer. The Pope so far interfered as to obtain -the release from prison of his wife Constance, and of James his eldest -son. Unable to bear adversity with patience, in 1349 he sold to the -French king his lordship of Montpellier, and with the money received -raised 3000 foot soldiers and 300 horsemen, in the wild hope of -reconquering his kingdom. With this small force he embarked, and made -a descent on Majorca, but was deserted by the mercenaries when his -funds gave out, and in a battle against great odds was killed, and his -son James was wounded and taken prisoner. This prince had been married -to Joanna I, Queen of Naples, who had murdered her first husband. -Fearing to meet with the same fate, and disgusted with her levity, he -had left Naples and had thrown in his lot with his father. For twelve -years he languished in prison, effected his escape in 1362, and died of -chagrin in 1375. - -[Illustration: - - James I - K. of Aragon - | - +---------------+--------------------+ - | | - Peter III James I - K. of Aragon and Sicily K. of Majorca - _d._ 1285 _d._ 1311 - | | - +---------+--------+ +----------+--------+ - | | | | - Alphonso III James II Sanchez Ferdinand - _d._ (_s.p._) 1291 K. of Aragon K. of Majorca _d._ 1318 - resigned 1319 _d._ (_s.p._) 1324 | - _d._ 1327 | - | | - Alphonso IV | - K. of Aragon | - _d._ 1336 | - | | - +---+-------------------------+ | - | | | - Peter IV Constance = James II - K. of Aragon | K. of - _d._ 1387 | Majorca - | _d._ 1349 - | - James - _d._ (_s.p._) 1375] - -Roussillon takes its name from Ruscino, the ancient capital, which was -destroyed by the Northmen in 859. The site is now occupied by a tower -and a Romanesque chapel, a couple of miles from Perpignan. The name of -Ruscino appears for the first time B.C. 218, when Hannibal crossed the -Pyrenees on his march into Italy. The Roman Senate sent ambassadors to -the people of Ruscino to urge them to oppose the progress of the great -Carthaginian. They met where is now this castle, but were listened -to with impatient murmurs. The tower, that dates from the twelfth -century, is all that remains of the castle of the counts of Roussillon. -No one has as yet undertaken serious exploration of the site, which -infallibly would surrender very important relics of the ancient capital -of the Rusceni, one of the Nine Peoples, and where in all probability -the Phœnicians had a mercantile station; the plough, or mattock, has -repeatedly turned up Iberian, Greek, Punic, Roman, and Arabic coins. - -[Illustration: GATEWAY OF THE CITADEL, PERPIGNAN] - -One cannot quit Castell-Rossello, as the tower is now called, without -mention of William de Cabestang, who was châtelain of the neighbouring -village of Cabestang. Taken with the charms of Sirmonde, the wife of -Raimond, Count of Roussillon, he celebrated her in song. The husband, -transported with jealousy, had him waylaid and murdered, then tore out -his heart, had it roasted, and served at table. After Sirmonde had -partaken of the dish he revealed to her what she had eaten. Then said -she, “This meat has been to me so good and savoury that no other shall -pass my lips.” The Count at this drew his sword, and Sirmonde threw -herself from the window and perished by the fall. Alphonso II of Aragon -went to the place, ordered the arrest of the Count, and the burial of -the troubadour and the Countess before the western entrance of the -church of S. Jean at Perpignan. - -A few lines from one of his _sirventes_ in her honour may be -quoted:-- - - “Before my mind’s eye, lady fair, - I see thy form, thy flowing hair, - Thy face, thy iv’ry brow. - My path to Paradise were sure - Were love to God in me as pure - As mine to thee, I trow. - - “Perchance thou wilt not bend an ear, - Perchance not shed for me a tear, - For me, who in my prayer - To Mary Mother ever plead, - To stead thee in thy hour of need, - Sweet lady, passing fair. - - “Together from first childish days, - As playfellows, I knew thy ways; - I served thee when a child. - Permit me but thy glove to kiss, - That, that will be supremest bliss. - Will still my pulses wild.” - -Perpignan, with its vast and huge citadel, cramped within -fortifications planned by Vauban, was formerly a fortress of the first -order. To-day, under changed systems of defence and attack, citadel -and bastions have lost their value, and the walls and earthworks that -gird the town about are now being levelled, and the moat filled to form -a boulevard. When that red belt of bricks is completely demolished, -Perpignan will expand in all directions. - -The little river Basse divides the town into two unequal parts: the -New Town, which is the ancient faubourg of the Tanneries, was included -within the circuit of the fortifications by Vauban; and the Old Town, -on the right bank of the river, comprises the hills of S. Jacques and -de la Réal; and in this the streets are narrow and tortuous. In 1859 -the medieval wall of defence along the river front was demolished and -the Place Arago was made; a Palais de Justice and a Prefecture were -erected on its site. The citadel is on high ground above the town, and -contains the palace of the kings of Majorca. It is well to ascend the -belvedere that surmounts the palace chapel to obtain a good view of the -plain of Roussillon to the bald limestone range of the Corbières, to -the soaring mass of Canigou, and the Pyrenean range--here called les -Albères--and to the Mediterranean, blue as a peacock’s neck, and the -lagoons that lie along the coast. For what Perpignan sorely lacks is a -high terrace that would give a view of the surrounding country and of -the mountains. - -Alphonso II, King of Aragon, to whom the last Count of Roussillon -bequeathed his county in 1172, did much for the place. As a -considerable part of the town lay low in marshy and unhealthy ground, -he desired to move it up the height, at the foot of which was a leper -hospital, and which for this reason is called the Puig des Lépreux. -But he met with opposition from the inhabitants, and abandoned his -intention. Nevertheless the Puig became peopled by artisans, and this -portion was soldered on to the Old Town, and included later within the -ramparts. - -The Place de la Loge is the centre of animation to the town, the forum -of the capital of Roussillon. It derives its name from the Loge de la -Mer, a court for naval and mercantile affairs. This dates from 1397, -but was reconstructed in 1540; it is richly carved, but is somewhat -weak in design, and however elaborate is the ornamentation is not -effective. From the upper story is suspended a diminutive ship with -all its appointments. The lower story is given up to be a café. Before -this all the rollicking and fun of the carnival takes place, not, as -elsewhere, on Shrove Tuesday, but on Ash Wednesday. Before this pass -the fantastic cars bearing maskers representing various trades or else -allegorical groups. Here goes on the battle of the _dragées_, when -every one not masked, down to the baby in arms, wears a wire vizor -over his face, such as is employed by fencers, as a protection against -the _dragées_, which are as large as beans and as hard as pebbles. - -It is somewhat startling to note the contrast presented on Ash -Wednesday between the scene in the cathedral, when the whole -congregation goes to the altar rails to have a cross of ashes marked on -each brow, with the words: “Remember, O man, that dust thou art, and -unto dust thou shalt return!” and that in the Place de la Loge in the -afternoon, when fun runs fast and furious, and every one is playing the -fool. - -The cathedral was begun in 1324, and terminated in the beginning of -the sixteenth century. Externally it promises little, but the interior -is overwhelmingly beautiful. The church is built of tiles rather than -bricks, each 17 inches long by 1½ inches thick and 8 inches wide; with -bands of these tiles alternate belts of cobble-stones arranged in -herring-bone fashion. - -The interior consists of one vast nave 56 feet wide, in seven bays -and with transepts. The whole ends in a magnificent apse. Between -the buttresses are chapels, 17 feet deep, in each of which is a -three-light window most of these blocked by retables, and this renders -the church unnecessarily dark. The high altar-piece of white marble, -of the seventeenth century, is an admirable composition, purely -Renaissance in character, executed by Bartholomew Soler, of Barcelona. -In the niches are statues of the Virgin, S. John, and SS. Julia and -Eulalia, patronesses of Elne. Particularly noticeable is a superb -carved oak and gilded reredos in the north transept, of the fifteenth -century, representing scenes of the Passion in eight compartments. -Another, enclosing fine paintings in place of sculpture, is in the -south transept. The huge organ-case is a splendid bit of work of the -sixteenth century. - -In the south of Languedoc a taste prevailed for churches comprising -huge naves without side aisles--in fact, immense halls. At Carcassonne -such is the type; but there, in the two churches in the New Town, the -effect is unsatisfactory, as the chancels, or apses, bud out of the -flat east wall in an ungainly manner. Here in Perpignan we have the -hall interior, but leading up to and ending in an apse of the full -width of the nave. - -On the south side of the church is a chapel with a highly favoured -crucifix in it, and Pope Leo XIII accorded plenary indulgence with -remission of all sins to such as should worship before it and pray -for the extermination of heresies, i.e. heretics on the Feast of the -Exaltation of the Cross. - -The other churches of S. Mathieu and La Réal deserve a visit. Built -on the same lines as the cathedral, they have been sadly spoiled by -tasteless additions in the Barroque period. Over the high altar at -La Réal, as in a side chapel at S. Mathieu, are groups of coloured -statuary, on which light is also made to fall from above; and as the -churches are profoundly dark, this is in its way effective. - -[Illustration: CATHEDRAL INTERIOR, PERPIGNAN] - -The ancient Palais de Justice, much purer in style than the Loge, -adjoins it, separated from it only by the old house of the consuls, now -the Hôtel de Ville. The old Palais has beautiful windows, with trefoil -heads cut in the block, unmoulded, supported by dainty columns. But -the most strikingly picturesque edifice of Perpignan is the Castelet, -erected between 1367 and 1369, with the town gate of Notre Dame (1481) -at one side of it, all constructed of tiles like the cathedral. The -bold projecting machicolations, and the octagonal turret surmounted by -a small cupola, have a pronounced Spanish character. - -When one passes out of the Porte Notre Dame the Promenade des -Platanes is reached, a boulevard shaded by magnificent plane trees, -but all inclined from the north, from the terrible Tramontane wind, -which is the scourge of the plain of Roussillon. Here on Shrove Tuesday -evening hundreds of maskers dance under the leafless branches, and -sometimes in spite of the cutting wind and dropping rain. The promenade -is then railed in, and soldiers are stationed to act as sentinels to -prevent the crowd entering and interfering with the dancers. But the -waltz music is too exhilarating to allow these sentinels to soberly -pace their distances, and I have seen them holding their rifles and -pirouetting up and down their beats with them as if their firearms were -lovely partners. - -Beyond the Basse, where it flows into the Tet, is the faubourg Notre -Dame, very animated and peopled in part with gipsies, or _gitanos_. -They speak a language of their own, a mixture of Arabic, Castillian, -and Catalan. They are first mentioned in Roussillon in an ordinance of -1512, that required them to be cudgelled out of the country. It does -not seem that this order produced the effect desired, for they have -been found, and still are found, throughout the department, mainly -engaged in selling mules. - -The first station out of Perpignan on the line to Barcelona is Elne, -long the seat of a bishop. It was the ancient Illiberis. The name tells -its origin. It derives from the Iberian, and signifies the New City; -and shows that it was a town founded by these people before they were -expelled or subjugated by the Celts, who invaded the country in the -fourth century before Christ. When Hannibal crossed the Pyrenees he -planted his headquarters here, and hither came the heads of the Gaulish -tribe to make terms with him against Rome. At the same time they made -complaint of the conduct of some of his Carthaginian soldiery. Hannibal -listened to their grievances, and decided that in any further cases of -misconduct by his soldiers these should be tried by a court composed of -the wives of the Gauls. - -The Romans, when they occupied the land, neglected Illiberis, and -planted a colony at Ruscino. The town dwindled to insignificance till -Constantine refounded it and called it after the name of his mother, -Helena; and this is the name it now bears, transformed into Elne. It -was the scene of the assassination of Constans, the son of the great -Constantine. He was an indolent, weak, and debauched prince, monarch -of the West. Whilst hunting in Gaul he received tidings of the revolt -of Magnentius, that the soldiers had mutinied, and that emissaries had -been dispatched to kill him. He fled to Illiberis, but was overtaken -here and put to death in 350, in the thirtieth year of his reign. - -Devastated by the Arabs, we do not hear of a bishop of Elne till 783. -After that the lordship of Elne was shared between the bishop and the -chapter. The seat of the bishop was removed to Perpignan in 1602. - -Elne occupies a sandstone rock, about which this town is built, and -is divided into the upper and the lower town. It is a dull and sleepy -place, that wakens into life only on the festival of SS. Eulalia and -Julia, when there is much merry-making with processions, music, and -dancing. Portions of the walls and some of the gates remain; but the -great object of interest is the cathedral, with its superb cloisters of -white marble. The exact date of the rebuilding is not known, but the -church was complete in 1069. Externally it is constructed of rubble -stone in herring-bone, set in mortar. The west front has a crenellated -gable between two towers of unequal size and height. The loftiest is -a bold structure that has had buttresses added to it much later, in -1415. The western doorway is unornamented. The plan of the church is -a nave with side aisles and no transepts. It is very plain within as -without, with huge piers supporting round-headed arches and vault. The -high altar was of silver, and dated from 1069, but was sent to the mint -at Perpignan to be coined into money in 1721. The new altar-piece is as -Prosper Mérimée described it--“a masterpiece of meanness and bad taste.” - -The original choir stalls were fine. A writer in 1787 says of the -woodwork: “It is grand, and remarkable for the beauty of the stall-work -covered with sculpture of the end of the thirteenth century, as is -known by an inscription on one of the stalls.” All this has disappeared. - -In the sacristy is preserved a little bell with the date on it, 1554, -ornamented with a figure of Apollo playing on the _rebec_, a monkey -doing the same, and dancing bears, an eagle, a rabbit, and a boar. - -But the great glory of Elne is its cloister raised on a terrace of the -ancient acropolis of Illiberis, on the north side of the cathedral. -Entrance to it is obtained by a doorway, which for the purity of its -style and the sobriety of its ornamentation deserves notice. The arch -is pointed, and of marble, alternatively white and red, and dates -from the fourteenth century. The ironwork of the door is simple but -graceful. Alart, the historian and antiquary says: “Without dispute, -from the point of view of art, and from the historic reminiscences -attached to it, the cloister is the most remarkable and precious relic -that remains of Roussellonnaise architecture.” It was begun in the -twelfth century, but was continued and retouched in the fourteenth, -so that whereas some of the capitals and columns are of Byzantine or -Romanesque design, others have Gothic ornament. All is in white marble, -and the sculpture is of exquisite delicacy: foliage, figures of every -description are there in lavish profusion. The pillars are coupled, -some twisted, some plain. The very bases are enriched with ornament. - - “In the morning, in summer, when the sun lights up the - galleries to north and west, all the details come out with - extraordinary brilliancy. In the afternoon the eastern gallery - is burnt by the solar rays that have turned the marble - yellow.”--P. Vidal. - -In the lateral wall on the north side open two doorways, one of which -must be entered with precaution, or one may fall below, for the stair -that led from it has disappeared. Underneath are two large vaulted -chambers paved with bricks, communicating one with another by a small -opening. Traces of fresco painting may be noticed. The popular opinion -is that these were the dungeons of the Inquisition, but actually -they were an old chapel dedicated to S. Laurence. The other door -gives access to a spiral staircase leading to a terrace, from which a -magnificent view is obtained of the plain, the Albères, and Canigou. - -[Illustration: THE CLOISTERS OF ELNE] - -Arles-sur-Mer is a watering-place by the sea. Near it is the more -interesting port of Collioure, an Iberian name signifying the port of -the New Town; and Iberian coins have been found there. The fortress -of S. Elne was built by Charles V. The streets are narrow, the houses -dilapidated, and occupied mainly by fishermen and their families. - - “On the sea-coast these men enter into very hot discussions, - use expressions somewhat rough and coarse, but rarely come to - blows. Few scandals occur here, and they marry young. It is - worthy of remark that among these good folk so free of tongue - and freer still in opinion, these solid republicans, the - religious sentiment is very developed. They pray to God and go - to Mass; but they also go to the ball. The three last days - of carnival are given up by the whole population to a wild - frenzy. They cling to this poor carnival as though it would - never return. Every café has its ball at night; if weather - permit there is a general ball in the public square.” - -A few yards from the beach on a rock stands a chapel dedicated to S. -Vincent, who is traditionally held to have been born at Collioure. -He was martyred at Valencia in Spain, 304. But Huesca also claims -the honour of his birth. His name is included in the English Church -calendar on 22 January. From the rock of S. Vincent on 16 August, -annually, at nine o’clock in the evening, starts a procession of boats -that brings the relics of the saint to the town. The sailing-boats and -fishing-vessels richly decked and illuminated with coloured lamps are -reflected in the still sea. An immense crowd is gathered about the -harbour, that is lighted by a bonfire made of vine twigs and barrels of -tar. - -As soon as the vessel bearing the relics arrives at the quay, the -harbour-master calls out, “What boat is that?” To which the captain -replies, “A boat of Saint Vincent.” “Whence come you?” “From Saint -Vincent-de-l’Ile.” “With what are you laden?” “With the relics of the -Saint Vincent, of Saint Marinus, and of Saint Liberada.” “Are there -passengers, and are they according to rule?” “There are passengers, and -they are all according to rule.” “What do you require?” “To be allowed -to disembark.” “In the name of God, do so.” - -Then the whole crowd shouts, “Sant Vincens béneit!” Whereupon the boat -is hauled ashore and dragged through the town. The crowd that separated -to allow of the passage then unites and follows in a dense mass, -elbowing one another. The boat halts before the “Vierge des quatres -coins,” the relics are removed from it, and carried processionally to -the church. The bonfire and the coloured lamps go out, and the scene -of movement is transferred from the harbour to the Place, where the -_joglars_, installed on an improvized platform, sound their instruments -to lively melodies, and all, young and old, in two minutes are in -full swing of a dance, that lasts from ten o’clock to midnight. “Si -réellement,” says a French writer, “la danse est un amusement, nulle -part au monde ou ne s’amuse autant qu’ ici.” - -The train, as it traverses the flats and athwart arms of the lagoons -that lie along the coast, skirts a place called Salses, and if the -traveller be looking out of the window on the right hand, he catches -a glimpse of a rusty mass of building with towers, and wonders what -it is. This is the fortress of Salses, erected in 1497 by a Spanish -engineer named Ramirez, and it is sufficiently curious to merit a -study, for it was built at a time when the use of cannon was materially -altering the conditions of warfare, especially of sieges. The château, -though often menaced with destruction, indeed repeatedly ordered to -be levelled, has remained almost intact to the present day. It forms -a rectangle with a tower at each angle. These towers give evidence of -the hesitation of the engineer. He was hampered by tradition, and had -to introduce them without knowing exactly that they had a purpose any -longer. But, on the other hand, he adopted an innovation, destined to -revolutionize the defence of fortresses, by creating bastions isolated -and in advance of the walls, like the demi-lunes of modern citadels. As -far as we know, this was the first instance of their being employed. -The castle was of some strategic importance, as commanding the passage -between the vast Lagoon of Leucate and the barren ridge of the -Corbières. - -The last governor of the fortress was a nephew of Voltaire, named La -Houlière, who grew vines and made wine on his wife’s estate; he sent -a cask of the latter to his illustrious uncle, and entreated him to -obtain a market for his wines in Russia. To which Voltaire replied, “I -am sorry not to be able to be of use to you in this matter, but the -Empress at this moment is too much occupied with the Turks who drink no -wine, and with the Germans who drink too much, to be able to turn her -attention to your generous liquor.” - -When La Houlière, who commanded at Perpignan in April, 1793, learned -the defeat of the French troops by the Spaniards, he was so depressed -that he blew out his brains. - -Throughout the plain of Roussillon vines grow, and the wine they -produce is excellent. The canals of irrigation bordered by trees -traverse the plain; and, thanks to this semi-aquatic condition, the -vineyards do not present the monotony of those of Narbonne and Beziers. - -The dread of the cold winds over the snows of the Alps and the Cevennes -is everywhere apparent. Reeds grow in the dykes to a great height, from -twelve to fourteen feet, and even more, and these are cut and formed -into mats to barricade the fields and gardens, and give some shelter -to them from the piercing blast that has bent every tree from the -direction whence it blows. Round Perpignan every patch of flower or -vegetable garden is thus hedged about. - -At Perpignan the Count de Grammont met the Abbé Poussatin, when he was -retreating with the Prince of Condé after the unsuccessful campaign in -Catalonia, in 1647. Grammont says:-- - - “At last we arrived at Perpignan on a holiday; a company of - Catalans, who were dancing in the street, out of respect to - the prince, came forward to dance under his windows. Monsieur - Poussatin, in a little black jacket, danced in the middle - of this company, as if he were really mad. I immediately - recognized him as my countryman, from his manner of skipping - and frisking about. The prince was charmed with his humour and - activity. After the dance I sent for him, and inquired who - he was. ‘A poor priest, at your service, my lord,’ said he; - ‘my name is Poussatin, and Béarn is my native country. I was - going into Catalonia to serve in the infantry, for, God be - praised, I can march very well on foot; but since the war is - happily concluded, if your lordship pleases to take me into - your service, I would follow you everywhere, and serve you - faithfully.’ ‘Monsieur Poussatin,’ said I, ‘my lordship has - no great occasion for a chaplain; but since you are so well - disposed towards me, I will take you into my service.’ - - “The Prince of Condé, who was present at this conversation, was - overjoyed at my having a chaplain. Poor Poussatin was in a very - tattered condition, and I had no time to provide him with a - proper habit at Perpignan; but giving him a spare livery of one - of the Marshal de Grammont’s servants, I made him get up behind - the prince’s coach, who was like to die with laughing every - time he looked at poor Poussatin’s uncanonical mien in a yellow - livery. - - “As soon as we arrived in Paris the story was told to the - queen, who at first expressed some surprise at it; this, - however, did not prevent her from wishing to see my chaplain - dance; for in Spain it is not altogether so strange to see - ecclesiastics dance, as to see them in livery. - - “Poussatin performed wonders before the queen; but as he danced - with great sprightliness, she could not bear the savour which - his violent motions diffused through the room; the ladies - likewise began to pray for relief.” - -The Eastern Pyrenees have, to my mind, been unduly neglected, and yet -they present scenes of great beauty, and are very easily reached. To -botanists they should be especially attractive. The Val d’Eyne, near -Mont Louis, is known to possess flowers found nowhere else in the -range. The ravine of the Aude is as fine as any in the Hautes Pyrénées. -There are peaks that run up to 10,000 feet, and are covered with snow -all the year, and if the glaciers be insignificant, glaciers are not -essential to beauty. There are more mountain tarns here than elsewhere, -and some of these the largest in the Pyrenees. In ecclesiastical -architecture this is by far the richest portion of the chain, as -the churches have not been wrecked by the Huguenots as in Béarn and -Bigorre. And what is more, there is less rain, there are clearer and -bluer skies. Some of the watering-places are sweet and sheltered nooks -where one can be in summer sunlight early in April, even at the end -of March, sheltered from every wind, and with excursions possible all -about them, and what is more, are not so fashionable, not so savouring -of Paris as Bagnères and Luchon, Cauterez, and Eauxbonnes. In the heats -of summer no more cool and invigorating climate can be found than in -some of those towns and villages on lofty plateaux, like Mont Louis. -As to the Pyrenees in general, many best able to judge and with widest -experience of mountain scenery, prefer them to the Alps of Switzerland -and of Tyrol, so overrun with the tripper and the herds conducted by -Cook. The colouring is richer and more varied, the foliage, the flowers -more abundant; and the peasantry have not lost their simplicity, as -have the Swiss. - -I will conclude with the words of a Pyrenean poet, written in his -Gascon dialect, but rendered into French: “Puisse-je remonter sur ces -trônes flamboyants de porphyre et de glace, ou tout est froid, même -l’éclair; j’irai révoir du haut de ces nues, ces horizons grands comme -l’éternité, mais que je ne trouverais jamais assez illimités. Et quand -aura sonné l’heure fatale et cruelle du repos, j’irais m’assoir au bord -de l’Océan ou de la Méditerranée, mais toujours en vue des Pyrénées.” - - - - -INDEX - - - Abd-el-Kader, 88-9 - - Abderahman, 271 - - Abdo and Senen, SS., 284-5 - - Adour River, 42-3 - - Albigenses, 246-51, 257-8 - - Amatus, Bishop of Oloron, 115 - - Ambessa, 270 - - Ambrose, Père, 168 - - Andorra, 260-2, 264 - - Antoine de Bourbon, 96-7, 99, 101-2 - - Aquitaine, 15, 17, 18, 221-4 - - Arabs, 265, 269, 270, 296 - - Aragon, 4, 18, 266, 286-9 - - Aran, Val d’, 229, 232-4, 266 - - Argelez, 152-3, 161 - - Arize, River, 253 - - Arles-sur-Mer, 298 - - Arles-sur-Tech, 281, 283-5 - - Armagnac, 206-10 - - Arms of Arros, 233 - - -- of Béarn, 98 - - -- of Fontarabia, 47 - - Arras, 155 - - Arreau, 206 - - Arros, Baron d’, 102-3 - - Arruns, 155-6 - - Arudy, 125 - - Ash Wednesday, 293 - - Aspe, Val d’, 117-8 - - Asté, 192 - - Aucun, 155 - - Aure, Val d’, 201-11 - - Avalanches, 164-5, 173 - - Azun, Val d’, 154-7 - - - Bagnères de Bigorre, 187-94 - - -- de Luchon, 229-32 - - Balandrau, 153 - - Barcelona, 266, 281 - - Barrèges, 167, 172-3 - - Barrère, 184-8 - - Basque language, 12, 55 - - Basques, 4, 12-15, 52-4 - - Bayonne, 32-43 - - Béarn, 15, 18-28, 76, 90, 95, 97, 98, 102, 109, 122-3, 178, 179, 180-2 - - Bears, 239-40 - - Beaucens, 154 - - Beaudéan, 194 - - Bedous, 120-1 - - Beggary, 130, 240-2 - - Belocq, Castle of, 80 - - Benedict XIII, 22 - - Bernadotte, 107-9 - - Bernard III, Count, 29, 179 - - Berret, 116, 128 - - Betharam, 111-12 - - Biarritz, 44, 144 - - Bidarry, Saint of, 54 - - Bidassoa River, 46 - - Bielle, 103, 127 - - Bigorre, 15, 115, 178-9, 180-2 - - -- Pic du Midi de, 189-92 - - Bilhère, 98 - - Blanche de Navarre, 23-6 - - Bordères, 210 - - Boulou, Le, 281 - - Bourespe, 211 - - Bourg-Madame, 267 - - Boxwood, 127 - - Brèche de Roland, 169 - - Brinvilliers, Mme. de, 277-8 - - Buzy, 10, 125 - - - Cabannes, Les, 256-7 - - Cabestang, William de, 290-1 - - _Cacolet_, riding _en_, 45-6 - - Cadéac, 211 - - Cagots, 195-200 - - Calvinism, 75, 99, 103, 117, 177 - - Cambo, 53 - - Campan, Val de, 192-4 - - Canigou, 8, 272-85 - - Cannibal, 215-19 - - Carlitte, Mont, 2, 273 - - Carnival, 293, 295 - - Carol, Castle, 265 - - Castles, small, 259 - - Catalans, 4, 270, 287, 295 - - Catherine of Medici, 34-5 - - -- of Navarre, 27-8 - - Cauterets, 160, 161, 162-6 - - Celts, 4, 267 - - Centule I and IV, 115, 179 - - -- II, 179 - - -- III, 179 - - Cerdagne, 264-71, 286 - - Ceret, 281-2 - - Chain of Pyrenees, 2 - - _Chaos_, 171 - - Charles IV of Spain, 36-8 - - -- VII of Spain, 34 - - -- IX of France, 76, 100 - - -- the Noble of Navarre, 23 - - -- of Viana, 22-5 - - Cirque de Gavarnie, 7, 171-2 - - Cirques, other, 7, 170 - - Climate of Pau, 85-7 - - Coarraze, 99, 111 - - Collioure, 298-300 - - Cominges, 15, 221, 226-8 - - Constans, 296 - - Constantine, 296 - - Corisande d’Andouins, 124, 193 - - Costumes, 128, 270 - - Count of Spain, 262-3 - - Couserans, 236-44 - - Couvade, 46, 64-5 - - _Crestiaas_, 199-200 - - Cromlechs, 127 - - Customs, curious, 46, 48, 64-5 - - - Dagobert, General, 268-9 - - Dances, 128, 274 - - Danton, 186, 188 - - Deadly sins, 211 - - Deforesting, 3, 125-6, 173-4, 257 - - - Eaux Bonnes, 131-3 - - -- Chaudes, 129-30 - - Eleanor of Cominges, 19 - - -- of Guyenne, 16 - - Elne, 295-8 - - Emigration, 118, 123, 241 - - Empressous, 169 - - Escaldieu, 202 - - Espadrillos, 123, 285 - - Espèch, Castle, 205 - - Estaubé, Cirque, 170 - - Eudes, Duke of Aquitaine, 265, 270 - - - Ferrage, Blaise, 216-19 - - Ferreolus, S., 282 - - Flowers, 9, 44, 112-13, 170-1, 268, 302 - - Foix, 16, 245-53 - - Fontarabie, 47-8 - - Font-Romeu, 269 - - Fors, 18, 127 - - Francis I, 90-1 - - -- II, 96 - - -- Phœbus, 27 - - Froissart, 67, 70, 72 - - - Gabas, 131 - - Gan, 124 - - Gargas, 215 - - Garonne, 229, 234, 245, 266 - - Garsende the Fat, 19 - - Gascon braggarts, 28-9 - - Gascony, 15, 29, 50 - - Gassion, 106 - - Gaston VI, 19 - - -- VII, 66 - - -- IX, 19 - - -- Phœbus, 22, 66-72, 128, 202 - - -- son of Phœbus, 68-71, 202 - - Gavarnie, 171 - - Gave River, 86, 89, 125, 129, 134, 153, 163, 168, 169, 202 - - Gèdre, 170 - - Giants, 169 - - Gipsies, 295 - - Glaciers, 6, 134 - - Goigs, 274 - - Grammont, Dukes of, 192-3, 301-2 - - Grotto de l’Herme, 253 - - Gundowald, 221-5 - - - Hannibal, 4, 290, 295 - - Haras at Tarbes, 177-8 - - Hazel-nuts, 282 - - Hèches, 203 - - Henry II of England, 16 - - -- III of England, 17 - - -- IV of France, 98, 101-4, 109, 124, 243 - - -- II of Navarre, 87, 90-2, 98 - - _Heptameron_, 94, 119-20 - - Horses, 178-9 - - Hortense, Queen, 156-7 - - Huguenots, 92-4, 117, 182, 191, 228. - (_See also_ Calvinism) - - Hundred Years’ War, 17 - - - Iberians, 4, 12, 271 - - Innocent III, 246-50 - - Iron mines, 255-7 - - Irun, 48 - - Isaby, Val d’, 154, 159 - - - Jean d’Albret, 27-8, 90 - - Jeanne d’Albret, 75-80, 95-101, 112, 117, 177 - - Job, 242 - - Joglars, 274, 300 - - Juana, Queen, 21-5 - - Jurençon, 113 - - - La Barthe, 203 - - Labourde, 15, 51-2 - - Lac de Caillaouas, 202, 210 - - -- -- Gaube, 164-5 - - -- -- Lanoux, 6, 264 - - -- -- Seculéjo, 230-1 - - Lakes, various, 6, 155, 194, 202, 212, 239, 243, 265 - - Lampagia, 271 - - Landslip, 170 - - Lannemezan, 202 - - Larrey, 194 - - Laruns, 179 - - Laserre, 144 - - Lavedan, 135, 152-61 - - League, the, 183 - - Leonore, Countess, 23-6 - - Lescar, 26, 104 - - Leucate, 300 - - Llar family, 278 - - Llivia, 266-7 - - Lombrive, 258 - - Lomné, castle, 205 - - Lordat, castle, 258 - - Lortet, 203 - - Louis VII, 16 - - -- XI, 208-9, 286 - - -- XIII, 268 - - -- XIV, 47, 285 - - Lourdes, 134-51 - - Loustaunau, 121-2 - - Luchon, 229-32 - - Luz, 166-9 - - - Majorca, kingdom of, 287-9 - - Maladetta, 233-4 - - Manichees, 246 - - Marble quarries, 203, 233 - - Marguerite de Cominges, 228-9 - - -- de France, 101, 117 - - -- de Navarre, 91-5, 119-20 - - Marot, Clement, 93 - - Mas d’Azil, 253-4 - - Massabielle, Grotto, 138-47 - - Massey, 177 - - Mater Dolorosa, 59 - - Mauleon, 123 - - Mauvezin, 201 - - Merton Smith, Rev., 133 - - Metrical psalms, 93-4 - - Montespan, 214 - - Montgomery, 75, 77-8 - - Mont Louis, 268-70 - - Montréjeau, 214 - - Montségur, 257 - - Moors, 270 - - Morlaas, 189 - - Mosaics, Roman, 104-6 - - - Nansouty, 191-2 - - Napoleon I, 36-8, 50, 126 - - Napoleon III, 88, 144, 157, 168 - - Navarre, 4, 20, 24, 52, 155 - - Nay, 111 - - Neste, River, 202-4, 210-11, 220 - - Noah’s Ark, 268 - - - Odos, 95 - - Oloron, 4, 114-18 - - Orthez, 26, 66-79 - - -- Battle of, 80-4 - - Osse, 122 - - Osseau, Val d’, 8, 124-33 - - -- peasants of, 109 - - -- Pic du Midi d’, 124, 125, 131 - - Othman abu Nessu, 270 - - Oust, 243 - - Ouzous, 153 - - - Pallada, 283 - - Pamiers, 251-2 - - Pampeluna, 56 - - Pas de Roland, 54 - - Pattison, Mr. and Mrs., 165 - - Pau, 85-113 - - -- Castle of, 87-9 - - Pedigree of the Armagnacs, 210 - - -- of the Viscounts of Béarn, 20 - - -- of Gundowald, 222 - - -- of the Kings of Majorca, 289 - - -- of Leonore of Navarre, 21 - - Perpignan, 286-94, 301 - - Petronilla, Countess, 180-1 - - Pierrefite, 160-1 - - Planès, 269 - - Planturel, 244 - - Pont-long, 87, 109, 123 - - Ports, 4, 235, 267, 281 - - Poussatin, Abbé, 301-2 - - Prades, 275 - - Prats de Mollo, 285 - - Princess of Beira, 61-3 - - Puy-al-Hun, 155-6 - - Puygcerda, 264 - - Puyôo, 80 - - Pyrenees, parallel chains, 2 - - -- geological structure, 4 - - -- approach to, 30-1 - - -- Battles of the, 39 - - -- Treaty of, 47, 55, 234, 265, 266, 287 - - - Quitteria, Ste., 255 - - - Ramond, 190 - - Raymond I of Bigorre, 162, 182 - - -- VI of Toulouse, 248-50 - - “Refuge” by Biarritz, 44-5 - - Republics, 127, 154, 212-13 - - Roland the Paladin, 56-8, 169 - - -- Song of, 57 - - Roman Roads, 4, 54 - - Roncevaux, 4, 27, 56-60 - - Roussel, Bishop of Oloron, 92, 117 - - Roussillon, 4, 273, 286-7, 290, 301 - - Rubble, 5 - - - S. Aventin, 232 - - S. Béat, 233 - - S. Bertrand de Cominges, 220-9 - - S. Girons, 236-7 - - S. Jean de Luz, 45 - - S. Jean-Pied-de-Port, 54-5 - - S. Lizier, 237-9 - - S. Martin de Canigou, 280-1 - - S. Michel de Cuxa, 276 - - S. Orens, 159-60 - - S. Sauveur, 168 - - S. Savin, 157-9 - - S. Sebastian, 48-50 - - S. Sever-de-Rustan, 177 - - Salses, 300 - - Sarracolin, 203-4 - - Sarrance, 118-20 - - Serrabonna, 275 - - Sertorius, 220-1 - - Simon de Montfort, 249-50 - - Slate quarries, 195 - - Smuggling, 60 - - Solon and his wives, 93 - - Soubirous, Bernadette, 135, 137-49 - - Soule, 51, 123 - - Sully elm, 243 - - - Talc mines, 259 - - Tarascon, 254 - - Tarbes, 175-88 - - Tech, River, 281-2 - - Templars, 167, 172 - - Tourmalet, 172 - - Troumousse, Cirque, 170 - - Tumuli, 110 - - Turpin, Chronicle of, 57 - - - Urdos, 122-3 - - Urgel, 262, 269 - - Ustaritz, 13 - - - Valcabrères, 220, 225 - - Vaussenat, 191-2 - - Vernaux, 259 - - Vernet, 274, 279-80 - - Vic, 243 - - Vicdessos, 256 - - Viella, 234 - - Villefranche, 82, 276-9 - - Vincent, S., 299-300 - - Vizos, 166 - - Voltaire, 300-1 - - - Watershed, 6 - - - - - PLYMOUTH - WILLIAM BRENDON AND SON, LTD. - PRINTERS - - - - - * * * * * * - - - - -Transcriber’s note: - -Punctuation, hyphenation, and spelling were made consistent when a -predominant preference was found in this book; in most cases, they were -not changed. - -Simple typographical errors were corrected; occasional unbalanced -quotation marks retained. - -Ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained. - -Index not checked for proper alphabetization or correct page references. - -Two occurrences of “Castile” were changed to the predominant “Castille”. - -Text uses both “Cascassonne” and “Carcassonne”; both retained. - -Page 49: “when advancing in 1815” should be “1813”. - -Page 55: “Desinat in piscem mulier fermosa” should be “formosa”. - -Page 100: “choses to have” was printed that way. 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